Daily Current Capsules

10-11 June 2023

Army signs pact for procurement of ‘tactical LAN radio’

• The Indian Army signed the second procurement contract through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) for the procurement of indigenously developed ‘Tactical LAN Radio’
• The contract with Bangalore-based Astrome Tech Private Limited was signed in New Delhi
• A tactical LAN solution is being developed indigenously under the ‘Make in India’ initiative for creating secure tactical LANs in remote and difficult terrain.

Tactical LAN Radio

• ‘Tactical LAN Radio’ is a state-of-the-art high bandwidth backhaul wireless radio equipment for the provisioning of reliable and failsafe communication.
• The solution offers an enhanced range of communication and embedded frequency hopping mechanism to preclude chances of interception and long-range point-to-multipoint high-bandwidth communication.
• The system also incorporates enhanced safety features and can operate continuously for 48 hours on a single set basis without any breakdown.

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)

• Cooperation Ministry stated that Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) can also be employed as drone entrepreneurs for spraying fertilisers and pesticides
• There are about 1 lakh Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies present across the country
• PACS, which are not functioning as fertiliser retailers will be identified and encouraged to function as retailers

About Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)

• A Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) is a basic unit and smallest co-operative credit institutions in India.
• It works on the grassroots level (gram panchayat and village level).
• These are village-level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure.
• These are headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.
• Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the district central cooperative banks, or DCCBs, that operate at the district level.
• These DCCBs work with PACS, which deals directly with farmers.
• Individual farmers are members of the PACS, and office-bearers are elected from within them. A village can have multiple PACS.
• The main function of the PACS is to provide short and medium-term purpose loans to its members, Supplying of agricultural inputs (seeds and  fertilisers), Maintain the supply of light machinery for agricultural purpose, Providing marketing facilities

Sagar Samriddhi

• The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways recently launched an online dredging monitoring system called “Sagar Samriddhi”.

About Sagar Samriddhi

• It is an online dredging monitoring system.
• The new system aims to tighten the monitoring regime for dredging contracts and also focus on monetising dredged material.
• It is part of the government’s efforts to expedite the ‘Waste to Wealth’ initiative.
• This system has been developed by the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) the technological arm of MoPSW.
• The new technology brings marked improvement against the old system of the Draft and Loading Monitor (DLM) system.
• All future monitoring at the major ports in the country will be done through the Sagar Samriddhi monitoring system, which will help in project implementation and cut costs.
• The system will aid in daily and monthly progress visualisation, monitor dredger performance and downtime monitoring, and keep track of location data.
• The system will bring in synergy among multiple input reports like daily dredging reports, and the pre and post-dredging survey data before processing and producing real-time dredging reports.

Know about dredging

• Dredging is the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbours, and other water bodies.
• It is a routine necessity in waterways around the world because sedimentation—the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream—gradually fills channels and harbours.

Operation Amanat

• Under the Operation Amanat initiative, the Railway Protection Force has taken a novel initiative to make it easier for the passengers to get back their lost luggage.
• The details of lost luggage along with photos are uploaded by RPF personnel of the respective Divisions.
• Passengers can check whether their luggage which went missing or was lost in railway premises or trains is available at the Lost Property Office centres at stations.

Railway Protection Force (RPF)

• Railway Protection Force (RPF) is an armed Force of the Union under the administrative and operational control of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957; enacted by the Indian Parliament for “the better protection and security of railway property and passenger area”.
• It has the power to search, arrest, Enquiry, and prosecute offenses committed under Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act 1966, The Railways Act, 1989 (amended from time to time).
• However, the power of arrests under other penal laws rests in the hands of the Government Railway Police (GRP) of state police.
• The force is under the authority of the Indian Ministry of Railways.

Ishad mango

• The delicious Ishad mango from Uttara Kannada (Karnataka) has earned its much-awaited geological indicator (GI) tag
• Ishad mango, which is grown predominantly around Ankola, is tasty and contains a lot of pulp.
• Two varieties – Kari Ishad is a thin rind variety with more pulp and sweetness, while Billi Ishad has a thicker rind and less pulp and sweetness. Both of these are Ishad mango varieties.
• Kari Ishad is accepted as one of the finest quality mangoes due to its unique aroma, luscious taste, high amount of pulp, shape, and size.

Geographical Indication Tag

• It is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
• This is typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit drinks, handicrafts and industrial products.
• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 seeks to provide for the registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods in India.
• This GI tag is valid for 10 years following which it can be renewed.

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano erupts twice, spewing big ash cloudAnak

• Recently, Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano has erupted, spewing ash as high as 3 kilometres into the air.
• The 157 metres (515.09 ft) high Anak Krakatau, located in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands, has erupted more than 10 times since March this year.
• Anak Krakatau is the offspring of the famous Krakatau, whose monumental eruption in 1883 triggered a period of global cooling.
• It was the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the mountain caused a deadly tsunami in 2018

Sunda Strait

• The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean.

CACP recommends Centre to bring urea under the NBS regime to check overuse

• The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended the Centre to bring urea under the nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) regime to address the problem of imbalanced use of nutrients.
• The recommendations come four months after the government told Parliament that there was no proposal to shift urea to NBS, a scheme introduced in 2010, which links subsidy to the nutrient content of fertilisers.

About Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme

• It is being implemented in 2010 by the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.
• A fixed amount of subsidy decided on an annual basis, is provided on each grade of subsidized Phosphatic & Potassic (P&K) fertilizers depending on its Nutrient Content.
• In the case of phosphate (P) and potassic (K)fertilisers, the subsidy is fixed under this scheme by an inter-ministerial committee taking into account the benchmark international prices of finished fertilisers as well as raw materials.
• The subsidy is given to registered to P&K fertiliser manufacturers/importers which provide these fertilisers at subsidised rates to farmers

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