Safe and Judicious use of Pesticides

Agriculture is practiced in India from earliest mankind. India even non is an agrarian country. Its economy mainly dependants on agriculture and it contributes about 14 % of its GDP. The basic aim of agriculture is to produce sufficient food for its growing population and fodder for cattle and also to provide agri-products for global and local agricultural trade besides maintaining of buffer stock of food for emergent situations.

Post independence in India Grow More Food Programme was implemented by the Government in which several High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of major crops like wheat, rice, and maize were introduced to produce more food. Later on India became self sufficient in food production due to Green Revolution.

High Yielding Varieties which were used during Green Revolution became susceptible and prone to insects, pests and diseases. To overcome this pest and disease menace chemical pesticides were used as major agriculture inputs. The indiscriminate and liberal use of these chemical pesticides in agriculture became hazardous to human and animal health, environment and bio-diversity. Injudicious use of chemical pesticides polluted environment, created ecological imbalances, pesticides residues in food, soil and water. It led to pest resurgence, development of pest resistance, secondary pest outbreak, and minor pests becoming major. Also it caused adverse effects on beneficial organisms including natural enemies of crop pests, pollinators, soil microbes etc.

Switch over to Integrated Pest Management

            In order to minimize the use of hazardous chemical pesticides  and  to manage the insects, pests & diseases attack as well as to increase the crop productivity, the Ministry of Agriculture through Department of Agriculture & Co-Operation (DAC) has implemented a scheme “Strengthening and Modernization of Pest Management Approach in India” since 1991-92 by adopting Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as cardinal principle and main plank of plant protection strategy in overall crop production programme. Under this programme, the ministry has established 31 Central IPM Centres in 28 States and one UT. In 12^th Five year plan, a National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET) was formed, under which a Sub-Mission on Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine has been introduced since 2014-15. It has a mandate to popularize adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) through training and demonstration in crops inter-alia promotion of biological control approaches in crop protection technology. Settlement of the lab to land gap can be narrowed down through proper training and education to the farmers by way of expert and regular extension services.

Safe and Judicious use of pesticides

The Government of India is implementing the following programmes for safe and judicious use of pesticides.

Implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM):

                        This programme includes pest/disease monitoring, production and release of bio-control agents/ bio-pesticides, conservation of bio-control agents and Human Resource Development by imparting training to Agriculture / Horticulture Extension Officers and farmers at grass root level by organizing Farmers Field Schools (FFSs) in farmers’ fields. Basic aim of FFS is to train the farmers on the latest IPM technology so that they are able to take decision in pest management operation. In FFSs the farmers are also trained about the safe and judicious use of pesticides on their crops so that the crop can be grown with minimum use of pesticides

             In IPM the prophylactic and schedule based application of pesticides is replaced with need based, spot application instead of blanket application by observing Economic Threshold Levels (ETLs) and drawing conclusion on the basis of Agro Ecosystem Analysis (AESA) by adopting ecological engineering on different crops.

           

Conserving the existing naturally occurring bio-agents in the cropping system supplementing through augmentation of bio-control agents, promotion of bio-pesticides instead of chemical pesticides is advocated in implementation of IPM- programme.

Implementation of Insecticides Act, 1968

            This act regulates the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of insecticides with a view to prevent risk to human beings, animals and environment, to ensure the availability of quality pesticides and bio pesticides to the farmers.

            Farmers are advised to purchase the pesticides from licensed pesticides dealers after seeking expert advice from extension workers and insist for stamped and signed Cash Memo with details of the batch number, date of manufacture/ expiry of the pesticides etc.

            Before purchase the user should ensure the manufacturer details on the containers. Pesticides should not be stored with eatables.

            Labels and leaflets are mandatorily available with pesticides containers which contains the recommended use of pesticides by CIB &RC. Labels & Leaflets contain the information on chemicals harmful to human beings & animals, Warnings, Caution statements, Symptoms of poisoning, Safety measures and Emergency first aid measures which help for safe and judicious use of pesticides. Users are advised to read labels and lets leaf before using the pesticides.

Labels of pesticides should be read before purchase of pesticides and be sure that the particular pesticides are recommended for the target pest and crop.

Advice is given not to procure leaked containers and mix the pesticides with help of stick only.

Observing prescribed waiting period after the use of pesticides also help the safe and judicious use.

Use of right pesticides, on right crop, against right pest, at right time, right dose and apply right methods suggest the safe and judicious use.

Farmers are advised not to purchase the banned pesticides.

Use of broad spectrum pesticides is discouraged and priority should be given to select first green label pesticides followed by blue, yellow and red.

Users are asked to wear protective clothing while using pesticides; they should not spray against wind, should not smoke and eat while spraying, must wash their hands etc. and if possible must take bath and wash the clothes/ protective clothing after the job is over. Farmers are asked to Not to blow the nozzles though mouth.

Avoid using leaking spray machines and not to allow children to spray.

Advised to keep pesticides away from the reach of children, and store the pesticides in double lock system.

Advised not to use the empty pesticides containers for domestic use.

First aid be given soon after the pesticides poisoning symptoms appears and rush to the doctor.

            Empty pesticides containers must be triple rinsed after use and must be crushed and disposed off safely.

           Do not throw the pesticides containers as garbage in open space.

Ensuring the Quality Control of Chemical and Bio- Pesticides;

                 Insecticide Inspectors are notified under Insecticide Act- 1968 by both State and Central departments to ensure the quality of pesticides and bio-pesticides. So far Government of India has notified 168 number of Central Insecticides Inspector to enforce the Insecticide -Act. To ensure that only good quality pesticide is available to the farmers, 68- State Pesticides Testing Laboratories (SPTLs) and two Regional Pesticides Testing Laboratories (RPTLs) at Chandigarh and Kanpur and a Central Insecticides Laboratory (CIL) at Faridabad have been established for the analysis of pesticides samples.

            Public at large and farmers in particular are made aware of programmes thorough print and electronic media & also by placing big sized hoardings at prominent places to educate them about the safe and judicious use of pesticides.

Trainings:

                 The farmers and pesticides dealers are being trained through IPM– Farmers Field School Programmes; short duration training programmes of 2-days and 5-days being organized by 31-Central IPM Centres located in 28 states and one UT.  State departments are also doing such training activities for safe and judicious use of pesticides. Training for Doctors are also arranged by the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage.

Big data can change marketing

At a media seminar I attended recently in Delhi, one of the speakers concluded that customers are no longer just customers: they are unique combinations of data that can be sliced and diced and manipulated. I thought that was a dubious compliment to the shift taking place in the role ofmarketing within an organisation, thanks to the arrival of big data.

The thing is, data gazing is old hat - marketers have always looked at trends and patterns in consumer behaviours to figure out how to improve their products, cut costs and keep customers from running away to the competitor. Now they have more data to do a better job of it. They have a real-time window through which they can view the consumer - all the factors that influence and explain her decisions - that can equip them to push an individual prospect further along the sales cycle.

This new data is different from the old data sets available to marketers in its sheer volume and the variety of sources. When we shop at a store and use a credit card, when we browse a website and post a comment, when we share information through social media sites or use location-aware mobile devices inside a store or in a mall, we are contributing to this rapidly expanding bank of data. This information will tell companies what we have checked out or bought, what we think about those products and their makers, and whether we are likely to come back and buy more. When processed smartly, this knowledge will help companies offer us more targeted products, services or communication, lift the overall experience, leading ultimately to better loyalty and sales. That's the theory.

So you will see most of our big retailers get very excited talking about the arrival of big data - if nothing, they say, it helps in recreating the experience that we used to have at, say, our local grocery store. When we walked into that shop, the grocer probably knew our names and exactly what we wanted to buy because we built a "personal" relationship over time. As retailers gained scale, that sort of personalised interaction flew out the window. It is apparent that traditional data warehousing and business-intelligence solutions were not always enough to know the customer any better.

So while big data may seem like a buzz term to many sitting on the other side, unlike some other buzz terms, the avalanche of data is actually changing a few rules of marketing. First, it has brought the customer back into focus, whether in terms of what they think of your products or how they react to your marketing. Second, it seems to have queered the pitch for big marketers. That's because one really doesn't need loads of cash and an army of data scientists to make sense of the massive swathes of data. The spread of marketing automation systems and database applications has taken all the customer data out of the technology departments and into marketing cubicles. One can also say the arrival of such complex data sets has changed the role of the marketer from being largely creative to being slightly more technical, and that at a macro level, small businesses and their larger counterparts can finally compete on a level playing field.

The signs of change are all there. If you haven't noticed already, marketers are being able to target and personalise better. When you open an e-commerce site, chances are you will end up on a custom homepage. When you open an email offer, chances are it has been designed exclusively for you based on your past purchase behaviour. In every discussion on new-age marketing, one name crops up with unfailing regularity: Amazon. From what I read, the online retailer collects data from surfers' wish lists, browsing and purchasing histories and so on; then it deploys analytics to reach out to customers by their names and offer them individualised product suggestions. No wonder, the once-upon-a-time bookseller is now the biggest online store on the planet.

And when they are not talking to you, they are probably testing out products and related messages virtually to bring down failure costs, so that they are better equipped to assess future customer behaviours and fashion their products and messages accordingly. There are firms that are already testing new capabilities that include the ability to identify a caller's voice, sift through her purchase history and social media interactions, assess her country of origin or demographics and route her query to the best call-centre agent available. In a few seconds, the call centre hand receives a custom script listing out the recommendations for the caller.

These are capabilities to which marketers have always aspired - the Holy Grail of marketing, so to speak. So, if you are not working on them already, forget surviving the next shake-out.

The prime minister has emphasised economic diplomacy, and the MEA's priorities and structure must reflect that

Travelling from Thimphu to Washington DC, besides other capitals, and meeting a clutch of foreign leaders in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carved out a new template for India's external relations, in which economic and political objectives commingle with other goals. Together, they project a refreshed, dynamic image for India, even if one that runs the risk of running ahead of ground reality. Raising expectations overseas gives urgency to transforming the home situation, on which rest both our credibility and the country's future progress.

Governing India is a blended marathon-steeplechase, not an 800-metre run. Mr Modi's foreign policy actions now beg the question: what foreign-domestic policy priorities should figure in his 'Action Today' list, to borrow a Churchillian phrase (Churchill's personal office liberally used a large rubber stamp on which was emblazoned that memorable dictum.)?

One: Prioritise neighbours; eschew Pakistan-centrism. Inviting all Saarc neighbours plus Mauritius to the Cabinet's oath-taking on May 26 was a masterstroke. Keep up the momentum of subsequent visits to Thimphu and Kathmandu (the latter, the first bilateral journey by an Indian prime minister in 26 years, can it be believed?). For too long, our neighbours have felt that New Delhi is so overwhelmed with managing its Pakistan policy that it has little time for them. Yes, Pakistan obsesses with India, but we need not to reciprocate. Sushma Swaraj put it very well; there are no full stops in diplomacy. Might we add: pauses are permissible, at times even appropriate?

Two: Splendid new beginnings registered with Japan, China and the US, plus Australia; pursue these multiple poles. The coming months should see India reach out to Europe, Russia, plus Asia, in Southeast Asia (i.e., Asean), the Gulf and the Central regions. Foreign visits are inescapable leadership obligations in today's interdependent world; episodic bilateral discussions on the margins of multilateral meetings are a pale shadow of what a well-crafted journey produces, as PM Modi's personal experience demonstrates. And do not neglect either Africa or Latin America.

Three: Establish rigorous follow-up mechanisms to ensure that decisions produce action. Foreign ministries are built for the role of synthesisers, to generate whole-of-government action on external decisions, because they have no sectoral constituency. But they need the wherewithal. For instance, the strength of the East Asia division is exactly four executive-level officials, including the fine young joint secretary heading it. When I worked as an under-secretary in that same division led by K R Narayanan 49 years back, we had the same number. What has changed is that bilateral relationships with its three major countries, China, Japan and South Korea, are vastly deeper and demanding (the division also covers Mongolia and North Korea). Other territorial divisions in the ministry for external affairs, or MEA, face similar critical shortages. Implementing decisions covering all the recent summit discussions will need inter-ministry monitoring; the MEA will have to shift to a performance management culture. One option: bring in armed service officers to provide robust follow-up, like other units in the MEA (such as the UN and public diplomacy divisions). By the way, is a single-country priority, like a 'Japan Fast Track', a wise idea? Why not an 'India Fast Track' to benefit all foreign investors?

Four: Give a 'Make in India' focus to foreign direct investment promotion. Crucial actions are needed at home to turn the promise of welcome to foreign investors into reality. Embassies now also have a clear FDI target: foreign investors that will focus on India's labour strength and create jobs - such targeting did not exist earlier. Textiles, leather and a host of consumer industries should be a preference. (FDI in fast-moving consumer goods, for supply chains and even retail, is a logical consequence, even if this challenges the ruling party's doctrine.) Embassy commercial and economic sections, especially ambassadors, have to proactively reach out to potential investors, working with them to assist in their investment actions. New Delhi cannot do this; the embassy network needs the wherewithal for its promotional actions.

Five: Make export facilitation a centrepiece of economic diplomacy. For too long, the department of commerce and the MEA have viewed each other as contestants over turf. Accepting two-dozen commerce and other non-IFS nominees for new commercial posts abroad gives a real boost to India's outreach; perhaps a new cooperative paradigm can be built. Learning from our own best practices should be applied, to craft new approaches that help Indian companies in new foreign markets and promote new products. Example: in 2004, Anup Mudgal, then commercial counsellor in Mexico City, produced a market study on pharmaceutical products for which a consultancy company might cheerfully have charged $50,000 or more. Such clear examples sharpen the cutting edge of our export mobilisation.

Six: Treat training in eco-political diplomacy as a core priority. As a distance teacher, I have a vested interest in encouraging this mode of professional education. In e-learning, at one end we have the MOOCs that give mass access to the basics of learning. At the other end we have tightly focused, teacher-led short courses for small groups, covering specialties such as public, economic, multilateral and other diplomacy activities. The foreign ministries of Mexico, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago are among the converts to this learning mode.

Seven: Improve economic policy communication. Analyse the reasoning behind matrices such as the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business', and target those segments where actions are doable to improve our standing, looking to early harvest. And treat improvement in such indices as a goal. Create a new group of global and Indian CEO advisers to the PM, and get them to produce a wish-list of actions needed to improve receptivity to business, domestic and foreign.

The US visit yielded a clearer articulation of India's diaspora diplomacy than seen hitherto - especially in PM Modi's powerful address at the Madison Square Garden jamboree. Announcing reform of visa policy - and documentation for NRIs - was natural. If we now enforce e-visas as the new norm, all the back-office work can shift to India; robust, efficient management will eliminate the hassles that visitors face today, NRIs and foreigners alike. Consular offices then would have to handle only that fraction of one per cent of visa refusals. In the process, visas for foreign scholars and for conference attendees might also be simplified, eliminating one more of the current blights in our visa system.

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, Shuji Nakamura win physics Nobel

Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and U.S. scientist Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for the invention of blue light-emitting diodes a new energy efficient and environment-friendly light source.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the invention is just 20 years old, “but it has already contributed to create white light in an entirely new manner to the benefit of us all".

Prof. Akasaki, 85, is a professor at Meijo University and distinguished professor at Nagoya University. Prof. Amano, 54, is also a professor at Nagoya University, while the 60-year-old Prof. Nakamura is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The laureates triggered a transformation of lighting technology when they produced bright blue light from semiconductors in the 1990s, something scientist had struggled with for decades, the Nobel committee said.

Using the blue light, LED lamps emitting white light could be created in a new way.

“As about one fourth of world electricity consumption is used for lighting purposes, the LEDs contribute to saving the Earth’s resources,” the committee said.

Prof. Nakamura, who spoke to reporters in Stockholm over a crackling telephone line after being woken up by the phone call from the prize jury, said it was an amazing, and unbelievable feeling.

The Nobel award in chemistry will be announced Wednesday, followed by the literature award on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics prize will be announced next Monday, completing the 2014 Nobel Prize announcements.

Last year’s physics award went to Britain’s Peter Higgs and Belgian colleague Francois Englert for helping to explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.

"They succeeded where everyone else had failed. Akasaki worked together with Amano at the University of Nagoya, while Nakamura was employed at Nichia Chemicals, a small company in Tokushima. Their inventions were revolutionary. Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps," stated a press release by the Riyal Academy.

Including Mr. Akasaki, Mr. Amano and Mr. Nakamura, 21 Nobel Laureates were born in Japan, and of them, 10 are Physics Laureates

India has been ranked 18th globally on the list of most desirable destinations to work

India has been ranked 18th globally on the list of most desirable destinations to work, even as 70-80 per cent of Indians are willing to work in an overseas location, says a new report.

The US has been ranked on the top, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany and Switzerland, making them the five most desirable countries to work on the list compiled by the Boston Consulting Group, total jobs.com and The Network.

The other countries in the top 10, where foreigners said they would like to work include -- France (6th), Australia (7th), Spain (8th), Italy (9th) and Sweden (10th).

As a desirable work destination, India was ranked 18th among G20 nations.

The Asia Pacific region does not generate as much interest as a possible work destination as the US or Europe, largely because of the perceived difficulty of learning Asian Language, the report said, but noted "some fast growing Asian countries are starting to reclaim workers they have lost."

Globally, one in every five participants already has international work experience and almost 64 per cent said they would be willing to go to another country for work.

According to the survey, around 70-80 per cent of Indians are already living abroad or are willing to move to a foreign country for work.

Some of the most important workplace attribute in India include good work life balance, job security, learning and career development and appreciation for your work.

The report noted that most people are willing to uproot themselves and head for a foreign country for work mainly because they want to broaden their life experience and that of their families.

"The proportion of people willing to work abroad is particularly high in countries that are still developing economically or are experiencing political instability," the survey said adding that more than 97 per cent of Pakistanis say they would be willing to go abroad for work.

Around 94 per cent of survey respondents in Netherlands said they would consider moving to another country for work. In France, where the economy has been showing signs of stagnating, the same proportion (94 per cent) is willing to leave home.

On the other hand, people in the US, Germany and the UK, three economies that have rebounded more convincingly, are not as willing to go abroad for work.

Barely a third of US respondents say they would consider the idea and only 44 per cent of those in the UK and Germany say they

India set to build supercomputer grid

Determined to raise India’s ranking in the world of high-performance computers, the government is set to clear a Rs. 4,500-crore ($730 million) mission this month to build supercomputers nearly 40 times quicker than our fastest one.



A finance ministry panel mandated to clear all big-ticket investments recently okayed the National Supercomputing Mission, jointly steered by the department of science and technology and the department of electronics and information technology.



“The seven-year-long project would be placed before cabinet soon,” a top government source told HT.



The mission intends to set up 73 supercomputing facilities on a buy-and-build approach at academic and research institutions across the country and network them into a grid. Three of them — the first ones to be set up over the first three years — would be India’s first supercomputers capable of peta-scale computing and would join a global league of just 37 such machines.



Peta-scale computing refers to the ability to add at least a quadrillion (1,000 trillion) real numbers in a second. “This speed is equivalent to 5,000-6,000 high-end laptops working in tandem,” said Professor Rajat Moona, director general of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing that gave India her first supercomputer.



“This would boost high-performance computing for India several fold,” added K VijayRaghavan, secretary, science and technology department.



The seven-year plan has been divided into two phases — the first three years for construction of the machines and the next four for the applications that will use this grid. The supercomputers will occupy a space of over 20,000 square feet, or the size of 10 three-bedroom apartments.



At present, India has two supercomputing machines in the world’s top 100, and nine in the top 500.



Its fastest supercomputer at the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology is ranked 52.



A little less than half of all supercomputers in the top 500 — 233 — are in the US. But the world’s fastest, Tianhe-2 (MilkyWay-2), belongs to China’s National University of Defense Technology. A late entrant, China has 75 other supercomputers on the list — nearly as many as Japan (30), France (27) and Germany (23) put together.



“The new grid could be the first step in our desire to have a supercomputer machine in the top 20 list,” said Moona, pointing out that this could make a world of difference to the quality of research in the country.



“This can be transformative for our high-end training efforts and for developing home-grown applications for our needs in basic science and in applications in medicine, agriculture and technology,” said VijayRaghavan.



“Engineering problems such as weather and climate modelling, computational fluid dynamics, computational structural mechanisms are other areas of applications. Space research can also get a boost,” added Moona.

2014 Human Development Report,SUMMARY BY SAMVEG IAS DEHRADUN

The 2014 Human Development Report “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience” - shows that overall global trends in human development are positive. Yet, people at all ages are also facing threats and challenges to their wellbeing, including by natural or human-induced disasters and crises.

While every individual and society is vulnerable to risk, some suffer far less harm and recover more quickly than others when adversity strikes. The Report asks why that is and considers vulnerability and resilience through a human development lens.

The Report takes a people-centred approach. It identifies the ‘structurally vulnerable’ groups of people who are more vulnerable than others by virtue of their history or of their unequal treatment by the rest of society.

Based on analysis of the available evidence, the Report makes a number of important recommendations for achieving a world which addresses vulnerabilities and builds resilience to future shocks. It calls for universal access to basic social services, especially health and education; stronger social protection, including unemployment insurance and pensions; and a commitment to full employment, recognizing that the value of employment extends far beyond the income it generates.

Highlights

• Overall human development levels continue to rise, but at a slower pace than before. The 2013 HDI value at the global level is 0.702, while the 2012 HDI was 0.700.
• More than 15 percent of the world’s people remain vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.
• In 16 countries human development levels for women are equal or higher than those for men.
• The steepest declines in HDI values this year occurred in Central African Republic, Libya and Syria, where ongoing conflict contributed to a drop in incomes.
• Despite registering the biggest drop in overall inequality this year, the Latin America and Caribbean region still faces extensive income inequality.
• South Asia has the largest multidimensionally poor population, with more than 800 million poor and over 270 million near-poor – that is, more than 71 percent of its population.
• Norway
• Australia
• Switzerland
• Netherlands
• USA
• 103. Maldives (highest among all Medium)
• 135. India (HDI=0.586)
• 136. Bhutan
• 142. Bangladesh