National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 13th August 2019

Uber for tractors

Topic: Government Policies

In News: Agricultural Ministry is planning to launch a new mobile app to efficiently connect farmers with these (custom hiring centres) CHCs, just like Uber connects you to cabs.

More on the Topic:

• This will allow farmers to have affordable access to cutting-edge technology at their doorsteps.
• There are now more than 38,000 custom hiring centres (CHCs) across the country, which rent out 2.5 lakh pieces of farm equipment every year.
• Once the app is officially launched, farmers who wish to hire equipment can register using their names, addresses and mobile numbers, and then punch in their requirements.
• Feedback from both the CHC and the farmers will be collected. This will contribute to a rating system, allowing customers to make informed decisions.
• The Ministry’s app will also create an invaluable database for policy-makers, who can track the use and cost of equipment. The system would also help to track the usage of new technology that the government wants to promote, such as the Happy Seeder that aims to prevent stubble burning that causes air pollution, or solar dryers that can help farmers process and preserve their produce.

About CHCs:

• CHCs are basically a unit comprising a set of farm machinery, implements and equipment meant for custom hiring by farmers.
• Though certain implements and equipment are crop specific, the traction units like tractors, power tillers etc., and self-propelled machinery like combine harvesters etc., are used in common.

Source: The Hindu

Certification of seeds

Topic: Agriculture

In News: More than half of all seeds sold in India are not certified by any proper testing agency, and are often of poor quality.

Major Objectives:

• The Centre now hopes to mandate uniform certification by pushing through a replacement to the Seeds Act, 1966 and also by barcoding all seeds to ensure their traceability.
• This could increase overall agricultural productivity by up to 25%.
• The main aim of the new legislation, which is ready for submission to the Cabinet for approval, is to bring uniformity to the process of quality regulation.
• The 1966 Act was applied only to certain verities of seeds, the new legislation applies to all varieties of seeds.
• Currently, about 30% of seeds are what the farmer himself saves from his crop. He may re-plant that or sell it locally.
• Remaining seeds which are bought and sold commercially, 45% come through the ICAR system and have gone through the mandated certification process.
• It is important that companies be held accountable for the quality of the seeds they sell, and the claims they make. If a seed fails at the germination, flowering or seed-setting process, the company which sold it must be held liable and made to provide compensation.
• The new Bill will also raise the stakes by increasing penalties for non-compliance.
• The Centre also hopes to roll out a software to barcode seeds in order to ensure transparency and traceability. The National Informatics Centre has been collaborating with the Agriculture Ministry for this project.
• A new software system will be able envisaged to track seeds through the testing, certification and manufacturing process. By connecting to a dealer licensing system, seeds will be tracked through the distribution process as well.
• This data will help in further improvement in policy making and implementation.

Why certification is Important:

• The purpose of seed certification is to maintain and make available to the public, through certification, high quality seeds and propagating materials of notified kind and varieties so grown and distributed as to ensure genetic identity and genetic purity as well as optimum productivity.

Source: The Hindu

Biodiesel made from used cooking oil

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: In a bid to encourage the biofuel sector, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister announced that the state-run oil marketing companies would procure the entire supply of biodiesel produced from used cooking oil for a three-year period.

More on the Topic:

• The move means that biodiesel plants using used cooking oil as their raw material will be assured that their entire production will be procured by the oil marketing companies to be blended with normal diesel. The scheme is being launched in 100 cities across the country.
• Under the scheme, the OMCs Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum will pay biodiesel producers ₹51 per litre in the first year, ₹52.7 per litre in the second, and ₹54.5 per litre in the third year. The oil companies will also bear the cost of transportation and GST for the first year.
• The ministry also launched a ‘Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO)’ sticker and a phone app to enable the collection of used cooking oil. Restaurants and hotels interested in supplying used cooking oil can affix the sticker to show availability.
• Ministry was working on a four-pronged strategy by promoting ethanol, second-generation ethanol, compressed biogas and biodiesel.

About Biofuels:

• Any hydrocarbon fuel that is produced from an organic matter (living or once living material) in a short period of time (days, weeks, or even months) is considered a biofuel.Biofuels may be solid, liquid or gaseous in nature.
• Solid: Wood, dried plant material, and manure
• Liquid: Bioethanol and Biodiesel
• Gaseous: Biogas
• These can be used to replace or can be used in addition to diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications. Also, they can be used to generate heat and electricity.
• Some of the main reasons for shifting to biofuels are the rising prices of oil, emission of the greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and the interest for obtaining fuel from agricultural crops for the benefit of farmers.

Source: Hindu and Wikipedia

India State of Forest Report (ISFR)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Recently India State of Forest Report data was shared in Parliament by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

More on the Topic:

• According to the data, a quarter of India’s geographical area (24.49 %) is under forest and tree cover.
• Northeast crowds the list of states with most dense tree, forest cover.
• Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya are among the top 6 states with highest forest and tree cover.
• The lowest forest and tree cover is in Haryana at 6.79 % of its geographical area. Punjab follows with 6.87 %.

Top 3 States with maximum Forest cover (in terms of area):

• Madhya Pradesh (77,414 sq km)
• Arunachal Pradesh (66,964 sq km) and
• Chhattisgarh (55,547 sq).

Top states with highest Forest cover in terms of percentage geographical area:

• Lakshadweep with (90.33%),
• Mizoram (86.27%) and
• Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.73%)
• Rajasthan’s forest and tree cover is over 7.26% of its geographical area while Madhya Pradesh’s is 27.73 %.

Top 5 States with maximum increase in forest cover

• Andhra Pradesh (2141 sq km),
• Karnataka (1101 sq km)
• Kerala (1043 sq km),
• Odisha (885 sq kms) and
• Telangana (565 sq kms)

Other Highlights:

• Goa and Kerala are two other states with more than 50 per cent of their geographical area under forest and tree cover.
• Forest Survey of India (FSI) has been assessing the forest and tree resources of our country on a biennial basis since 1987.
• The results of the assessment are published in its biennial report titled “India State of Forest Report (ISFR)”.

Source: PIB

Amendments to POCSO Act

Topic: Governance

In News: Union government has amended the POCSO Act.

More on the Topic:

• The Act has enhanced punishment under various sections of the Act including punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault to be increased to include death penalty.
• Other sections under which the punishment has increased includes the minimum punishment for penetrative sexual assault, which has been increased from seven years to 10 years and, if the child is below 16 years of age, the minimum punishment has been increased to 20 years.
• The Act has also tightened the provisions to counter child pornography.
• While the earlier Act had punishment for storing child pornography for commercial purposes, the amendment includes punishment for possessing pornographic material in any form involving a child, even if the accused persons have failed to delete or destroy or report the same with an intention to share it.
• The Act has also removed the words “communal or sectarian violence”, which had punishment for a person who sexually abused a child during the course of such violence.The words have been replaced with “violence during any natural calamity or in similar situations”.

What is POCSO Act:

• POCSO Act came into force on November 14, 2012, and was specifically formulated to deal with offences including child sexual abuse and child pornography.
• It is first comprehensive law in the country dealing specifically with sexual abuse of children.
• The Act through its 46 provisions increased the scope of reporting offences against children, which were not earlier covered under the Indian Penal Code.
• This included aggravated penetrative sexual assault to include punishment for abuse by a person in position of trust or authority including public servants, police, armed forces, management or staff of an educational or religious institution.
• It also defined the procedure for reporting of cases, including a provision for punishment for failure to report a case or false complaint.
• It provided procedures for recording of the statement of a child by the police and court, laying down that it should be done in a child-friendly manner, and by the setting up of special courts.

Source: PIB, PRS

Gogabeel Community Reserve

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Gogabeel, an ox-bow lake in Bihar’s Katihar district, has been declared as the state’s first ‘Community Reserve’.

More on the Topic:

• Gogabeel is formed from the flow of the rivers Mahananda and Kankhar in the north and the Ganga in the south and east. It is the fifteenth Protected Area (PA) in Bihar.
• An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. This landform is so named for its distinctive curved shape, which resembles the bow pin of an oxbow.

Source: Down to Earth