Monuments of National Importance

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture & Tourism Shri Shripad Yesso Naik has said that presently there are 25 proposals received from various parts of the country for protection of monuments.  . In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today he said, protected monuments/sites under ASI are conserved, preserved and maintained by way of structural and chemical preservation on priority basis, as per archaeological norms, subject to availability of resources.   List of Monuments/Sites Identified For Declaration As of National Importance Sl.No. Name of Monument/Site Locality District State 1. Ancient Site Junikaran Kutch Gujarat 2. Palace building near Firozshah Palace and Tehkhana Hissar Hissar Haryana 3. Group of Temples Haradib Ranchi Jharkhad 4. Shahpur QuiIa Shahpur Palamu Jharkhand 5. Navratanagarh Fort and Temple Complex Gumla Gumla Jharkhand 6. Tiliagarh Fort Sahebganj Sahebganj Jharkhand 7. Fort and Jain Rock Cut sculptures Koluha hill Chatra Jharkhand 8. Janardana Temple Panamaram Waynad Kerala 9. Vishnu Temple Nadavayal Waynad Kerala 10. Fortification wall of Daulatabad Fort Daulatabad Aurangabad Maharashtra 11. Old High Court Building Nagpur Nagpur Maharashtra 12. Fort Ginnurgarh Sehore Madhya Pradesh 13. Biranchi Narayana Temple Buguda Ganjam Odisha 14. Group of Temples Ranipur Jharial Bolangir Odisha 15. Sita Ram Ji Temple Deeg Bharatpur Rajasthan 16. Rambagh Palace Deeg Bharatpur Rajasthan 17. Bala Qila Alwar Alwar Rajasthan 18. Step well Neemrana Alwar Rajasthan 19. St. Thomas Church Dehradun Dehradun Uttarakhad 20. Nauseri Banu Mosque Kella Nizamat Murshidabad West Bengal 21. Chowk Masjid Kella Nizamat Murshidabad West Bengal 22. Archaeological Site (Sakeesena Mound) Mogalbari Paschim Medinapur West Bengal 23. Khwaza Anwar Berh (Nawab Bari Palace) Khawaja Anwar Berh Barddhaman West Bengal 24. Brindaban Chandra Temple Birsingha Bankura West Bengal 25. Radha Damodar Temple Birsingha Bankura West Bengal Provision Regarding Contribution to Political Parties by the Companies

Contributions to political parties are governed by Section 182 of the Companies Act, 2013. A company that is not a Government company and which is in existence for at least last three financial years may contribute up to 7.5% of its average net profits during the last three years to a political party/parties registered under the representation of Peoples Act, 1951. This is subject to further elaborations and restrictions in the said section. Following permission to establish Electoral Trust companies under the Income Tax Act, a company can also make contributions within the above limits and restrictions to ‘Electoral Trust Companies’ and reflect these contributions in their books of accounts. The Electoral Trust Companies are, however, required to indicate the amounts passed on to them by companies and contributed by them to a political party or parties in the manner laid down in section 182(3) of the Companies Act, 2013. There is no proposal to review the above arrangements. The relevant provisions of the Companies (Donations to National Funds) Act, 1951 have already been incorporated in the Companies Act, 2013. Section 181 and 183 of the Act allows companies to contribute to bonafide and charitable funds and to national funds etc. In view of this, this Ministry has initiated to repeal the Companies (Donations to National Funds) Act, 1951.

Foodgrains Storage Capacity of 203.76 lakh MT to be Constructed in 19 States

The Center has approved a capacity of 203.76 lakh MT for construction in 19 states, under the Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG) scheme to ensure increased foodgrains storage capacity. Out of this 120.30 lakh MT has been completed. This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve in a written reply in Lok Sabha today . Storage capacity is being created under this Scheme in PPP mode through private parties, as well as various agencies in Public Sector for guaranteed hiring by FCI.  Guarantee period for private parties is 10 years whereas for Public Sector agencies it is 9 years. In case of private parties, state wise tenders are invited by designated nodal agency under a 2 bid system. At the technical bid stage, sites are inspected and bids in respect of only those sites which are found suitable,  are processed further. Tenders are allotted to the lowest bidders. Non railway siding based godowns are to be constructed in one year whereas godowns with railway siding are allowed two years construction period. This period can be extended by one year at the request of the investor. After completion of the godown, final inspection is carried by a joint committee of FCI and the Nodal agency and godowns completed in all respects and as per specifications are taken over on guarantee basis.    A Plan Scheme for construction of godowns by FCI in the North Eastern States and other states is being implemented .  Under this scheme, capacity of 3,68,950 MT is being created during 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).  The capacity completed in the last two years (2012-13 and 2013-14) is 27,070 MT.  Silos are proposed to be constructed under PEG scheme for 20 lakh MT capacity at 41 locations. Efforts   are being made to float tenders in FY 2014-15.  Construction work will commence after finalization of tenders . States Requested to Ensure Implementation of Food Security Act within Next Three Months The Center has started allocation of foodgrains to 11 States/UTs under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) based on the identification of beneficiaries by the state. Out of these, in 6 States, namely Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan, complete identification as per coverage under the Act has been reported and in the remaining 5 States/UTs, namely Bihar, NCT of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chandigarh, identification is partial. Government of Uttarakhand has also reported completion of identification of beneficiaries. Remaining States/UTs have been requested to complete the identification at the earliest and ensure implementation of the Act within next three months, after completing other preparatory measures. This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve in a written reply in Lok Sabha today . . The Government notified the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) on 10.09.2013, which aims to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity. The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population of the country for receiving foodgrains at subsidised prices of Rs. 3, 2 & 1 per Kg for rice, wheat & coarse grains respectively under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). There is also a special focus in the Act on nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers and children upto 14 years of age.Implementation status of the Act is reviewed on a regular basis and necessary advisories are issued to States/UTs, wherever required.

Schemes to Enhancing Production and Productivity of Agricultural Production for ias mains

Under the 12th Five Year Plan, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has 5 Centrally Sponsored Missions, 5 Central Sector Schemes and 1 State Plan Scheme under implementation. These schemes are as follows:  Details of Missions/Schemes 1.            National Food Security Mission (NFSM) NFSM aims to increase the production of rice, wheat, pulses and Coarse Cereals through area expansion and productivity enhancement; restoring soil fertility and productivity; creating employment opportunities; and enhancing farm level economy.  The basic strategy of the Mission is to promote and extend improved technologies, i.e., seed, micronutrients, soil amendments, integrated pest management, farm machinery and resource conservation technologies along with capacity building of farmers. 2.            National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) NMSA has been formulated to make agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific integrated/Composite Farming Systems; conserve natural resources through appropriate soil and moisture conservation measures;  adopt comprehensive soil health management practices; optimize utilization of water resources through efficient water management to expand coverage for achieving more crop per drop; develop capacity of farmers & stakeholders, in conjunction with other on-going Missions and pilot models in select blocks for improving productivity of rainfed farming by mainstreaming rainfed technologies. 3.            National Mission on Oil seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) The Mission aims to expand area under oilseeds, harness the potential in the area/ districts of low productivity, strengthening inputs delivery mechanism, strengthening of post harvest services besides a focus on tribal areas for tree borne oilseeds. 4.            National Mission on Agricultural Extension & Technology (NMAET)             The Mission has four components viz: (i) Sub Mission on Agriculture Extension, (SMAE); (ii) Sub Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP); (iii) Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM); and (iv) Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine (SMPP).  The Mission aims to disseminate information and knowledge to the farming community in local language/ dialect in respect of agricultural schemes. 5.            Mission of Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) The Mission aims to promote holistic growth of horticulture sector, including bamboo and coconut through area based regionally differentiated strategies, which include research, technology promotion, extension, post harvest management, processing and marketing, in consonance with comparative advantage of each State/region and its diverse agro-climatic features; encourage aggregation of farmers into farmer groups like FIGs/FPOs, and FPCs to bring economy of scale and scope; enhance horticulture production, augment farmers, income and strengthen nutritional security and improve productivity by way of quality germplasm, planting material and water use efficiency through Micro Irrigation.                      II. Central Sector Schemes 1.            National Crop Insurance Scheme (NCIP) The Scheme aims to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of crops failure as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases as also to encourage farmers to adopt progressive farming practices, high value inputs and higher technology in agriculture. 2.            Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Cooperation (ISAC) The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance for the activities of cooperatives like agro-processing, marketing of food grains, input supply, development of weaker section cooperatives, computerization of co-operatives etc. as also to develop cooperative awareness amongst the people and to cater to the education and training requirements of cooperative personnel and State Government officials.  3.            Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Marketing (ISAM) The Scheme aims to promote creation of agricultural marketing infrastructure by providing backend subsidy support to State, cooperative and private sector investments; to promote creation of scientific storage capacity and to promote pledge financing to increase farmers’ income; to promote Integrated Value Chains (confined up to the stage of primary processing only), to provide vertical integration of farmers with primary processors; to use ICT as a vehicle of extension to sensitize and orient farmers to respond to new challenges in agricultural marketing; to establish a nation-wide information network system for speedy collection and dissemination of market information and data on arrivals and prices for its efficient and timely utilization by farmers and other stake holders; to support framing of grade standards and quality certification of agricultural commodities to help farmers get better and remunerative prices for their graded produce; to catalyze private investment in setting up of agribusiness projects and thereby provide assured market to producers and strengthen backward linkages of agri-business projects with producers and their groups; and to undertake and promote training, research, education, extension and consultancy in the agri marketing sector. 4.               Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACE&S) The Scheme aims to collect/ compile data of operational holdings in the country to provide aggregates for basic Agricultural Characteristics for use as benchmark for inter-census estimates. 5.               Secretariat Economic Service (SES) The Scheme aims to provide support and services to the employees/ officers of the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation including provision of office equipments, furniture, office accommodation, renovation of rooms, transport services, newspaper, Magazines, Publicity and Advertisement expenditure, etc. III.  State Plan Scheme 1.               Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) The Scheme aims to incentivize the States to increase investment in Agriculture and allied sectors to achieve 4% growth in agriculture sector. The scheme is available for any agriculture activity that can increase production growth in the agriculture and allied sectors.

Agriculture new development

Target for Foodgrain Production during 2014-15

Government has set targets for agricultural production including foodgrains for the year 2014-15, which are as follows: Crop Production Target (in million tonnes) Total foodgrains 261.00 Rice 106.00 Wheat  94.00 Pulses  19.50 Coarse Cereals  41.50 Oilseeds  33.00 Sugarcane 345.00 Cotton*  35.00 Jute & Mesta**                             11.20   *(in million bales of 170 kg each for Cotton)  **(in million bales of 180 kg each for Jute & Mesta) Government is implementing various crop development programmes/ schemes through State Governments such as National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) etc. to meet the targets for agricultural production, including foodgrains.  Under these programmes, assistance is provided for activities like demonstrations of improved technologies, distribution of improved seed / planting material, need based plant protection and soil amendments, resource conservation techniques/ energy management, efficient water application tools, protected cultivation, farmers’ trainings, etc. for enhancing production and productivity of agricultural production in the country. Promoting Modern Method of Paddy Cultivation In order to enhance the production & productivity of rice in the country, Government has been promoting modified methods of paddy cultivation such as System of Rice Intensification (SRI), Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) and Line Transplanting under various crop development programmes such as “National Food Security Mission (NFSM)”, “Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI)” and “Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)”. The Government have drawn up long term strategy to increase the production and productivity through promoting newer technology like hybrid rice cultivation, multiple stress tolerant varieties, soil health improvement through use of lime, Gypsum, micro-nutrient, green manuring, balanced use of fertilizers, mechanization etc., besides any new technologies developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) & State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) with help of various programmes like NFSM, RKVY, BGREI, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) etc. across the country. Promoting Conversion of Crop Residues into Biochar Conversion of crop residues into biochar and its application in soil as soil amendment is a novel approach for sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soils, besides improving soil quality and productivity. Apart from this, the production of biochar and its application to soil may deliver immediate benefits through increase in soil water retention properties, saturated hydraulic conductivity and nutrients availability. It has led to renewed interest of agricultural scientists in this field. Research on biochar at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad has indicated that biochar can be produced from stocks of cotton, redgram, maize, pigeon pea and castor. A low cost portable charring kiln has also been developed at CRIDA. Research also carried out under National Initiatives on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) revealed the usefulness of application of biochar in red soils of Andhra Pradesh. Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal has initiated research to standardize optimum condition for preparation of Biochar from bio-mass of different origin and to study their effect on soil properties and crop growth. Government is accordingly taking various steps to create adequate awareness among farmers and to educate them under its Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension (SMAE) under National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET) through initiatives such as Support to States Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms (ATMA Scheme); Mass Media Support to Agricultural Extension; Setting up of Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres and Kisan Call Centre Scheme. Information is also provided to farmers through SMS Portal in the form of topical and seasonal advisories in their local language and as per their crop preferences.

June 2014 hottest month since 1880

The average temperature for land and ocean surfaces around the world was 16.2 degrees Celsius.

The US government’s climate agency on Monday reported that this June’s global temperatures were the hottest since record keeping began in 1880.

It was also the 352nd consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th-century average.

Record warmth was registered in Greenland, parts of northern South America, areas in eastern and central Africa and parts of southern and south-eastern Asia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The average temperature for land and ocean surfaces around the world was 16.2 degrees Celsius, compared with the average of 15.5 degrees over the past century.

The report supported warnings by climate scientists that the world faces temperature increases of 4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, if no preventative action is taken.

The only way to avoid drastic rises in sea levels and lethal drought is to keep that increase to 2 degrees or less, they say.

Global average temperatures have already risen by 0.85 degrees since 1880.

To keep below the 2-degree-Celsius increase, the world would have to lower global greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide by 40 to 70 per cent compared with 2010 - and do it by 2050.

CSE report comes down hard on junk food in schools

The research and advocacy organisation Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has called for a ban on junk food in schools and the regulation of advertisements promoting its consumption.

Children are not the best judges of their food and they are aggressively targeted by advertisements and seduced by celebrity endorsements, says a new CSE report titled “Junk Food Targeted at Children, Regulatory Action Required to Limit Exposure and Availability”.

The CSE has put together this report to fill the gaps in the suggestions made by a committee appointed by the Delhi High Court in a case filed by an NGO, which demanded a ban on junk food.

The committee, which submitted its report earlier this year, decided to only “restrict” junk food advertising instead of banning it; did not propose advertising regulation and felt junk food should be banned only within 50 metres of schools instead of the 500 yards (457 metres) put forth by the petitioner, says Amit Khurana of CSE. The case will be heard on August 6.

The CSE report suggests stringent steps to curb junk food. It demands that online advertisements, sponsorship, direct marketing and other emerging sales and promotional ventures should be regulated.

Countries have imposed “fat” taxes or soda taxes on junk food but CSE demands that junk food be banned in schools and areas within 500 yards. It says there must be a canteen policy to provide nutritious food; regulation of promotion of junk food targeted at children, establishing of stringent norms for unhealthy ingredients like trans fatty acids, and encouraging of physical activity among children.

It also suggests a scoring-based nutrient profiling model practised in the United Kingdom where points are allocated on the basis of nutrient content in 100 grams of food or drink.

While a 10 to 12-year-old moderately active child needs up to 30 grams of sugar and salt up to five grams, processed foods rich in fats, salt, sugar and preservatives pose a health risk. A cross sectional study among 400 school children in Chennai in 2013 found that the total prevalence of hypertension was 21.5 per cent.Unless strong regulation is in place to control the availability and exposure of junk food to children, consumption will increase, warns CSE.

The World Health Organisation says that the number of overweight or obese infants and young children (zero to 5 years) increased from 31 million globally in 1990 to 44 million in 2012. The worrying aspect is that a vast majority of overweight children live in developing countries, where the rate of increase has been over 30 per cent higher than that of developed countries.

The WHO predicts that if current trends continue, the number of overweight or obese infants and young children globally will increase to 70 million by 2025.

Globally, countries have put in place certain norms like banning junk food in schools, like in the U.S.A, U.A.E, England, Canada; regulating advertisement and promotion (Canada, England, South Korea, Peru, France) and imposing taxes (Finland, France, Mexico, Peru).