24th Feb 2021, PM Kisan Scheme, increase production income, farmers protest, Corona Pandemic, coffee supply

24 February 2021

• PM-Kisan Scheme now two years old

  Prime Minister, Narendra Modi tweeted this morning "On this day, 2 years ago the PM-Kisan scheme was launched with an aim to ensure a life of dignity as well as prosperity for our hardworking farmers, who work day and night to keep our nation fed. The tenacity and passion of our farmers is inspiring". He continued that the government is making every effort to double farmer's income.

• Government working towards increasing production and income

  Narendra Singh Tomar, Agriculture Minister, has said that government is working towards increasing the production of pulses and oil seeds. He said the budget has increased the farm loan amount to 16.5 lakh crores to ease cash flow for farmers.

• Farmers told to disperse, posters posted at protest sites

  Farmers are complaining about the posters posted at protest sites asking them to disperse. They said it is their right to protest for something they don't agree with and to bring their demands to the attention of the government.

• Uttarakhand to test visitors from 5 states for COVID

  Uttarakhand government has decided to test every one coming from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, as these are the states with maximum number of new and old cases of Corona.

• Global coffee supply hit by low production

  Supplies of coffee work wide is affected due to the lower production of coffee in the coffee beans producing countries like Brazil and Columbia.

• Power Minister says India diversifying in Energy Sector

  Power minister said India is focusing on renewable sources of energy like hydro, solar and wind, which do not use fossil fuels and hence do not have a large carbon footprint. India is following the Paris agreement by limiting  global warming to well below 2 degree Celsius.

• ICOLD collaborates with CWC, DRIP and NHP in organizing Symposium

  A symposium on "Sustainable Development of Dams and River Basins" is being organized by International Commission on Large Dams(ICOLD) with Central Water Commission (CWC), Dam Rehabilitation Improvement Project (DRIP) and National Hydrology Project (NHP). This symposium will provide opportunity to the engineers and professionals working in developing or maintaining dams to share their knowledge and expertise.

• 40 Lakh tractors for farmers protests

  The agitating farmers leaders are planning to protest with 40 Lakh tractors if their demands are not met. Officially India does not have that many tractors. The farmers are demanding that all crops should be brought under MSP. However this will affect competition and will not be suitable as different states of India have different climate and hence different productivity.

• West Bengal seeks center's approval on COVID vaccines

  West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamta Banerjee, has written to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to allow West Bengal government to procure COVID-19 vaccines which they plan to provide free of cost to all the citizens of the state.

• Mayor of Lyon, makes the schools go vegetarian

  Mayor of Lyon who has announced that the school children will be served vegetarian meal due to shortage of meat, is facing adverse comments from the politicians. These politicians believe that meat is part of the traditional French diet.