Inaugural Edition of Indo-Egypt Joint Training Exercise Cyclone - I Commences in Rajasthan (GS Paper 3, Defence)
Why in news?
- The first ever joint exercise between the special forces of the Indian Army and the Egyptian Army named “Exercise Cyclone-I” is in progress at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan since 14 January 2023.
Aim:
- The exercise aims to bolster defence co-operation between the two nations and focus on sharing professional skills and interoperability of Special Forces in desert terrain while undertaking counter terrorism, reconnaissance, raids and other special operations.
- Exercise “Cyclone - I” is the first exercise of its kind bringing the special forces of both the nations on a common platform.
Key Highlights:
- The 14 days long exercise which is being carried out in the deserts of Rajasthan engages both the contingents to advance special forces skills such as Sniping, Combat Free Fall, Reconnaissance, Surveillance & Target Designation, sharing of information on weapons, equipment, innovations, tactics, techniques & procedures.
- The participants would also undertake joint planning and drills for Special Forces operations in a mechanised warfare setting as well as surgical strikes on terrorist camps/hideouts to include sniping of High Value Targets.
Way Forward:
- The joint exercise would provide an insight into the culture and ethos of both armies thereby fostering military cooperation and interoperability to further strengthen the diplomatic relations between India and Egypt.
KVIC through RE-HAB project of the Honey Mission Programme aims to reduce elephant attacks on humans and farmers’ crops
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, KVIC distributed live Bee Colonies, Bee-keeping equipment and 200 Bee-Boxes to the trained beneficiaries at Sulia at Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka under the RE-HAB Project, an initiative under the Honey Mission Programme of Prime Minister.
Project RE-HAB:
- Under the Project RE-HAB, “Bee-fences” are created by setting up bee boxes in the passage ways of elephants to block their entrance to human habitats.
- The boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug or pull causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from moving further.
- Under the RE-HAB farmers are trained in bee-keeping and each of them are supplied with 10 Bee boxes and installed in the elephant corridors so bee boxes and bee hives are placed in the Elephant corridor to restrict elephants from approaching the agricultural field.
- This project has also helped in the increasing agricultural output due to enhanced pollination as well as Honey Extraction.
Outcome:
- This is a cost-effective way of reducing human-wild conflicts without causing any harm to the animal.
- It is scientifically recorded that elephants fear the bee swarms that can bite their sensitive inner side of the trunk and eyes. The collective buzz of the bees annoys elephants which force them to return.
Implementation:
- It was seen that Bees help the farmers in arresting the encroachment of elephants in their agricultural fields and destroy them.
- Taking an initiative, KVIC initiated a pilot project with the Technical assistance of the College of Forestry, Ponnampet, Kodagu District and the results were encouraging.
- Hence, 6 such projects were sanctioned in the most wanted states namely Assam, Maharastra, west Bengal, Orissa, Uttarkhand apart from Karnataka.
