Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules 29th January 2019

Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Republic Day Tableau

Kisan Gandhi bags First Prize

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about ICAR)

What’s the NEWS

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) was awarded First

Prize for its Tableau, ‘Kisan Gandhi’ in the Republic Day Parade - 2019.

Know! about the tableau

The ICAR tableau displayed the importance of dairy farming, use of

indigenous breeds and livestock based organic agriculture for rural

prosperity.

The ICAR tableau “Kisan Gandhi” portrayed the Gandhiji’s vision to

improve agriculture and livestock for the prosperity of rural communities.

To gain more insight, he attended a training program on dairy farming for

fifteen days in 1927 at Bangalore Centre of the ICAR - National Dairy

Research Institute. He also visited and appreciated the 'Indore method' of

composting at the Institute of Plant Industry, Indore in 1935.

The 22 tableaux rolling down the Rajpath during the 70th Republic Day

Parade included 16 tableaux from states and Union Territories, six from

various central ministries and departments.

The ICAR Republic Day tableau - 2018 rolled down at Rajpath with the

theme of integrated farming, “Mishrit Kheti, Khushiyon Ki Kheti”.

States and union territories category

Under the states and union territories category, the first prize went to

Tripura for its float based on the theme of 'Empowering Rural

Economy in Gandhian Way'.

The second prize went to Jammu and Kashmir for its theme on 'Gandhiji's

Ray of Hope - Our Composite Culture' and the third prize to Punjab for

its float on the theme of 'Jallianwala Bagh'.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous

body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in

India.

It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education,

Ministry of Agriculture.

The Union Minister of Agriculture serves as its president. It is the largest

network of agricultural research and education institutes in the world

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launches National

Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP)

Highlights

To attract talent and strengthen higher agricultural education in the

country

The second Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) of the country

established in Barahi, Jharkhand

What’s the NEWS

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha

Mohan Singh inaugurated the fourth Convention of 2-day "Agrivision-

2019" organized by Vidyarthi Kalyan Nyas in Pusa, New Delhi.

The recommendations of the 5th Dean Committee

In order to make agriculture education useful, the recommendations of

the 5th Dean Committee have been implemented in all the Agricultural

Universities under which amendment of agricultural degree courses has

been done to include biotechnology, information technology, bio-

informatics, remote sensing, organic farming, agriculture business

management etc.

Emphasis has been given on experiential learning, skill and

entrepreneurship development.

National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP)

ICAR has recently launched Rs 1100 crore ambitious National

Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to attract talent and

strengthen higher agricultural education in the country.

This project will be funded by the World Bank and the Indian

Government on a 50:50 basis.

In addition, a four year degree in Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries and

Forestry has been declared a professional degree.

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has been set up in Barhi,

Jharkhand on the lines of IARI, Pusa New Delhi, and another IARI is

being set up in Assam.

Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development

Yojana)

In order to promote the participation of students in agricultural business,

Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development

Yojana) scheme is being run, under which practical experience of

agriculture and entrepreneurship is provided to undergraduate students.

A MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and

Farmers’ Welfare and the Ministry of Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship to promote skill development in the field of agriculture.

Under this, skill development training programs are being organized

regularly in KVKs across the country. These training programs are based

on agriculture and related topics.

Information Technology CSC launches First Cash and Carry Store

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about CSC) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure

development + GS II government policies and intervention + rural

development)

What’s the NEWS

Common Services Centres (CSCs) under Digital India mission are

providing Citizen Centric Services.

CSCs are delivering many government and non-government services to

citizens in rural India across the country.

In its endeavor to promote rural marketing and create employment, CSC

has launched its first Cash and Carry store in Kanth Tehsil of Moradabad

district, Uttar Pradesh.

Efforts are on to have one cash & carry store in every block. The store

currently has products of Godrej, Patanjali, JIVA, Crompton, i-Ball. The

store also offers free membership benefits to other CSC VLEs and

government employees.

Each cash and carry store will provide employment minimum 4 persons

directly and indirectly. Clubbed with economic census initiative, stage

has been set to create 25 lakh job opportunities in the near future in

under–exposed parts of India.

Common Service Centres (CSC)

CSC are physical facilities for delivering Government of India e-

Services to rural and remote locations where availability of computers

and Internet was negligible or mostly absent.

They are multiple-services-single-point model for providing facilities for

multiple transactions at a single geographical location.

CSCs are the access points for delivery of essential public utility

services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and

agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural

and remote areas of the country.

It is a pan-India network catering to regional, geographic, linguistic and

cultural diversity of the country, thus enabling the Government's mandate

of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Two Day International Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation

inaugurated in New Delhi

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about the conference) + Mains(GS III – environment

conservation)

What’s the NEWS

The 3rd Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation was inaugurated in

New Delhi.

Know! about the conference

Third in a series of Stock Taking Conferences, this is the second to be

held in India after 2012 and is expected to have wide ranging discussions

on the status of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) by the 13

tiger range countries besides deliberations on combating wildlife

trafficking.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh

Vardhan, who is also the Chairman of the National Tiger Conservation

Authority

The conservation of tigers is a duty which has to be meticulously

pursued and more innovative ways needs to be devised so that we can

better the targets adopted by tiger range countries in 2010 at St.

Petersburg, Russia.

During the St. Petersburg declaration in 2010, tiger range countries had

resolved to double tiger numbers across their range by 2022.

At the time of deliberations at St. Petersburg, India’s tiger estimate stood

at 1411, which after the third cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation,

2014 has nearly been doubled to 2226.

This has largely been possible because of strides made against Key

Performance Indicators (KPIs), predominant among them being

legislation to ensure protection of tiger habitat and enhancement of

penalties, besides providing a statutory basis for inviolate space.

The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation, 2018 is currently

under way.

This is the second stock taking conference to be held in India after 2012,

wherein progress against resolution adopted by tiger range countries in

2010 at St. Petersburg, Russia, is measured against Key Performance

Indicators (KPIs) as decided by the said countries.

Global and National Tiger Recovery Programs (GTRP/NTRP) were

formulated by respective tiger range countries as a consequence of this

historic decision.

The conference is being hosted by the National Tiger Conservation

Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in

close collaboration with the Global Tiger Forum which is an

International, Intergovernmental Organization for conserving tigers in

the world.

The conference was organised by the National Tiger Conservation

Authority. Barring China, all other tiger-range countries — Thailand,

Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh,

Bhutan, Myanmar, India and Nepal — were part of the conference

India can’t handle more big cats

What’s the NEWS

The experts and officials in the government suggest that India must also

prepare for a new challenge — of reaching the limits of its management

capacity.

Officially, India had 2,226 tigers as of 2014. An ongoing census is

expected to reveal an update to these numbers.

According to the Global Tiger Forum, the India’s current capacity to host

tigers ranged from 2,500-3,000 tigers.

25-35% of India’s tigers now lived outside protected reserves.

With dwindling core forests as well as the shrinking of tiger corridors

(strips of land that allow tigers to move unfettered across diverse habitat),

officials said there were several challenges — alongside the traditional

challenges of poaching and man-animal conflict — to India’s success at

tiger conservation.

Recent attempts at translocating tigers to unpopulated reserves, such as

Satkosia in Orissa, have ended badly, with one of the tigers dying.

Since 2006, the WII has been tasked with coordinating the tiger

estimation exercise. The once-in-four-years exercise calculated, in

2006, that India had only 1,411 tigers. This rose to 1,706 in 2010 and

2,226 in 2014 on the back of improved conservation measures and

new estimation methods.

Home Affairs National Conference on “Prison Design”

Relevance IN – Mains(GSII – welfare schemes of the government + Social

Justice)

What’s the NEWS

The first ever National Conference on “Prison Design” will begin

in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh tomorrow(29th January 2019).

The two-day conference is being hosted by the DG Prison, Andhra

Pradesh on the behalf of State and is being sponsored by the Bureau

of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).

This conference aims to provide a platform to the Sr. Police officers,

Prison officers and Architects from Prison Department and Police

Housing Corporation to meet and deliberate upon on the various issues

relating with planning, Design and Constructions of prison keeping in

view the safety and security need as well as administrative ease of day to

day functioning of the prison.

The idea of conference is also to incorporate new construction

technology, Information and Communication Technologies and modern

safety and security gadgets in Prison Administration, besides ensuring

conducive living environment in a holistic sense.

Prison Administration is a very important aspect of Criminal Justice

System. Though as per the constitutional provision, it is a state subject

but the Govt of India over the years has been providing all the requisite

support and assistance to modernise the correctional administration

system in the country.

BPR&D is committed to provide synergetic platform to all Prison

professionals, Police Officials and civil Architects to evolve

better “Prison Designs” suiting to the safety and security needs of the

prison, ease in handling the administration of the prisons on one hand

and provide conducive structures for humane living conditions for the

inmates as per the constitutional mandates.

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Prelims Practise question

Consider the following statement

1. Global Tiger Forum which is an International, Intergovernmental

Organization for conserving tigers in the world.

2. CSC are physical facilities for delivering Government of India e-

Services to rural and urban locations where availability of computers

and Internet was negligible or mostly absent.

3. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous

body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research

in India.

Find the correct statement from the option given below

a. 1 and 2

b. 2 and 3

c. 1 and 3

d. All of the above

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