26-06-22 Daily-Punjab-PPSC Current Affairs

Despite being least impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown, the <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and allied sector inPunjabis projected to record a more than two-time drop in Growth rate, according toPunjab Economic Surveytabled in the state assembly.

The advance estimates shared in the survey show that agriculture one of the predominant sectors of the states economy is expected to grow by 1.4 % in 2021-22, after recording a growth of 3.1% in the previous financial year 2020-21. The sector grew at 1.81% in 2019-20, indicating uneven growth in recent years against the 2.2% Average growth rate registered between 2012-13 and 2018-19.

The crop husbandry sector is likely to have the most noticeable decline asGVAis expected to post a negative growth rate of -0.8%, against 2.4% in 2020-21. The fall in growth rate is expected to lead to a fall in the sectors contribution to overall gross state value added (GSVA), which is likely to slip from 30.7% in 2020-21 to 29.1% in 2021-22. In spite of the dip, agriculture and allied activities will continue to be the second highest contributor to Punjabs overall value added, after the service sector.

The survey has attributed the slowdown in the sector to production and productivity of rice and wheat reaching saturation level. Stress has been laid on diversifying crops and with special focus on pulses and oilseeds, which can help in saving Rs 621.33 crore of import value for pulses and Rs 5,221.60 crore for oilseeds by 2027.

Fallow and cultivable land has also come down from 6% and 5% of reporting area in 1960-61 to 2% and 0% in 2020-21, respectively. Not only this, land not available for cultivation has also decreased from 13% to 10 % between 1960-61 and 2020-21, pointing at limited scope for any expansion in the area under cultivation.

Around 4.7 crore ghost/duplicate ration cards benefitting nearly 17 crore “undeserving” persons across states have been deleted so far and they have been replaced with the persons who deserve to get free and highly subsidised ration since 2013, thefood ministrysaid.

The law empowers the states to identify the beneficiaries and also to have their own exclusion criteria.

InMeghalayaany urban household having accommodation of four or more pucca rooms, four-wheeler and air-conditioners are not entitled to be covered under the NFSA. Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh, any government employee, pensioner and even employee on contract with any Psu are excluded from the list of beneficiaries.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, inaugurated the Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022- road map for carbon neutrality by 2070.

During the inauguration, minister emphasized on maintaining equilibrium between Environment, ECOLOGY, and development.

The Industrial Decarbonization Summit 2022 was inaugurated to overcome power shortage because it is necessary to develop alternative fuels.

According to him, governments priority is green hydrogen. Government is of the view that, productivity of can be increased by using Biotechnology and Bio-ethanol, Bio-CNG and Bio-LNG can be made using Biomass.

Usage of methanol and ethanol will decrease pollution.

Minister noted that, there is a need to create a focused road map and do adequate research in a bid to reduce imports and increase exports.

India successfully test-fired its nuclear capable and indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile from Odisha, as part of user training trial.

Prithvi-II missile is a proven system and a surface-to-surface missile. It is capable of striking targets with high degree of precision.

User training launch has validated all operational and technical parameters Prithvi missile.

The missile has a strike range of 350 km.

It was test-fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.

Prithvi-II is capable to carry 500-1,000 kilogram of warheads. It is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory in order to hit its target. It was randomly chosen from production stock. Entire launch of the missile was carried out by Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Indian Army. It is monitored by scientists of DEFENCE Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

An Innovative project called National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers (NIPUN) was launched on June 20, 2022 by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.

The NIPUN Initiative was launched for skilltraining of 100,000 construction workers.

It has been launched under the flagship scheme of Deendayal Antyodaya-Yojana National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).

Under the scheme, construction workers will be trained through fresh skilling and upskilling programs. This move will provide work opportunities to them in foreign countries also.

The NIPUN Project will be implemented by National Skill development Corporation (NSDC), which is the nodal agency under Ministry of Skill Development & (MSDE). The agency would be responsible for overall execution of training, candidate tracking and monitoring.

According to a report by World Gold Council (WGC), India has become the fourth largest gold recycler worldwide. In 2021, it has recycled 75 tonnes of gold.

The Gold refining and recycling report was published by WGC recently.

In the report, China was ranked first in global gold recycling chart after recycling 168 tonnes of gold in 2021.

It is followed by Italy at second position, with recycling of 80 tonnes gold and US at third position, with recycling of 78 tonnes in 2021.

As per report, Indias gold refining capacity has increased from 300 tonnes in to 1,500 tonnes in 2021. It witnessed a jump by 500 per cent. Its capacity has changed in last decade. Number of formal operations has increased from less than five in 2013 to 33 in 2021. Informal sector accounts for an additional 300-500 tonnes.

The idea to have an UN-mandated day for celebrating was put forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2014. Later, this proposal was backed by 177 nations which led UN to declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga. The day was incepted in UNGA in 2014.

June 21 was selected as Yoga Day because it is the longest day of year in Northern Hemisphere. It also Shares a special significance in different parts of the world.