10th March 2021, Corona pandemic, women farmers , solar power, indigenous rice, farmers protest

10 March 2021

• Ayurveda against Corona

  Government ordered research into how Ayurveda can help us against Corona. The research is now complete and different ways of using  Ayurveda to treat Corona have been listed. The government is working on how to implement these suggestions.

• Women to be trained in agriculture

  The government has ordered that more women should be trained for agricultural activities. ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture has been created and it deals specifically with issues of women in farming. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras spread all over the country have been told to encourage more women to work and train with them. These have curriculum specifically for women farmers.

• Agri-voltaic systems to generate power for farmers

  Agri-voltaic system have been developed by an ICAR Institute in Jodhpur. You will be able to produce crops and generate photovoltaic-based electricity from a  single land unit. Small scale implementation has already taken place for these systems.

• Union Minister tells agencies to promote indigenous varieties of rice

  Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar told the parliament that his ministry is encouraging promotion of indigenous varieties of rice across India. Seed banks have sufficient quota of these indigenous varieties and are available to interested farmers.

• Rahul Gandhi publishes poem on farmers protest

  Rahul Gandhi has tweeted a five line poem on farmers protest showing his support for the farmers. He said farmers will keep protesting and the government must immediately repeal the three farm laws, as requested  by these protestors.

• Business in and with India made simpler

  Indian Government is making every effort to make social and economic  conditions in India conducive for starting new businesses by Indian innovators and foreign investors. The "make in India" campaign launched in India with "startup India"  have worked to make sure that investors feel welcome in India. Young graduates and people with money to invest are  being made to feel comfortable when starting new ventures. Government is providing loans and new awards are being given for success in these.

• BSF continues to seize cattle from smugglers

  Cattles have been smuggled across Indo-Bangladesh border for years. BSF has  made every effort to make sure this doesn't happen. Tens of thousands efforts of such smuggling have been stalled by BSF in last 5 years. Any BSF personnel involved with smuggling gets disciplined according to the rules.

• Government working towards more employment in agricultural sector

  Government in recent years has launched a number of schemes to increase employment opportunities in agricultural sector. Namely the schemes are PRADHAN MANTRI KISAN SAMPADA YOJANA (PMKSY), PM Formalization of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship component under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana , Venture Capital Assistance  (VCA) Scheme among others.

• China suffering from fake seeds and regulations

  Some of the seeds that are available in the Chinese market are not what they are promoted to be. Also the Chinese rules and laws make it difficult for new varieties to come in market. The farmers want the seeds available in the market to be genuine and better quality seeds to be made available to them.

• Mumbai may go under complete lockdown

  Increase in Corona cases despite vaccinations may force the state government to enforce complete lockdown in Mumbai. Maharashtra has been one of the 8 states with excessive number of cases.

• Parliament adjourned due to opposition support for protesting farmers

  Opposition has been vocally supporting the case of farmers in the parliament. They urged the government to repeal the three laws immediately and loudly protested when the government did not agree. Both houses have been adjourned  till 15th of this month.