{"id":54309,"date":"2020-01-05T21:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-05T15:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54309"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:38:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T11:08:04","slug":"auto-draft-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/auto-draft-7\/","title":{"rendered":"9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 January 5th, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/economy\/agri-business\/eight-states-finalise-action-plan-for-agri-export-policy-govt\/article30484723.ece\"><strong>Eight states\nfinalise action plan for agri export policy: Govt<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Government has said that eight states including Maharashtra, Uttar\nPradesh, Punjab and Karnataka have finalised the action plan for agriculture\nexport policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nAgriculture Export Policy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Union Cabinet chaired had\napproved the Agriculture Export Policy in 2018.<\/li><li>The policy aims to harness export\npotential of Indian agriculture through suitable policy instruments to make\nIndia a global power in agriculture and raise farmers income.<\/li><li>Further,the policy would also help\nthe government in achieving the target of doubling farmers income by 2022.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Objectives\nof the Policy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>To double agricultural exports\nfrom present US$ 30+ Billion to US$ 60+ Billion by 2022 and reach US$ 100\nBillion in the next few years thereafter, with a stable trade policy regime.<\/li><li>To diversify our export basket,\ndestinations and boost high value and value added agricultural exports\nincluding focus on perishables.<\/li><li>To promote novel, indigenous,\norganic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri products exports.<\/li><li>To provide an institutional\nmechanism for pursuing market access, tackling barriers and deal with sanitary\nand phyto-sanitary issues.<\/li><li>To strive to double India\u2019s share\nin world agri exports by integrating with global value chain at the earliest.<\/li><li>Enable farmers to benefit of\nexport opportunities in overseas market.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/isro-signs-pact-with-astrophysics-institute-to-set-up-optical-telescopes\/articleshow\/73104146.cms\"><strong>Isro signs pact\nwith astrophysics institute to set up optical Telescopes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>The Indian Space Research Organization has signed a pact with Indian\nInstitute of Astrophysics to establish an optical telescope under Project\nNETRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nProject NETRA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Project NETRA is an early warning\nsystem in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.<\/li><li>Under the project,the ISRO plans\nto put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data\nprocessing units and a control centre.<\/li><li>They can spot, track and catalogue\nobjects as small as 10 cm up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit\nof around 2,000 km.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is\nthe need of Project NETRA?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>India has 15 communication\nsatellites active in the geostationary orbit, 13 remote-sensing satellites\nactive in low-earth orbit (2,000 km radius) and eight navigation satellites in\nmedium-earth orbit.<\/li><li>Hence,the project plays an\nimportant role in protecting Indian satellites from space debris and other\nhazards.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Importance\nof the Project:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The project would make India a\npart of international efforts towards tracking, warning about and mitigating\nspace debris.<\/li><li>The project will also give India\nits own capability in space situational awareness (SSA) like the other space\npowers.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nDRDO\u2019s NETRA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Apart from ISRO, Defence Research\nDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) also operates NETRA (Network Traffic\nAnalysis).It is a software network used to analyse internet traffic. <\/li><li>It is used by Research and\nAnalysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and other intelligence agencies\nof Government of India.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsonair.com\/News?title=Govt%26%2339%3Bs-UJALA%2C-SLNP-complete-five-years-of-illuminating-nation&amp;id=377220\"><strong>UJALA &amp;\nStreet Lighting National Programme Completed Five Successful years of\nIlluminating India<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Government of India\u2019s UJALA scheme and Street Lighting National\nProgramme (SLNP) of the central government has completed five successful years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nUJALA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>UJALA stands for Unnat Jyoti by\nAffordable LEDs for All.The scheme was launched in 2015.<\/li><li><strong>Aim:<\/strong>It aims at promoting efficient usage of\nenergy consumption, energy savings and efficient lighting for all.<\/li><li><strong>Implementation:<\/strong>Electricity Distribution\nCompany and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector body of\nGovernment of India is implementing the programme.<\/li><li>As per the scheme, Electricity\nDistribution Company would distribute LED bulbs at subsidized rates to every\ngrid-connected customer with a metered connection.<\/li><li><strong>Eligibility:<\/strong>Every domestic household having a\nmetered connection from their respective Electricity Distribution Company is\neligible to get the LED bulbs under the UJALA Scheme.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nStreet Lighting National Programme(SLNP):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Street Light National\nProgramme(SLNP) was launched in 2015 to convert conventional street and\ndomestic lights with energy efficient LED lights.<\/li><li><strong>Aim:<\/strong>It aims to replace 3.5 crore conventional\nstreet lights with energy efficient LED lights. <\/li><li>This replacement is expected to\nresult in an annual energy saving of 900 crore units and a financial saving of\nRs 5,500 crore.<\/li><li><strong>Implementation:<\/strong>Energy Efficiency Services\nLimited,a Public Energy Services Company under the administration of Ministry\nof Power,Government of India(GoI) is the implementing agency for SLNP.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nEESL:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Energy Efficiency Services\nLimited(EESL) is a joint venture of four National Public Sector Enterprises\u2013\nNTPC Limited,Power Finance Corporation Ltd(PFC),REC and POWERGRID.It was set up\nunder the Ministry of Power.<\/li><li>It is a Super Energy Service\nCompany(ESCO) and leads the market-related activities of the National Mission\nfor Enhanced Energy Efficiency(NMEEE),one of the eight national missions under\nthe Prime Minister\u2019s National Action Plan on Climate Change.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/news\/national-pension-scheme-for-traders-fails-to-gain-traction\/article30484438.ece\"><strong>National\nPension Scheme for traders fails to gain traction<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>The National Pension Scheme for traders also called the Pradhan Mantri\nLaghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana has failed to gain traction among the traders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Government has set a target of\n50 lakh enrolment by the end of March 2020.However,only 25,000 persons have\napplied so far.<\/li><li>Among all states Uttar Pradesh has\nthe highest number of registrations.<\/li><li>No one has so far registered in\nthe scheme in the states of Mizoram and Lakshadweep.<\/li><li>The experts have suggested that\nthe entry age and the premium for the scheme should be raised to encourage more\ntraders to join the scheme.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nPradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The National Pension Scheme for\nTraders and Self Employed Persons Yojana(Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan\nYojana) is a pension scheme for shopkeepers launched in July,2019.<\/li><li><strong>Objective:<\/strong>The scheme assures a minimum monthly\npension of \u20b93000 per month to small shopkeepers, retail traders and\nself-employed people after attaining the age of 60 years.<\/li><li><strong>Contribution:<\/strong>They have to contribute to the\nscheme every month from the time of enrolment and till age 60 for getting the\npension.The Government of India will also make a matching contribution in the\nsubscribers\u2019 account.<\/li><li><strong>Implementation:<\/strong>The Life Insurance Corporation\nof India (LIC) is the pension fund manager for the scheme.<\/li><li><strong>Eligibility:<\/strong>The scheme is available to all\nsmall shopkeepers, self-employed persons and retail traders with Goods and\nServices tax (GST) turnover below Rs.1.5 crore. The age limit is 18-40 years.<\/li><li>However,the applicants should not\nbe covered under the National Pension Scheme, Employees\u2019 State Insurance Scheme\nand the Employees\u2019 Provident Fund or be an Income Tax assessed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dst.gov.in\/i-stem-portal-be-launched-honorable-pm-3rd-jan-isc-bangalore\"><strong>I-STEM Portal\nhas been launched by PM at Indian Science Congress(ISC) <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Prime minister has launched the I-STEM Portal at the 107th Indian\nScience Congress(ISC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nI-STEM Portal:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I-STEM is Indian Science,\nTechnology and Engineering Facilities web portal.<\/li><li>The National Portal is the gateway\nfor researchers to locate the specific facility(ies) they need for their\nR&amp;D work and identify the one that is either located closest to them or available\nthe soonest.<\/li><li>The researcher after locating the\nfacility can make an online reservation in order to use the facility. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Significance\nof the portal:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The portal makes it easier to have\na national and regional inventory of resources so as to match users with the\nresources they need and to do all this in an efficient and transparent manner.<\/li><li>This can also lead to a leap in\nR&amp;D productivity and greatly enhance the effectiveness of public\ninvestment.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aninews.in\/news\/business\/vertical-farming-envisages-profitable-and-suitable-agriculture-business20200104142808\/\"><strong>Vertical\nFarming: A silent Revolution in Agriculture<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News :<\/strong> Vertical Farming is emerging as a silent revolution in agricultural\nproduction sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nVertical Farming:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Vertical Farming is the process of\ngrowing agricultural crops in vertical stacks, mostly in a controlled\nenvironment.<\/li><li>Under Vertical Farming,the plants\nare grown indoors with or without soil. This protects the crops from incessant\nrains, unruly winds and dry climate.<\/li><li>The crop yield in vertical farming\nis also more than traditional farming as it adopts two major farming techniques\nnamely hydroponics and aeroponics.<\/li><li>Some common choices of structures\nto house vertical farming systems include buildings, shipping containers,\nunderground tunnels and abandoned mine shafts.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Need of\nVertical Farming:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>According to the United Nations,\nthe global population is to reach 10 billion by 2050 and therefore food\nproduction should increase by 70%.<\/li><li>Hence,there is a need for\ntechnological innovation in the farming process and Vertical farming is one\namong those innovations.<\/li><li>&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advantages\nof Vertical Farming:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It offers a plan to handle future\nfood demands<\/li><li>It allows crops to grow year-round<\/li><li>It uses significantly less water<\/li><li>Weather doesn&#8217;t affect the crops<\/li><li>More organic crops can be grown<\/li><li>There is less exposure to chemicals\nand disease<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Disadvantages\nof Vertical Farming:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It could be very costly to build\nand economic feasibility studies haven&#8217;t yet been completed<\/li><li>Pollination would be very\ndifficult and costly<\/li><li>It would involve higher labor\ncosts<\/li><li>It relies too much on technology\nand one day of power loss would be devastating.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Status\nof Vertical Farming in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In India Vertical Farming has been\nintroduced in the year 2019. <\/li><li>Indian Institute of Agriculture\nResearch(ICAR) is working on techniques and adaptations to introduce in the\nmarket.However,it has still not found its application at a wider level.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nHydroponics and Aeroponics:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hydroponics is the technique of\ngrowing plants without soil by using water solvent which consists of mineral\nnutrients.<\/li><li>On the other hand,Aeroponics is a\nfarming method where plants are grown in closed or semi-closed environment with\nnutrients sprayed in the air.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/economy\/agri-business\/fssai-launches-verified-milk-vendor-scheme-in-gujarat\/article30457947.ece\"><strong>FSSAI launches\n&#8216;Verified Milk Vendor Scheme&#8217; in Gujarat<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) has launched\n&#8216;Verified Milk Vendors Scheme&#8217; in Gujarat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nVerified Milk Vendors Scheme:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The scheme aims to address the\nissues of quality and safety in raw milk that is supplied directly to consumers\nby unorganised milk vendors.<\/li><li>Under the scheme, all the\nunorganised milk producers and vendors in Gujarat will be issued identity cards\nby taking their registration.This will bring them under the regulation net.<\/li><li>Based on the Gujarat experience,the\nFSSAI has plans to roll-out similar schemes nationwide.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nFSSAI:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Food Safety and Standards\nAuthority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory autonomous body under Food Safety and\nStandards Act, 2006.It comes under the Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare.<\/li><li>FSSAI is responsible for\nprotecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision\nof food safety.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eight states finalise action plan for agri export policy: Govt News:Government has said that eight states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka have finalised the action plan for agriculture export policy. Facts: About Agriculture Export Policy: The Union Cabinet chaired had approved the Agriculture Export Policy in 2018. The policy aims to harness export&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/auto-draft-7\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 January 5th, 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":48116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-brief","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/9-PM-Brief.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704944933},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}