Golden Peacock Award

Recently REC Limited was honoured with Golden Peacock Award in Risk Management.

• The Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by the Institute of Directors, India in 1991, are now regarded as a benchmark of Corporate Excellence worldwide.
• Golden Peacock Awards for Corporate Leadership and Institutional Excellence, over the time, have become a hallmark of excellence, both locally and globally.
• The award process involves transparency and has a 3 Tier evaluation process, based on internationally recognized criteria.
• Award winners are eligible to use the Golden Peacock Awards Logo with year on all printed and promotional materials, which evidences the highest accolade received by the organisation.
• The features of the Golden Peacock Awards includes:
  • It is the only Award, which has a meticulously defined & transparent selection criteria & is determined by a highly elaborate and independent assessment process.
  • The award builds one’s BRAND EQUITY and worldwide recognition.
  • Award winners are eligible to use the Golden Peacock Awards LOGO with year on all promotional literatures.
• The Awards are bestowed annually and are designed to encourage total improvement in each sector of our business.
• REC Limited honoured with Golden Peacock Award in Risk Management in 2023.
• REC is a 'Maharatna' company under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power.
• It is registered with RBI as non-banking finance company (NBFC), Public Financial Institution (PFI) and Infrastructure Financing Company (IFC).
• REC was incorporated in 1969 to energise agricultural pump-sets for irrigation purposes, thereby reducing the dependency of agriculture on monsoons.

Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister and Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Agricluture minister recently launched the Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan to Ensure Kisan Credit Card Access for Fish Farmers.

• Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan is a transformative initiative to ensure Kisan Credit Card Access for Fish Farmers.
• It enhances financial inclusion and support for the fisheries sector.
• It ensures that every eligible farmer with the access to essential financial tool.
• NABARD is the Primary Executing Organization for this scheme.
• By expanding the reach of the KCC scheme, this campaign will promote financial inclusion in rural areas and bolster the economic well-being of farmers.

Gyan Sahayak Scheme

The Gyan Sahayak Scheme was recently announced by the Education Department of Gujarat to appoint teachers in government schools on contractual basis.

• Gyan Sahayak Scheme aims to fill vacancies in government schools with the appointment of teachers on contractual basis till the process of regular appointments is complete.
• Gyan Sahayak Scheme was introduced by the Gujarat government.
• Gyan Sahayaks would be appointed in the interim period till the vacant posts of teachers in primary, secondary and higher secondary government schools are filled through regular appointments.
• The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 allows for implementing 11 months of contractual Gyan Sahayak Scheme in primary, secondary and higher secondary government schools.
• The Scheme is for government and grant-in-aid schools, especially for Mission Schools of Excellence.
• Eligibility – For primary school the candidate should have cleared the Gujarat Examination Board conducted Teachers Eligibility Test (TET)-2.
• For secondary and higher secondary the Gyan Sahayak should have cleared Teacher Aptitude Test (TAT).
• While both primary and secondary school teachers should be under 40 years, the age limit is 42 for higher secondary school.
• The contract of 11 months for Gyan Sahayaks is to be automatically cancelled on completion.
• School Management Committees have the power to make such contracts.
• The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP-backed student wing, has sought cancellation of the scheme.

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

Recently the union government announced Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 6 Rabi crops for the 2024-25 marketing season with the old formula for MSP.

• Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices.
• MSP are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer (farmers) against excessive fall in price during bumper production years.
• It is the minimum price at which the government procures crops from farmers.
• They are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government.
• The determinates of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) includes:
  1. Demand and supply.
  2. Cost of production.
  3. Price trends in the market, both domestic and international.
  4. Inter-crop price parity.
  5. Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture.
  6. A minimum of 50 percent as the margin over cost of production.
  7. Likely implications of MSP on consumers of that product.
• The 3 major formulae to arrive at MSP includes:
  1. A2 – Costs incurred by the farmer in production of a particular crop.
     • It includes several inputs such as expenditure on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, leased-in land, hired labour, machinery and fuel.
  2. A2+FL – Costs incurred by the farmer and the value of family labour.
  3. C2 – A  comprehensive cost, which is A2+FL cost plus imputed rental value of owned land plus interest on fixed capital, rent paid for leased-in land.
• The Swaminathan Commission recommended that the MSP should at least be 50 % more than the weighted average CoP, which it refers to as the C2 cost.
• The government maintains that the MSP was fixed at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all-India weighted average CoP, but it calculates this cost as 1.5 times of A2+FL.
• The MSP announced for the 6 Rabi crops for the 2024-25 marketing season did not follow MS Swaminathan Comission’s recommendation.
• If the commission’s recommendations were followed then the MSP of the 6 crops (rapeseed and mustard, wheat, safflower, barley, gram and lentils) would be higher.
• The minimum support prices (MSPs) is mandated for 14 crops of the kharif season, 6 rabi crops and 2 other commercial crops (Cotton and Jute) excluding sugar cane.

Entomophagy

• Insects are a class of animals within the arthropod group that have
  • A chitinous exoskeleton,
  • A three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen),
  • 3 pairs of jointed legs,
  • compound eyes and
  • 2 antennae.
• They are among the most diverse groups of animals on the planet.
• The consumption of insects is known as entomophagy that contributes positively to the environment and to health and livelihoods.
• The most commonly eaten insect groups are beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, cicadas, leaf and planthoppers, scale insects and true bugs, termites, dragonflies and flies.
• Edible insects or Insects promoted as food are rich in protein and good fats and high in calcium, iron and zinc.
• Edible insects contain all 19 essential amino acids and may be used as a low-cost, high-nutrition and environmentally-friendly way to feed the world.
• The 19 essential amino acids incudes alanine, arginine, asparagine, cysteine, glutamine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline and few others.
• Edible insects emit considerably fewer greenhouse gases (GHGs) than most livestock (methane, for instance, is produced by only by a few insect groups, such as termites and cockroaches).
• Insect rearing is not necessarily a land-based activity and does not require land clearing to expand production.