Is India-Pakistan heading towards Locust plague, Worst during the past 50 years? Indian as well as Pakistan Air Force pressed into service to contain it.

Locusts plaque prevalent in the 19th century could be real this time if no timely action is taken by India, Pakistan & Iran

Is India-Pakistan heading towards a Locust plague this year. Maybe if India and Pakistan do not fight Locust swarms jointly. Experts from Pakistan fear that going by the intensity of swarms, it may face severe food security this season in case they are not handled properly.

While India has pressed Bell Helicopters and Mi-17 helicopters to assist Locust control operations, Pakistan Air force C-130 aircraft has airlifted ‘purpose-built Piper Brave spray aircraft’ from Turkey to launch its large scale control operations.

The swarms coming from the Horn of Africa are laying eggs and breeding along Indo-Pak border area. This is for the first time in the past 30 years, the locust has laid eggs and building swarms at over 34 locations in Western and Northern Rajasthan.

In India, it is giving sleepless nights to authorities engaged in controlling and containing the ‘Locust Attack’, so as it could not spread in the neighbouring states. In the wake of the alarming the situation arising out of Locust swarms, the United Nation has organized special weekly virtual meetings on 'Desert Locust of South-West Asian countries' mainly Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan. This is for the first time that the UN FAO has stepped in to provide technical and other 'real-time' assistance to locust affected Countries and provide a broader picture of building swarms in the respective region.

Experts even fear that if all affected countries did not join hands to contain the swarms, it could lead to 'Locust plague' in some worst-affected regions. And if the worst fear turns true, some of the countries could have serious food security issues, they claim. for India, the UNFAO has warned the authorities to prevent its spread to neighbouring states mainly Punjab, Haryana, UP, and Madhya Pradesh--which plays a vital role in ensuring food security to the second largest populated country in the world, they admitted.

Desert Locust, commonly call grasshoppers, originates from the Horn of  Africa. they fly in swarms which may vary from less than one square kilometre to several hundred square kilometres. One swarm contains 4 crores to 8 crore adult locusts in one square kilometre and can fly as long as 150 kilometres a day. A Desert Locust adult can consume roughly its own weight in fresh food per day. A very small part of an average swarm (or about one tonne of locusts) can eat the same amount of food in one day as about 10 elephants or 25 camels or 2,500 people.

India’s Locust Warning Organisation (LWO-IN) in association with the state governments have so far quarantined over 4.5 lakh hectares of land in 10 states. The operation would continue for another three to four months till it managed to contain the swarms. UN has further warned that the Locust swarms are still building up in the Horn of Africa and would fly to Indo-Pak bordering districts for further breeding in the coming weeks.

Last year when Locust had attacked India through Pakistan, but it was only confined to Rajasthan and Gujarat. In the entire year, the LCO (Locust Circle Offices) contained nearly three lakh hectares. This year, the authorities have already quarantined 4.5 Lakhs hectares. Going by the present pace, LWO-IN might have to quarantine more than 10 lakh hectares of land, said a senior officer of the LWO-IN.

This gravity of the situation can be judged from the fact that the United Nations FAO has contained only 6 lakh hectares in African continent, where it actually originated. And in India, it has so far spread and controlled in over 4.5 lakh hectares. The situation in Pakistan is equally worse where some experts fear, it may face ‘drought-like situation’ due to attack of Locust Swarm.

In India, authorities have pressed, drones to locate the swarms and using sprayer mounted Indian Air Force helicopters to control the swarms. It has also purchased 60 sophisticated vehicle-mounted sprayers, and pressed fire brigade vehicles, and the existing fleet of sprayers to nip them in the bud.

Presently, 104 control teams with spray vehicles are deployed in the States of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and more than 200 Central Government personnel are engaged in locust control operations. Further, five companies with 15 drones are deployed at Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagaur and Phalodi in Rajasthan for effective control of locusts on tall trees and in inaccessible areas through spraying of pesticides. A Bell helicopter and Mi-17 helicopters of Indian Air Force have also been deployed in Rajasthan for use in Scheduled Desert Area for anti-locust operation.

In its recent warning, the United Nations FAO has told India that numerous adult groups and swarms are laying eggs over a wide area of Rajasthan between Jodhpur and Churu while hatching and band formation from earlier laying has occurred further south from Phalodi to Gujarat. While in Pakistan hopper groups and bands are present in the Nagarparkar area in Tharparkar of southeast Sindh. Adult groups are scattered throughout the Cholistan and other parts of Tharparkar that will lay eggs shortly. If strong Western winds start blowing towards India, these swarms could go as long as Bihar, Nepal, and parts of West Bengal admitted a senior officer of the LWO-India.

Locust Swarms

In ancient time Locusts swarms known to have formed plagues. In Ancient Egyptians, they carved them on their tombs. It has its mention in the ancient scriptures including Iliad, the Mahabharata, the Bible and Quran. Locust swarms sometimes spread in over a hundred kilometres have devastated crops and have been a contributory cause of famines and human migrations. However, the recent changes in agriculture practices and better surveillance of locations where swarms tend to originate led to control of these swarms. The traditional means of control are based on the use of insecticides from the ground or the air, but other methods using biological control have also proved effective.

As a result of the use of modern technologies, swarming behaviour has seen a considerable decrease in the past 100 years. Last serious impact on locust attack was in 1980ies. Last year the attack affected Pakistan and parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, but this year its presence and intensity are very large. This suggests that the potential for swarms to form is still present, and when suitable climatic conditions occur and vigilance lapses, plagues can still occur.

Eating Locust, a delicacy in many countries:

Locust is edible insects and is considered protein-rich. It is termed very tasty and considered a delicacy in many African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. Historically they have been used as food. Those who eat them claim it is as tasty as Shrimp (Jhinga fish). In fact, a few senior politicians in Pakistan had suggested that instead of using pesticides, they should be caught and use for eating purpose. Or it can also be used to replace poultry meal.

In Saudi Arabia, it is believed to be very healthy. Even some organizations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen protested over government plans to use pesticides to control them as they cannot use locust sprayed with pesticides. During pre-history, selling, cooking and eating locust was very common in Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia.

According to an estimate locust yield about five times more edible protein per unit of fodder than cattle. Since its FCR (feed conversion ratio is 1.7 kg/Kg—it is one of the best poultry feed. Serving of 100 grams of desert locust provides 11.5 grams of fat, 286 mg of cholesterol. Besides it has very useful fatty acids, and varying amounts of minerals mainly potassium, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc.

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For the 13th day in an unbroken string, India has maintained its steady trend of clocking less than 10 lakh active cases.

For the 13th day in an unbroken string, India has maintained its steady trend of clocking less than 10 lakh active cases.

Oct 4 update

The number of active cases today is 9,37,625. This is 7371 cases less than yesterday.

Despite the extended weekend, India has posted high daily testing numbers over Thurday-Friday-Saturday with 10,97,947, 11,32,675 and 11,42,131 tests respectively.

There has been an exponential rise in India’s daily testing capacities. More than 15 lakhs tests can be conducted every day.

An average of 11.5 lakh tests were done on a daily basis during the past ten days.

From merely one in Janauary 2020, India’s total tests have crossed 7.89 crore so far. There has been a commensurate dip in the Positivity Rate. With progressively falling Positivity Rate, testing has worked as a highly effective tool to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection.

Very high levels of testing lead to early identification, prompt isolation & effective treatment of COVID-19 cases. These have eventually resulted in a sustained low Fatality Rate.

 

India’s steady trend of posting high level of daily recoveries also continues with 82,260 recoveries registered in the last 24 hours in the country. In contrast, 75,829 new cases have been reported. The new recoveries have exceeded the new cases in the recent days.

India’s total recoveries have crossed 55 lakh (55,09,966) today. Higher number of single day recoveries is reflected in the continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is at present 84.13%.

75.44% of the newly recovered cases are recorded in 10 States/UTs.

Being the leading State with highest number of active cases, Maharashtra has also contributed the highest number to the newly recovered cases followed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

 

10 States/UTs account for 77.11% of the active cases in the country. As on date, the percent contribution of active cases to the positive caseload of the country has reduced to only 14.32%.

78% of the new cases are concentrated in ten States/UTs. Maharashtra contributed more than 14,000 to the new cases. Karnataka and Kerala reported 9886 and 7834 new cases, respectively.

Less than a 1000 deaths (940) have been registered in the last 24 hours.

80.53% of new reported fatalities are from 10 States and UTs. 29.57% of deaths reported yesterday are from Maharashtra with 278 deaths followed by Karnataka with 100 deaths. Maharashtra’s contribution to death toll has been on a decline.

Oct 3

The last 10 lakh recoveries added in just 12 days

In a landmark achievement, India has sustained the steady trend of active cases being lower than the 10 lakh mark for 11 days in an unbroken chain.

The number of active cases today is 9,42,217.

With a very high number of COVID patients recovering every single day, India’s steady trend of posting high level of daily recoveries also continues.78,877 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours in the country. This has resulted in continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is currently pegged at 83.70%.

India’s total recoveries are 53,52,078 today. The last 10 lakh recoveries were added in just 12 days. With this, India continues to maintain its global position of being the country with maximum number of recovered COVID patients in the world.

76.62% of the active cases are in 10 States/UTs.

As on date, the active cases contribute only 14.74% to the positive caseload of the country. Maharashtra is leading the States’ tally with more than 2.5 lakh cases. Karnataka follows with more than 1 lakh cases.

14 States & UTs in the country have less than 5,000 active cases.

 

 

A total of 81,484 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours in the country.

78.07% of the new cases are concentrated in ten States/UTs. Maharashtra contributed more than 16,000 to the new cases. Karnataka has contributed around 10,000 cases and Kerala follows with more than 8,000.

10 States/UTs account for 72% of the newly recovered cases.

Maharashtra has the highest number of newly recovered cases followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

 

 

1,095 deaths have been registered in the country in the past 24 hours.

83.37% of these are reported from 10 States and UTs.

36% of deaths reported yesterday are from Maharashtra with 394 deaths, followed by Karnataka with 130 deaths.

 

Lockdown teaches poor tribals to sell their products on Amazon, Flipkart and other e-commerce platforms

Before March, if someone said poor, uneducated, illiterate people in the remotest part of India's tribal area would sell their products online using Amazon, and Flipkart, he would have been called daydreamer.

But lockdown has taught poor tribals, which no school would ever teach them--the e-Commerce platform, or how to sell their products online instantly. Thanks to TRIFED (the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India), who took special incentive, financed the poor tribals in distress and sold their stock online.

Their first target is to clear their stock to the tune of Rs 100 crore which is lying unused through private e-commerce companies and through GeM (Government e-Marketplace). The results were 'amazing to many'. If the senior officers of the TRIFED are to be believed, e-commerce platforms are giving a good response to tribal products.

Initially, the TRIFED had given financial assistance to the tribals who were facing a tough time due to no-selling of their products during the lockdown and subsequent market slump. It also put their products on e-commerce platforms and offered a substantial discount to promote the products and clear the piled up stocks. The results were amazing for the poor tribals, who otherwise had no option to sell their product in the present scenario.

The TRIFED has further prepared a long term strategy to effectively promote tribal products online. “At a time when all aspects of life have moved online, TRIFED has embarked on an all-encompassing digitisation drive to only promote tribal commerce and also map and link its village-based tribal producers and artisans to national and international markets by setting up state of art e- platforms benchmarked to international standards,” said a senior officer of the TRIFED.

It is also in the process of digitising all the information related to the forest dwellers associated with the ‘Van Dhan Yojana’, village haats and their warehouses. This digitization effort wherein all tribal clusters are identified and mapped using GIS technology would help bring benefits to these people under the “Atmanirbhar Abhiyanclarion”.

 The recently announced  ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) has also helped the poor tribals during the lockdown. The Development of Value Chain for MFP’ Scheme has also emerged as a beacon of change and has impacted the tribal ecosystem as never before, the TRIFED said.

The new scheme was Conceptualised and implemented by TRIFED in association with State Government Agencies across 21 states of the country. It has injected more than Rs 3000 crores directly in the tribal economy since April 2020.

Meanwhile, the Centre had also increased the MSP of MFP by almost 90% and included 23 new items in the MFPs lists. The ongoing procurement of MFPs under the MSP for MFP Scheme in 16 States has hit a record-breaking high with the procurement touching Rs 1000 crores, and another Rs 2000 crores by trade over and above the MSP.

Among the States, Chhattisgarh has taken the lead by procuring 46654 Metric tonnes of Minor Forest Produces (MFP) worth a Rs 105.96 crores. Odisha and Telangana follow with a procurement of  14188 MTs of MFPs worth Rs 30.01 crores and 5323 MTs of MFPs worth Rs 2.35 crores respectively.

The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras scheme (a scheme to promote Tribal Start-ups) has also emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisan, the Ministry said.

1205 Tribal Enterprises spread across 18500 SHGs (Small Help Groups) have also been established to provide employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers. The scheme ensures that the proceeds from the sales of these value-added products go to the tribals directly. The value-added products benefit largely from the packaging and marketing that these tribal enterprises provide. Manipur and Nagaland have emerged as examples of States where these start-ups have bloomed.

 

Besides, 77 Van Dhan Kendras have been established in the State of Manipur for value addition and processing of forest produces. TRIFED is now planning the convergence of the Van Dhan Yojana with the MSP for MFP Scheme in the next phase of its activities. Together, these two initiatives offer a comprehensive development package for tribals promoting employment and incomes and entrepreneurship.

Systems and processes are being put in place across the country so that the procurement of MFPs become a round-the-year operation and double the present reach to over Rs 6000 crore and and benefit 25 lakhs tribal gatherer families, the Ministry said.

To bolster the scale-up and prepare for additional activities, the establishment of 3000 VDVKs involving 9 lakh tribal beneficiaries in the FY 2020-21 is being targeted. 44 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras that will benefit approximately 14000 tribals were launched in Mizoram on July 14, 2020, by Shri. C. Lalrinsanga, Minister of Department of Cooperation, Government of Mizoram in the presence of Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED and Shri JP Agarwal, Department of Cooperation, Government of Mizoram and other officials. Activities in these VDVKs such as training of supervisors and surveyors have also commenced at full speed in the past week.

To bring more exposure to the empanelled tribal artisans and to bring their skill sets and products to international standards, TRIFED is also collaborating with renowned designers such as Ruma Devi and Rina Dhaka to train the tribal artisans.

In her own show, The Designer and The Muse, currently airing on News X, Rina Dhaka is promoting tribal handicrafts and products through a series of interviews. The first interview with Gauhar Khan was telecast on July 17, 2020 while the second one with Pooja Batra is on air on July 24, 2020.

With the successful implementation of these initiatives and many more upcoming ones, TRIFED is working towards the complete transformation of tribal lives and livelihoods across the country through by reinvigorating the flagging economic condition of the affected artisans and gatherers.

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India to make Bulk Drug and High-end Medical Device Parks, to beat China and become self-reliant in drug and medical-equipment sector.

Domestic Pharmaceutical and medical equipment sector to get a boost? 

In a move to promote domestic production of critical API and High-end Medical devices, Modi Government on Monday announced setting up of three bulk drug and Medical Device parks and special incentives scheme to bulk drug manufacturers in the country. The total outlay of the incentives is around Rs 10,360 crores.

The idea behind the entire exercise is to make India cost-wise competitive in manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and high-end medical devices. Presently most of the API and medical devices are imported from China. This is despite the fact that India is a leading manufacturer of generic medicines in the world. In another scheme, the government has announced incentives of Rs 6940 crores to companies involved in domestic production of 53 bulk drugs. The government would give financial incentives to a maximum of 136 manufacturers selected under the scheme spread in over six years, the Ministry said. 

These schemes would make India not only self-reliant but make it capable of catering to the global demand for the selected bulk drugs and medical devices. “This is also a golden opportunity for the investors since incentivisation to industry and world-class infrastructure support would help in bringing down the cost of production significantly. These schemes along with the liberal FDI policy in these sectors and an effective corporate tax rate of about 17% would give a competitive edge to India in the selected products vis-à-vis other economies,” said Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizer D V Sadananda Gowda while announcing the incentive schemes.

He said the Union Government would give a maximum 90% grant in aid states, which would be qualified for setting up the of the Park. While 90% grant in aid would be given to North Eastern and other hilly states, 70% grant would be given to other states, the Minister with a maximum cap of Rs 1,000 crore for each Park. The states have been asked to submit its report within 60 days, centre would take a final decision in another 30 days after the reports are submitted.

In another Production linked incentive schemes for manufacturing High-end Medical devices, the government intends to boost domestic manufacturing of medical devices in four target segments by giving financial incentives on sale to a maximum number of 28 selected applicants for a period of five years. Centre would give a financial incentive of 5 % of the sales of domestically manufactured medical devices

Government has set four target segments for medical devices, mainly Cancer care and   Radiotherapy medical devices,  Radiology and Imaging medical devices (both ionizing and non-ionizing   radiation products), Nuclear Imaging devices, Anesthetics and Cardio-Respiratory medical devices including catheters of Cardio Respiratory Category and Renal Care medical devices and aII Implant devices, the Minister said.

The Minister said India is often referred to as ‘the pharmacy of the world’ and it proved itself the world when it continued to export critical life-saving medicines during ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But it is also a fact that despite these achievements, India is critically dependent on imports for basic raw materials, viz. Bulk Drugs (Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)) that are used to produce some of the essential medicines. Similarly, in the medical devices sector, our country is dependent on imports for 86% of its requirements of medical devices. 

He said the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for promoting domestic manufacturing of KSMs, DIs and APIs and medical devices would go a long way to boost domestic manufacturing of 53 bulk drugs, on which India is critically dependent on imports. 

The list of 41 products contained in the scheme guidelines will enable domestic production of 53 bulk drugs. Financial incentives will be given to a maximum of 136 manufacturers selected under the scheme as a fixed percentage of their domestic sales of these 41 products manufactured locally with the required level of domestic value addition. 

The incentives would be subject to annual ceilings communicated in the approval letter. The incentives would be given for a period of 6 years. In the case of fermentation-based products, the rate of incentive is 20% for the first four years, 15% for the fifth year and 5% for the sixth year.

In the case of chemically synthesised products, the rate of incentive is 10% for all six years. The selected manufacturers shall have to complete committed investment above a threshold investment mandated for each product and achieve a prescribed minimum installed capacity before they are eligible to receive incentives. Threshold investment is Rs 400 crore for four fermentation-based products and Rs 50 crore for ten fermentation-based products. Similarly, threshold investment is Rs 50 crore for four chemically synthesised products, and Rs 20 crore for 23 chemically synthesised products. Minimum installed capacity to be achieved for each of the 41 products is prescribed in the guidelines. The incentives for fermentation-based products would be available from FY 2023-24 i.e. after a two year gestation period during which the selected applicant has to complete the committed investment and install the committed capacity. 

For chemically synthesised products the incentives would be available from FY 2022-23 i.e. after a gestation period of one year during which the selected applicant has to make the committed investment and install the committed capacity. Any company, partnership firm, proprietorship firm or an LLP registered in India and possessing a minimum net worth (including group companies) of 30% of the proposed investment is eligible to apply for incentives under the scheme. An applicant can apply for any number of products. 

The applicants will be selected on the basis of transparent composite evaluation criteria which include the annual production capacity committed by the applicant and the sale price of the product quoted by the applicant. Applicants quoting low sale price and higher production capacity will get higher marks in the evaluation.

The guidelines are available on the website of the Department of Pharmaceuticals. The salient features of the four schemes are:

The scheme is open for applications for a period of120 days from the date of issuance of guidelines and the approval will be given to the selected applicants within 90 days from the closure of the application window. Applications will be received only through an online portal. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 6,940 crore.

Scheme for promotion of Bulk Drug Parks: The scheme envisages the creation of 3 bulk drug parks in the country. The grant-in-aid will be 90% of the project cost in case of North-East and hilly States and 70% in the case of other States. Maximum grant-in-aid for one bulk drug park is limited to Rs.1000 crore. 

States will be selected through a challenging method. The States interested in setting up the parks will have to ensure assured 24*7 supply of electricity and water to the bulk drug units located in the park and offer competitive land lease rates to bulk drug units in the park. The location of the proposed park from environmental angle and logistics angle would be taken into account while selecting the States. 

The ease of doing business ranking of the state, incentive policies of the State applicable to the bulk drug industry, availability of technical manpower in the state, availability of pharmaceutical/chemical clusters in the state will also be factored in while selecting the States. The interested States will be scored and ranked on evaluation criteria, given in the guidelines, which captures the above parameters. The States getting top 3 ranks will be selected. The States have to submit their proposal within 60 days of the date of issuance of the guidelines. Selection will be done and in-principle approval will be given to three selected States within 30 days of the last date of submission of proposals.

 Thereafter, the 3 selected States will have to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) within 180 days of the in-principle approval based on which final approval will be given. The grant-in-aid will be released in four instalments. First three instalments will be 30% each and the last will be 10% of the grant-in-aid. The selected States will have to complete the parkas per the approved DPR within two years of the date of release of the first instalment of grant-in-aid. It is envisaged to have a single-window system in these parks for all regulatory approvals under one roof. The creation of a centre of excellence is also envisaged to enable an ecosystem for Research and Development. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 3,000 crore.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for promoting domestic manufacturing of Medical Devices: The scheme intends to boost domestic manufacturing of medical devices in four target segments by giving financial incentives on sales to a maximum number of 28 selected applicants for a period of 5 years. A financial incentive will be given at a rate of 5% of the sales of domestically manufactured medical devices. The incentives would be subject to annual ceilings communicated in the approval letter the incentives would be available from FY 2021-22. Four target segments are:-

Cancer care / Radiotherapy medical devices

Radiology & Imaging medical devices (both ionizing & non-ionizing   radiation products) and Nuclear Imaging devices

Anaesthetics & Cardio-Respiratory medical devices including catheters of Cardio-Respiratory Category & Renal Care medical devices

AII Implants including implantable electronic devices

Any company registered in India and possessing a minimum net worth ( including group companies) of Rs.18 crore (30% of threshold investment of the first year) is eligible to apply for incentives under the scheme. The applicant can apply for multiple products within one target segment as well as multiple target segments. The selected applicants shall have to complete a threshold investment prescribed for each year and achieve a minimum prescribed sale for that year for them to be eligible to receive incentives. The application window is 120 days from the date of issuance of guidelines and the approval thereafter to the selected applicants will be accorded within 60 days from the date of closure of the application window. The applications will be received only through an online portal. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs.3,420 crore.

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