PIB 4th June 2021

NATIONAL BAMBOO MISSION

Focus: GS III- Agriculture

Why in news?

The National Bamboo Mission and the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) have been working together for having a dedicated window on the GeM portal for marketing of the Bamboo Goods (Bamboo based products & Quality Planting Materials).

National Bamboo Mission

Nodal: Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DAC) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

• It is a centrally Sponsored scheme, to harness the potential of the bamboo crop.

The National Bamboo Mission was implemented with the following objectives:

• Enhance the yields with improved and new varieties.
• In the potential areas, increase the coverage area for bamboo.
• Promotion and marketing of bamboo and handicrafts made of bamboo.
• Establish coordination and cooperation among stakeholders for the development of the bamboo sector.
• Promote, develop, and disseminate technologies through a perfect blend of modern scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom.
• Generate employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled labourers, especially unemployed youths.

Restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM):

• The restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) was launched in 2018-19 for holistic development of the bamboo sector through a cluster-based approach in a hub (industry) and spoke model to harness the opportunities by providing backward and forward linkages among the stakeholders – linking farmers to markets.
• There is a huge potential to place Indian bamboo products in the domestic as well as global markets with the latest technologies, modern processing and by generating awareness on compliance requirements for destination countries.
• The Mission is streamlining its interventions to enhance domestic industrial activities as well as augmenting the farmer’s income with support from technical agencies and facilitative steps.
• Direct subsidy of 50% is given to farmers at Rs 1.00 lakh per ha, 100% to Government agencies and also to entrepreneurs for setting up various product development units, etc.
• The Mission is presently being executed by 21 States, including all the 9 States of NER through the respective State Bamboo Missions.
•  NBM is also advising States to make available quality planting material to the farmers out to carry out plantations of commercially required species, set up common facility centres and other post-harvest units in complete sync with the requirement of existing and sunrise industries for a win-win situation for farmers and Indian bamboo industry.

About Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

Nodal: Ministry of Commerce and Industry

• It is an Online Market platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by the government ministries, departments, public sector undertakings (PSU) etc.
• It has been envisaged as National Procurement Portal of India.
• It has been developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support of National e-governance Division (Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology).
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.

The following are the objectives of the  online platform:

• Easier availability of various goods and services for the government buyers.
• Create transparency in public procurement.
• Cost saving on government expenditure.
• Achieve and promote cashless transactions.

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Focus: GS II- International Groupings

Why in news?

The Asian Development Bank and the Government of India signed a $2.5 million project readiness financing (PRF) loan to support project preparation and design activities to upgrade major district roads in Sikkim that will help improve connectivity to important towns, rural areas, and pilgrimage and tourist destinations in the north eastern state.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB):

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966 to promote social and economic development in Asia.
• It is headquartered in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.
• The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank and an official United Nations Observer.
• Japan holds the largest proportion of shares in ADB followed by the USA, and it has a weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions (just like the World Bank).
• The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-regional developed countries.
• ADB defines itself as a social development organization that is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
• ADB aids in reducing poverty through investments in the form of loans, grants and information sharing (in infrastructure, health care services, financial and public administration systems), helping nations prepare for the impact of climate change or better manage their natural resources, as well as other areas.

MEGA FOOD PARKS

Focus: GS II- Government Policies and Interventions

Why in news

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries virtually inaugurated the Indus Best Mega Food Parkat Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

About Mega Food Parks scheme:

Nodal: Ministry of Food Processing Industries

• It aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers.
• These food parks give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with particular focus on perishables.
• Implemented by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is a Body Corporate registered under the Companies Act.

The Scheme has a cluster based approach based on a hub and spokes model.

• It includes creation of infrastructure for primary processing and storage near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) and Collection Centres (CCs) and common facilities and enabling infrastructure at Central Processing Centre (CPC).

Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana

Nodal: Ministry of Food Processing Industries

• It is a Central Sector Scheme.

Objectives:

• To supplement agriculture.
• To create processing and preservation capacities.
• To modernise and expand existing food processing units with a view to increasing the level of processing.
• To add value leading to the reduction of wastage.

Seven component schemes under PMKSY:

• Mega Food Parks.
• Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure.
• Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters.
• Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages.
• Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.
• Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure.
• Human Resources and Institutions.

JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT 2015

Focus: GS II- Governance

Why in news?

Ministry of Women and Child Development asked the States/UTs to ensure Care and protection of Children adversely impacted by COVID Pandemic following the protocol as mandated under the JJ Act,2015

About JJ Act,2015

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,2015 defines “Juvenile” or “Child” as a person who has not completed 18 years of age.

Salient provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015:

• The Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 replaced the Juvenile Justice Act of 2010. The salient provisions of the 2015 Act are,
• The Act changed the nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’.
• Further, the Act defined terms such as abandoned, orphaned and surrendered children.
• The Act categorized the crimes committed by children into three categories. Such as petty, serious and heinous offences.
  • If an offence attracts minimum imprisonment of seven years or more under any existing law then such an offence is called a heinous crime.
• The Act provided for setting up of mandatory Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) in every district. Also, these boards and committees must have at least one woman member each.
• CWC: The Committee have the power to dispose of cases for the care, protection, development, treatment and rehabilitation of the children. Further, the committee also certifies the Child as legally free for the adoption process.
• Further, the Act made the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) a statutory body. This facilitated better performance and functions of CARA.
• All Child Care Institutions(CCI) have to register themselves under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act.
• Children in the age group of 16 – 18 years can be treated as adults in the case of heinous crimes. But for treating them as an adult the JJB has to assess the child’s physical and mental capacities and certify the child.

SDG INDIA INDEX 2020-21

Focus: GS III- Environment

Why in News?

The third edition of the SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020–21 was released by NITI Aayog.

About SDG India Index:

• The SDG India Index Documents and Tracks the progress made by India’s States and Union Territories towards Implementing the 2030 SDG Targets and Ranks them.
• SDG India Index is the first tool developed by any large country to monitor the progress towards achieving Sustainable Developing Goals at sub-national level.
• NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeing the adoption and monitoring of SDGs in the Country.
• This index was developed in Collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the United Nations in India and the Global Green Growth Institute.

Sustainable Developing Goals:

• To bring sustainable development in the mainstream United Nations (UN) launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs.
• This universal, integrated and transformative agenda aims to spur actions that will end poverty and build a more sustainable world over the next 15 years.
• There are 17 goals and 169 targets specific targets to be achieved by 2030. Reaching the goals requires action on all fronts – governments, businesses, civil society and people everywhere all have a role to play.
• SDGs are not legally binding.

Key Findings:

The top-five and bottom-five States in SDG India Index 2020–21:

Performance and Ranking of States and UTs on SDGs 2020–21, including change in score from last year: