Daily Current Events – 06 May 2016

Ethnic Medicinal Practices:-

National Medicinal Plants Board supports setting up of Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas(MPCAs), augmentation and plantation activity for conservation of medical plants in-situ and ex-situ under “Central Sector Scheme on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” and under National Ayush Mission (NAM) for cultivation of medicinal plants by farmers with backward and forward linkages.

In addition, the Government of India has established a National Institute “The North Eastern Institute of Folk Medicine (NEIFM) at Pasighat, East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh under Ministry of AYUSH with a view to revitalize, promote and harness these local health traditions for the wellbeing of wider public especially living in North Eastern Region. The activities of the Institute will further help in protecting the knowledge and resources of folk medicines in the North Eastern Region.

 With the mandate to conduct various research activities on traditional medicines,  the activities undertaken in the matter by four autonomous Research Councils under Ministry of AYUSH, namely, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Central Council for Research in Unani Medicines (CCRUM), Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) and Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy are as under:

CCRAS: The Tribal Health Care Research Programme is a continuous programme since 1982 with activities including collection of folk medicines/ traditional practices.

CCRH: The Council has carried out recording of folklore and ethno-medicinal practices from the tribals of Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu.

CCRS: The ethno medicinal knowledge of folklore practitioners are documented through survey tours.

CCRUM: Folk medicinal uses of plants  from the tribal and rural folks have been recorded.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana:-

Highlights:-

1. There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
2. There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
3. Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.

Analysis:-

The farmer-friendly move comes at a time when the country is experiencing a protracted period of rural distress after below-average monsoon rainfall in 2014 and 2015.

Under the previous crop insurance scheme, risks were only partially covered. The existing premium rates vary between 2.5% and 3.5% for kharif crops and 1.5% for rabi crops—but the coverage was capped, meaning farmers could, at best, recover a fraction of their losses. Also, the premium for commercial and horticulture crops was calculated on actuarial basis, meaning premiums could be as high as 25% depending on the risk factor involved.

This is certainly the best for the farmer till date as it provides for localized events and removes the cap

This will safeguard farmers against inclement weather. It will also reduce the financial instability in the families of farmers.

The crop insurance scheme will cover half of India’s cropped area in the next three years, up from the present level of 23%.

The decision implicitly acknowledges the structural makeover of Indian farming, which has entailed farmers taking on more risks by diversifying into horticulture and commercial crops without adequate safety nets.

There is no cap on subsidy on premium, meaning the government will bear the cost even if the balance premium is as high as 90%. In previous schemes, due to a cap on premiums, farmers did not get the full sum during claim settlement

The government liability on premium subsidy will be shared equally by the centre and states.

The new scheme will cover local-level calamities such as hail storms and landslides and even cover farmers if they cannot sow crops due to inclement weather. Also, the scheme will cover post-harvest losses due to cyclonic and unseasonal rains.

While the low premium will drive penetration and enrollment and make the insurance scheme viable for insurers, it remains to be seen if the unit for assessing crop loss has been reduced to the village level (in earlier schemes block and panchayats were taken as units, making it difficult for a farmer to claim compensation for events like hailstorms)

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

It has the objective of enhancing irrigation coverage and improving the delivery system at farm level. The programme aims at end-to-end solutions in irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources, distribution network and farm level applications. All the States and Union Territories are covered under the programme. The scheme envisages decentralized state level planning and projectised execution, allowing the states to draw their irrigation development plans based on district/blocks plans with a horizon of 5 to 7 years.

The scheme has four components:-

1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP): To focus on faster completion of ongoing Major and Medium Irrigation including National Projects
2. Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP): Creation of new water sources through minor irrigation (both surface and ground water); repair, restoration & renovation of traditional water bodies;     command area development; strengthening and creation of distribution network from sources to the farm etc.
3. Per Drop More Crop (PDMC): Precision irrigation systems, efficient water conveyance & application, micro level storage structures, topping up of input cost beyond Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) permissible limits,secondary storage, water lifting devices, extension activities, coordination & managementetc
4. Watershed Development (WD): Ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting and other watershed interventions.

Rohtang Tunnel

Rohtang Tunnel is a tunnel being built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway. With 8.8 km (5.5 mi) length, the tunnel will be one of the longest road tunnel in India.

Seri Nallah Fault Zone  is presentat the south portal of the tunnel and is the reason for delay in completion of the tunnel.

The longest road tunnel in India will be the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel  in J&K.(9.2km)

Few Facts:-

1. Three improved varieties of Khesari dal namely “Ratan”, “Prateek” and “Mahateora” have been released for general cultivation.
2. In a follow up to ‘Exercise Shatrujeet’ by the Strike Corps (Strike One)  , the pivot formations are holding major military training exercise codenamed “Exercise  CHAKRAVYUH-II” in the general area of Pallu – Sardarsahar (Suratgarh) in Rajasthan. The exercise conceptualized by the Pivot Corps involves rapid mobilization and execution of plans in sync with Air Force.
3. Creation of post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was recommended by Group of Ministers in 2001. A decision in this regard was to be taken after consultation with political parties. The consultation process however could not be completed because all political parties have not yet responded. Subsequently, Naresh Chandra Task Force (NCTF) on National Security had recommended creation of the post of Permanent Chairman Chief of Staff Committee in 2012. Both the proposals are simultaneously under consideration of the Government.