• The GeM Seller Samvad has been held in Mumbai today wherein numerous beneficiaries spoke about how their business has grown overwhelmingly with the help of the online portal.
• Earlier, GeM’s Business Facilitator for Maharashtra and Daman and Diu, Mr. Nikhil Patil explained how the Government e-Marketplace works as a one-stop online procurement portal for all Central and State Governments, their Ministries and Departments, and Public Sector Undertakings too. Highlighting the advantages for small and medium-scale enterprise vendors, Mr. Patil said, such companies can get loans if required for fulfilling an order received via GeM.
• He added that close to two thousand minor and about 500 major functionalities have been introduced on the GeM portal in the last two years for increasing the ease of doing business.
• Launched in August 2016, GeM has facilitated over one crore transactions valued at over 3.02 Lakh Crore Rupees. Notably, the portal had surpassed the milestone of One Lakh Crore rupees of procurement value in the last fiscal.
• The portal has 62 thousand registered government buyers and 50.90 lakh sellers, from large conglomerates to MSMEs and women Self Help groups. Currently, GeM has about 300 service categories and over ten thousand product categories.

• In Kargil Ladakh, over 2000 runners have participated in Kargil International Marathon. Kargil Hill Council and Ladakh Police have organized the marathon in collaboration with Sarhad Pune. Runners have participated in the full, half, 10K, and 5K categories in the event. The marathon is being organized with the slogan ‘Run for Apricot’, to celebrate the International market entry of Ladakh Apricots.
• Jigmet Namgial and Disket Dolma won the 42 KM Full Marathon in the Men and Women Category respectively.
• CEC LAHDC Kargil Feroz Ahmad Khan said, Kargil and UT Administrations are focused on developing the region as an ultimate destination for adventure tourism and leisure tourism as well. He said, the Kargil International Marathon will be organised on the 17th and 18th of September every year.
• He said, such events are also an opportunity for children to excel in sports and make healthy individuals.
• UT Advisor Umang Narula said, the Administration is promoting Ladakh for Marathon Runs in both Kargil and Leh districts.

• Andaman Nicobar Islands becomes India’s first state/UT to achieve a cent percent coverage of precautionary dose. To date, more than 2,87,216 beneficiaries aged 18 have been vaccinated with a precautionary dose.
• The rate of vaccination has seen a spike after the 15th of July when Government decided to provide precautionary doses free of cost under ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• To intensify the campaign, healthcare workers reached households and numerous camps have organized in urban and rural areas, which received a good response, at last, the set target have been achieved before the set time limit of the 30th of Sept.
• First, the Nicobar district has been fully vaccinated with a precautionary dose. Afterward, the North and Middle Andaman and South Andaman districts were fully covered. Corbevax along with Covishield have been administered as a precautionary dose in the islands.
• Apart from this, the set target of youths under 15-18 yrs and 12-14 yrs age category have been also fully vaccinated.
• A&N Islands have achieved this milestone in all the above three categories. The vaccination drive continues to go on in the islands.

• The state’s first dragon fruit processing plant will be set up in Behad Vitthal village of Gagret subdivision in Una district.
• The Horticulture Department has given the nod for the letter of intent given by Riva Sood, a woman entrepreneur.
• A sum of Rs 1.65 crore will be spent on the unit, while the promoter will get a 35-per cent subsidy on the overall cost.
• As per a government press release, the cultivation of dragon fruit is being promoted in Una district and the provisions of MGNREGA have been detailed to provide benefit to farmers taking to the cultivation of the exotic fruit.
• Quoting Riva Sood, the press release said the climate of Una district was suitable for the cultivation of dragon fruit and many farmers had begun its cultivation.
• Consequently, the processing unit will help address the marketing issues of the farmers.
• The unit will provide direct employment to 15 persons, while about 50 more will be able to earn their livelihood as supply chain links and in nursery rearing.
• The farmers will be able to diversify their agriculture pattern and earn more by switching to cultivation of exotic fruits.
• Dragon fruit has a longer shelf life as compared to many other fruits and fetches Rs 300 to 400 per kg.
• Deputy Commissioner Raghav Sharma said 2,700 dragon fruit saplings have been planted in different parts of Una district through MGNREGA, of which 2,100 have been planted in Bangana subdivision, while the remaining 600 have been planted in Oel village of Gagret subdivision.
• The DC said job card holders of MGNREGA, who are interested in the cultivation of dragon fruit, can contact their respective Block Development Officers or panchayat secretaries.

• The University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, confirmed that cherry trees in the Baghi region in the upper Shimla were being infected by a rare disease phytoplasma, which generally attacks stone fruits.
• Director, Research, of the university Sanjeev Chauhan said, “Samples collected from the affected trees were tested in laboratory”.
• The presence of phytoplasma was confirmed through fluorescence microscopy.
• The spread of this pathogen is through the insect leaf hopper.
• The cherry farmers from the Baghi region had apprised the university a week back of an unknown disease due to which several cherry trees had dried up.
• The university had sent an expert team to inspect the trees. Dr Chauhan said the university would organise awareness camps in September and October to apprise the farmers about the management and control the spread of the disease.
• The university has also issued an advisory of management practices to control the disease.
• “The disease spreads slowly, giving the farmers time to control and curb it.
• It can be controlled if the growers follow the protocols that the university have suggested,” said a scientist requesting anonymity.
• This is not the first time the disease has been detected in the state.
• Phytoplasma was had affected peach trees in Rajgarh of Sirmaur district two decades ago. A farmer of Rajgarh, Prakash Chauhan, said, “Rajgarh was known as the peach bowl of Asia before phytoplasma came.
• The disease was like a slow poison. It destroyed a majority of the peach tree in the region.”
• Deepak Singha, the president of the Plum Growers Association, said immediate steps should be taken to contain the disease.
• “An effective spray schedule should be designed, and the pesticides needed to control the disease should be made on subsidised rates”.

Remedial measures:

• Drench the plants with jeevamrit 2-3 times at weekly intervals.
• Avoid the use of bud sticks from symptomatic trees.
• Use only healthy planting material for raising disease-free nurseries.
• Remove and destroy diseased twigs/branches while pruning.
• Restriction on movement of planting material, including bud sticks, from the affected area.

• The extremist National Socialist Council of Nagalim or the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN has agreed to resume peace talks with the Centre based on the Framework Agreement signed on August 3, 2015.

About:

• The Nagaland Peace Accord is a peace treaty, signed, on 3 August 2015, between the Government of India, and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), to end the insurgency in the state of Nagaland in Northeast India.
• The decision follows a meeting between the 11 representatives of the NSCN(I-M) and the 22-member Core Committee on Naga Political Issue comprising MPs and MLAs of Nagaland at Chumoukedima near the State’s commercial hub, Dimapur.
• There are reports that a Central team has been working on a new set of “formulation papers” for packaging a set of offers, along with the old, to facilitate the final peace deal.

• A three-day National Conference of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Ministers began in Dharamsala.
• Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister for Culture and tourism G Kishan Reddy said, various issues related to the Tourism sector including the promotion of tourism in India will be discussed at the Conference.
• The Union Minister said, the Tourism business has been affected for about two and a half years due to the Corona pandemic and the visit of foreign tourists to the State is yet to begin.
• He said that the suggestions of Tourism Ministers would be taken to prepare the National Tourism Policy.
• After this, a Tourism Policy will be prepared and brought into the Budget Session.

• Former President Ram Nath Kovind has launched a book titled ‘Ambedkar and Modi: Reformer’s Ideas Performer’s Implementation’.
• The book, compiled by Bluekraft Digital Foundation, explores the life and works of Dr BR Ambedkar while drawing a parallel with the initiatives and reforms taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the ideals of the social reformer.
• The book features a foreword by music composer and Rajya Sabha member Ilaiyaraaja.
• It presents a convergence between the ideals of Dr Ambedkar and New India’s development journey.
• Focus has been laid on infrastructure, education, socio-economic mobility, gender equality, and self-reliance in the twelve chapters of the book.

The essence of the book:

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s influence has an overarching impact on the making of Modern India. However, his legacy was sidelined and subjected to institutional neglect.
• The book is a prism that reflects upon the multitude of contributions of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the nation-building process.
• Many of his ideas and interventions continue to define our governance paradigm, especially with PM Narendra Modi at the helm ensuring that his legacy is revived.
• The book studies the points of intersection of India’s development story under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ideals of Babasaheb.
• It also highlights the striking parallels between the two towering personalities that succeeded against all odds and worked to dismantle stifling social structures that they themselves experienced from close quarters.

• International Day of Democracy is celebrated on 15th September.
• September 15th is celebrated annually across the world to strengthen democracies and highlight its values and principles.
• The UN has said, this year, the Day will focus on the importance of media freedom to democracy, peace, and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals.
• On the 15th anniversary of the Democracy Day, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that democracy is backsliding across the World.
• Guetress said, now is the time to stand up for the democratic principles of equality, inclusion, and solidarity.
• He said, this year, we focus on a cornerstone of democratic societies – free, independent, and pluralistic media.
• The UN Chief said, without a free press, democracy cannot survive, without freedom of expression, there is no freedom.

• Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has declared Andaman and Nicobar Islands as India’s first Swachh Sujal Pradesh.
• Speaking at a function in Port Blair, he handed over the certificate to Lieutenant Governor Admiral DK Joshi.
• Now, all villages of Andaman and Nicobar Island have been certified as Har Ghar Jal and verified as open defecation free – ODF plus. Mr Shekhawat congratulated all the islanders for this major achievement and highlighted people participation to complete this journey.
• Stating that now the country is moving towards fulfilling Sampoorn Swachhta, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Mr. Shekhawat said, the Union Government is widely focusing on sanitation and availability of clean and safe drinking water in the last few years.
• He said, as per numerous efforts done, the sanitation level of the country has widened and ODF status has been achieved before the set target as per Sustainable Development Goals, which is a remarkable achievement.
• He further stated that now the focus has been shifted to basics like water, toilets and sanitation as more than one lakh 10 thousand villages became ODF plus.