Soil erosion is defined as the wearing away of the topsoil. Topsoil is the most fertile part of the soil because it contains the most organic and nutrient rich materials. So, wearing away of the topsoil makes the land less fertile and reduces the productivity of the land.

Following are the various types of soil erosion:

1. Water Erosion: It is caused by the action of water either through splash or flow.
   
   

For example, splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill and gully erosion.

1. Wind Erosion: It is common in arid region where soil is chiefly sandy and vegetation cover is poor. It may be of various types like saltation, suspension, surface creep, etc.
   
   
2. Landslides or Slip Erosion: It occurs when hydraulic pressure caused by heavy rains increases the weight of rocks which come under the gravitation force.
   
   

Methods of controlling Soil Erosion:

1. Afforestation and increasing vegetation cover in an area especially on slopes, arid region and wasteland.
   
   

1. Adopting good agronomics practices like,
   
   
2. Contour farming coupled with terracing on the hill slopes to reduce the flow of water.
   
   
3. Mulching, which prevents the soil from wind erosion.
   
   
4. Crop rotation to increase the nutrients in soil.
   
   
5. Strip cropping to check the flow of water and wind.
   
   
6. Mechanical methods like constructing small basin or channel terraces along the slope to intercept the runoff water.
   
   
7. Stream bank protection by growing trees alongside the river bank.
   
   

Soil erosion and loss of fertile soil is a major concern today. India alone has lost millions of fertile lands due to soil erosion and desertification. SDG goals highlight the importance of reducing land degradation in achieving food security. Various government initiatives like increasing forest cover, planting trees on river banks, urban forestry, agro forestry, etc. will help in controlling soil loss due to erosion.

The Look East Policy of India was framed by the Narasimha Rao government in the early nineties.It is a substantial manifestation of India's focused foreign policy orientation towards an immensely resourceful and flourishing region,i.e., South East Asia. 

• It becomes a tool for greater economic engagement with the eastern neighbours and forging strategic partnerships and security cooperation with Southeast Asia and Far East countries – such as Vietnam and Japan.
  
  
• It focused on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries for greater economic integration.
  
  
• The "northeast development concern" was included in the policy in 1997, and it became a role model for the development of the Northeast.
  
  

Given the geographical significance, the Northeast assumes the role of bridging the space between mainland India and other Southeast Asian nations.The Look East Policy contains in it the development mantra of the northeast region of India implicitly. It can be seen as follows-

• Improved Connectivity: Due to geographically connected areas, the emphasis on developing the infrastructure by widening the roads, expanding the air connectivity and railway networks, opening the new trade routes and transit points came into the focus. E.g. the Multimodal Kaladan Project.
  
  
• Market and labour mobility: Better access to the market is linearly equated to peace, prosperity and development. It can also aid in further connectivity and labour mobility in the Border States like Arunachal Pradesh.
  
  
• Internal Security: For the internal security of India related to the Northeast, external factors like China, Myanmar and Bangladesh are important. Good ties with eastern neighbours can help reduce extremist tendencies that take help from the neighbours—E.g. hot pursuit in Myanmar in 2016.
  
  

Only looking at the east is not enough for the development of northeast India; that's why since 2014, the government of India has developed this policy further in Acting with the east. Many other regional organizations like SAARC, BIIMSTEC, and ASEAN aid in the further development of the northeast region.

The Gaganyaan Programme envisages undertaking the demonstration of human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the short-term and will lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration programme in the long run.

Significance of the mission:

It has both tangible and intangible benefits for the nation, which includes:

1. Progress towards a sustained and affordable human and robotic programme to explore the solar system and beyond.
   
   
2. Advanced technology capability for undertaking human space exploration, sample return missions and scientific exploration.
   
   
3. Future capability to actively collaborate in global space station development & to carry out scientific experiments of interest to the nation.
   
   
4. Create a broad frame work for wider Academia – Industry partnership in taking up development activities for national development.
   
   
5. Ample scope for employment generation and human resource development in advanced science and R&D activities.
   
   
6. Unique opportunity to inspire and excite Indian youth and steer many students toward careers in science and technology towards challenging jobs that encourage knowledge, innovation and creativity.
   
   
7. The programme will strengthen international partnerships and global security through the sharing of challenging and peaceful goals. Having a vibrant human spaceflight programme can be leveraged as a potent foreign policy tool.
   
   

Gaganyaan’s success will put India into the elite club of space superpowers. It will help India to focus towards achieving capability for a sustained human presence in space and will also be a step forward in developing its own space station in future.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) came into existence when signed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. It is one of the three Rio Conventions. Its ultimate objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. 

Role of UNFCCC in uniting the efforts against climate change:

• It focused largely on facilitating the intergovernmental climate change negotiations in its early years. It supports a complex architecture of bodiesthat serve to advance the implementation of the Convention.
  
  
• Its secretariat organizes and supports 2-4 negotiating sessions each year. The largest and most important is the Conference of the Parties (COPs), held annually and hosted in different locations around the globe. There are a total of 25 COPs to UNFCCC that have met since 1994.
  
  
• The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at its third session in 1997. It is an international treaty to reduce GHG emissions. It is based on common but differentiated responsibilities, keeping in mind the socio-economic development of the concerned countries and the polluter pays principle. 
  
  
• In 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted, which aims to reduce and mitigate GHG emissions.
  
  
• The secretariat provides technical expertise and assists in analyzing and reviewing climate change information reported by Parties and implementing the Kyoto mechanisms.
  
  
• It maintains the registry for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)established under the Paris Agreement. It is a key aspect of the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
  
  

The UNFCCC process has limitations in catalyzing mitigation action in line with a below-2°C trajectory as its focus on GHG emission targets has been too narrow since its inception. However, its significance in a) encouraging the national governments and creating platforms to provide finance, technology transfer, b) forming a global partnership, c) promoting innovative ideas like the Clean Development mechanism (CDM) to fight climate change cannot be ignored.

Micro irrigation is a modern method of irrigation; by this method water is irrigated through drippers, sprinklers, foggers and by other emitters on surface or subsurface of the land. In this system water is applied drop by drop nearer the root zone area of the crop.
The drippers are fixed based on the spacing of crop, most suitable for wider spacing crops.

Advantages of micro irrigation system:

• Water saving and higher yield
  
  
• High quality and increased fruit size
  
  
• Suitable for all types of soil
  
  
• Easy method of fertigation and chemigation
  
  
• Saving in labour and field preparation cost
  
  

Major challenges of micro irrigation system:

 Studies from nine states indicate that adoption of micro-irrigation (MI) technologies - drip and sprinkler systems - has a positive impact in terms of water saving, yield and income enhancement at farm level. However, the overall impression among the farmers is that MI is capital intensive and suited only to large farmers who have Access to capital and technical knowhow.

• Finances remains a major challenge with difficulty in getting necessary supports from financial services
  
  
• Lack of awareness on farmer’s part and Lack of reliable guidelines and delay in Government orders
  
  
• Inefficiency in implementation as the implementation agency was changed from a dedicated mission to a component part of NMSA under PMKSY
  
  
• Unavailability of subsidy funds for installation as subsidy reduced from 50% to 35% and allocation of funds under various schemes is declined
  
  
• The main input for an irrigation system is energy, and for large scale projects, only electricity is a viable source which is still beyond the reach of every farmer.
  
  

At one hand, where micro-irrigation is the only probable solution for addressing the rising water crisis, on the other hand the industry is struggling for survival given the cash flow challenges. Considering the risks, bottlenecks and alternatives identified, governments in India have to review the current micro-irrigation strategy to avoid chaos in India’s water management.