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(Topic: Culture)
Shahapur’s Katkari Tribe have started selling Giloy and are earning a decent livelihood out of it. The initiative began when Sunil Pawar, a youth from Katkari community, and his team of 10-12 friends — who facilitated various work of Katkari tribals at revenue offices in Shahpur — decided to start an enterprise of selling Giloy in local markets.
Giloy is a medicinal plant with huge demand from pharmaceutical companies. Called गुडूची in Ayurveda, giloy is used in medicines which treat various kinds of fever (viral fever, malaria, etc.) as well as diabetes. It is used in extract form, powder form or cream.
Expanding and Diversification by the Tribe
Katkari Tribe
There are certain tribal communities who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward. These groups are among the most vulnerable section of our society as they are few in numbers, have not attained any significant level of social and economic development and generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support. 75 such groups have been identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana run by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India provides working capital for these SHGs. So they don’t have to sell their produce in distress, moreover they can immediately pay tribals for produce they have picked up, this greatly helps tribals in having steady income.
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in the education sector)
Investing in the human capital is equivalent to an investment in productivity and prosperity of the nation. The present pandemic situation has presented new challenges and several opportunities for our education system.
Education sector has taken this opportunity to plan several interventions, particularly in the area of adopting innovative curriculum and pedagogies, concentrating energies on the gap areas, being more inclusive and integrating technology at every stage, to usher in a new era of focussed investment in the human capital.
A. PM e-VIDYA: This will enable multi-mode access to education, and includes:
This will benefit nearly 25 crore school going children across the country.
B. Manodarpan: Being launched to provide such support through a website, a toll-free helpline, national directory of counselors, interactive chat platform, etc. This initiative will benefit all school going children in the country, along with their parents, teachers and the community of stakeholders in school education.
C. E-learning in higher education – By liberalizing open, distance and online education regulatory framework. Top 100 universities will start online courses. Also, online component in conventional Universities and ODL programmes will also be raised from present 20% to 40%. This will provide enhanced learning opportunities to nearly 7 crore students across different colleges and Universities.
D. Prepare a new National Curriculum and Pedagogical Framework for school education, teacher education and early childhood stage to prepare students and future teachers as per global benchmarks. There is a need to promote critical thinking, creative and communication skills, along with experiential and joyful learning for the students focussing on learning outcomes. The curriculum must be rooted in the Indian ethos and integrated with global skill requirements.
E. A National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Missionwill be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 202 For this, teacher capacity building, a robust curricular framework, engaging learning material – both online and offline, learning outcomes and their measurement indices, assessment techniques, tracking of learning progress, etc. will be designed to take it forward in a systematic fashion. This mission will cover the learning needs of nearly 4 crore children in the age group of 3 to 11 years.
Solve: A new era of focussed investment in the human capital
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in the security and defence sector)
Government has accepted and implemented three important recommendations of Committee of Experts (CoE) under the Chairmanship of Lt General D B Shekatkar (Retd) relating to border Infrastructure.
Recommendation 1- Creating border infrastructure: Government has implemented recommendation of CoE to outsource road construction work beyond optimal capacity of Border Roads Organisation (BRO). It has been made mandatory to adopt Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) mode for execution of all works costing more than Rs 100 crore
Recommendation 2- Introduction of modern construction plants, equipment and machinery has been implemented by delegating enhanced procurement powers from Rs 7.5 crore to Rs 100 crore to BRO, for domestic and foreign procurements. Border Roads has recently inducted Hot-Mix Plant 20/30 TPH for speedier laying of roads, remote operated hydraulic Rock Drills DC-400 R for hard rock cutting, a range of F-90 series of self-propelled snow-cutters/blowers for speedier snow clearance.
Recommendation 3- New Technology like blasting technology for precision blasting, use of Geo-Textiles for soil stabilisation, cementitious base for pavements, plastic coated aggregates for surfacing, is also being used to enhance the pace of construction. With the empowerment of field officers through enhanced delegation of financial and administrative powers, there has been significant improvement in faster financial closure of works.
The land acquisition and all statutory clearances like forest and environmental clearance are also made part of approval of Detailed Project Report (DPR). Further, with the adoption of EPC mode of execution, it is mandatory to award work only when 90 per cent of the statutory clearances have been obtained, implementing the recommendation of CoE regarding obtaining prior clearances before the commencement of the project.
The Shekatkar Committee
It was set up by former defence minister Manohar Parrikar, and submitted its report in December 2016.
According to a 2017 report, the Shekatkar Committee had recommended that
Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
Solve: The central government has already initiated army reforms based on recommendations of Shetkar committee. What are these reforms? Also explain how it must be quickly followed by implementation of other recommendations, particularly those of higher defence management.
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development)
The government recently relaxed the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) norms worth Rs 45,000 crore and extended its time period in order to widen the coverage to include a larger number of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies (HFCs) and microfinance institutions. The extension of the existing scheme will address the liability side concerns.
The Union Cabinet has approved the Sovereign portfolio guarantee of up to 20 percent of first loss for purchase of Bonds or Commercial Papers (CPs) with a rating of AA and below (including unrated paper with original/ initial maturity of up to one year) issued by NBFCs/ MFCs/Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) through the extension of the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme.
The Cabinet also approved modifications in the existing PCGS on purchase of pooled assets, increasing its coverage by relaxing the net profit criteria to the extent that the concerned NBFC/HFC should now have made a profit in at least one of the financial years of FY2017-18, FY 2018-19 and 2019-20. Earlier, the NBFC/HFC should have made a net profit in at least one of the financial years of FY 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Why is it being modified?
Modifications in the existing PCGS will enable wider coverage of the scheme on the asset side also. “Since NBFCs, HFCs, and MFIs play a crucial role in sustaining consumption demand as well as capital formation in small and medium segment, it is essential that they continue to get funding without disruption, and the extended PCGS is expected to systematically enable the same,” the government said.
Impact: COVID-19 crisis and consequent lockdown restrictions are likely to have a negative impact on both collections and fresh loan disbursements, besides a deleterious effect on the overall economy. This is anticipated to result not only in asset quality issues for the NBFC/ HFC/ MFI sector, but also low loan growth as well as higher borrowing costs for the sector, with a cascading effect on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which borrow from them. While the RBI moratorium provides some relief on the assets side, it is on the liabilities side that the sector is likely to face increasing challenges. The extension of the existing Scheme will address the liability side concerns. In addition, modifications in the existing PCGS will enable wider coverage of the Scheme on the asset side also. Since NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs play a crucial role in sustaining consumption demand as well as capital formation in small and medium segment, it is essential that they continue to get funding without disruption, and the extended PCGS is expected to systematically enable the same.
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)
The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) has been formulated as a specific response to the unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown, which has severely impacted manufacturing and other activities in the MSME sector. The Scheme aims at mitigating the economic distress being faced by MSMEs by providing them additional funding of up to Rs. 3 lakh crore in the form of a fully guaranteed emergency credit line. The main objective of the Scheme is to provide an incentive to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), i.e., Banks, Financial Institutions (FIs) and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to increase access to, and enable availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers, in view of the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, by providing them 100 per cent guarantee for any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment of the GECL funding by borrowers.
(Topic: Economy; Measures by RBI during COVID-19)
“It is when the horizon is the darkest and human reason is beaten down to the ground that faith shines brightest and comes to our rescue.”
The Goals of the measures:
Measures to Improve the Functioning of Markets
Measures to Support Exports and Imports
Measures to Ease Financial Stress
Measures to ease financial constraints faced by State Governments
(Topic: Food Processing Industry)
There are about 25 lakh unregistered food processing enterprises which constitute 98% of the sector and are unorganized and informal. Nearly 66 % of these units are located in rural areas and about 80% of them are family-based enterprises.
This sector faces a number of challenges including
Strengthening this segment will lead to reduction in wastage, creation of off-farm job opportunities and aid in achieving the overarching Government objective of doubling farmers’ income.
Objectives:
Salient features:
Support to Individual micro units:
Support to FPOs/SHGs/Cooperatives:
Impact and employment generation:
(Topic: Fisheries sector)
Duration: FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25
Objective
(Topic: Climate Change, Environment and Conservation)
The Western ghats are tropical rainforests that area a biodiversity hotspot. It is an ecological sensitive regions spanning over six states in Indian peninsula. They are in danger due to human encroachment, pollution and climate change.
The Centre had constituted a High-Level Working Group under the Chairmanship of Dr Kasturirangan to conserve and protect the biodiversity of Western Ghats while allowing for sustainable and inclusive development of the region. Each state expressed its desire to expedite early notification while protecting interests of ecology and environment of Western Ghats.
To protect the western ghats major expert committees have given their recommendations:
Gadgil Committee Recommendations:
Examination of Madhav Gadgil Report
Kasturirangan committee Report Recommendations
Examination of Kasturirangan committee Report
Recommendations of Oommen V Oommen Committee
Solve:
(Topic: Disaster Management)
Extremely severe cyclone Amphan that hit West Bengal, Odisha, and Bangladesh on Wednesday foregrounds the compounded challenge of dealing with natural disasters—increasingly exacerbated by climate amidst a pandemic. To save lives, Odisha and West Bengal have had to evacuate over 4.5 lakh people, and Bangladesh 22 lakh. In normal times, such evacuation would have been a disaster management triumph. But, in a Covid-19 world, it represents a governance challenge that neither of the two Indian states nor Bangladesh is ready for. Given the damage to power, road, housing, and other infrastructure, evacuees are likely to be stranded in cyclone shelters for days, if not weeks, and since cyclone shelters are designed to minimise loss of life by packing as many people together as possible, distancing, one of the key measures to contain Covid-19 spread, may simply not be possible.
The storm is the first super cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since 1999. Though its winds had weakened by the time it struck, it was still classified as a very severe cyclone. Coronavirus restrictions have been hindering emergency and relief efforts. Covid-19 and social-distancing measures made mass evacuations more difficult, with shelters unable to be used to full capacity.
The Sundarbans did their duty
The Sundarbans are in the largest delta in the world — and shared by both Bangladesh and India. It also has the largest single tract mangrove forest in the world. Here reside hundreds of flora and fauna species — among them, the Royal Bengal Tigers. Humans and tigers live side-by-side in a unique biosphere. Even before Amphan, this fragile nature’s bulwark was threatened by rising water levels engulfing islands, increasing storms, and pollution from tourism.
But the delta’s mangroves act as nature’s shock absorbers, as cyclone after cyclone hits the coastline. They keep the mainland safe from the harshest impact of storms.
And that’s exactly what they did when Amphan came. But in the process, the Sundarbans were battered, flattened, and the islands destroyed. Homes and cattle were swept away. Saline water seeped into fertile land. And jobless workers who came back home to these islands during the lockdown now face an even bleaker future.
As global warming increases sea temperatures and water levels, more such powerful tropical storms will become the norm. And if these destroyed mangroves do not regenerate and regrow in a protected environment, disaster awaits Bengal.
What saved Sundarbans from being completely washed away?
1 HOUR: separated the maximum intensity of Cyclone Amphan and the high tide peak. That is what saved Sundarbans from being completely washed away May 20, 2020 night.
The combined effect of the high tide and Amphan pushed water level to 5.45 metres in Sagar at 8.38 pm — about 0.7 m above prediction,” said a source associated with the Kolkata Port Trust. “It could have been much more devastating had the peak overlapped with high tide”. The mud embankments in Sundarbans are generally 5 feet high. Most of them thus barely escaped being breached by surging saline water.
However, 87 km of river embankment have been severely damaged; out of that 8 km has been completely washed away.
The story of cyclone Amphan — pronounced Um-pun and meaning ‘sky’ in Thai — is not just a tale of natural disaster and destruction, but also of political distancing, media apathy, climate change, and a UNESCO world heritage mangrove fortress.
Why Cyclone Amphan Can’t Be Declared a ‘National Disaster’?
Because there is no legal provision for defining a national disaster.
The Disaster Management Act of 2005, which guides India’s disaster planning does not have any provision for notifying any disaster as a ‘national calamity’ or a ‘national disaster’. In fact, the Act does not have clear demarcations for national, state or local level disasters. The Act only defines a disaster as:
“A catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of property, or damage to, or degradation of environment, and is of such nature or magnitude, as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.”
How to Classify Natural Disasters?
The National Disaster Management Plan 2016, published by the National Disaster Management Authority, categorises disasters into three levels – L1, L2 and L3 – based on “the vulnerability of disaster-affected area, and the capacity of the authorities to deal with the situation.”
Although these categories find no mention in DM Act 2005, the NDMP specifically outlines the scope of each of these categories:
Level-L1: The level of disaster that can be managed within the capabilities and resources at the district level. However, the state authorities will remain in readiness to provide assistance if needed.
Level-L2: The level of disaster which requires assistance and active mobilisation of resources at the state level. At this level, the state is required to deploy its agencies for for disaster management. The central agencies must remain vigilant for immediate deployment if required by the state.
Level-L3: This corresponds to a nearly catastrophic situation or a very large-scale disaster that goes beyond the response capacity of the State and District authorities and require assistance from the central government for reinstating the state and district machinery. This is the level that cyclone Amphan is most likely to fall under.
So, what about the natural disasters like the more recent flash floods in Uttarakhand , Cyclone Hudhud and the Kerala floods in 2018?
They were later classified as “calamities of severe nature”.
How is Funding Decided?
Since management of disasters is considered a state matter, according to NDMP, the primary responsibility for undertaking rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures during a disaster lies with the state governments. But the central government pitches in through logistic and financial support during ‘severe’ disasters on request of the state governments.
According to Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) guidelines, in the event of “calamity of severe nature” a Lok Sabha MP from any part of the the country can recommend work up to a maximum of Rs 1 crore for the affected district.
The five Ps of disaster management
Prominent role of Governments: There is a need for a genuinely non-discriminatory and equal approach qua all states. Irrespective of Bengal’s eligibility, capacity or political orientation, the Centre owes it to such states to specially reach out to international institutions.
Pool of Funds: There is a need to exponentially increase government allocation to fight natural disasters.
Planning, especially long-term, of rehabilitation and development: We cannot, on the one hand, rightly project India as a global leader and, on the other, pale when it comes to justifiable proportionate global comparisons. In the 2011 tsunami-earthquake, Japan allocated $167 billion for rehabilitation and recovery. It made a five-year plan to do so comprehensively. Similarly, the US Congress allocated $121.7 billion in hurricane relief in 2005 and 2008. Though precise figures for allocation “per head of vulnerable group” are not available, it is clear that comparisons with India on per-affected-population basis yield a dismal picture.
Planning which is Targeted: Random allocation is far less useful than targeted and focused relief measures. Japan’s targeted five-year plan focussed on each stakeholder — from fisheries to housing and power. Knee-jerk reactions in grand mega-announcements after cyclones, without specific sub-allocations, lose their limited vigour and vitality by the time they reach the ground target.
Preparedness qua countermeasures: Planned and targeted measures need to be coupled with a robust institutional framework. After 2011, the Japanese government enacted the “Act on the Development of Tsunami-resilient Communities”, to efficiently combine structural and non-structural measures to minimise damage. All municipalities had to draft their reconstruction plans based on modelling and the plans were based entirely on urban planning, land management, structural mitigation and relocation. Such innovations have barely been conceptualised in India, much less implemented and even medium-term thinking, much less long-term planning, is conspicuously overwhelmed by short-term ad hocism.
Policy qua institutional support: Given our cyclical annual natural disasters, we have very little policy focus on pre-disaster countermeasures. Prevention is always better than cure, and such countermeasures will be highly effective as well as cost-effective. Many countries in their disaster-prone coastal regions have constructed high seawalls to protect vulnerable communities. Odisha’s cyclone shelters are a praiseworthy-but-partial achievement, deserving emulation.
Solve:
Technological Developments
A. RNA extraction kit Agappe Chitra Magna launched commercially for detection of COVID 19: A magnetic nanoparticle-based RNA extraction kit for use during testing for detection of COVID-19.
B. New ways to prevent memory loss due to Alzheimer: The development of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease assumes importance India as it has the third highest number of Alzheimer’s patients in the world, after China and US, with more than four million people falling prey to the memory loss associated with it. While current treatments only alleviate some of the symptoms of the disease, there is no disruptive therapeutic approach yet that can treat the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s.
C. Alternative dwarfing genes in wheat can eliminate rice crop residue burning:
Burning of leftover rice crop residue has serious implications for the environment, soil, and human health. Therefore, there is a need to include alternative dwarfing genes in wheat improvement programs. These lines will also allow deeper sowing of wheat seeds to avail advantage of residual moisture in the soil, therefore, saving valuable water resources and reduce the cost of cultivation to farmers.
D. IASST develops electrochemical sensing platform for detecting carcinogenic & mutagenic compounds in food:
E. Tea chemicals could lower coronavirus activity: Tea chemicals could be effective in boosting immunity as they can block coronavirus activity better than anti-HIV drugs
Please note
International Museum Day: 18th May
World Turtle Day: 23rd May; Turtles have been cleaning our water resources and they don’t charge us for doing that job.
Cabinet approves issuance of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Second Order, 2020 in relation of Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act
Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities
5 Stars: Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysuru, Indore and Navi Mumbai
3-Star: 65 cities
1-Star: 70 cities
Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana extended: PMVVY is a social security scheme for senior citizens intended to give an assured minimum pension to them based on an assured return on the purchase price / subscription amount.
AtmaNirbhar Bharat Package for allocation of foodgrains to the migrants / stranded migrants: To approximately 8 crore migrants / stranded migrants @ 5 kg per person per month (May and June, 2020) for two months free of cost.
