Current Affairs 26th June 2019
Important Current Affairs
Current Affairs 26th June 2019
NITI Aayog Releases the Second Edition of “Healthy States, Progressive India” Report.
Kerala, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra ranked on top in terms of overall performance Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand ranked top three States in terms of annual incremental performance An annual systematic performance tool to measure the performance of the States and UTs.
Among Smaller States, Mizoram ranked first followed by Manipur on overall performance, while Tripura followed by Manipur was the top-ranked States in terms of annual incremental performance.
Among UTs, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli were ranked on top in terms of overall performance (Chandigarh-1 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli-2) as well as annual incremental performance (Dadra and Nagar Haveli-1 and Chandigarh-2).
NITI Aayog released the Second Edition of “Healthy States, Progressive India” today. The report ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance. The Round II report focuses on measuring and highlighting the overall performance and incremental improvement over a two year period (2016-17 and 2017-18) in the States and UTs.
About the Index:
The report is an annual systematic performance tool to measure the performance of the States and UTs. It ranks states and union territories on their year on year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other. The ranking is categorized as Larger States, Smaller States and Union Territories (UTs), to ensure comparison among similar entities. The Health Index is a weighted composite Index based on 23 indicators grouped into the domains of Health Outcomes, Governance and Information, and Key Inputs/Processes. Each domain has been assigned weights based on its importance and has been equally distributed among indicators.
KALIA Scheme
Why in news: Addressing the inaugural session of the 16th Assembly, Governor Ganeshi Lal said, The Odisha government will lay emphasis on agriculture development and farmers’ welfare as a major strategy for bringing poverty below 5% over the next five years. Stating that sustainable input management is the key to agricultural productivity, Prof. Lal said the State government has envisioned that all farmers and landless agricultural labourers would be covered under the KALIA scheme.
What is KALIA Scheme?
KALIA scheme is a package for farmers' welfare. KALIA stands for “Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation”. This scheme has been launched to accelerate agricultural prosperity and elimination of poverty.
Who is eligible to get benefit under KALIA Scheme?
All small and marginal farmers along with landless agricultural households, vulnerable agricultural household, landless agricultural labourers and sharecroppers/actual cultivators are eligible under different components of KALIA.
Who is a small and marginal farmer?
A small farmer is a cultivator who owns 2.5 acres to 5 acres of arable land. A marginal farmer is one who owns less than 2,5 acres of arable land.
What are the benefits available to cultivators for cultivation under KALIA scheme?
Financial aid of Rs.25,000 per farm family over five seasons will be provided to small and marginal farmers so that they can purchase seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and use assistance towards labour. This scheme has come into effect from the ongoing (2018-19) Rabi season.
Is there any benefit for the landless agricultural household?
Yes, Financial assistance of Rs 12500/ will be provided to each landless agricultural household for agricultural allied activities such as goat rearing, small layer poultry units, duckery units, fishery kits for fishermen, mushroom cultivation, bee-keeping and so on.
Is there any scope for financial aid to the vulnerable agricultural household?
Yes, the vulnerable cultivators/landless agricultural laborers will get financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per family per year to enable them to take care of their sustenance. The cultivator/landless agricultural laborers who are in old age, having disability/ disease and are vulnerable for any other reason will benefit from the scheme. Five lakh families will be covered every year.
Is there any life insurance support to cultivators and landless agricultural labourers?
Yes,
1) Life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh at a very nominal premium of Rs330 will be provided to all savings bank account holder of age between 18-50 years. Government of Odisha will bear farmers’ share of annual premium of Rs.165.
2) Personal accident cover of Rs.2.00 lakh at a very nominal annual premium of Rs 12 for all savings bank account holder aged between 18-50 years. Out of Rs 12 towards premium, Rs 6 is the farmers’ share, which will be borne by the government of Odisha.
3) In respect of the above beneficiary whose age is between 51-70 years, the entire amount of Rs 12 towards annual premium will be borne by the government.
Is there any provision for providing interest-free crop loan to farmers under KALIA scheme?
Yes, Crop loan up to Rs 50,000 will be provided at 0% interest from the Khariff Season of the year 2019.
Who is eligible to get the benefits under KALIA Scheme?
1) Small and Marginal Farmers are eligible to get benefit under support to cultivators for cultivation.
2) Landless agricultural households are eligible to get livelihood support under the scheme.
3) Vulnerable agricultural household covering vulnerable cultivators/landless agricultural labourers are eligible to get financial assistance under the KALIA scheme.
4) Life Insurance Support to cultivators and Landless agricultural labourers as well as the interest-free crop loan component are meant for all category of the beneficiary under KALIA scheme.
What is a Farm Family?
A farm family constitutes a farmer and his/her spouse along with their dependent children.
Any farmer wanting to get information on KALIA scheme can register for 'Kalia Barta' by giving a missed call to the Telephone No: 08061174222.
The farmer will automatically get registered with the Government database. All information about KALIA scheme will also be sent to his phone number through SMS and voice calls from time to time.
Pandharpur Wari
- Pandharpur Wari or Wari (Vari) is an annual pilgrimage (yatra) to Pandharpur - the seat of the Hindu god Vithoba in the Indian state of Maharashtra, in honour of the deity.
- Palakhis (palanquin processions) carrying the paduka (footprints) of various saints - most notably Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram - from the Varkari (Warkari, "one who performs the Wari") sect (which venerates Vithoba), are taken from their respective shrines to Pandharpur.
- The tradition is more than 700 to 800 years old. Dnyaneshwar's palakhi leaves from Alandi, while Tukaram's begins at Dehu; both in Pune district of Maharashtra. This March on foot from various locations in Maharashtra to Vithoba temple, Pandharpur, attracts a total of over a million pilgrims.
- The journey takes 21 days. Numerous palakhis join the main Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar palkhis that starts from Dehu and Alandi respectively.
- The wari culminates at the Vithoba temple on Ashadhi Ekadashi. Devotees from Maharashtra and nearby areas set out for Pandharpur, wearing holy basil beads and singing the glories of Vithoba and songs like "Gyanba Tukaram", commemorating the saints.
- Upon reaching Pandharpur on Ashadi Ekadashi, these devotees take a holy dip in the sacred Chandrabhaga River/Bhima River before proceeding to visit the Vitthal temple.
Sant Tukaram:
Tukaram, also referred to as Sant Tukaram, Bhakta Tukaram, Tukaram Maharaj, Tukoba and Tukobaraya, was a 17th-century Hindu poet and sant of the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra, India. He was part of the egalitarian, personalized Varkari devotional tradition. Tukaram is best known for his devotional poetry called Abhanga and community-oriented worship with spiritual songs known as kirtans. His poetry was devoted to Vitthala or Vithoba, an avatar of Hindu god Vishnu.
‘Impressive’ tortoise discovered in Arunachal Pradesh
A tortoise considered beautiful enough to be named ‘impressed’ has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.
A team of herpetologists from the Forest Department and two NGOs — Help Earth and Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) — found the Impressed Tortoise (Manouria impressa) in Yazali area of the Lower Subansiri district a few days ago.
This is the first record of the tortoise in India, taking the count to five and the non-marine chelonian count to 29. Chelonian is an order of reptile that includes turtles, terrapins and tortoises.
There are only two species of tortoises under the Manouria genus. India was known to be the home of only the Asian Forest Tortoise (Manouria emys) until the discovery of the Impressed Tortoise.
The Asian Forest Tortoise, the largest in mainland Asia, is found only in the northeast, as are 20 of the other 28 species of chelonians.
The male Impressed Tortoise is smaller than the female which is 30 cm in length. This Manouria species is one-third the size of the Asian Forest Tortoise.