Sericulture in India

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Why in News?

Silk making in Karnataka is increasing to keep up with the rising need for local silk.

- There was a decrease in production because of a disease affecting the mulberry trees.

- Coronavirus has significantly reduced silk imports from China.

Key Points

• Sericulture:

• It's farming to produce raw silk.
• Involves raising silkworms and harvesting their cocoons.
• Requires growing food plants for silkworms.

• Silk Types in India:

• Mulberry, Oak Tasar, Tropical Tasar, Muga, Eri.
• Mulberry is most common, others are wild silks.

• Production and Distribution:

• South India is a major silk producer.
• India is the world's second-largest silk producer.

• Government Support:

• India supports sericulture through schemes like 'Silk Samagra'.
• Significant funds allocated for its development.

• Increasing Demand:

• Demand rising for high-quality silk domestically and internationally.

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Nidhi Companies

Why in News?

- Amendments to Nidhi Companies:

• Central Government recently amended provisions in Companies Act, 2013 and Rules.
• Nidhi companies must now apply to the central government for status updates or declaration as ''Nidhi Company”.

- Purpose of Amendments:

• Amendments aim to enhance the effectiveness of regulatory control over Nidhi Companies.
• Intended to promote transparency and investor-friendly practices in the corporate sector of India.

Key Points

• Nidhi Company Definition:

• A Nidhi company, as per Nidhi Rules, 2014, is incorporated with the aim of promoting thrift and savings among its members.
• It accepts deposits from and lends to its members exclusively, for their mutual benefit.
• Legal Status:
• Registered under the Companies Act, 2013.
• Regulation falls under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
• Principle of Operation:
• Operates on the principle of mutual benefits among its members.
• Regulatory Oversight:
• Classified as a type of Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can issue directives concerning their deposit activities.
• However, since they solely deal with their shareholder-members, Nidhis are exempt from certain core provisions of the RBI Act and other NBFC regulations.

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National Supercomputing Mission

Why in News?

"India made only three supercomputers since 2015, as shown in a recent Right to Information (RTI) reply. Supercomputers are powerful computers used for tasks like cryptography, chemistry, drug discovery, and artificial intelligence."

National Supercomputing Mission

• Mission approved in 2016.
• Implementation by Department of Science and Technology and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• Aims to link 70+ high-performance computing facilities across India's academic and research institutions.
• Budgeted at ₹4,500 crores over seven years.
• Aims to increase India's supercomputer count.
• Supercomputers will be connected via National Supercomputing Grid and National Knowledge Network.
• Goal to train 20,000 skilled individuals in High Performance Computing over five years.
• Supports 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' initiatives.

Progress of NSM:

• First supercomputer, Param Shivay, installed in IITBHU, Varanasi in 2019, with 837 TeraFlop capacity.
• Second supercomputer installed at IIT-Kharagpur, with 1.66 PetaFlop capacity.
• Teraflops: A unit of computing speed equal to one million million (10^12) floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).
• Third system, Param Brahma, installed at IISER-Pune, with 797 TeraFlop capacity.
• Petaflops: A unit of computing speed equal to one thousand million million (10^15) floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).
• The National Supercomputing Mission aimed to set up a network of 70 high-performance computing facilities in India, but limited funding slowed progress.
• Only 16.67% of the total budget of Rs 4,500 crore has been used in the last four-and-a-half years for the mission.

Global Scenario:

• China holds the most supercomputers globally, maintaining the top position.
• The United States, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom follow China in the rankings.