Context: According to SBI research Ecowrap, better connection with credit dispensation, increased savings through PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and higher participation share in MGNREGA is ushering in sustainable empowerment of women across states.

Role Played by Trinity Acts in Empowering Women in India:

• Deposits with Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCB): According to RBI’s 2023 report, overall deposits of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) increased by 10.2%.
  • The per capita women deposits increased by Rs 4,618 in the last five years.
• Regional Rural Banks (RRBs): Women deposits account for 50% share in incremental deposits in RRBs during FY19 and FY23.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Almost all major states have women participation of more than 33% in the financial year 2023. 
  • However, in some of the states it was less than the national average of 57.4%.
• PMJDY: Currently 55% of total PMJDY beneficiaries are women. 
  • In southern states, the share of MGNREGA and PMJDY is more than the national average.
• Positive Correlation: In states where women participation in MGNREGA is low, women beneficiaries in PMJDY are also low. 

Challenges Associated with the Trinity Acts:

• Credit Dispensation:
  • Financial Exclusion: Women in this segment lack regular cash flows and are not involved in paid economic activity.
  • Structural Barriers: Related to mobility, oppressive gender roles, and lack of financial and digital literacy.
  • Dormant Account Holders: Many women lack use-case and opened an account either due to the government’s financial inclusion drive or peer pressure or both. 
  • Social norms: Their accounts are used by someone else in the family (primarily their husbands). For a typical financial transaction, their role is limited to authentication.
• MGNREGA:
  • Personal and Family Problems:
    • Children Left Uncared: Children were either left with the family members or were brought to the work site, so they were unattended.  
    • Domestic work neglected: No extra work can be taken up due to fatigue and debility leading to non-cooperation from family members.
  • Operational Problems: Delays in issuing job card and huge delay in work payment followed by wages not provided according to MGNREGA act.
    • For instance, the measurement of earth works is sometimes not proper which causes delay in the payment.
  • Worksite Problems: Most important problems faced by the women workers were lack of safe drinking water and no shade during rest period.
    • MGNREGA works are taken up during slack season i.e. summers when water requirement is high and there is a scarcity of water in rural areas.
• PM Jan Dhan Yojana:
  • Multiple Accounts, Single Holder: An individual has opened more than one account in various banks.
    • Although the number of bank accounts has crossed 50 crores with total deposits exceeding ₹2 lakh crore, many existing bank users have opened accounts to benefit from insurance and overdraft facilities.
  • Digital Divide: Low engagement and inactive accounts are possible explanations for women’s low credit adoption in India.
    • NFHS-5 Data:  Digital access ownership of a mobile phone is 65 percent among women 25-29.  

Way Forward

• Microcredit and Entrepreneurship: According to RBI, microfinance are collateral free loans given to households having annual income up to Rs. 3 lakh. This can help boost entrepreneurship and small business developments in India.
• Digital Financial Inclusion: Increasing access to financial services by minimising demand and supply side barriers.More centers of financial literacy may be established to bring excluded women under financial inclusion. For example, a gender-sensitive interface will be critical to address the supply side barriers.
• Safe and Accessible Work Sites: This includes providing proper sanitation facilities, safe drinking water, etc. at work sites to promote women’s participation.
• Childcare Facilities: Ensuring proper childcare facilities will ensure that children of women workers do not remain unattended. For example, the Karnataka government is opening around 4,000 “Koosian Mane” creches for children of women workers under MGNREGA. 
• Self Help Groups (SHG): They allow exposure to financial services , help develop skills, and facilitate transactions.  For example, the Bank Sakhis programme by the National Rural Livelihoods Mission has improved women’s exposure to financial services, in turn driving up transactions in rural India.
• Improved Decision Making: Increasing women literacy, growing economic pressure, and the burning desire to gain economic and social independence are pushing womenfolk to take up gainful careers. Researches have shown that having women on boards provides genuine value addition to decision-making. 

Conclusion

• “Millions of women in our hamlets know what unemployment means. Give them access to economic activities and they will have access to power and self- confidence to which they hitherto have been strangers,” said Mahatma Gandhi in Young India (1930).
• We have a distance to go, especially in the larger society, whose attitudes determine how women are viewed and valued, including in corporate life. 
• Thus, efforts should be made to include more women in MGNREGA and PMJDY so that all women are brought under the formal banking system thus ensuring credit dispensation.

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Context:

The Ministry of Jal Shakti Releases the 6th Census Report On Minor Irrigation (MI) Schemes with reference year 2017-18 under the centrally sponsored scheme “Irrigation Census”.

•  So far, five censuses have been conducted with reference year 1986-87, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2006-07 and 2013-14 respectively. 

About Minor Irrigation Scheme:

• Irrigation schemes using either groundwater or surface water and having a Culturable Command Area upto 2000 hectare individually are categorized as Minor Irrigation Schemes. 
  • Cultivable Command Area (CCA): The area which can be irrigated from a scheme and is fit for cultivation.
• Implementation: Minor Irrigation schemes, in general, are formulated, planned, investigated and implemented by the farmers, NGOs, Panchayats, State Governments and Union Territories. 
• Short Gestation Period: They have a very short gestation period, produce quick outcomes and should be accorded priority in investment decisions.

Key Highlights of 6th Census Report:

• Minor Irrigation (MI) scheme: 23.14 million MI schemes have been reported in the country, out of which 21.93 million (94.8%) are Ground Water (GW) and 1.21 million (5.2%) are Surface Water (SW) schemes. 
  • There has been an increase of about 1.42 million in MI schemes during 6th MI census as compared to 5th Census.
• Ownership: A majority of MI schemes (96.6%) are under private ownership. 
• Leading States: Uttar Pradesh possesses the largest number of MI schemes in the country followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• Categorisation: Dug-wells have the highest share in MI schemes followed by shallow tube-wells, medium tube-wells and deep tube-wells.
  • Maharashtra is the leading State in dug-wells, surface flow and surface lift schemes. 
  • Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab are the leading States in shallow tube-wells, medium tube-wells and deep tube-wells, respectively.

• Ground Water (GW) scheme Leading States:  Leading States in GW schemes are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. 
  • GW schemes comprise dugwells, shallow tube wells, medium tube wells and deep tube wells. 

• • In GW schemes, the share of private entities in the ownership is 98.3%.
• Surface Water (SW) scheme Leading States: In SW schemes Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand have the highest share. 
  • The SW schemes comprise surface flow and surface lift schemes.
  • In SW schemes the respective share is 64.2%.
• Significance: The database of Minor Irrigation census  will serve the planning, development and management needs of these schemes which contribute to agriculture in a big way.

Challenges For Irrigation In India:

• Uneven rainfall distribution: In India, rainfall varies from less than 100 mm in western Rajasthan to more than 2500 mm in the northeast region of the country (CWC, 2017). So in areas with deficient rains, the utility of minor irrigation becomes limited.
• Poor irrigation efficiency: Inadequate off-farm and on-farm infrastructures and poor maintenance leads to poor irrigation efficiency e.g. unlined canal and farm channels. 
  • For Example: Overall, average irrigation efficiency is observed as 38 per cent, which is much below desired efficiency. 
• Legal and Regulatory Challenges: Complex land ownership patterns, water rights, and regulatory hurdles can hinder the efficient development and management of minor irrigation projects.
• Inter-State Water Disputes: Disputes over the sharing of river waters among states can disrupt irrigation plans and lead to legal battles.
• Energy Costs: The energy costs associated with pumping groundwater for minor irrigation can be a significant financial burden on farmers, particularly small and marginal ones. 
  • Access to affordable and reliable energy sources for irrigation is a pressing issue.
• Uneven Distribution of  minor irrigation infrastructure: The availability and distribution of minor irrigation infrastructure are uneven across different states and regions, leading to disparities in agricultural productivity and income.

Significance of Minor Irrigation:

• Livelihoods Opportunity: Minor Irrigation plays an important role in the development of agriculture and livelihoods particularly in drought prone areas and areas outside command of Major and Medium projects.
• Enhanced Agricultural Productivity: Minor irrigation systems, which include tube wells, bore wells, tanks, and small reservoirs, provide farmers with a reliable source of water for their crops which enhances agricultural productivity.
• Crop Diversification: Minor irrigation facilitates crop diversification by enabling farmers to cultivate multiple crops throughout the year, including cash crops and high-value horticultural crops. 
  • This diversification can lead to increased income for farmers.
• Livelihood Support: A significant portion of India’s population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. 
  • Minor irrigation systems empower small and marginal farmers by offering them the means to cultivate their land effectively and generate income.

Way Forward:

• Upgrade in Infrastructure: Irrigation infrastructure needs to be further improved to harvest rainwater and increase storage capacity in order to utilize runoff water. 
• Modernization and Maintenance: Investing in the modernization and regular maintenance of existing minor irrigation infrastructure to improve efficiency and reduce losses.
• Energy Access: Ensuring affordable and reliable energy sources for irrigation, such as solar-powered pumps.
• Community Participation: Involving local communities and farmers in the planning and management of minor irrigation systems to ensure their sustainability and equitable distribution.
• Awareness about Government Schemes: Farmers should be made aware of the various government schemes to utilize their utmost potential which minor irrigation offers which is lacking in some states.      

News Source: PIB     

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Context: 

Rajasthan-based Sahasra Semiconductor will start the commercial production of first made-in-India memory chips from September or early October.

What are Semiconductors? 

• Semiconductors are materials which have a conductivity between conductors (generally metals) and nonconductors or insulators (such as most ceramics). 
  • Semiconductors can be pure elements, such as silicon or germanium, or compounds such as gallium arsenide or cadmium selenide.
• Basic Composition of Semiconductors:

• • The basic component of a semiconductor chip is a sliver of silicon.
  • This silicon chip is etched with billions of microscopic transistors.
  • Patterns on the chip are formed by specific minerals and gases.
  • These patterns control the flow of electrical current and execute various computational instructions.
• Varieties of Semiconductors:
  • Higher nanometer value semiconductors find applications in automobiles and consumer electronics.
  • Lower nanometer value semiconductors are used in devices like smartphones and laptops.
• Application: Semiconductors are essential components found in nearly all modern electronic devices, including smartphones and Internet of things (IoT) devices.

News Source: Business Standard

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Context: 

Recently, the ISRO released preliminary data from instruments called RAMBHA and ILSA, both installed on the lander module and another called APXS which is on the rover.

Key Findings:

• Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere – Langmuir Probe (RAMBHA-LP): It is a device used for characterizing a plasma. 
  • Finding: The initial assessment indicates that the plasma encompassing the lunar surface is relatively sparse (5-30 million electrons per cubic metre).
  • It could help in mitigating the noise lunar plasma introduces into radio wave communication and contribute to “enhanced designs” for upcoming lunar visitors.
• Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope, or APXS: It is installed on the rover, and detects signals of the presence of Sulphur and other minor elements.
• Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS): It collected data on the elemental composition of lunar surface, and found “unambiguous” confirmation of presence of Sulphur.
• Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA):  To measure ground vibrations generated by natural quakes, impacts, and artificial events. 
  • It recorded a “seemingly natural” event on the lunar surface, on August 26.
• Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE): To measure the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole to understand the thermal behavior of the Moon’s surface.

News Source: Indian Express

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Context: 

The government has convened a special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22.

About the News

• Constitutional Provisions: The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Indian Constitution. 
  • It mandates that Parliament should meet at least twice a year, and the gap between two sessions should not exceed six months.
• Convening of Sessions: The power to call for a session of Parliament in India lies with the government. 
  • This decision is made by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which is then formalised by the President, who summons the MPs for a session.
• Parliamentary Calendar: India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. Traditionally, Parliament meets for three sessions in a year:
  • Budget Session (February-May)
  • Monsoon Session (July-August)
  • Winter Session (November-December)

News Source: The Hindu

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Context:

• According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), August has been the driest and warmest month in the entire country since 1901. 

More about the News: 

• Monsoon precipitation in August across central India and the south Peninsular region has been the lowest in 122 years since 1901, making it one of the worst and deficient monsoon months in history.
• Rainfall across the country was 162.7 mm this August compared to 254.9 mm actual. 
• Both average maximum and mean temperatures in the country were the highest since 1901.
• Kharif sowing is nearly over with a 3.6% year-on-year increase, reaching 105.4 million hectares. However, the area under pulses lags significantly and cotton and oilseeds to some extent.

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Personality in News:

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