Social Justice
TRIFED and NITI AAYOG to partner for implementing the Van Dhan initiative in Tribal Clusters of all Aspirational districts of India

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the partnership between TRIFED and NITI Aayog + about Van Dhan Yojana) + Mains ( GS II Social issues + government policies and interventions for the welfare of vulnerable section of population)
What's the NEWS

• TRIFED partnering with NITI Aayog to implement the Van Dhan Yojana in the districts that have been identified as aspirational districts by NITI Aayog.
• It has been decided that a dedicated team from TRIFED along with the NITI Aayog team will work out the follow-up-plan for the implementation of the Van Dhan Yojana in each of the 39 Tribal Aspirational Districts.
• These include districts in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Tripura.

Know! about the partnership between TRIFED and NITI Aayog

• To this accord, a VC will be planned with the District Collectors of all districts in the first week of June.
• As a part of this association, a special focus will be on these aspirational districts where tribal population constitutes more than 50%.
• Under the expansion plan of tribal development program, an additional 9900VDVKs subsumed into 659 VDVK Clusters spread out in these tribal aspirational districts are envisaged.
• At the moment, 5325 VDVKs subsumed into 355 VDVK Clusters have been established in these districts. This is expected to give a boost to the employment generation to nearly 2 lakhs tribal families.
• Through this association, NITI Aayog will also support TRIFED in the concept of convergence for the Mission with Article 275(1), DMF, and STC component of different Ministries, and will help in professionally monitoring and promotion for effective implementation and feedback.

The Van Dhan tribal start-ups and the Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP)

• Through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP' Scheme that provides MSP to gatherers of forest produces and introduce value addition and marketing through tribal groups and clusters are among the many initiatives of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs that have proved helpful by generating employment and income for the tribal population.

• The Van Dhan tribal start-ups is a programme for value addition, branding & marketing of Minor Forest Produces by establishing Van Dhan Kendras to facilitate creation of sustainable livelihoods for the forest-based tribes.

Van Dhan Vikas Kendras

• A typical Van Dhan Vikas Kendra includes 20 tribal members.
• 15 such Van Dhan Vikas Kendras form 1 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra cluster.
• The Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters will provide the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras economies of scale, livelihood and market-linkages, as well as entrepreneurship opportunities to nearly 6.67 lakh Tribal forest gatherers in 23 states and 2 UTs.
• 50 lakh tribals have been impacted by the Van Dhan start-ups programme up until now.

Know! more about the Van Dhan Scheme

• The Van Dhan Scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED.
• It was launched on 14th April, 2018 and seeks to improve tribal incomes through value addition of tribal products.
• The scheme will be implemented through Ministry of Tribal Affairs as Nodal Department at the Central Level and TRIFED as Nodal Agency at the National Level.
• At State level, the State Nodal Agency for MFPs and the District collectors are envisaged to play a pivot role in scheme implementation at grassroot level.
• Locally the Kendras are proposed to be managed by a Managing Committee (an SHG)
• At unit level, aggregation of produce would be done by SHGs having about 30 members each forming Van Dhan Vikas ‘Samuh'.
• The SHGs would also undertake primary value addition of the MFPs using equipment such as small cutting and sieving tools, decorticator, dryer, packaging tool etc based on MFPs available in the area.

Implementation of the scheme

• Under Van Dhan, 10 Self Help Groups of 30 Tribal gatherers is constituted. The establishment of "Van Dhan Vikas Kendra" is for providing skill upgradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facility.
• They are then trained and provided with working capital to add value to the products, which they collect from the jungle.
• Working under the leadership of Collector these groups can then market their products not only within the States but also outside the States.
•  Training and technical support is provided by TRIFED. It is proposed to develop 3,000 such centres in the country.
• The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras will be important milestone in economic development of tribals involved in collection of MFPs by helping them in optimum utilization of natural resources and provide sustainable MFP-based livelihood in MFP-rich districts.

Science and Technology
India's deep seas are home to 4,371 species of fauna, reveals ZSI
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about deep-sea ecosystem and its report highlights + about deep sea mission)
What's the NEWS

• India is home to 4,371 species of deep-sea fauna, including 1,032 species under the kingdom Protista and 3,339 species under the kingdom Animalia, a recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has revealed.

Know! the report highlights

• The deep-sea ecosystem is considered to be below a depth of 200 metres, where solar energy cannot support primary productivity through photosynthesis.
• This publication is the first detailed work on deep-sea organisms of the country.
• Published by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the book titled 'Deep Sea Faunal Diversity in India' is the work of five authors and several other contributors over 41 chapters.
• The deep sea ecosystem was the most unexplored ecosystem across the world. It included hydrothermal vents, submarine canyons, deep sea trenches, sea mounts, cold seeps, and mud volcanoes.
• This publication, the first of its kind, provides baseline information on all groups of fauna and biological organisms in the Indian deep seas.
• Not only will this support our knowledge on conserving and managing deep sea faunal resources, but it will also pave way for their sustainable utilisation
• India is surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea and the Laccadive Sea (Lakshadweep Sea). Of the 4,371 species, the maximum of 2,766 species has been reported from deep sea areas of the Arabian Sea, followed by 1,964 species from the Bay of Bengal, 1,396 species from the Andaman Sea, and only 253 species from the Laccadive Sea.

RIMS (Royal Indian Marine Survey)

• India is one of the countries that made a pioneering exploration in the deep Indian Ocean region in 1874 by commissioning a RIMS (Royal Indian Marine Survey) ship investigator, which conducted enormous studies in seas around India.
• This RIMS investigator continued to work till 1926. After that, several other vessels, including vessels of the Indian Navy and scientists from the ZSI and other institutions, conducted deep sea explorations, gathering information about the fauna.
• This publication is a result of the work put together by several scientists across three centuries

Know! about deep sea ecosystem and the findings of deep sea ecosystem

• The marine biologist said deep sea fauna had a vast diversity, starting from unicellular eukaryotes, sponges, corals, echinoderms and fishes, and also mammals.
• There are 31 species of sea mammals which are found in deep sea ecosystem of Indian waters, including the Critically Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin.
• Two other species, the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise and the Sperm Whale, are recorded as ‘Vulnerable' in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification.
• The list of mammals includes Cuvier's Beaked Whale and Short-beaked Common Dolphin, which dive as deep as 8,000 metres below the Earth's surface.
• Out of the seven species of marine turtles found across the world, five species have been recorded from Indian waters.
• India is known as one of the best and largest breeding grounds for sea turtles, especially for Olive Ridley and Leatherback Turtles, across the world.
• The publication comes days after the allocation of ₹4,000 crore was made for the Deep Ocean Mission by the government of India in the Union Budget for 2021-22.
• Scientists pointed out that while the publication comes up with a baseline figure of 4,371 species, there is an urgent need for greater exploration of Indian deep seas.
• Most of the earlier explorations were carried to maximum depth of 2,000 metres, whereas parts of Indian seas are deeper than 6,000 metres

Deep Ocean Mission

• The Deep Ocean Mission is proposed as multi-ministerial multi-disciplinary programme with emphasis on development of deep sea technology, exploration of deep sea mineral resources and biodiversity, acquisition of a research vessel for exploration, deep sea observations, and capacity building. Ministry of Earth Sciences is the nodal agency for implementing the programme.
• The Deep Ocean Mission is proposed to be a Central Sector Scheme and no separate allocation for States is envisaged. The funds are expected to be allocated based on the above estimates.
• It is proposed to collaborate with non-governmental organizations for research collaboration for various components of Deep Ocean Mission.
• Under Deep Ocean Mission, it is proposed to develop, test and demonstrate the mining technology for harvesting of polymetallic nodules from the Test Mine Site (TMS) in the allocated area of 75000 sq. km in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB).
•  A manned submersible for 6000 m depth is also proposed to be developed as an ocean exploratory tool.

The major objectives proposed under Deep Ocean Mission are as follows:

• Development of technologies for deep sea mining, underwater vehicles and underwater robotics;
• Development of ocean climate change advisory services;
• Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep sea biodiversity;
• Deep ocean survey and exploration;
• Proof of concept studies on energy and freshwater from the ocean; and
• Establishing advanced marine station for ocean biology

Science & Technology
TDB National Award 2021

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Technology Development Board (TDB)
What's the NEWS

• A Bangalore based startup has received the National Award 2021 from Technology Development Board (TDB) for developing a commercial solution for conversion of CO2 to chemicals and fuels.

Know! about the process of converting Co2

• Breathe Applied Sciences, a startup incubated at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) developed efficient catalysts and methodologies for the conversion of CO2 to methanol and other chemicals.
• It has led to improvisation of process engineering to enhance the production of chemicals and fuels from anthropogenic CO2 generated from various sources including coal and natural gas power generation sectors, to develop a complete solution for the environmental issues due to global warming.

Know! about TDB

• The Government of India constituted the Technology Development Board (TDB) in September 1996, under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995, as a statutory body, to promote development and commercialization of indigenous technology and adaptation of imported technology for wider application. The board consists of 11 Board members.
• The TDB is the first organization of its kind within the government framework with the sole objective of commercializing the fruit of indigenous research.
• The Board plays a pro-active role by encouraging enterprises to take up technology oriented products.
• Provides equity capital or loans to industrial concerns and financial assistance to research and development institutions.

The loan carries a simple interest rate of 5% per annum. With its pro-active stance the Board:

• Facilitates interaction between industry, scientists, technocrats and specialists
• Fosters and innovation culture through contract and cooperative research between industry and institutions
• Provides an interface with financial institutions and commercial banks for leveraging funds
• Facilitates the creation of new generation of entrepreneurs
• Assists partnerships with other, similar technology financing bodies
• Provides vistas for venturing into hi-tech areas

Economy/Governance
MCA21 Version 3.0

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about MCA21 Version 3.0)
What's the NEWS

• Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur launched the first phase of Ministry of Corporate Affairs' (MCA) MCA21 Version 3.0 (V3.0) comprising of revamped website, new email services for MCA Officers and two new modules, namely, e. Book and e. Consultation
• The revamped website will refresh the user experience with enhanced look & feel, the e-book will provide easy access to the updated legislations along with a tracking mechanism for historical changes in law.

The e-consultation module will facilitate:

• virtual public consultation of proposed amendments and new legislations to be introduced by MCA from time to time.
• leverage Artificial intelligence for compiling, grouping and categorizing comments/inputs received from stakeholders and create analytical reports for quick policy decision making.
• new email service for officers of MCA will provide them with advanced features and capabilities for organised and managed communication with internal as well as external stakeholders.

Know! about MCA21

• The MCA V3.0 is going to be implemented in two phases. The second and final phase shall be launched from October 2021 onwards.
• The entire project is proposed to be launched within this Financial Year and will be data analytics and machine learning driven.
• The MCA21 V3.0 in its entirety will not only improve the existing services and modules, but will also create new functionalities like e-adjudication, compliance management system, advanced helpdesk, feedback services, user dashboards , self-reporting tools and revamped master data services.

• MCA21 has been part of Mission Mode projects of the Government of India.
• Bagging several accolades in past, the project has now reached its 3rd version.
• MCA21 V3.0 is part of this year's Budget announcement and will leverage the use of latest technologies to further streamline the Corporate Compliance and stakeholders experience.RM/MV/KMN

Know! more about MCA21

• It is an e-Governance initiative of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India that enables an easy and secure access of the MCA services to the corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.
• The MCA21 application is designed to fully automate all processes related to the proactive enforcement and compliance of the legal requirements under the Companies Act, 1956, New Companies Act, 2013 and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. This will help the business community to meet their statutory obligations.

Benefits

• The MCA21 application offers the following.
• Enables the business community to register a company and file statutory documents quickly and easily.
• Provides easy access of public documents
• Helps faster and effective resolution of public grievances
• Helps registration and verification of charges easily
• Ensures proactive and effective compliance with relevant laws and corporate governance
• Enables the MCA employees to deliver best of breed services

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