The High Level Group (HLEG) on Agricultural Exports set up by the Fifteenth Finance Commission to recommend measurable performance incentives for States to encourage agricultural exports and to promote crops to enable high import substitution, has submitted its report to the Commission today.

After intensive research and consultations and taking inputs from stakeholders and the private sector through intensive consultations, the HLEG has made its recommendations, major among which are : 1. Focus on 22 crop value chains – demand driven approach.

2. Solve Value Chain Clusters (VCC) holistically with focus on value addition. 3. Create State led export plan with participation from stakeholders. 4. Private Sector should play an anchor role. 5. Centre should be an enabler. 6. Robust institutional mechanism to fund and support implementation.

The Group in its report has recommended a State-led Export Plan - a business plan for a crop value chain cluster, that will lay out the opportunity, initiatives and investment required to meet the desired value chain export aspiration. These plans will be action-oriented, time-bound and outcome-focused. The Group has also said that for the success of the State led Export Plan, the following factors needed to be considered:-

Plans should be collaboratively prepared with private sector players and Commodity Boards. Leveraging of state plan guide and value chain deep dives. Private sector should play an anchor role in driving outcomes and execution. Centre should enable state-led plans.

Institutional governance should be promoted across state and centre. Funding through convergence of existing schemes, Finance Commission allocation and private sector investment.

The Group was of the view that the private sector players had a pivotal role to play in ensuring demand orientation and focus on value addition; ensuring project plans are feasible, robust, implementable and appropriately funded; providing funds for technology based on business case and for creating urgency and discipline for project implementation.

The HLEG feels that- India’s agricultural export has the potential to grow from USD 40 billion to USD 70 billion in a few years. The estimated investment in agricultural export could be in the tune to USD 8-10 billion across inputs, infrastructure, processing and demand enablers.

Additional exports is likely to create an estimated 7-10 million jobs. It will lead to higher farm productivity and farmer income.

The Members of the HLEG include Shri Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, ITC Chairman; Ms. Radha Singh, Former Agriculture Secretary; Shri Manoj Joshi, Representative of Ministry of Food Processing Industries; Shri Diwakar Nath Misra, Chairman and Shri Paban Kumar Borthakur, Former Chairman, APEDA; Shri Suresh Narayanan, CMD, Nestle India; Shri Jai Shroff, CEO, UPL Limited; Shri Sanjay Sacheti, Country Head India, Olam Agro India Ltd; Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).

The Terms of Reference of the HLEG include: To assess export & import substitution opportunities for Indian agricultural products (commodities, semi-processed, and processed) in the changing international trade scenario and suggest ways to step up exports sustainably and reduce import dependence.

To recommend strategies and measures to increase farm productivity, enable higher value addition, ensure waste reduction, strengthen logistics infrastructure etc. related to Indian agriculture, to improve the sector's global competitiveness.

To identify the impediments for private sector investments along the agricultural value chain and 3 suggest policy measures and reforms that would help attract the required investments.

To suggest appropriate performance-based incentives to the state governments for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26, to accelerate reforms in the agriculture sector as well as implement other policy measures in this regard.

The Commission appreciated the efforts of the Group and will now look into all the recommendations for finalising its own Report to the Government of India.

Agriculture Ministry is funding start-ups under the innovation and agripreneurship component of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

In the first phase, 112 startups in the area of agro processing, food technology and value addition will be funded for a sum of Rs. 1185.90 lakhs Posted On: 31 JUL 2020 12:05PM by PIB Delhi

The Union Government accords very high priority to the agriculture sector. In order to contribute directly and indirectly to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunites to them and to provide employment to youth, start-ups are being encouraged.

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar stated that as emphasised by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, new technology in the field of agriculture and allied sectors through start-ups and agripreneurship should be promoted.

Therefore, under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the innovation and agripreneurship component has been promoted. For the year 2020-21, in the first phase, 112 startups in the area of agro processing, food technology and value addition will be funded for a sum of Rs. 1185.90 lakhs which will contribute to enhancing the income of farmers. This fund will be released in instalments.

Shri Tomar stated that earlier in the month while reviewing the progress of agriculture research, extension and education in India, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had said that start-ups and agri-enterpreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors. He had highlighted the need to leverage information technology to provide information on demand to the farmers.

The Prime Minister exhorted that traditional knowledge of Indian communities should be coupled with technology and skill sets of youth and agriculture graduates to translate the full potential of Indian agriculture in transforming rural areas. He also directed that hackathons may be organized twice a year to solve identified problems and meet design needs for tools and equipment that can reduce drudgery in farming activity.

The Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister also stressed on the need to make agriculture competitive, provide handholding to agriculture-based activities and adopt new technology at the earliest. Emphasizing on increasing private investment in the field of agriculture, Shri Tomar has drawn attention to the need for value addition and start-ups.

His vision is to attract youth to agriculture and rejuvenate the sector. In keeping with these initiatives of the Government of India to boost agriculture and allied activities and give an impetus to the rural economy, the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) which aims at strengthening infrastructure in agriculture and allied areas, has been revamped.

Under the revamped scheme, a component Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development programme has been launched in order to promote innovation and agripreneurship & startups by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. DAC&FW has selected 5 Knowledge Partners (KPs) as Centres of Excellence and 24 RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country after a nation-wide advertisement and a rigorous selection process.

112 Startups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of Agro-processing, Food Technology and Value addition will be funded in the first phase for a sum of Rs. 1185.90 lakh. This fund will be released in instalments. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agribusiness incubation centres (KPs & RABIs) spread across India.

These start-ups will lead to employment to youth. Besides, they, directly and indirectly, will contribute to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunities to them. For more details on Agri-entrepreneurship, RKVY website: https://rkvy.nic.in may be visited.

The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is releasing Index of Eight Core Industries for the Month of June, 2020.

2. The growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for June 2020 declined by 15.0 % (provisional) compared to decline of 22.0 % (revised) in previous month of May 2020. Its cumulative growth during April to June, 2020-21 was -24.6 %.

3. Final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for March’2020 is revised at -8.6 %. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Details of yearly/monthly index and growth rate is provided at Annexure. 4. Monthly growth rates of Index of Eight Core Industries (Overall) is depicted in the graph:

5. The summary of the Index of Eight Core Industries is given below: Coal - Coal production (weight: 10.33 per cent) declined by 15.5 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index declined by 15.0 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Crude Oil - Crude Oil production (weight: 8.98 per cent) declined by 6.0 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index declined by 6.5 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Natural Gas - The Natural Gas production (weight: 6.88 per cent) declined by12.0 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index declined by 16.2 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Refinery Products - Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 28.04 per cent) declined by 8.9 per cent in June, 2020 over June,2019. Its cumulative index declined by 18.2 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizers- Fertilizers production (weight: 2.63 per cent) increased by 4.2 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index increased by 2.8 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel - Steel production (weight: 17.92 per cent) declined by 33.8 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index declined by 51.7 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement - Cement production (weight: 5.37 per cent) declined by 6.9 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index declined by 38.3 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Electricity - Electricity generation (weight:19.85 per cent) declined by 11.0 per cent in June, 2020 over June, 2019. Its cumulative index declined by 16.1 per cent during April to June, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Note 1: Data for April, 2020, May, 2020 and June, 2020 are provisional. Note 2: Since April, 2014, Electricity generation data from Renewable sources are also included.

Note 3: The industry-wise weights indicated above are individual industry weight derived from IIP and blown up on pro rata basis to a combined weight of ICI equal to 100.

Note 4: Since March 2019, a new steel product called Hot Rolled Pickled and Oiled (HRPO) under the item ‘Cold Rolled (CR) coils’ within the production of finished steel has also been included. Note 5: Release of the index for July, 2020 will be on Monday,31st August,2020.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the M/o Labour and Employment, has been compiling Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers every month on the basis of the retail prices of selected items collected from 289 markets spread over 78 industrially important centres in the country. The index is compiled for 78 centres and All-India and is released on the last working day of succeeding month. The index for the month of June, 2020 is being released in this press release.

The All-India CPI-IW for June, 2020 increased by 2 points and stood at 332 (three hundred and thirty two). On 1-month percentage change, it increased by (+) 0.61 per cent between May and June, 2020 compared to (+) 0.64 per cent increase between corresponding months of previous year.

The maximum upward pressure in current index came from Food group contributing (+) 1.65 percentage points to the total change. At item level, Rice, Groundnut Oil, Fish Fresh, Goat Meat, Poultry (Chicken), Milk (Buffalo), Brinjal, Cauliflower, Green Coriander Leaves, Potato, Tomato, Refined Liquor, Cooking Gas, Petrol, etc. are responsible for the increase in index. However, this increase was checked by Wheat Atta, Arhar Dal, Garlic, Onion, Arum, Coconut, Lady’s Finger, Lemon, Mango, Kerosene Oil, etc., putting downward pressure on the index.

At centre level, Jharia recorded the maximum increase of 9 points. Among others, 8 points increase was observed in 3 centres, 7 points in 2 centres, 6 points in 3 centres, 5 points in 7 centres, 4 points in 12 centres, 3 points in 7 centres, 2 points in 10 centres and 1 point in 12 centres. On the contrary, Ranchi-Hatia recorded the maximum decrease of 8 points. Among others, 3 points decrease was observed in 5 centres, 2 points in 2 centres and 1 point in 1 centre. Rest of 12 centres’ indices remained stationary.

The indices of 31 centres are above All-India Index and 45 centres’ indices are below national average. The indices of Chhindwara and Jalandhar centres remained at par with All-India Index.

Year-on-year inflation based on all-items stood at 5.06 per cent for June, 2020 as compared to 5.10 per cent for the previous month and 8.59 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, Food inflation stood at 5.49 per cent against 5.88 per cent of the previous month and 5.47 per cent during the corresponding month a year ago.

Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of Agarbatti and to develop village industry under ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’ on 30th July 2020. As per the programme, initially four Pilot Projects will be started, including one in North Eastern part of the country.

Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 Automatic Agarbatti making machines and 10 Mixing machines.Accordingly, a total of 200 Automatic Agarbatti making machines and 40 Mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.

After two major decisions by Govt of India i) placing the ‘Agarbatti’ item from “Free” trade to “Restricted” trade in the import policy and ii) enhancing the import duty from 10% to 25% on ‘round bamboo sticks’ used for manufacturing of Agarbatti, this decision will help to boost the indigenous production of ‘Agarbatti’and will pave way to generate rural employment.

This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous ‘production and demand’ and will reduce import of ‘Agarbatti’ in the country.

Under this Mission, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), one of the statutory organizations, working under the M/o MSME,will provide training, and assistartisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines. KVIC will tie up with Khadi institutions / Agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to ‘Agarbatti making artisans’.

The program will act as a catalyst in reviving the Agarbatti manufacturing in the villages and small towns and will immediately generate a minimum of about 500 additional jobs.

The programme aims to enhance the production of ‘Agarbatti’ in the country and create sustainable employment for the traditional Artisans, by providing them regular employment and increase in their wages. This will give a boost to the domestic Agarbatti Industry in the country and will reduce imports of Agarbatti.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has received SKOCH Gold Award for its “Empowerment of Tribals through IT enabled Scholarship Schemes” project of Scholarship Divison of the Ministry. The 66th SKOCH 2020 Competition was entitled “INDIA RESPONDS TO COVID THROUGH DIGITAL GOVERNANCE” and MoTA chose to participate in DIGITAL INDIA & E-GOVERNANCE - 2020 Competition and the awards were announced yesterday i.e. on 30th July, 2020.

This project is a step towards achieving unwavering commitment of Government of India towards realizing the dreams of Digital India and bringing transparency as well as ease in the delivery of services.

To assimilate with the larger vision of ‘Digital India’ and to realize the cherished goal of e-governance, MoTA hasintegrated all 5 Scholarship Schemes with DBT Portal under the guidance of DBT Mission. The initiative was rolled out on 12th June 2019 by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda and MoS Ms Renuka Singh Sarota.

During 2019-20, under 5 Scholarship schemes, about Rs. 2500 Cr were directly transferred to student’s Bank accounts through DBT to approximately 30 lakh students in 31 States and UTs. The portal provides facility to States for data sharing through Web services and States can up-load proposal, UCs and SOE online.

This has brought paradigm shift from Paper based UC monitoring mandated for budget release to data enabled budget release and monitoring process. This has considerably reduced scholarship release time and now it is possible to release scholarship in the same academic year in which admission is taken.

MoTA has also entered into CEDA (Centre for Data Analytics), which analyzes and prepares State Wise Data Analysis Reports, which helps in data based planning. In Fellowship Scheme run by Ministry for doing PhD, all 331 Universities have been integrated with the portal thereby enabling verification application online. Portal is also integrated with Digi-Locker developed by MeiTY so that documents are directly fetched and saves verification time.

The portal has facility to upload ddocumentswhich are not on Digi-Locker. Each of these portals have Grievance Redressal and Communication Mechanism and all stake holders, Universities, Bank, PFMS, Students and States can upload queries, grievances and upload documents, which has made grievance redressal mechanism easy, transparent and fast.

KPMG, as part of its mandate for NITI Aayog, has carried out a national evaluation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes focused on social inclusion, in which it has recognized the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Portal of Ministry of Tribal Affairs as a best practice in e-governance which has brought about greater transparency, accountability and radical improvement in service delivery to Scheduled Tribe students.

In order to have connect with 7000 students studying in Top 246 Institutions across India and 4000 Students doing PhD in more than 300 Universities, MoTA has conceptualized unique concept of Talent pool for empowering ST scholarswhich can be connected to various research projects run by TRIs and States.

Context: A rare late ninth century stone statue of Lord Shiva, which was stolen from a temple in Rajasthan and smuggled to the UK, will be returned to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Key facts: The stone Nataraj/Natesha murti, in “chatura pose with jatamakuta and trinetra” and almost four-feet-tall, is a rare depiction of Lord Shiva in the Prathihara style. It is a rare sandstone idol. It is originally from the Ghateswara Temple at Baroli, Rajasthan.

Ghateswara Pratihara empire: The Gurjara-Pratiharas, also known as the Pratihara Empire, ruled much of Northern India from the mid-7th to the 11th century.

They were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the Indus River. Nagabhata I defeated the Arab army under Junaid and Tamin during the Caliphate campaigns in India.

Architecture: Gurjara-Pratihara are known for their sculptures, carved panels and open pavilion style temples.

The greatest development of their style of temple building was at Khajuraho, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons: Celebrated on July 30. Designated by UN in 2013. This year’s theme focuses on first responders to human trafficking.

Who are first responders? These are the people who work in different sectors – identifying, supporting, counselling and seeking justice for victims of trafficking, and challenging the impunity of the traffickers.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the essential role of first responders has become even more important, particularly as the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have made their work even more difficult. Still, their contribution is often overlooked and unrecognized.

Key facts: People are trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced begging, forced marriage; for selling children and as child soldiers, as well as for removal of organs;

Women make up 49% and girls 23% of all victims of trafficking; Sexual exploitation is the most common form of exploitation (59% share) followed by forced labour (34% share);

Most victims are trafficked within their countries’ borders – those trafficked abroad are moved to the richest countries.

Blue Heart Campaign of UN: It has been initiated by the UN to raise global awareness to fight human trafficking and its impact on society.

It aims to encourage the involvement of the governments, civil society, the corporate sector and individuals to inspire action and help prevent this heinous crime.

It allows people to show their solidarity with the victims of human traffickingand increasing their visibility by wearing the Blue Heart.

What are the constitutional & legislative provisions related to Trafficking in India? Trafficking in Human Beings or Persons is prohibited under the Constitution of India under Article 23 (1).

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA)is the premier legislation for prevention of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

Criminal Law (amendment) Act 2013 has come into force wherein Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code has been substituted with Section 370 and 370A IPC which provide for comprehensive measures to counter the menace of human trafficking.

Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 is a special law to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

Context: The Rajasthan High Court has issued notices to the speaker and secretary of the state legislative assembly and six MLAs, who contested elections on BSP tickets and then defected to the Congress.

What’s the issue? The BSP won six seats in Rajasthan but all its MLAs joined the Congress in September last year. But, now at the national level, BSP is arguing that a state unit of a national party cannot be merged without the party being merged at the national level.

Besides, BSP national secretary has also issued a whip to 6 MLAs telling them to vote against the Congress in case there is a floor test.

On what grounds is BSP’s case based? BSP’s contention is that the merger is illegal and unconstitutional because for a national party, such merger has to take place at the national level.

Supporting Supreme Court judgments: 2006 ruling in Jagjit Singh v State of Haryana: In this case, the Court upheld the Speaker’s decisions disqualifying 4 MLAs from single- member parties who had joined the congress. 2007 ruling in Rajendra Singh Rana And Ors vs Swami Prasad Maurya:

37 MLAs — one-third of the BSP strength — “split” from the party after its government fell, to support SP. The SC ruled that the split cannot be recognised primarily because not all these MLAs split at once.

But, why these judgments cannot be relevant today? The key aspect is that these cases deal with splits where when one-third of the members of a legislative party splits; they could not attract disqualification as per Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule.

However, in 2003, through the 91st Constitutional Amendment, Paragraph 3 was deleted from the Tenth Schedule. The amendment was made as the one-third split rule was grossly misused by parties to engineer divisions and indulge in horse-trading. One-third was regarded as an easy target to achieve and the law now exempts defection only when it is at two-thirds (in a merger).

Firstly, is “merger” allowed under the constitution? The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution prohibits defection to protect the stability of governments but does not prohibit mergers. Paragraph 4(2) of the Tenth Schedule, dealing with mergers, says that only when two-thirds of the members agree to “merge” the party would they be exempt from disqualification.

The “merger” referred to in Paragraph 4(2) is seen as legal fiction, where members are deemed to have merged for the purposes of being exempt from disqualification, rather than a merger in the true sense.

Can a state unit of a national party be merged without the party being merged at the national level? Tenth Schedule identifies this dichotomy between state units and national units. As per Paragraph 4(2), “merger” of a party means merger of a legislative party of that House.

In Rajasthan’s case, it would be the Rajasthan Legislative unit of the BSP and not the BSP at the national level.

What about the whip? The whip issued by BSP national general secretary to the six MLAs would have no impact because such a direction has to necessarily be issued for voting on the floor of the House. A national leader’s direction cannot be considered a whip in the context of the anti-defection law.

Insta Concepts: Anti-defection law lists situations for disqualification on the ground of defection: If an MP or an MLA “has voluntarily given up his membership of such political party” [clause 2(1)(a)], or If he/she votes or abstains from voting in the house contrary to any direction issued by his party, that is if he violates the party whip in the house [clause 2(1)(b)].

If an independent candidate joins a political party after the election. If a nominated member joins a party six months after he becomes a member of the legislature.

A report on slavery was recently released by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and an international anti-slavery organisation Walk Free on the occasion of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Key findings: Commonwealth countries account for about 40% of people living in conditions of modern slavery in the world. Commonwealth nations are lacking in actions to eradicate modern slavery by 2030.

There is an estimated one in every 150 people in the Commonwealth living in conditions of modern slavery. One-third of the Commonwealth countries had criminalised forced marriage, while 23 had not criminalised commercial sexual exploitation of children. Out of 54 countries, only four engage with business to investigate supply chains, and all countries report gaps in victim assistance programs.

India- specific findings: India has fared the worst in terms of coordination, “with no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place”. India had not ratified the International Labour Organisation’s 2011 Domestic Workers Convention or the 2014 Forced Labour Protocol.

India accounted for one-third of all child brides in the world. Despite being the largest country in the region, India has the weakest response on national coordination, with no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place.

About the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI): It is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation working in the area of human rights.

In 1987, several Commonwealth professional associations founded CHRI, since there was little focus on human rights within the association of 53 nations although the Commonwealth provided member countries the basis of shared common legal system.

Roles and functions: CHRI promotes adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Commonwealth Harare Principles and other internationally recognised human rights instruments, including domestic legislation supporting human rights in Commonwealth countries. It is headquartered in New Delhi, India.

Context: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.

The launch took place from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This is the third launch to Mars this month, following the UAE’s Hope and China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft.

Key facts: The rover’s Mars arrival is set for 18, 2021. The mission is planned to last for at least one Mars year, which works out to about 687 days on Earth (it takes longer for Mars to go around the sun).

Landing site: Jezero crater. Perseverance is loaded with seven instruments chosen to help it achieve its mission objectives.

Perseverance Why is this mission significant? Perseverancewill carry a unique instrument, MOXIE or Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment: which for the first time will manufacture molecular oxygen on Mars using carbon dioxide from the carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere (ISRU means In Situ Resource Utilization: or the use of local resources to meet human needs or requirements of the spacecraft).

It will carry Ingenuity, the first ever helicopter to fly on Mars. This is the first time NASA will fly a helicopter on another planet or satellite. It is the planned first step to bring back rock samples from Mars for analysis in sophisticated laboratories on Earth: with the goal of looking for biosignatures: or signatures of present or past life.

These are some of the key mission objectives: Look for signs of ancient microbial life. Collect Martian rock and dust samples for later return to Earth. Deliver an experimental helicopter. Study the climate and geology of Mars. Demonstrate technology for future Mars missions.

What is the reason for the near-term interest in Mars? Mars is located in the very near backyard (about 200 million km away). It is a planet that humans can aspire to visit or to stay for a longer duration.

Mars had flowing water and an atmosphere in the distant past: and perhaps conditions to support life. In the near term, the increase in interest related to Mars is because of Elon Musk’s plans for commercial travel.

Background: NASA has been sending rovers on Mars since 1997 when the Mars Pathfinder Mission was initiated. As the mission turned out to be successful, NASA decided to continue going to Mars to find evidence.

Second time, the space organization sent twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity to Mars in 2003. The third attempt was by sending Curiosity in 2012.

Context: The Haryana Forest Department has started aerial seeding across the state on a pilot basis.

This technique will allow plantation in sections of the Aravallis that are either difficult to access or inaccessible altogether. The pilot project will help determine the effectiveness of the technology and the dispersal mechanism.

What is aerial seeding? It is a technique of plantation wherein seed balls – seeds covered with a mixture of clay, compost, char and other components – are sprayed on the ground using aerial devices, including planes, helicopters or drones.

How does this technique work? Seeds balls or seed pellets are dispersed in a targeted area by the low-flying drones.

They fall to the ground with the help of the coating of clay, compost, char and other material, that provides the required weight for seeds to drop on a predetermined location rather than disperse in the wind. These pellets will then sprout when there is enough rain, with the nutrients present within them helping in the initial growth.

What are the advantages of this technique? Areas that are inaccessible, have steep slopes, are fragmented or disconnected with no forest routes, making conventional plantation difficult, can be targeted with aerial seeding.

The process of the seed’s germination and growth is such that it requires no attention after it is dispersed – the reason why seed pellets are known as the “fire and forget” way of plantation.

They eliminate the need for ploughing and digging holes in the soil and the seeds do not need to be planted, since they are already surrounded by soil, nutrients, and microorganisms.

The clay shell of these pellets along with the other items in the mixture also protects them from birds, ants and rats.

Context: Lt Governor Anil Baijal has reversed the Delhi cabinet’s decision to reject the Delhi Police’s panel of lawyers for the riots cases in the High Court and the Supreme Court.

L-G used his special powers under Article 239A(4) of the Constitution to overturn the cabinet’s decision. Under this Article, the Delhi government is bound to follow the L-G’s orders.

Context: US House panel passes bill to promote legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.

It was authored by John Lewis, the civil rights leader Democratic member of the House who passed away last week.

Key provisions: It will establish annual scholar and student exchange programs for Indians and Americans to study the leaders’ legacies and visit historic sites in India and the U.S., relevant to the India’s freedom struggle and the U.S.’s civil rights movement.

The bill also seeks to establish the Gandhi-King Global Academy, a conflict resolution initiative based on the principles of nonviolence.

It proposes the establishment of the United States-India Gandhi-King Development Foundation set up by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the government of India, organized under Indian law.

It is an incubator capabilities enhancement programme for a robust ecosystem for creating high-performance start-ups.

Atal Innovation Mission has launched the programme in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wadhwani Foundation.

Under the initiative, AIM’s incubators are set to be upscaled and provided requisite support to foster the incubation enterprise economy, which will help them to significantly enhance their performance.

It will also provide training to entrepreneurs through technology-driven platforms and processes.