August 2024)
TOPICS TO BE COVERED
• CLEAN PLANT PROGRAM
• CHINA’S PERFORMANCE IN OLYMPICS
• TARGET OLYMPIC PODIUM SCHEME (TOPS)
• MCQs
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CLEAN PLANT PROGRAM
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the Clean Plant Programme (CPP), aimed at increasing the yield and productivity of horticulture crops in India.
WHEN WAS IT ANNOUNCED?
First announced in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s interim Budget speech in February 2023, the CPP is also targeted at enhancing the quality of fruit crops across the nation.
The Ministry of Agriculture has sought an allocation of Rs 1,765 crore for the programme.
One half of this will be sourced from the budget of the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), while the other half will be in the form of a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
COMPONENTS OF CPP
The program has three main components:
• Development of nine Clean Plant Centers (CPCs) which will provide disease diagnostics and therapeutics, create mother plants to be sent to nurseries, and quarantine all domestic and imported planting materials intended for commercial propagation and distribution;
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• Enhancement of infrastructure, including the development of large-scale nurseries to facilitate the efficient multiplication of clean planting material the mother plants obtained from the CPCs will be multiplied in nurseries and distributed to farmers;
• Creation of regulatory and certification process to ensure thorough accountability and traceability in the production and sale of planting material.
WHAT IS THE NEED FOR CPP?
• India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China.
o From 2013-14 to 2023-24, the area under horticulture crops has risen from 24 million hectares to 28.63 million hectares, and production has increased from 277.4 million metric tonnes (mt) to 352 million mt.
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• India is also a major importer and exporter of fresh fruits. In the financial year 2023-24, India exported fresh fruits worth $1.15 billion, while it imported fruits worth $2.73 billion.
• With the rising consumption of fruits in the country, demand has specifically increased for planting materials of foreign apples, and “exotics” such as avocado and blueberry.
• According to sources, between 2018-20, the EXIM committee for import of planting material of fruit plants permitted the import of 21.44 lakh apple plants in 2018, which increased to 49.57 lakh in 2020.
o In 2018, permission was given to import only 1,000 avocado plants which increased to 26,500 in 2020.
o Similarly, permissions for the import of blueberry plants went up from 1.55 lakh in 2018 to 4.35 lakh in 2020.
• At present, the process of importing plants is very cumbersome, with imported plants having to be kept in quarantine for two years. The CPCs will cut this period down to six months, and thus make it easier for farmers to access disease free and genuine planting material for horticultural crops in India.
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CHINA’S PERFORMANCE IN OLYMPICS
The United States led the table with 126 medals while China equaled the US in gold medals, with each country winning 40.
HISTORY OF CHINESE IN THE OLYMPICS
• For a long time, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) did not compete in the Olympics as it opposed the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recognition of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
• Most Western, non-communist countries recognised Taiwan as the official representative of China in international arenas then, including the United Nations.
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• In 1979, the same year China established diplomatic ties with the US and ended its recognition of Taiwan, a pact was signed so that both China and Taiwan could compete at the Games.
• The PRC’s first Summer Olympics was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where it won 32 medals and 15 of them were gold.
o Since then, China has been among the top-performing countries at the Olympics. Its success has been the result of deliberate policies. For the ruling Communist Party too, the event has been seen as key to its global perceptions.
HOW CHINA DEVELOPED WORLD CLASS ATHLETES?
• China began competing in the Olympics at a time when its economy was undergoing a monumental shift.
o In 1978, under President Deng Xiaoping, its economy was opened to the world.
o Before this, large sections of the population struggled with poverty, particularly in non-coastal and rural areas.
• At an early age, children were encouraged to enroll in sports like gymnastics and table tennis at specialised training institutions.
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• For parents from poorer and rural backgrounds, these centres were attractive options as they provided food and other necessities.
• While the rigorous training produced results and medals, the pressure on athletes to win “for the country” took its toll on many.
o There were also cases of state-sanctioned doping.
o The small odds of success as a professional athlete meant that children, who spent their youth engaged in sports rather than school, often struggled to find alternative career opportunities later in life.
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TARGET OLYMPIC PODIUM SCHEME (TOPS)
The government is currently nurturing 1,050 athletes selected under the Target Olympic
Podium Scheme (TOPS), bearing all expenses from training to gears and for international participation, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Mansukhlal Mandaviya said in Rajya Sabha.
Under this, only those sportsmen having high performance get entry.
• What is it? It is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) which is an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes.
• Launch: It was started in September 2014 and was revamped in April 2018 to establish a technical support team for managing the TOPS athletes and providing holistic support.
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• Mission Olympic Cell: It is a dedicated body created to assist the athletes who are selected under the TOP Scheme. The MOC is under the Chairmanship of the Director General, Sports Authority (DG, SAI).
• TOPS Elite Athletes’ Identification Committee:
o It was constituted to identify the elite athletes who could achieve the Olympic podium.
o MYAS is responsible for appointment of TOPS members with emphasis on ensuring representation from ‘High-Priority’ sports (Archery, Badminton, Boxing Hockey, Shooting and Wrestling).
o The total members of the committee are to be decided by MYAS. TOPS constitution does not stipulate minimum/maximum members for the committee.
RECENT SUCCESS
• Vinesh Phogat was sent to train in Belmeken, Bulgaria in high altitude terrain under this program.
• Athletes like Neeraj Chopra have also been benefited.
• The TOPS sponsored athletes gained relative success at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
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• P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik captured silver and bronze in Badminton and Wrestling respectively at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• In the 2016 Paralympic Games, the TOPS Athletes won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze demonstrating the effectiveness of the Scheme.
• The recent success of the Commonwealth Games emphasized the efficacy of the Scheme.
• Out of the 70 athletes who won medals at the CWG, 47 of them were supported under the TOP Scheme.
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MCQs
1. What is the aim of Clean Plant Program?
1. Enhancing the horticulture crop productivity.
2. Enhancing the horticulture crop quality by reducing diseases.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both 1 & 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. (C)
2. Consider the following pairs and mark how many are correctly matched?
CPC Horticulture crop
Pune
Grapes
Bikaner Citrus Fruits
Mukteshwar Litchi
(A) Only 1 pair is correctly matched.
(B) Only 2 pairs are correctly matched
(C) All the pairs are correctly matched.
(D) None of the pairs are correctly matched.
Ans. (B)
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3. Consider the following statements and mark the correct one:
1. China (PRC) competed for the first time in 1980 Olympic games.
2. China has won equal no. of medals (Gold+Silver+Bronze) with USA in 2024 Olympics.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both 1 & 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. (D)
4. Who was China’s President when China opened up it’s economy.
(A) Mao Tse Tung
(B) Xi Jinping
(C) Deng Xiaoping
(D) None of the above
Ans. (C)
5
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Consider the following statements and mark the correct one:
1. TOPS is a scheme for enhancing the performance of some high performing athletes.
2. Training, Gears and all other related expenses of the athletes are met under the scheme.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both 1 & 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. (C)