India’s first ever 3D-printed post office in Bengaluru (GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Union Railways Minister inaugurated India’s first post office constructed using 3D printing technology in Karnataka.
Details:
- The new structure has been named “Cambridge Layout PO,” and will house the Halasuru Bazaar Post Office.
- The project was taken up by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) with technological support from IIT Madras.
- The overall construction cost was about Rs. 26 lakh, which is approximately 30 per cent to 40 per cent less expensive than a structure constructed conventionally.
About 3D printing:
- Robotics are used to deposit building materials in layers to create walls, floors and roofs in 3D printing in construction, also known as 3DCP. The machine may create some necessary supports and reinforcements in advance and incorporate them into a house as it is being built.
- A 1,000 square foot 3D printed house can be built in as little as five to seven days rather than eight to 12 months.
- For a developing nation like India, 3D printing holds enormous promise for the future of cheap housing.
How it works?
- A 3D-printed home is built from the ground up, starting with the blueprint, the foundation of any construction plan. Instead of having construction workers translate it to the ground, a larger 3D printer uses a computer design to build a physical structure at the scale decided upon by the engineers.
- Dimensional information, information on whether a particular wall is load-bearing, and information on the necessary thickness are all details available to the printer. Several construction components are layered throughout the printing process.
- A dry-mix material feeding system, continuous mixer, pumping unit, motion assembly, operating software, and other components make up a 3D concrete printer. The nozzle is a vital element in construction printers.
- A 3D printer uses plans to construct the walls, pillars, and roof; any extra components, such as windows, doors, electrical, and plumbing systems, are added afterwards.
- A printing mix requires to possess certain properties, such as faster preliminary setting; ability to be pumped out (pumpability), flowing nature (flowability), and ease of building one layer upon another without deformation (buildability), these are properties are not found in the mortar used in conventional construction.
Potential to transform the construction industry:
- L&T was one of the first significant construction businesses in India to adopt 3-D printing technology.
- The global market for 3D-printed homes was estimated to be worth $13.84 billion in 2021 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 20.8 per cent through 2030. There were 2.2 million 3D printers shipped globally in 2021, and by 2030, that figure might reach 21.5 million.
- India’s construction industry, which had a 2016 value of $126 billion, is predicted to increase by up to 7 times by the year 2028.
- The researchers at the University of Nantes conducted a study that found concrete buildings manufactured using 3D printing technology might last up to 100 years.
Other similar buildings:
- Earlier, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati constructed a 3D-printed sentry post for the Indian Army as part of indigenous research and development research.
- India’s first 3D-printed home, built by the tech start-up Tvasta in Chennai (on the campus of IIT-Madras), was inaugurated in April 2021.
- The walls of a 3D-printed house created in 2014 by the Chinese business Winsun were built using concrete sprayed on layers by four huge 3D printers.
- A family in Nantes, France, became the first in the world to live in a 3D-printed home in 2018. It was printed in 54 hours using cement and insulator polyurethane as the main building materials.
- The Dubai Future Academy offices, a 2,600 square foot building that is 20 feet (ft) high, 120 feet long and 40 feet wide, hold the Guinness World Records distinction for the first commercially produced 3D-printed building.
Jan Dhan Yojana crossed 50-crore mark
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- The national Mission on Financial Inclusion popularly known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28th august 2014 and it has completed almost 9 years.
- As per the latest reports, the total number of Jan Dhan accounts have crossed 50 crore as on 9th August 2023.
Key Highlights:
- Out of these accounts 56% accounts belong to women and 67% accounts have been opened in Rural / Semi-urban areas.
- The deposits in these accounts are above Rs. 2.03 lakh crore and about 34 crore RuPay cards have been issued in these accounts free of cost.
- The average balance in PMJDY accounts is Rs. 4,076 and more than 5.5 crore PMJDY accounts are receiving DBT benefits.
Background:
- Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.
Objectives:
- Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
- Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach
Basic tenets of the scheme:
- Banking the unbanked: Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
- Securing the unsecured: Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh
- Funding the unfunded: Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit
Initial Features:
- The scheme was launched based upon the following 6 pillars:
- Universal access to banking services – Branch and BC
- Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every eligible adult
- Financial Literacy Program– Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking
- Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund – To provide banks some guarantee against defaults
- Insurance – Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of Rs. 30,000 on account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015
Extension of PMJDY with New features –
- Focus shift from ‘Every Household’ to Every Unbanked Adult’
- RuPay Card Insurance - Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.
- Enhancement in overdraft facilities -
- OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000/- to Rs 10,000/-; OD upto Rs 2,000/- (without conditions).
- Increase in upper age limit for OD from 60 to 65 years
Way Forward:
- The success of PMJDY lies in the comprehensive nature of the scheme with an attempt to connect the last mile with the formal banking system through technology, collaboration and innovation.
Natural varnish on rocks in arid regions could inspire protective paints and pigments
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
Why in news?
- Interactions between minerals and microbes present in rocks in arid regions result in rock varnish, an orange-yellow to black coating found on exposed rock surfaces in these areas, according to a study carried out in Ladakh.
- It shields the rocks from further weathering could help in the design of similar bio-inspired products and raw materials for the paint and pigment industries, manufacturing of water-resistant materials as well as natural UV protectors.
Surface wettability characteristics:
- The researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences are probing into their formation.
- They accidentally dropped a few drops of water on the rock varnish, and observed that the droplets did not spread on the surface but instead adhered to it.
- Struck by change in surface wettability characteristics from hydrophilic to hydrophobic in the transition from host rock to varnish, they decided to compare this surface wettability phenomenon observed on the rock samples with a hydrophobic material such as a raincoat.
Geochemical fingerprinting:
- Microbial fingerprinting using organic biomarkers and isotopic analyses in conjunction with electron microscopy revealed the presence of organic metabolites such as fatty acids, alkyl benzenes, oxime, amide, and fatty acids which the scientists interpreted as resulting from mineral, microbial interactions.
- The research sheds light on the intricate relationship between microbial communities, surface characteristics, and organic biomarkers in the formation and stability of rock varnish in extreme environments.
Key observations:
- The scientists speculated that the nearly hydrophobic characteristic of the rock-varnish layer creates a niche for microbial life to thrive at the interface between the host rock and varnish layer while providing protection against environmental factors like UV radiation, particle abrasion, and extreme temperature fluctuations.
- This hydrophobic feature of the varnish layer may contribute to its longevity, as evidenced by the preservation of petroglyphs discovered worldwide over thousands of years.
- They concluded that Mn and Fe, along with surface hydrophobicity, play an important role in shielding the inner biotic entities in extreme conditions.
Way Forward:
- Introducing the concept that surface chemistry and hydrophobicity could play a crucial role in facilitating microbial processes related to varnish formation.
- The study paves new avenues in the field of bioinspired materials, as rock varnish possesses characteristics that make it a unique geomaterial.
