Prelim Bits 02-02-2024 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)

Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the extension of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund.

• Launched in – 2020-21
• Implemented by – Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
• Objectives – To improve processing capacity and product diversification of milk and meat.
• To ensure accessibility of quality food and feed, provide protein enriched food and to prevent malnutrition.
• To develop entrepreneurship, generate employment and to promote exports.

Initially, the Budget was Rs.15000 crore, now extended with an outlay of Rs.29, 610.25 crore for another 3 years up to 2025-26, to be implemented under Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF).

• Eligible entities – Farmer Producer Organization (FPO), private companies, individual entrepreneurs, Section 8 companies and MSMEs.
• Funding – 3% interest subvention, credit guarantee and 2 years of moratorium for loan.

AHIDF loans are disbursed from Scheduled bank, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), NABARD and NDDB.

• Permitted activities
  • Dairy processing and value addition infrastructure
  • Meat processing and value addition infrastructure
  • Animal Feed Plant
  • Breed Improvement Technology
  • Animal Waste to Wealth (Agri waste management)
  • Setting up of Veterinary Vaccine and Drugs Manufacturing facilities
• Significance – So far, it has created an increase of 2-4% in the overall processing capacity in dairy, meat and animal feed sector.
• It has benefitted about 15 lakh farmers directly/indirectly and 20 lakh more farmers could be benefitted with the continuation.

References

1. PIB| Extension of AHIDF
2. AHIDF| Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund

Zodiacal Dust

A scientist at Physics Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad have published a paper regarding the possible source of Zodiacal dust to Mars’s 2 Moons.

Deimos and Phobos are the 2 moons of the planet Mars.

• Zodiacal light – It is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust which is visible from the earth as a faint, diffuse glow on completely dark nights.
• It is present across the entire path of the ecliptic, which is the path along which the Sun moves in the sky over the course of a year.
• Zodiacal Dust – The interplanetary dust particles which cause zodiacal light are called as Zodiacal dust.

Juno is a spacecraft launched by NASA in 2011 to study the gas-giant Jupiter and its moons. Its solar panels were damaged by the dust particles in the space.

• Micrometeorites – They are very small dust particles.
• As they weigh no more than 1-10-1000^th of a gram, they can move really fast, and when they do they can pack a punch.
• Micrometeorites into Earth - When they fall into Earth, they burn up and disintegrate in the atmosphere.
• Micrometeorites into Mar’s Moon – Since Deimos and Phobos don’t have atmospheres, most micrometeorites slam into their surfaces and kick up small clouds of dust.
• Escape of dust particles – The smaller dust particles escape into space as Mar’s Moon has low gravity.
• Dust ring - Mars’s gravity pulls in the larger dust particles and forms a dust ring around Mars.
• Over time, they drift closer towards or away from Mars but stay in orbit.

The more gravity a planetary body has, the more spherical its shape. Deimos and Phobos are not at all spherical.

• Future prospects – To study whether Phobos and Deimos are really losing more mass than they are gaining.

Reference

The Hindu| Possible Sources of Zodiacal Dust

Vyasji ka tehkhana

The District Court of Varanasi has given permission to perform puja in the basement named 'Vyasji Ka Tahkhana' located in the Gyanvapi Masjid Complex.

• Vyasji ka tehkhana – It is 1 of the 4 basements of Gyanvapi Mosque Complex in Varansi.
• Historically, members of Vyas family lived here who claim that it was given to them for worship and other religious rituals under the British rule in 1809.
• Located in – Southern area of the Gyanvapi mosque’s complex, facing the Nandi statue of Kashi Vishwanath complex.
• Structure – It has a height of around 7 feet and carpet area of around 900 square feet.
• Issue – The family of Vyas’s was restricted to access the basement in 1993.

According to the recent ASI report, before the construction of Gyanvapi Mosque in the 17th century, there was a big Hindu temple.

• Recent controversy – Following the court order, Varanasi district administration had taken possession of the southern cellar.

Reference

The Indian Express| Prayers inside Vyasji ka tehkhana

Cygnus X-1

India’s space telescope AstroSat has measured X-ray polarisation from the Cygnus X-1, opening new possibilities in the study of the black hole’s environment.

• It is one of the 1^st confirmed black hole systems in our galaxy.
• Discovery – Over 4 decades ago.
• Location – About 400 times more than the distance between Earth and Sun.
• Size – It is 20 times heavier than the Sun.
• It has a companion, a heavy supergiant star (40 times more massive than the Sun) in a binary system.
• Generates soft X-rays – Due to its gravitational pull material from the supergiant falls and spirals-in towards the black hole that forms a thin accretion disk which is responsible for soft X-rays.
• Recent observation – Cygnus X-1 measured the high polarization in 100-380 keV range, implying that the radiation is likely to have originated at the black hole jet.
• Significance – While normal X-ray measurements only reveal the energy or intensity of the radiations, polarisation characteristics reveal the orientation of the oscillating electric field thereby the geometry and other properties of the black hole.

It is the 1^st time hard X-ray radiation is connected to the black hole jet.

Astrosat was launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in September 2015. It has 5 scientific instruments of which the Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) measured the X-rays from the black hole.

Reference

The Indian Express| Detection of X-rays from Black Hole

Blue Economy

India’s recent Interim Budget stressed on environment-friendly development through the promotion of ‘blue economy’.

• Blue economy – It simply refer to economic activities related to the sea and the coasts with the element of sustainability in it.
• Definition
  • European Commission – It refers to all economic activities related to oceans, seas, coasts and it covers a wide range of interlinked established and emerging sectors.
  • World Bank – It is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem.
• India’s Blue Economy – With long coastline, diversity in terms of fish & ocean produce, and multiple tourism opportunities, blue economy is highly significant.
• It is a subset of national economy which comprises of 2 components
  • Ocean resources.
  • Human-made economic infrastructure in marine, maritime, and onshore coastal zones.
• In 2022, a draft policy framework on India’s Blue Economy was 1^st released.

Blue Economy 2.0

• Aim – To build resilience against the impacts of climate change while fostering sustainable growth in coastal regions.
• Restoration and adaptation measures – Protecting the health of the oceans while carrying out economic activities.
• Aquaculture – Farming of aquatic plants and animals.
• Mariculture – Rearing and harvesting marine creatures in salt water.
• Integrated & multi-sectoral approach – Harnessing collective efforts to achieve sustainable development goals in coastal areas.

Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 is the long-term blueprint for the Indian maritime blue economy for enhancing port, promoting sustainable practices and facilitating global collaboration.

Reference

The Indian Express| Relevance of Blue Economy in India