UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 9th February 2024 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Mekong River

Subject: Geography

Why in News?

Recently, Dam project across Mekong River in Laos raised fears.

• Once completed, the project is expected to displace more than 500 families and impact 20 villages.

About Mekong River:-

• Mekong River is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
• It is the world’s twelfth-longest river.
• It is the third-longest in Asia.
• From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult.
• The lower Mekong region holds a rich historical and cultural heritage that has connections with India’s ancient river civilizations.
• The river is a major trade route between western China and Southeast Asia.
• The Mekong region offers opportunities for tourism, educational exchanges, and cooperation in sectors like science and technology.

Source: The Hindu

GS-II

MERA GAON MERI DHAROHAR

Subject: Government Schemes

Why in News?

Recently, the Government of India decided to map and document all villages under the Mera Gaon, Meri Dharohar (MGMD) Programme.

Background:-

• A web portal on MGMD has also been launched on 27.07.2023.

About Mera Gaon, Meri Dharohar (MGMD) Programme:-

• Launched: 27th July 2023.
• Ministry: Ministry of Culture.
• Objective: The main objective of the project is to culturally map India’s 6.5 lakh villages, spanning 29 States and 7 Union Territories, on a comprehensive virtual platform.

Salient Features:-

• It is a pan-India initiative under the National Mission on Cultural Mapping.
• Under the MGMD, information is collected under seven broad categories as given below-
  • Arts and Crafts Village
  • Ecologically Oriented Village
  • Scholastic Village linked with Textual and Scriptural Traditions of India
  • Epic Village linked with Ramayana, Mahabharata, and/or Puranic legends and oral epics
  • Historical Village linked with Local and National History
  • Architectural Heritage Village
  • Any other characteristic that may need highlighting such as a fishing village, horticulture village, shepherding village, etc.
• The Ministry of Culture is implementing a Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Promotion of Art and Culture consisting of 08 components through which cultural organizations are given financial assistance for the promotion of art and culture.
• The MGMD seeks to compile comprehensive information detailing the life, history, and ethos of Indian villages and to make the same available to virtual and real-time visitors.
• This comprehensive portal showcases essential information about each village, including its geographical location, demographic aspects, and description of traditional dresses, ornaments, arts and crafts, temples, fairs, festivals, and much more.

Benefits:-

• It serves as a one-stop destination for discovering, exploring, researching, and virtually visiting every village in the country.

Source: PIB

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY)

Subject: Government Schemes and Initatives 

Why in News?

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY), a sub scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.

About Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana:

• It will be implemented as a Central Sector Sub-scheme under the Central Sector Component of the PMMSY.
• Funding: Implemented at an estimated outlay of Rs.6,000 crore consisting of 50% i.e. Rs.3,000 crore public finance including the World Bank and the AFD external financing, and rest 50% i.e. Rs.3,000 crore being the anticipated investment from the beneficiaries/private sector leverage.
• Time period: It will be implemented for 4 years from FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27 across all the States and UTs.
• Intended Beneficiaries:
  • Fishers, Fish (Aquaculture) Farmers, Fish workers, Fish Vendors or such other persons directly engaged in fisheries value chain.
  • Micro and Small enterprises in the form of Proprietary Firms, Partnership Firms and Companies registered in India, Societies, Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), Cooperatives, Federations, Village Level Organizations like Self Help Groups (SHGs), Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) and Startups engaged in fisheries and aquaculture value chains.
  • FFPOs also include Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs).
  • Any other beneficiaries that may be included by the Department of Fisheries, Gol as targeted beneficiaries.
• Aims and objectives:
  • Gradual Formalisation of the unorganised fisheries sector through self-registration of fishers, fish farmers and supportive workers under a National Fisheries Sector Digital Platform including creation of work based digital identifies of fish workers for improved service delivery.
  • Facilitating access to institutional financing fisheries sector micro and small enterprises.
  • Providing a one-time incentive to beneficiaries for purchasing aquaculture insurance.
  • incentivizing fisheries and aquaculture microenterprises through performance grants for improving fisheries sector value-chain efficiencies including creation and maintenance of jobs.
  • Incentivising micro and small enterprises through performance grants for adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems including creation and maintenance of jobs.

Source: PIB

SARTHI Portal

Subject: Government Schemes

Why in News?

Recently, the Union Agriculture minister unveiled the 'Sarathi' platform, which seeks to provide a full suite of insurance products, including PMFBY, geared specifically for farmers and rural populations in India.

About SARTHI Portal:

• Sandbox for Agricultural and Rural Security, Technology and Insurance (SARTHI) is the comprehensive digital insurance platform launched in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India.
• It will offer a digitised insurance journey, simplifying the process for farmers. The portal will be a single-window platform for viewing, purchasing, and availing insurance products.
• The platform has digital payment options and streamlined premium collection, effortless claim initiation, tracking and resolution besides user-friendly interfaces for stakeholders.
• Also, a spectrum of insurance products will be introduced on the portal in a phased manner.
  • In the first phase, personal accident and hospital cash policies, while in the second phase health, shop and home insurance and in the third phase tractor, two-wheeler, livestock and non-PMFBY insurance products.

Source: PIB

GS-III

e-NAM

Subject: Economy

Why in News?

Recently, Farm-gate, inter-mandi e-NAM sales show surge in FY2024.

Background:-

• The total traded value of commodities on the digital platform using the farmgate model during April – January, 2023-24 has been Rs 79 crore compared to a very small amount traded last fiscal.

About e-NAM:-

• eNAM platform is an online trading platform for agricultural commodities in India.
• It was launched in 2016 as a pan-India electronic trade portal linking agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) across all states.
• It was launched with the objective of integrating the existing Mandis into a “One Nation One Market” for agricultural commodities in India.
• It facilitates farmers, traders, and buyers with online trading in commodities.
• It provides for contactless remote bidding and mobile-based anytime payment for which traders do not need to either visit mandis or banks for the same.
• Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is the lead agency for implementing e-NAM.
• It functions under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

Benefits:-

• e-NAM has been able to bring competence in APMC mandi operations via technology interventions like:-
  • accuracy in weighing via digital weighbridge and weighing scale.
  • accuracy in assaying via advanced assaying equipment.
  • real-time online information on commodity prices.
  • access to more buyers/sellers and transparency in trade.
  • transparency in payment via multiple online payment modes.
  • better efficiency in overall mandi operations via digitalization.

Challenges:-

• Lack of internet connectivity.
• Farmers feel more comfortable with physical trading rather than going online as they face issues with transportation for their produce.
• A very small percentage of the total mandis are connected through the e-NAM platform.

Source: Financial Express

Indian Gray Wolf

Subject: Environment and Ecology

Why in News?

Recently, the Indian grey wolf was sighted in the confines of the National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS).

Background:-

• The National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS) is in Uttar Pradesh.

About Indian Gray Wolf:-

• Scientific Name: Canis lupus pallipes
• It has a wide distribution range that extends from the Indian subcontinent to Israel. There are about 3,000 animals in India, some in captivity.
• It is a subspecies of grey wolf found from Southwest Asia to the Indian Subcontinent.
• Its size is in the middle between the Himalayan and Arabian wolves, but because it inhabits warmer climates, it lacks the latter’s plush winter coat.
• It is intermediate in size between the Tibetan and Arabian wolf.
• They are nocturnal and hunt from dusk to dawn.
• The Indian wolf inhabits areas dominated by scrub, grasslands and semi-arid pastoral agro-ecosystems. 

Conservation Status:-

• IUCN: Least Concern
• Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972: Schedule I
• CITES: Appendix 1

Source: Times of India 

Nematodes

Subject: Environment and Ecology

Why in News?

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside have unveiled a new species of nematode, Steinernema adamsi, a minuscule yet potent ally in the battle against crop pests.

About Nematodes:

• These are any worm of the phylum Nematoda.
• Nematodes are among the most abundant animals on Earth.
• They occur as parasites in animals and plants or as free-living forms in soil, fresh water, marine environments, and even such unusual places as vinegar, beer malts, and water-filled cracks deep within Earth’s crust.
• Features:
  • Nematodes are bilaterally symmetrical, elongate, and usually tapered at both ends.
  • Some species possess a pseudocoel, a fluid-filled body cavity between the digestive tract and the body wall.
• Nematodes have been reported from every continent on earth and occur in deserts, swamps, the oceans, the tropics and Antarctica.
• Nematode parasites of animals occur in almost all organs of the body, but the most common sites are in the alimentary, circulatory, and respiratory systems. Some of these worms are known by such common names as hookworm, lungworm, pinworm and threadworm
• They can cause a variety of diseases (such as filariasis, ascariasis, and trichinosis) and parasitize many crop plants and domesticated animals. 
• Significance:
  • Most nematodes feed on bacteria, fungi, or other microscopic creatures. As such, they are a major component of soil and sediment ecosystems.

Key facts about Steinernema adamsi:

• This new species is a member of a family of nematodes called Steinernema that have long been used in agriculture to control insect parasites without pesticides.
• Steinernema are not harmful to humans or other mammals and were first discovered in the 1920s.
• This new species is part of a special group of nematodes considered beneficial to humans because it can infect and kill insect pests
• It is an entomopathogenic nematode that crawls inside of an insect, defecates highly pathogenic bacteria into its blood and then combines with that bacterium to kill the insect host.

Source: Psy. World