Class Notes 4 You

According to the 2011 census, per capita water availability has declined from 5177 cubic meters in 1951 to 1545 cubic meters. This calls for some urgent measures to check the depletion of water resources in the country. Some measures to improve water storage and irrigation system to make its judicious use are: 1. Watershed management: Includes checking wild run-off and intensive afforestation, thus reducing soil erosion, increasing water percolation and in turn replenishing groundwater reserves. 2. Rainwater harvesting: Collecting and storing rainwater at surface or subsurface aquifers. 3. Micro Irrigation: Reduces water consumption in agriculture. Fertigation and chemigation are added advantages.  4. River interlinking: It will result in the prevention of floods, droughts and would also enhance the irrigation potential of India as well as help in recharging groundwater. 5. Traditional water conservation and management system: They are not only inexpensive but can be implemented by...

Just after independence India faced a critical shortage of food supply. This called for the "Green Revolution" in the agriculture sector in India in the 1960-70s, with a major focus on the rice-wheat system. It soon proved to be a grand success, converting India from a food-deficient to a food-surplus country. Major factors for its success 1. Advancement of farm technology and introduction of biotechnology in agriculture resulting in use of HYV seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. 2. State support in the form of MSP and other subsidies like fertilizer and electricity subsidies. 3. Improvement in infrastructures like multipurpose irrigation projects, canals, etc. helped farmers of water deficient areas also to participate in production. 4. Political and public will to achieve food security for India. But with the passage of time, it has been realized that though it was a boon earlier, it has now become a bane due to following reasons: 1. Development of monoculture farming lead...

  Current Affairs  Important Newspaper Highlights for UPSC Civil Services Examination. 04 August 2022 The HINDU   🟠 (Page 1) : SC calls for a panel to look into freebies issue. 🟢 (Page 1) : China steps up pressure on Taiwan. 🟠 (Page 6) : Trade worries. 🟢 (Page 6) : Public asset sale and the concern of fiduciary duty. 🟠 (Page 7) : Reaping the demographic dividend. 🟢 (Page 10) : India to host UNSC meet on counter-terrorism. 🟠 (Page 11) : Cabinet nod for climate pledges. The Indian EXPRESS   🟢 (Page 3) : SC collegium decides: Freeze on new postings until next CJI takes over.  🟠 (Page 3) : Who will bell revadi cat? 🟢 (Page 3) : Concern in Delhi over not being part of US-led critical minerals alliance.  🟠 (Page 8) : House panel criticises govt for absence of ‘clear-cut’ policy on Indian diaspora. 🟢 (Page 9) : India set for Agnipath, worry in Nepal over  Gorkha recruits. 🟠 (Page 9) : Govt gives nod to stronger climate targets for 2030. 🟢 (Pag...

India produces thousands of agricultural products which are traded and transported within the States, across the States and exported outside India also. The following are the major constraints which the agricultural produce faces in transportation and marketing in India. Marketing Challenges. State APMC Acts do not allow wholesale trade outside APMC mandis and in other states. Lack of private mandi infrastructure for trading Agri-produce. Lack of assaying facility for Agri-produce for electronic trading. 86% of small and marginal farmers have uneconomical lot for selling in mandis. A long chain of intermediaries who often work non-transparently leading to the situation where the producer receives only a small part of the value that the ultimate consumer pays. Transportation Challenges: Non availability of timely railway wagon Costly rail and road transportation Lack of refrigerated vehicles for transportation of perishable Agri products. Lack of multi-modal logistics service provider T...

India is facing a harsh water crisis due to inefficient utilisation in the agriculture sector, industrial and human waste and lack of proper government planning. Due to the lack of laws and measures to regulate water usage, and in many cases, unrestricted access of electricity by the government to farmers, water is pumped round the clock; most farmers rely on traditional methods of flood irrigation to grow their crops. The adoption of micro-irrigation by farmers provides a clear solution that not only drastically curbs water usage, but also delivers other benefits to farmers like improved yields, cost savings, and higher profits. Micro-irrigation is a process of slow water application via discrete or continuous drips, tiny streams, or miniature sprays on, above, or below the soil by surface drip, subsurface drip, bubbler, or micro-sprinkler systems. The government of India launched a program called, ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana’ more specifically, the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ comp...

Crop diversification refers to the addition of new crops or cropping systems to agricultural production on a particular farm. In India crop diversification is happening mostly into horticulture, livestock and commercial crops like cotton, soyabean etc. The major problems and constraints in crop diversification are primarily due to the following reasons with varied degrees of influence:   • Over 50% of the cropped area in the country is completely dependent on rainfall. • Inadequate supply of quality seeds. • Fragmentation of land holding less favouring modernization and mechanisation of agriculture. • Poor basic infrastructure like rural roads, power, transport, communications etc. • Inadequate post-harvest technologies and inadequate infrastructure for post-harvest handling of perishable horticultural produce. • Very weak Agro-based industry. • Weak research - extension - farmer linkages. • Inadequately trained human resources together with persistent and large-scale illiteracy am...

The public expenditure management (PEM) is an instrument of state policy whose objective is to have overall fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency, operational efficiency and macro-economic stability. Challenges faced by government in public expenditure management while formulating the budget: 1. Autonomous component of expenditure: Compulsory expenses such as interest payments for public debt, expenditure on defence, pensions and wages and salaries of government employees. 2. Economic shocks: Global slowdown, taper tantrum policy of US Fed, Trade wars, Oil prices, Pandemic induced slowdown (Covid’19), etc. have an impact on the domestic economy because of globalisation. 3. Populist schemes: Farm loan waiver, MSPs for different crops, low-income tax rate slabs, results in higher fiscal deficit and government borrowings. 4. Low tax base: More reliance on regressive indirect tax acts as a constraint for the government to increase its social spending. 5. Inflation targeting: Restricts g...

Potential GDP is the real value of goods and services that can be produced when a country's factors of production are fully employed. It is the maximum sustainable level of output that an economy can produce. As per the Economic Survey 2015-16, the determinants of potential GDP are : 1. Physical capital (Capital stock of the economy should be fully utilised) 2. Human capital 3. Labour (Labour force should be productively employed) 4. Productivity (Factor productivity of various factors of production should be high) 5. Economy’s technological efficiency  Potential GDP tends to grow slowly because inputs like labour and capital and the level of technology changes quite slowly over time. As per Economic Survey 2015-16, India's medium/ long term growth potential is somewhere between 8 to 10 percent. Following are the major factors hindering India from realising its potential GDP : Demand Side Factors . • Less domestic demand due to low purchasing power of majority of the population...