UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 15th October 2021

Solution (c)

What is a production linked-incentive?

A Production-Linked Incentive, or PLI scheme, provides incentives to companies in order to boost domestic manufacturing. 

This is done by the government in an effort to make products more competitively priced, reduce a country’s dependence on imports and generate employment.

The incentives in EV PLI, like most, are purely percentage based, with a maximum of 18% incentives to be offered by the government, based on the incremental turnover of a company. The idea is to promote the development of technologies that are currently lacking in India and can be availed simultaneously along with the Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, PLI scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) among others. With the EV supply and value chain apparatus yet to be fully built, a PLI of this scale can help with its rapid development.

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/amid-protests-centre-hikes-minimum-support-price-for-rabi-crops/article36362861.ece

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/auto/how-the-new-pli-scheme-is-likely-to-boost-the-ev-industry-7476941.html

https://www.investindia.gov.in/production-linked-incentives-schemes-india#:~:text=The%20Production%20Linked%20Incentive%20Scheme%20for%20White%20Goods%20(PLIWG)%20proposes,White%20Goods%20manufacturing%20value%20chain.

Solution (a)

Minister for Transport and Tribal Welfare, Karnataka inaugurated Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. Karnataka’s second EV experience centre at Bengaluru.

Karnataka were the first State to introduce an electric vehicle policy and more recently Karnataka became the first State to set up a new battery-swapping network in its capital to help clean and reliable last-mile connectivity in the region.

Battery swapping stations

Instead of charging the batteries immediately, there is another way to refuel the energy source of EVs: mechanically swapping the discharged batteries with fully charged batteries. 

All these batteries should be owned by the service station or battery company while the EV driver is only a battery borrower. 

The discharged batteries will either be charged at the service station or centrally collected and charged. 

Since the battery swapping process involves mechanical replacement and battery recharging, it is also named as mechanical refuelling or mechanical recharging. 

There are many obstacles to practically implementing battery swapping. Firstly, the initial cost to set up this battery swapping system is very high. Secondly, space to build a battery swapping station is much larger than that for a charging station. Thirdly, the EV batteries need to be standardized in physical dimensions and electrical parameters before the possible implementation of automatic battery swapping.

Article Link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/battery-swapping-station

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/ev-experience-centre-inaugurated/article36996867.ece

Solution (b)

The aluminium industry has sent an SOS to Coal India, demanding the immediate resumption of supplies for survival of the industry that is facing an ‘alarming’ situation following coal shortage.

The current acute coal crunch has created an immensely precarious situation, majorly for the highly power-intensive industries like aluminium wherein coal accounts for about 40% of the production cost

Aluminum is the second most used metal in the world after steel

India is the fourth largest producer of aluminium in the world with a share of around 5.3% of the global aluminium output.

The principal user segment of the aluminium industry in India continues to be the electrical and electronics sector followed by automotive, transportation, building, construction, packaging, consumer durables, industrial and defence.

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/aluminium-industry-rings-alarm-bells-over-coal-shortage/article36996482.ece

Solution (a)

India’s trade with China set to exceed $100 billion in 2021

India’s biggest exports to China are iron ore, cotton, and other raw material-based commodities. India imports mechanical and electrical machinery in large quantities, while imports of medical supplies have soared in the past two years.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is India’s national standards body, tasked with maintaining the quality and safety of products meant for consumption in the country. It applies to products produced domestically as well as imports.

The bureau allows use of the ISI Mark under its product certification schemes. While certification is largely voluntary, some product categories require mandatory certification. In the case of imports, these products come under two certification schemes:

Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS): It covers all electronic and information technology products (mobiles, laptops, smart watches, bluetooth speakers, televisions, LED lights, etc). It is mandatory for an importer sourcing a CRS product from China (or any other country) to register that product with BIS. Certification is granted to the manufacturer of the goods and not the importer.

Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS): Several product categories require a mandatory ISI mark to be sold in India. These include cement, batteries, car tyres, medical equipment (X-ray machines), iron and steel products, chemicals, fertilizers, toys and food items (milk powder, packaged water, baby formula, etc). Importers of such products can register them with BIS under the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme. Manufacturers with factories located outside India are eligible for a license under this scheme provided they ensure compliance with BIS quality standards and have the required manufacturing infrastructure, production process, quality control and testing capabilities at their premises

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/indias-trade-with-china-set-to-exceed-100-billion-in-2021/article36996478.ece

https://www.cogoport.com/blogs/everything-you-need-to-know-about-importing-from-china-to-india

Solution (d)

Mangalyaan, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft has completed seven earth years in its orbit in 2021.

According to ISRO officials, the spacecraft has successfuly covered three Martian years.

Mangalyaan, ISRO’s maiden interplanetary mission, was launched from the Sriharikota spaceport on November 5, 2013.

The orbiter got inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt, making India the first Asian country to have successfully launched its Mars orbiter mission and also the first country to have entered the Martian orbit in its first attempt.

An important conclusion of the mission has been the finding that dust storms on the Martian can rise up to hundreds of kilometres.

Built at a cost of Rs. 4.5 billion, Mangalyaan is hailed for being much cheaper than NASA’s Maven Orbiter, which was similar to India’s Mars mission.

What are Martian years?

It is one of several units for timekeeping on Mars. A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day. It is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds long. A Martian year is approximately 668 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days or 1.88 Earth years.

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mangalyaan-7-years-in-orbit/article36978815.ece