PIB Summary- 15th February, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Ajmer Sharif Dargah

Context: PM hands over a Chadar for Ajmer Sharif Dargah that would be offered on the 809th Urs (death anniversary) of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.

About Ajmer Sharif Dargah

• Ajmer Sharif Dargah is the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti’s tomb.
• It is considered to be one of the holiest places by Sunni Muslims from the Indian subcontinent. The religious site attracts people of all faiths also.
• The tomb of Moinuddin Chisti became a venerated site in the century following the preacher’s death in 1236.
• Mughal emperor Akbar, who is believed to have visited the shrine at least 14 times, reconstructed the dargah’s sanctum sanctorum in 1579.
• The dargah’s white marble dome was built in 1532.
• Made using bricks, marble and sandstone, the building represents Indo-Islamic architecture.

About Moinuddin Chisti (Chishti)

• He was a Sufi saint who propagated the Chishtiyya order of sufism.
• He was a Persian preacher who was born in present-day Iran and had come to Delhi during the reign of Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate.
• He moved to Ajmer in Rajasthan and became known as a compassionate spiritual teacher.
• He was popular among people of all classes.

Letter of Exchange between the Ministry of Ayush and WHO

Context: A Letter of Exchange was signed between the GOI’s Ayush Ministry and WHO on cooperation in the field of traditional medicine.

Details

• The initiative has been taken to support the WHO SEAR (South East Regional Office) implementing the regional traditional medicine action plan, with particular emphasis on the safe and effective use of traditional medicine service including Ayurveda and other Indian traditional systems of medicine and its appropriate integration into national health care systems.
• Efforts will also be made to strengthen capacities of SEAR countries in the area of traditional medicine.

National Food Security Mission (NFSM)

About the National Food Security Mission (NFSM)

• The National Food Security Mission (NFSM), a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in 2007.
• The idea behind this scheme was to launch a Food Security Mission comprising rice, wheat and pulses to increase the annual production of rice by 10 million tonnes, wheat by 8 million tonnes and pulses by 2 million tonnes by the end of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12).
• The Mission met with an overwhelming success and achieved the targeted additional production of rice, wheat and pulses.
• The government decided to continue the programme beyond the 12th Plan i.e., 2017-18 to 2019-20.
• The National Food Security Mission (NFSM) has eight components:
  • NFSM – Rice
  • NFSM – Wheat
  • NFSM – Pulses
  • NFSM – Coarse Cereals (Maize, Barley)
  • NFSM-Sub Mission on Nutri Cereals
  • NFSM – Commercial Crops
  • NFSM – Oilseeds and Oil Palm
  • NFSM – Seed Village Programme
• Objectives of NFS
  • Increasing the production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals (maize and barley) and nutri-cereals through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner in the identified districts of the country.
  • Restoring soil fertility and productivity at the individual farm level.
  • Enhancing farm level economy (i.e. farm profits) to restore confidence amongst the farmers.

About the NFSM – Oilseeds and Oil Palm

• This scheme is under implementation in 29 States and has three subcomponents namely, Oilseeds, Oil palm and Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs).
• The main objective is to increase oilseeds production & productivity and area expansion under oil palm & TBOs cultivation.

Oilseeds Agriculture in India

• India is one of the major oilseeds grower and importer of edible oils.
• India’s vegetable oil economy is the world’s fourth-largest after USA, China & Brazil.
• Oilseeds account for 13% of the Gross Cropped Area, 3% of the Gross National Product and 10% value of all agricultural commodities.
• The diverse agro-ecological conditions in the country are favourable for growing 9 annual oilseed crops, which include 7 edible oilseeds (groundnut, rapeseed & mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower and niger) and two non-edible oilseeds (castor and linseed).
• Oilseeds cultivation is undertaken across the country in about 27 million hectares mainly on marginal lands, of which 72% is confined to rain-fed farming.
• During the last few years, the domestic consumption of edible oils has increased substantially and has touched the level of 18.90 million tonnes in 2011-12 and is likely to increase further.
• A substantial portion of our requirement of edible oil is met through import of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.

GrapeNet

Context: APEDA upgrades GrapeNet.

What is GrapeNet?

• The GrapeNet is a web-based certification and traceability software system for monitoring fresh grapes exported from India to the European Union.
• It is an internet based electronic service offered by APEDA to the stakeholders for facilitating testing and certification of Grapes for export from India in compliance with the standards identified by NRC Pune, on the basis of consultation with the exporters.
• GrapeNet collects, stores and reports forward and backward traces and quality assurance data entered by the stakeholders, ie., exporters, laboratories and PSC authorities within the grapes supply chain in India.
• GrapeNet is a first of its kind initiative in India that has put in place an end-to-end system for monitoring pesticide residue, achieve product standardization and facilitate tracing back from retail shelves to the farm of the Indian grower, through the various stages of sampling, testing, certification and packing.
• Now, in a bid to ensure cyber security protection for its traceability initiative, APEDA has adopted Blockchain and cloud migration technologies in GrapeNet.