04.09.21

Arunachal Pradesh launches Two Agri schemes

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Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, launched two ambitious schemes on September 3, 2021.
One scheme was launched in Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture sector, called Atmanirbhar Krishi Yojana, and

Second scheme was launched in sector, called Atmanirbhar Bagwani Yojana.

Both the schemes are part of the Atmanirbhar programme that was announced by central government during the budget session of 2021.

Rs 120 crores has been allocated to Atmanirbhar Krishi Yojana and Rs 60 crores allocated for Atmanirbhar Bagwani Yojana.

This scheme is the subsumed version of erstwhile Chief Ministers Sashakt Kisan Yojana and Chief Ministers Samuh Yojana. This subsumed scheme gives more thrust and comprises more provision of bank loan. Similarly, the Atmanirbhar Bagwani Yojana is the updated version of Chief Ministers Sashakt Kisan Yojana.

Both of the schemes are unique because both based on front-ended subsidies. Under the scheme, credit link will be provided to the beneficiaries by the State Bank Of India, Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank (APRB) and Arunachal Pradesh Cooperative Apex Bank. Under the scheme, 45 percent will be provided as government subsidy, 45 percent as bank loan while only 10 percent will have to be borne by the farmer.

To avail the schemes, no land document such as land possession certificate (LPC) will be required for SHGs. They just require simple certificate like EAC, CO or BDO concerned. Also, there will be no collateral with respect to individual schemes to get loan up to Rs 1.60 lakh. For SHGs, no collateral will be required for loans up to Rs 10 lakhs.

Schemes will be implemented by:

State level committee headed by the chief secretary and

District level committees headed by the deputy commissioners.

The Centre is set to sign a tripartite Karbi Peace Accord on September 4, 2021.

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This accord is significant because insurgency by Karbi group has a long HISTORY in Assam which is marked by killings, ethnic violence, abductions and taxations since 1980s.

Karbi is a major ethnic community in Assam and are dotted by several factions and splinters.

About 200 Karbi terrorists will be present while signing of the agreement. These 200 Karbi terrorists are part of 1,040 terrorists who surrendered before the Assam government in February 2021.

Around 1,040 terrorists from five insurgent groups of Karbi Anglong district ceremonially put down their arms at an event in Guwahati in February, in the presence of then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. This development further bolstered the terrorism-free Assam image of present BJP-led government. Surrendered terrorists belong to Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), United Peoples Liberation Army (UPLA), Peoples Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK) and Kuki Liberation Front (KLF). They had come to surrender their weapons a year after signing of Bodo Peace Accord to end the long-run violence in Bodoland.

Bodoland region is an autonomous territorial region, administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council, which is an elected body. Bodo Accord was first signed in 2003 in a bid to maintain peace in the region. In 2020, it was extended by central government.

These outfits were originated from the core demand of establishing a separate state. Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) is an autonomous district council, which is protected under Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Karbi National Volunteers and Karbi Peoples Force joined together to form United Peoples Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) in 1990s. UPDS put down arms and signed a tripartite memorandum of settlement, in November 2011, with Centre and Government of Assam in return of enhanced autonomy and special packages for the KAAC.

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology(KIIT) Bhubaneswar, a deemed to be university, andNational Institute of Technology(NIT) Rourkela have been ranked in the 801-1000 category in the latestTimes Higher Education(THE)World University Rankingsannounced on Thursday.While IIT Bhubaneswar secured a rank in the 1001-1200 band, Siksha O Anusandhan (SOA) deemed to be university, Bhubaneswar, has been ranked in the 1201+ category.

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KIIT official sources said the institution climbed 200 places globally in the THE rankings. It is a significant improvement from last year when we had achieved a rank of 1001+. KIITs performance makes it the number one ranked university inOdisha, said an official Communication issued by the institution.

Government of Tamil Nadu recently announced its plan to set up Indias first Dugong Conservation Reserve in the Palk Bay on the southeast coast.

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Dugong or sea cow is an endangered marine mammal. It is facing extinction because of habitat loss, sea pollution, and loss of seagrass.

Dugong is found in Gulf of Mannar and at Palk Bay in Nadu.

Gulf of Mannar is a shallow bay area between south eastern end of Tamil Nadu and western Sri Lanka.

With the help of community participation, Government will also construct a Dugong Marine Conservation Reserve in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay area to protect the species.

Marine Conservation Reserve will be established over an area of 500km in Palk Bay.

It is believed that, an estimated 200 individuals live in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar area which would largely benefit from Tamil Nadu governments recent decision to establish conservation reserve.

Coconut production inKeralahas come down to below 7,000 million nuts during the financial year 2020-21, compared to 8,452 million nuts of FY18, an RTI document from Kochi-headquartered coconut development board (CDB) revealed.

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The production of coconut in Kerala during 2014-15 was 4,897 million nuts, and in 2015-16 it was 7,429 million nuts, which continued almost stable during 2016-17 with 7,449 million nuts. The production during 2018-19 slid down to 7,684 million nuts, from where it went further down to 6,980 million nuts in FY20. And further declined to 6,975 million nuts by 2020-21, CDB said in a reply to the RTI activist K Govindan Nampoothiry.

Over the four-year period (FY15 to FY18), Rs 1.8 crore was spent on training 2,637 neera technicians. The spending on training during 2014-15 was Rs 49.47 lakh, which grew to Rs 98.57 lakh in 2015-16. The next year, the spending declined to Rs 28.84 lakh and then declined further to Rs 3.72 lakh in 2017-18.

The export of coconut products (excluding coir items) during 2019-20 was valued at Rs 1,762 crore against Rs 2,045 crore of FY10. The coconut exports showed a decrease of 13.85% in terms of value during the financial year 2019-20. The major coconut products exported from India are activated carbon, fresh coconut and coconut oil in terms of value.

The geotagging of nearly 600 saplings that were planted at the Government Higher Primary School Golithattu near Nelyadi last month, was completed recently. This is part of a study to compare a normal forest with the Miyawaki forests, or the urban forests that are gaining in popularity across India.

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Geographical tagging, also known as geotagging, is the process of adding geographical identification data. This data consists of latitude and longitude coordinates. The coordinates could then be used to identify the geo-tagged tree, and monitor them through satellites.

TelanganaCongress former president and Nalgonda MP NUttam Kumar Reddy said the state government owes over Rs 4,200 crore to the women Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the state and demanded that the government immediately release the amount.

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The TRS government had last released Rs 1,200 crore towards payment of interest on loans obtained by SHGs before the assembly polls in 2018. Now, with an eye on the vote bank of Women, the government announced release of Rs 54 crore to SHGs in Huzurabad Assembly constituency, he said.

Uttam alleged that the government has not been paying the interest on the loans taken by theWoman Self Help Groupsscheme (interest-free loans to women SHGs) after K Chandrasekhar Rao took over as the chief minister for the second term in December 2018.

The state government has requested the Unionministry of powerto extend financial assistance as grants to take upenergy efficiencymeasures in energy-intensive small and medium enterprises (SME) clusters across the state.

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TheAndhra PradeshState Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM) has conducted a detailed audit in threeMSMEclusters of in Bhimavaram, foundry units in Vijayawada and refractory units inEast Godavaridistrict as a pilot project with the financial support from Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). It has been identified that the MSME sector holds immense potential in fostering energy efficiency and upgradation of technologies.

The State Government has decided to implement energy efficiency in fisheries, refractory and foundry clusters across the state in the first phase and requested financial assistance from the Union ministry of power through BEE.

Year after year, citizens have raised concerns over road engineering in the state, which especially becomes a topic of discussion after heavy rainfall leavesroadspothole ridden or submerged in water, as in Guirim at present. Data from the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) shows that the citizens apprehensions are not misplaced.The nature of roads is the cause of nearly a third of theaccidentsthat occur in Goa, the MoRTH report said.

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s many as 1,244 accidents took place on national highways. According to MoRTHs records, these national highways are being looked after by the state public works department (PWD) and are not under the jurisdiction of the National Highways Authority of India.

A third or 107 of the 297 road accident deaths reported in 2019 in Goa occurred on national highways, even though the has begun work of expansion and apparent improvement of highways across the length and breadth of Goa in 2016.

According to the MoRTH report, during 2019, 3,440 road accidents were reported in Goa 283 of them were fatal accidents, where 297 persons lost their lives.

Though in 2019, the total number of accidents in Goa were down by over 250 since 2018, the number of persons who lost their lives in fatal accidents were up in 2019 by 13.4%.
Besides, the 283 fatal accidents, grievous injuries were reported in 196 cases.

The MoRTH report shows that in very few of the accident cases in Goa, weather was responsible for the ill-event.

]This indicates that road conditions or road users not following safety measures were the top causes for road accidents in Goa.

Most of the accidents in Goa or 3,131 occurred in clear weather, causing 276 deaths. In comparison, 21 road accident deaths took place during rainy weather. Foggy vision was not reported as cause of any accident or fatality.

Majority of the accidents reported in Goa involved two-wheeler riders and those riding pillion leading to 1,757 accidents and death of 186 persons.

Minor fluctuations in climate can lead to vast scale socio-economic disruptions, a recent study has revealed.

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Using records spanning over 220 years, the study found that only a 14% drop in the Average annual rainfall led to vast scale socio-economic disruptions and human impacts (famines) over two centuries ago in semi-arid parts of British India (then Bombay and Madras presidencies under the British rule).

The study was conducted by Climate scientists from the University of Colorado-Boulder, US, and Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), among others. It was recently published in international journal Nature.

The study assumes significance, especially in the backdrop of below normal monsoon in India so far, and IMDs forecast of monsoon ending on the lower side of normal this season. Based on the findings, researchers suggested that apart from extreme rainfall deficits, risk assessment should also consider the potential impacts of more frequent low-level rainfall reductions in drought prone semi-arid regions in India.