29-30.06.19 Assam(APSC) Daily Current Affairs

ASSAM

Dispur push to boost horticulture production in State

As part of the endeavour to boost output of horticultural crops in the State and help farmers engage in cultivation of such crops, the State government has decided to expand the scope of the ‘Per Drop More Crop (Micro Irrigation and Other Intervention)’ under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) scheme and fixed a target for enrolment of at least 10,000 farmers by end of June.

Official sources said the Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing, Assam, has issued targets to all the districts to enrol at least 300 farmers within the stipulated time period.

The Central government has allocated a budget of Rs 70 crore for Assam for the implementation of the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ scheme during 2019-20.

“The State government has also conveyed that it is ready to release more funds as required under the Chief Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) for expansion of the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ scheme. So, money is not an issue any more,” said an official.

Under PMKSY (Micro Irrigation) component, there is a provision of 85 per cent subsidy for small and marginal farmers (up to two hectares) and 75 per cent subsidy for medium and big farmers (two to five hectares).

All types of major horticultural crops conducive to the State’s climatic and soil conditions are being encouraged, barring tobacco and areca nut (which the government discourages nowadays).

INTERNATIONAL

International Day of the Tropics observed on 29 June

The United Nations observe 29 June as International Day of the Tropics.
This day celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the tropics while highlighting unique challenges and opportunities the Tropical nations face.
The Tropics are a region of the Earth defined as the area between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn.
The other factors contribute to climatic variation, tropical locations are typically warm and experience little seasonal change in day-to-day temperature.
The important feature of the Tropics is the moist inner regions near the equator, and that the seasonality of rainfall increases with the distance from the equator.
The Tropics account for 40 percent of the world’s total surface area
They host to approximately 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity.

NATIONAL

Sites in Mizoram, UP to get protected status

Sites from two necropolises – historical cities built around burial grounds in obeisance to the dead – in Mizoram’s Champhai district and Uttar Pradesh’s Sanauli in Baghpat district are set to be granted “protected site” status.

This includes four sites from Champhai district where menhirs, megaliths and rock engravings dating back to 15-18 AD have been excavated. The site in Sanauli dates back to 2000 BC, where a pre-Iron Age specimen of a chariot was dug up.

Under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, once a site is granted protected site status, the area around it is developed with signages, better lighting and other facilities and is promoted for tourism.

Kerala is India’s healthiest state; UP, Odisha worst: Niti Aayog

Kerala remains at the top of the heap among larger states in terms of various health parameters, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar are the worst performers, according to Niti Aayog’s latest health index released.

The health index – which took into account 23 health indicators during 2015-16 (base year) to 2017-18 (reference year) – depicts huge disparities across states and UTs. The report, prepared by Niti Aayog in collaboration with the health ministry and with technical assistance from World Bank, has three categories – larger states, smaller states and Union territories – to ensure comparison among similar entities.

Among the smaller states, Mizoram ranked first in overall performance while Tripura and Manipur were the top two states in terms of incremental performance. Sikkim and Arunchal Pradesh registered the biggest decline in overall health index scores. Among the UTs, Chandigarh ranked first in overall performance, while Dadra and Nagar Haveli improved the most.

The first round of the Health Index was released in February 2018, which measured annual and incremental performances of states and union territories from 2014-15 (base year) to 2015-16 (reference year).

Government to set up 51 incubators for aspiring entrepreneurs

The GoI set up 51 new incubators for startups in the information and communications technology space across India
As part of its Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (Tide) 2.0 scheme
They will offer financial and technical support to incubators supporting ICT startups that are involving usage of deep technologies including artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, and internet of things in the identified areas of societal relevance.
The scheme categorized the selection of incubators into three categories:
Group 1 Centre (G1C), G2C, and G3C.
More than 270 incubators and accelerators are managed by academic bodies, private players, government, and corporate.

One nation one ration card’ scheme from July 1, 2020

Government is all set to implement one nation-one ration card scheme across the country by the end of June 2020.

This means poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country, so long as their ration cards are linked to Aadhaar.

All the States have been given one more year to use point of sale (PoS) machines in the ration shops and implement the scheme.

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