Climate...

Singh has asked ICAR to prepare a new scheme that integrates all existing ones. At the meeting, he proposed tentatively calling it the “Integrated Climate Resilient Agriculture Programme”.

“A lot of people debate climate change. Even if we don’t use these two words, there is sufficient evidence on the impact of changes in rainfall and temperature in India,” Aggarwal said. Aggarwal was the coordinating lead author for the chapter on food in the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He was also the review editor of the IPCC’S landmark fifth assessment report.

In each of the 151 climatically vulnerable districts, one representative village is now being chosen where “location-specific technologies” will be deployed. The technologies for demonstration have been selected based on the nature of vulnerability faced by the district and its main farming system. The ICAR’S climate review offers many granular findings. It states that mustard farmers in Gujarat’s Anand district should now be advised to shrink their sowing window to October 10-20 from October-november to avoid attacks by aphids, whose frequency has increased. The review blames changes in weather patterns for the attacks, including wind speeds of more than 2 km per hour and mean temperature of 19 to 25.5 degrees Celsius.

The review also states that in “10 mango-growing locations” of India, “incidence of fruit flies may increase due to projected increase in temperatures in future climate change periods”.

The National Economic Survey 2018 analysed weather patterns over the past six decades, and found a long-term trend of “rising temperatures” and “declining average precipitation”.using data sets created by the University of Delaware and India Meteorological Department, the review projected that climate change could reduce annual agricultural incomes in India in the range of 15-18% on average and up to 20-25% in unirrigated areas. About 54% of India’s sown area has no access to irrigation. The survey called for “drastically extending irrigation” and replacing “untargeted subsidies in power and fertilizer” with cash transfers. Gujarat cadre officer, is currently posted as special secretary in the department of revenue.

Prakash, a 1986 batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, who has earlier served as additional secretary and financial adviser in the rural development ministry, will fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of N Sivasailam as special secretary (logistics), department of commerce.

In February this year, Prakash alleged that some MLAS of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) assaulted him at a midnight meeting in the presence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The allegations snowballed into a tense standoff between Delhi’s bureaucracy, particularly IAS officers posted in the city government, and the political executive. On February 28, officers held a candlelight march to protest against the alleged assault, drawing a sharp attack from Kejriwal, who accused the officers of not cooperating with ministers.

Things came to a head on June 11, when Kejriwal and three of his ministers, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Satyendar Jain, started an unprecedented sit-in protest at the Lieutenant Governor’s house and refused to leave until the officers promised to cooperate. The impasse ended nine days later when the IAS officers’ association assured the CM that they would attend meetings with ministers provided they were assured of their safety. Delhi police also filed a charge sheet in the case against the CM, deputy CM Sisodia and other AAP leaders. The AAP has called the charge sheet bogus and termed it a ply by the Centre to launch a witchhunt against its leaders. ister Amarinder Singh said there was no such move and the decision in respect of the CBI consent in Congress-ruled states would be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi.

The Karnataka government rescinded the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 1992, under the Janata Dal (Secular) government, headed by then chief minister JH Patel. It has not been reinstated.

This situation continues till date, an official at the chief minister’s office confirmed. “Except for the illegal mining case, where the CBI was charged with investigating the case by the Supreme Court, the agency has to seek the state’s permission before taking up any case.” The state is ruled by an alliance of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular).

Jaitley told journalists: “We have a federal structure in India. Under that federal structure, CBI was created initially for employees of the central government and then to investigate several kinds of serious cases in the states which were referred to it either by states or by courts.cbi can’t snatch any case.”

He said: “It’s only those who have a lot to hide (that) will take the step of saying ‘let CBI not come to my state.”’

In the backdrop of the restrictions clamped by the two state governments on the CBI, Jaitley asked how the CBI could now investigate cases related to central government establishments in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and how it could probe corruption cases involving central government tax officials posted in the two states.