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INDIAN AGRICULTURE

1. INDIA’S BIG MILLETS PUSH, AND WHY IT MAKES SENSE TO HAVE THESE GRAINS

TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE-GS-III- ECONOMY

THE CONTEXT: The Union Budget has accorded high priority to millets — grains such as jowar, bajra, ragi — citing their health benefits.
THE EXPLANATION:

According to the Finance Minister, India is  the largest producer and second largest exporter of ‘Sree Anna’ (millets) in the world… The Indian Institute of Millet Research-Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.

India’s millets push

• Two years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted India’s resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Through the year, several central ministries and government organisations will work towards promoting this “nutri cereal”. Delegates at G20 meetings will be given a “millet experience” through tasting, meeting farmers, and interactive sessions.

• Indian embassies in more than 140 countries will organise exhibitions, seminars, and cooked millet dish competitions.
• The government also intends to increase procurement of these grains under the public distribution system. Agriculture Minister said last year (2022) that it was time for public distribution programmes to focus on a more diverse food basket to improve nutritional status.

What are the benefits of millets?

• Millets are both eco-friendly and healthier than more commonly consumed grains. They require much less water than rice or wheat, and can be grown in rain-fed areas without irrigation. Belonging to the grass family, millets tend to be more tolerant to drought and extreme weather, and can grow in poor soil and in hilly areas.
• Millets can be a healthier option to keep lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes at bay. Switching out the regular grains can be especially beneficial in India, which is considered to be the diabetes capital of the world. It is projected that the country will have 69.9 million diabetics by 2025. Indians are also at a high risk of cardiovascular diseases at a young age.
• Millets have a much lower glycaemic index — a measure of how much blood sugar levels spike after consuming a food item — than processed rice or wheat. A low glycaemic diet can help in controlling weight and blood sugar levels, consequently reducing the risk of heart disease or even cancers.
• Millets are also high in fibre content that is known to improve gut microbiota. They result in satiety faster and keeps people fuller for longer, thereby reducing the amount of food consumed.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

2. ENTRENCHED INFLATION

TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE-GS-III-ECONOMY

THE CONTEXT: The 2022 Economic Survey presented an optimistic growth outlook for the next year, but it did highlight the risks of an “entrenched inflation” and hence “higher and longer” interest rates, and a “depreciating rupee” leading to higher current account deficit, both on account of global headwinds.
THE EXPLANATION:

• The Entrenched inflation tends to stick around even after the immediate problems that spurred it on have resolved.
• It’s extremely difficult to assess whether inflation is transitory or entrenched in real time. It’s often a retrospective designation, and with all the uncertainty still swirling around, it is still wise to invest for long-term goals even though you may not see large immediate returns.
• Transitory inflation tends to be short-lived and circumstantial. Examples of transitory inflation include the inflationary periods during and immediately following both World Wars, while an example of entrenched inflation is the entire decade of the 1970s.

What Entrenched Inflation could mean for the economy long-term?

• If the RBI continues to raise interest rates, we could be looking at a recession. In the past, recessions have caused companies to cut labour costs, which results in Indians losing their jobs.
• Regardless of the cause, recessions are a time when the average household tends to lack an adequate amount of income to meet the price requirements of running their home – whether that’s because prices are too high, income is too scarce, or both.

What Entrenched Inflation could mean for your investments

• Entrenched inflation and associated recessions are not going to yield high times for the stock market. If companies are cutting costs, they’re just not as focused on growth. That means stock prices are not as likely to rise.
• It also means your return on investments may not keep pace with inflation in the short-term. However, over the long haul, the stock market tends to outperform inflation even after accounting for the down times that come with recessions.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES IN NEWS

3. REVISION SERIES: RASHTRIYA VAYOSHRI YOJANA

TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE-GS-II-GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS

• Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana is scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category. This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government.
• The expenditure for implementation of the scheme is being met from the “Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund”. The Scheme is being implemented by the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Importance of the scheme

• As per the Census figures of 2011, the population of senior citizens in India is 10.38 crore.More than 70% of the population of senior citizens live in rural areas of the country. A sizeable percentage (5.2%) of the senior citizens suffers from some sort of disabilities related to old age. Projections indicate that the number of elderly population will increase to around 173 million by 2026.
• The Government has hence devised the Central Sector Scheme to provide Physical aids and Assisted Living Devices for such senior citizens suffering from age related disabilities/ infirmities, who belong to BPL category.

Eligibility

• Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age related disability/infirmity viz. Low vision, Hearing impairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotor disability will be provided with such assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions, overcoming the disability/infirmity manifested. The Scheme is expected to benefit 5,20,000 Senior Citizens across the country.

4. MISHTI : THE NEW GOVERNMENT SCHEME

TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE-GS-II-GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS

THE CONTEXT: The Finance Minister budget speech introduced schemes and policies aimed at ecological conservation. Targeting an array of different issues, these schemes come with the promise of preserving India’s ecological health.
THE EXPLANATION:

• This is part of a larger “green push” with focus on the environment and climate change. The following are the schemes announced.

MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes)

• MISHTI is a new programme that will facilitate mangrove plantation along India’s coastline and on salt pan lands. The programme will operate through “convergence between MGNREGS, Campa Fund and other sources”.
• This new programme will aim at intensive afforestation of coastal mangrove forests. India has such forests on both its Eastern and Western coasts with the Sundarbans in Bengal being one of the largest mangrove forests on the planet.

Why does this matter?

• Mangroves are not just some of the most bio-diverse locations in India, they also protect the coastlines from the vagaries of inclement weather. As climate change increases the incidence of extreme weather events across the world, mangrove plantations have shown to make coastal lands resilient, preventing flooding, land erosion and acting as a buffer for cyclones.
• Furthermore, they are also excellent carbon sinks. Mangrove trees can grow in saline waters, and can sequester up to four times more carbon than tropical rainforests.

PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

5. SHALIGRAM STONE

TAGS: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the  two sacred Shaligram stones, weighing 31 tonnes and 15 tonnes, arrived in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The stones are expected to be used for constructing the idols of Lord Ram and Janaki at the Ram Temple.
THE EXPLANATION:

What is a shaligram stone?

• According to Anthropologists,  ‘Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas’, the shaligram stones are fossils of ammonite, which is a type of mollusc that lived between 400 million and 65 million years ago.
• Referring to a Geological Survey of India publication from 1904, anthropologists said  that shaligram stones “date specifically from the Early Oxfordian to the Late Tithonian Age near the end of the Jurassic Period some 165-140 million years ago”.

Where  do we find this stone?

• Mostly found in riverbeds or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in Nepal, this stone is revered by Hindus who believe it to be a representation of Lord Vishnu. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu was cursed to become the shaligram stone for “betraying the chastity of the goddess Tulsi”.
• The stone is considered to have divine powers and is seen as a symbol of good luck and prosperity.

Why use the shaligram stone in the Ram temple?

• Lord Ram is believed to be the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, and the use of the shaligram stone symbolises the connection between the two gods. The two stones were welcomed by people in Ayodhya by offering prayers, flowers, and bursting firecrackers.

VALUE ADDITION:

Gandak River:

• Gandak River, also called Narayani River, river in central Nepal and northern India. It is formed by the union of the Kali and Trisuli rivers, which rise in the Great Himalaya Range in Nepal; from this junction to the Indian border the river is called the Narayani.
• It flows southwest into India and then turns southeast along the Uttar Pradesh–Bihar state border and across the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It enters the Ganges (Ganga) River opposite Patna after a winding course of 475 miles (765 km).