India will triple its present installed nuclear power generation capacity in the next 10 years, the government told Parliament March 16, 2022.
“The present installed nuclear power capacity of 6780 MW will increase to 22480 MW by 2031 on progressive completion of projects under construction and accorded sanction,” Jitendra Singh, minister of state (Independent Charge) for the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), told the Lok Sabha.
He also termed nuclear power as a “clean and environmental-friendly source of base load power that is available 24x7”. He added that it can provide long-term energy security to India in a sustainable manner.
Lightning strikes
Lightning strikes caused 2,862 deaths in India in 2020. Deaths due to lightning strikes were highest in Bihar (436), followed by Madhya Pradesh (429) and Uttar Pradesh (304), Jitendra Singh, minister of state (Independent Charge) for the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), told the Lok Sabha March 16, 2022.
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), an autonomous institution under the MoES, has installed a lightning location network over India, with 83 sensors spread across the country.
The occurrence of lightning can be detected with utmost accuracy as each sensor has a coverage of about 200 sq km. IITM has installed five lightning detectors in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, Singh said.
Water standards
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has made two Indian Standards pertaining to drinking water. These are IS 10500:2012 on Drinking Water — Specification and IS 17482:2020 on Drinking Water Supply Management System — Requirements for Piped Drinking Water Supply, Ashwini Kr Choubey, Union minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution told the Lok Sabha.
BIS quality standards are not mandatory for civic agencies engaged in supplying drinking water to houses across the country, Choubey added.
Digital connectivity
Only 4.4 per cent of rural Indian households have computers, as compared to 23.4 per cent in urban areas. Only 14.9 per cent rural households have internet facilities as compared to 42 per cent in urban areas, Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state (Independent Charge) in the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, told the Lok Sabha.
These figures are according to the 75th Round of the Survey on Household Social Consumption on Education, conducted by the ministry during July 2017-June 2018, Singh said.
Poverty line
An estimated 270 million Indians were living below the poverty line in India in 2011-12, Rao Inderjit Singh told the Lok Sabha. The poverty line was defined on the basis of Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) as the criterion.
The poverty line at the all India level for 2011-12 was estimated as MCPE of Rs 816 for rural areas and Rs 1,000 for urban areas, Singh added.
Vehicle deregistration
The Union government has not specified the age for different classes or different types of motor vehicles. However, the National Green Tribunal, vide its order dated July 20, 2016, directed deregistration of more than 10 years' old diesel vehicles in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
Accordingly, the transport department, NCT of Delhi has deregistered all such 10-year-old diesel vehicles on January 1, 2022. These totaled 101,639 as on January 28, Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union minister of road transport and highways told the Rajya Sabha.