16.11.22 Daily [Telangana] TSPSC Current Affairs

In another step towards making the voting process easier for visually impaired electors, voters guides will be made available inBraillefor the next general elections. Officials said that nearly 1.5 lakh visually impaired voters InTelanganawill be benefited through the new initiative.

Currently, visually challenged voters have voter ID cards in Braille script and at the voting booth, they are also provided with ballot papers in Braille. With the new initiative coming into force, they can read the guidelines before going to the polling booth without depending on others.

TheElection Commission of Indiaasked the states to print the guides in regional languages. In Telangana, the commissioner and director, welfare of disabled, has translated the guidelines from Hindi toTeluguand soon the same will also be printed in Braille script.

To utilize huge surplus biomass, cattle dung, industrial and urban biowaste available in the country for recovery of energy, the MNRE has been promoting bioenergy in India since 1980s. One major support extended by MNRE has been Central Financial Assistance provided for setting up of Bioenergy projects such as Biogas, BioCNG, Power from urban, Industrial and Agricultural Waste / Residues for reducing their capital cost/ interest on loan therefore increase project viability.

The National Bioenergy Programme will comprises of the following sub-schemes:

India submitted its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), during the 27^thConference of Parties (COP27) today. The Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy was launched by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, who is leading the Indian delegation to COP 27, being held at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt from 6-18 November, 2022.

The salient features of the strategy are

The focus will be on the rational utilization of national resources with due regard to energy security. The transitions from fossil fuels will be undertaken in a just, smooth, sustainable and all-inclusive manner.

The National Hydrogen Mission launched in 2021 aims to make India a green hydrogen hub. The rapid expansion of green hydrogen production, increasing electrolyser manufacturing capacity in the country, and three-fold increase in nuclear capacity by 2032 are some of the other milestones that are envisaged alongside overall development of the power sector.

Increased use of biofuels, especially ethanol blending in petrol, the drive to increase electric vehicle penetration, and the increased use of green hydrogen fuel are expected to drive the low carbon development of the transport sector. India aspires to maximise the use of electric vehicles, ethanol blending to reach 20% by 2025, and a strong modal shift to public transport for passenger and freight.

While urbanisation will continue as a strong trend from our current relatively low base, future sustainable and climate resilient urban development will be driven by smart city initiatives, integrated planning of cities for mainstreaming adaptation and enhancing energy and resource efficiency, effective green building codes and rapid developments in innovative solid and liquid waste management.

Indias industrial sector will continue on a strong growth path, in the perspective of Aatmanirbhar Bharatand Make in India. Low carbon development transitions in the sector should not impact energy security, energy access and employment. The focus will be on improving energy efficiency by the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, National Hydrogen Mission, high level of electrification in all relevant processes and activities, enhancing material efficiency and recycling leading to expansion of circular economy, and exploring options for hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, cement, aluminium and others.

India has a strong record of enhancing forest and tree cover in the last three decades alongside high economic growth. Indias forest fire incidence is well below global levels, while its forest and tree cover are a net sink absorbing 15% of CO₂emissions in 2016. India is on track to fulfilling its NDC commitment of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration in forest and tree cover by 2030.

The transition to low carbon development pathway will entail several costs pertaining to the development of new technologies, new infrastructure, and other transaction costs. While several estimates exist, varying across studies, they all fall generally in the range of trillions of dollars by 2050. Provision of climate finance by developed countries will play a very significant role and needs to be considerably enhanced, in the form of grants and concessional loans, ensuring scale, scope and speed, predominantly from public sources, in accordance with the principles of the UNFCCC.