National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS)

Context:

• The Union government launched the National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS) powered by artificial intelligence to help farmers to connect with agriculture scientists and experts by mobile phones on controlling pests.

Aim:

• To reduce the dependence of farmers on pesticide retailers and to inculcate a scientific approach among them towards pest management.

Feature:

• NPSS will analyse latest data using AI tools to help farmers and experts in pest control and management.
• It will help in identifying pests and controlling them.
• It would help about 14 crore farmers in the country.
• It will connect scientists with farmers.
• Farmers can take photos of the infested crops or the insect using the system on their phones and this will reach scientists and experts.
• Help cure diseases: Using the correct quantity of correct pesticide at the correct time is the challenge and this system will help farmers to address this challenge.
• This system can help cure diseases at the proper time using technology.
• It will also help in addressing the problem of using excessive pesticides.
• It will help in accurate diagnosis and accurate treatment.
• This will build confidence among farmers and production will also increase.
• This can save the soil too.
• This technology will be sent to the States and they can propagate this using their outreach programmes.

How can traffic which causes air pollution be controlled?

Context:

• A recent report stated that India is home to 83 of the 100 most polluted cities in the world.
• Another report from the British Medical Journal estimated that air pollution led to the deaths of 2.1 million people in India, the second largest numbers after China.
• Over 99% of the population breathes air that is poorer than the recommended WHO standards.

Contribution of heavy vehicles to air pollution in India:

• The International Energy Associates estimates that 12% of India’s CO2 emissions are due to road transport, of which the vast majority of Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 emissions are due to heavy vehicles.
• PM 2.5: It comprises pollutants, which, by being microscopic can reach the deepest parts of our lungs, and spill over to blood, thereby causing a range of respiratory and cardiovascular effects.
• Heavy vehicles contribute significantly to the emission of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), capable of causing similar health effects.
• NOx: It contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, worsening impacts on air quality and heat, which further fuels air pollution in urban contexts.
• Several studies have indicated that heavy vehicles contribute to about 60-70% of the total vehicular PM emissions and about 40-50% of the total NOx emissions in urban areas.

Measures taken to combat air pollution:

• Draft Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms: Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s (BEE) initiative in developing the draft Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms for cars in India is timely and laudable.
• The timelines to implement CAFE III from 2027-2032 and CAFE IV from 2032-2037 are practical.
• World Light Duty Vehicle Testing Procedure (WLTP): The commitment to shift from the Modified India Driving Cycle (MIDC) to the World Light Duty Vehicle Testing Procedure (WLTP) from March 31, 2027, is excellent.
• WLTP offers a more accurate and globally harmonised measure of a vehicle’s actual fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
• The proposed emissions target for CAFE III based on the WLTP at 91.7g CO2/km and for CAFE IV at 70g CO2/km is achievable.
• Such stringent CO2 targets are essential for driving innovation and encouraging the adoption of cleaner technologies.

Concern:

• In the interest of the health of our planet and citizens, above targets should be made non-negotiable.
• However, the CAFE norms exclude emissions by heavy vehicles such as Trucks, Lorries, and other freight vehicles.

What more can be done?

• Vehicle scrappage policy: The government introduced a vehicle scrappage policy to phase out old and polluting vehicles, including heavy vehicles in 2022.
• It mandates that passenger vehicles older than 20 years and commercial vehicles older than 15 years must pass a “fitness and emissions test”.
• If vehicles fail the mandatory tests, they are categorised as end-of-life vehicles, and will lose their registration certificate, and are recommended to be scrapped.
• This policy is to take off in many states like Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• Reasons: Insufficient scrapyards and implementation delays of incentives such as discounts on road tax or on a new private vehicle purchase to encourage scrapping.
• Policymakers must ensure that the guidelines do not remain exemplary in the letter alone.
• Existing policies of the government to combat air pollution such as the testing of vehicles at regular intervals to ensure they are within emission limits, banning open garbage burning, and checking industrial emissions need to be implemented with the greatest stringency.

Conclusion:

• While we welcome the government’s efforts to curb air pollution, we also strongly suggest that mass transit is the only sustainable method of tackling air pollution in India.

UPSC PYQ (2023):

• The adoption of electric vehicles is rapidly growing worldwide. How do electric vehicles contribute to reducing carbon emissions and what are the key benefits they offer compared to traditional combustion engine vehicles?

Californium

About:

• Itis a radioactive metal.
• Origin: It is named for the university and state of California, where the element was first made.
• Atomic number: 98
• Relative atomic mass: 251
• Group: Actinides
• Uses: It is a very strong neutron emitter
• It is used in portable metal detectors,
• For identifying gold and silver ores,
• To identify water and oil layers in oil wells and
• To detect metal fatigue and stress in aeroplanes
• Biological role: It has no known biological role. It is toxic due to its radioactivity.
• Natural abundance: It did not exist in weighable amounts until ten years after its discovery.
• It is prepared, in milligram amounts only, by the neutron bombardment of plutonium-239.

Digital boost to revive solar power installation scheme

Context:

• With delays plaguing the PM-KUSUM programme, which was launched to boost solar energy infrastructure in agriculture, States have begun experimenting with alternative approaches to improve adoption.
• Hurdle: A key hurdle is the unavailability of suitable land.

Solar power:

• Solar power in India has grown on the back of utility-scale power projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan where vast tracts of deserts and uncultivable land are suitable for setting up power plants.
• With agricultural land, it is often a challenge to find enough parcels of land that can be pooled together and made available to a power project developer.

Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM):

• Aim: It was launched in 2019 by the Government of India to increase the income of farmers and provide sources of irrigation and de-dieselization of the agricultural sector.
• To receive the benefit of this scheme, farmer needs to install solar irrigation pumps for cultivation.
• Objective:
• Decrease dependence on Diesel for irrigation
• Reduce cost of irrigation by use of solar pumps
• Provide water and energy security to farmers
• Reduce pollution
• Components of PM-KUSUM:
• Component A: Setting up of 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground/ Stilt Mounted Grid Connected Solar or other Renewable Energy based Power Plants by the farmers on their land.
• Component B: Installation of 14 Lakh Stand-alone Solar Agriculture Pumps.
• Component C: Solarisation of 35 Lakh Grid Connected Agriculture Pumps including Feeder Level Solarisation.
• Solar capacity: All three components of the scheme aim to add solar capacity of about 34,800 MW by March 2026.
• Salient Features:
• Under Kusum Yojana, a group of farmers, panchayats, and cooperatives can apply to install solar pumps.
• The total cost included in this scheme is divided into three categories in which the government will help the farmers.
• The government will provide a 60% subsidy to the farmers, and 30% of the cost will be given by the government in the form of a loan. Farmers will only have to pay 10% of the total cost of the project.
• Farmers can sell electricity generated from solar panels.

Digital boost to PM-KUSUM:

• Drone technology can be used to map land parcels.
• Digital platforms can be used to connect farmers and power developers.
• Digital platform allows tracking the scheme’s progress in real-time allowing for “prompt corrective actions and provides a level of oversight crucial for the successful deployment of large-scale solar projects, where delays and mismanagement can have significant repercussions”.

Note: According to the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), of the 256 MW installed nationally, nearly 200 MW of solar capacity is situated in Rajasthan alone.