GS1 & GS2: Study from the perspective of  Modern History and International Relations

KARGIL DIWAS

Why in the News?

The 23rd anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, being observed on the 26th of July 2022.

The day is dedicated to the martyred soldiers of the Kargil war.

Historical background

• After the Indo-Pak war of 1971, Both the countries conducted nuclear tests in 1998 which further escalated tensions and finally the Kargil War in 1999.

• War was fought between May-July of 1999 in the Kargil (district in Ladakh at present) in which India got the victory.

In order to  to mutually resolve the Kashmir issue in a peaceful manner, LAHORE Agreement was signed in 1999

However, the Pakistani troops began infiltrating toward the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) under Operation Badr, hoping to cut off Indian Troops in Siachen

To counter this operation vijay was launched .

• Even though initially taken by surprise, the determined Indian Army recovered many positions and posts from the other side. Our soldiers fought bravely in hostile environments of mountainous terrain, extremely high altitudes and harsh cold weather conditions.

• On 4th July, the Indian army captured Tiger Hill after a battle that lasted 11 hours. The next day, India recovered Drass. These were major breakthroughs.

• On 5th July, Sharif announced after meeting with Clinton that Pakistan was withdrawing troops.

• The pull-out by Pakistani forces started on 11th On 14th July, the then Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee announced that Operation Vijay (the codename given to the Kargil War) was a success.

• The war officially came to an end on 26th May when All Pakistani intruders evicted from Indian soil.

Why in the News?

Lok Sabha being adjourned over the issue of Manipur during the monsoon session of parliament.

Parliamentary procedures -

ZERO HOUR - period of time immediately after the Question Hour is over and before the regular business as entered in the List of Business is taken up, is referred to as the ‘Zero Hour’.

The Government is under no obligation to respond to the matters raised during the ‘Zero Hour’.

Motion of Confidence: In order to cope with the emerging situations of fractured mandates resulting in hung Parliaments, minority Government, etc. in the last two decades or so. 

• If the president realizes that the government is not under majority so he can called upon by the President to prove their majority on the floor of the House. 

• Sometimes the Government itself, on its own, seeks to prove its majority by moving a Motion of Confidence and winning the confidence of the House. If the Confidence Motion is negative, it results in the fall of the Government.

NO CONFIDENCE MOTION: 

The Council of Ministers must enjoy the confidence of the House at all times to remain in power.  Remember that the Collective responsibility is the essence of parliamentary democracy.

The Opposition Parties in Lok Sabha can move a No-confidence Motion in the Council of Ministers to express the lack of confidence of the House and such a motion, if adopted, results in the fall of the Government.

ADJOURNMENT MOTION:

This motion is introduced to draw attention of the house towards a recent matter of urgent public importance.

once  it leads to setting aside all normal business of the House for discussing a particular matter of urgent public importance. 

The Speaker is guided by some principles while giving his consent to an Adjournment Motion, that the matter raised should be of recent occurrence, definite, urgent and of sufficient public importance to warrant interruption of the normal business of the House. 

Matters which can not be involved-

• Individual matters or matters pertaining to local grievances .

• Matters that are sub judice or do not involve direct or indirect responsibility of the Union Government.

SHORT DURATION MOTION -

Members could raise discussion for a short duration without a formal motion or vote.

Any member desirous of raising a discussion on a matter of urgent public importance may give notice in writing specifying clearly and precisely the matter desired to be raised.

The notice shall be required to be accompanied by an explanatory note stating reasons for raising the discussion and supported by the signatures of at least two other members. 

The discussion concludes with a reply from the Minister concerned.

Why in news?

The Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Shri Pramod Kumar Mishra addressed the Third Meeting of the G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group

What is The Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group?

The Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRR-WG) is convened to develop and implement a coherent and cross-cutting approach within GEO to advance the use of Earth observations in support of countries’ disaster risk reduction and resilience efforts.

Duties-

Establish and maintain relationships with national, international and intergovernmental bodies acting in disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management, including the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, to:

• Identify resources (financial and in-kind) to support GEO disaster-related initiatives;

• Promote, including through best practices, sharing of data and knowledge to improve disaster risk management; and 

• Foster participation of public stakeholders in GEO initiatives. 

Enable discussion and communication on disaster-related activities within the GEO Work Programme.

• Promote the sharing of data from different platforms, technologies, themes and domains

Connect different scales of activities – from local, national, regional to global

Monitor the uptake of GEO’s activities in support of the Sendai Framework

Connect different scales of activities – from local, national, regional to global. 

• Monitor the uptake of GEO’s activities in support of the Sendai Framework. 

• Act as a focal point, where appropriate, for the engagement with external stakeholders and international organizations and processes relevant to the Sendai Framework; 

Stimulate the initiation of projects, case studies or pilots involving participants from multiple GEO Work Programme activities to enhance collaboration across GEO and to address identified gaps. 

CONCLUSION-

The time for incremental change has passed. India need transformation of local, national and global systems. India have completely transformed the way disaster risk reduction is financed, like ‘preparedness for response’, we need to have emphasis on ‘preparedness for recovery.

GS3\AGRICULTURE

Constitution of Farmer Producer Organizations

Why in the news?

The Government of India has launched the Central Sector Scheme for “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)”

Role of FPO-

• Supply of quality inputs like seed, fertilizer, pesticides, etc;

• Undertaking aggregation of farmer-members’ agri produce for marketing/selling.;

• Making available machinery and equipment on custom hiring basis for members;

• Undertaking value addition like cleaning, assaying, sorting, grading and processing of agri produce.

Under the said scheme-

• In  the year 2020 with a total budgetary outlay of Rs.6865 Crores which will enable farmers to enhance their bargaining power, leverage economies of scale, reduction in cost of production and enhancing farmers’ incomes through aggregation of their agricultural produce, thus playing a major role towards sustainable incomes.

• FPOs being provided financial assistance upto Rs.18.00 lakh per FPO for a period of 03 years. 

• In addition to this, provision has been made for matching equity grant upto Rs.2,000 per farmer member of FPO with a limit of Rs.15.00 lakh per FPO and a credit guarantee facility upto Rs.2 crore of project loan per FPO from eligible lending institution to ensure institutional credit accessibility to FPOs. Further, Rs.25 Lakhs are given to CBBOs for hand holding each FPO over a period of five years.

• Considering the significance and strategic role of the State Government and its machinery down the line in synergizing the efforts in mobilizing the farmers, offering various services relating to production and post-production and also periodically reviewing the development and functioning of FPOs, the Government has made provisions in Operational Guidelines of the 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) scheme wherein a State Level Consultative Committee called SLCC is constituted.

•  At district level, a District Level Monitoring Committee (D-MC) is constituted 

Conclusion \ Way forward

Some studies show that we need more than one lakh FPOs for a large country like India but as on 30th June, 2023, only 6319 FPOs have been registered across the country, 

Addressing Structural Issues: Many FPOs lack inadequate professional management, weak financials,technical skills, lack of risk mitigation mechanism, inadequate access to market and infrastructure, And inadequate access to credit

• Getting credit is the biggest problem. Banks must have structured products for lending to FPOs.

• FPO need a lot of data on markets and prices and other information and competency in information technology

What to study 

for prelims -  About the Scheme,    First started by?,    What is Sunahri Kand?  

For Mains  student should know objectives and significance

GS Paper - 3 Agricultural Marketing Food Processing 

One District One Product[ODOP]

Why in the news?

Recently the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has notified 137 unique products of 713 districts across 35 States/UTs as One District One Product (ODOP) based on recommendations from the States/ UTs and in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare.  

What is this scheme-

• ODOP is aimed at giving a major push to traditional industries synonymous with the respective districts of the state.

• The objective of the ODOP is to optimise production, productivity and income, preservation and development of local crafts, promotion of art, improvement in product quality and skill development.

.

Under this scheme-

15 unique products from all the 24 districts of Jharkhand have been notified by MoFPI as ODOP. 

These are Peda, Honey, Jaggery, Tomato based products, Chilly based products, Lime based products, Mango based products, Guava based products, Custard Apple based products, Jackfruit based products, Potato based products, Papaya based products, and Minor Forest Produce (Tamarind, Mahua, Chironjee).

MoFPI is extending credit linked subsidy to the interested individual/entity for upgradation of existing or setting up of new micro-food processing facility, in accordance with the guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme. 

Establishment of Common Infrastructure projects by FPOs/SHGs/Cooperative/Govt. Entities; Seed Capital to SHG members; Marketing & Branding projects for ODOP; and Capacity Building through training institutions are also supported as per the PMFME scheme guidelines.

Recently Uttar Pradesh government may introduce Sunahri Kand, also known as orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, in the hot-cooked food scheme of Anganwadis and the mid-day meal scheme in primary schools.

What to study 

for prelims -  About the Scheme,    First started by?,    What is Sunahri Kand?  

For Mains  student should know objectives and significance