PIB Summary- 19th August, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Advanced Chaff Technology for Indian Air Force

Details

• Pune and Jodhpur-based facilities of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have jointly developed an advanced chaff technology to safeguard fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from enemy radar threats.
• They have developed the chaff cartridge meeting qualitative requirements of IAF.
• A chaff is primarily an electronic counter-measure technology used by militaries worldwide to protect high-value targets such as fighter jets or naval ships from radars and radio frequency (RF) guiding mechanisms of the enemy missiles.
• The chaff deployed in the air reflect as multiple targets for the missile guidance systems, thus misleading the enemy radars or deflecting adversary missiles.

Significance

• In today’s electronic warfare, survivability of fighter aircraft is of prime concern because of advancement in modern radar threats.
• To ensure survivability of aircraft, Counter Measure Dispensing System (CMDS) is used which provides passive jamming against infra-red and radar threats.
• Chaff is a critical defence technology used to protect fighter aircraft from hostile radar threats.
• The importance of this technology lies in the fact that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for ensuring safety of the fighter aircraft.

Rooftop Solar Programme

The Central Government has announced the Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan or KUSUM scheme which aims at furthering the production of solar power in India and also gives the benefits of solar farming to farmers. The Union Budget 2018-19 has set aside a sum of Rs.48000 crores for this program for ten years.
In March 2021, the Central Government introduced modifications to an existing component of the PM-KUSUM scheme – a farmer income support and a de-dieseling scheme – so as to channelize its focus on solarising agricultural feeders instead of pumps. This move would obviate the need for farmers to replace every existing pump in a village with a solar pump.

Kusum Scheme Details

• Kusum Scheme implemented by: The Ministry responsible for this scheme is the New and Renewable Energy Ministry.
• Initially, the government will distribute 1.75 million off-grid agricultural solar pumps.
• 10000 Mega Watts Solar plants will be put up on lands that are barren.
• The state electricity distribution companies, also called, DISCOMS will buy the additional solar power produced by the farmers on barren lands. DISCOMS will get sops to buy this electricity.
• Tube wells and existing pumps of the government will be converted to run on solar power.
• Farmers will get a subsidy of 60% on solar pumps. It shall be deposited to their bank accounts directly. This subsidy is going to be shared by the central and the state governments. 30% of the cost will be obtained as a bank loan. Hence, only the rest 10% will have to be borne by the farmers themselves.

Latest information on PM KUSUM Scheme –

• The farmer focus of the KUSUM scheme has given a fillip to the farmer-oriented scheme involving decentralized solar power production up to 28,250 MW over a period of five years.
• The Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme would provide additional income to farmers, by giving them the option to sell additional power to the grid, through solar power projects set up on their barren lands.
• The government’s Budget for 2020-21 expanded the scope for the scheme with 20 lakh farmers to be provided assistance to install standalone solar pumps; another 15 lakh farmers to be given help to solarise their grid-connected pump sets. This will enable farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their barren lands and to sell it to the grid.

Kusum Scheme Benefits

• It shall enable the decentralisation of the production of solar power.
• Transmission losses of DISCOMS will be under control.
• Subsidy burden on DISCOMS in the sector of agriculture will be decreased to a large extent.
• This will give farmers the chance to sell to the grid the extra power that is generated by the solar plants that are stationed on their barren lands.
• It will provide a fillip to the emerging green economy in India.
• The program will also aid in the de-dieseling of the agricultural sector in India. This implies that the existing diesel pumps will be replaced.
• Other benefits that will accrue to the farmers due to the implementation of this program include conservation of water, water security as well as energy efficiency.

Kusum Scheme Drawbacks

• Water table depletion – Due to power subsidies, the recurring cost of electricity is so low that farmers keep on pumping water and the water table is going down. It is much difficult to upgrade to higher capacity pumps in case the water table falls in a solar installation because a new solar panel is required to be added which is very expensive.
• Omission of Small and Marginal Farmers –  as the scheme focuses on pumps of 3 HP and higher capacities there has been the relative omission of small and marginal farmers because of which Solar pumps are not reaching the majority of farmers, as nearly 85% of them are small & marginal farmers. Also, the reality of low water tables, especially in North India and parts of South India, make small-sized pumps limiting for the farmer.
• Logistics Issue: There is a matter of domestic availability of equipment itself. While pumps are not a challenge for domestic suppliers, the availability of solar pumps is still an issue. Further, due to the strict DCR (Domestic Content Requirements), the suppliers of solar equipment have to raise the domestic cell sourcing. However, there isn’t enough domestic cell manufacturing capacity.

Way Forward with Kusum Scheme

• Bring States Together: Consensus between the Centre and States is the key to the success of this decentralized solar power scheme. Any reform in India’s power space cannot take place unless there is consensus between the Centre, States, and stakeholders.
• Lucrative Solar Energy Pricing: For effective implementation and serious participation by stakeholders, the scheme should be more attractive in terms of benchmark prices in view of the challenges on account of higher costs of implementation and comprehensive maintenance.
• Sustainable Farming: Apart from switching to solar power, farmers should also switch over to drip irrigation mode which saves water and power with increased crop output.

About the Rooftop Solar Programme

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II to promote rooftop solar (RTS) in the country including in rural areas.
• The aim of the scheme is to achieve a final capacity of 40,000 MW from Rooftop Solar Projects by 2022.
• The major objective is to generate solar power through the installation of solar panels on the roofs of houses.
• The scheme seeks to promote grid-connected SPV rooftop and small SPV power generating plants among community, industrial and commercial organizations.
• This would lead to a reduced dependence on fossil fuels for the generation of electricity.
• Features of the scheme:
  • For individual households, subsidy up to 40 percent of the benchmark cost is provided for RTS plants up to 3 kW capacity and 20 percent for RTS plants of capacity beyond 3 kW and up to 10 kW.
  • For Group Housing Societies/Residential Welfare Associations (GHS/RWA), the subsidy is limited to 20 percent of the benchmark cost for RTS plants of capacity up to 500 kW used for supply of power to common facilities.
• Under the Phase-II of the programme, the focus will be on increased involvement of DISCOMs.
  • Performance-based incentives will be provided to DISCOMs based on RTS capacity achieved in a financial year over and above the base capacity.
• Under phase II, SPIN, an online platform has been developed for expediting project approval, report submission and monitoring progress of implementation of RTS projects.
• The programme will be implemented through DISCOMs.

How does the Rooftop Solar Cell work?

• In a grid-connected rooftop Solar Photovoltaic SPV system, the DC power is generated from the SPV (solar photo-voltaic) panel and is converted to AC using the power conditioning unit. It is then fed to the grid.