PM chairs meeting of 43rd edition of PRAGATI

• PRAGATI is the ICT-based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
• Aimed at addressing common man’s grievances and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
• Designed in-house by the PMO team with the help of the National Informatics Center (NIC)
• its emphasis on e-transparency and e-accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the stakeholders
• the platform is interconnected among the technologies such as Video-conferencing, Digital data management and Geo-spatial technology for efficient and productive outcome
• provides a unique combination for cooperative federalism, by interconnecting the Chief Secretaries of the states and the Secretaries of the GOI on one platform.
• It works on a three-tier system.
• The Prime Minister will conduct a meeting every month. He will interact with secretaries and chief secretaries of the GOI via video conferencing.
• It is held every month on the Fourth Wednesday, known as PRAGATI Day.
• The system will ride on, strengthen, and re-engineer the data bases of the CPGRAMS for grievances, the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface and platform for all these three aspects.
• The issues flagged are uploaded seven days prior to the PRAGATI day (e. on third Wednesday of every month). These issues can be viewed by the Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries after entering into the application.
• Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries have to put their comments and updates about the flagged issues within three days (i.e. by next Monday)

Brook Dwarf Mountain Frog (Alcalus Fontinalis)

• It is a newly discovered species of frog.
• It was discovered in the Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh.
• The frog appeared to be a mix of a bush frog and a water frog.
• The researchers used multiple lines of evidence using morphological, osteological, and molecular analysis, revealing they are no ordinary frogs but members of a dwarf mountain frog of the genus Alcalus, hitherto unknown from India.
• It was formally named Alcalus fontinalis, meaning “spring or fountain,” referencing the tiny streams or brooks where the frog was found.
• The new species stands out from its congeners due to a unique combination of morphological features.
• These include a snout-vent length of 27–28 mm in males and 29.9–36.2 mm in females, a disc on fingers and toes with a horizontal/transverse groove on the dorsal surface, wrinkled dorsal skin, and a pair of faint dorsolateral stripes on the back.

Key Facts about Namdapha Tiger Reserve:

• It is India’s easternmost tiger reserve. 
• It is located in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, near the international border with Myanmar. 
• The area is located between the Dapha Bum ridge of the Mishmi Hills, outspurs of North Eastern Himalayas and the Patkai Ranges. 
• It was declared in the year 1983.
• Vegetation: Evergreen Forests, Moist deciduous forests, sub-tropical forests, Temperate Forests and Alpine. 
• Climate:
  • The Namdapha Protected area, being 27 degrees north of Equator, enjoys a sub-tropical climate.
  • However, the climate of the area varies from place to place inside the protected area due to variations in altitude from 200 m to 4571m and the area also being a zone of heavy rainfall.
• Namdapha river: 
  • Namdapha is, in fact, the name of a river which originates from Daphabum and meets the Noa-Dehing River.
  • This river flows right across the reserve in a North-South direction and hence the name Namdapha.
• Flora: The Botanical Survey of India has recorded 73 species of lichens, 56 species of Bryophytes, 110 species of Pteridophytes, 5 species of Gymnosperms, and 801 species of Angiosperms.
• Fauna: Elephants, Himalayan Black Bear, Himalayan Sun Bear, Hoolock Gibbon (only Ape in India), Slow Loris, large herbivores such as Goral, Serow, Sambar, Pig, and Malayan Giant Squirrel.

SEA CUCUMBER

• This species is a part of a larger animal group called echinoderms and is invertebrates that lives on the seafloor.
• Their body shape is similar to that of a cucumber, but they have small tentacle-like tube feet that are used for locomotion and feeding.
• There are about 1,250 species of sea cucumber, all of which belong to the taxonomic class Holothuroidea.
• Habitat:
  • They are found in all marine environments throughout the world, from shallow to deep-sea environments.
  • These are benthic, meaning they live on the ocean floor.
• They excrete inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus, enhancing the productivity of benthic biota.
• Reproduction:
  • They exhibit both sexual and asexual reproduction.
  • Unlike most terrestrial animals, sea cucumber eggs undergo external fertilization—females release eggs into the water that are fertilized when they come into contact with sperm that males have released.
• Conservation status
  • CITES: Appendix II 
  • Wildlife Protection Act of 1972: Schedule I

Jamrani Dam Under PMKSY-AIBP

The GOI approved the inclusion of the Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIMP).

• The project envisages the construction of a dam near Jamrani village across river Gola, a tributary of river Ram Ganga, in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
• A substantial part of irrigation benefits of the project would flow to the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh.
• This project is the seventh project to be included in the PMKSY-AIBP list.

Key facts about Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

• It was launched in 2015-16.
• Aim: To enhance physical access to water on farms, expand cultivable areas under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
• Components
  • Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP): To focus on faster completion of ongoing Major and Medium Irrigation including National Projects.
  • Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP): It consists of four sub-components, being Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM), Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI), Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies, and Ground Water (GW) Development component.
• Other components
  • Per Drop More Crop(PDMC): It is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
  • The Watershed Development component (WDC): It is being implemented by the Department of Land Resources
• Nodal Ministry: Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Vajra mushti kalaga

Vajra mushti kalaga, a martial art form, has gone extinct and takes place only during Dasara.

• It is a unique Indian martial art that incorporates various techniques of hand-to-hand combat like grappling, wrestling, and striking.
• Vajra Mushti, which literally means Thunderbolt Fist, is characterised by the utilization of a knuckleduster, a small metal weapon.
• The knuckleduster, also known as Vajra Mushti, is usually made of animal horns and worn on the knuckles of the fighter.
• The main objective of this Indian martial art form is to neutralise the opponent and counter his weapon.
• It is a form of wrestling different from conventional grappling and entails two jettys taking a swipe at each other’s heads with a knuckleduster.
• Whoever draws the blood from the opponent’s head first is declared the winner.
• This form of wrestling was popular during the period of the Vijayanagar rulers, who reigned between the 14th and the 17th centuries.
• The fight is real, and the jetty’s make all efforts to draw blood from the opponent’s head, and a referee intervenes upon noticing the first drop.
• Mediaeval travellers from Portugal noticed this form of wrestling during the Navaratri celebrations in Vijayanagar empire and have left detailed accounts of it.