PIB Summary- 4th November, 2024 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Coal India Limited

Context

Continuing to meet India’s coal requirement and bolstering the energy sector, the state owned Coal India Limited (CIL) stepped into its 50th year of inception on 1st November 2024.

About Coal India Limited

• Coal India Limited (CIL) the state-owned coal mining corporate came into being in November 1975. With a modest production of 79 Million Tonnes (MTs) at the year of its inception CIL, today is the single largest coal producer in the world and one of the largest corporate employer with manpower of 228861(as on 1st April, 2024).
• Coal India Limited (CIL), classified as a ‘Maharatna’ enterprise under the Ministry of Coal, Government of India, has its headquarters situated in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• It holds the title of the largest coal producer globally.
• Across eight Indian states, CIL operates in 84 mining areas, managing a total of 313 active mines, consisting of 131 underground, 168 opencast, and 14 mixed mines.
• CIL is one of the highest CSR spenders amongst the PSUs. CSR activities undertaken by the Company includes education, healthcare, women empowerment, skill development sports etc. CIL and its subsidiaries have spent Rs 654.49 crores on CSR activities during 2023-24.

Production and Growth:

• CIL ended the year 2023-24 with the best-ever production figure of 773.647 MT registering a growth of 10%.
• CIL recorded a remarkable growth in offtake as a result of improvement in logistical efficiency and the effectiveness of our supply chain management.
• An 8.5% increase in coal offtake was achieved over the previous year, setting new records in both offtake and wagon loading performance. Total coal off-take scaled up to 753.52 MTs with an incremental growth of 58.84 MTs compared to 694.68 MTs of FY 2023. Off-take grew by 8.47% during the year.
• Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) emerged as the highest coal-producing subsidiary for the financial year 2023-24, surpassing 200 MT for the first time.

What is Coal?

• Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock rich in carbon and hydrocarbons that takes millions of years to develop, making it a non-renewable energy source.
• Coal is also known as black gold
• It contains energy stored by plants that flourished hundreds of millions of years ago in swampy forests.
• Coal is made up of carbon, volatile matter, moisture, and ash, as well as [in some situations] sulphur and phosphorus.
• Metallurgy and power generation are the most common applications for this material.

Coal is divided into two groups in India:

• Gondwana Coalfields, which are 250 million years old,
• Tertiary Coalfields, which are 15 to 60 million years old.

Types of Coal
It can be classified into the following types on the basis of carbon content:
Anthracite

• This coal is of the highest quality, containing 80 to 95 percent carbon.
• It contains extremely little volatile substances and a little amount of moisture.
• It’s a hard, compact jet black coal with a semi-metallic lustre. It is the most valuable and has the highest heating value of all the coal kinds.
• It is only found in limited quantities in India, and only in Jammu and Kashmir (near Kalakot).

Bituminous

• This is the most common coal. It has a wide range of carbon content (60 to 80 percent) and moisture content.
• It is dense, compact, and usually black in colour; it contains no remnants of the original vegetable material from which it was made; and it has a high calorific value due to a high carbon content and low moisture content.
• Bituminous coal is utilised not only for steam generation and heating, but also for the manufacturing of coke and gas due to its high quality.
• Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh produce the majority of bituminous coal.

Lignite

• Lignite, also known as brown coal, is a lower-grade coal that contains 40 to 55 percent carbon and is the intermediate stage in the transformation of woody matter to coal.
• Its colour ranges from dark to black-brown, and its moisture content (around 35%) means it produces a lot of smoke but little heat.
• It can be found in Rajasthan’s Palna, Tamil Nadu’s Neyveli, Assam’s Lakhimpur, and Jammu & Kashmir’s Karewa.

Peat

• This is the first stage of the transformation of wood into coal, and it comprises less than 40% to 55% carbon, plenty of volatile stuff, and a lot of moisture.
•  It is rarely compact enough to create a decent fuel without being compressed into bricks.
• When left to its own devices, it behaves like wood, emitting less heat, producing more smoke, and producing a lot of ash.

Exercise GARUD SHAKTI

Context

The Indian Army contingent comprising 25 personnel departed for Cijantung, Jakarta, Indonesia to take part in the 9th edition of India-Indonesia Joint Special Forces Exercise GARUD SHAKTI 24.  The Exercise will be conducted from 1st to 12th of November 2024. 

About Exercise GARUD SHAKTI

• The aim of Exercise GARUD SHAKTI 24 is to acquaint both the sides with each other’s operating procedures, enhance mutual understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the Special Forces of both armies. 
• The Exercise is designed to develop bilateral military cooperation and strengthen bond between two armies through conduct of discussions and rehearsal of tactical military drills.
• The Exercise will involve planning and execution of special operations, orientation to advance special forces skills, sharing of information on weapon, equipment, innovations, tactics, techniques & procedures.
• Joint Exercise GARUD SHAKTI 24 will also involve jointly practicing Special Forces Operations in Jungle terrain, strikes on terrorist camps and a Validation Exercise integrating basic and advance special forces skills apart from gaining an insight into the lifestyle and culture of both countries to foster military cooperation.
• The Exercise will provide an opportunity to both the contingents to strengthen their bond and share best practices. It will also act as a platform to achieve shared security objectives and foster bilateral relations between two friendly nations.