09 Feb 2021: PIB Summary & Analysis

February 09th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. India – Afghanistan
2. National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)
3. National Monsoon Mission
4. One Nation One Ration Card System Reform
5. Janani Suraksha Yojana
6. Border Area Development Programme (BADP)

1. India – Afghanistan

Context:

Signing ceremony of MoU for the construction of the Lalandar “Shatoot” Dam in Afghanistan.

Details:

• The project is a part of the New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan.
• The Lalander [Shatoot] Dam would meet the safe drinking water needs of Kabul city, provide irrigation water to nearby areas, rehabilitate the existing irrigation and drainage network, aid in flood protection and management efforts in the area, and also provide electricity to the region.
• This is the second major dam being built by India in Afghanistan, after the India – Afghanistan Friendship Dam [Salma Dam], which was inaugurated in June 2016.
• As a part of the development cooperation with Afghanistan, India has completed more than 400 projects covering all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

2. National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

Context:

Impact of climate change on Indian agriculture was studied under NICRA.

What is NICRA?

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has initiated a network project NICRA during 2011 to address the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture.
• The project aims to enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate vulnerability through strategic research and technology demonstration.
• The research on adaptation and mitigation covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource management.
• The project consists of four components viz. Strategic Research, Technology Demonstration, Capacity Building and Sponsored/Competitive Grants.
• NICRA was launched with an outlay of Rs. 350 crores with the following objectives:
  • To enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture covering crops, livestock and fisheries to climatic variability and climate change through development and application of improved production and risk management technologies
  • To demonstrate site specific technology packages on farmers’ fields for adapting to current climate risks
  • To enhance the capacity building of scientists and other stakeholders in climate resilient agricultural research and its application

3. National Monsoon Mission

Context:

Union Minister gave information about the National Monsoon Mission in the Rajya Sabha.

Know more about the National Monsoon Mission in the linked article.

4. One Nation One Ration Card System Reform

Context:

Rajasthan becomes the 12^th State to complete One Nation One Ration Card system reform.

Details:

• Rajasthan has become the 12^th State in the country to successfully undertake “One Nation One Ration Card system” reform stipulated by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
• Thus, the State has become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources of Rs. 2,731 crore through Open Market Borrowings.
• Rajasthan has now joined 11 other states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, that have completed this reform.

Background:

• One Nation One Ration Card System is an important citizen centric reform.
• Its implementation ensures availability of ration to beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes, especially the migrant workers and their families, at any Fair Price Shop (FPS) across the country.
• The reform especially empowers the migratory population, mostly labourers, daily wagers, urban poor like rag pickers, street dwellers, temporary workers in organised and unorganised sectors, domestic workers, etc. who frequently change their place of dwelling to be self-reliant in food security.
• The reform also enables the States in better targeting of beneficiaries, elimination of bogus/duplicate/ineligible card holders resulting in enhanced welfare and reduced leakage.
• Further, to ensure seamless inter-state portability of a ration card, Aadhar seeding of all ration cards as well as biometric authentication of beneficiaries through automation of all Fair Price Shops (FPSs) with installation of electronic point of sale (e-PoS) devices are essential.
• To meet the challenges posed by the pandemic, GOI had enhanced the borrowing limit of the states by 2 percent of their GSDP.
• Half of this special dispensation was linked to undertaking citizen-centric reforms by the states.
• The four citizen-centric areas for reforms identified were:
  • Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System(done by 12 states)
  • Ease of doing business reform (done by 12 states)
  • Urban Local body/utility reforms (done by 5 states)
  • Power sector reforms (done by 2 states)

5. Janani Suraksha Yojana

Context:

Increase in institutional deliveries under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY).

Read more about the Janani Suraksha Yojana in PIB dated Feb 7, 2020.

6. Border Area Development Programme (BADP)

Context:

In 2020, two evaluation studies were done on the BADP by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and by the NITI Aayog.

Read more about the Border Area Development Programme in the linked article.

Read previous PIB here.

February 09th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here