The Day That Was – 10 Aug 2021

1. पंतप्रधानांनी, सिंह संवर्धनाबद्दल झपाटून काम करत असलेल्या सर्वांना जागतिक सिंह दिनानिमित्त दिल्या शुभेच्छा:

– भारताला आशियाई सिंहाचे माहेरघर असल्याचा अभिमान आहे.

– गेल्या काही वर्षांमध्ये भारतातील सिंहाची लोकसंख्या सातत्याने वाढत आहे.

PM greets all those passionate about lion conservation on World Lion Day:

– India is proud to be home to the Asiatic Lion.

– Last few years have seen a steady increase in India’s lion population.

2. Action Plan for effective and efficient inclusion of Homeopathy in Integrative care:

– The Homoeopathy Education and Practice is regulated by the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Act, 2020.

– The said Act is having the provision for having interface between Homoeopathy, Indian system of Medicine and Modern system of Medicine to promote Medical pluralism. The NCH Act, 2020 also provides provision for the State Government to take necessary measures to address various issues related to health including promotion of Public health through Homoeopathy.

– The NCH, Act, 2020 come in to force w.e.f. 5th July 2021. 

3.  New low-cost capsule which can convert the paddy stubble into bio-manure:

– Multiple efforts have been made to demonstrate the new low cost capsule i.e. Pusa Decomposer Technology developed by ICAR – Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi for crop residue management across the country.

4. Development of new crops:

– The National Agricultural Research System (NARS) under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) comprising of ICAR Institutes and State/Central Agricultural Universities are involved in development of new high yielding and biotic/abiotic stress tolerant crop varieties of field and horticultural crops.

5.  BT Cotton & Herbicide Tolerant Cotton:

– In India, only Bt Cotton is approved for commercial cultivation. Few incidences of illegal marketing of Genetically Modified seeds of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) cotton were reported in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and Maharashtra. However, no state has reported the production of seed of unapproved Bt gene.

6. Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK):

– The Government has made a provision for opening of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in each of the rural districts across the country. A total of 725 KVKs have been established across the country till date.

KVKs are mandated for frontline extension which act as a bridge between research organizations and the main extension system operated by different development departments of the State Governments. Considering the role and resources of a KVK, it caters to the requirement of the selected farmers of the district and provide capacity development support to State Development Departments. The coverage of entire district is the responsibility of development departments of State Governments.

7. Regulation of prices of drugs:

– National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy (NPPP), 2012 prescribes the guidelines for regulation of prices of drugs. The key principles of price regulation are (i) essentiality of drugs (ii) control of prices of formulations and (iii) MarketBased Pricing. Based on NPPP, 2012 and subsequent Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013), National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals fixes the ceiling price of scheduled drugs specified in the first schedule of the DPCO, 2013 and monitors the prices of non-scheduled drugs.

8. NMHC to be developed as an international tourist destination, dedicated to the legacy of maritime heritage of India, at Lothal:

– National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) is conceptualized as an international tourist destination, dedicated to the legacy of maritime heritage of India, at Lothal, Gujarat with various tourist facilities/amenities such as National Maritime Heritage Museum, Heritage Theme Park, Maritime Research Institute, landscaping and recreational venues, to attract tourists besides pavilion for each coastal states and union territories to showcase the maritime heritage of India.

9. INS TALWAR EXERCISES WITH A KENYAN NAVAL SHIP:

Post conclusion of exercise Cutlass Express INS Talwar undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise with a Kenya Navy  Ship Shujaa, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, on 07 Aug 21.  Basic manoeuvring exercises were undertaken by the ships to enhance interoperability and strengthen maritime cooperation. On completion of exercise, INS Talwar thanked Kenya Navy for hosting them at Mombasa and KNS Shujaa appreciated Indian Navy for ensuring maritime safety in the southern IOR especially, East Coast of Africa.

10. INS TABAR AT BERGEN, NORWAY:

– INS Tabar, as part of the ongoing deployment, entered Bergen harbour on 05 Aug 21.

– On completion of port visit, in a landmark first for the Indian Navy, INS Tabar participated in a Maritime Partnership Exercise with Royal Norwegian Navy ship, HNoMS Storm, a Skjold class FAC (M) on 08 Aug 21.

11. Swarnim Vijay Varsh Victory Flame at Diglipur & Landfall Island:

– Joint Services Cycle Expedition of Andaman & Nicobar Command culminates at Diglipur

– The team hands over Victory Flame to Indian Naval Ship Kohassa Capt Satish Mishra

– The flame taken through streets of Diglipur & nearby villages

– Reaches shores of Landfall Island after traversing 60 kms onboard IN LCU 58

The Joint Services Cycle Expedition of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, accompanying the Swarnim Vijay Varsh Victory Flame, culminated at Diglipur on August 09, 2021. The cyclists successfully peddled 350 kms for over five days and reached Sports Stadium, Diglipur culminating the expedition.

12. Financial transactions of Public Sector Banks (PSBs):

– Nearly 72% of financial transactions of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are now done through digital channels, with customers active on digital channels having doubled from 3.4 crore in FY2019-20 to 7.6 crore in FY2020-21

13. Promotion of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Sector:

– In order to supplement the efforts of the States/UTs for development and promotion of animal husbandry and dairy sectors, the Government is implementing various animal husbandry and dairying schemes to enhance production and productivity of bovines & small ruminants (sheep & goat), piggery & poultry for increasing the income of livestock farmers across the country namely:

– Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM)

– National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD)

– Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund(DIDF)

– Supporting Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations engaged in dairy activities (SDC&FPO)

– National Livestock Mission(NLM)

– Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)

– Livestock Health & Disease Control(LH&DC)

– National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP)

Livestock Sector in our country has been growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.15% (at constant prices) from 2014-15 to 2019-20. Milk production, Egg Production and Meat Production in the country are growing at compound annual growth rate of 6.28%, 7.82% and 5.15% respectively from 2014-15 to 2019-20. As per National Account Statistics 2021, the value of output of milk in 2019-20 is Rs 8.39 lakh crore (at current prices) surpassing total value of output from cereals.

14. Brackishwater Aquaculture:

– Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed breeding and seed production technology of Grey Mullet (Madavai) under controlled conditions. Grey Mullet is a high-valued brackishwater fish and unavailability of sufficient seed was a hindrance for its culture. Mass-scale seed production benefits fish farmers for commercial farming of Grey Mullet in the coastal area.

– The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying is implementing a flagship scheme namely “Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) – to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India”

15. Status of CAA, NRC and NPR:

– The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 aims to facilitate grant of citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered into India on or before the 31.12.2014 and who have been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made thereunder.  The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 has been notified on 12.12.2019 and has come into force w.e.f. 10.01.2020.

– Till Now, the Government has not taken any decision to prepare National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at National Level.

– Further, Government decided to update the National Population Register (NPR) under the Citizenship Act, 1955 along with the first phase of Census, 2021.  The demographic and other particulars of each family and individual were to be updated/collected during the exercise of updation of NPR. No document is to be collected during this exercise.  However, due to outbreak of Covid-19, the updation of NPR and other related field activities have been postponed.

16. World Bio Fuel Day:

– This year, under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Oil and Gas companies celebrated World Biofuel Day with the theme ‘Biofuels for Sustainability and Rural Income”.

17. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency:

National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) consists of four initiatives to enhance energy efficiency in energy intensive industries which are as follows:

1. Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme aims at reducing Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) i.e. energy use per unit of production for Designated Consumers (DCs) in energy intensive sectors, with an associated market mechanism to enhance the cost effectiveness through certification of excess energy saving which can be traded. The    Sector-wise Designated Consumers (DCs) under PAT Scheme (Cycle –I to Cycle –VI) along with energy saving targets are given at Annexure.

2- Market Transformation for Energy Efficiency (MTEE) aims for accelerating the shift to energy efficient appliances in designated sectors through incentives and innovative business models. Under MTEE the following programmes were introduced for the promotion of energy efficient products in the market:-

– Bachat Lamp Yojna (BLY): The programme was developed for replacement of inefficient bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs).

3. Energy Efficiency Financing Platform (EEFP) was launched to provide a platform to interact with Financial Institutions (FIs) and project developers for implementation of energy efficiency projects. Under this programme, Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed by BEE to promote financing for energy efficiency projects. For capacity building of FIs, BEE signed MoU with Indian Banks’ Association for the Training Programme on Energy Efficiency Financing.

4. Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development (FEEED) was  designed for development of fiscal instruments to promote energy efficiency. The objective was to provide the comfort to concerned stakeholders through implementation of Energy Efficiency schemes such as Partial Risk Sharing Facility (PRSF) to provide partial credit guarantees to cover a share of the default risk that participating financial institutions face in extending loans to eligible Energy Efficiency sub-projects. Each energy saving loan given by Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) is partially guaranteed for a maximum tenure of 5 years with guarantee coverage ranging from 40-75% of the loan amount or Rs. 15 crore per project.