The details of funds allocated for the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) during the financial years 2014-2023 including BE, RE and Actual Spending are as below:
(Rs. in crore)
Year
Budget Estimates (BE)
Revised Estimates (RE)
Actual Expenditure
2014-15
6144.39
4884.00
4840.03
2015-16
6320.00
5586.00
5572.90
2016-17
6620.00
6238.00
5995.21
2017-18
6800.00
6992.00
6989.92
2018-19
7800.00
7952.73
7943.59
2019-20
8078.76
7846.17
7844.98
2020-21
8362.58
7762.38
7685.52
2021-22
8513.62
8513.62
8439.94
2022-23
8513.62
8658.89
8578.17
2023-24
9504.00
9876.60
9804.39
There has been a progressive increase in the budget outlay in successive years. However, there was a minor reduction in RE during 2019-20 & 2020-21 due to pandemic COVID-19.
During the past decade, the Department has strived to deliver through optimum utilization of available resources and making maximum use of the marginal increase through prioritization of research activities. It has been able to meet the challenges towards carrying out its Research & Development and operational activities in the area of Agriculture and allied sectors and achieving its desired outcome by realigning its processes.
Further, DARE being a scientific department works in collaboration with the mainline ministries viz Agriculture, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Science & Technology etc. on number of research projects as Research Partner to achieve its desired goals and outcome in a collaborative manner.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Bhagirath Choudhary in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Raksha Mantri invites investors to go long on investment in India; Assures them of stable policy environment in India Consensus at all levels of Government on leading role of the private sector: Shri Rajnath Singh at Global Investors’ Meet in Bengaluru
Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 5:55PM by PIB Delhi
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has asked global investors to go long in their Indian investment plans. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Global Investors’ Meet organised by the Government of Karnataka in Bengaluru today, Raksha Mantri said that investors will benefit from India’s formidable strengths like political stability, huge marketing potential it offers and an ecosystem based on rule of law, free from uncertainty and disorder. He noted that India’s immense investment potential has witnessed sustained success, lasting impact and enduring growth.
Shri Rajnath Singh stressed that India’s constitutional values are deeply rooted in its rich history of acceptance of different ideas and are illustrated in the close coordination between Union and state governments. He said the Government has actively worked to address the challenges, including red tapism, that investors previously faced. He added that the cumbersome process of obtaining multiple clearances has been replaced by a single-window system, ensuring a faster and hassle-free experience by the investors.
Assuring of a strong market demand for the investors to tap into India’s potential, Raksha Mantri said India is already one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. He emphasised that several recent economic decisions are expected to further strengthen the demand environment. He added that, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Government has introduced a massive income tax cut, in this year’s budget announcement. This significant tax relief will substantially increase the disposable income of the public, leading to stronger business growth for the investor firms, he mentioned.
Shri Rajnath Singh recalled his interaction with entrepreneurs who expressed concern that they might invest in a promising sector today, only to face unexpected policy changes later, which could disrupt their plans and profits. Assuaging such doubts, he said that across all levels of governance in India there is a broad consensus that sustainable economic development must be driven by a market-led economy, with a leading role of the private sector. He further elaborated that this shared commitment provides a stable and predictable policy environment, ensuring that businesses can invest, with confidence of policy continuity. “Today, investors do not face red tapism in India. Instead, we roll out the red carpet for them. This kind of cross-political party consensus on promoting investment plays a crucial role in reducing uncertainty for our investors,” he added.
Calling for investment in Karnataka, Raksha Mantri asserted that in the era of Cooperative Federalism, central and state governments are working closely together to shape the country’s economy. Citing Bengaluru as a pioneering hub for various industries like IT and software, he said that the city is now a rising centre for Artificial Intelligence (AI) too. Asserting that this is the moment and the perfect time to invest in India, Raksha Mantri noted the unprecedented opportunities before investors.
Shri Rajnath Singh lauded the contributions of the investors who have been instrumental in shaping the nation’s economic progress. He added that a lot more needs to be done, towards the national objective of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047, and expressed confidence that, together, the goal will be achieved.
Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri Siddaramaiah, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri DK Shivakumar, Ministers of the state government and industry representatives were also present at the event.
Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) accords priority for gender empowerment through its policies and programmes. The Gender Programme is integrated within Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana -National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) interventions. DAY-NRLM recognizes addressing gender inequality as a pre-requisite to social and economic empowerment. The Programme builds capacity of State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) to integrate Gender in its operations and create an architecture of support at the community level for women’s collectives to identify and take action on gender discriminatory practices. Series of training and perspective-building inputs are made available on these platforms and are provided to Social Action Committees (SAC) under Village organization (VO), and cluster level federation (CLF) by the trained pool of Gender Cadres. These bodies primarily function on the premise of uplifting women’s condition and position in society by identifying, acknowledging, and addressing issues of discrimination. The program also conducts several large-scale advocacy outreach through the National Gender Campaign (Nayi Chetna). DAY NRLM is empowering women SHGs to access credit from Banks from Banks. Credit accessed by women Self Help Groups during the last five years is as under:
2019-20 Rs. 70,977 crores
2020-21 Rs. 84,717 crores
2021-22 Rs. 1,20,477 crores
2022-23 Rs. 1,57,370 crores
2023-24 Rs. 2,07,820 crores
Further, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, being implemented by MoRD requires that priority shall be given to women in such a way that at least one-third of the beneficiaries shall be women who have registered and requested for work. Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a gender-neutral scheme that promotes participation of women by providing wage parity with men, provision of separate schedule of rates of wages for women, facilities for crèche, work-side sheds for children and child care services. In convergence with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), women mates have also been introduced, which again facilitates the participation of women. The rate of participation of women (percentage of women person-days out of a total in percentage) under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS from 2019-20 to 2023-24 is given below: –
Financial Year
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
Women participation rate (%)
54.78
53.19
54.82
57.47
58.9
(As per NREGASoft)
MoRD is implementing a women-specific Scheme i.e. Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). The central pension under the IGNWPS is Rs. 300/- per month per beneficiary. State Governments have been advised to contribute at least an equal amount from their resources. The applicant must be a widow in the age group of 40-79 years. The applicant should belong to a Below Poverty Line (BPL) household according to the criteria prescribed by the Central Government. On reaching the age of 80 years, the beneficiaries get enhanced assistance of Rs.500/- per month. At present widow beneficiaries are getting pension between Rs. 300/- to Rs. 2800/- depending on the State pension amount which varies from State to State. At present, the ceiling under the scheme for all States and UTs is pegged at 67.36 lakh.
MoRD is also implementing two welfare programmes in skill development for rural poor youth under NRLM as follows: –
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) which is a placement-linked skill development program for rural poor youth in the age group of 15-35 years. It empowers the rural poor youth with employable skills and facilitates their participation in regular labour markets, thus providing them with jobs having regular monthly wages at or above the minimum wages. Under DDU-GKY, coverage of 33% of women is mandatory. The details of the total candidates and women candidates trained and placed for the last 5 years under DDU-GKY is provided below:
FY
Total
Women
Trained
Placed
Trained
Placed
2019-20
247177
150214
126691
66440
2020-21
38289
49563
19685
22640
2021-22
97006
45612
58443
26040
2022-23
231491
158078
133519
92065
2023-24
199524
157456
122250
94684
2024-25 till
Dec., 24
69086
53810
43228
33646
Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) scheme is applicable to all the categories including women. Any unemployed youth in the age group of 18-45 years, irrespective of Caste, Creed, Religion, Gender and Economic Status, having aptitude to take up self-employment or wage employment and having some basic knowledge in the related field can undergo training under RSETI. The details of the total candidates and women candidates trained and settled for the last 5 years under RSETIs is provided below:
FY
Total
Women
Trained
Settled
Trained
Settled
2019-20
384025
281645
274135
202010
2020-21
255141
185234
206794
138538
2021-22
314114
256429
257107
212400
2022-23
409802
325880
331898
272977
2023-24
451419
350272
360318
290392
2024-25 (till 31-12-2024)
471968
299356
382796
249717
The other schemes of MoRD accord priority to genders in general. The guidelines under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin provides that allotment of house shall be made jointly in the name of husband and wife, except in the case of widow/unmarried/separated person. The State may also choose to allot the house solely in the name of woman. Under Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY), the scheme guidelines have enough provisions for giving representation to women during planning and implementation. four members watershed development team (WDT) set up by the project implementation agency for planning and implementation of the watershed projects should have at least 1 women member. Similarly, the 11 members Watershed Committee constituted by the Gram Sabha for executing project development activities at village level should have at least two women representatives. Further the self-help groups constituted under WDC-PMKSY have maximum women members.
So far as land ownership is concerned, SVAMITVA Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which significantly contributes to the economic empowerment of rural women. By providing legally recognized property ownership in village Abadi areas, the scheme ensures that women, including those from marginalized communities, have secured land tenure. Further, as informed by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Article 243D of the Constitution of India provides for not less than one-third reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), out of total number of seats to be filled by direct election and out of total number of offices of chairpersons of Panchayats. However, 21 States and 2 UTs, have gone even further and have made provisions of 50% reservation for women in PRIs in their respective Panchayati Raj Acts. As per the information available with the Ministry, 21 States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and 2 Union Territories namely “Lakshadweep” and “Dadra & Nagar haveli and Daman & Diu”, have made provision for 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. In respect of remaining States and Union Territories, Constitutional provision as prescribed in Article 243D (i.e. not less than one-third reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions) applies.
Government has been encouraging increased involvement of women in the functioning of Panchayats through active participation in the Gram Sabha meetings for preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans and various schemes being implemented by the Panchayats. This Ministry has also issued advisories to the States to facilitate holding of separate Ward Sabha and Mahila Sabha meetings prior to Gram Sabha meetings, enhancing the presence and participation of women in Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings, allocation of Panchayat funds for women centric activities, combating the evil of women trafficking, female foeticide, child marriage etc.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Kamlesh Paswan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Photo & Video Chronology — February 11, 2025 — Episode 9 of Kīlauea summit eruption begins
Episode 9 of the Halema’uma’u eruption at the summit of Kīlauea began at 10:16 am HST today, February 11. Lava is fountaining within north vent, feeding lava flows onto the crater floor within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Each fountaining episode of this eruption has lasted from a few hours to over a week.
Each fountaining episode of this eruption has lasted from a few hours to over a week. Current hazards include volcanic gas emissions and windblown volcanic glass (Pele’s Hair) that may impact Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities.
Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched in April 2022 to construct or rejuvenate 75 Amrit Sarovars (ponds) in each district, totaling 50,000 across the country. This initiative has made significant progress in addressing the critical issue of water scarcity. As on January 2025, over 68,000 Sarovars have been completed, enhancing surface and groundwater availability across various regions. These Sarovars have not only addressed immediate water needs but also established sustainable water sources, symbolizing Government’s commitment to long-term environmental sustainability and community well-being.
Phase II of Mission Amrit Sarovar is envisaged to continue with a renewed focus on ensuring water availability, with community participation (Jan Bhagidaari) at its core, and aims to strengthen climate resilience, foster ecological balance, and deliver lasting benefits for future generations.
Mission Amrit Sarovar works are being taken up by the States and Districts with convergence from various ongoing schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS), 15th Finance Commission Grants, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichayi Yojna sub-schemes such as the Watershed Development Component, Har Khetko Pani, besides States’ own schemes. Public contributions like crowdfunding and Corporate Social Responsibility are also allowed for the work.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Kamlesh Paswan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
BBEME Course Description: An interactive learning series designed to highlight critical interactions and various engagements across all GSFC locations, Facilities, and Institutes that lead to mission success. Themes include: strategic goals, current developments, mission success critical topics Instructional Strategy: •Facilitated panel discussions •Leadership engagements •One-on-one interactions •Facilitated case studies BBEME Workshops have been previously offered at GISS, Katherine Johnson IV&V, and Goddard’s Earth Science Division. The workshop targets groups of around 30 participants for a 1-2 day session. If your group is interested in hosting a workshop, contact alysha.bayens@nasa.gov
The Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) aims at providing pucca houses for all persons having kutcha houses up to 2 rooms or less and whose names are included in properly verified Permanent Waiting List (PWL) & Awaas+ list. The beneficiaries have been identified based on the housing deprivation parameters and exclusion criteria prescribed under Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC)- 2011. On application of exclusion criteria, a priority list called the Permanent Wait List (PWL) is prepared for the States/UTs. The PWL is further subjected to verification by Gram Sabhas and completion of an Appellate Process thereafter. This process of exclusion is also applied to beneficiaries registered by the States/UTs in Awaas+.
The Union Cabinet has approved the implementation of the scheme for 5 more years during FY 2024-25 to 2028-29 to provide assistance for the construction of 2 crore additional rural houses. Approval has also been provided for updating the Awaas+ List for identifying eligible rural households using modified exclusion criteria under the scheme. In line with the approval of the Union Cabinet, a survey is being conducted for the identification of additional eligible rural households under the scheme. The survey is being conducted through Awaas+ 2024 Mobile App which has already been launched on 17.09.2024 with modified exclusion criteria.
(b) & (c): Under PMAY-G, the unit assistance of Rs. 1.20 lakh in plain areas and Rs. 1.30 lakh in North Eastern States, Hilly States (including UTs of J&K and Ladakh) is provided. In addition to the unit assistance, the beneficiaries are facilitated with 90/95-man days of unskilled labour wages through mandatory convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Support of Rs. 12,000 for construction of toilet is also provided through Swacch Bharat Mission – Gramin (SBM-G), MGNREGS or any other dedicated source of funding.
The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of PMAY-G till March, 2029 as per the existing unit assistance for construction of 2 crore more houses.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
While the Martian clouds may look like the kind seen in Earth’s skies, they include frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice. Red-and-green-tinted clouds drift through the Martian sky in a new set of images captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover using its Mastcam — its main set of “eyes.” Taken over 16 minutes on Jan. 17 (the 4,426th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s mission), the images show the latest observations of what are called noctilucent (Latin for “night shining”), or twilight clouds, tinged with color by scattering light from the setting Sun. Sometimes these clouds even create a rainbow of colors, producing iridescent, or “mother-of-pearl” clouds. Too faint to be seen in daylight, they’re only visible when the clouds are especially high and evening has fallen. Martian clouds are made of either water ice or, at higher altitudes and lower temperatures, carbon dioxide ice. (Mars’ atmosphere is more than 95% carbon dioxide.) The latter are the only kind of clouds observed at Mars producing iridescence, and they can be seen near the top of the new images at an altitude of around 37 to 50 miles (60 to 80 kilometers). They’re also visible as white plumes falling through the atmosphere, traveling as low as 31 miles (50 kilometers) above the surface before evaporating because of rising temperatures. Appearing briefly at the bottom of the images are water-ice clouds traveling in the opposite direction roughly 31 miles (50 kilometers) above the rover. Dawn of Twilight Clouds Twilight clouds were first seen on Mars by NASA’s Pathfinder mission in 1997; Curiosity didn’t spot them until 2019, when it acquired its first-ever images of iridescence in the clouds. This is the fourth Mars year the rover has observed the phenomenon, which occurs during early fall in the southern hemisphere. Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, led a paper summarizing Curiosity’s first two seasons of twilight cloud observations, which published late last year in Geophysical Research Letters. “I’ll always remember the first time I saw those iridescent clouds and was sure at first it was some color artifact,” he said. “Now it’s become so predictable that we can plan our shots in advance; the clouds show up at exactly the same time of year.” Each sighting is an opportunity to learn more about the particle size and growth rate in Martian clouds. That, in turn, provides more information about the planet’s atmosphere. Cloud Mystery One big mystery is why twilight clouds made of carbon dioxide ice haven’t been spotted in other locations on Mars. Curiosity, which landed in 2012, is on Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, just south of the Martian equator. Pathfinder landed in Ares Vallis, north of the equator. NASA’s Perseverance rover, located in the northern hemisphere’s Jezero Crater, hasn’t seen any carbon dioxide ice twilight clouds since its 2021 landing. Lemmon and others suspect that certain regions of Mars may be predisposed to forming them. A possible source of the clouds could be gravity waves, he said, which can cool the atmosphere: “Carbon dioxide was not expected to be condensing into ice here, so something is cooling it to the point that it could happen. But Martian gravity waves are not fully understood and we’re not entirely sure what is causing twilight clouds to form in one place but not another.” Mastcam’s Partial View The new twilight clouds appear framed in a partially open circle. That’s because they were taken using one of Mastcam’s two color cameras: the left 34 mm focal length Mastcam, which has a filter wheel that is stuck between positions. Curiosity’s team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California remains able to use both this camera and the higher-resolution right 100 mm focal length camera for color imaging. The rover recently wrapped an investigation of a place called Gediz Vallis channel and is on its way to a new location that includes boxwork — fractures formed by groundwater that look like giant spiderwebs when viewed from space. More recently, Curiosity visited an impact crater nicknamed “Rustic Canyon,” capturing it in images and studying the composition of rocks around it. The crater, 67 feet (20 meters) in diameter, is shallow and has lost much of its rim to erosion, indicating that it likely formed many millions of years ago. One reason Curiosity’s science team studies craters is because the cratering process can unearth long-buried materials that may have better preserved organic molecules than rocks exposed to radiation at the surface. These molecules provide a window into the ancient Martian environment and how it could have supported microbial life billions of years ago, if any ever formed on the Red Planet. More About Curiosity Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam. For more about Curiosity, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity News Media Contacts Andrew GoodJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-393-2433andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Molly WasserNASA Headquarters, Washington202-358-1600karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov 2025-017
In order to achieve the target of “Housing for All” in rural areas, the Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) with effect from 1st April, 2016 to construct 2.95 crore houses by providing assistance to eligible rural households with basic amenities. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for “Implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) during FY 2024-25 to 2028-29” for construction of additional 2 crore rural houses.
The identification of beneficiaries under PMAY-G is based on the housing deprivation parameters and exclusion criteria prescribed under Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC)-2011 and due verification by the respective Gram Sabhas and completion of an Appellate Process. These parameters/criteria was applied on SECC 2011 database to identify eligibility of beneficiaries under PMAY-G.
There was a need to meet the new demand that arose during the intervening period and to meet gaps due to reduction in number of eligible beneficiary in SECC 2011 based Permanent Wait List (PWL). The Government conducted Awaas+ 2018 survey during January 2018 to March 2019 to identify those beneficiaries which claimed to have been left out under the SECC 2011 survey and thus prepared an additional list of potentially eligible beneficiaries. During Awaas+ survey, a total of 3.90 crore potentially eligible households were registered by the States/UTs and after remanding/verification by Gram Sabhas, a total of 2.79 crore were found potentially eligible by the States/UTs.
Of the overall mandate of 4.95 crore households, 2.105 crore beneficiary households have been allocated from SECC 2011 survey database and 1.688 crore households have been allocated from Awaas+ survey database after following due verification process by Gram Sabhas and Appellate Process thereafter.
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for implementation of the scheme for 5 more years during FY 2024-25 to 2028-29 to provide assistance for the construction of 2 crore additional rural houses. Approval has also been provided for updating the Awaas+ List for identifying eligible rural households using modified exclusion criteria under the scheme. In line with the approval of the Union Cabinet, a survey is being conducted for the identification of additional eligible rural households under the scheme. The survey is being conducted as per the modified exclusion criteria through Awaas+ 2024 Mobile App, which has already been launched on 17.09.2024.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
You would not expect to see NASA at a car show—but that’s exactly where Johnson Space Center employees were from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, 2025, driving the future of space exploration forward. At the Houston AutoBoative Show, a fusion of the auto and boat show, NASA rolled out its Artemis exhibit at NRG Center for the first time, introducing motor enthusiasts to the technologies NASA and commercial partners will use to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
The Artemis exhibit stood alongside some of the world’s most advanced cars and boats, offering visitors an up-close look at lunar terrain vehicle mockups from Astrolab, Intuitive Machines, and Lunar Outpost. Later this year, NASA will select the rover that will fly to the Moon as humanity prepares for the next giant leap. In addition to the rovers, the exhibit featured a mockup of JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pressurized rover, designed as a mobile habitat for astronauts, and Axiom Space’s lunar spacesuit, developed for Artemis III astronauts. These capabilities will allow astronauts to explore, conduct science research, and live and work on the lunar surface.
Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche visited the Artemis exhibit to highlight the importance of these technologies in advancing lunar exploration. Every lesson learned on the Moon will help scientists and engineers develop the strategies, technologies, and experience needed to send astronauts to Mars. “By bringing the excitement of lunar exploration to the AutoBoative Show, NASA aims to inspire the next generation of explorers to dream bigger, push farther, and help shape humanity’s future in space,” Wyche said. NASA’s Artemis campaign is setting the stage for long-term human exploration, working with commercial and international partners to establish a sustained presence on the Moon before progressing to Mars. To make this vision a reality, NASA is developing rockets, spacecraft, landing systems, spacesuits, rovers, habitats, and more.
Some of the key elements on display at the show included:
The Orion spacecraft – Designed to take astronauts farther into deep space. Orion will launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the crew to the Moon on Artemis missions and safely returning them to Earth.
Lunar terrain vehicles – Developed to transport astronauts across the rugged lunar surface or be remotely operated. NASA recently put these rover mockups to the test at Johnson, where astronauts and engineers, wearing spacesuits, ran through critical maneuvers, tasks, and emergency drills—including a simulated crew rescue.
Next-gen spacesuits and tools – Through Johnson’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program, astronauts’ gear and equipment are designed to ensure safety and efficiency while working on the Moon’s surface.
Guests had the chance to step into the role of an astronaut with interactive experiences like:
Driving a lunar rover simulator – Testing their skills at the wheel of a virtual Moon rover.
Practicing a simulated Orion docking – Experiencing the precision needed to connect to Gateway in lunar orbit.
Exploring Artemis II and III mission roadmaps – Learning about NASA’s upcoming missions and goals.
Attendees also discovered how American companies are delivering science and technology to the Moon through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
“Everyone can relate to exploration, so it was great to teach people the importance lunar rovers will have on astronauts’ abilities to explore more of the lunar surface while conducting science,” said Victoria Ugalde, communications strategist for the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program, who coordinated the lunar rovers’ appearance at the show. Check out the rovers contracted to develop lunar terrain vehicle capabilities below.
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), inter-alia, is implementing Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in which Self Help Groups (SHGs) are involved. These Schemes are implemented through State Governments/UT Administrations. In addition, SHGs are being involved by other Departments/Ministries and State Government Departments dealing with rural development from time to time.
DAY-NRLM is being implemented across the country in a mission mode since 2011 with the aim to bring at least one-woman member from each rural poor household, as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data and process of Participatory Identification of Poor (PIP), into the fold of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and to support them to take up economic activities. As on 31st January, 2025 about 10.05 crore Women households have been mobilized into 90.90 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs). The State/UT wise details of the number of households mobilized into SHGs since 2011 under the Mission is attached at Annexure.
Under MGNREGA, SHG members are involved in the planning of works through participation in Gram Sabha projects, play the role of Social Auditors and are also engaged as worksite supervisors (mates). In addition, the Programme progressively engages Federations of Women Self-help Groups as Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) at the Gram Panchayat / Block / District level.
(b): Under DAY-NRLM, various sub-schemes like Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP), Deendayal Upadhyay Gramin Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) are being implemented for enhancing the income on sustainable basis of the rural poor. The mission seeks to achieve its objective through investing in four core components viz., (i) social mobilization and promotion of sustainable community institutions of the rural poor (Self Help Groups-SHGs, Village Organisations-VOs, Cluster Level Federations-CLFs); (ii) financial inclusion, (iii) sustainable livelihoods; and (iv) convergence and entitlements. Accordingly, within the ambit of the mission and with the converging schemes of the other Ministries, SHG members are being facilitated for promotion of sustainable livelihoods, so that they may reach an aspirational goal of having minimum of one lakh rupee as annual income. For facilitating this initiative, a mobile application has been rolled out for surveying the income and activities of the SHG households.
The Ministry in collaboration with Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has created “SARAS Collection” as a Store Front in GeM for marketing of SHG products. Also, Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been entered on 2nd November, 2021 and 12th May, 2022 between Ministry and Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. and Amazon respectively to allow the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) producers including the artisans, weavers and craftsmen to access national markets through the Flipkart Samarth programme and Amazon Saheli initiative. An MoU has also been signed by the Ministry with Patanjali on 2nd November, 2022 for collaboration in various fields including online marketing of SHGs products.
An e-Commerce platform (www.esaras.in) has also been launched by the Ministry for online marketing of SHG products. An MoU has been signed between MoRD and Fashnear Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Meesho) on February 16, 2023 and Jio Mart (Reliance Retail Ltd) on 8th Dec,2023 for onboarding and marketing of SHGs products.
Further, some States have also developed their own e-Commerce platform to support marketing of products of SHGs.
State/UT wise details of the number of households mobilized & SHGs Formed as on 31st January, 2025
Sl No
State
SHGs formed
Households Mobilized
1
Andhra Pradesh
855600
9075289
2
Assam
361516
4111020
3
Bihar
1097100
12713428
4
Chhattisgarh
276375
3068427
5
Gujarat
279758
2783006
6
Jharkhand
291601
3589607
7
Karnataka
360684
4207374
8
Kerala
271209
4002478
9
Madhya Pradesh
487291
5829972
10
Maharashtra
640719
6525549
11
Odisha
551141
5775035
12
Rajasthan
321875
3804161
13
Tamil Nadu
336764
4023939
14
Telangana
442979
4820573
15
Uttar Pradesh
842101
9509884
16
West Bengal
1192980
12251533
17
Haryana
60301
629094
18
Himachal Pradesh
45295
378542
19
Jammu & Kashmir
91445
797805
20
Punjab
52118
543246
21
Uttarakhand
65840
497777
22
Arunachal Pradesh
11730
91964
23
Manipur
11538
117457
24
Meghalaya
45312
444264
25
Mizoram
10291
85934
26
Nagaland
15419
135261
27
Sikkim
5915
56675
28
Tripura
51841
494675
29
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
1294
13194
30
Goa
3891
50735
31
Ladakh
1745
12230
32
Lakshadweep
348
4363
33
Puducherry
4744
59714
34
Daman DIU and NH
1645
16674
Total
9090405
100520879
This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Students from Rocky Hill, Connecticut, will have the chance to connect with NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Don Pettit as they answer prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related questions from aboard the International Space Station. Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 11:40 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 18, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media. The event for kindergarten through 12th grade students will be hosted at Rocky Hill Library in Rocky Hill, near Hartford, Connecticut. The goal is to engage area students by introducing them to the wide variety of STEM career opportunities available in space exploration and related fields. Media interested in covering the event must contact by 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 14, to Gina Marie Davies at: gdavies@rockyhillct.gov or 860-258-2530. For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network. Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery. See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation -end- Abbey DonaldsonHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston281-483-5111sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
It is agreed to the view that biological substitutes for chemical fertilizers and pesticides can improve health of soil, human and planet, besides benefiting farmers.
In order to promote use of bio-fertilizers, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has developed improved and efficient strains of bio-fertilizers specific to different crops and soil types under the Network project on ‘Soil Biodiversity-Bio-fertilizers’. Under this project ICAR has developed improved and efficient strains of bio-fertilizer specific to different crops and soil types, Liquid Bio-fertilizer technology with higher shelf life, bio-fertilizer consortia formulation with two or more bio-fertilizer strains, microbial enriched bio-compost and Zinc & Potassium Solubilizing Bio-fertilizers. The ICAR also imparts training to educate farmers on use of bio-fertilizers.
To promote use of organic fertilizers in the country, Government is promoting organic farming through the schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) in all the States/UTs (except North Eastern States). For North Eastern States, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) scheme is being implemented. Both the schemes stress on end-to-end support to farmers engaged in organic farming i.e. from production to processing, certification & marketing and post-harvest management training and capacity building. Under PKVY, assistance of Rs. 31,500 per ha for a period of three years is provided for promotion of organic farming. Out of this, assistance of Rs. 15,000 per ha for a period of three years is provided to farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer for on- farm /off –farm organic inputs. Under MOVCDNER, assistance of Rs. 46,500/ha for 3 years is provided for creation of Farmers Producer Organization, support to farmers for organic inputs etc. Out of this, assistance @ Rs. 32500/ ha for 3 years is provided to farmers for off -farm /on –farm organic inputs under the scheme including Rs. 15,000 as Direct Benefit Transfer to the farmers. The year-wise fund released including assistance for procurement of off-farm and on-farm organic inputs during the period of last three years is as under:
Rs. in Crore.
Year
PKVY
MOVCDNER
2021-22
88.58
133.29
2022-23
188.78
144.42
2023-24
206.39
230.67
In order to ensure the avaibility of good quality of bio-fertilizers, organic fertilizers and Bio- stimulants, the Government of India regulates its quality under the Fertilizer Control Order (1985).
Government is implementing Market Development Assistance (MDA) @ Rs. 1500/Metric Tonne to promote organic fertilizers, viz., Fermented Organic Manure/ Liquid Fermented Organic Manure/Phosphate Rich Organic Manure produced at plants under Galvanizing Organic Bio Agro Resources Dhan (GOBARdhan) scheme of Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
To incentivize the farmers to reduce the overall consumption of fertilizers for improving soil health and fertility and sustainable productivity, “PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth (PM-PRANAM)” incentivizes States and Union Territories to promote alternative fertilizers and balanced use of chemical fertilizers. Under this programme, 50% of subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that reduces chemical fertilizers.
National Center of Organic and Natural Farming (NCONF) and its Regional Center of Organic and Natural Farming (RCONF) located at Ghaziabad, Nagpur, Bangalore, Imphal and Bhubaneswar organise various trainings and online awareness campaign on organic and natural farming. ICAR also imparts trainings, front-line demonstrations, awareness programs etc. to educate farmers on organic farming, through network of Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
The portfolio of current NESC technical activities reaches across mission directorates and programs encompassing design, test, and flight phases.
ISS PrK Independent Assessment The NESC is assessing the ongoing leak in the ISS Russian segment, PrK, the segment’s remaining life, and how to manage the risk of potential failure.
Orion Crew Module Heatshield Avcoat Char Investigation The NESC provided thermal experts to the Artemis I Char Loss Team investigation of heatshield performance on the Artemis I return. The NESC is working with the team to ensure the observed material loss is understood so that decisions may be made regarding use for upcoming Artemis missions.
CFT Flight Anomaly Support NESC discipline experts provided real-time support to CCP to aid in determining the CFT flight anomaly causes and risks associated with a crewed return. The NESC performed propulsion system testing for predicted mission profiles at WSTF.
Total Ionizing Dose Tolerance of Power Electronics on Europa Clipper The NESC provided power electronics and avionics expertise to JPL’s Europa Clipper tiger team to help evaluate the radiation tolerance of key spacecraft electronics, assisting in a risk-based launch decision.
Psyche Cold-Gas Thruster Technical Advisory Team Support In support of a successful launch, NESC augmented the Psyche team’s investigation into increased understanding of the spacecraft’s cold-gas thrusters and aided the project’s risk-informed decisions regarding mitigations and readiness for launch.
X-59 Fuel Tank Assessment The NESC is assisting in the evaluation of risks associated with the installation and operation of strain gages in the fuel storage system on X-59 hardware. The work includes analysis, modeling, and the development of mitigation strategies.
In order to enhance the income of farmers, it is not only essential to enhance production and productivity of farm produce but also minimize the post-harvest losses and ensure better realization of prices for farmers through creation of modern post-harvest management infrastructure. With an objective to address the existing gaps in post-harvest management infrastructure in the country, the flagship scheme of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) was launched in 2020-21 to strengthen the infrastructure in the country through creation of farm gate storage and logistics infrastructure to enable farmers to store and preserve their farm produce properly and sell them in the market at better price with reduced post-harvest losses and lesser number of intermediaries. Improved post-harvest management infrastructure like warehouses, Cold stores, sorting and grading units, ripening chambers etc will allow farmers to sell directly to a larger base of consumers and hence, increase value realization for the farmers. This will improve the overall income of farmers. Further, AIF scheme aims to benefit all stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem by contributing in the holistic development of the agriculture sector. Under AIF, provision for Rs. 1 Lakh crore loan has been made through lending institutions with a interest rate cap of 9% on loans. The scheme is operational from 2020-21 to 2032-33.
All loans under this financing facility have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a loan limit of ₹2 crores. This interest subvention is available for a maximum period of 7 years. In case of loans beyond ₹2 crores, interest subvention is limited up to ₹2 crores. Credit guarantee coverage is also available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to ₹2 crores. The fee for this coverage is borne by the Government.
Budgetary support is being provided for interest subvention and credit guarantee fee as also administrative cost of PMU. This will be amount to Rs. 10,636 crores over a period of 10 years. The detailed break up is as below.
SL NO.
Name of Component
Allotted Fund Amount
1
Interest Subvention Cost
Rs. 7907Cr
2
Credit Guarantee Cost
Rs. 2629 Cr
3
Administration Cost of PMU
Rs. 100 Cr
Total
Rs. 10636 Cr
State/UT wise details of Projects approved under AIF scheme during the last three years is as below: –
(Amount in Rs Crore)
Sl.
State / UT
Sanctioned No
Sanctioned Amount
1
Madhya Pradesh
7,701
5,853
2
Maharashtra
6,860
4,151
3
Rajasthan
1,802
2,310
4
Gujarat
2,072
2,215
5
Uttar Pradesh
3,854
3,636
6
Haryana
2,704
2,108
7
Punjab
12,003
3,116
8
Telangana
1,662
2,178
9
Karnataka
2,208
2,148
10
Andhra Pradesh
680
1,116
11
West Bengal
2,537
1,441
12
Tamil Nadu
5,889
1,189
13
Chhattisgarh
814
1,008
14
Odisha
1,098
810
15
Assam
409
726
16
Bihar
848
680
17
Kerala
1,600
604
18
Uttarakhand
236
315
19
Jharkhand
225
255
20
Himachal Pradesh
347
137
21
Jammu And Kashmir
88
198
22
Delhi
7
10
23
Goa
19
10
24
Meghalaya
2
8
25
Chandigarh
2
8
26
Arunachal Pradesh
5
6
27
Tripura
5
10
28
Nagaland
0
0
29
The Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu
1
1
30
Puducherry
2
2
31
Manipur
3
1
32
Mizoram
0
0
33
Sikkim
0
0
34
Ladakh
0
0
35
Lakshadweep
0
0
36
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
0
0
Total
55,683
36,250
An impact assessment study of AIF was conducted by Agro Economic Research Centre, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune in December 2023 to evaluate overall performance of the scheme, primarily based on feedback from beneficiaries as well as farmers in selected states. The main findings of the study are as below.
1. Based on this study, till 26th January 2025, investment in the agri sector under AIF has generated more than 9 lakh employment opportunities. Out of the sanctioned projects, nearly 97% of the projects created are in rural areas promoting investment and employment opportunities in rural areas.
2. The average number of persons employed per unit in the peak season was found to be 11. The average was highest i.e. 27 in Rajasthan and lowest i.e. 5 in the state of Maharashtra.
3. Further, the storage infrastructure created under AIF has added nearly 550 LMT of storage capacity which includes approx. 510.6 LMT of dry storage and nearly 39.4 LMT of Cold storage capacities (as on 26.01.2025). This additional storage capacity can save up to 20.4 LMT of food grains and 3.9 LMT of horticulture produce annually.
4. The Agro processing centres created under the scheme is promoting timely value-addition of farmer’s produce resulting in increase in farmer’s income up to 20% and reduction of post-harvest losses. Custom hiring centres set up under the scheme is boosting farm mechanization and adoption of better crop residue management practices.
5. 31 percent of the AIF units have availed of government subsidies also. Thus, they have been benefitted due to Convergence under AIF.
6. For around 85 percent of the total units, availability of AIF loan was the main reason for starting the unit.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
NASA asked artists to imagine the future of deep space exploration in artwork meant to inspire the Artemis Generation. The NASA Moon to Mars Architecture art challenge sought creative images that represent the agency’s bold vision for crewed exploration of the lunar surface and the Red Planet. The agency has selected the recipients of the art challenge competition.
The challenge, hosted by contractor yet2 through NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program, was open to artists from around the globe. Guidelines asked artists to consider NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture development effort, which uses engineering processes to distil NASA’s Moon to Mars Objectives into the systems needed to accomplish them. NASA received 313 submissions from 22 U.S. states and 47 countries. The architecture includes four segments of increasing complexity. For this competition, NASA sought artistic representations of the two furthest on the timeline: the Sustained Lunar Evolution segment and the Humans to Mars segment.
The Sustained Lunar Evolution segment is an open canvas for exploration of the Moon, embracing new ideas, systems, and partners to grow to a long-term presence on the lunar surface. Sustained lunar evolution means more astronauts on the Moon for longer periods of time, increased opportunities for science, and even the large-scale production of goods and services derived from lunar resources. It also means increased cooperation and collaboration with international partners and the aerospace industry to build a robust lunar economy.
The Humans to Mars segment will see the first human missions to Mars, building on the lessons we learn from exploring the Moon. These early missions will focus on Martian exploration and establishing the foundation for a sustained Mars presence. NASA architects are examining a wide variety of options for transportation, habitation, power generation, utilization of Martian resources, scientific investigations, and more.
Final judging for the competition took place at NASA’s annual Architecture Concept Review meeting. That review brought together agency leadership from NASA mission directorates, centers, and technical authorities to review the 2024 updates to the Moon to Mars Architecture. NASA selected the winning images below during that review:
Sustained Lunar Evolution Segment Winners First Place: Jimmy Catanzaro – Henderson, Nevada
Second Place: Jean-Luc Sabourin – Ottawa, Canada
Third Place (Tie): Irene Magi – Prato, Italy
Pavlo Kandyba – Kyiv, Ukraine
Humans to Mars Segment Winners First Place (Tie): Antonella Di Cristofaro – Chieti, Italy
Francesco Simone – Gatteo, Italy
Third Place: Mia Nickell – Suwanee, Georgia
Under 18 Submission Winners First Place: Lux Bodell – Minnetonka, Minnesota
Second Place: Olivia De Grande – Milan, Italy
Third Place: Sophie Duan – Ponte Vedra, Florida
The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, managed the challenge. The program supports global public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
To curb the malpractices of spurious seeds, pesticides and fertilizers and in order to ensure availability of quality inputs to the farmers, various provisions are available in the Seeds Act, 1966, the Seeds Rules, 1968, the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983, Essential Commodity Act, 1955, Insecticide Act, 1964, Insecticides Rules,1971, the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985etc.
The concerned State Department of Agriculture appoints the Inspectors for ensuring quality control of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides in their respective states. In case any samples of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides are found to be spurious/sub-standard, action is taken under the relevant provisions of Acts and Rules. The details of samples drawn by inspector sand found substandard (across the Country) in respect of Seeds, Fertilizers and pesticides during 2023-24 is given below.
133,588 seed samples were drawn and out of which 3,630 samples were found sub-standard during the year 2023-24.
1,81,153 fertiliser samples were analysed and out of which 8,988 samples were found nonstandard during the year 2023-24.
iii. 80,789 pesticide samples were analysed and out of which 2,222 samples were found to be spurious.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Headline: Mercer County, W.Va., applicants for disaster assistance should expect a follow-up call from FEMA
Mercer County, W.Va., applicants for disaster assistance should expect a follow-up call from FEMA
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is providing enhanced customer service to help all Mercer County survivors with disaster assistance after damages from the Sept. 25-28, 2024, remnants of Tropical Storm Helene. If you have applied for FEMA assistance, you may receive a call, text or email from the Enhanced Applicant Services (EAS) team. Phone calls may come from unfamiliar area codes and phone numbers or show no caller ID. You should take the opportunity to let FEMA know about your current needs and how FEMA can better serve you. It is important to answer phone calls from FEMA, even if the caller ID is unknown.Beware of fraud calls — only FEMA knows an applicant’s nine-digit application number. FEMA representatives can provide this number to verify it is a legitimate call. Remember: FEMA will never ask for money or a full Social Security number.Disasters can be traumatic for everyone, but issues can be more serious for some older adults or people with disabilities. Whether the problem is a lack of digital access, an inability to respond, or simply a reluctance to do so, these applicants may benefit by a follow-up call from the FEMA’s EAS team.This team is tasked with revisiting cases and locating applicants who are challenged with navigating the application and appeals process. The team proactively identifies survivors who reported on their application that they had hearing and vision problems, mobility difficulties, mental or emotional distress.FEMA ensures that all survivors, particularly those with additional needs, receive the assistance for which they are eligible to rebuild and recover. At this writing, the EAS team has already contacted more than 640 applicants to assist with completing applications. These follow-up efforts make up more than $732 thousand of the $2.3 million approved for Mercer County survivors of Tropical Storm Helene. Homeowners and renters in Mercer County who have questions about their FEMA application can call 800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone line operates from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service.Applicants can also visit the Mercer County Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) through Feb. 14, 2025, to discuss their application face-to-face. The recovery center location and hours are as follows: Princeton Disaster Recovery CenterLifeline Princeton Church of God250 Oakvale Road Princeton, WV 24740Hours of operation through Feb. 14, 2025:Wednesday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Friday: 9 a.m. to 12 noonDRCs are accessible to all, including survivors with mobility issues, impaired vision, and those who are who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.For more information on West Virginia’s disaster recovery, visit emd.wv.gov, West Virginia Emergency Management Division Facebook page, www.fema.gov/disaster/4851 and www.facebook.com/FEMA.###FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during and after disasters. FEMA Region 3’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.Follow us on X at x.com/FEMAregion3 and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/femaregion3.Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 833-285-7448. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish and 3 for other languages). erika.osullivan Tue, 02/11/2025 – 14:47
Government of India is implementing various measures to improve the Indian Agriculture which encompasses multitude of developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity, raising resource use efficiency, promoting sustainable agriculture and strengthening infrastructure, ensuring remunerative price to farmers, etc. These include:
National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM)
National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oil Palm
National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oilseeds
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
National Mission on Natural Faming (NMNF)
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
Soil Health & Fertility (SH&F)
Rainfed Area Development (RAD)
Agroforestry
Crop Diversification Programme (CDP)
Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
Sub-Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP)
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
National Bamboo Mission
National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region
Per Drop More crop (PDMC)
Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM)
With support from NASA, the international GoAERO Prize competition recently announced funding for 14 U.S. university teams to build innovative new compact emergency response aircraft. The teams will develop prototype versions of Emergency Response Flyers, aircraft intended to perform rescue and response missions after disasters and in crisis situations. The flyers must be designed to deliver a first responder, evacuate victims, provide emergency medical supplies, and aid in humanitarian efforts. Teams will bring their test aircraft to a fly-off expected in 2027.
koushik datta NASA Project Manager
“These awards will provide students with an opportunity that might have otherwise been difficult – a chance to design and build potentially lifesaving aircraft,” said Koushik Datta, University Innovation Project manager in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “At NASA, we’re looking forward to seeing how these young innovators can contribute to our mission to advance futuristic aviation technologies that can benefit first responders and the public.” With support from NASA’s University Innovation Project, GoAERO named 14 awardee teams at the following universities:
Auburn University, in Leeds, Alabama
California Polytechnic University, in Pomona
Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in Daytona Beach, Florida
Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, in Greensboro
North Carolina State University, in Raleigh
The Ohio State University, in Columbus
Penn State University, in State College
Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana
Saint Louis University
Texas A&M University, in College Station, and Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater
University of Texas, Austin
Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg
Student teams can utilize the funds to purchase parts, materials, batteries, and other components for building their aircrafts. When naming the university awardees, GoAERO – in partnership with Boeing, RTX, and Honeywell – also announced 11 winners of Stage 1 of its competition. These include teams from the private sector and universities. These awardees were selected to build full- or smaller-scale flyers for evaluation. Eight entries will be selected for the next round of Stage 2 awards. The GoAERO Prize is still accepting new teams. While prizes are awarded at Stage 1 and Stage 2, teams do not need to win prizes to continue on to the next stage or compete in the final fly-off. In addition to the University Innovation Project support for the university teams, NASA has partnered with GoAERO through a non-funded Space Act Agreement to provide U.S. teams with mentorship, educational opportunities, and access to specialized software tools.
Agriculture is a State subject and Government of India supports the efforts of States through appropriate policy measures, budgetary allocation and various schemes/ programmes. The various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India are meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers. The Government has substantially enhanced the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW) from Rs. 21933.50 crore BE during 2013-14 to Rs. 1,22,528.77 crore BE during 2024-25. Schemes/programmes initiated by DA&FW are conceptualised and implemented taken in consideration of improving the economic condition of farmers owning small handholdings, access to credit and to enhance overall income of farmers and remunerative returns in the agriculture sector.
PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Scheme has been launched in 2019 with the sole objective to enhance the income of farmers owning small landholdings. This scheme provides Rs. 6000 per year in 3 equal instalments. So far, more than Rs.3.46 lakh Cr. has been disbursed to eligible farmers through 18 instalments.
The other major schemes run by Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare for enhance of overall income of farmers are as under:
Agri Fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises’ (AgriSURE)
Per Drop More Crop (PDMC)
Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM)
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
Soil Health & Fertility (SH&F)
Rainfed Area Development (RAD)
Agroforestry
Crop Diversification Programme (CDP)
Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
Sub-Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP)
National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM)
Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM)
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oil Palm
National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oilseeds
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region
Digital Agriculture Mission
National Bamboo Mission
PM-AASHA (Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan) scheme ensures remunerative prices for farmers’ produce and prevent distress sales. It aims to strengthen the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism and provide better price support for farmers.
“Formation & Promotion of new 10,000 FPOswith budget outlay of Rs 6,865 Crore. Farmers Producer Organization (FPOs) are being set up to give farmers collective bargaining power in markets as well as enabling small farmers to pool resources, access technology, and get better prices for their crops.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) with financial provision of one Lakh Crore scheme has been launched with an objective to mobilize a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through incentives and financial support in order to improve agriculture infrastructure in the country. Following supports are being provided under Agri Infra Fund.
Interest Subvention: All loans under this financing facility have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of ₹ 2 crore. This subvention is available for a maximum period of 7 years. In case of loans beyond ₹ 2 crore, interest subvention is limited up to ₹ 2 crore.
Credit Guarantee: Credit guarantee coverage is available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to ₹ 2 crore. The fee for this coverage will be paid by the Government. In case of FPOs the credit guarantee may be availed from the facility created under FPO promotion scheme of DA&FW.
Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) provides Interest Subvention (IS) of 1.5% to various Financial Institutions (Banks, RRBs, PACS, etc.) for delivering Short-Term Agriculture Operation (STAO) loans at a fixed rate of 7% to farmers through KCC. If the farmer repays the loan within time, he gets a Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) of 3%, bringing his loan liability to 4% overall (7% minus 3%). It is exclusively operated through Kisan Credit Card (KCC).
National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds) has been launched on 3rd Oct, 2024 for enhancing the production of key primary oilseed crops such as Rapeseed-Mustard, Groundnut, Soybean, Sunflower, and Sesamum, as well as increasing collection and extraction efficiency from secondary sources like Cottonseed, Rice Bran, and Tree Borne Oils. The mission aims to increase primary oilseed production from 39 million tonnes (2022-23) to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31. Together with NMEO-OP (Oil Palm), the Mission targets to increase domestic edible oil production to 25.45 million tonnes by 2030-31 meeting around 72% of our projected domestic requirement. To ensure the timely availability of quality seeds, the Mission will introduce an online 5-year rolling seed plan through the ‘Seed Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory (SATHI)’ Portal, enabling states to establish advance tie-ups with seed-producing agencies, including cooperatives, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and government or private seed corporations. 65 new seed hubs and 50 seed storage units will be set up in public sector to improve the seed production infrastructure.
The following have been proposed in the upcoming budget for income support, improve access to credit and overall growth of agriculture sector:
Enhanced Credit through KCC: – Loan increased from 3 lakh to ₹5 lakh to facilitate short term loans for 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers.
Aatmanirbharta in Pulses: – To launch a 6-year Mission with special focus on Tur, Urad and Masoor, emphasizing development and commercial availability of climate resilient seeds, enhancing protein content, increasing productivity and improving post-harvest storage and management, assuring remunerative prices to the farmers.
National Mission on High Yielding Seeds: – Targeted development and propagation of seeds with high yield, pest resistance and climate resilience.
Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana – It has been proposed Agri Districts Programme to cover 100 districts which is likely to help 1.7 crore farmers.
Mission for Cotton Productivity: – To be launched a 5-year mission to facilitate improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming.
Makhana Board in Bihar: – It is proposed to set up Makhana Board to Improve production, processing, value addition, and marketing and organisation of FPOs.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Headline: FEMA Approves More Than $614.7 Million for Recovery in Georgia
FEMA Approves More Than $614.7 Million for Recovery in Georgia
In the months since the 2024 storms, FEMA has approved more than $614.7 million in federal disaster assistance to help homeowners, renters and communities recover from Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene.This includes:$308.6 million approved for individuals and households. $306.1 million approved for community recovery.Under FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, homeowners and renters affected by the storms have received assistance for housing if they couldn’t live in their primary residence, as well as basic home repairs, personal property losses and other uninsured disaster-caused expenses.Under the Public Assistance program, FEMA provides funding for communities that need help to cover their costs for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure.These numbers will increase as FEMA continues to process the nearly 400,000 applications it has received for individual assistance and the more than 1,900 projects submitted for Public Assistance.Although the deadline for submitting applications has passed, FEMA is committed to remaining in Georgia to ensure all who are eligible for assistance receive it. jakia.randolph Tue, 02/11/2025 – 13:27
As on 07.02.2024, a total of 2,05,59,196 farmer IDs have been created. A target has been set for creation of 11 Crore Farmer IDs by 2026-27 including digital identity of the farmers of all the North eastern states.
Digital Crop survey has been conducted in 461 Districts in Kharif 2024 against the target of 400 Districts. The Details are given below.
State Registry, a component of AgriStack, is built in a federated architecture. Thus, the ownership of the data is with the respective States. The federated system has been built considering the privacy aspects as per Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. At present, the Farmer Database will cover all the land holders’ farmers, including women farmers, across the nation. Farmers Registry application has the provision to onboard the tenant and lessee farmers. State can decide to include such farmers in the Farmers Registry as per the State policy. The land records for incorporating the inheritance and land transactions are updated by the respective State Governments.
Sr. No.
State Name
Total Districts covered under DCS
Total Plots surveyed
1.
Uttar Pradesh
75
5,37,13,000
2.
Gujarat
33
82,26,090
3.
Bihar
20
17,35,146
4.
Tamil Nadu
38
1,73,48,823
5.
Odisha
30
2,55,72,394
6.
Telangana
32
4,43,225
7.
Assam
29
26,24,942
8.
Maharashtra
34
11,17,068
9.
Madhya Pradesh
55
4,68,41,871
10.
Andhra Pradesh
26
1,06,60,474
11.
Rajasthan
50
19,50,466
12.
Kerala
03
8,72,655
13.
Chhattisgarh
19
24,16,408
14.
Punjab
06
44,649
15.
Karnataka
31
66,87,960
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has carried out pilot studies for timely and transparent yield estimation under PMFBY using technology including satellites i.e. remote sensing data, by engaging various Government and private agencies through Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC). Based on the findings of these pilots and after discussions with stakeholders & technical consultations, YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) has been introduced for paddy and wheat crops from Kharif 2023. Government has implemented technology-based yield estimation in combination with conventional Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) based yield estimation for improving crop loss assessment and achieving timely insurance claims payout for farmers. Under this initiative 30% weightage to yield estimation has mandatorily been assigned to YES-TECH derived yield.
In Kharif 2023, all implementing States have successfully completed claims calculation and payout using YESTECH and no dispute has been reported from any of the stakeholders; thereby, increasing transparency and efficiency in the system.
PMFBY is mainly implemented on ‘Area Approach’ basis and comprehensive risk coverage for crops of farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages of the crops at very minimum premium for the farmers is provided under the scheme. However, losses due to localized risks of hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst & natural fire and post-harvest losses due to cyclone, cyclonic/unseasonal rains & hailstorms are calculated on individual insured farm basis.
Further, crop damage to crops to non-procurement by agencies or delay in procurement by them is not covered under PMFBY.
The review/revisions / rationalization / improvements in the crop insurance schemes are a continuous process and decision on suggestion/ representations/ recommendations of the stakeholders/studies are taken from time to time. Based on the experience gained, views of various stakeholders and with a view to ensure better transparency, accountability, timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the scheme more farmer friendly, Government has periodically revised the Operational Guidelines of the PMFBY comprehensively to ensure that the eligible benefits under the scheme reach the farmers timely and transparent.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Secretary for Health expresses deep sorrow over passing of Princess Margaret Hospital oncologist Secretary for Health expresses deep sorrow over passing of Princess Margaret Hospital oncologist ******************************************************************************************
The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, today (February 11) expressed profound sadness over the passing of an oncologist at the Princess Margaret Hospital and extended his deepest sympathies to the doctor’s family. He said, “The young doctor who died from a sudden illness was determined to practice medicine and save lives, and has been working for the Hospital Authority (HA) since graduation from the medical school to serve Hong Kong citizens. The doctor just obtained a specialist qualification in oncology, and was still taking care of patients in the ward right before the onset of symptoms. I am deeply moved by the doctor’s professionalism, passion for work and care for patients. The doctor is genuinely a role model for colleagues of the healthcare profession. “I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the doctor’s family on behalf of the Health Bureau, and the HA will make every effort to assist them. The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health is conducting epidemiological and environmental investigations into the incident at full strength, and will submit a report and give an account to the public as early as possible.”
Ends/Tuesday, February 11, 2025Issued at HKT 20:30
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong
Oscar frontrunner Emilia Pérez has received mixed reactions from the film industry, critics and general audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 72% critic score – but a dismal 17% from viewers.
Mexican audiences have been particularly harsh. On its opening weekend in Mexico, the film grossed only US$74,000. Scores of moviegoers even demanded refunds.
French director Jacques Audiard presents Emilia Pérez as his bold yet compassionate take on Mexico’s drug war and the resulting enforced disappearances. The film, however, has been criticised for how it pities and condescends to Mexicans while lacking real understanding of the violence it claims to represent.
Those seeking to understand the suffering caused by enforced disappearances in Mexico would do well to look beyond Emilia Pérez. Here are five films you should watch.
Tempestad
The 2016 documentary Tempestad (Tempest), directed by Mexican-Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo, genuinely engages with suffering and atonement in Mexico’s violent landscape. It follows the experiences of two women with organised crime and the Mexican justice system.
Miriam Carvajal, a former customs official and mother of a young child, is wrongfully convicted on spurious charges of human trafficking and sent to a prison run by a criminal organisation. To survive, she becomes complicit in the brutal violence inflicted on the most vulnerable inmates, such as migrants.
Adela Alvarado is a professional clown. She has been searching for her daughter, who disappeared a decade before filming. Despite threats to her life from police officers likely involved in the disappearance, Adela continues her relentless quest to find her child against all odds.
Both women are driven by love for their children. Miriam is heard but never seen; Adela’s life among circus folk unfolds on camera. This visually highlights that their stories mirror each other yet are not identical.
Huezo recognises perpetrators can also be victims, but refuses to turn the harm they have caused into an instrument for their redemption.
Devil’s Freedom
Everardo González’s 2017 documentary La Libertad del Diablo (Devil’s Freedom) also explores the theme of atonement for perpetrators alongside the suffering of their victims.
González presents a choral narrative of Mexico’s drug wars. Testimonies come from crime syndicate hitmen, soldiers involved in law enforcement, a mother whose children disappeared, young women whose mothers were taken, and a man tortured by police.
Victims and perpetrators wear compression masks made for burn treatment, ostensibly to protect their identities. These masks, however, also serve as a haunting equaliser that exposes a society scarred by violence.
In one powerful scene, a victim recalls pitying her children’s murderer after sensing his shame. She removes the mask following her account of forgiveness and hesitantly smiles at the camera – her trembling lips raising fundamental questions about Mexico’s struggle to heal from the wounds of its drug wars.
Identifying Features
Mexican filmmakers have long used fiction to “exorcise the pain” of enforced disappearances, as Mexican actor Giovanna Zacarías puts it. Fernanda Valadez’s debut film, Sin Señas Particulares (Identifying Features, 2020) exemplifies this powerfully.
Valadez’s restrained narrative avoids the stereotypical passion often attributed to Latin Americans.
Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández), a modest rural woman, searches for her missing son, Jesús (Juan Jesús Varela), who vanished en route to the United States. Magdalena’s soft voice and timid demeanour conceal quiet defiance – she refuses to be sidelined. We never see those she questions. We witness only the pain on her face and her stoic resolve.
Mexico is no fairy tale. In the agonising final minutes, Magdalena gains a son even as she loses another – though she cannot be with any of them. Life goes on in Mexico: Magdalena has found a grave to mourn at, and we mourn with her.
Prayers for the Stolen
Noche de Fuego (Prayers for the Stolen, 2021) marked Tatiana Huezo’s first foray into fiction filmmaking. The film follows the story of three friends growing up together in the mountains of Mexico, amid normalised violence and enforced disappearances.
The girls’ world is shaped by strategies for survival, with danger looming from both criminal organisations and the state, embodied by the army. Yet, even in this tense environment, they still experience the everyday joys and struggles of childhood and adolescence.
Drug violence contextualises the girls’ world – but does not define them. Huezo does not portray them as mere victims. As they grow, we witness how their rural teachers and mothers have provided them with the necessary tools to foster critical thinking.
Even though local criminals disappear one of the girls, we glimpse a future where her two friends may one day challenge the silence and brutality of the adult world. Despite the premature loss of many childhoods in Mexico, Huezo leaves room for hope.
Noise
Natalia Beristain’s Ruido (Noise, 2022) follows Julia (Julieta Egurrola), a middle-class woman in her late 60s. She is the mother of Gertrudis, “Ger,” a student who vanished while on vacation with friends. Confronted with bureaucratic inefficiency and state indifference, Julia is forced to “do the work of others” and investigate Ger’s disappearance herself.
On her journey, she finds women willing to risk everything for the truth. Among them, she discovers compassion and solidarity, from young feminists demanding justice, to mothers who, having also lost loved ones, guide her through the legal and forensic processes involved in searching for clandestine graves.
“You are not alone”, the women repeat like a mantra. As Pulitzer Prize-winning Mexican author Cristina Rivera Garza reminds us, grief indeed is never a solitary. We always grieve for and with someone.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
As we head towards the federal election, both sides of politics are making a point of criticising universities and questioning their role in the community.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused unis of focusing on “woke” issues that “just aren’t cutting it around kitchen tables”.
The Albanese government has also accused universities of being out of touch. A Labor-chaired Senate committee has just set up an inquiry into university governance, pointing to “an extraordinary range” of issues, including executive pay.
Both the Coalition and Labor want to clamp down on international student numbers, arguing they drive up city rents and threaten the integrity of Australian higher education.
The criticism goes beyond politics. Recent media coverage called the sector a “mess” and asked “is a university degree still worth it?”
No wonder newsletter Future Campus says the “hottest topic” in Australian higher education is whether universities have lost their social licence.
What is social licence?
A social licence means a community has given tacit permission for an organisation to operate. It goes beyond simple laws or regulations, and extends to the idea that a community implicitly trusts and has confidence in an organisation.
A social licence means businesses, in particular, should not ignore their responsibility to provide a social benefit to their communities. This needs to go beyond providing commodities or generating profits.
In December 2024, a state parliament review expressed concern the University of Tasmania was prioritising “commercial over community interests in its core functions”.
So there are many reasons to ask how well our universities benefit the national community, beyond their economic outputs.
But while our politicians readily line up to express concern, it is highly disingenuous to only blame universities for their standing in the community.
The situation politicians now lament is the result of a long-term, bipartisan political project, prosecuted by successive federal governments.
As a 2023 Australia Institute report found, federal government funding for universities (excluding HECS/HELP) has fallen from 0.9% of GDP in 1995 to 0.6% of GDP in 2021. Both Coalition and Labor governments have sought to reduce the sector’s costs to the budget.
The federal policy settings have shown them the way to go.
Teaching foreign students is more profitable than teaching domestic students, research collaborations with business and industry are more profitable than collaboration with communities. Increasingly, in the search for new income sources, commercial, rather than academic, considerations have driven institutional decisions.
In a competitive market, the interests of individual institutions rather than those of the nation inevitably prevail.
There has been a succession of redundancies and knowledge, learning and personnel have been lost. The losses have wound back generations of accrued cultural and educational capital for the nation.
It is no surprise public confidence in universities’ utility and legitimacy has diminished.
The most significant problem
This is not to say universities are blameless. University leaders and academics acknowledge there has been a loss of public confidence. There is also acknowledgement some of the damage is due to internal issues – such as governance failures.
But the most significant problem is the corrosive effect of several decades of commercialisation, underpinned by a political disregard for the sector’s contribution to the public good.
If political leaders are serious about arresting the erosion of our universities’ social licence, it would be helpful if they stopped behaving as if it has nothing to do with them.
Graeme Turner’s book, Broken: Universities, politics and the public good, will be published by Monash University Press in July as part of its In the National Interest series.
Graeme Turner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Quentin Grafton, Australian Laureate Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Water is now a contested resource around the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fight playing out over the Northern Territory’s Roper River – one of the last free-flowing rivers in Australia, nurtured by the enduring presence of First Nations custodians.
The territory government recently doubled water extraction allowances from the aquifer that feeds the Roper River, making billions of litres available to irrigators, for free. The change risks permanent damage not just to the river but to world-famous springs and sacred sites fundamentally important to Traditional Owners.
Australia has a very poor track record on maintaining healthy river systems, and on respecting First Nations rights to access and use water.
The Roper River represents a chance to change course on decades of water policy failure. It also shows we must transform how Australia’s water is valued, who uses it, and who decides how vital rivers should be managed.
What’s happening on the Roper River?
The Roper River runs east for 400 kilometres from the Katherine region to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
First Nations people comprise 73% of the population in the Roper River area. Amid socioeconomic challenges, Country sustains them as it has done for 65,000 years. It is integral to maintaining cultural knowledge, as well as ceremonial practices, environmental care and traditional food systems. Traditional Owners’ rights are recognised through Aboriginal freehold land and native title across the area.
Irrigated crops including melons, mangoes and cotton are grown over a small part of the river catchment.
In a string of recent decisions – mainly the designation of regional “water allocation plans” – the territory government has vastly increased potential extraction from underground aquifers. This could allow agriculture and other industries to expand.
The decision came despite staunch opposition from Traditional Owners. As Northern Land Council chair Matthew Ryan told SBS:
Both the previous and the current NT Government have ignored the voices of Traditional Owners, who have repeatedly said that the health and viability of the Roper River and the springs at Mataranka are at great risk.
Water is life. It is our most valuable resource and Traditional Owners have an obligation to take care of the land and areas of cultural significance.
The Baaka: a sad story of degradation
Sadly, this story is not new to Australia. We need only look to the Baaka (Lower Darling River) in New South Wales as a cautionary tale.
More than a century of water extraction has left the river and its wetlands degraded. This was demonstrated in 2023 when up to 30 million fish died due to low levels of dissolved oxygen, caused by, among other factors, too much water extracted upstream.
The ecological damage has harmed the health and wellbeing of river communities – especially Traditional Owners such as the Barkandji people, who have long relied on the river for sustenance.
The problem is getting worse. As research late last year showed, an investment of more than A$8 billion to date has failed to prevent a stark decline in the health of the Murray-Darling Basin river system.
Traditional knowledge indicates climate change – among other harms – is threatening the Martuwarra. Ecological and ground water systems are drying up, making traditional food and medicine harder to find.
This harms Indigenous custodians reliant on the Martuwarra for their lifeways and livelihoods.
But there is hope. The Indigenous-led Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council has united West Kimberley people, First Peoples and others, along with stakeholders. It seeks to foster joint decision-making on planning and management to take full account of the social, cultural, spiritual and environmental impacts of water allocation across the catchment.
This world-leading example shows what can be achieved when Traditional Owners and their partners unite to defend nature, water and Country as sources of life, not just resources to be exploited.
Community members, researchers, Elders, advocates and decision-makers gathered to share stories from Argentina, Australia, India, Kenya, Brazil and Mexico.
Each tale described people working together to push back against water injustice, whether it involved unequal access, theft, dispossession, pollution or post-truth claims about water.
Participants also watched the premiere screening of the short film EveryOne, EveryWhere, EveryWhen. It highlights what is at stake for Australia’s living rivers – Baaka, Roper and Martuwarra – and tells of the struggle to bring justice to these rivers and their people.
A trailer for the film EveryOne, EveryWhere, EveryWhen.
A fork in the river
Clearly, the time for water reform is now. So what does this mean in practice?
First, the precautionary principle must be deeply embedded in all government decisions. This means the potential for serious environmental damage must be properly considered, and actions taken to avoid it, even when science is not certain.
Second, permission from First Peoples should be obtained for any activity affecting their land or waters, following the principles of “free, prior and informed consent”.
And finally, both Indigenous knowledge and Western science must be brought together to plan, monitor and regulate all water extraction, to ensure our precious rivers are managed for both the present and the future.
Australians face a stark choice.
We can keep gifting valuable water resources to powerful commercial interests, while ignoring the warning signs our rivers are sending.
Or we can follow First Nations leaders and listen to what Country is telling us: to safeguard water for everyone, including non-human kin, to secure a liveable and thriving future for all.
In response to issues raised in this article, the NT’s Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment, Joshua Burgoyne, said the Mataranka water allocation plan provides certainty to the environment and the community and supports regional economic development.
He said the plan was “precautionary, evidenced based, and developed with considered involvement from local community representatives” including Traditional Owners, and preserves more than 90% of dry season flows to the Roper River.
Quentin Grafton receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is the Convenor of the Water Justice Hub.
Anne Poelina is Chair, Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. She is Professor, Chair and Senior Research Fellow Indigenous Knowledges and affiliated with Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Broome. She is Project Lead for an Australian Research Council Funded Project.
Sarah Milne has received funding from the Australian Research Council.
Have you ever asked someone how their day was, or been chatting casually with a friend, only to have them tell you a horrific story that has left you feeling distressed or emotionally exhausted yourself?
This is called “trauma dumping”. It’s when someone shares something traumatic or distressing without checking in first if the person they’re talking to has the capacity or willingness to take on that information.
Trauma dumping is not new, and you’ve probably experienced it (or inadvertently done it yourself) at some stage in your life.
But now, with the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok, the risk of experiencing trauma dumping has increased exponentially.
People often turn to TikTok for support or validation. And because TikTok’s algorithm is based on attention, it’s not uncommon for highly emotional stories to gather traction and go viral.
My colleagues and I wanted to understand more about trauma dumping on TikTok. In a recent study, we found people often share their trauma on TikTok. And this is usually done without a trigger warning.
TikTok and mental health
It’s estimated around 75% of the population have experienced a traumatic event at some point in their lives. This could include exposure to abuse or neglect in childhood, violence, natural disasters, the death of a loved one, or any other event which is unexpected, distressing, and causes long-term impacts on physical or mental health.
TikTok can be an important source of support and validation, especially for young people who have faced trauma, and who may not have sufficient support offline.
But while TikTok can be a great place for community, support and validation, at the same time it can be a hotbed for trauma dumping.
Importantly, sharing trauma on social media runs the risk of exposing other users to vicarious traumatisation, which is when a person is traumatised by someone else’s trauma.
Vicarious trauma is most common in people who work in “frontline” jobs, such as paramedics or therapists, who deal with trauma regularly. However, anyone can be at risk. Factors including personal experiences, personality traits (such as empathy), support systems and coping strategies all play a role in whether someone might experience vicarious trauma.
Many people who use TikTok and other social media platforms will be exposed to ‘trauma dumping’. Prostock-studio/Shutterstock
In our study, we set out to explore the top videos on TikTok with one or more of five hashtags related to trauma: #traumatok, #trauma, #traumatized, #traumatic and #traumabond.
We looked the most viewed 50 videos from each hashtag. At the time we carried out our analysis in December 2022, these 250 videos had a total of 296.6 million likes, 2.3 million comments and 4.6 million shares.
#TraumaTok
We found the majority of videos (about 67%) were from people sharing their trauma. In many cases severe trauma was discussed, including child maltreatment, violence and death.
Our study also showed some videos (about 22%) were from people who claimed to be “experts” in trauma. They were using the platform to speak about the symptoms and treatment for trauma-related mental health conditions.
Worryingly, most “experts” (84%) did not disclose their credentials. And only a small proportion (2%) said they were licensed psychologists, counsellors or medical professionals (who are trained to provide evidence-based treatment or advice for mental health).
The remaining videos were either more general mental health content with a mix of hashtags such as “anxiety” and “depression”, or were meant to be humorous, using memes or jokes about trauma.
One of the most concerning things we found in our study was that only 3.7% of videos had some form of trigger warning. A trigger warning, often a verbal statement by the creator, text within the video or a caption, is meant to alert the audience that potentially distressing content is discussed in the video.
One of the limitations of our study was that we didn’t look at users’ experiences of viewing these videos. We also didn’t explore discourse on the app, such as comments and video replies.
We can’t say for sure what it’s like for people, especially young people or people with lived experience of trauma, to watch and interact with these videos. Exploring this should be a focus for future research.
Trigger warnings are important
None of this is to say that sharing stories, even traumatic ones, should never happen. In fact, we know support from others is essential for healing from trauma. This can be facilitated, among other avenues, through sharing stories on social media.
But to make this safer for everyone, TikTok should encourage trigger warnings, and creators should use them on videos where trauma is shared. This can give users the option to “opt out” and scroll on if they think they might not have the capacity to listen at that time.
For people consuming videos on TikTok and other platforms, it’s important to be wary of misinformation and think critically about the information they see, seeking further advice from other sources.
If you feel distressed by content you see on social media, seek support from a health-care professional.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Alix Woolard receives funding from Embrace at The Kids.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology
Debris on the surface of Mars from the Perseverance mission, captured on April 19 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech
In his inauguration speech in January, United States President Donald Trump declared the US would “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. In 2017, in Trump’s previous term of office, he promised to “establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars”. And his billionaire adviser Elon Musk is famously obsessed with colonising the red planet.
The first spacecraft to successfully explore another planet was NASA’s Mariner 2 mission. It passed within 35,000km of Venus on December 14 1962. Since then, there have been many successful missions to explore various planets, moons, asteroids and comets in the Solar System.
But in our quest to explore celestial bodies, we risk contaminating them. And if we were to inadvertently contaminate a world that has the potential to host life – either now or in the past – that could compromise all future scientific investigations. It could also affect any life that may currently exist there.
Because of this, space agencies such as NASA take the issue of interplanetary contamination very seriously. To decrease the risk, it uses a range of methods. And scientists are developing new ways to ensure biological material from Earth doesn’t make its way onto another planet.
Two types of contamination
Interplanetary contamination refers to a scenario in which a spacecraft carries biological material from one planetary object to another. Research indicates previous missions to Mars may have contaminated it with bacterial spores from Earth.
There are two types of interplanetary contamination.
The first is when biological material from Earth is transported to another planetary object, resulting in contamination. This is known as forward contamination.
The second type is when biological material from an extraterrestrial source is brought back to Earth and contaminates Earth’s environment. This is known as back contamination.
Even before the first successful launch of a human-made object to space, scientists were talking about the importance of mitigating interplanetary contamination.
For example, at the Seventh Congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Rome in September 1956, one year before the launch of Sputnik 1, concerns were raised about the possibility of contaminating the Moon and other planetary bodies in the Solar System.
Since then, space agencies across the world have implemented strategies to safeguard missions against interplanetary contamination.
High temperatures, clean rooms and death plunges
There are several strategies to minimise forward contamination – for example, using high temperatures or chemicals to sterilise the components of a spacecraft.
Scientists and engineers also assemble spacecraft in clean rooms before launching them into space.
However, these methods have limitations. In particular, spacecraft materials can be sensitive to high temperatures. Chemicals can also tarnish metals and break down essential coatings.
Strategies are also employed at the end of planetary missions to minimise the potential for forward contamination.
For example, at the end of its 13-year journey exploring the environment around Saturn and its moons, the Cassini space probe plunged into the depths of Saturn’s atmosphere.
This so-called “death plunge” alleviated the risks of contaminating moons that could potentially host life, such as Titan and Enceladus. The extreme heat experienced by Cassini essentially incinerated the probe. This likely sterilised any potential contaminants carried by the probe from Earth.
Biological barriers
Scientists must also reduce the risk of potential back contamination on sample return missions.
For example, in the recent OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, a sample collected from near-Earth asteroid Bennu was sealed in an airtight container on its return to Earth.
This ensured no extraterrestrial material could be released into Earth’s environment in an uncontrolled way. Once scientists retrieved the return capsule from the Utah desert, they carefully transported it to a specialised facility designed for handling potentially hazardous materials.
Facilities such as these are designed with biological barriers to prevent the escape of materials or organisms into Earth’s environment.
They also function as “cleanrooms” to prevent potential forward contamination of the samples from Earth-based organisms.
The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission pictured at the Utah Test and Training Range shortly after returning to Earth. NASA/Keegan Barber
New methods
Scientists are also developing new methods to reduce the risk of interplanetary contamination.
For example, a recent paper in Nature described a method known as the “active plasma steriliser”.
This system uses plasma at low temperatures to effectively decontaminate materials in as little as 45 minutes.
This novel technology works on short timescales. And unlike previous methods that use high temperatures, it can be used on materials and spacecraft components sensitive to temperature.
We can learn a lot about the potential impact of interplanetary contamination from present and future space missions by looking at our own backyard here in Australia.
European colonisation led to the introduction of numerous invasive species, such as European rabbits in the 1800s. In turn, this led to widespread environmental damage.
Similarly, the arrival of foreign diseases following colonisation caused devastating losses among Aboriginal communities.
This demonstrates why mitigating interplanetary contamination is so important – not only to advance our understanding of the origins of life, but to protect any extraterrestrial environments that could harbour life.
Kirsten Banks does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
