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  • 31 Dec 2021
  • 38 min read
Indian Economy

Dairy Sector & Opposition to Free Trade

For Prelims: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), White Revolution

For Mains: India’s Dairy Sector Opposition to RCEP, Importance, challenges, solution pertaining to Dairy Sector.

Why in News

According to some experts, India's withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a major victory for the farmer's organisations, trade unions, associations of small and medium industrial producers.

  • Similar views are also shared by the Indian Dairy Sector, who opposed free trade in dairy products.
  • RCEP is one of the world’s largest trading blocs, signed between 15 countries (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10-state ASEAN grouping). India pulled out of RCEP negotiations in 2020

Key Points

  • India’s Dairy Sector Opposition to RCEP:
    • Some of the major players in the global milk trade like Australia and New Zealand are in the RCEP agreement.
    • Over the last 25 years, Indian policy has consciously encouraged the growth of private milk companies. At present, these firms are forced to buy milk from Indian farmers.
      • The reason is that the applied tariff for foreign dairy products in India is about 35%.
      • The bound tariff would have fallen to zero if India had signed RCEP.
    • It would have then been far more profitable for firms to import milk from New Zealand or Australia rather than buy it from Indian farmers. Hence, India was in the opposition to the agreement.
    • Moreover, there is no foreseeable future where India would be milk deprived. According to NITI Aayog, India is likely to be a milk-surplus country by 2033.

Note:

  • The World Trade Organization (WTO) allows a country to fix tariffs up to a certain maximum; or bound tariff, for a given commodity line.
    • On the other hand, the RCEP binds countries to reduce that level to zero within the next 15 years.
    • The maximum tariff in a product category is called the bound tariff rate.
    • However, the tariff rates differ across products and across countries. The actual tariff rate is called the applied tariff rate.

White Revolution 1970

  • The White Revolution in India was the brainchild of Dr Verghese Kurein.
  • Under him many important institutions were established like the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
  • The bedrock of the revolution has been the village milk producers' cooperatives. Their major role during Operation Flood, was seen as engines of growth.
  • Policy has also favoured the entry of multinational dairy corporations into the Indian dairy sector, through joint ventures: mergers and acquisitions.

India’s Dairy Sector

  • Importance of Dairy Sector:
    • Labour Intensive Sector: In the farm-dependent population comprising cultivators and agricultural labourers, those involved in dairying and livestock constitute 70 million.
      • Moreover, in the total workforce of 7.7 million engaged exclusively in raising cattle and buffalo, 69% of them are female workers.
    • Contribution in Economy: In the Gross Value Added (GVA) from agriculture, the livestock sector contributed 28% in 2019-20.
      • A growth rate of 6% per annum in milk production provides a great support to farmers, especially during drought and flood.
    • Helping Farmers During Calamities: Milk production rises during crop failures due to natural calamities because farmers bank more on animal husbandry then.
  • Associated Issues:
    • Invisible Labour: Farmers keep two to five in-milk animals for livelihood. In this setup, unpaid female family labour supplies a major part of the labour requirement for milk production.
      • The landless and marginal farmers among them have no livelihood options to fall back when they fall short of buyers for milk.
    • Informal Nature of Dairy Sector: Unlike sugarcane, wheat, and rice-producing farmers, cattle raisers are unorganised and do not have the political clout to advocate for their rights.
    • Lack of Remunerative Pricing: Though the value of milk produced outweighs the combined value of the output of wheat and rice in India, there is no official and periodical estimate of the cost of production and Minimum Support Price for milk.
    • Negative Impact of Economies of Scale: Even though dairy cooperatives handle about 40% of the total marketable surplus of the milk in the country, they are not a preferred option of landless or small farmers.
      • This is because more than 75% of the milk bought by dairy cooperatives is at its lower price band.

Government Initiatives Related to the Dairy Sector

Way Forward

  • Increasing Productivity: There is a need to increase the productivity of animals, also ensuring better health care and breeding facilities and management of dairy animals. This can reduce the cost of milk production.
    • Also, milk production and productivity can be enhanced by ensuring the availability of veterinary services, Artificial Insemination (AI), feed and farmer education.
    • The Government and dairy industry can play a vital role in this direction.
  • Augmenting Production, Processing and Marketing Infrastructure: For India, to emerge as a dairy exporting country:
    • It is imperative to develop proper production, processing and marketing infrastructure, which is capable of meeting international quality requirements.
    • Further, to address the infrastructure deficit in rural areas and address the power shortage, there is a need to invest in solar powered dairy processing units.
    • Also, there is a need to strengthen dairy cooperatives. In this pursuit, the government should promote farmer producer organisations.

Source: TH

Indian Economy

Global Cropland Expansion

For Prelims: Cropland area, Cropland Net Primary Production, Sustainable Development Goal, deforestation, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

For Mains: Impact of the Expansion of the Cropland area and steps that can be taken to address it.

Why in News

According to a new study, cropland area across the world increased 9% and cropland Net Primary Production (NPP) by 25% from 2003-2019.

  • The growth was primarily due to agricultural expansion in Africa and South America.

Cropland Area

  • Cropland is defined as ‘land used for annual and perennial herbaceous crops for human consumption, forage (including hay) and biofuel’.
    • Perennial woody crops, permanent pastures and shifting cultivation are excluded from the definition.
    • Herbaceous energy crops are perennials that are harvested annually.

Cropland Net Primary Production

  • Net Primary Production (NPP) is defined as the difference between the energy fixed by autotrophs and their respiration, and it is most commonly equated to increments in biomass per unit of land surface and time.
    • An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.
    • Respiration is a chemical reaction which occurs in all living cells, releasing energy from glucose.

Key Points

  • Cropland Expansion:
    • The largest cropland expansion was observed in Africa.
      • In Africa, cropland expansion accelerated from 2004-2007 to 2016-2019, with a more than two-fold increase in annual expansion rates.
    • The largest proportions of natural vegetation conversion to croplands (excluding dryland irrigation) were found in Africa, southeast Asia and South America.
    • Global per capita cropland area decreased 10% during the period due to population growth but the per capita annual cropland NPP increased by 3.5% as a result of intensified agricultural land use.
  • Reasons behind the Expansion:
    • The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and energy requirements due to continuing population growth.
      • The global population increased by 21% from 2003-2019.
  • Issues with the Expansion:
    • Against SDG15:
      • Cropland expansion is a major factor in forest loss, which comes in conflict with Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15)
        • SDG 15 aims to stop deforestation and degradation of natural habitats.
        • But 49% of the new cropland area replaced natural vegetation and tree covers, indicating a conflict with the sustainability goal of protecting terrestrial ecosystems.
    • Ecological Threat:
      • It is one of the biggest threats to the planet’s ecological health.
        • Cropland expansion mostly affects biodiversity hotspots in Central and South America, while cropland intensification threatens biodiversity especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, India and China.
          • Agricultural intensification can be technically defined as an increase in agricultural production per unit of inputs.
    • Driver of Deforestation:
      • Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation.
    • FAO’s Estimation:
      • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), if current trends hold, by 2050 the world’s arable land will increase by some 70 million hectares, and much of the new farmland will be in areas that are currently forested.
  • Agricultural land in India:
    • Agricultural land in India was reported at 60.43% in 2018.
    • Agricultural land refers to the share of land area that is arable, under permanent crops, and under permanent pastures.
      • Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow.

Way Forward

  • Better farming practices and technology can increase agricultural productivity while reducing habitat loss and protecting wildlife.
    • This approach, known as “sustainable intensification,” aims to boost the output of existing farmland using techniques such as integrated crop management and advanced pest control.
    • If applied widely, sustainable intensification could even reduce the total amount of land currently under cultivation.
  • To protect wildlife habitats, developing countries must increase the productivity of existing areas of land by encouraging more sustainable farming practices.

Source: DTE

International Relations

Chile Rewrites Its Constitution

For Prelims: Lithium Ion Battery, India-Chile Relations, Location and geographical features of Chile.

For Mains: Climate Challenges posed by Lithium Extraction, Significance of Chile for India.

Why in News

The South American country of Chile has formed a Constitution Convention to write a new constitution to tackle a "climate and ecological emergency."

  • As climate catastrophes become inevitable, countries that are already struggling with resource depletion (water, in Chile's case) are being forced to take action by its people.

Key Points

  • Background:
    • Chilean politicians want to leverage its lithium to make the country richer. As Most Chileans disagree with the government's approach, similar measures in the past (including privatisation of water) have done little to help out people who need these resources the most.
    • Under the leadership of military ruler Augusto Pinochet (who overthrew communist Salvador Allende in a coup in 1980), Chile began its ongoing journey of resource exploitation.
    • There's a problem - lithium mining causes soil moisture to decline and causes daytime temperatures to increase which in turn makes the area drier. While more lithium may be extracted, it may become even more unfit for humans.
  • About:
    • The new constitution will focus on lithium mining and its regulation. In addition, it will foresee how lithium mining benefits indigenous communities. The architects of the new constitution will also assess whether Chile's political system needs a revamp.
    • Their work will not only shape how this country of 19 million is governed. It will also determine the future of a soft, lustrous metal — lithium — lurking in the salt waters beneath this vast desert beside the Andes Mountains.
    • This reworking of the constitution is a reminder of changing priorities in a world moving towards climate catastrophes.
  • Challenges:
    • Many fear that the new constitution will impose hefty royalties and restrictions on mining and improve focus on local decision-making.
  • Lithium in Chile:
    • Chile's extremely rich in lithium (second-largest lithium producer after Australia) - an essential component of batteries that support almost all modern smart devices.
    • As the world races to replace fossil fuel consumption, the demand for lithium is causing a surge in its price.

India- Chile Relations

  • Chile is India’s window to Latin America and to the Pacific Alliance.
  • Chile is the fifth largest trading partner of India in the Latin American region.
  • India- Chile signed the Preferential Trade Agreement in 2017 to enhance the trade.
  • The bilateral trade is growing and stood at USD 2.8 billion in 2017-18.
  • India and Chile are partners in the International Solar Alliance.
  • Both countries cooperate extensively in multilateral fora and share similar views on climate change/renewable energy issues and on expansion and reforms of the UNSC (United Nations Security Council).
  • India- Chile has signed three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in the fields of -mining, culture, disability.

Lithium's Usage in Batteries

  • With countries looking for quick ways to decarbonise, lithium is being seen as the choice of metal. With electric vehicles being pitched as the future of transportation and all industries looking for cleaner alternatives, lithium is seen as their best bet.
    • Seen as a key part of renewable energy, lithium ion batteries are considered "energy-dense, cheap and safe."
  • Lithium ion batteries do pack a lot of power and energy into a small package with a longer life-cycle.
    • Most gadgets including smartphones and laptops use lithium-polymer batteries, an alternative to lithium ion batteries.
  • Since lithium is considered the standard non-renewable mineral that makes renewable energy possible, its demand is expected to continue shooting up.
  • But in this fight against climate change, lithium mining might create toxic regions where water (saltwater brine) is unfit for human consumption and chances of growing vegetation are low.
Chile 
  • Chile is officially known as the Republic of Chile. Its capital is Santiago.
  • It is a South American country occupying a narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
  • It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the south.
  • The Atacama desert is one of the driest places in the world and touches Chile in its northern side and is a source of sodium nitrate fertilizer.
    • It owes its aridity due to a constant temperature inversion of cool north-flowing Humboldt ocean current.
  • Chuquicamata is the World’s largest copper townof Chile.

Source: IE

Governance

Consumer Protection Rules, 2021

For Prelims: Consumer Protection Act, 2019, E-Daakhil Portal.

For Mains: Salient features of Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Why in News

Recently, in exercise of provisions under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Central Government has notified the Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the State Commission and the National Commission) Rules, 2021.

  • The Act stipulates the pecuniary jurisdiction of each tier of consumer commission.
  • The new rules revised pecuniary jurisdiction for entertaining consumer complaints.
  • Earlier, the Centre had notified Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021 for the direct selling industry.

Key Points

  • Revised Pecuniary Jurisdiction:
    • 50 lakh (earlier less than 1 crore) for District Commissions,
    • More than Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 2 Crore (earlier 1 crore to 10 crore) for State Commissions,
    • More than Rs. 2 Crore (earlier more than 10 crore) for the National Commission.
  • About Consumer Protection Act, 2019:
    • Product Liability: A manufacturer or product service provider or product seller will be held responsible to compensate for injury or damage caused by defective product or deficiency in services.
    • Three-tier Quasi-judicial Mechanism: The Act promulgates a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for redressal of consumer disputes namely district commissions, state commissions and national commission.
    • Time Bound Disposal of Complaint: The Act stipulates that every complaint shall be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and endeavour shall be made to decide the complaint within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of notice by the opposite party.
      • The complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within 5 months if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.
    • Filing Complaints Electronically: The Act also provides consumers the option of filing complaints electronically.
      • To facilitate consumers in filing their complaint online, the Central Government has set up the E-Daakhil Portal.
    • Mediation Route: The Act also includes reference of consumer disputes to Mediation, with the consent of both parties.
      • This will not only save time and money of the parties involved in litigating the dispute, but will also aid in reducing overall pendency of cases.

Source: PIB

Science & Technology

Indian Army sets up Quantum Lab, Artificial Intelligence Centre

For Prelims: Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Internet-of-Things, Industrial Revolution 4.0.

For Mains: Applications of Quantum Technology and associated Challenges, Artificial Intelligence and its advantages and disadvantages.

Why in News

The Indian Army has set up a Quantum Computing Laboratory and a centre for Artificial Intelligence in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.

Key Points

  • About:
    • The Quantum Computing Laboratory has been established with the help of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.
      • National Security Council is a three-tiered organization that oversees political, economic, energy and security issues of strategic concern.
    • Indian Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre at the same institution with over 140 deployments in forward areas and active support of industry and academia.
    • Training on cyber warfare is being imparted through a state-of-the-art cyber range and cyber security labs.
  • Objective:
    • The two Centres will carry out extensive research in developing the transformative technologies for use by the armed forces.
    • The Centres will also facilitate the research and training in the developing field of Quantum and artificial intelligence.
    • It will help it facilitate the next generation of communication and transform the current system of cryptography to post-quantum cryptography.
    • The key thrust areas of Quantum Technology are Quantum Key Distribution, quantum computing and quantum communication.
      • QKD, also called Quantum Cryptography, is a mechanism to develop secure communication.

Quantum Technology/Computing

  • About:
    • Quantum Technology is based on the principles of Quantum mechanics that was developed in the early 20th century to describe nature at the scale of atoms and elementary particles.
    • Using quantum superposition, a set of unbreakable codes or super-speedy information processing, quantum computers are able to mimic several classical computers working in parallel.
      • Quantum computers compute in ‘qubits’ (or quantum bits). They exploit the properties of quantum mechanics, the science that governs how matter behaves on the atomic scale.
    • The first phase of this revolutionary technology has provided the foundations of our understanding of the physical world, including the interaction of light and matter, and led to popular inventions such as lasers and semiconductor transistors.
  • Applications:
    • Secure Communication:
      • China recently demonstrated secure quantum communication links between terrestrial stations and satellites.
      • This area is significant to satellites, military and cyber security among others as it promises unimaginably fast computing and safe, unhackable satellite communication to its users.
    • Research:
      • It can help in solving some of the fundamental questions in physics related to gravity, black holes etc.
      • Similarly, the quantum initiative could give a big boost to the Genome India project.
    • Disaster Management:
    • Pharmaceutical:
      • Quantum computing could reduce the time frame of the discovery of new molecules and related processes to a few days from the present 10-year slog that scientists put in.
    • Augmenting Industrial revolution 4.0:
  • Challenges Associated with Quantum Computing:
    • The dark side of quantum computing is the disruptive effect that it can have on cryptographic encryption, which secures communications and computers.
    • It might pose a challenge for the government also because if this technology goes into the wrong hands, all the government’s official and confidential data will be at risk of being hacked and misused.
  • Related Indian Initiatives:
    • Budget 2020 allocated Rs 8000 Crore to a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) for a period of five years.
    • In 2018, the Union Cabinet approved the launch of the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to make India a leading player in Cyber-Physical Systems.
    • In 2018, the government initiated serious discussions in quantum technologies and kick started research projects across 51 organisations under QUEST – Quantum Enabled Science and Technology. However, no significant progress is made in this field until NM-QTA.

Source: IE

Important Facts For Prelims

ARIIA 2021 Rankings

Why in News

Recently, the Ministry of Education’s innovation cell released the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021.

  • The very first edition of ARIIA started in 2019.

Key Points

  • About:
    • It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to systematically rank all the major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development” amongst students and faculties.
    • More than quantity, ARIIA focuses on quality of innovations and tries to measure the real impact created by these innovations nationally and internationally.
  • Parameters of the Evaluation: ARIIA evaluates institutions on parameters such as:
    • Budget & Funding Support
    • Infrastructure & Facilities
    • Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation
    • Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development
    • Innovative Learning Methods & Courses
    • Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization
    • Innovation in Governance of the Institution
  • Rank Categorisation:
    • The rankings were made under two categories: Technical and Non-Technical.
      • The technical category included 5 sub-categories-
        • Central Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs), Central University, & Institute of National Importance
        • State University & Deemed University (Govt. & Govt. Aided)
        • Govt. College/Institution (Govt. & Govt. Aided)
        • University & Deemed University (Self-Finance/Private)
        • Private College/Institute (Self-Finance/Private)
      • The non technical category included two sub-categories-
        • Central Funded Institutes (CFIs)/Central University/Institute of National Importance (Non-Technical)
        • General (Non-Technical)
  • Topper Institutes in 2021:
    • Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs:
      • IIT Madras followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.
    • In government and government-aided universities: Panjab University
    • Govt. and Govt. Aided College/Institutes: College of Engineering Pune
    • Private or Self-Financed Universities: Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Khordha
    • Private or Self-Financed College/Institutes: G H Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur
    • Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs (non-technical): Indira Gandhi National Open University
    • General (Non-Technical): Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
  • Significance of the Ranking:
    • The rankings will certainly inspire Indian institutions to reorient their mind-set and build ecosystems to encourage high quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship in their campuses.
    • Further, the recently announced New Educational Policy 2020 will also make these efforts more effective and efficient, and impactful in the long run.
    • India is constantly improving on Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking and has now moved upward to 46th position in 2021 from 81st in 2015. It has also emerged as the world’s third-largest startup hub.

Other Rankings for Higher Educational and Universities

Source:TH

Important Facts For Prelims

Indian Pangolin

Why in News

Recently a radio-tagged Indian pangolin was released into the wild in Nandankanan Zoological Park (Odisha) following soft release protocols and provision for post-release monitoring.

  • Radio-tagging involves attaching a transmitter to an animal to monitor its movements. Several wild animals — tigers, leopards and migratory birds — have been tagged over decades.

Key Points

  • About: 
    • Pangolins are scaly anteater mammals and they have large, protective keratin scales covering their skin. They are the only known mammals with this feature.
    • It uses these scales as armour to defend itself against predators by rolling into a ball when threatened.
  • Diet:
    • Insectivore- Pangolins are nocturnal, and their diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues.
  • Types:
    • Out of the eight species of pangolin, the Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and the Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) are found in India.
    • Difference:
      • Indian Pangolin is a large anteater covered by 11-13 rows of scales on the back.
      • A terminal scale is also present on the lower side of the tail of the Indian Pangolin, which is absent in the Chinese Pangolin.
  • Habitat:
    • Indian Pangolin:
      • It is widely distributed in India, except the arid region, high Himalayas and the North-East.
      • The species is also found in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
    • Chinese Pangolin:
      • It is found in the Himalayan foothills in Eastern Nepal, Bhutan, Northern India, North-East Bangladesh and through Southern China.
  • Threats to Pangolins in India:
    • Hunting and poaching for local consumptive use (e.g. as a protein source and traditional medicine) and international trade for its meat and scales in East and South East Asian countries, particularly China and Vietnam.
    • They are believed to be the world’s most trafficked mammal.
  • Conservation Status:

Nandankanan Zoological Park

  • It is 15 kms from Odisha's capital, Bhubaneswar. It was inaugurated in 1960.
  • First zoo in the country to become a member of the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums (WAZA).
    • WAZA is the global alliance of regional associations, national federations, zoos and aquariums, dedicated to the care and conservation of animals and their habitats around the world.
  • It is recognized as a leading zoo for the breeding of the Indian pangolin and white tiger.
    • Leopards, mouse deer, lions, rats and vultures are also bred here.
  • It was the world’s first captive crocodile breeding centre, where gharials were bred in captivity in 1980.
  • The State Botanical Garden of Nandankanan is one of the pioneering plant conservation and nature education centres of Odisha.

Source: TH

Important Facts For Prelims

Sahitya Akademi Award

Why in News

Recently, the Sahitya Akademi announced the Sahitya Akademi Award 2021 in 20 languages. The Akademi also announced Yuva Puraskar and Bal Sahitya Puraskar for 2021.

Key Points

  • About:  
    • Sahitya Akademi award established in 1954, is a literary honour that is conferred annually by Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of letters.
    • Akademi gives 24 awards annually to literary works in the languages it has recognized and an equal number of awards to literary translations from and into the languages of India.
      • Besides the 22 languages enumerated in the Constitution of India, the Sahitya Akademi has recognised English and Rajasthani as languages in which its programme may be implemented.
    • The Sahitya Akademi award is the second-highest literary honour by the Government of India, after the Jnanpith award.
  • Criteria for Choosing Awardee:
    • The author must be of Indian Nationality.
    • Book/work eligible for the award must be an outstanding contribution to the language and literature to which it belongs.
    • When equal merit for books of two or more are found, certain criteria like total literary contribution and standing of authors shall be taken into consideration for declaring the award.
  • Other Sahitya Akademi Awards:
    • Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar is given to an author based on his/her total contribution to children literature and relates to books first published during the five years immediately preceding the year of Award.
    • Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar relates to books published by an author of the age of 35 and below.

Jnanpith Award

  • The Jnanpith award is the highest literary award in India and can only be conferred annually upon an Indian citizen.
  • English along with other languages mentioned in Indian Constitution (8th Schedule) is considered for the Award.
  • The prize carries a cash award of Rs. 11 lakhs, a citation, and a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati), the goddess of learning.
  • It is sponsored by the cultural organization Bharatiya Jnanpith.
  • Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr has won the 56th Jnanpith Award (2021), and Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo has won the 57th Jnanpith Award (2022).

Source: TH

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