Blog
PIB
Daily PIB
Daily PIB/ 16 Feb
General Studies- II
Topic- Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States.
Chrome Ias
Share
Trending
Latest Courses
National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM)
Context:
National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) aims to achieve the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution’ as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.
11 projects of Rs. 2560 lakhs have been sanctioned under NBHM.
About the NBHM:
NBHM was launched in August 2017 in line with Prime Minister’s call for ‘Sweet Revolution’ (revolution in production of honey to increase its production).
The NBHM is carried out by:
- Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)
- National Bee Board (NBB)
Objective of the Mission:
The main objective of NBHM are:
- To promote holistic growth of beekeeping industry for income & employment generation for farm and non-farm households,
- To enhance agriculture/ horticulture production, developing infrastructural facilities,
- Setting up of Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre (IBDC)s/CoE, honey testing labs, bee disease diagnostic labs, custom hiring centres, Api-therapy centres, nucleus stock, bee breeders, etc. and
- Empowerment of women through beekeeping.
NBHM under the KVIC:
The unorganised and the traditional methods of beekeeping were suspended with the establishment of the Khadi Village and Industry Committee (KVIC).
The Committee plays a vital role in the livelihood of the rural areas with its four features rendering the upliftment of beekeepers’ social and economic living standards.
- KVIC acts liaison as an income-generating tool for the beekeepers and beekeeping.
- KVIC ensures better food and medicine with the value of honey production and other hive products.
- KVIC supports cross-pollination that pays the way for agriculture crops.
- KVIC works enormously in constructing afforestation.
National Bee Board (NBB):
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmer’s Welfare established the National Bee Board (NBB) in the year 2000.
- The main motto of the board is to improve pollination and crop productivity through beekeeping.
Key Functions of NBB:
- Research and Development of honey processing units
- Production of quality honey
- The innovation of Phyto-Sanitary standards in terms of Bee-Product quality
- Migration of honeybee colonies
- Creating awareness and organising training
- Research and training on the disease-prone and its medication.
Funds under NBHM Mission:
- All the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises governed by the national bodies approve fund every year through the KVIC.
- The amount is allocated for the employment and income to rural youth, both men and women for preserving the honeybee environment.
Sweet Revolution (Mithi Kranti):
- Sweet Revolution was envisioned in 2016 as a strategic step to emphasize the increase in honey production in the state, which can be a major contributor to doubling the income of the farmers.
- With the increase in income, the production of crops will also increase by 15%.
Purpose of sweet revolution:
- To make Jharkhand state in the category of developed states by 2022.
- Providing employment by connecting the farmers of the state with bee keeping.
- To increase agriculture and horticulture yield and income of farmers.
- To make the state the leading state in the field of honey production.
- Children free from malnutrition.
Mains Question:
The Sweet Revolution (Mithi Kranti) in envisioned to make farmer’s income double. How it will do that? Explain the key features of ‘Sweet revolution’.
General Studies- II
Topic- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
National Coal Index
Context:
Ministry of Coal has started Commercial Auction of coal mines on revenue share basis.
In order to arrive at the revenue share based on market prices of coal, one National Coal Index (NCI) was conceptualized.
What is the NCI?
National Coal Index is being developed by the Ministry of Coal in pursuance of the recommendations of the High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) constituted to study the challenges and efficacies of fixed bid system.
The NCI is a price index which reflects the change of price level of coal on a particular month relative to the fixed base year.
- The base year for the NCI is FY 2017-18.
- NCI has been rolled out on 4th June 2020 and the same is placed on the website of the Ministry of Coal.
Objective of NCI:
The objective is to develop a National Coal Index to reflect the movement of price of coal in the domestic coal market.
The aim is to have an index that will truly reflect the market price of coal since presently the coal market is dominated by Public Sector CIL and SCCL.
The other purpose are:
- For taxation purpose, the Coal Index will be the base indicator.
- For future calculation of upfront amount and intrinsic value of mine, this Index will be helpful.
- For calculation of annual escalation (monthly payment) this index can be basis.
Key features of NCI:
Prices of coal from all the sales channels of coal, including import, as existing today are taken into account for compiling the NCI.
- The amount of revenue share per tonne of coal produced from auctioned blocks would be arrived at using the NCI by means of defined formula.
- NCI is composed of a set of five sub-indices: Three for Non Coking Coal and two for Coking Coal.
- The three sub-indices for Non Coking Coal are combined to arrive at the Index for Non Coking Coal and the two sub-indices for Coking Coal are combined to arrive at the Index for Coking Coal.
- Thus, indices are separate for Non-coking and Coking Coal.
General Studies- III
Topic- Major crops – cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems – storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER)
Context:
MOVCDNER, is instrumental in bringing a definitive change in the lives of the organic growers in the North Eastern Region.
About MOVCDNER:
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) is a Central Sector Scheme, a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
- It was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- It is being implemented in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, during the 12th plan period.
- The scheme entails creation of 100 FPO/FPC across the eight states comprising a total area of 50000 Hectare.
Objectives:
- The scheme aims to development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers.
- To support the development of entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification, to the creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing, marketing and brand building initiative.
Key features of the scheme:
MOVCDNER, is instrumental in bringing a definitive change in the lives of the organic growers in the region.
- The scheme, provides end to end support to the farmers from farm to fork including quality production, and direct market linkages to national and international markets.
- Transformation of farmer clusters into Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs).
- Through the FPCs, farmers are achieving economies of scale, engaging bulk buyers and breaking off their dependencies on the traders/middlemen for market linkages.
- Under MOVCDNER, the FPCs get access to shared infrastructure including collection centres, and allowing them to add value to their produce and market them well.
- The farmer-industry connect facilitated through professional project management team under the scheme has also witnessed a remarkable turnaround in the last 5 years.
Background:
India’s North-East region has witnessed a very limited use of agro-chemicals with farmers using traditional methods and on-farm inputs for farming.
- The region is also characterized by a diverse agro-ecological zones, variable terrain and sufficient rainfall to support a wide variety of fruit, grain and spice crops.
- MOVCD-NER scheme was conceptualized to explore this untapped potential for organic in the region.
Significance:
Emerging demand for safe and healthy organic food with added flavour of being grown in pristine environment and virgin soils of India’s North Eastern states is fast emerging as unique opportunity to the farmers of the region.
The disadvantage of not being able to pick up green revolution is now proving a boon and region with its renewed vigour on modern organic agriculture is poised to become hub for organic production of its unique heritage crops.
General Studies- III
Topic- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
India’s first CNG Tractor
Context:
India’s first-ever diesel Tractor, converted to CNG, formally launched by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.
Such tractors could save as much as Rs.one lakh rupees annually on fuel costs for farmers.
Important benefits of conversion to CNG are:
- It is a Clean Fuel as it has the lowest content of carbon and other pollutants.
- It is Economical as it has zero lead and is non-corrosive, non-dilutive and non-contaminating which helps in increasing the life of the engine and it requires less regular maintenance.
- It is Cheaper as CNG prices are far more consistent than fluctuating Petrol prices; also the average mileage of CNG vehicles is better than that of Diesel/Petrol driven vehicles.
- It is Safer as CNG tanks come with a tight seal, which reduces the possibility of explosion while refueling or in the event of a spill.
- It is the Future as at present around 12 million vehicles are already powered by natural gas throughout the world and more companies & municipalities are joining the CNG movement every day.
- It is part of Waste to Wealth as stubble (Parali) can be used as a raw material for producing Bio-CNG which will help the farmers to earn money by selling it to the Bio-CNG production units in their locality
Specific benefits for farmers are:
- The test reports indicates that the retrofitted tractor produces more power/equal in comparison to Diesel-run engine.
- Overall emissions are reduced by 70% as compared to Diesel.
- It will help farmers to save up to 50% on the fuel cost as the current Diesel prices are Rs.77.43/L whereas CNG is only Rs.42/kg.
Chrome facts for Prelims:
Unani Day 2022
World Unani Day is observed on February 11 every year.
- It is celebrated on the birth anniversary of great Unani scholar and social reformer Hakim Ajmal Khan.
- The day is marked to spread awareness about health care delivery through the Unani system of medicine.
- The Unani system of medicine was originated in Greece, however, its present form was saved by the Arabs.
- It is a preventive and curative philosophy that has been used in India for many years.
- India is one of the leading countries as far as the practice of Unani medicine which was introduced in India by the Arabs and Persians.
Hakim Ajmal Khan:
- He was the Unani medical educationist and founder of scientific research in the Unani System of Medicine.
- He was a great scholar, a social reformer, a noted freedom fighter and a genius.
World Pulses Day
The World Pulses Day falls on February 10 every year and recognised Pulses as a global food.
History and significance:
- The UN General Assembly after recognizing the value of pulses in 2013, adopted 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP).
- As the International Year of Pulses succeeded Burkina Faso (a landlocked country in West Africa) proposed the observance of World Pulses Day.
In 2019, the General Assembly announced February 10 as the World Pulses Day.
Chrome Ias
Trending
Latest Courses
For Daily Updates
Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Chrome IAS news.
