Centre bans broken rice exports (GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Union government banned the export of broken rice while flagging an increase in its price, a shortage in supply for domestic requirements and, significantly, an “abnormal” increase in exports.
The move came after the government imposed a 20 per cent export duty on all non-basmati rice except par-boiled rice.
Increase in exports:
- The broken rice exports have increased 42 times to 21.31 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) during April-August 2022 as compared to 0.51 LMT during the corresponding period of 2019.
- If the broken rice export figure is seenfor the full financial year, it shows an increase of more than 300 per cent from 12.21 lakh metric tonnes in 2018-19 to 38.90 LMT in 2021-22.
- The country-wise data that shows China was the top buyer (15.85 LMT) of Indian broken rice in 2021-22.
- The price, which was around Rs 15-16 per kg as on January 2022, has increased to Rs 22 per kg .
Why ban has been imposed?
- This increase in export share is not normal.
- As a result, broken rice is also not available either for poultry feed or for ethanol for which they were using broken rice or damaged foodgrains.
- Therefore, for the time being, broken rice export has been stopped and a transition period has been given.
Shortfall in rice production:
- The total rice sowing during the current kharif season has been so far about 20 lakh hectare less as compared to the corresponding figure of the last year.
- The rice production may fall by 10 million tonnes and in the worst case it can be 12 million tonnes (shortfall) in 2022 due to a variety of factors.
Central wildlife panel approves proposal to upgrade IAF base, other strategic projects near LAC in Ladakh
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has approved a proposal for the “upgrade” of an Indian Air Force base in Ladakh in a 508-hectare area in the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary near the Line of Actual Control.
- Apart from this, the NBWL cleared nine more strategic projects in the Changthang and Karakoram wildlife sanctuaries as India looks to bolster defence infrastructure near the LAC.
Background:
- The IAF had first submitted the proposal to upgrade the air base to the State Board for Wildlife on December 12, 2020, months after the border standoff with China.
- The IAF had informed that it is an “existing operational airbase and approval is being sought to upgrade the existing base”.
The Standing Committee of the NBWL, chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, approved the proposal, acknowledging its importance for national security.
Re-notification of the MFFR:
- The standing committee has also cleared a proposal to divert 1259.25 hectares of land from the Changthang sanctuary for the re-notification of the Mahe Field Firing Range (MFFR) in eastern Ladakh, around 40-50 km from the international border.
- The re-notification of the MFFR has been pending since 2014. At present, it is the only firing range in the entire eastern Ladakh sector where all types of weapons can be fired.
Infrastructure developments:
- The standing committee also cleared proposals to upgrade three key road stretches in the strategically important region — 107.406 hectares (ha) from the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary for the construction of T-SaluChangchemo road, 27.5 ha from the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary for the upgrade of Khalsar-Agham road and 6.875 ha from the Karakoram Sanctuary for the upgrade of Leh-Chalunka road.
- Besides, permission has been granted for laying optical fibre cables in the two sanctuaries.
MoHUA rolls out ‘SwachhAmritMahotsav’
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- To celebrate eight years of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs officially announced the commencement of the ‘SwachhAmritMahotsav’.
- It is a fortnight of activities to galvanize action around swachhata from 17th Sept. 2022, SevaDiwas, till 2nd Oct. 2022, SwachhataDiwas.
Focus:
- The fortnight will focus on mobilizing citizen action and commitment towards the vision of building ‘Garbage Free Cities’.
- The official logo for the fortnight, ‘SwachhAmritMahotsav: EkAurKadamSwachhata Ki Ore’ signifying the resolve to intensify and reinvigorate the Jan Andolan in the world’s largest sanitation programme was also released.
‘Indian Swachhata League’
- He also announced the opening of the first ever ‘Indian Swachhata League’, an inter-city competition to take place between the youth of the cities on the 17th of Sept. 2022.
- For the maiden edition of ISL, more than 1,850 city teams from across the country have officially registered to compete.
Each team will compete in the League by creating their own unique sanitation initiatives to focus on creating garbage free beaches, hills, and tourist places.
Cities from diverse geographies:
- Additionally, the ISL has successfully attracted a diverse set of Indian cities to take part in the first of its kind League.
- Cities from diverse geographies and with iconic tourist locations across the length and breadth of the country – such as Leh, Kanyakumari, Kohima, Dwarka, Konark, Port Blair, Rameswaram, Gaya, Poanta Sahib, Karta, Ujjain, Nashik, Varanasi, Pahalgam – have registered their teams and appointed team captains for the competition.
Other initiatives:
Various other interesting initiatives have been lined up during the fortnight such as the Start-Up Challenge Forum, Toycathon- Making toys from waste, Technology Exhibition, SwachhSeherSamvad, etc finally culminating with the observation of Swachh Bharat Diwas on 2nd Oct., Gandhi Jayanti.
