Coal Project enhances Green cover: A case study

• Even as the notion is that Coal mining in India degrades the land, new projects of Coal India Ltd. (CIL), under the Ministry of Coal are not only reclaiming land to its original shape but also enhancing Green cover along with Coal Mining activity.

• Emphasis is to have a simultaneous backfilling of land after opencast Coal Mining operation and dense plantation thereon to maintain environmental equilibrium.
• Out of many such greenfield projects, one of the largest projects of CIL, the Jayant Opencast Coal Project in Singrauli District of Madhya Pradesh is forging ahead with a mission of looking beyond coal mining with the land restoration & enhancing green cover day by day.
• This has helped in lowering the effect of pollution substantially & has also helped in increasing Carbon offset. The project is under Northern Coalfields Ltd. (NCL), a Subsidiary of CIL.
• During a detailed review of environmental & forest clearance of the Jayant Project by Secretary (Coal), Ministry of Coal in New Delhi, the satellite data of the project presented by NCL revealed more Green cover than the pre-mining forest cover, which is an outstanding achievement for any mega Coal project operating in large leasehold area.

About Jayant OC Project (2020)

• Jayant Coal Project operates in an area of about 3200 hectares with an annual coal production capacity of 25 Million Tonnes. Mining operations in the project started way back in the year 1975-76.
• Coal production started from the year 1977-78 by deploying larger capacity Heavy Earth Moving Machines (HEMM) such as Dragline, Shovel, Dumpers etc.
• Coal produced from the project is linked to the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Station of NTPC located at Shaktinagar, Uttar Pradesh, which has a generation capacity of 2000 MW.
• Coal is being transported to the power plant through a dedicated Merry-Go-Round (MGR) system.
• In line with the Green Cover Mission, the massive plantation is being carried out every year in and around the project which includes reclaimed area & overburden (OB) dump areas with the help of Madhya Pradesh Rajya Van Vikas Nigam Limited (MPRVVNL).
• Saplings include species such as Jamun, Jungle Jalebi, Seesam, Sirus, Mahua, Subabul, Bel, Amla, Kachnar, Karanj, Neem, Amaltas, Bamboo, Bougainvillea, Cassia, Gulmohar, Khamer, Peltophorum etc.
• The pre-mining forest cover was around 1180 hectares which has now increased to the level of 1419 hectares of Green cover as per the Land Reclamation Report based on Satellite Data for the year 2020. This is about 45% of the total leasehold area of the Project. The target is to have over 2600 hectare area covered under Green cover after the closure of the mine, which will be more than double of the pre-mining stage.
• All new coal projects have a mandatory well-laid mine closure plan which apart from other activities, becomes a guiding factor for the restoration of land to its original condition after the completion of mining activity. Action on such restoration begins right from the start of the project wherein backfilling of the void by overburden becomes a major activity after mining & simultaneous plantation over the land becomes key activity for early biological restoration.

MSP for Agriculture crops 2021-22

• The policies of the Government of India and decisions taken in recent years towards farmers’ welfare have resulted in significant improvement in food grain production and sustained agriculture growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) on 8th September 2021 for all designated Rabi crops for Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23, when in advance of the sowing season.
• MSP is an integral component of Agriculture Price Policy and it targets to ensure support prices to farmers and affordable prices to the consumer. Based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), the Government of India declares MSP after considering the views of State Governments and Central Ministries/Departments concerned for agricultural crops such as Cereal, Pulses, Oilseeds and commercial crops every year at the beginning of the sowing season. MSP is announced for the Kharif crops of Paddy, Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Maize, Arhar, Moong, Urad, Cotton, Groundnut, Sunflower Seed , Soyabean ,Sesamum.
• The Rabi crops for which MSP is announced are Wheat, Barley, Gram, Masur, Rapeseeds& Mustard, Safflower and Toria. Apart from this, MSP is announced for Copra, De-husked Coconut, Jute and Fair Remunerative Prices (FRP) is announced for Sugarcane.
• Normally MSP for Rabi season was announced in October.Last year it was announced on 23rd September and for the year 2022-23 it was further advanced and announced on 8th September 2021.
• The factors considered by CACP for fixing MSP include cost of production, domestic and international prices, demand-supply conditions, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.
• The MSP approved for designated Rabi Crops for 2022-23 duringRabi Marketing Season is higher or equal to 1.5 times of cost of production. The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be highest in case of Wheat (100%) and rapeseed/mustard (100%), followed by lentil (79%) and gram (74%); barley (60%); safflower (50%).
• Procurement of agriculture produce of designated crops on MSP to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers is done in collaboration with the State Governments.
• Procurement of wheat and Paddy at MSP comes under Schemes implemented by Deptt. of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) through centralized and de-centralized procurement mechanism. The procured Wheat and Paddy is utilized in distribution under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and other welfare schemes under National Food Security Act(NFSA).
• Procurement of pulses and oilseeds is made at MSP as per the Schemes under PM-AASHA scheme of DA&FW. The procurement of Notified Pulses are done under Price support Scheme (PSS) by the Central Nodal Agencies through State designated Agencies during harvesting season. Since 2015 onward the procurement of Pulses is also done at MSP for maintenance of National Buffer stock of Pulses under Price Stabilization Fund (PSF).
• Procurement of Coarse grains is being done as per the existing scheme of Department of Food and Public Distribution.Procurement of Cotton is done at MSP by the Cotton Corporation of India under the Scheme implemented by Ministry of Textiles. The procurement of Copra isalso being done under PSS in the Copra producing States based on the receipt of the proposal as per PSS guideline under PMAASHA.

Increased procurement under at MSP During 2020-21 :-

As against previous year procurement of 773.45 LMT,over 879 LMTs of paddy procured on MSP for ongoing season for 2020-21 benefitting about 130 Lakh farmers. Around 433.44 LMT wheat was procured for RMS 2021-22, against the last year corresponding purchase of 389.93 LMT, benefitting about 49.20 Lakh farmers.

During the cropping year 2020-21 which includes Kharif 2020-21, Rabi 2021 and Summer 2021 season, the Government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 12 LMT of pulses and oilseeds having MSP value of Rs. 6,742 Crores benefitting more than 7 lakhs farmers.

During the current year ,a quantity of 91,89,310 cotton bales valuing Rs. 26,719.51 crore has been procured from 18.86 lakhs cotton farmers.

Manifold increase in Govt.  Procurement in recent years

Procurement of MSP crops has increased manifold during the recent years. Comparative statement of procurement of major crops during the 2009-10 to 2013-14 and last five years are as under:

• Procurement operations under MSP continued despite disruptions in logistic activities during the initial days of lock down in wake of COVID pandemic.
• Number of procurement centers were increased as compared to previous years to facilitate the farmers for selling their produce at the nearest procurement centre maintaining COVID protocols.
• During RMS 2021-22, a new chapter has been added in the history of procurement of foodgrains when the states of Haryana and Punjab also switched from indirect payment of MSP to direct online transfer to farmers' bank account. DBT of MSP has brought in transparency and real time monitoring of the procurement operations.
• Central Government is committed to continue the MSP operations to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers.

Drone Rules, 2021

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has released the updated – Drone Rules, 2021 for public consultation. Built on a premise of trust, self-certification, and non-intrusive monitoring, The Drone Rules, 2021 will replace the UAS Rules 2021 (released on 12 March 2021).

Key takeaways from the Draft Drone Rules, 2021 include:

• Approvals abolished: unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permits, authorisation of R&D organisation, student remote pilot licence, remote pilot instructor authorisation, drone port authorisation etc.
• The number of forms was reduced from 25 to 6.
• Fee reduced to nominal levels. No linkage with the size of the drone. 
• Safety features like ‘No permission – no take-off’ (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. to be notified in future. A six-month lead time will be provided for compliance.
• The digital sky platform shall be developed as a business-friendly single-window online system.  
• There will be a minimal human interface on the digital sky platform and most permissions will be self-generated.  
• An interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed on the digital sky platform. 
• The yellow zone was reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• No flight permission is required up to 400 feet in green zones and up to 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• No pilot licence is required for micro drones (for non-commercial use), nano drones and for R&D organisations.
• No restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India.
• Import of drones and drone components to be regulated by DGFT.  
• No security clearance is required before any registration or licence issuance. 
• No requirement for a certificate of airworthiness, unique identification number, prior permission and remote pilot licence for R&D entities.  
• Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg.  This will cover drone taxis also.
• All drone training and testing are to be carried out by an authorised drone school.  DGCA shall prescribe training requirements, oversee drone schools and provide pilot licences online.
• Issuance of Certificate of Airworthiness delegated to Quality Council of India and certification entities authorised by it.  
• Manufacturers may generate their drone’s unique identification number on the digital sky platform through the self-certification route.
• The easier process prescribed for transfer and deregistration of drones.
• Standard operating procedures (SOP) and training procedure manuals (TPM) will be prescribed by DGCA on the digital sky platform for self-monitoring by users.  No approvals are required unless there is a significant departure from the prescribed procedures.
• The maximum penalty under Drone Rules, 2021 was reduced to INR 1 lakh.  This shall, however, not apply to penalties in respect of violation of other laws.
• Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries. 
• A drone promotion council is to be set up to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory regime.