NEWS TODAY VISIONIAS 21 st MAY, 2021 China Encircling India Recently, China has completed a key highway in Tibet, cutting through the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon; touted as world’s deepest canyon on River Brahmaputra It is close to Arunachal Pradesh Border and serves the strategic interests of China to encircle India from all parts through infrastructure along Line of Actual Control (LAC) and other initiatives like Indian Ocean Region through Sri Lanka, Western Border through China Pakistan Economic Corridor etc. Over 70% of the transhipment business at the Sri Lanka’s East Container Terminal (ECT) is linked to India. The ECT is located some 3 km away from the Colombo port city. With incorporation of amendments suggested by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court to make it consistent with the constitution, its Parliament has passed the bill on laws governing the China-backed Colombo Port city. Geo-political ramifications on the Indian Ocean region Indian Ocean is the natural arena of India’s influence with overriding security consequences on India and neighbouring small Island Nations in the region. It is considered as part of Chinese Debt-trap Diplomacy to colonise the small nations. E.g. Earlier, Sri Lanka was forced to give its Hambantota port to China for a 99 years lease. This can have serious ramifications towards India's efforts to build a safe, secure and stable Indian Ocean Region through efforts like SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region, launched in 2015). SRI LANKA PARLIAMENT GIVES NOD TO CHINESE PORT CITY BILL Note: To attain self-sufficiency in the production of pulses- Tur, Moong and Urad, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has formulated a special Kharif strategy for implementation in the ensuing Kharif 2021 season. It will put emphasis on availability of high yielding varieties of seeds (with special focus on soybean and groundnut) free of cost for the farmers. Oilseeds: Government initiatives for oilseeds: India is one of the major oilseeds grower and importer of edible oils. India’s vegetable oil economy is world’s fourth largest after USA, China & Brazil. National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm. Oil Palm Area Expansion under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Increasing the minimum support prices of oilseed crops Creation of buffer stock for oilseeds. Yellow Revolution and Integrated Scheme on Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize. Top Oilseeds Producing States are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Main oil-seeds produced in India are soyabean, groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, castor seeds, sesamum (til), sunflower and linseed. Majority demand is met via import of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia. It will bring an additional 6.37 lakh hectare area under oilseeds which will help to increase the production of oilseeds and edible oil in the country. AGRICULTURAL MINISTRY FOR- MULATES KHARIF STRATEGY 2021 FOR EDIBLE OILS SELF-SUFFICIENCY The extraction of honey and beeswax is known as ‘Apiculture’. Bees are known as "pollinators," helping plants live and reproduce by transferring pollen between various species of flowering plants. They live in hives (or colonies) and the members are divided into three types, based on function, as Queen, workers and drone. Apart from Pollination, they produce Honey and Beeswax, commonly used as food supplement, treatment of ailments or in cosmetics, soaps etc. In recent times, due to changes in land use, pesticides, intensive agriculture and climate change, many bee species are under threat. National Beekeeping and Honey Mission: Started in 2020 as a Central Sector Scheme, under National Bee Board, with aim towards overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping. Madhu Kranti (Sweet Revolution) portal: For online registration and traceability system to track the source of honey and other bee products. Making of FPOs of beekeepers with efforts from Khadi Village and Industry Committee (KVIC). It sets up a Honey Testing Laboratory at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Pusa, New Delhi. Government Steps AGRICULTURE MINISTER LAUNCHES HONEY TESTING LABORATORY ON THE OCCASION OF WORLD BEE DAY The move will make it mandatory for states to report both suspected and confirmed cases to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). In a related development, doctors believe that white fungus (reported in Bihar) in COVID-19 patients is ‘more dangerous’ than black fungus. Fungi (singular: fungus) are a kingdom of eukaryotic organisms that are heterotrophs (cannot make their own food). Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually. In Mucormycosis sinuses or lungs are affected after fungal spores in the air are inhaled. The incidence of this infection, traditionally, was reported in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. This infection can be caused due to low immunity or if people come in contact with things that contain these moulds like water, etc. Apart from lungs it can also affect other parts of the body including “nails, skin, stomach, kidney, brain, private parts and mouth”. Fungi can be single-celled (called yeast), multicellular while others alternate between both. Their cell wall is made up of Chitin (plant’s cell wall is of cellulose). Lichens are symbiosis between a fungus and one or more species of unicellular algae and/or cyanobacteria. TO CHECK BLACK FUNGUS (MUCORMYCOSIS), CENTRE MAKES THE DISEASE ‘NOTIFIABLE’ UNDER EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT, 1897 About Bees An outbreak is a noticeable, often small, increase over the expected number of cases. Firstly, outbreak of COVID-19 was at Wuhan China. An epidemic is an outbreak over a larger geographic area. Widespread cases of COVID-19 across china meant that the Wuhan outbreak had grown to an epidemic. Once an epidemic spread to various countries or regions of the world, it is considered a pandamic. Now in current situation 206 countries are affected by this pandemic disease. Wuhan, China China World