National
6th Census Report on Minor Irrigation (MI) Schemes
⇒ The Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation released the report on the 6th census on minor irrigation schemes on 26 August 2023.
Highlights of Report:
- As per the report, 23.14 million minor irrigation (MI) schemes have been reported in the country, out of which 21.93 million (94.8%) are Ground Water (GW) and 1.21 million (5.2%) are Surface Water (SW) schemes.
- Uttar Pradesh possesses the largest number of MI schemes in the country followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
- Leading States in GW schemes are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
- In SW schemes Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand have the highest share.
- GW schemes comprise dugwells, shallow tube wells, medium tube wells and deep tube wells. The SW schemes comprise surface flow and surface lift schemes.
Comparison:
- There has been increase of about 1.42 million in MI schemes during 6th MI census as compared to 5th Census.
- At the national level, both GW and SW schemes have increased by 6.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
- Dug-wells have highest share in MI schemes followed by shallow tube-wells, medium tube-wells and deep tube-wells. Maharashtra is the leading State in dug-wells, surface flow and surface lift schemes.
- Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab are the leading States in shallow tube-wells, medium tube-wells and deep tube-wells, respectively.
- Out of all MI schemes, 97.0% are ‘in use’, 2.1% are ‘temporarily not in use’ whereas 0.9% are ‘permanently not in use’.
- Shallow tube-wells and medium tube-wells lead in the category of ‘in use’ schemes.
- A majority of MI schemes (96.6%) are under private ownership. In GW schemes, the share of private entities in the ownership is 98.3% whereas in SW schemes the respective share is 64.2%.
» For the first time, the information about gender of the owner of MI scheme was also collected in case of individual ownership.
- Out of all the individually owned schemes, 18.1% are owned by women. Around 60.2% schemes have single source of finance whereas 39.8% schemes have more than one source of finance. In single source of finance, majority of schemes (79.5%) are being financed by own savings of individual farmer.
About Census Report on Minor Irrigation:
- The Government of India has been conducting census of minor irrigation schemes.
- So far, five censuses have been conducted with reference year 1986-87, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2006-07 and 2013-14 respectively.
- The 6th minor irrigation census with reference year 2017-18 was completed in 32 States/ UTs.
- The census was conducted under the centrally sponsored scheme “Irrigation Census”.
- Detailed information on various parameters like irrigation sources (dug well, shallow tube well, medium tube well, deep tube well, surface flow and surface lift schemes), irrigation potential created (IPC), potential utilized, ownership, holding size of land by owner, devices used for lifting water, sources of energy, energy conserving devices such as sprinkler and drip irrigation, use of non-conventional energy sources such as solar pumps, wind mills etc was collected.
- This report will be useful for planners, policy makers, researcher scholars, agricultural and ground water scientists, administrators & all concerned with development of irrigation and agricultural economy of the country.
Official Link for 6th Census Report on Minor Irrigation (MI) Schemes:
International
Prime Minister’s visit to Greece
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid an official visit to Greece on 25 August 2023 at the invitation of Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece (Hellenic Republic). This was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Greece in 40 years.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece in Athens on 25 August 2023.
The two leaders held discussions in one-on-one and delegation-level formats.
- The discussions covered various dimensions of the bilateral partnership, including trade and investment, defense and security, technology, infrastructure, digital payments, shipping, pharma, agriculture, migration and mobility, tourism, skill development, culture, education and people to people ties.
- They also discussed regional and multilateral issues, including the EU, Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean.
- They called for respect of international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- Both sides agreed to elevate their relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership’.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also attended the business lunch hosted by Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece, in Athens on 25 August 2023.
- The event saw participation from leading Indian and Greek CEOs from diverse sectors including shipping, infrastructure, energy, among others.
Highlights of the Joint Statement:
- As leaders of two ancient sea faring nations with a long-standing maritime outlook, they shared their vision of a free, open and rules-based Mediterranean Sea and Indo-Pacific, in accordance with the law of the sea, in particular the provisions of the UNCLOS, and with full respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and freedom of navigation to the benefit of international peace, stability and security.
- The two Prime Ministers expressed their strong support for the ongoing India-EU trade and investment negotiations and the early implementation of the India-EU Connectivity Partnership.
- Building on the foundation of the long-standing warm and close relationship between their countries and peoples, the two leaders decided to upgrade Greek-Indian bilateral ties to the level of a “Strategic Partnership” and agreed to work to further expand bilateral cooperation in political, security and economic spheres.
- The two Prime Ministers also decided to take steps to further strengthen people-to-people ties between the two countries. Appreciating the increase in bilateral trade and economic engagement in recent years, the leaders also directed that both sides shall work to double bilateral trade by 2030.
- Both leaders reiterated the need for further broadening and deepening bilateral engagements, in the field of defence, shipping, science and technology, cyber space, education, culture, tourism and agriculture. They took note of the signing of the MOU on Cooperation in the field of Agriculture, including the establishment of a Hellenic-Indian Joint Sub-committee on Agriculture for facilitating sectoral cooperation for mutual benefit.
- They also agreed to encourage direct flights between Greece and India.
- They also agreed to encourage joint efforts in preserving and protecting ancient sites, and strengthen cooperation within UNESCO.
- Both leaders agreed that an early finalization of a Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement (MMPA) would be mutually beneficial, facilitating in particular the free movement of workforce between the two countries.
- The two leaders strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, whenever, wherever, and by whom-so-ever committed and the use of terrorist proxies for cross-border terrorism.
Sports
India's HS Prannoy wins bronze medal at Badminton World Championship 2023
⇒ Indian badminton player HS Prannoy finished with a bronze medal in the men’s singles at the BWF World Badminton Championships 2023 after losing his semi-final match in Copenhagen on 26 August 2023.
- World No 9 HS Prannoy lost 21-18, 13-21, 14-21 to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, third in the badminton rankings, in one hour and 16 minutes at the Royal Arena.
» The BWF World Badminton Championships 2023 was held from August 21 to 27 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Key Points:
- This is India’s 14th medal at the World Championships. This includes one gold, four silvers and nine bronze medals.
- Prannoy is the 14th Indian to win a medal at the World Championships, in singles, before him, PV Sindhu (5), Saina Nehwal (2), Kidambi Srikanth (1), Lakshya Sen (1), B Sai Praneeth (1) and Prakash Padukone (1) have made the nation proud.
- The 31-year-old HS Prannoy became only the fifth Indian men’s singles player to win a medal at the BWF World Badminton Championships.
- Kidambi Srikanth remains the only Indian to reach the men’s singles final (2021) of the global showpiece event.