7 February 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam.

February 7th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Suraj Kund Mela
2. Climate Change Adaption-North Eastern Region (CCA-NER) 
3. Formula for fixing MSP for Paddy and Wheat 
4. Post-Harvest Infrastructure in the States
5. Steps to reduce Dependency on Monsoon
6. Improving Soil Productivity and Fertility
7. Affordable access to Technology at the doorsteps of the farmers
8. Coal India Subsidiary NCL (Northern Coalfields Limited) sets up ‘SARAS’ to promote innovation & R&D
9. DefExpo witnesses signing of Over 200 MoUs, ToTs and product launches
10. DGQA’S Role in MoD Schemes for Incentivizing Defence Manufacturing
11. Intensified Mission Indradhanush
12. Immunisation Coverage
13. Janani Suraksha Yojana
14. National Policy on Rare Diseases
15. Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
16. Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index 2019 Launched
17. Accessible India Campaign in Railways
18. 61 lakh Candidates trained under PMKVY get placement
19. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Report
20. Global Gender Gap Index

1. Suraj Kund Mela

What’s in News?

A fashion show titled “Naturally North-East: The Naga Narrative” was curated by a noted fashion designer and Chief designer of Tribes India and organised by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) under Ministry of Tribal Affairs held at Suraj Kund Mela.

• TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs aims to serve the interest of tribes through socio economic betterment.
• The tribes of India have a wide range of handicrafts. These include handwoven cotton, wool and silk fabrics, woodcrafts, metal craft, terracotta, beadwork, masques and other objects paintings and so on.
• TRIFED has set up a retail chain known as Tribes India to buy the products from tribal and sell the same in market. This in turn is making tribal self-sufficient and providing them with better livelihood opportunities.

Suraj Kund Mela has been covered in 1^st February 2020 PIB Summary and Analysis. Click here to read.

2. Climate Change Adaption-North Eastern Region (CCA-NER)

• CCA-NER is an Indo-German development project financed by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
• The program aims to strengthen adaptive capacities of target groups, therewith reducing their vulnerabilities to climate change in a target-oriented manner.
• The program is being implemented in the states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim representing different geographical and bioclimatic zones of the eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot with rural population as the target group, which is being strengthened for adapting better to the likely consequences of climate change.
• Some key activities carried out are in the areas of Eri Silk value chain, Bamboo value chain, Spring-shed management, marketing linkages for organic products of North-Eastern region, Honey bee value chain and MDoNER-NEC Knowledge Management portal.

3. Formula for fixing MSP for Paddy and Wheat

Background:

Government fixes Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) of 22 mandated crops including paddy, wheat, for every agricultural year and Fair & Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), after considering the views of State Governments and Central Ministries/Departments concerned & other relevant factors.

Details:

• The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep MSP at levels of one and half times of the cost of production.
• Accordingly, Government has increased the MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a return of atleast 50 per cent of cost of production for the agricultural year 2018-19.
• During 2019-20 also, Government has increased the MSP of all mandated kharif and rabi crops in line with the principle of fixing the MSP with a return of atleast 50 per cent of the cost of production.

Read more about Minimum Support Price

4. International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy

Issue:

• As per a Study, All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity (Assessment of Status and Gap), commissioned by National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and conducted by NABARD Consultancy Services Private Limited (NABCONS) in 2015, there has been infrastructural gaps ranging from 10% in the case of cold storages (bulk & hub) to 99.6% in the case of pack houses as compared to the requirement of the level of production of perishable produces like fruits and vegetables.
• Insufficient private investment in such infrastructure and logistics is one of the principal reasons for such gaps.

Steps taken by the Government for improving post-harvest infrastructure in various States of the country:

• Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) assistance is provided for development of post-harvest management and marketing infrastructure such as cold storages, ripening chamber, pack houses, reefer vehicles to farmers to improve marketability of their produce.
• Government of India through National Horticulture Board is implementing scheme for Development of Commercial Horticulture for Production and Post Harvest Management of Horticulture Crops.
• Government is implementing Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) Scheme with major focus for development of pre & post-harvest infrastructure, besides promoting agri-entrepreneurship and innovations.
• The Government is promoting scientific storage facilities for the farmers in the country in rural areas through the scheme of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), which is a sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM).
  • Assistance under the AMI Scheme is available to Individual farmers, Group of farmers/growers, registered Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs) etc.
• Government is implementing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna (PMKSY) scheme with the objective of creation of modern infrastructure along with efficient supply chain management for the entire processing value chain.

5. Steps to reduce Dependency on Monsoon

• The Water Resources Projectsare planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves, as per their own resources and priority.
• In order to supplement their efforts, Government of India provides technical and financial assistance to State Governments to encourage sustainable development and efficient management of water resources through various schemes and programmes such as, Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
• To mitigate the advance impact of drought, State Governments are advised to initiate advance remedial action e.g. constructing water harvesting structures under MGNREGA and other such schemes, promoting agronomic practices for moisture conservation, promoting cultivation of less water consuming crops and restoring irrigation infrastructure by desilting canals, energizing tube-wells and replacing/repairing faulty pumps.
• States have been advised to keep aside about 5 to 10% of fund allocated under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for undertaking appropriate interventions, if the situation so warrants, to minimize the adverse impact of an aberrant monsoon on the agriculture sector.
• The Central Government implements Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) / Central Sector (CS) Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), the Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP), National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), etc. which contribute towards drought proofing.
• Kisan Portal subsumes all mobile based initiatives in the field of agriculture and allied sector.
• The Government of India has also approved funds from the National Disaster Response Fund to the States, which submitted Memorandums in respect of drought, hailstorm and pest attack.

6. Improving Soil Productivity and Fertility

• The Government has introduced Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme to assist State Governments to provide soil health cards to all farmers across the country once in a cycle of 2 years.
• Soil Health Card provides information to farmers on nutrient status of their soil along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility.
• Government is recommending soil test based balanced and integrated nutrient management through conjunctive use of inorganic and organic sources of plant nutrient   to sustain good soil health.
• Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to state governments for the following training of farmers, demonstrations on farmer fields and organizing farmer melas.
• In addition Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) also imparts training, organizes front line demonstrations to educates farmers on this aspect.

7. Affordable access to Technology at the doorsteps of the farmers

• To make available costly and bigger advance farm machinery at the door steps of the farmers on rent basis, Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) are promoted through a dedicated scheme Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM).
• Under SMAM, subsidy is provided at the rate of 40% of the project cost to individual farmer upto a project cost of Rs.60 lakh and 80% to the group of farmers up to a project cost of Rs. 10 lakh.
• A special consideration for the farmers of North Eastern Region (NER) is available, 95% subsidy upto a project cost of Rs. 10 lakh is provided to group of NER farmers for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres.
• For establishment of Hi-tech and Hi-value agricultural machinery CHC,  assistance at the rate of 40% of the project cost to individual farmer upto a project cost of Rs.250 lakh is provided.
• To address air pollution due to crop burning, a new Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ (CRM) for the period from 2018-19 to 2019-20 has been launched.
• Under the scheme to establish Custom Hiring of in-situ crop residue management machinery a financial assistance at the rate of 80% of the project cost is provided to the farmers.
• The Government has developed and launched Multi lingual Mobile App “CHC- Farm Machinery” which helps the farmers in getting rented farm machinery and implements through Custom Hiring Service Centers (CHC) in their area.

8. Coal India Subsidiary NCL (Northern Coalfields Limited) sets up ‘SARAS’ to promote innovation & R&D

• Coal India’s flagship subsidiary NCL has set up a centre named “Science and Applied Research Alliance and Support” (SARAS) to promote Innovation, Research & Development and skill development along with improving company’s operational efficiency and utilize resources at optimum level.
• SARAS will help and enable the company in Integration of Innovation and Research for enhancing coal production, productivity, and safety in mines.
• Besides, the SARAS would also help establish centres of excellence to ensure technical support to R&D along with thrust on quality skill development and employment to local youths in and around company’s operational area.
• Continuous improvement of the existing technical infrastructure of the company for operational efficiency and integrating all initiatives with common tech platforms for optimum utilization of resources are also the objectives of setting up this centre.
• NCL accounts for 15 per cent of India’s coal production and 10 per cent of thermal power generation of the country is met by the coal produced by this Miniratna Company of Govt. of India.
• The company produces more than 100 million tonnes of coal every year.

9. DefExpo witnesses signing of Over 200 MoUs, ToTs and product launches

This topic has been covered in 8^th February Comprehensive News Analysis, under the Prelims Facts segment. Click here to read.

10. DGQA’S Role in MoD Schemes for Incentivizing Defence Manufacturing

What’s in News?

Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA) had conducted a seminar on the Role of Ministry of Defence (MoD) Schemes in Incentivizing Defence Manufacturing at DefExpo 2020 to discuss various Schemes of Defence Ministry to facilitate the domestic defence industry.

• Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti:This Scheme aims at inculcating Intellectual Property (IP) culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem. An Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell (IPFC) has been constituted which has trained more than 15,000 people on IPR and enabled filing of more than 1000 new IPR applications.
• Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS):This Scheme will facilitate in setting up 6 to 8 state-of-the-art test facilities by providing a Grant-in-Aid of Rs 400 Cr. This will provide a major impetus for domestic defence industries as defence testing and certification infrastructure which is necessary for manufacture and production is not available.
• Proof Ranges:DGQA has made available proof ranges and laboratories to the private industry for carrying out dynamic proof trials and development activities at nominal costs.
• Self-Certification & Green Channel: Accord of Green Channel Status and self-certification to qualifying Indian firms is expected to cut down inspection timelines and costs in the foreseeable future. These schemes are meant to target mature products where domestic defence industry has gained reasonable expertise in the technology deployed.
• Defence Export Promotion Scheme (DEPC):The DEPC has been launched with an objective to provide an opportunity for indigenous manufacturers to market their products globally and to enhance annual defence exports to Rs 35,000 crores by 2025.
• Third Party Inspection Scheme:Under this Scheme manufacturers have the option to undertake inspection through Third Party agencies for non-critical defence stores manufactured by the private industry within India.

11. Intensified Mission Indradhanush

What’s in News?

• Government has launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 2.0 with the aim to reach out to partially vaccinated and unvaccinated children with all the available vaccines under Universal Immunization Program (UIP).
• The mission was launched in 2014.

Read more about Intensified Mission Indradhanush

12. Immunisation Coverage

• The immunization coverage in India is at 2% (as per Health Management Information System (HMIS) for April 2019 to Dec 2019).
• However there are still pockets of low coverage.
• The reasons for low immunization coverage identified are:
  • Lack of awareness of benefit of Immunization.
  • Apprehensions of Adverse Effect Following Immunization (AEFI).
  • Travelling of children.
  • Refusal for vaccination.
  • Operational gaps.
• To mitigate the identified reasons of low immunization coverage, strategic interventions like advocacy, social mobilization, community engagement, inter personal communication at family level and media engagement are undertaken.
• Hence, special vaccination drives like Mission Indradhanush, Intensified Mission Indradhanush, Gram Swaraj Abhiyaan (GSA), Extended GSA have been carried out to reach the left out and drop out children from vaccination.

13. Janani Suraksha Yojana

• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission (NHM).
• It is being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.
• Janani Suraksha Yojana was launched in April 2005 by modifying the National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS).
• JSY is a centrally sponsored scheme, which integrates cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care.
• The objective of the scheme is to reduce maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.
• The scheme focuses on poor pregnant woman with a special dispensation for states that have low institutional delivery rates.
• The scheme also provides performance based incentives to women health volunteers known as ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) for promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.

14. National Policy on Rare Diseases

What’s in News?

A draft National Policy for Rare Diseases has been finalized and placed on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with a view to elicit comments.

• The draft policy provides for lowering the incidence of rare diseases based on an integrated preventive strategy encompassing awareness generation and screening programmes and, within the constraints on resources and competing health care priorities, enabling access to affordable health care to patients of rare diseases which are amenable to one-time treatment.
• The draft policy has noted that number of persons suffering from diseases considered rare globally, is lacking in India and accordingly provides that for the purpose of the policy the term rare diseases shall construe three group of disorders identified and categorised by experts based on their clinical experience.
• Considering the limited data available on rare diseases, and in the light of competing health priorities, the focus of the draft policy is on prevention of rare diseases as a priority for all the three groups of rare diseases identified by experts.
• A rare disease is a health condition of particularly low prevalence that affects a small number of people compared with other prevalent disease.

15. Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana

• The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) aims at correcting the imbalances in the availability of affordable healthcare facilities in different parts of the country in general, and augmenting facilities for quality medical education in the under-served States in particular.
• PMSSY, a Central Sector Scheme.
• It has two components
  • Setting up of AIIMS-like Institutions
  • Up-gradation of existing Government Medical Colleges/Institutions in a phased manner.

16. Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index 2019 Launched

What’s in News?

To help assess the progress made in cities through various initiatives and empower them to use evidence to plan, implement & monitor their performance, two Assessment Frameworks, viz. Ease of Living Index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019 have been launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.

• Both these indices are designed to assess quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus Cities.
• Municipal Performance Index 2019:
  • With the Municipal Performance Index, the Ministry has sought to assess the performance of municipalities based on five enablers namely Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance which have been further divided into 20 sectors which will be evaluated across 100 indicators.
  • This will help Municipalities in better planning and management, filling the gaps in city administration, and improving the liveability of cities for its citizens.
• Ease of Living Index 2019:
  • Ease of Living Index is aimed at providing a holistic view of Indian cities – beginning from the services provided by local bodies, the effectiveness of the administration, the outcomes generated through these services in terms of the liveability within cities and, finally, the citizen perception of these outcomes.
  • The key objectives of the Ease of Living Index are four-folds, viz.

1. a) Generate information to guide evidence-based policy making.
2. b) Catalyse action to achieve broader developmental outcomes including the SDG.
3. c) Assess and compare the outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes.
4. d) Obtain the perception of citizens about their view of the services provided by the city administration.

• EoLI 2019 will facilitate the assessment of ease of living of citizens across three pillars: Quality of Life, Economic Ability and Sustainability which are further divided into 14 categories across 50 indicators.
• For the first time, as part of the Ease of Living Index Assessment, a Citizen Perception Survey is being conducted on behalf of the Ministry (which carries 30% of the marks of the Ease of Living Index). This is a very important component of the assessment exercise as it will help in directly capturing perception of citizens with respect to quality of life in their cities.

17. Accessible India Campaign in Railways

What’s in News?

Indian Railways is committed to make its Railway Stations and trains accessible for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) as part of “Sugamya Bharat Mission” or Accessible India Campaign of Government of India.

Read more about Accessible India Campaign

18. 61 lakh Candidates trained under PMKVY get placement

• The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has been implementing Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana (PMKVY 2.0) 2016-20 with a view to imparting skill development training to the prospective youth across 371 courses.
• As of February 2020, 73.47 lakhs youths have been trained while 16.61 lakhs candidates have been placed under this programme.

Read more about Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

19. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Report

• The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative is an economic research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford, England, that was established in 2007.
• The report observes that in India, there were 271 million fewer people in poverty in 2016 than in 2006, which shows improvement in status.
• The report noted that of the 10 selected countries for which changes over time were analysed, India and Cambodia reduced their Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) values the fastest—and they did not leave the poorest groups behind.

20. Global Gender Gap Index

• Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) published by the World Economic Forum in 2018 ranks 149 countries on their status of gender equality through various parameters.
• On this index, India ranked 108^thon its performance on gender equality.
• In the Global Gender Gap Index 2020, the number of countries increased to 153 in which India’s ranking was 112^th.
• India’s score has moved from 0.665 in 2018 to 0.668 in 2020.

Initiatives by the government:

1. Constitutional Provisions – Articles such as Article 14, Article 15 (3), Article 39A, and Article 42 make special provisions for rights of women to ensure gender equality.
2. Legislative Provisions – Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961; Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Act (PCPNDT), 1994; Sexual Harassment of Women and Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013; Equal Remuneration Act, 1976; Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 2017) aimed at mandating women’s rights.
3. Schemes/Programmes –

Economic Participation & Opportunity: Various programmes/Schemes that are intended towards women development and empowerment are:

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) ensures the protection, survival and education of the girl child.
• Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) aims to empower rural women with opportunities for skill development and employment.
• Working Women Hostel (WWH) ensures the safety and security for working women.
• Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV) envisages engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers in States/UTs who act as a link between police and community and facilitates women in distress.
• Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) is an apex micro-finance organization that provides micro-credit at concessional terms to poor women for various livelihood and income generating activities.
• The National Crèche Scheme ensures that women take up gainful employment through providing a safe, secure and stimulating environment to the children.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru VandnaYojna aims to provide maternity benefit  to  pregnant and lactating mothers.
• Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana aims to provide housing under the name of the woman as well.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyay National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) focuses on creating opportunities for women in skill development, leading to market based employment.
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana empowers women and protects their health by providing LPG cylinder free of cost.
• Pradhan Mantri Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna- Under this scheme girls have been economically empowered by opening their bank accounts.
• Female Entrepreneurship- To promote female entrepreneurship, the Government has initiated schemes like Stand Up India and Mahila e-Haat (online marketing platform to support women entrepreneurs/ SHGs/NGOs).
• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) provides access to institutional finance to micro/small business.

Educational Attainment

• Several steps and initiatives have also been taken up in school education system such as National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 and flagship programme like Samagra Shikshaand the subsequent Right to Education Act (RTE).
• Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) have been opened in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs).
• Gender sensitisation is also done which includes gender sensitization module- part of in-service training, construction of toilets for girls, construction of residential quarters for female teachers and curriculum reforms.

Political Participation

• Also, to bring women in the mainstream of political leadership at the grass root level, government has reserved 33% of the seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions for women.
• Capacity Building of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) programme by Ministry of Women and Child is conducted with a view to empower women to participate effectively in the governance processes.

February 7th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

Related Links:

Read more PIB articles here.