PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Eligibility of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi
- Safety and Security of Women and Girls
- Garuda VI
- Atal Pension Yojana
- Small Loan Scheme for Poor People
- Proton Therapy
- Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
- Facts for Prelims : Surjit Bhalla Committee
1 . Eligibility of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi
All landholder farmers’ families in the country are eligible for the PM-Kisan Scheme, except those covered under the following exclusion criteria:
- All Institutional Land holders; and
- Farmer families in which one or more of its members belong to following categories :
- Former and present holders of constitutional posts
- Former and present Ministers/ State Ministers and former/present Members of Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha/ State Legislative Assemblies/ State Legislative Councils,former and present Mayors of Municipal Corporations, former and present Chairpersons of District Panchayats.
- All serving or retired officers and employees of Central/ State Government Ministries /Offices/Departments and its field units Central or State PSEs and Attached offices /Autonomous Institutions under Government as well as regular employees of the Local Bodies (Excluding MultiTasking Staff / Class IV/Group D employees)
- All superannuated/retired pensioners whose monthly pension is Rs.10,000/-or more (Excluding Multi Tasking Staff / Class IV/Group D employees)
- All Persons who paid Income Tax in last assessment year.
- Professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, and Architects registered with Professional bodies and carrying out profession by undertaking practices.
2 . Initiatives undertaken by Govt for Safety and Security of Women and Girls
Initiatives undertaken by Govt
- Government has set up Nirbhaya Fund for projects for safety and security of women, for which Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal authority for appraising/ recommending the proposals / schemes to be funded under Nirbhaya Fund.
- In order to facilitate States/UTs, MHA has launched an online analytic tool for police on called “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.
- MHA has launched the “National Database on Sexual Offenders” (NDSO) to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies. NDSO has data of over 5 lakh sexual offenders.
- Emergency Response Support System, which provides a single emergency number (112) based computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress has been operationalized in 20 States/ UTs in 2018-19.
- MHA has launched a cyber-crime portal for citizens to report obscene content. Further, Cyber Crime Forensic Labs have been set up in several States, and training of over 3,664 personnel, including 410 Public Prosecutors and Judicial Officers in identifying, detecting and resolving cyber-crimes against women and children has been imparted.
- Using technology to aid smart policing and safety management, Safe City Projects have been sanctioned in phase I in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai).
- Ministry of Women and Child Development has also introduced the scheme of One Stop Centres to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence and a Scheme for Universalisation of Women Helpline to provide 24 hours emergency and non-emergency response to women affected by violence.
- Ministry of Women and Child Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs has envisaged engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers in States/UTs who will act as a link between police and community and facilitate women in distress.
3 . Garuda VI
About Garuda VI
- Garuda VI is the bilateral exercise between Indian and French Air force
- Sixth edition of Exercise Garuda is being planned at French Air Force Base Mont-de-Marsan in July
- The last exercise, ‘Garuda V’ was held at Air Force Station Jodhpur in Jun 2014.
- Participation of IAF in the exercise will also promote professional interaction, exchange experiences and operational knowledge besides strengthening bilateral relations with the French Air Force. It will also provide a good opportunity to the air warriors to operate in an international environment
4 . Atal Pension Yojana
About Atal Pension Yojana
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY),1 a pension scheme for citizens of India focussed on the unorganised sector workers. Under the APY, guaranteed minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/-, 2,000/-, 3,000/-, 4,000 and 5,000/- per month will be given at the age of 60 years depending on the contributions by the subscribers.
Who can subscribe to APY?
- Any Citizen of India can join APY scheme. The following are the eligibility criteria,
- The age of the subscriber should be between 18 – 40 years.
- He / She should have a savings bank account/ open a savings bank account.
- The prospective applicant should be in possession of mobile number and its details are to be furnished to the bank during registration.
- Government co-contribution is available for 5 years, i.e., from 2015-16 to 2019-20 for the subscribers who join the scheme during the period from 1st June, 2015 to 31st December, 2015 and who are not covered by any Statutory Social Security Schemes and are not income tax payers.
Exceptions
- Beneficiaries who are covered under statutory social security schemes are not eligible to receive Government co-contribution.
- For example, members of the Social Security Schemes under the following enactments would not be eligible to receive Government co-contribution:
- Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952.
- The Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1948.
- Assam Tea PlantationProvident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision, 1955.
- Seamens’ Provident Fund Act, 1966.
- Jammu Kashmir Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1961.
- Any other statutory social security scheme.
5 . Small Loan Scheme for Poor People
Government has various Loan Schemes for benefitting poor people. Some of the Schemes of the Government are as under:
- Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY): provides access to institutional finance to unfunded micro / small business units by extending loans upto Rs.10 lakh for manufacturing, processing, trading, services and activities allied to agriculture.
- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U): The mission aims to provide assistance to all States/UTs in addressing the housing requirement of urban poor including Economically Weaker Section (EWS)/ Low Income Group (LIG).
- Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS) – is an unique Scheme which pivots around the vision that no student desiring to pursue higher education is denied of the opportunity if he/ she is financially poor. This Scheme benefits all categories of economically weaker students for pursuing professional/ technical courses in lndia and intends to provide affordable higher education. Under this scheme full interest subsidy on educational loans upto Rs 7.50 lakh is available during the period of moratorium on loans availed under the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) Model Education Loan Scheme from Scheduled Banks.
- Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM): aims at promoting poverty reduction through building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women and enabling these institutions to access a range of financial services and livelihood services.DAY-NRLM has a provision for interest subvention, to cover the difference between the Lending Rate of the banks and 7% per annum, on all credit from the banks/ financial institutions availed by women Self Help Groups (SHGs), for a maximum of Rs. 3 Lakh per SHG. Further there is also provision of additional interest subvention of 3% for all prompt payee SHG accounts in selected 250 districts.
- Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)- is a centrally sponsored scheme to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.
- Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) Scheme:under the DRI Scheme, banks provide finance up to ₹15,000/- at a concessional rate of interest of 4 percent per annum to the weaker sections of the community for engaging in productive and gainful activities.
6 . Proton Therapy
About Proton Therapy
- Proton therapy is an established type of radiation therapy that uses energy from positively charged particles called protons.
- At high energy, protons can destroy cancer cells. It can also be combined with x-ray radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and/or immunotherapy.
- Like x-ray radiation, proton therapy is a type of external-beam radiation therapy.
- Studies have suggested that proton therapy may cause fewer side effects than traditional radiation, since doctors can better control where the proton beams deposit their energy.
7 . Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
Context : Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)in association with North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) organised the second Conference cum International Buyers-Sellers Meet in Imphal, Manipur
About APEDA
- APEDA, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, promotes export of agricultural and processed food products from India.
- To promote export of agricultural products from NER, APEDA has been organising various buyers- sellers meets to facilitate market linkages of the exporters with international buyers.
- The first international buyers – sellers meet for NER was organized by APEDA in Guwahati in March this year.
- APEDA is conducting regular promotional activities in the area of agriculture exports. It provides support to exporters to set up infrastructure like pack houses and cold storages.
- APEDA also helps exporters to exhibit their products in several national and international expos and exhibitions.
- The Imphal event of international buyers – sellers meet is part of the initiative of APEDA to bring the North-Eastern states of India on the export map of the country.
8 . Facts for Prelims
Surjit Bhalla Committee on Trade and Policy
- High Level Advisory Group (HLAG) headed by Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla has been constituted by the Department of Commerce.
- The HLAG has made several recommendations for boosting India’s share and importance in global merchandise and services trade.
- Among other things, the Report identifies tax reforms also to boost export and investment channels for exports.
- The Committee has recommended “Elephant Bonds” as a specialised security product providing funds towards Long Term Infrastructure.
- HLAG has also made recommendations for reforms in Financial Services Framework for making India a Preferred Destination for financial services.