December 26th, 2020, PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. President of India inaugurates/lays the foundation stone for various developmental 
projects in Diu
2. Kisan Rail
3. Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT
4. Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme
5. Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah launched several development projects in Assam
6. Monpa Handmade Paper
7. ‘SahiFasal’ campaign 

1. President of India inaugurates/lays the foundation stone for various developmental projects in Diu

What’s in News?

The President of India inaugurated/laid the foundation stone for various developmental projects in Diu.

• Diu has been putting in efforts in building and maintaining the civic amenities in the Union Territory.
• Due to the efforts, this Union Territory has received about 40 awards and honors’ in the field of social development from various Ministries of the Government of India in the past 4 years.
• With the efforts, Diu city has now become the first city in India, which is fulfilling 100 per cent of its energy requirement during the day with solar energy.
• All the three districts of this Union Territory have been declared ‘Open Defecation Free’.
• Daman and Diu got the first place in the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ of 2019.

2. Kisan Rail

What’s in News?

Prime Minister will flag off the 100th Kisan Rail from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal.

What is Kisan Rail?

• Indian Railways has come up with Kisan Rail for the development of a national cold supply chain for the transportation of perishable traffic.
• In the general budget (2019-20) the Finance Minister announced, “Indian Railways will set up ‘Kisan Rail’ through PPP arrangements. There shall be refrigerated coaches in express and freight trains to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk and meat”.

Details:

• The Indian Railways will set up ‘Kisan Rail’ through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
• Kisan Rail has been a game changer in ensuring fast transportation of agriculture produce across the nation. It has ensured that perishable goods are transported quickly.
• The multi-commodity train service will carry vegetables as well as fruits. Loading and unloading of perishable commodities will be permitted at all enroute stoppages with no bar on size of consignment.
• The Government of India has extended a subsidy of 50% on transportation of fruits and vegetables.

3. Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT

What’s in News?

The Prime Minister launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme for the residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

• SEHAT scheme stands for Social, Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine, a health insurance scheme for the Union Territory.

Details:

• The Scheme provides free of cost insurance cover to all the residents of the UT of J&K.
• The beneficiaries would get free treatment up to 5 lakh rupees under this scheme.
• The treatment is not limited to government and private hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir only. Rather, treatment can be availed from thousands of hospitals empanelled under this scheme in the country.

Read more on Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

4. Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

• Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) are government securities denominated in grams of gold.
• They are substitutes for holding physical gold.
• Investors have to pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity.
• The Bond is issued by Reserve Bank on behalf of Government of India.

Read more on Sovereign Gold Bonds.

5. Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah launched several development projects in Assam

Details:

• The Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone of New Medical College in Guwahati.
  • This will be the second medical college in Guwahati city.
• He also laid the foundation stone of nine law colleges to be built in different parts of Assam.
• He also distributed financial grants to 8,000 Namghars (traditional Vaisnavite monasteries of Assam) under the Assam Darshan programme.

6. Monpa Handmade Paper

What’s in News?

KVIC has commissioned a Monpa handmade paper making unit in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.

• With the committed efforts of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Monpa Handmade Paper Industry has come to life again.
• The Monpa Handmade Paper of Arunachal Pradesh is a heritage art which was driven to the extinction.

Details:

• The art of making Monpa handmade paper originated over 1000 years ago.
• Gradually the art became an integral part of local custom and culture in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The fine-textured handmade paper is called Mon Shugu in the local dialect.
• The Monpa handmade paper, will be made from the bark of a local tree called Shugu Sheng, which has medicinal values too.

Note:

Apart from handmade paper, Tawang is known for two other local crafts – handmade pottery and handmade furniture.

7. ‘SahiFasal’ campaign

‘SahiFasal’ campaign was launched by National Water Mission in 2019 to nudge farmers in the water stressed areas to grow crops which are not water intensive, but use water very efficiently; and are economically remunerative; are healthy and nutritious; suited to the agro-climatic-hydro characteristics of the area; and are environmentally friendly.

Key elements the campaign:

• Creating awareness among farmers on appropriate crops, micro-irrigation, soil moisture conservation etc.
• Weaning the farmers away from water intensive crops like paddy, sugarcane etc to crops like corn, maize etc which require less water.
• Assisting policy makers to frame policies that make effective pricing of inputs (water and electricity).
• Improving procurement and market for these alternate crops, creating appropriate storage them etc, ultimately leading to increase in the income of farmers.

Note:

• In India, 85-89% of water usage is for agricultural purposes and about 5%usage is for drinking and domestic purposes.
• Hence, even a small percentage saving of water in agricultural usage will have a significant impact in water availability for drinking and domestic purposes.
• Under SahiFasal, series of workshops are being organized in the water stressed areas of the country.

Read previous PIB here.

December 26th, 2020, PIB:- Download PDF Here