Farmers Distress Index: The Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), an institution under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) started working on a kind of early warning system called ‘farmers distress index. The main aim behind creating such an index is to minimise agrarian distress in the form of crop loss/failure and income shock. The first step will be to look for the incidents of farmers’ distress like localised cases of issues with debt repayment, death by suicide, pest attacks, drought, floods, and migration, among others. The index will have values from 0-1. A value between 0-0.5 will indicate ‘low distress’, 0.5-0.7 will indicate ‘moderate’ distress and above 0.7 will indicate ‘severe’ distress. If the index is severe, it will identify which component, among the seven, is more severe and contributes maximum to farmers’ distress. After completion of the ongoing work, CRIDA will be handing over the index to the central government and it will be made available to different state governments, agriculture departments, rural development departments, and agriculture universities.
Atal Innovation Mission: Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in collaboration with Bayer launched a unique industry visit initiative under Atal Tinkering labs at Bayer’s manufacturing facility in Vapi, Gujarat. It is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country and was set up in 2016.
Objective: To create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country at school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels. All the initiatives of AIM are currently monitored and managed systematically using real-time MIS systems and dynamic dashboards. Implementing Agency: NITI Aayog.AIM has multiple programs to encourage and support innovation in the country. Some of the components of AIM: Atal Tinkering Labs, Atal Incubation Centres, Atal New India Challenge, Mentor of Change Program, Atal Community Innovation Centre and Atal Research & Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE).
Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation: The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP) released Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. It is conducted every two years by UNESCAP.
The 2023 survey covered more than 140 economies and evaluated 60 trade facilitation measures. It has recognized India’s exceptional progress across various sub-indicators, with the country achieving a perfect score of 100% in four key areas: Transparency, Formalities, Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation, and Paperless Trade. India has witnessed a substantial improvement in the score for the “Women in Trade Facilitation” component from 66.7% in 2021 to 77.8% in 2023. India is now the best-performing country amongst all the countries of the South Asia region. The overall score of India has been greater than many developed countries including Canada, France, the UK, Germany etc.
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP): It is the most inclusive intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region which was established in 1947. It consists of 53 members and 9 associate members. India is also a member of this organization. Headquarters:Bangkok, Thailand. It works to overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges by providing results-oriented projects, technical assistance, and capacity building to member States.
