Prelim Snippets – 13.05.2020

1.e-NAM

Why in News?
  • Recently, the number of connected mandis, or wholesale markets under e-NAM has Increased upto 65%.
Highlights:
  • The Central Government recognised the potential of e-NAM and introduced some important new features in April, 2020:
    • Trading Module: It allows Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to trade produce directly from their collection centres without bringing it to mandis.
    • Warehouse-based Trading Module.
    • Logistics Module: It offers, users trackable transport facilities through aggregators with access to 11 lakh trucks.
  • The total mandis under e-NAM has reached a Total of Around 950 across India from about 550 before Lockdown.
About e-NAM:
  • It is a Pan-India Electronic Trading Portal.
  • It was launched in April 2016 with the objective of integrating the existing Mandis to “One Nation One Market” for agricultural commodities in India.
  • It networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities and has a vision:
  • It is set up to promote uniformity in agriculture marketing by streamlining procedures across the integrated markets.
  • It helps in removing information asymmetry between buyers and sellers and promoting real time price discovery based on actual demand and supply.
  • 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.
  • The Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is the lead agency for implementing e-NAM, which functions under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

2.Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

Why in News?
  • In his Fifth address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economicpackage totaling Rs 20 lakh crore to tide over the Covid-19 crisis under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.
Highlights:
  • The Rs 20 lakh crore package includes the government’s recent announcements on supporting key sectors and measures by Reserve Bank of India.
  • PM Modi said the economic package would be around the 10 percent of the GDP. PM Modi said it would benefit laborers, farmers, honest taxpayers, MSMEs and cottage industry.
  • The special economic package would focus on land, labor, liquidity and laws. The prime minister said the goal of the country would be to become self-reliant, and identified economy and infrastructure as key drivers for it.
  • He said making the country self-reliant was only way to make 21st century belong to India.
  • Self-reliance will prepare the country for tough competition in the global supply chain, and it is important that the country wins this competition. It will not only increase efficiency in various sectors but also ensure quality. India’s self-reliance will be based on five pillars — economy, infrastructure, technology driven system, vibrant demography and demand. The prime minister also urged the people to buy and promote local products and brands. He urged the people to be ‘Vocal for the Local’.

3.Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs)

Why in News?
  • The Gujarat state government has recently cleared the Gujarat Agriculture Produce Market (Amendment) Ordinance 2020.
Highlights:
  • The ordinance restricts the jurisdiction of APMCs to the physical boundaries of their respective marketing yards.
  • They can levy cess only on those transactions, happening within the boundary walls of their Marketing yard.
  • It provides traders with one unified single trading licence through which they can participate in trading activities anywhere in the state.
  • It will allow multiple traders to attract the farmers depending on the quality of their produce and offer competitive prices without the restriction of place and area jurisdiction.
  • The director of an APMC and the Gujarat State Agriculture marketing board will also start taking care of the grievance redressal which was solely managed by the APMC till now.
  • The Farmers will not be bound to sell only to one particular APMC and can choose the one with the best deal in their favour.
About Private Markets:
  • The Warehouses which is owned by Private can be converted into a sub-market yard or a private market that can compete with the APMCs.
  • The Farmers can also set up private markets themselves.
  • The state government plans to bring a rule that will not allow the setting up of a private market within a five-kilometre radius of an existing APMC, to save the smller APMCs from the negative competition.
  • The government will collect 20% cess from private players and reroute 14% of it back to the APMCs.It will also affect revenues because no cess will be collected on transactions outside the physical boundaries of marketing yards.
About Agricultural Produce Market Committee:
  • It is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products.
  • It is set up under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.
  • Its Main Objectives Include
    • Ensure transparency in pricing systems and transactions taking place in the market area.
    • Provide market-led extension services to farmers.
    • Ensure payment for agricultural produce sold by farmers on the same day.
    • Promote agricultural processing including activities for value addition in agricultural produce.
    • Setup and promote public private partnership in the management of agricultural markets, etc.

4.Using NFHS for Population Surveillance

Why in News?
  • Researchers suggest that the scientific and logistical infrastructure of India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS) be leveraged to conduct a random sample-based population surveillance to track coronavirus.
Highlights:
  • Governments worldwide have been testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) in high-risk individuals, such as those with symptoms, close contacts of those tested positive, Healthcare professionals and those with travel history to an affected region.
  • But this does not give an accurate number of those affected, making it impossible to understand the true prevalence in a population.
  • The article gives the example of how India used NFHS for HIV surveillance, India was projected to have 25 million HIV-positive individuals, with a 3-4% prevalence in adults, but when a random-sample-based population surveillance was conducted to test for HIV in the general population, the estimates sharply reduced to 2·5 million, with a 0.28% prevalence in adults.
  • Layering a COVID-19-focused data-collection effort on to the NFHS infrastructure would keep operational costs low, with the major expense being laboratory costs for testing samples.
  • They estimated that if COVID-19 anticipated prevalence is under 0·5%, it needs a sample of about 3,000 individuals to be tested. If a disease is widespread, meaning there is higher prevalence, its detection is easier, needing only a smaller sample.
  • Conversely, if it is rare, it is harder to find and a larger sample should be tested to detect that. This sampling approach could be implemented at the State or district levels.
  • The Government of India is considering a random-sample based sero-prevalence survey.
  • It would be more relevant to use the latest NFHS district-sampling frame and not invent a New one.

5.Sample Registration System Report

Why in News?
  • Sample Registration System (SRS) is the largest demographic survey in the country undertaken by the Registrar General of India.
Highlights:
  • The survey is mandated to provide annual estimates of infant mortality rate, birth rate, death rate, fertility and mortality indicators at the state and national level, in both urban and rural areas.
  • Initiated on a pilot basis by the Registrar General of India in a few states in 1964-65, it became fully operational during 1969-70.
  • These details were released by the Centre recently in its Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin based on data collected for 2018.
  • The national birth rate in 2018 stood at 20, and death and infant mortality rates stood at 6.2 and 32.
  • The Rates are Calculated per One Thousand of the Population.
  • Birth Rate:
    • Birth rate is a crude measure of fertility of a population and a crucial determinant of population growth.
    • India’s birth rate has declined drastically over the last four decades from 36.9 in 1971 to 20.0 in 2018.
    • The rural-urban differential has also narrowed.
    • The birth rate has continued to be higher in rural areas compared to urban areas in the last four decades.
    • There has been about an 11 per cent decline in birth rate in the last decade, from 22.5 in 2009 to 20.0 in 2018.
    • The corresponding decline in rural areas is 24.1 to 21.6, and in urban areas, it is 18.3 to 16.7.
    • Bihar has the highest birth rate at 26.2 and Andaman and Nicobar Islands has the lowest birth rate of 11.2.
  • Death Rate:
    • Mortality is one of the basic components of population change and the Related datais Essential for Demographic Studies and Public Health Administration.
    • The death rate of India has witnessed a significant decline over the last four decades from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2 in 2018.
    • The decline has been steeper in rural areas.
    • In the last decade, death rate at an all-India level has declined from 7.3 to 6.2.
    • The corresponding decline in rural areas is 7.8 to 6.7 and in urban areas, 5.8 to 5.1.
    • Chhattisgarh has the highest death rate at 8 and Delhi, an almost entirely urban state, has a rate of 3.3, indicating better healthcare facilities.
  • Infant Mortality Rate:
    • The data shows that against the national infant mortality rate (IMR) of 32, Madhya Pradesh has an IMR of 48 and Nagaland 4.
    • The present figure of 32 is about one-fourth as compared to 1971 (129).
    • In the last 10 years, IMR has witnessed a decline of about 35 per cent in rural areas and about 32 per cent in urban areas.
    • The IMR at an all-India level has declined from 50 to 32 in the last decade.

 6.Sohrai Khovar painting and Telia Rumal

Why in News?
  • Recently, both Sohrai Khovar painting and Telia Rumal were given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry headquartered in Chennai.
About Sohrai Khovar Painting :
  • It is a traditional and ritualistic mural art being practised by local tribal women in the area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.
  • It is primarily being practised only in the district of Hazaribagh. However, in recent years, for promotional purposes, it has been seen in other parts of Jharkhand.
  • It is prepared during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available soils of different colours in the area.
  • It is traditionally painted on the walls of mud houses, they are now seen on other surfaces, too.
  • Its style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography.
About Telia Rumal:
  • It involves intricate handmade work with cotton loom displaying a variety of designs and motifs in three particular colours — red, black and white.
  • It can only be created using the traditional handloom process and not by any other mechanical means as otherwise, the very quality of the Rumal would be lost.
  • In Nizam’s dynasty, the officers working in the court would wear the Chituki Telia Rumal as a symbolic representation of status.
  • It was worn as a veil by princesses at the erstwhile court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and as a turban cloth by Arabs in the Middle East.
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