Short News Article

Polity and Governance (GS-II)

Pankaj Kumar Singh appointed Deputy NSA

Retired director general of the Border Security Force (BSF) Pankaj Kumar Singh was appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA).

About:

• He was appointed in National Security Council Secretariat for a period of two years.
• He was a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed on a re-employment contract.
• He got retired as the BSF chief on December 31, 2022.

His field Experience:

• He has served with the Union government as Inspector General of the CRPF in Chhattisgarh and IG (Operations) at CRPF headquarters in Delhi.
• Before becoming BSF DG, he also served in the BSF.

Contributions:

• He was also the chief of the Eastern Frontier, he played an instrumental role in bringing down cattle smuggling through West Bengal and Assam borders.
  • Between 2015 and 2021, cattle smuggling on the Indo-Bangla border dropped by 87%.

Economy (GS-III)

 ‘B20’ programmes to provide platform for business opportunities

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has organised a series of ‘B20’ programmes in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim in partnership with the ministry of external affairs and North-eastern state governments.

About B20:

• The Business 20 (B20) is a group that represents the private sector within the Group of 20 (G20) Forum.
• Objective: The B20 was established to provide a platform for the business community to engage with the G20 and to offer recommendations on policies that can support global economic growth and development.
• Significance: It will showcase the potential that the Northeast region offers for investment for global and local investors and highlight opportunities for multilateral business partnerships in industry sectors where Northeast states have core strength.

Event organised:

• The B20 programme is scheduled from February 17-19 in Imphal which would focus on information and communications technology (ICT), medical tourism, health care and handlooms.
• In Aizawl, it would be organised from March 1-3 and it would focus on urban planning, infrastructure and skill development.
• From March 16-19, Gangtok would host a B20 programme focusing on tourism, hospitality, pharmaceutical and organic farming.
• From April 4-6, the programme would be organised in Kohima focusing on agriculture and food processing.

Environment (GS-III)

India registers 10 new livestock breeds

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has registered 10 new breeds of livestock species, including cattle, buffalo, goat and pig in last one year.

About:

• The registration was done by ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR).
• The process involves identification and surveying of these breeds through visits to the native areas. 
• This has taken the total number of indigenous breeds to 212.
• The 10 new breeds included:
  • Three new cattle breeds (Kathani, Sanchori, Masilum),
  • One buffalo breed (Purnathadi),
  • Three goat breeds (Sojat, Karauli, Gujari) and
  • Three pig breeds (Banda, Manipuri Black, Wak Chambil). 
• Since 2010, this is the third highest increase in registration of indigenous breeds, after 15 new breeds in 2018-19 and 13 new breeds in 2019-20 were recorded.
• In 2010, there were only 129 indigenous breeds registered, called ‘extant breeds’.