05 Mar 2024: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Largest Coal Mine in Asia
2. ‘Sangam: Digital Twin’ Initiative at IIT, Delhi
3. 1st Naval Commanders’ Conference of 2024
4. CDOT’s Indigenous Fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system with Free 
Space QKD system

1. The Largest Coal Mine in Asia

Syllabus: GS-3, Economy

Prelims: Gevra Mine

Mains: Mining in India

Context:

South Eastern Coalfield Limited’s Gevra Mine Set to Become The Largest Coal Mine in Asia.

Details:

• The Gevra mine has been granted environmental clearance to expand production capacity to 70 million tons per annum from the current 52.5 million tons.
• The mine belongs to Chhattisgarh-based Coal India subsidiary South Eastern Coalfield Limited.
• Gevra is one of the megaprojects of South Eastern Coalfields Limited and became the largest coal mine in the country last year with annual production for FY 22-23 reaching 52.5 million tons.
• The mine has a strike length of around 10 km and a breadth of 4 km.
• The mine deploys eco-friendly blast-free mining technology such as surface and ripper mining.
• It also has first-mile connectivity equipped with a conveyer belt, silos and rapid loading system for swift and eco-friendly coal evacuation.

Also read: Coal mines in India

2. ‘Sangam: Digital Twin’ Initiative at IIT, Delhi

Syllabus: GS-3, Science & Technology

Prelims: Digital twin technology

Context:

The Department of Telecommunications, through the Telecom Centre of Excellence (TCOE), kickstarted its first outreach program, for the Transformative ‘Sangam: Digital Twin’ initiative at IIT, Delhi.

Details:

• The initiative is aimed at revolutionising infrastructure planning and management. 
• Digital Twin technology offers solutions by creating virtual replicas of physical assets, enabling real-time monitoring, simulation, and analysis for iterative experimentation and feedback loops to achieve optimal outcomes.
• Digital twins can play a pivotal role in modernising infrastructure and fostering innovation, collective action, innovation and collaboration. 

Read more on the digital twin technology in the linked article.

3. 1st Naval Commanders’ Conference of 2024

Syllabus: GS-3, Security and Defence

Prelims: Naval Commanders’ Conference, SAGAR Doctrine

Context:

The 1st Naval Commanders’ Conference of 2024 commenced.

Details:

• The Naval Commanders’ Conference serves as a platform for Naval Commanders to deliberate on strategic, operational, and administrative matters concerning maritime security. 
• Held against the backdrop of evolving geopolitical dynamics, regional challenges and the current volatile maritime security situation in the region, the conference plays a pivotal role in shaping the future course of the Indian Navy.
• The Chief of Defence Staff, along with the Chiefs of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force, will also engage with the Naval Commanders during the conference to discuss the convergence of the three Services in light of the common national security environment.

4. CDOT’s Indigenous Fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system with Free Space QKD system

Syllabus: GS-3, Science & Technology

Prelims: Fibre-based quantum key distribution system

Context:

C-DOT & PRL demonstrate the integration of an indigenous fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution system with a Free Space QKD system leading to an end quantum communication link in both Fibre and Free space as a transport medium.

Details:

• C-DOT & PRL demonstrated the integration of CDOT’s indigenous Fiber-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system with the Free Space QKD system of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) leading to the establishment of an end-to-end quantum communication link involving both Fiber and Free space as the transport medium.

Background:

• The rapid progress in quantum computers and quantum algorithms has put the security of the existing classical techniques of data security at risk as the huge computational power of quantum computers can easily break the secrecy of the key used for encryption/decryption. 
• The huge computational power of quantum computers can pose a threat to the security of the existing communication and data security infrastructure if any adversary gains access to quantum computers. 
• An emerging branch of quantum technology namely quantum communications can address this threat.

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD):

• Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a technique of quantum communications that can solve this problem by enabling communication networks to ensure fool-proof security even in the presence of Quantum Computers. 
• QKD has widespread applications in strategic sectors like defence, government communications, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, financial services, data centres and telecommunication networks. 
• QKD can be deployed through different media viz. optical fibre, and free space as well as a satellite to provide end-to-end security over the communication network.

QKD solutions by C-DOT:

• C-DOT has developed rugged & field-deployable QKD solutions. 
• CDOT is the first organisation in the country to have received Technology Approval from the Telecom Engineering Center (TEC), a body under the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. 
• C-DOT’s QKD link has been live between Sanchar Bhawan and NIC Headquarters (CGO Complex) since February 2023.

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL):

• PRL is a research institute under the Department of Space (DOS) and is regarded as the cradle of space sciences in India. 
• It has been working on utilizing space for quantum secure communication.
• In the process of moving towards satellite-based quantum communication, it has already demonstrated free-space QKD with entangled photons and the effect of the atmosphere on the secure key rate for 200 meters.

Read previous PIB articles here.