24 July 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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NITI Aayog signs SoI with Lupin Foundation for Collaborating in Aspirational Districts

Aim:

• To work across the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to create templates for concerted development policy.
• A Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed between NITI Aayog and Lupin Foundation to collaborate in Aspirational Districts Programme.
• For this programme, the NITI Aayog and Lupin Foundation are collaborating to improve indicators in education, health & nutrition, financial inclusion and skill development, agriculture and water resources and basic infrastructure in Aspirational Districts of India.
• As per the terms of the SoI, Lupin Foundation, with the NITI Aayog, will work in three states – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan – to facilitate the creation of an ideal template to develop economic strength, technological viability and moral leadership across three districts in these states as part of Phase I of the cooperation.

About Aspirational District Programme:

• Launched by the Hon’ble PM in January this year, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme

Aim:

1. To quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.
2. To enable optimum utilization of their potential, this program focuses closely on improving people’s ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy. Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure are this programme’s core areas of focus.

About Lupin and Lupin Foundation:

• Lupin is an innovation-led pharmaceutical company with a global footprint and known for its generic medicines. Lupin Foundation is a trust, NGO, independent body promoted by Lupin Ltd.
• The Foundation works towards creating an alternative model of rural development which is sustainable, replicable and ever evolving essentially empowering under privileged and marginalized sections of society and providing basic infrastructure and balanced ecological base to the villages.

Nutrient Based Subsidy and City Compost Scheme

• Objectives of continuation of NBS Scheme are as under:

1. To promote balanced use of fertilizers.
2. To reduce subsidy burden on the Government.
3. To improve availability of fertilizers to farmers.
4. To encourage competition among fertilizer companies

• Objectives of continuation of City Compost Schemes are as under:

1. To support SWACHH BHARAT MISSION.
2. To provide City Compost at subsidized rates to farmers.

• Government of India is encouraging establishment of bio-fertilizer production units by providing financial assistance to State Governments.

Rweru Model Village

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted 200 cows to villagers who do not yet own a cow, under the Rwandan Government’s Girinka Programme.
• The function to mark the handing over of cows was held at Rweru Model Village, in the presence of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Background:

• The word Girinka can be translated as ‘may you have a cow’ and describes a centuries-old cultural practice in Rwanda whereby a cow was given by one person to another, as a sign of respect and gratitude.
• Girinka was initiated by President Paul Kagame in response to the alarmingly high rate of childhood malnutrition and as a way to accelerate poverty reduction and integrate livestock and crop farming.
• The program is based on the premise that providing a dairy cow to poor Girinka Programme transforms livelihoods, reconciles communities improving agricultural productivity through the use of manure as fertilizers which would lead to improving soil quality and reducing erosion through the planting of grasses and trees.
• The program has contributed to an increase in agricultural production in Rwanda – especially milk production and products, reduced malnutrition and increased incomes.
• The program also aimed at promoting unity and reconciliation among Rwandans based on the cultural principle that if a cow is given from one person to another, it establishes trust and respect between the giver and beneficiary.

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