Page 30 - NIS English November16-30
P. 30
Science Educating Young Minds
two billion people and accounts for around 45 per NOW ENJOY INDIGENOUS ‘HEENG’
cent deaths among children. This issue is also
addressed in the Sustainable Development Goals GROWN IN HIMALAYAS
of the United Nations. India launched Poshan
Abhiyaan to improve nutritional intake in children,
pregnant women and lactating mothers.
HOW THE CHANGE BEGAN
India's fight against malnutrition faces the chal-
lenge of pregnancy in early age, lack of education
and knowledge, unavailability of potable water
and cleanliness. Amid all this, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi drew upon his experience as the
Gujarat Chief Minister for taking the fight across safoetida, commonly known as heeng, is one
malnutrition across the nation beginning in 2014. Aof the top condiments and is a high-value
The Government started working on a war footing spice in India. Every year, India imports about
by building 11 Crore toilets, emphasising on nutri- 1,200 tonnes of raw asafoetida from Afghani-
tion, tap water for all and providing sanitary pad stan, Iran and Uzbekistan, spending nearly $100
for one rupee. Now, special focus is also given on million on it. Now, with the efforts of a CSIR
a good variety of crops -- the bio-fortified variety constituent laboratory, Institute of Himalayan
-- to improve the nutritional value of the grains. Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, a his-
While only one variety of bio-fortified seeds torical shift in farming practices is in the offing.
reached farmers before 2014, now 70 bio-fortified Farmers of the remote Lahaul Valley in Himachal
varieties of different crops are available to them. Pradesh have taken up cultivation of asafoetida
KEY POINTS FROM PRIME MINISTER'S AD- to utilize vast expanses of wasteland in the cold
DRESS desert conditions of the region. The CSIR-IHBT
l Over the years, FAO has played a major role in brought in seeds of asafoetida and developed its
increasing agricultural production, eliminating agro-technology. A lack of planting material of
starvation and improving nutrition around the Ferula assa-foetida plants in India was a major
world including India. bottleneck in cultivation of this crop.
l FAO's World Food Programme receiving
this year's Nobel Peace Prize is also a major INDIA AND FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
achievement. We all know that when the World ORGANISATION
Food Program me was initiated, Dr. Binay Ran- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
jan Sen was the Director General of the FAO. of the United Nations, a specialized agency that
leads international efforts to defeat hunger and
l When India proposed the International Day improve nutrition and food security, was found-
of Yoga, India wanted to spread holistic well- ed in October, 1945. India had a special relation-
ness to all the countries of the world with Zero ship with the FAO. Indian diplomat and Indian
Budget. Civil Service officer Binay Ranjan Sen was its
l During the last few months of the Corona crisis, Director General between November, 1956 and
India has been providing free ration to about 80 December, 1967. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Crore poor. released a commemorative coin to mark 75
l Till 2014, the Food Security Act was in force in years of FAO on October 16, 2020, and to honour
only 11 states and it was implemented effec- the FAO’s spirit of service on behalf of more than
tively in the entire country only after 2014. 130 Crore people of India.
28 New India Samachar
