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Here are today’s important headlines with key details for UPSC, SSC, IBPS and other competitive examinations.
Government launches e-pashu haat to facilitate farmers
- The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare launched the e-pashu haat portal to connect farmers and breeders of bovine animals. The portal will act as a single online e-trading market platform, including availability of bovine germplasm. It will enable the farmers to buy bovine animals, frozen semen and embryo.
Highlights
- e-pashuhaat portal will connect farmers with breeders- State, Central, Co-operative, Milk Federations, and private agencies. It will provide information related to certification of the animal, breeding, its picture, volume of milk given by the cow etc. It will facilitate farmers to purchase advanced breed of bovine animals at a reasonable price as per as their requirements.
- It will provide, certified picture of animals, its parents information, breeding, volume of milk given by bovine animal information. Besides this, it will provide information related to animal fodder varieties, its volume and price. It will have real time authentic certified information on availability of germplasm. Significance Earlier there was no single authentic organised market for animals. Information like pet cattle, trading of bovine animals was not available in any other forum or platform in the country.
- This portal is likely to help fill in the vacuum. Since dairying activity is a major supplementary source of income for farmers. The portal will play important role in increasing income of framers from animal rearing for achieving the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
- It establishes links between ‘farmer to farmer’ and ‘farmer to institutes’. Thus, it minimises the involvement of middlemen. It will create a comparative Farm Network that will facilitate farmers to exchange local knowledge and resources.
- India has the largest bovine population in the world. It accounts for 14% of the world cattle population, while share for buffalo alone is 53% of which 79% of the cattle are indigenous and 21% are crossbred and exotic varieties.
Culture ministry releases coins to mark 500th anniversary of Hindu saint
- The Union culture ministry has released a commemorative non-circulation Rs 500 and a Rs 10 coin circulation coin as part of the yearlong celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of Hindu saint and social reformer Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’svisit to Vrindavan.
About Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
- Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a famous Hindi Saint and social reformer and also a distinguished promoter for the Vaishnava School of Bhakti Yoga.
- The Bhakti movement initiated by him strove to eradicate the evils of caste and feudal systems of medieval India. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu propagated the worship of Shri Krishna and popularised the chanting of “Hare Krishna Mantra” to all without any discrimination.
- In the year 1515, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Vrindavan, with the objective of locating the lost holy places associated with Lord Krishna’s transcendent pastimes.
Pink invited for special screening at UN HQ
- Pink, the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Bollywood film, has been invited by the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for a special screening at its headquarters in New York, USA.
- Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and written by Ritesh Shah, the film- a modern Indian courtroom drama- highlights the issue of gender violence. It is by far being considered as one of the best works by the all-time Bollywood superstar- Amitabh Bachchan and one of the most successful releases of 2016.
- The film was very well received by audience and critics alike from all across India for its extremely realistic narrative. It was released on September 16, 2016, under the U/A category with four verbal cuts. It was specially screened for the Rajasthan Police, in order to train them to become more sensitive towards women’s rights and dignity.
Amitabh Kant Committee constituted to push cashless transactions
- The Union Government in the last week of November 2016 announced the formation of anew committee to accelerate the process of transforming India into a cashless economy.
- The committee will be headed by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant. The other members of the committee are the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services, Secretary of Department Of Industrial Policy & Promotion and Secretary of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Secretaries of the IT and Rural Development Ministries, Managing Director of the National Payments Corporation of India and the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Tasks of the committee
- The committee will identify and operationalise in the earliest possible time frame user-friendly digital payment options in all sectors of the economy.
- It will engage regularly with Union ministries, regulators, state governments, district administration, local bodies, trade and industry associations to promote adoption of digital payment systems.
- It will attempt to establish and monitor an implementation framework with strict timelines. This will be done to ensure that nearly 80% of the transactions in India moves to the digital-only platform.
- The committee will execute an action plan on advocacy, awareness and handholding efforts among public, micro enterprises and other stakeholders.
- It will also attempt to estimate costs involved in various digital payments options and supervise implementation of measures to make such transactions between the government and citizens cheaper than cash transactions.
- During the first meeting of the committee on November 24,2016, it was decided to involve Common Service Centres to help train merchants to use digital payment methods.
Aditi Ashok bags inaugural Qatar Ladies Open
- Indian golfer Aditi Ashok won the inaugural Qatar Ladies Open on November 26, 2016, in Doha. With this, she recorded her second straight victory on the Ladies European Tour.
- Ashok shot a final round of three-under 69 to card a total of 15-under. She finished three strokes ahead of Lydia Hall and Caroline Hedwall.