February 20, 2014
By- DEEPA M
National-
Biofertilizers- National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), Government is promoting production of various organic inputs in the country including biofertilizers.
Under NPOF, a total of 56 nos. biofertilizers production units and 17 nos. of fruit/vegetables waste compost units have been established in the country.
Government has been advocating integrating use of chemical fertilizers and organic manures including biofertilizers for increasing production of major crops.
All India Network Project on Soil Biodiversity-Biofertilizers is implemented by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for R & D on biofertilizers.
The ICAR has developed technologies to prepare various types of organic manures such as phosphocompost, vermi compost, municipal solid waste compost etc. Improved and efficient strains of biofertilizers specific to different crops and soil types are being developed under Network Project on biofertilizers.
Biofertilizers are Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Acetobacter, PSB, KMB, Zinc Solubilizing bacteria under Fertilizer Control Order (FCO).
Vaccines in Universal Immunization Programme –
Under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) 7 vaccines are administered.
These vaccines are Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus (DPT), Polio, Measles, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) (in endemic districts) and Haemohilus influenza type b (Hib) as pentavalent vaccine combination (DPT+Hib+Hepatitis B).
These vaccines prevent Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis and disease caused by Haemohilus influenza type b like meningitis, Pneumonia respectively.
National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) recommended one new vaccine i.e. Haemohilus influenza type b (Hib) vaccine as Pentavalent vaccine combination (DPT+Hib+Hepatitis B) which has been included under UIP in the last three years.
National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) is the apex advisory body setup by the Government of India to make recommendations on issues related to Immunization, introduction of new vaccines.
AFSPA- Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), was passed on September 11, 1958, by the Parliament of India.
An Act to enable certain special powers to be conferred upon members of the armed forces in disturbed areas in the States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and the Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram
It is a law with just six sections granting special powers to the armed forces in what the act terms as “disturbed areas”
The Act has been at the heart of concerns about human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement, where arbitrary killings, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and enforced disappearances have happened
The Articles in the Constitution of India empower state governments to declare a state of emergency due to one or more of the following reasons:
- Failure of the administration and the local police to tackle local issues.
- Return of (central) security forces leads to return of miscreants/erosion of the “peace dividend”.
- The scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for local forces to handle
Santosh Hegde commission on Manipur encounters deaths-
- A high-power commission headed by the retired Supreme Court judge, Santosh Hegde was constituted in January 2013 to probe six encounter deaths in Manipur.
- The judicial commission set up by the Supreme Court is trying to make the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) more humane, and the security forces more accountable.
- The committee has suggested fixing a time frame of three months for the central government to decide whether to prosecute security personnel engaged in extrajudicial killings or unruly behaviour in insurgency-hit regions.
- The Commission noted that AFSPA was an impediment to achieving peace in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
- The commission also said the law needs to be reviewed every six months to see whether its implementation is actually necessary in states where it is being enforced. About Section 6 of the act, which guarantees protection against prosecution to the armed forces, the report said: “It is not that no action can be taken at all. Action can be taken but with prior sanction of the central government
Classifying Odia as classical Language-
The following benefits are available for languages which are declared as classical languages: –
Two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence in the concerned language
A Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages can be set up.
The University Grants Commission can be requested to create, to start with at least in Central Universities, a certain number of professional chairs for classical languages, for scholars of eminence in the concerned language.
So far Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam have been declared as classical languages.
