600 Vibhav anti tank mines with safety mechanism inducted into Army (GS Paper 3, Defence)
Why in news?
- Recently, six hundred indigenously manufactured self neutralising anti-tank mines, known as ‘Vibhav’, have been inducted into the Army to provide mobility kill against all enemy armoured vehicles.
Details:
- The anti-tank mine is made of new age plastic, which gives it adequate strength and durability to withstand the requirements of storage, handling and operating in varying field conditions.
- Designed and developed completely indigenously in a joint venture with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in India, "Vibhav" is a point-attack anti-tank munition.
Salient features:
- The mines are designed to provide mobility kill against all enemy armoured vehicles.
- The munition can be laid both mechanically or manually.
- The integrated explosive, mechanical and electronic safety features ensure utmost operator safety.
- On the other hand, the lethality of the munition ensures effectiveness against all current and futuristic armoured vehicles.
- The munition also incorporates an electronic anti-handling and anti-lift device (EAHALD) that stays active for 120 days once armed.
Indian govt launches the Kisan Rin Portal with the weather portal WIND
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Recently, Indian Finance Minister and Agriculture inaugurated the 'Kisan Rin Portal,' which aims to give farmers subsidised loans under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme to revolutionise the agriculture sector in the country.
- At the event at Pusa Complex, the government also launched the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) portal and a door to door KCC campaign.
Kisan Rin digital platform:
- It will offer a comprehensive view of farmer data, scheme utilisation progress, loan disbursement specifics, and interest subvention claims to increase seamless integration with banks for more effective and efficient agriculture credit.
- The door to door campaign will extend the benefits of KCC to non-KCC holders of beneficiaries of the central scheme PM-KISAN, under the scheme, the government will pay Rs 600 per annum to the beneficiary of the farmer's bank account.
WINDS portal
- The WIND portal was launched in July 2023 to leverage advanced weather data analytics to give stakeholders actionable insight to make informed weather decisions on agriculture.
- The portal also provides a comprehensive manual to stakeholders for an in-depth understanding of the portal functionalities, data interpretations and effective utilisation, empowering farmers, policymakers and various agricultural entities to make well informed decisions.
- The portal also shares the ministry's parametric crop insurance scheme, along with non-scheme parametric insurance programmes for crop risk mitigation and disaster risk reduction and mitigation being run by the insurance industry.
Centre identifies 62 new elephant corridors, total now 150
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- A new elephant corridor report released by the central government showed a 40 per cent increase in elephant corridors across 15 elephant range states in India.
- The number of elephant corridors have increased to 150 against 88 registered by the Government of India in 2010. The elephant population in the country is estimated to be over 30,000.
What are Elephant corridors?
- Elephant corridors can be described as a strip of land that enables elephant movement between two or more friendly habitats.
- The corridors were reported by respective state governments and ground validation methods were used to verify them.
Key Highlights:
- West Bengal has the most elephant corridors (26) amounting to 17 per cent of the total corridors. East central region contributed to 35 per cent that is 52 corridors, while North East region was second largest with 32 per cent number meaning 48 corridors in total.
- Southern India registered 32 that is 21 per cent of the elephant corridors, while northern India was lowest with 18 corridors or 12 per cent.
- Majority of the corridors were noted to be within state boundaries and the intensity of the use of corridors has increased by 40 per cent.
Concerns:
- However, it showed that 19 per cent of the corridors, that is 29, showed a decrease in use while 10 others were seen impaired and demanding restoration for facilitating elephant movement.
- The decrease in corridor use is attributed to the habitat fragmentation, shrinkage and destruction.
Increment in corridors:
- The increase in the elephant corridors also reflected that elephants have expanded their ranges in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra neighbouring Chhattisgarh and southern Maharashtra bordering Karnataka.
- Elephants have also seen increased presence in Madhya Pradesh found in Sanjay Tiger reserves and Bandhavgarh.
- Besides that, ranges have also increased in northern Andhra Pradesh where the elephants access movement from Odisha.
