International Organisations
Raisina Dialogue-2021

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Raisina Dialogue) + Mains (GS II international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister delivered a video address at the Inaugural Session of the Raisina Dialogue in virtual format

Raisina Dialogue

• The ^6th Edition of the prestigious Raisina Dialogue, jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation,
• It will be held virtually from 13-16 April, 2021.
• The theme for the 2021 Edition is "#ViralWorld: Outbreaks, Outliers and Out of Control".
• The Raisina Dialogue is India's premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community.
• Every year, leaders in politics, business, media, and civil society converge in New Delhi to discuss the state of the world and explore opportunities for cooperation on a wide range of contemporary matters.
• The Dialogue is structured as a multi-stakeholder, cross sectoral discussion, involving heads of state, cabinet ministers and local government offcials, who are joined by thought leaders from the private sector, media and academia.
• The conference is hosted by the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. This effort is supported by a number of institutions, organisations and individuals, who are committed to the mission of the conference.

National
National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

Relevance IN - Prelims (about NCDC) + Mains (GS III farmers welfare)
What's the NEWS

• The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has secured Euro 68.87 million (Rs 600 cr) loan from Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, for onward lending to cooperatives in the country.
• This is for the first time that one of the largest European banks in the world is lending to the NCDC
• Set up in 1963, the NCDC is a development finance statutory institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• It has extended loans to the tune of Euro 16 Billion to cooperatives of various sizes since 2014.
• With zero net NPA, NCDC has Pan India presence with its 18 regional directorates catering to all the States.

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

• The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1963 as a statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
• Planning, promoting and financing programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, food stuffs, certain other notified commodities e.g. fertilisers, insecticides, agricultural machinery, lac, soap, kerosene oil, textile, rubber etc., supply of consumer goods and collection, processing, marketing, storage and export of minor forest produce through cooperatives, besides income generating stream of activities such as poultry, dairy, fishery, sericulture, handloom etc.
• NCDC Act has been further amended which will broad base the area of operation of the Corporation to assist different types of cooperatives and to expand its financial base.
• NCDC will now be able to finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.

Governance
e-SANTA

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about e-SANTA) + Mains ( GS II governance + government polices and interventions + GS III farmers welfare)
What's the NEWS

• Union Commerce and Industry virtually inaugurated e-SANTA, an electronic marketplace providing a platform to connect aqua farmers and the buyers.
• It will enable the farmers to get a better price and the exporters to directly purchase quality products from the farmers enhancing traceability, a key factor in international trade.
• The term e-SANTA was coined for the web portal, meaning Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers' Trade in Aquaculture.
• National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) is an extension arm of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Govt. of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
• e-SANTA will raise income, lifestyle, self-reliance, quality levels, traceability, and provide new options for our aqua farmers.
• The platform will change the traditional way of carrying out business from a word of mouth basis to become more formalised & legally binding.

e-SANTA will RAISE the lives & income of farmers by:

• Reducing Risk
• Awareness of Products & Markets
• Increase in Income
• Shielding Against Wrong Practice
• Ease of Processes

Know! all about e-SANTA

• e-SANTA is a Digital Bridge to end the market divide and will act as an alternative marketing tool between farmers & buyers by eliminating middlemen.
• It will revolutionize traditional aquafarming by providing cashless, contactless and paperless electronic trade platform between farmers and exporters.
• "e-SANTA can become a tool to advertise collectively the kind of products the buyers, fishermen & fish producing organisations are harvesting, so people in India & internationally can know what is available & in the future, it can become an auction platform"
• The Platform is available in many languages, which will help the local population.
• The portal will act as a bridge between the fishermen and buyers, within the country and abroad.
• e-SANTA is a completely paperless and end-to-end electronic trade platform between Farmers and exporters.
• The farmers have the freedom to list their produce and quote their price while the exporters have the freedom to list their requirements and also to choose the products based on their requirements such as desired size, location, harvest dates etc.
• This enables the farmers and buyers to have greater control over the trade and enables them to make informed decisions.
• The platform provides detailed specification of each product listing and it is backed by an end to end electronic payment system with NaCSA as an Escrow agent.
• After crop listing and online negotiation, a deal is struck, advance payment is made and an estimated invoice is generated.
• Once the harvest date is fixed, the buyer goes to the farm gate and the produce is harvested in his presence.
• Once the harvest is completed, the final count, quantity of material is verified, the final amount is decided and delivery challan is issued.
• Once the material reaches the processing plant, the final invoice is generated and the exporter makes the balance payment.
• This payment is reflected in the escrow account. NaCSA verifies it and accordingly releases the payment to farmers.

Science & Technology
Aahaar Kranti

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Aahaar Kranti' movement)
What's the NEWS

• The mission is aimed to spread the message of the need for a nutritionally balanced diet and to understand the importance of accessible to all local fruits and vegetables.

Know! more about Aahaar Kranti' movement

• Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists' and Technocrats' Forum (GIST) have come together to launch the mission with the motto of (Uttam Aahaar Uttam Vichaar) or `Good Diet-Good Cognition'.
• The `Aahaar Kranti' movement is designed to address the peculiar problem being faced by India and the world called `hunger and diseases in abundance'.
• There is a need for a nutritionally balanced diet also in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
• A healthy body would be able to handle the infection much better with greater immunity and higher resilience.
• The United Nations has also declared 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, which vibes very well with Aahaar Kranti.
• The movement proposes to address the current situation of hunger in abundance by working to rouse the people to the values of India's traditional diet, to the healing powers of local fruits and vegetables, and to the miracles of a balanced diet.
• It will renew the focus on nutritionally balanced diets (Uttam evam santulit aahaar) replete in locally sourced fruits and vegetables.
• The programme will focus on training teachers, who, in turn, will pass on the message to the multitudes of students, and through them to their families and finally the society at large.
• Such a strategy was adopted for the eradication of Polio and it turned out to be a grand success.
• Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists' and Technocrats' Forum have aimed to set Aahaar Kranti as a model for the entire world to follow.
• While Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists' and Technocrats' Forum initiated the programme, several other agencies have also joined hands and have agreed to pool in their expertise and resources.
• Union Ministry of Science and Technology's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)'s Pravasi Bharatiya Academic and Scientific Sampark (Prabhaas) is collaborating, and various central and state government ministries and agencies are involved.

NITI Aayog
Launch of India Energy Dashboards (Version 2.0) by Aayog

Relevance IN - Prelims (about India Energy Dashboards (IED) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development - energy)
What's the NEWS

• The India Energy Dashboards Version 2.0 was launched by Dr Rajiv Kumar (Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog), Dr V K Saraswat (Member, NITI Aayog), Shri Amitabh Kant (CEO, NITI Aayog) and Dr Rakesh Sarwal (Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog).
• Secretaries from Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy attended the launch event.

India Energy Dashboards (IED)

• India Energy Dashboards (IED) is an endeavour to provide single-window access to the energy data for the country. Energy data published/provided by Central Electricity Authority, Coal
• Controller's Organisation, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is compiled in the Dashboards.
• NITI Aayog launched the Version 1.0 in May 2017.

The key features of the enhanced version, India Energy Dashboards Version 2.0, are -

• The IED provides time series data from FY 2005-06 until FY 2019-20;
• Enhanced data download - It enables easy downloading of data into convenient spreadsheet formats in a cleaner, more intuitive way;
• IED provides data at sub-yearly frequencies as well.
• This includes monthly data and API linked data from some portals maintained by the government agencies.
• The monthly data is sourced from the monthly reports that are regularly published for the electricity, petroleum and natural gas sectors. API linked data from Saubhagya,

UJALA, PRAAPTI, and Vidyut PRAVAH has been incorporated in the portal;

• A ‘Feedback and Suggestions' forum for the engagement of energy data user community has been incorporated;
• A semi-automated workflow/ issue-tracking system for managing periodic updates to the IED. The workflow system performs basic checks and data validation, helping to avoid incorrect data entry;
• Addition of technical and financial data of electricity utilities available from the regulatory documents in the state of Maharashtra.
• Regulatory data specifically for the area served by the state-owned distribution utility - MSEDCL has been added. The Dashboards will include other states data in future.

Know! more about IED

• IED is an endeavour to establish a central energy database of the country.
• With the rise of renewables and many other new energy technologies, the interplays between energy supply and demand sectors are now becoming increasingly critical.
• Reliable and robust energy data are critical for informed policymaking and investment decisions.
• A strong cross-ministerial coordination of all the Energy Ministries is required for planning and policy implementation.
• IED is an initial step towards building a comprehensive, open, and freely accessible energy data portal for India.

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