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- Why in News?
- A recent report reviews 20 years of Forest Rights Act (FRA) implementation in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Odisha, noting progress, innovations, and persistent challenges.
- Key Provisions:-
- Enacted in 2006, the FRA—formally the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act—seeks to correct historical injustices to forest-dwelling communities while securing their livelihoods and food security.
- Key challenges include high rejection rates of claims due to procedural lapses, poor documentation, and misinterpretation of provisions; inaccurate land records; delays in demarcating Community Forest Resources (CFRs) and forming CFR Management Committees; weak institutional capacity; and limited Gram Sabha involvement.
- The UNDP recommends recognizing FRA right holders as a distinct category in welfare schemes, allocating dedicated funds, linking FRA with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for gender-sensitive opportunities, setting a deadline for rights recognition, strengthening post-rights support for empowerment, and integrating FRA with the PESA Act, 1996 for holistic governance.
- Why in News?
- A recent RBI Bulletin highlights that shifting agriculture towards high-value crops such as horticulture can significantly strengthen rural economies.
- Key Provisions:-
- Horticulture in India covers cultivation, processing, and marketing of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamentals. India ranks second globally, after China, in fruit and vegetable production, contributing 33% to Agriculture’s Gross Value Added (GVA). Changing dietary habits, especially the rising share of fruits in rural and urban food spending, and increased participation of small and marginal farmers are driving diversification.
- Challenges include yield fluctuations (e.g., grape and sapota declines between 1992-93 and 2021-22), limited post-harvest storage leading to losses worth ₹1.5 trillion annually, and price volatility in Tomato, Onion, and Potato (TOP) due to weather shifts.
- Policy Priorities: strengthen market linkages with exports and urban buyers, promote intercropping for productivity and soil health, advance research on climate resilience and pest control, and expand agro-processing to boost exports, cut losses, and create rural jobs.
- Why in News?
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has, for the first time, issued a Purple Notice through Interpol, marking a significant step in international criminal information sharing.
- About Purple Notice
- A Purple Notice is one of eight official alert types issued by Interpol, aimed at collecting or providing details about criminals’ modus operandi, tools, devices, or methods of concealment. Such notices help law enforcement agencies worldwide understand and counter evolving criminal tactics.
- Other Interpol Notices include:
- Red: For seeking the arrest or location of a person wanted for prosecution.
- Yellow: To help locate missing persons or identify those unable to identify themselves.
- Blue, Black, Green, Orange: Each serving specific operational purposes.
- Silver Notice: Currently in pilot phase, focused on threats related to cybercrime.
- Additionally, the INTERPOL–UN Security Council Special Notice targets individuals or entities sanctioned by UN Security Council Committees.