MAHIR launched in Power Sector

GS Paper - 3 (Energy)

The Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have jointly launched a National Mission to quickly identify emerging technologies in the power sector and develop them indigenously, at scale, for deployment within and outside India. The National Mission, titled “Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research (MAHIR)” aims to facilitate indigenous research, development and demonstration of the latest and emerging technologies in the power sector.

More about the Mission

1. The Mission will be funded by pooling financial resources of the Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Central Public Sector Enterprises under the two Ministries.
2. Any additional funding needed will be mobilized from Government of India's budgetary resources.
3. Planned for an initial period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28, the Mission will follow the technology life cycle approach of Idea to Product.

Mission Objectives

1. To identify emerging technologies and areas of future relevance for the Global Power Sector and take up indigenous end-to-end development of relevant technologies
2. To provide a common platform for Power Sector Stakeholders for collective brainstorming, synergetic technology development and devise pathways for smooth transfer of technology
3. To support pilot projects of indigenous technologies (developed especially by Indian Start-ups) and facilitate their commercialization
4. To seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial R&D and to create vibrant & innovative ecosystem in the Power Sector of the country
5. To make our Nation among the leading Countries in Power System related Technologies & Applications development

Areas Identified for Research

1. Alternatives to Lithium-Ion storage batteries
2. Modifying electric cookers / pans to suit Indian cooking methods
3. Green hydrogen for mobility (High Efficiency Fuel Cell)
4. Carbon capture
5. Geo-thermal energy
6. Solid state refrigeration
7. Nano technology for EV battery
8. Indigenous CRGO technology

Kerala Fibre Optical Network (KFON)

GS Paper - 3 (ITC)

The Kerala government on 5 June 2023 officially launched the Kerala Fibre Optical Network (KFON). Through KFON, Kerala, which was the first state to declare the right to internet as a basic right, aims to reduce the digital divide by ensuring high speed broadband internet access to all houses and government offices. It is also intended to give a fillip to e-governance and accelerate Kerala’s journey towards being a knowledge-based economy.

What is KFON?

1. Basically, KFON will act as an infrastructure provider. It is an optical fibre cable network of 30,000 kms, with 375 Points-of-Presence across Kerala.
2. The KFON infrastructure will be shared with all service providers, including cable operators.
3. While KFON will do the cable work for government offices, individual beneficiaries will have to depend on private, local internet service providers.
4. In many districts, Kerala Vision Broadband, an initiative of cable TV operators, is providing the internet service.
5. The KFON infrastructure will also benefit private service providers as they can use its cable network. Internet connectivity to the households would be provided by local ISP/TSP/cable TV providers.

What services will it provide?

1. The aim of the KFON is to create a core network infrastructure (information highway) with non-discriminatory access to all service providers, and to ensure a reliable, secure and scalable intranet connecting all government offices and educational institutions.
2. Its major services are connectivity to government offices, leasing of dark fibre, internet leased line, fibre to the home, wifi hotspots, colocation of assets under network operating centres and Point-of-Presences, internet protocol television, OTT, and cloud hosting.
3. The Union Department of Telecommunications had provided Infrastructure Provider (category one) licence as well as the Internet Service Provider licence (category B) to the KFON.
4. The IP licence allowed the KFON to obtain fibre optic lines (dark fibre), towers, duct space, network and other related infrastructure facilities for establishing an optic fibre network.

India, France, UAE begin joint maritime exercise

GS Paper - 2 (International Relations)

The navies of India, France and the United Arab Emirates have carried out a two-day mega wargame in the Gulf of Oman reflecting their growing cooperation to deal with challenges in the maritime sphere. It was the first edition of the wargame involving navies of the three countries, officials said.

What

1. Indian Naval ship INS Tarkash, French ship Surcouf, French Rafale aircraft and the UAE Navy's maritime patrol aircraft participated in the exercise that began.
2. The exercise featured a wide spectrum of naval operations such as surface warfare, involving tactical firing and drills for missile engagements on surface targets, helicopter cross deck landing operations, advanced air defence exercise and boarding operations, said an Indian Navy official.
3. The official said the exercise aimed to enhance trilateral cooperation between the three navies and pave the way for adopting measures towards addressing traditional and non-traditional threats in the maritime environment.

Artificial sweeteners harmful for your health

Source: By Anonna Dutt: The Indian Express

The World Health Organisation recommended against using artificial sweeteners to achieve weight loss and prevent lifestyle diseases such as diabetes. The report emphasised that while there was a need to cut intake of sugar, it should not be replaced by artificial sweeteners.

Artificial sweeteners provide the sweet taste with very little to no calories. Many diabetics use the sweeteners in their tea and coffee, but there is a growing market for packaged foods and beverages using these sweeteners to offer low-calorie options.

“WHO suggests that non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) not be used as a means of achieving weight control or reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases,” was the highlight of 90-page report based on nearly 283 studies.

What has WHO said in its recommendation on artificial sweeteners?

While there could be some weight-loss and reduction in Body Mass Index in the short term as the artificial sweeteners bring down the calories consumed, but in the long run they have been linked to weight gain, the WHO report said. The sweeteners have also linked to an increased risk of Type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in the long run. Some low certainty data also linked the use of such artificial sweeteners to bladder cancer and preterm birth when consumed by pregnant women.

The meta-analysis found that higher intake of NSS was associated with a 23% increase in the risk of type-2 diabetes when consumed in the form of beverages and 34% when added to foods. Higher intake of these sweeteners was also linked with 32% increase in the risk of cardio-vascular disease – including a 19% increase in risk for stroke – and 13% increase in the risk for hypertension.

It was also linked with a 25% increase in the risk for pre-term birth. “Long-term adverse effects in the form of increased risk of death and disease offset any potential short-term health benefit resulting from the relatively small reduction in body weight and BMI observed in randomized controlled trials,” the report said.

The WHO has made these recommendations for everyone other than those who are already diabetic. “Replacing free sugars with non-sugar sweeteners does not help with weight control in the long term. People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages,” says Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety, in a release.

Is this the first time artificial sweeteners have been linked to such adverse impacts?

The analysis of WHO is based on already existing studies, results for which have been pooled to reach the conclusions. In fact, the WHO said that it was a “conditional recommendation” because the evidence was of low certainty. However, the recommendations come on the heels of two important studies that have shown the long term consequences.

A large French study that followed those taking artificial sweeteners for nearly eight years said that it increased the risk of cancers. Another large study published earlier this year showed that the artificial sweetener erythritol increased the risk of clotting and can lead to heart attacks or strokes.

What do the doctors recommend?

Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman at Fortis CDOC Hospital for Diabetes and Allied Sciences, said that the artificial sweeteners should absolutely not be consumed by non-diabetics for weight loss. “Even among diabetics I would recommend it very selectively to those who have good control over their sugars. In fact, I would suggest that they have ½ a tsp of sugar rather than the artificial sweeteners,” he said.

He added: “If the sweeteners have been linked to increased risk for cardio-vascular diseases or cancer, the recommendation should also apply to diabetics as they are anyway at a higher risk of getting these diseases than the general population,” he said.

Dr Ambrish Mithal, Chairman and Head, Endocrinology and Diabetes, Max Healthcare, said that while the artificial sweeteners were developed as a low-calorie alternate to sugar for those with diabetes, it is now being used by healthy individuals. “Because the calories from the artificial sweeteners is much lower than the calories from sugar, people have started substituting it for sugar as a possible tool to lose weight. This hasn’t been proven in any study. In fact, studies suggest that they can lead to an increase the risk of insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes.”

Here, Dr Misra makes a special mention of erythritol that can stay in the body for several days after being consumed. “It is usually mixed with other sweeteners to give them a more natural flavour, but it should not be consumed at all. Try and read the label to avoid it.”

Why are diet colas damaging?

Dr Mithal explains that while the normal cola contains an extremely high amount of sugar – around 12 spoons in 500 ml – diet colas promise zero calories. This zero calories is achieved by using artificial sweeteners. “People tend to drink it more because they think they are consuming fewer calories. But this can lead to long-term negative consequences, including insulin resistance and diabetes,” he said.

He added artificial sweeteners are also intensely sweet, much more than sugar. So, it makes normal sweets taste less sweet and makes you crave for more sweets.