EXPLANATION ‘Operation Vijay’ — the military action in 1961 by which India liberated the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu from Portuguese rule. Goa came under Portugal rule when the major part of the country was ruled by the Mughals.

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Sowing Area Coverage of Kharif Crops : as on 31.07.2020, the total Kharif crops has been sown on 882.18 lakh ha area against 774.38 lakh ha area during the corresponding period of last year. Rice: About 266.60 lakh ha area coverage Oilseeds: About 175.34 lakh ha area coverage

Pulses: About 111.91 lakh ha area coverage Sugarcane: About 51.78 lakh ha area coverage

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The unions want the government to enact legislation conferring mandatory status to MSP, rather than just being an indicative or desired price. How can that entitlement be implemented? There are basically three ways.

The first is by forcing private traders or processors to pay MSP. This is already applicable in sugarcane.

The second is by the government undertaking procurement at MSP through its agencies such as the Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) and Cotton Corporation of India (CCI).

The third route for guaranteeing MSP is via price deficiency payments Under it, the government neither directly purchases nor forces the private industry to pay MSP. Instead, it allows all sales by farmers to take place at the prevailing market prices. o Farmers are simply paid the difference between the government’s MSP and the average market price for the particular crop during the harvesting season.

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Precision agriculture is basically the ‘right-input’ at the ‘right-time’ in the ‘right-amount’ at the ‘right-place’ and in the ‘right-manner’ for improving productivity, conserving natural resources and avoiding any ecological or social tribulations.

Today, precision agriculture is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI). IoT, satellite imagery, drones, Web-GIS frameworks, Big Data, cloud and machine learning are expected to improve global agricultural productivity in the near future.

But to arrive at these desired results, huge amounts of data collation is required. Environmental data, through technological intervention, has already fuelled better farming techniques in developed countries.

Sensors and analysis tools can boost crop yield. In order to do this, environmental data is collected in the geospatial format to measure quantifiable variables like weather, soil moisture, volumetric soil temperature, fertiliser rates, water run-off, agrochemicals movement and rain.

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Kushinagar is a town in the Kushinagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautam Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana after his death.

The present Kushinagar is identified with Kusavati (in the pre-Buddha period) and Kushinara (in the post-Buddha period).

Kushinara was the capital of Mallas which was one of the sixteen mahajanpads of the 6th century BCE. Kushinagar is among the few places in India where Buddha is depicted in reclining form. Buddha delivered his last sermon at Vaishali.

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The Red Fort was built during the reign of Shah Jahan in the mid-seventeenth century. The Red Fort was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.

Bahadur Shah Zafar or Bahadur Shah II was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor of India. The last Mughal emperor to occupy the fort, Bahadur Shah II, became a symbol of the 1857 rebellion against the British East India Company.

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The Central Government sets a minimum support price (MSP) for 23 crops every year, based on a formula of one-and-a-half times production costs. This takes into account both paid-out costs (A2) such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, fuel, irrigation, hired workers and leased-in land, as well as the imputed value of unpaid family labour (FL).

Farm unions are demanding that a comprehensive cost calculation (C2) must also include capital assets and the rentals and interest forgone on owned land as recommended by the National Commission for Farmers. There is currently no statutory backing for these prices, nor any law mandating their enforcement.

The government only procures about a third of wheat and rice crops at MSP rates (of which half is bought in Punjab and Haryana alone), and 10%-20% of select pulses and oilseeds.

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Kangris: A traditional portable and movable heater that Kashmiris keep in their warm woollen cloak to keep themselves warm in the frosty winters.

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Farmers are using the waste kinnow fruit to improve the pH level and soil fertility of their land by making Bioenzymes from this waste fruit. Spraying Bio-enzymes works as pest repellent and also improves the photosynthesis process of the crops.

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Sattras are monastic institutions created as part of the 16th century Neo-Vaishnavite reformist movement started by Vaishnavite saint-reformer SrimantaSankaradeva (1449-1596).

As the saint travelled across Assam, spreading his teachings and propagating an egalitarian society, these Sattras/Thans were established as centres of religious, social and cultural reforms in the 16th century.

Today, Sattras are spread across the state, promulgating Sankardeva’s unique “worship through art” approach with music (borgeet), dance (xattriya) and theatre (bhauna). During the Ahom reign, the Sattras received a lot of donations in the form of land or money from the kings.