All that was discussed in the House through the day
Lightning strikes killed 2,862 Indians in 2020, Jitendra Singh, minister of state (independent charge) in the Union Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, told the Lok Sabha December 1, 2021.
Singh added that lightning activity had shown an increasing trend over India in the past two decades according to recent studies. The North East, eastern and parts of peninsular India had registered a sharp increase of lighting over the past two decades.
Central India recorded a minimal increase in lightning strikes. It was moderate over the rest of the country.
Rajasthan mining
Rajasthan recorded 28,714 incidents of illegal mining from 2019 up to October 2021, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi told the Lok Sabha.
The Government of Rajasthan had granted two leases for major minerals such as limestone and 1,114 leases for minor minerals from April 1, 2019 to November 24, 2021, Joshi said.
Coal shortage
Coal stocks at Indian power plants depleted to 7.2 million tonnes (MT) (sufficient for four days) on October 8, 2021, Joshi told the Lok Sabha.
The main reasons for the shortage were the increased demand for power, lower power generation by imported coal-based power plants and some interruption in the supply of coal due to heavy rains.
Railway emissions
The Indian Railways has planned to utilise solar energy for reducing carbon emissions in the Railways, Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha.
The Railways has installed solar plants on rooftops of stations and service buildings and also on unused vacant Railway land, Vaishnaw said.
A total 128.17 megawatt (MW) solar capacity has been installed by Indian Railways as of December 10, 2021. This includes 121.47 MW on rooftops of buildings and 6.7 MW on Railway land, Vaishnaw added.
Food wastage
Each Indian household generates food waste at the rate of 50 kilogram per capita per year, which is lower than many developed countries.
Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food And Public Distribution Ashwini Kr Choubey told the Lok Sabha that this figure was based on the United Nations Environment Programme report titled Food Wastage Index Report 2021.
The report was released in the month of March, 2021.
Stunted Children
Stunting among Indian children under five years of age has reduced to 35.5 per cent, from 38.4 per cent, according to the Fifth Edition of the National Family Health Survey or NFHS-5 (2019-21), when compared to NFHS-4 (2015-16).
Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani also told the Rajya Sabha that wasting had reduced to 19.3 per cent from 21 per cent. The per centage of underweight children had reduced to 32.1 per cent from 35.8 per cent.
Tribal population
The population of Scheduled Tribes in India has increased by about 24 per cent in comparison to Census 2001, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta told the Rajya Sabha.
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