NATIONAL
India signs MoU for development of state of the art multi modal logistics park in Varanasi.
• A significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Tuesday between National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) and the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop a state-of-the-art Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The signing ceremony was attended by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, and Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal.
• The MMLP will be located on a 150-acre site and will be strategically connected to National Highway 7 (NH7) via a 650-meter access road. It is positioned just 1.5 kilometers from the crucial NH7-NH2 junction, enhancing connectivity within the region.
• In addition to road access, the park will seamlessly integrate with the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor through a 5.1 km railway line from Jeonathpur Station. The location is also well connected to National Waterway-1, and is only 30 kilometers from Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport, ensuring robust transportation links for both domestic and international trade.
• The project is expected to create significant investment opportunities and generate employment, providing a major boost to India’s logistics sector. By improving trade efficiency and infrastructure, the MMLP is poised to drive economic growth and enhance India’s position as a global economic powerhouse.
INTERNATIONAL
PM Modi hands over OCI cards to Mauritius President, First Lady
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday handed over OCI (Overseas Citizen Of India) cards to Mauritius President Dharambeer Gokhool and First Lady Vrinda Gokhool, on the first day of his visit to the island nation.
• Prime Minister Modi called on President Gokhool at the State House and the two leaders exchanged views on deepening the special and close bilateral ties between India and Mauritius.
• PM Modi also gifted Mauritius President the holy Ganga water from Maha Kumbh which concluded on February 26 and saw more than 660 million pilgrims gather at the Triveni Sangam Prayagraj, making it the largest human gathering in the world.
• Gokhool was unanimously elected as the new President of Mauritius in December, succeeding Prithvirajsing Roopun whose term of office ended on December 2, 2024.
• A former Minister of Education, Gokhool is a distinguished statesman whose illustrious career spans across academia, public service, and politics.
ECONOMY
RBI Imposes ₹76.6 Lakh Penalty on Four NBFCs for Regulatory Violations
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties totaling ₹76.6 lakh on four Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for non-compliance with regulatory norms. These penalties were issued under Section 58G of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, and Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• The violations included lapses in governance, reporting requirements, fair lending practices, capital adequacy, and fraud risk management. The RBI’s action reinforces its commitment to financial discipline, consumer protection, and strengthening compliance in the NBFC sector.
Key Reasons for RBI’s Action
• Failure to Follow Fair Lending Practices – Some NBFCs charged excessive interest rates or engaged in unethical loan recovery tactics.
• Weak KYC & AML Compliance – Lapses in Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures posed financial risks.
• Non-Adherence to Risk Management Guidelines – Certain NBFCs failed to meet capital adequacy and risk exposure requirements.
• Lack of Proper Reporting and Compliance – Instances of delayed or incorrect reporting of financial transactions were observed.
S&T
Climate-resilient agriculture technologies
• The Government has under taken several steps to develop and out-scaling climate-resilient agricultural technologies through Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW). ICAR through network project on National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) has developed and promoted climate resilient agriculture to address vulnerable areas of the country to cope up with extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc. It has three components viz. strategic research, technology demonstration and capacity building.
• ICAR also works on development of climate resilient crop varieties suitable for extreme weather situations, identification of the most vulnerable districts/regions, management practices for adaptation & mitigation and development of climate resilient livestock, fisheries and poultry rearing practices. DA&FW implements National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) to make agriculture more resilient to the changing climate through its schemes viz. Per Drop More Crop, Rainfed Area Development and Soil Health & Management.
• ICAR implements All India Coordinated Research Programme on Integrated Farming Systems (AICRP-IFS) in 25 States/UTs through which alternate efficient cropping systems for crop diversification are developed and promoted.
• DA&FW Crop Diversification Programme under Pradhan Mantri- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in states viz; Punjab and western Utter Pradesh to divert the area of water guzzling paddy crop to alternative crops like pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals, cotton and Agroforestry. The programme has been extended to tobacco growing states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to encourage tobacco growing farmers to shift to alternate crops/cropping system.
• DA&FW also implemented another Pilot Project through AICRP-IFS progamme of ICAR for Crop Diversification under Krishi Unnati Yojana from 2023-24 in the 75 identified districts in 17 States to diversify the existing crops with less water intensive crops such as pulses, oilseeds and millets. A total of 19 State Agricultural Universities and 5 ICAR Institutes are involved in implementation of the project.
• Under NICRA project also crop diversification of paddy and wheat with groundnut and mustard in low rainfall areas; maize with medium duration black gram; high value vegetables for flood prone areas; mulberry-sericulture for risk minimization in drought prone regions; respectively; and short duration foxtail millet varieties as an alternative crop to pigeon pea, cotton, sunflower and sorghum are promoted.
• The Government implements Centrally Sponsored Scheme Namely Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) in the Country from 2015-16. The PDMC focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation namely Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems covering various crops including staple crops. Financial Assistance @ 55% for Small & Marginal farmers and @ 45% for other farmers is provided by the Government for installation of Micro Irrigation under the Scheme. ICAR – Indian Institute of Water Management through 26 network centres has developed drip irrigation and fertigation schedules which are disseminating to the farmers.
• In all the 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) several activities are undertaken to meet the climate resilience challenges by conducting location specific resilient technologies demonstration on farmers’ fields through Front line demonstration scheme throughout the country. The efforts are more intensified in the 151 KVKs of risk prone districts spreaded across 28 states and 5 Union Territories through NICRA.
• KVKs also have village level institutions such as Village Climate Risk Management Committees, seed and fodder banks and Custom hiring centres to help farmers in taking up timely farm operations. KVKs are also involved in issuing agro-advisories to farmers to tackle aberrant weather situations. Further, ICAR Institutes and Agricultural Universities provide technological backstopping to the Subject Matter Specialists of KVKs to upgrade the knowledge on climate resilience agriculture for further dissemination to the farmers.
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