Prelims Focus 23rd September 2025
Bagram Air Base
In News: The US President wants the United States to take back Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because of its enormous strategic, military, and geopolitical importance.
- The biggest and most strategically important military airfield in Afghanistan is located in Parwan province, about 40–60 kilometers north of Kabul, close to the ancient city of Bagram.
- The Soviet Union constructed it in the 1950s, and it went on to play a crucial role in the Soviet-Afghan War and the Cold War.
- Bagram is a great location for projecting because it is located at the confluence of Iran, Pakistan, Central Asia, and China’s Xinjiang province. military force or surveillance in Eurasia.
- As part of the overall withdrawal from Afghanistan, US forces abandoned the base in July 2021, and the Taliban took control of it soon after.
Sawalkote Project
In News: India is once again concentrating on the stalled Sawalkote initiative, which is a component of the Indus system, in its plan to utilize the river’s hydroelectric capacity.
- The Chenab River, which flows through the Ramban and Udhampur districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, is the location of the planned run-of-the-river hydroelectric power facility known as the Sawalkote Project.
- The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), a Mini Ratna Category-I Public Sector Enterprise of the Indian government under the Ministry of Power, is carrying out the project.
- The goal of the project is to make Jammu and Kashmir a power-surplus area by increasing the availability of electricity in the area, particularly throughout the winter, when outages are common.
Clean Plant Programme (CPP)
In News: The Clean Plant Programme (CPP) was approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2024 with a budget allocation of Rs 1,765.67 crore. It is implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) in association with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), with technical collaboration from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The CPP aims to provide farmers with access to virus-free, high-quality planting material of key fruit and horticulture crops to boost productivity, farmers’ incomes, and enhance India’s position in global horticultural exports.
Objectives and Key Features
- Provide affordable and quality virus-free planting materials to all farmers, regardless of size or socio-economic status.
- Establish nine Clean Plant Centres (CPCs) across India equipped with advanced tissue culture labs and diagnostics to produce and maintain clean planting material.
- Create a robust certification and regulatory framework under the Seeds Act, 1966 to ensure accountability and traceability.
- Support large nurseries with infrastructure and capacity-building programs.
- Benefit consumers by supplying nutritious, virus-free fruits with better taste and shelf life.
- Reduce dependence on imported planting materials by boosting domestic clean plant production.
- Focus crops include grapes, mango, citrus, guava, litchi, avocado, pomegranates, and other tropical and temperate fruits.
Mana Mitra
In News: Mana Mitra is Andhra Pradesh’s WhatsApp-based governance platform launched in January 2025 to deliver over 700 government services digitally via WhatsApp.
- Citizens can access services like certificates, hall tickets, bill payments, and bookings by messaging 9552300009, eliminating the need to visit offices.
- The platform integrates DigiLocker and blockchain for secure documents and is monitored in real-time through the state’s Real Time Governance Society.
- Mana Mitra exemplifies accessible, efficient digital governance and is being studied for replication across India.
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