Coal Ministry Action Plan to Enhance Coking Coal Production Substantially

Produces 8.3 Million Ton Coking Coal Up to May, 2022

Targets 140 Million Ton Production By 2030

Coal India to Supply 3.45 Million Ton Washed Coking Coal to Steel Sector in FY 23

Plans to Operationalise Nine More Washeries

India has produced 51.7 Million Ton (MT) raw coking coal during the financial 2021-22 which is 15 % more as compared to 44.8 MT during FY21. Domestic raw coking coal production continues to witness increasing trend in the current fiscal as well with  production of 8.3 MT,  as per the figures up to May 2022, which is 20% more compared to 6.9 MT during the same period of the previous year.  

Why is it in news?

At present, domestic raw coking coal washing capacity is about 23 MT per annum including 9.26 MT of  the private sector.  Coal India Ltd. (CIL) is planning to set up and operationalize nine  more new washeries with a capacity of 30 MTPA. With setting up of new washeries, it is estimated that CIL will be able to supply about 15 MT of washed coking coal to the steel sector, thereby reducing import of coking coal. There is need to set up more washeries to enhance  capacity to meet the fast increasing  demand of coking coal in the country. During FY 22, CIL supplied 1.7 MT washed coking coal to the steel sector and has set  a target of 3.45 MT during FY23.

Highlights

·       To further enhance raw coking coal production, the Ministry of Coal has auctioned 10 coking coal blocks to the private sector with a PRC of 22.5 MT during the last two years. Most of these blocks are expected to start production by 2025. The Ministry has also identified four coking coal blocks and the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) also will finalize GR for 4 to 6 new coking coal blocks in the next two months. These blocks may be offered in subsequent rounds of auction for private sector to further step up domestic raw coking coal supply in the country.

·       CIL has planned to increase raw coking coal production from existing mines up to 26 MT and identified nine new mines with PRC of about 20 MT by FY 2025. Also, CIL has offered six discontinued coking coal mines, out of the total 20 discontinued mines, on an innovative model of revenue sharing to the private sector with expected PRC of about 2 MT.

·       With these transformative measures taken by Ministry of Coal under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative of PM, domestic raw coking coal production is likely to reach 140 MT by 2030.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh leaves for Portugal today to take part in the “2022 UN Ocean Conference” in Lisbon from 27th of June to 1st of July 2022

Dr Jitendra Singh says, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India would be providing science and innovation-based solutions for the implementation of Goal 14 through partnerships and environmentally friendly solutions

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh left for Portugal today to take part in the “2022 UN Ocean Conference” at Lisbon from 27^th of June to 1^st of July 2022. More than 130 countries will participate in the UN Ocean Conference.

Why is it in news?

Dr. Jitendra Singh will deliver the Keynote address on behalf of India at the UN Conference on the theme “Scaling up Ocean Action based on Science and Innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: Stocktaking, Partnerships and Solutions.”

Highlights

·       In his departure statement, Dr Jitendra Singh said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India would be providing science and innovation-based solutions for the implementation of Goal 14 through partnerships and environmentally friendly solutions. He said, India has well established collaboration and partnerships with UN Agencies and Research Institutions for bridging the methodology and data gaps on SDG indicators and working towards UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 2021–2030, for clean, healthy, productive, predictive, safe and accessible ocean.

·       Dr Jitendra Singh said, with the participation of civil society and other relevant stakeholders, the participant nations will reaffirm our strong commitment to conserve and sustainably use the ocean, seas and marine resources. He added that greater ambition is required at all levels to address the dire state of the ocean. As leaders and representatives of our Governments, we are determined to act decisively and urgently to improve the health, productivity, sustainable use and resilience of the ocean and its ecosystems.

·       Dr Jitendra Singh informed that India has taken up several initiatives, programmes and policy interventions through different Ministries and Departments to protect the marine and coastal ecosystems, mangroves and coral reefs. There are 10 targets in Goal 14 to measure the health and services of water related ecosystems with emphasis on social, economic and environmental conservation. A total of 11 indicators have been identified at national level to measure and monitor the progress of these targets and data is collected on a regular basis for 9 indicators by monitoring the health/condition of coastal Waters and marine ecosystems.

·       At the end of deliberations, the Conference will adopt, by consensus, a brief, concise, action-oriented and inter-governmentally agreed declaration focusing on, and highlighting, the science-based and innovative areas of action to support the implementation of Goal 14 and a report containing the co-chairs’ summaries of the interactive dialogues.

·       The leaders will also reaffirm the declaration entitled “Our ocean, our future: call for action”, adopted by the high-level United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, held from 5 to 9 June 2017.

National Health Authority to host Hackathon Series under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

The first hackathon in the series would be‘Round 1: Kickstarting Unified Health Interface (UHI)’

Slated to be held from 14thto 17^th July2022, the hackathon is being organized with the aim to build innovative solutions for healthcare service delivery using UHI. Winners stand to win exciting cash prizes.

The National Health Authority (NHA) will be hosting its first ever open-to-all hackathon series to drive ideation and innovations around the different building blocks in the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) ecosystem. The series will begin with a hackathon - ‘Round 1: Kickstarting Unified Health Interface (UHI)’ slated for 14th to 17th July 2022. The hackathon shall be focussed on the Unified Health Interface (UHI) and would aim at mobilising the health start-up ecosystem in India and bringing together individuals and organisations to develop solutions through UHI.

The hackathon will provide an excellent opportunity for innovators, data experts and developers from all over the world to collaborate and build innovative solutions for providing access to digital health services through UHI.

UHI is designed as an open network to enable the interoperable transaction of digital health services such as teleconsultation. Through UHI, patients can discover, book, conduct and pay for services offered by a variety of participating providers from any application of their choosing. This stands in contrast to the current mode of digital health service delivery, where patients and doctors must transact using a common application or platform.

Announcing the Hackathon Series, Dr. R.S. Sharma, CEO, NHA said “India has enabled creation of some of the most efficient public delivery systems in the world, as has been witnessed through JAM and UPI, by breaking silos and unlocking network effects. ABDM and UHI will enable the same for the healthcare ecosystem and this Hackathon Series will enable players to collaborate and build solutions which define the future of healthcare.  All are invited to participate in creating a better health ecosystem for every Indian”

‘ABDM Hackathon Series - Round 1: Kickstarting UHI’ will focus on two major themes:

·         Innovation Track: Challenge for innovative solutions to power digital health in an open network around various use cases such as teleconsultation, ambulance booking, lab tests, physical consultation booking, lab tests booking.

·         Integration Track: Challenge to accelerate development of applications that are compatible with UHI and integrate these applications with the applications of other such participants to enable digital health transactions on the UHI network.

The tentative prize pool for ‘Round 1 – Kickstarting UHI’ isRs. 60,00,000*. This shall be awarded to the top performers on each challenge track on the above-mentioned themes. The solutions shall be assessed by an independent jury. Interested participants are requested to register here https://abdm.gov.in/register

*The prizes are tentative; the jury might decide to award fewer or more prizes.

Further, as part of the UHI hackathon, NHA shall be organising masterclasses to further the participants' understanding of the ABDM ecosystem.The details about upcoming masterclasses, challenge statements, prizes under each categoryand other updates shall be posted on ABDM website - https://abdm.gov.in and UHI portal - https://uhi.abdm.gov.in.

The first round of ABDM Hackathon Series will be followed by a Health Claims Exchange (HCX) Hackathon; the details will be shared on the ABDM and UHI website.

For further details on UHI, the full text of the UHI Consultation Paper, as well as the recording of the UHI Public Webinar may be referred to. They are available for download on the ABDM website at https://abdm.gov.in/publications

Regulations for Bharat New Car Assessment Programme

Why is it in news?

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification dated 24th June 2022, whereby it is proposed to insert a new rule 126E in CMVR (Central Motor Vehicles Rules), 1989 regarding the Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP).

Highlights

The following has been proposed :-

(a)  It is applicable on Type Approved motor vehicles of category M1 [motor vehicles used for the carriage of passengers, comprising not more than eight seats, in addition to driver’s seat] with gross vehicle weight less than 3.5 Tonnes, manufactured or imported in the country, in accordance with the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS)-197, as amended from time to time.  The standard is  aligned with global benchmarks: it is beyond minimum regulatory requirements.

(b) Bharat NCAP rating will provide consumers an indication of the level of protection offered to  occupants by evaluating the vehicle in the areas of (a) Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) (b) Child Occupant Protection (COP) and (c) Safety Assist Technologies (SAT). The vehicle shall be assigned a star rating from one to five stars , based on  scoring against  various tests undertaken as per AIS 197.

It  introduces the concept of safety rating of passenger cars and empowers  consumers to take informed decisions. It will promote export worthiness of the cars produced by OEMs in the country and increase the domestic customer’s confidence in these vehicles . Additionally the program will encourage manufacturers to provide advanced safety technologies to earn higher ratings.

(c) The testing of  vehicles for this program will be carried out at  Testing Agencies, with the necessary infrastructure, referred to in Rule 126 of CMVR 1989.

(d)  Date of Applicability: 1st day of April 2023.