Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund

Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a corpus of Rs. 2,000 crore for Agri Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) to be created with NABARD for development and upgradation of agricultural marketing infrastructure in rural agricultural markets.

• The Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund was announced in 2018 Budget for developing and upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the 22,000 Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) and 585 Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC).
• At present, GrAMs are being developed from MGNREGA fund.
• The scheme being demand-driven, progress will depend on demand from states

NABARD

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) came into existence on the recommendation of B. Sivaraman Committee.
• It was approved by the Parliament through Act of 1981 and came into existence in 1982 by transferring the agricultural credit functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
• Functions of NABARD: 
  • NABARD gives high priority to projects formed under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP).
  • It provides finance to support poverty alleviation programs run by IRDP.
  • It also makes the service area plan to provide backward and forward linkages and infrastructural support.
  • It seeks to establish linkages between Self-help Group (SHG) that are organized by voluntary agencies for poor and needy in rural areas and other official credit agencies.
  • It finances projects under the ‘National Watershed Development Programme‘ and the ‘National Mission of Wasteland Development‘.
  • It also supervises the cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks to periodically ensure the development of the rural financing and farmers’ welfare.

Objectives

• The fund will provide subsidised loans to states and Union Territories for 585 APMC mandis and 10,000 GrAMs.
• States can also utilise this fund for innovative integrated market infrastructure projects, including hub and spoke model and in private-public partnership mode.

Significance

• More than 86% of farmers in India are small and marginal who are not always in a position to directly transact at APMCs and other wholesale markets.
• A network of rural godowns enables small farmers to enhance their holding capacity in order to sell their produce at remunerative prices and avoid distress sales.
• Accordingly, Government of India launched ‘Grameen Bhandaran Yojana’ in 2001, which has been subsumed into "Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)" from 2014.
• Main objectives of scheme include creation of scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in rural areas to meet out various requirements of farmers for storing farm produce, processed farm produce, agricultural inputs, etc.

International Intellectual Property (IP) Index: US Chamber of Commerce

Acknowledging the improvement in India’s innovation ecosystem, the US Chamber of Commerce has moved India up eight places in its international intellectual property (IP) index by ranking it 36^th amongst 50 countries in 2019.

• The improvement in India’s performance is a result of specific reforms, including its accession to the WIPO Internet Treaties, the agreement to initiate a patent prosecution highway with international patent offices, a dedicated set of IP incentives for small businesses, and administrative reforms to address the patent backlog.
• However, the report noted that there were still substantial challenges regarding the country's patenting and IP enforcement environment.
• The seventh edition titled “Inspiring Tomorrow”, analyses the IP climate in 50 world economies, based on 45 indicators critical to an innovation-led economy.

World Intellectual Property Organisation

• WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation. It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 192 member states.
• Its mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.
• Its mandate, governing bodies and procedures are set out in the WIPO Convention, which established WIPO in 1967.
• Some agreements under the ambit of WIPO:
  • Marrakesh Treaty for visually impaired patients
  • Patent cooperation treaty in 1970
  • Madrid system
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

Important Facts for Prelims (8th February 2019)

Statue of Guru Padmasambhava

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled a 19-foot-high statue of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, at Jirang in Gajapati district, Odisha.
• This 29 tonne stone statue is placed in the middle of ‘Padma Sarovar’, a large tank near Padmasambhava Mahavihara, the largest Buddhist monastery in eastern India.
• The Dalai Lama had inaugurated Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery in 2010. Tibetan refugees settled in this region over six decades ago.
• Historians claim that Guru Padmasambhava, also known as second Buddha, was born and brought up in Odisha before he left for Tibet.
• The statue of Guru Padmasambhava has been sculpted by noted sculptor Padmashri Prabhakar Moharana.

Rail tunnel for Vizhinjam port connectivity

• A 10.7-km railway line, including a 9.02-km tunnel, has been proposed to connect Balaramapuram station on the Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram railway line to the upcoming Vizhinjam International Multipurpose Deepwater Seaport.
• It will be the second longest railway tunnel of the country on completion after the Pir Panjal Tunnel which is in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The development of the Balaramapuram railway station is being explored as part of the rail link to the seaport.

Ladakh’s Dard Aryan Tribes

• Dard Aryan tribe of Ladakh has requested the central government to intervene to protect their culture and legacy.
• The ‘Dard’ is derived from a Sanskrit word, ‘Daradas’, which refers to people who live on hillsides.
• Dard Aryan — believed to be the original descendants of ‘pure Aryan race’ — tribe is known for its liberal customs and ornate costumes. Many researchers believe that the ‘Aryans of Ladakh’ or the ‘Brokpas’ were a part of Alexander’s army and had come to the region over 2,000 years ago.
• They live in the villages of Dha and Hanu (commonly called as Dhahanu), Darchik, and Gahanu - situated 163km southwest of Leh, the administrative capital of Ladakh.
• The rich heritage of the Dard Aryans is under threat due to rapid modernization, migration and religious conversion.

MarCo Cubesat

• NASA has lost contact with its two mini-satellites Mars Cube One (MarCO) named as MarCo-A and MarCo-B.
• MarCo CubeSats were launched along with InSights Mission to serve as communication relays during its Mars landing.
• After InSight’s landing, these spacecraft were launched further on their own trajectories to test if such low-cost technology can operate in deep space.
• CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies.
• All previous CubeSats have orbited the Earth. MarCO was the first attempt to orbit another planet.

Lunar Lander Beresheet

• An Israeli nonprofit group is aiming to lead the first privately funded mission to land a probe on the moon.
• The lunar lander named as Beresheet (Hebrew word: “Genesis”) will be launched by the group SpaceIL in support with Israel Aerospace Industries.
• It will carry instrumentation to measure the magnetic field of the moon, a laser-reflector provided by NASA and a time-capsule of cultural and historical Israeli artifacts.

Ujjwala Utsav

• The oil industry has observed Ujjwala Utsav celebrate the role played by all stakeholders – District Nodal Officers, Policymakers, Distributors, and beneficiaries – in making Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) a success.
• The event was organized under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
• PMUY anthem – Ujjwala Bharat Ujjwala- was also launched during the event.

Atal Bhujal Yojana

• Recently, the World Bank has approved Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY), a Central Sector, Rs.6000 Crore scheme, for sustainable management of groundwater with community participation.
• The funding pattern is 50:50 between Government of India and the World Bank.
• The identified over-exploited (OE) and water-stressed areas for the implementation of the scheme fall in the States of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• ABHY envisages active participation of the communities in various activities such as the formation of ‘Water User Associations’, monitoring and disseminating ground water data, water budgeting, preparation & implementation of Gram-panchayat-wise water security plans and IEC activities related to sustainable groundwater management.