Shri Tomar says new machines ordered from the UK to tackle the menace
Locusts controlled in more than 14,000 hectares of land in Rajasthan and Punjab Posted On: 13 MAY 2020 6:08PM by PIB Delhi
The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar interacted with representatives of Pesticide Manufacturing Industry here today through video conferencing to fine tune a strategy to prevent locust attacks on agricultural fields. He said agriculture is a priority sector as emphasized by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Government will leave no stone unturned to ensure uninterrupted sowing and harvesting operations. Shri Tomar said the Central and State Governments are working together on the Desert Locust Control measures and have been able to check its spread. New machines have been ordered from the United Kingdom and will arrive soon, he said.
Shri Tomar said the locust invasion was first noticed last year and the farmers were taken unawares as it took place after decades. He expressed satisfaction that the losses were checked due to timely action by the Union Agriculture Ministry and the concerned State Governments with the support of farmers. The Centre has compensated farmers who suffered losses from the NDRF Fund. He said the international community has lauded India’s efforts and the Government was ably supported by the Pesticides Industry towards this end. The Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Parshottam Rupala and Shri Kailash Choudhary were present during today’s video conference.
Despite the prevailing Covid-19 lockdown, the Locust Control Offices are working since April 11, 2020 with 50 spray equipment/vehicles, in coordination with officials of District Administration and State Agriculture Department. Tractor mounted sprayers and fire-tender vehicles deployed at various locations are being used in locust control. Additional equipment are also being procured to increase the control capacity of Locust Control Organizations.
So far (till 11.05.2020) the Hoppers and Pink Swarms have been controlled in an area of 14,299 hectares of Jaisalmer, Sri Ganganagar, Jodhpur, Barmer and Nagaur districts in Rajasthan and Fazilka district of Punjab. Presently, swarms of immature Pink Locusts are active in Barmer, Phalodi (Jodhpur), Nagaur, Sriganganagar and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan. Control work is started early in the morning.
For the upcoming season, work is being done promptly to deal the locust problem. A high-level virtual meeting on desert locusts in Southwest Asian countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan) was held on March 11, 2020, at the FAO's office in New Delhi, India. MoS (Agriculture) Shri Kailash Choudhary and Secretary (Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare) Shri Sanjay Agarwal attended the meeting. As per the decision taken in the meeting, virtual meetings of technical officers of member countries are being held every Monday through VC and so far 8 meetings have been held. Technical information is exchanged in these meetings.
The status and preparedness of locust was reviewed in February and May, 2020 by organizing meetings and VCs with the State Agriculture Secretaries and District officials at the level of Secretary (AC&FW) and for the coming season, based upon past experiences, strategy was formulated. States are being made aware of Locust forecasts and advisories are also being issued continuously. The Agriculture Minister Shri Tomar gave various instructions in a meeting held on 06th May 2020 to review the status of locust control and to ensure effective control to deal with locust attack.
Normally, with the arrival of the monsoon, locust swarms enter the Scheduled Desert Areas of India via Pakistan for breeding in the summer of June/ July, but this year, presence of Locust Hoppers was reported from April 11, 2020; and Pink Adult Swarms were reported since April 30 in border Districts of Rajasthan and Punjab, which have been controlled and control operations against new swarms is going on. One reason for this was the uncontrolled swarms of the previous season in Pakistan that breed continuously. Swarms of Pink Immature Adults fly high and travel long distances with strong winds coming from Pakistan. Most of these Pink Immature Adults settle on trees during the night and mostly fly during the day.
10 Locust Circle Offices of Government of India located in Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Phalodi, Barmer, Jalore, Churu, Nagaur, Suratgarh districts of Rajasthan; Palanpur and Bhuj districts of Gujarat are working in scheduled desert area of more than 2 lakh sq km in India. The locusts are monitored, surveyed and controlled in coordination with the State Agricultural Departments and the concerned District Administration. In addition, pest control in crops is done by the Agriculture Department of the concerned State Government.
Last year, the State Governments had assisted farmers through scheme on the use of pesticides and tractor mounted sprayer. During the year 2019-20, there was a massive locust attack in India, which was successfully controlled by the Locust Circle Office personnel with the State Agriculture and District Administration officials. Control operations were conducted from May 21, 2019 to February 17, 2020; and a total of 4,03,488 hectares of area was treated and locust swarms controlled.
About Mission Sagar: Mission Sagar has been launched as part of the government’s outreach initiative towards five Island nations in the Indian Ocean amidst the ongoing COVID-19.
Under the mission, Indian Naval Ship Kesari has departed for Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros, to provide food Items, COVID-related medicines including HCQ tablets and special Ayurvedic medicines with medical assistance teams. Also, as part of the mission, INS Kesari would enter the Port of Male in the Republic of Maldives, to provide them 600 tons of food provisions.
Significance of the mission: This deployment as ‘Mission Sagar’ is in line with India’s role as the first responder in the region and builds on the excellent relations existing between these countries to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant difficulties.
The deployment is in consonance with the Prime Ministers’ vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region ‘SAGAR’ promulgated in March 2015. SAGAR highlights the importance accorded by India to relations with her neighbouring countries and further strengthens the existing bond.
What’s the issue? The incidents took place in the Naku La sector and in a contested area near Pangong Tso, a lake in Ladakh.
But the Army played down the two incidents as “temporary and short-duration face-offs” that were resolved by “local commanders as per mutually-accepted protocols” through dialogue and flag meetings. These kinds of incidents do occur as boundaries are not resolved.
Where is Naku La? Naku La sector is a pass at a height of more than 5,000 metres above Mean Sea Level (MSL) in the state of Sikkim.
It is located ahead of Muguthang or Cho Lhamu (source of River Teesta). The other passes located in the state of Sikkim are Nathu La Pass and Jelep La Pass.
Pangong Tso lake: It is a 135-km long lake, located in the Himalayas at the height of approximately 4,350 m, stretches out from India to China.
One-third of water body, its 45 km stretch, is in Indian control while the rest of the 90 km is under Chinese control. It is formed from Tethys geosyncline.
It is a salt water lake. Strategic significance: By itself, the lake does not have major tactical significance. But it lies in the path of the Chushul approach, one of the main approaches that China can use for an offensive into Indian-held territory.
India- China Border: India and China share a 3,488 km long boundary. Unfortunately, the entire boundary is disputed. The line, which delineates the boundary between the two countries, is popularly called the McMahon line, after its author Sir Henry McMahon.
In 1913, the British-India government had called a tripartite conference, in which the boundary between India and Tibet was formalized after a discussion between the Indian and the Tibetans. A Convention was adopted, which resulted in the delimitation of the Indo-Tibetan boundary. This boundary is, however, disputed by China which terms it as illegal.
In 1957, China occupied Aksai Chin and built a road through it. This episode was followed by intermittent clashes along the border, which finally culminated in the border war of 1962. The boundary, which came into existence after the war, came to be known as Line of Actual Control (LAC). It is a military held line.
Attempts to resolve the issue: The rapprochement between the two countries in 1976 enabled India and China to initiate High Level border talks in 1981 to find a solution to the vexed problem. After eight rounds, the talks broke down in 1987.
In 1988, following Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China, the Joint Working Group (JWG) was set up to look into the border problem.
In 1993, the Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was signed and the India-China Expert Group of Diplomatic and Military Officers was set up to assist the JWG. In 1996, the Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the Military Field along the LAC was signed.
In 2003, two special representatives (one each from India and China) were appointed to find a political solution to the border dispute. Till 2009, these two special representatives had held 17 rounds of talks, but it seems they have not made much headway.
Recently, NSA Ajit Doval was appointed as Special Envoy for talks.
Key facts: The link road starts from Dharchula in Uttarakhand and runs 80 km to the Lipulekh pass. It has been built by the Border Roads Organisation.
What’s the issue now? Nepal has claimed that the ‘Link Road’ connecting to Lipulekh passes through Nepali territory.
Nepal claims that India’s move marks a breach of the agreement reached between the Indian Prime Minister and Nepal PM in 2014 which sought to work out the outstanding boundary issues on Kalapani (where Lipulekh lies) and Susta.
India’s response: The Ministry of External Affairs of India has clarified that the link road passing through Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district lies completely within the territory of India.
India has also clarified that the new link road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. India has stated that the boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing, and that India is committed to resolving outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue and in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations with Nepal.
Where is the disputed territory located? Kalapani is located at an altitude of 3600m on the Kailash Manasarovar route. It borders Uttarakhand in India and Sudurpashchim Pradesh in Nepal. Since the Indo-China war of 1962, Kalapani is controlled by India’s Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
Genesis of the dispute: Under the treaty of Sugauli signed between Nepal and the British East India Company in 1816, the Kali River was located as Nepal’s western boundary with India.
It, however, made no mention of a ridgeline and subsequent maps of the areas drawn by British surveyors showed the source of the Kali river at different places.
This discrepancy has led to the boundary disputes between India and Nepal, with each country producing maps including the territory in their own area to support their claims. The exact size of the Kalapani territory also varies in different sources.
This year, on behalf of the Ministry of Science & Technology, Technology Development Board (TBD) has organised a conference to celebrate the day. The theme of the conference is ‘Rebooting the Economy through Science, Technology and Research Translations titled RESTART’.
Significance of the day: On May 11, 1998, India detonated three nuclear bombs in the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam lead the Indian team of scientists to successfully test-fire the Shakti-1 nuclear missile at Rajasthan’s Pokhran test range.
Two days later, the country successfully tested two more nuclear weapons as a part of the same Pokhran-II/Operation Shakti initiative. After these tests Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India a nuclear state, making it the sixth country to join the ‘nuclear club’ of nations.
Hansa 3, India’s first indigenous aircraft was first tested on the same day in 1998 in Bangalore. Successful test firing of Trishul, a short range missile made in India, was also done on the same day.
Note: India is currently among eight countries in the world that have a publicly known nuclear weapons programme. In 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test, codenamed “Smiling Buddha”, at Pokhran in Rajasthan.
Through this method, ultraviolet (UV) lights would be able to disinfect contaminated public spaces to stop the transmission of the virus.
What is UV light? UV light from the sun has shorter wavelengths than visible light and, therefore, is not visible to the naked eye.
The full spectrum of UV radiation is sourced from the sun and can be subdivided into UV-A, UV-B and UV-C rays.
In this spectrum, UV-C rays are the most harmful and are completely absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere.
How it affects human body? While both UV-A and UV-B rays are harmful, exposure to UV-B rays can cause DNA and cellular damage in living organisms. Increased exposure to it can cause cells to become carcinogenic, thereby increasing the risk of getting cancer.
So, how does UVGI work? UVGI uses the “destructive properties” of UV light to target pathogens. UVGI replicates UV wavelengths that disinfects contaminated spaces, air and water.
UVGI lamps can also be installed in the corners of a room and alternatively, can be installed in air ducts of ventilation systems or portable or fixed air cleaners.
Why these guidelines were necessary? Digital news has led to increased incidence of fake news or yellow journalism.
Fake news is published with the intent to damage an agency, entity or a person and gain financially or politically and it often uses sensationalist, dishonest or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership.
In the wake of the pandemic, fake news and videos have spread panic, increased hatred and communal violence. Miscreants have used fake URLs to mislead people who wanted to donate to PM-CARES fund.
Overview of the guidelines: Spotting fake news: The guideline mentions several indicative signs that officials must look for to identify possible fake news.
The officers should read beyond “outrageous” headlines designed to attract clicks and read the whole article.
A possible case of fake news could be when headlines, visuals or captions do not support the content or when genuine contents or sources are impersonated with false or made-up sources.
A search on the author of the article would also enable insights into the veracity of the news.
The investigatingofficer must stay alert to clues such as language since such websites and links usually have spelling mistakes.
Cross-checking: The officials should refer to trusted news sources to verify whether the story is being reported elsewhere.
When a story is reported in multiple places, it is more likely to be true. The manual also gives an indicative list of websites that could be accessed for fact-checking.
The guidelines ask police and other investigating agencies to use open domain tools for collecting more information on fake videos.
BPRD hascautioned that the Investigating officer may consider the case sensitivity before resorting to these tools since there is the risk of data leakage that may influence or mislead an investigation.
Developed by Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI).
It can provide micro-nutrients and boost immunity of people during this time of pandemic.
Spirulina is a biomass of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that can be consumed by humans and animals.
Developed by National Institute of Virology, Pune.
It is India’s first indigenous antibody-based ELISA test kit for diagnosis of novel Corona Virus.
It can test around 90 samples in approximately two and half hours. The technology has been transferred to pharmaceutical manufacturing companies for mass-scale production.
Developed by Hyderabad based Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a DRDO lab.
It is an automated contactless UVC sanitisation cabinet.
It has been designed to sanitise mobile phones, iPads, laptops, currency notes, cheque leafs, challans, passbooks, paper, envelopes, etc. CSIR approves project to develop ‘hmAbs’ that can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in patients:
Approved by CSIR through its New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) programme. The project aims to generate hmAbs to SARS-CoV-2 from convalescent phase of COVID-19 patients and select high affinity and neutralizing antibodies.
The project also aims to anticipate future adaptation of the virus and generate hmAbs clones that can neutralize the mutated virus so that could be readily used for combating future SARS-CoV infections.
The project will be implemented by National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), IIT-Indore and PredOmix Technologies Pvt. Ltd. with Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL) as the commercialization partner.
National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore has developed BiPAP ventilator named SwasthVayu.
It is a non-invasive breathing support device, for the use of non-critical non-ICU cases of Covid-19.
BiPAP stands for Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure. It is a type of positive pressure ventilator.