Marketing of MFPs Through MSP & Development of Value Chain for MFP Schemes Emerge as a beacon of Change & Impact Tribal Ecosystem as Never Before

1205 Tribal Enterprises Spread Across 18500 SHGS Established to Provide Employment to 3.6 Lakh Tribal Gatherers in 22 States Posted On: 27 JUL 2020 6:04PM by PIB Delhi

It has now been four months since the Pandemic Covid-19 has caused (and continues to cause) havoc in the lives of people, across the country. As people try to pick up their lives and livelihoods, the team of TRIFED warriors is continuing to forge ahead in its endeavour to bring the tribal people towards mainstream development.

Adapting “Go Vocal for Local”, a mantra in these troubled times, into “Go Vocal for Local Go Tribal – Mera Van Mera Dhan Mera Udyam”, TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs has put in place several path-breaking initiatives, in addition to its existing flagship programmes and implementations, that have emerged as a panacea for the distressed tribals in such times. Some of TRIFED’s noteworthy efforts in the recent months that have aided the tribal people in employment and livelihood generation in these difficult times are showcased below.

At a time when all aspects of life have moved online, TRIFED has embarked on an all-encompassing digitisation drive to only promote tribal commerce and also map and link its village-based tribal producers and artisans to national and international markets by setting up state of art e- platforms benchmarked to international standards. The strategy is aimed to effectively promote tribal commerce.

TRIFED is in the process of digitising all the information related to the forest dwellers associated with the Van Dhan Yojana, village haats and their warehouses. This digitization effort wherein all tribal clusters are identified and mapped using GIS technology will help bring benefits to these people under the “Atmanirbhar Abhiyanclarion” call given by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Due to the suddenness of the pandemic overtaking our lives and the immediate lockdown, stocks by tribal artisans worth Rs 100 crores were lying unsold. In order to ensure that these stocks got sold and all the sales proceeds go to the affected tribal families, TRIFED purchased more than 1 lakh items and launched an aggressive plan to market these unsold goods online (offering substantial discounts) through its Tribes India website and also other retail platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and GeM. The team of TRIFED warriors also joined hands with the Art of Living Foundation to distribute free food and ration to more than 5000 tribal artisan families.

The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ Schemehas also emerged as a beacon of change and has impacted the tribal ecosystem as never before. Conceptualised and implemented by TRIFED in association with State Government Agencies across 21 states of the country, the scheme has injected more than Rs 3000 crores directly in the tribal economy since April 2020.

Aided by the Government push in May 2020 wherein the prices of Minor Forest Produce (MFPs) were increased by upto 90% and the inclusion of 23 new items in the MFP list, this flagshipscheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which draws its strength from The Forest Rights Act of 2005,aims to provide remunerative and fair prices to tribal gatherers of forest produces. The price is almost three times higher than would be available to them from middle men, and has helped in trebling their incomes in these times.

The ongoing procurement of MFPs under the MSP for MFP Scheme in 16 States has hit a record-breaking high with the procurement touching Rs 1000 crores, and another Rs 2000 crores by trade over and above the MSP.

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Among the States, Chhattisgarh has taken the lead by procuring 46654 Metric tonnes of Minor forest produces worth a Rs 105.96 crores. Odisha and Telangana follow with a procurement of 14188 MTs of MFPs worth Rs 30.01 crores and 5323 MTs of MFPs worth Rs 2.35 crores respectively.

The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras/ Tribal Start-ups, also a component of the same scheme, further complements MSP beautifully as it has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans. 1205 Tribal Enterprises spread across 18500 SHGs have been established to provide employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers and 18000 Self-help groups in 22 States

. The beauty of the programme is that it ensures that the proceeds from the sales of these value-added products go to the tribals directly. The value-added products benefit largely from the packaging and marketing that these tribal enterprises provide. Manipur and Nagaland have emerged as examples of States where these start-ups have bloomed.

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77 Van Dhan Kendras have been established in the State of Manipur for value addition and processing of forest produces. These Van Dhan Kendras have reported sales of MFP products worth Rs. 49.1 lakhs since September 2019! The exemplary food safety and hygiene standards adopted by these centres that have been established, the superb attractive packaging of the processed products such as Amla juice, tamarind amla candy and plum jams, and the innovative branding and marketing of these products have stood out in particular. A mobile van service has also been started in one of the districts in Manipur to ensure the sale of these products.

TRIFED is now planning the convergence of the Van Dhan Yojana with the MSP for MFP Scheme in the next phase of its activities. Together, these two initiatives offer a comprehensive development package for tribals promoting employment and incomes and entrepreneurship.

Systems and processes are being put in place across the country so that the procurement of MFPs become a round-the-year operation and double the present reach to over Rs6000 crore (and benefit 25 lakhs tribal gatherer families) from the current level of Rs 3000 crores. To bolster the scale-up and prepare for additional activities, establishment of 3000 VDVKs involving 9 lakh tribal beneficiaries in the FY 2020-21 is being targeted.

44 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras that will benefit approximately 14000 tribals were launched in Mizoram on July 14, 2020 by Shri. C. Lalrinsanga, Minister of Department of Cooperation, Government of Mizoram in the presence of Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED and Shri JP Agarwal, Department of Cooperation, Government of Mizoram and other officials. Activities in these VDVKs such as training of supervisors and surveyors have also commenced at full speed in the past week.

To bring more exposure to the empaneled tribal artisans and to bring their skill sets and products to international standards, TRIFED is also collaborating with renowned designers such as Ruma Devi and Rina Dhaka to train the tribal artisans.

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In her own show, The Designer and The Muse, currently airing on News X, Rina Dhaka is promoting tribal handicrafts and products through a series of interviews. The first interview with Gauhar Khan was telecast on July 17, 2020 while the second one with Pooja Batra is on air on July 24, 2020.

With the successful implementation of these initiatives and many more upcoming ones, TRIFED is working towards the complete transformation of tribal lives and livelihoods across the country through by reinvigorating the flagging economic condition of the affected artisans and gatherers.

Dr Harsh Vardhan: “Earth Science skills”, become “life skills”, and therefore the earth sciences ministry can easily be seen as the “Life Skills Ministry.”

Dr Harsh Vardhan: “On weather and climate sciences, India has one of the best Weather Services in the world for Disaster Management with accurate warnings on Tropical Cyclones, Heat Waves and Floods. The IMD provides tropical cyclones and storm surge advisories to 13 member countries under the ESCAP Panel.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan announces: “On the Setting up of Atmospheric Research Testbeds, a unique facility in Tropics will be launched in 2021 with the first phase of instrumentation”.

MoES-Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet) and mobile App "Mausam” for India Meteorological Department, launched Posted On: 27 JUL 2020 3:25PM by PIB Delhi

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology, and Earth sciences today said that “The Ministry of Earth Sciences is a unique organization in the world which looks holistically at all branches of Earth Science – Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryosphere and Lithosphere”, and added that “India is the only country with a fully dedicated ministry solely addressing all the aspects of Earth Sciences.

This helps in developing an integrated approach in planning and resolving major concerns in a holistic manner with least time delay. The Ministry has attained many significant achievements in the recent past, which are considered to be of global standard for other countries to follow.”

Users can access observed weather, forecasts, radar images and be proactively warned of impending weather events Posted On: 27 JUL 2020 4:08PM by PIB Delhi

India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences has taken various initiatives in recent years for improvement in dissemination of weather forecast and warning services based on latest tools and technologies. To further enhance this initiative, Ministry of Earth Sciences feels proud to launch the mobile App "Mausam” for India Meteorological Department.

This mobile app is available both on Playstore and Appstore. This Mobile App is dedicated to the general public and designed to communicate the weather information and forecasts in a lucid manner without technical jargons.

Users can access observed weather, forecasts, radar images and be proactively warned of impending weather events.

The MAUSAM mobile App has the following 5 services: Current Weather -Current temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction for 200 cities updated 8 times a day. Information on Sunrise/ sunset and moonrise/ moonset are also given.

Nowcast- Three hourly warnings of localized weather phenomena and their intensity issued for about 800 stations, and districts of India by State Meteorological Centres of IMD. In case of severe weather, its impact also is included in the warning.

City Forecast – Past 24 hours and 7 day forecast of weather conditions around 450 cities in India.

Warnings- Alerts issued twice a day for all districts for the next five days in colour code (Red, Orange and Yellow) to warn citizens of approaching dangerous weather. The colour code Red is the most severe category urging authorities to take action, Orange code prompts authorities and public to be alert and Yellow code prompts authorities and public to keep themselves updated.

Radar products:Latest Station wise radar products updated every 10 minutes The Mausam mobile app will be an important tool for dissemination of weather information and warnings in an attractive and user friendly manner which will meet the requirements of public.

The mobile app has been designed and developed jointly by ICRISAT’s Digital Agriculture & Youth (DAY) team, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and India Meteorological Department.

All provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 have come into force from 24th July, 2020 including the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020 – Shri Paswan

Posted On: 27 JUL 2020 6:30PM by PIB Delhi Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan today launched the Bureau of Indian Standard’s Mobile App ‘BIS-Care’ and three portals – the Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training Portals of e-BIS on www.manakonline.in for consumers.

The mobile app BIS-Care can be operated on any Android phone. This app is operational in Hindi and English language and can be downloaded free from Google play store.

Consumers can check the authenticity of the ISI-marked and hallmarked products and lodge complaints using this app. The Minister said that the government has taken several steps to protect the interests of consumers.

This opens door for critical API production & Manufacturing of High-end Medical devices

Huge response from States: Union Govt decides to go for challenges mode to ensure most attractive investment regime

India to strengthen its claim of Pharmaceuticals Hub in the world India poised to become self-reliant in High-end medical devices Posted On: 27 JUL 2020 4:48PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri DV Sadananda Gowda launched here today four schemes of Department of Pharmaceuticals for promotion of domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and medical devices parks in the country . On this occasion MoS(i/c) for Shipping and MoS for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Ayog, Dr P D Waghela, Secretary, Deptt of Pharmaceuticals were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gowda said that this in line with the the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, and his clarion call for making India Atma Nirbhar in pharma sector. For this the Government of India has approved four schemes, two each for Bulk Drugs and Medical Devices parks.He exhorted the industry and the States to come forward and participate in these schemes.

He said , India is often referred to as ‘the pharmacy of the world’ and this has been proved true especially in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic when India continued to export critical life saving medicines to needy countries even during the countrywide lockdown. However, despite these achievements, it is a matter of concern that our country is critically dependent on imports for basic raw materials, viz.

Bulk Drugs (Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)) that are used to produce some of the essential medicines. Similarly in medical devices sector, our country is dependent on imports for 86% of its requirements of medical devices.

Shri Mandavia said that this is a very important initiative towards further developing Indian pharmaceutical capacities. Giving details of the Guidelines Shri Mandaviya said that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for promoting domestic manufacturing of KSMs, DIs and APIs and medical devices will go a long way including to boost domestic manufacturing of 53 bulk drugs, on which India is critically dependent on imports.

The list of 41 products contained in the scheme guidelines will enable domestic production of 53 bulk drugs. Financial incentives will be given to a maximum of 136 manufacturers selected under the scheme as a fixed percentage of their domestic sales of these 41 products manufactured locally with required level of domestic value addition.

The incentives would be subject to annual ceilings communicated in the approval letter. The incentives would be given for a period of 6 years. In case of fermentation based products, the rate of incentive is 20% for first four years, 15% for the fifth year and 5% for the sixth year.

In case of chemically synthesised products, rate of incentive is 10% for all six years. The selected manufacturers shall have to complete committed investment above a threshold investment mandated for each product and achieve a prescribed minimum installed capacity before they are eligible to receive incentives.

Threshold investment is Rs 400 crore for four fermentation based products and Rs 50 crore for ten fermentation based products. Similarly, threshold investment is Rs 50 crore for four chemically synthesised products, and Rs 20 crore for 23 chemically synthesised products.

Minimum installed capacity to be achieved for each of the 41 products is prescribed in the guidelines. The incentives for fermentation based products would be available from FY 2023-24 i.e. after a two year gestation period during which the selected applicant has to complete the committed investment and install the committed capacity.

For chemically synthesised products the incentives would be available from FY 2022-23 i.e. after a gestation period of one year during which the selected applicant has to make the committed investment and install the committed capacity.

Any company, partnership firm, proprietorship firm or a LLP registered in India and possessing a minimum net worth (including group companies) of 30% of proposed investment is eligible to apply for incentives under the scheme. An applicant can apply for any number of products.

The applicants will be selected on the basis of a transparent composite evaluation criteria which include the annual production capacity committed by the applicant and the sale price of the product quoted by the applicant. Applicants quoting low sale price and higher production capacity will get higher marks in the evaluation.

The guidelines are available on the website of the Department of Pharmaceuticals. The salient features of the four schemes are:

The scheme is open for applications for a period of120 days from the date of issuance of guidelines and the approval will be given to the selected applicants within 90 days from the closure of application window. Applications will be received only through an online portal. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 6,940 crore.

Scheme for promotion of Bulk Drug Parks: The scheme envisages creation of 3 bulk drug parks in the country. The grant-in-aid will be 90% of the project cost in case of North-East and hilly States and 70% in case of other States. Maximum grant-in-aid for one bulk drug park is limited to Rs.1000 crore.

States will be selected through a challenge method. The States interested in setting up the parks will have to ensure assured 24*7 supply of electricity and water to the bulk drug units located in the park and offer competitive land lease rates to bulk drug units in the park. The location of proposed park from environmental angle and logistics angle would be taken into account while selecting the States.

The ease of doing business ranking of the state, incentive policies of the State applicable to bulk drug industry, availability of technical manpower in the state, availability of pharmaceutical/chemical clusters in the state will also be factored in while selecting the States. The interested States will be scored and ranked on an evaluation criteria, given in the guidelines, which captures above parameters. The States getting top 3 ranks will be selected. The States have to submit their proposal within 60 days of the date of issuance of the guidelines. Selection will be done and in-principle approval will be given to three selected States within 30 days of last date of submission of proposals.

Thereafter, the 3 selected States will have to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) within 180 days of the in-principle approval based on which final approval will be given. The grant-in–aid will be released in four installments. First three installments will be 30% each and the last will be 10% of the grant-in-aid.

The selected States will have to complete the parkas per the approved DPR within two years of date of release of first installment of grant-in-aid. It is envisaged to have a single window system in these parks for all regulatory approvals under one roof. The creation of a centre of excellence is also envisaged to enable an ecosystem for Research and Development. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 3,000 crore.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for promoting domestic manufacturing of Medical Devices: The scheme intends to boost domestic manufacturing of medical devices in four target segments by giving financial incentives on sales to a maximum number of 28 selected applicants for a period of 5 years.

Financial incentive will be given at a rate of 5% of the sales of domestically manufactured medical devices. The incentives would be subject to annual ceilings communicated in the approval letter the incentives would be available from FY 2021-22. Four target segments are:-

Cancer care / Radiotherapy medical devices Radiology & Imaging medical devices (both ionizing & non-ionizing radiation products) and Nuclear Imaging devices Anesthetics& Cardio-Respiratory medical devices including catheters of Cardio Respiratory Category & Renal Care medical devices AII Implants including implantable electronic devices

Anycompany registered in India and possessing a minimum net worth ( including group companies) of Rs.18 crore (30% of threshold investment of first year) is eligible to apply for incentives under the scheme. The applicant can apply for multiple products within one target segment as well as multiple target segments.

The selected applicants shall have to complete a threshold investment prescribed for each year and achieve a minimum prescribed sale for that year for them to be eligible to receive incentives.

The application window is 120 days from the date of issuance of guidelines and the approval thereafter to the selected applicants will be accorded within 60 days from the date of closure of application window. The applications will be received only through an online portal. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs.3,420 crore.

CEO.NITI Ayog, Shri Amitabh Kant said India Produces huge number of Generic medicines as well as more than 500 API,still it has to import large quantity of API .He said prime mnister wants to reduce dependency on imports. Secretary pharmaceuticals Shri P D Vaghela gave a detaile presentation of the guidelines.

It is expected that these schemes will make India not only self-reliant but also capable of catering to the global demand for the selected bulk drugs and medical devices.

This is a golden opportunity for the investors since incentivisation to industry and world-class infrastructure support simultaneously will help in bringing down the cost of production significantly.

These schemes along with the liberal FDI policy in these sectors and an effective corporate tax rate of about 17% (including surcharge and cess) will give a competitive edge to India in the selected products vis-à-vis other economies.

Context: Poland is to withdraw from Istanbul Convention- a treaty aimed at preventing violence against women.

What’s the issue? The reason behind withdrawal is that Poland thinks the Convention is harmful because it required schools to teach children about gender. Also, it says, the treaty tries to construct a “socio-cultural gender against the biological gender”. For example, some items of the convention foresee educating children and young people about forming homosexual families.

What is the Istanbul Convention? It is also called as the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

The treaty is the world’s first binding instrument to prevent and tackle violence against women.

It is the most comprehensive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls, covering domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation (FGM), so-called honour-based violence, and forced marriage.

The Convention sets minimum standards for governments to meet when tackling violence against women. When a government ratifies the Convention, they are legally bound to follow it.

As of March 2019, it has been signed by 45 countries and the European Union. The convention was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 7 April 2011.

Context: Last week, the Supreme Court of India suo motu registered a case of contempt against lawyer Prashant Bhushan. He stands accused of the Criminal contempt.

What was the case? The court registered the proceedings after a petition was moved citing two tweets Bhushan had published over the last two months. In the tweets, the lawyer had commented on Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and about the general functioning of the court under the last four chief justices.

The court said it found the tweets prima facie contempt.

What is Contempt? The contempt of court law is one of the most controversial elements in the Indian legal context.

While the basic idea of a contempt law is to punish those who do not respect the orders of the courts, in the Indian context, contempt is also used to punish speech that lowers the dignity of the court and interferes with the administration of justice.

Contempt of court can be of two kinds: Civil, that is the willful disobedience of a court order or judgment or willful breach of an undertaking given to a court.

Criminal, that is written or spoken words or any act that scandalises the court or lowers its authority or prejudices or interferes with the due course of a judicial proceeding or interferes/obstructs the administration of justice.

Relevant provisions: Article 129 and 215 of the Constitution of India empowers the Supreme Court and High Court respectively to punish people for their respective contempt.

Section 10 of The Contempt of Courts Act of 1971 defines the power of the High Court to punish contempts of its subordinate courts.

The Constitution also includes contempt of court as a reasonable restriction to the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19, along with elements like public order and defamation.

Why courts need contempt powers? To ensure their orders are implemented. To sustain the independent nature of the judiciary itself. While the judiciary issues orders, they are implemented by the government or private parties. If the courts are unable to enforce their orders, then the rule of law itself will come to grinding halt.

Issues with Contempt Law: Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution gives the right to freedom of speech and expression to all citizens, while “contempt provisions” curb people’s freedom to speak against the court’s functioning.

The law is very subjective which might be used by the judiciary arbitrarily to suppress their criticism by the public.

Analysis of Bhushan’s case: The suo motu contempt proceedings initiated by a bench of the Supreme Court against Mr. Bhushan constitutes an abuse of the court’s contempt jurisdiction, which—for good reason—is to be exercised sparingly and with circumspection.

It is because, according to some experts, there is nothing in Mr. Bhushan’s tweets that qualify as contempt of Court. His tweets are an exercise of his fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (a) to freely express himself by way of comment and criticism on the conduct of the CJI as a private citizen.

Also, these tweets in question appear to be in the realm of perception and comment and don’t seem to have transgressed into contempt. The general principle on contempt is that one can criticise a judgment but you can’t attribute motives to the judge.

Conclusion: A law for criminal contempt is completely asynchronous with our democratic system which recognises freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right.

An excessively loose use of the test of ‘loss of public confidence’, combined with a liberal exercise of suo motu powers, can be dangerous, for it can amount to the Court signalling that it will not suffer any kind of critical commentary about the institution at all, regardless of how evidently problematic its actions may be.

In this manner, the judiciary could find itself at an uncanny parallel with the executive, in using laws for chilling effect.

What needs to be done? Besides needing to revisit the need for a law on criminal contempt, even the test for contempt needs to be evaluated.

If such a test ought to exist at all, it should be whether the contemptuous remarks in question actually obstruct the Court from functioning. It should not be allowed to be used as a means to prevent any and all criticism of an institution.

Contempt laws in other countries: Already, contempt has practically become obsolete in foreign democracies, with jurisdictions recognising that it is an archaic law, designed for use in a bygone era, whose utility and necessity has long vanished.

Canada ties its test for contempt to real, substantial and immediate dangers to the administration. American courts no longer use the law of contempt in response to comments on judges or legal matters. In England, the legal position has evolved.

Context: A governor’s powers and role in the state legislature’s affairs are back in focus amid the political crisis in Rajasthan.

Congress legislators backing Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot have accused the Governor of acting under pressure. But, Is the Governor bound by the advice of the chief minister-led council of ministers when it comes to convening the assembly session and to what extent can the governor exercise his discretion?

What does the Constitution say? The Constitution’s Articles 163 and 174 are relevant in the context of the governor’s powers to convene the state assembly.

Article 163 says there shall be a CM-led council of ministers to aid and advise the governor except when he is required, under the Constitution, to exercise functions in his/her discretion.

Article 174 says the governor “shall from time to time summon the House of the state…as he thinks fit but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for first sitting in the next session”.

What has the Supreme Court said in this regard? The 2016 Supreme Court judgment in the Nabam Rebia v Deputy Speaker held that the governor’s power to summon, prorogue and dissolve the House should be only on the advice of the council of ministers. And not at his own.

The judgment, however, also held that if the governor has reasons to believe the council of ministers has lost the confidence of the House, he can ask the chief minister to prove the majority.

Conclusion: The Governor has no discretionary powers in summoning a session of the Assembly, and he or she is bound to act according to the aid and advice of the CM and the Council of Ministers.

But, the Governor can require the CM and the Council of Ministers to seek a trust vote if he or she has reasons to believe that they have lost the confidence of the Assembly.

Context: 81 projects have been approved so far under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid Income Housing (SWAMIH) fund.

The approval, under the SWAMIH Investment Fund I, will enable the completion of nearly 60,000 homes across India.

About SWAMIH: In November 2019, the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to set it up. SWAMIH Investment Fund has been formed to complete construction of stalled, RERA-registered affordable and mid-income category housing projects which are stuck due to paucity of funds.

The fund was set up as a Category-II AIF (Alternate Investment Fund) debt fund registered with SEBI. The Investment Manager of the Fundis SBICAP Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI Capital Markets, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the State Bank of India.

The Sponsor of the Fundis the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India on behalf of the Government of India.

Who will be the investors of the fund? AIFs created/funded under the Special Window would solicit investment into the fund from the Government and other private investors including cash-rich financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, public and private banks, domestic pension and provident funds, global pension funds and other institutional investors.

Context: The US administration has relaxed export restrictions on specific types of unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones, enabling U.S. defense contractors to sell more of their wares abroad.

Changes introduced: Under a new policy, unmanned aerial systems that fly at speeds below 800 kph will no longer be subject to the “presumption of denial” that, in effect, blocked most international sales of drones such as the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk.

Implications: So far, the U.S. government’s interpretation of the export controls under the Missile Technology Control Regime, or MTCR had led to a blanket denial of most countries’ requests to buy “category-1” systems capable of carrying 500-kilogram payloads for more than 300 kilometers.

Instead of having a “presumption of denial” for those drones, where export officials needed special circumstances to allow the sale of the drones, the new guidance would mean those officials would now consider proposed sales using the same criteria as they do for other military exports.

About MTCR: It is an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries. Objective: to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying greater than 500 kg payload for more than 300 km.

The regime was formed in 1987 by the G-7 industrialized countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States).

It is not a legally binding treaty on the members. What is the purpose of the MTCR? The MTCR was initiated by like-minded countries to address the increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons by addressing the most destabilizing delivery system for such weapons.

In 1992, the MTCR’s original focus on missiles for nuclear weapons delivery was extended to a focus on the proliferation of missiles for the delivery of all types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), i.e., nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Such proliferation has been identified as a threat to international peace and security.

India and the MTCR: India was inducted into the Missile Technology Control Regime in 2016 as the 35thmember.

China is not a member of this regime but it had verbally pledged to adhere to its original guidelines but not to the subsequent additions.

Context: Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 was recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

About FRA: FAO has brought out this comprehensive assessment every five years since 1990. This report assesses the state of forests, their conditions and management for all member countries.

According to FRA 2020, top 10 countries that have recorded the maximum average annual net gains in forest area during 2010-2020 are: China Australia India Chile Vietnam Turkey United States France Italy Romania

Key findings: The Asian continent reported the highest net gain in forest area in 2010-2020. It recorded 1.17 million hectares (ha) per year net increase in forests in the last decade.

South Asia sub-region reported net forest losses during 1990-2020.

India-related findings: During the decade under assessment, India reported 0.38 per cent annual gain in forest, or 266,000 ha of forest increase every year at an average.

The FRA 2020 has credited the government’s Joint Forest Management programme for the significant increase in community-managed forest areas in the Asian continent. The forest area managed by local, tribal and indigenous communities in India increased from zero in 1990 to about 25 million ha in 2015.

However, the naturally regenerating forest rate is disappointing, according to the assessment. During 2010-20, the rate of increase in naturally regenerating forest was just 0.38 per cent.

India reported the maximum employment in the forestry sector in the world. Globally, 12.5 million people were employed in the forestry sector. Out of this, India accounted for 6.23 million, or nearly 50 per cent.

The day commemorates the success of “Operation Vijay” launched by the Indian Army to recapture the Indian territories from Pakistani intruders in the Kargil-Drass sector in 1999.

Background: The Kargil war took place despite the two nations signing the Shimla Agreement that stated that no armed conflict shall take place on the said boundary. The Indian and Pakistani armies fought the Kargil War in May-July 1999 in Kargil and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC).

Safed Sagar, the Indian Air Force’s operation, was a major part of the Kargil war.

The Nag River is a river flowing through the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, India.

It is known for providing the etymology for the name Nagpur. Forming a part of the Kanhan-Pench river system, the Nag River originates in Lava hills near wadi.

Why in News? Industrialisation has reduced Nag river to a cursed lady, Bombay High Court said recently.