02 April 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

April 2nd, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. e-NAM
2. Low Cost Temperature Gun
3. AarogyaSetu App
4. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY)
5. National Corona Survey

1. e-NAM

Context:

Union Agriculture Minister launches new features of e-NAM platform.

Details:

• The new features aim to strengthen agriculture marketing by farmers which will reduce their need to physically come to wholesale mandis  for selling  their harvested produce, at a time when there is critical need to decongest mandis to effectively fight against COVID-19.
• These software modules are:
  • Warehouse based trading module in e-NAM software to facilitate trade from warehouses based on e-NWR (Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts).
  • FPO trading module in e-NAM whereby FPOs can trade their produce from their collection centre without bringing the produce to APMC.
• In addition to facilitate inter-mandi and inter-state trade at this juncture, enhanced version of logistic module has been released whereby aggregators of transport logistic platform have on-boarded which helps users to avail trackable transport facilities for transporting their produce.

Three modules have been launched for enhancing the effectiveness of e-NAM:

I) Launch of Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWRs) module in National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) software.

• Warehouse (Registered with WDRA – Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority) trading module with payment feature is launched to enable small & marginal famers to directly trade their stored produce from selected WDRA registered warehouses which are declared deemed market by the State.
• Farmers will be able to place their produce in WDRA accredited warehouses.
• Already States of Telangana (14 warehouses) & Andhra Pradesh (23 warehouses) declared designated warehouses in the State as deemed market.
• Benefits of e-NWRs integration with e-NAM:
  • Depositor can save the logistics expenses and will have better income.
  • Farmers can sell the  produce across the nation to get better price and at the same time avoid the hassle of mandis.
  • Farmers will be able to place their produce in WDRA accredited warehouses and avail the benefit of pledge loan if required.
  • Price stabilization by matching supply and demand through time and place utility.

II) FPO trading module

• FPO trading module is launched to enable FPOs to upload their produce from their premise/collection centres for bidding. They can upload the picture of the produce and quality parameters from their premises to help distant bidders to visualise the produce before bidding.
• FPOs have the option for delivery of produce either from their premises or by bringing to mandi premise after successful bidding. This will not only decongest the mandis but also reduce the logistics cost for the FPOs.
• Facility provided to FPO to upload assaying report/photo of their produce from their premise to enable traders to visualise the produce before bidding.
• Benefits:
  • This will not only decongest the mandis but also reduce the hassle of FPOs in dealing with mandis.
  • This will help FPOs by reducing transaction costs (Transportation) and enhancing their bargaining power.
  • Facilitates FPOs to avail online payment facility with ease of doing business.

III) Launch of Logistic Module

• Presently, e-NAM provides a database of individual transporters to the traders.
• However, as a quantum response to logistic need by traders, provision has been made for linking large logistic aggregator platforms, which will provide choices to users.
• Traders would be able to use the link to navigate to the logistics provider’s website and select appropriate services.
• With these additions, more than 3,75,000 number of trucks from large logistic providers would be added for logistic purpose.
• Benefits:
  • This will help in seamless transportation of agricultural produce.
  • This will promote inter-State trade under e-NAM by providing online transport facilities for distant buyers.

To know more about e-NAM, click on the linked article.

2. Low Cost Temperature Gun

Context:

Naval Dockyard Mumbai designs low cost Temperature Gun.

Details:

• Naval Dockyard, Mumbai has designed and developed its own handheld IR based temperature sensor for undertaking screening of large number of personnel at the entry gates of the yard reducing the load on the security sentries at the gate.
• The instrument has been manufactured under Rs. 1000/- through in-house resources (which is a fraction of the cost of the Temperature Guns in the market).
• The non-contact thermometer has an Infrared sensor and an LED display integrated with a microcontroller which runs on a 9V battery.
• Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the non-contact thermometers or temperature guns have become scarce in the market and are being sold at a very high cost.
• The most preliminary method to screen a probable patient is to check for body temperature by non-contact means.

3. AarogyaSetu App

Context:

The Government of India launched a mobile app ‘AarogyaSetu’ developed in public-private partnership to bring the people of India together in a resolute fight against COVID-19.

About AarogyaSetu:

• The App joins Digital India for the health and well-being of every Indian.
• It will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the Corona Virus infection.
• It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
• Once installed in a smart phone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone.
• The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts is tested positive.
• The App will help the Government take necessary timely steps for assessing the risk of the spread of COVID-19 infection, and ensuring isolation where required.
• The App’s design ensures privacy-first. The personal data collected by the App is encrypted using state-of-the-art technology and stays secure on the phone till it is needed for facilitating medical intervention.
• Available in 11 languages, the App is ready for pan-India use from day-1 and has a highly scalable architecture.

4. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY)

Context:

The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance had issued detailed guidelines on disbursal of money to beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY) through banks, during the 21-day lockdown to fight COVID-19.

Details:

For more on the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, click on the linked article.

5. National Corona Survey

Context:

Union Minister released the COVID 19 National Preparedness Survey 2020.

About the National Preparedness Survey on COVID-19 (National Corona Survey):

• The survey was conducted in 410 districts within 3 working days to attain a bird’s eye view of the governance challenges of the nation while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Objectives of the Survey:
  • To develop a comparative analysis of COVID 19 preparedness across States.
  • To highlight the main priorities and constraints of COVID 19 preparedness, as they are perceived by the civil servants working in the field.
  • To access enabling factors in making institutional/logistics/hospital preparedness, etc.
  • To capture trends to identify systemic and process related deficiencies, in combating COVID 19 in the districts of India.
• The survey was conducted across all districts of India, with responses from 410 civil servants who are providing field level leadership. District Collectors and IAS officers of (2014-2018) batches who have served as Assistant Secretaries in Government of India participated in the survey.

April 2nd, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

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