1. Union Government extends PMGKAY till December 2022
Tags: Economy/Finance Government Schemes
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 September 2022 has extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY-Phase VII) for a further period of 3 months, October to December 2022. The phase VI of the scheme was to end on 30 September 2022.
This will cover nearly 80 crore beneficiaries across India.
The government has extended the scheme keeping in mind the coming festival season so that there is no additional burden on the poor.
PMGKY is the world's largest food security programme which was launched in April 2020 to provide relief to the poor and migrant population suffering due to the corona -19 induced lockdown and the consequent hardship faced by them.
Features of the PMGKAY
- PMGKAY is a part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor fight the battle against Covid-19.
- Its nodal Ministry is the Ministry of Finance.
- Under this scheme, the government provides additional free of cost 5 kg per person per month food-grains (rice/wheat) to around 80 crore beneficiaries of National Food Security Act (NFSA) including the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) beneficiaries.
- The PMGKAY has now been linked with One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan where migrant workers can get the benefit of the scheme through any ration shops in India.
Financial burden on the central government
- The scheme is fully funded by the government of India
- The government of India has so far spent Rs 3.45 lakh Crore upto Phase-VI of PMGKAY. With the additional expenditure of about Rs. 44,762 Crore for Phase-VII of this scheme, the overall expenditure of PMGKAY will be about Rs. 3.91 lakh crore for all the phases.
- The total outgo in terms of food grains for PMGKAY Phase VII is likely to be about 122 Lakh metric tonnes. The aggregate allocation of food grain for phases I- VII is about 1121 lakh metric tonnes.
Phases of the PMGKAY Scheme
Phase 1 from April to June 2020
Phase II from July to November 2020
Phase III from December 2020 to May 2021 to June 2021
Phase IV from July 2021 to November 2021
Phase V from December 2021 to March 2021
Phase VI from April 2022 to September 2022
Phase VII from October 2022 to December 2022
Important Government Scheme
National Food Security Act (NFSA)
The Public distribution system in India is covered under the National Food Security Act 2013. It was implemented on 10 September 2013.
- It covers all the State and Union Territories in India.
- The scheme is administered by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution.
- The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population.
- Food Grains are provided to beneficiaries in two categories, Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH).
- The Antodaya Anna Yojana beneficiaries get 35 kg of foodgrains per month and the Priority Household gets 5kg per person per month.
- The beneficiary gets rice/wheat or coarse cereals at a highly subsidized price.
2. Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry (MoHUAM) launch Swachh Toycathon
Tags: National Government Schemes National News
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On 26 September, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched Swachh Toycathon, a unique competition to make toys from waste.
Important facts
The competition will be open to individuals and groups to bring innovation to the design of toys using dry waste.
The focus will be on the design of those toys, on the basis of which a large number of toys can be made.
These toys will have to comply with the minimum safety standards.
The competition will be hosted on MyGov innovate India portal.
Center for Creative Learning IIT-Gandhinagar will be the knowledge partner of this competition.
Due to the economic development, income growth and many innovations in the country, the demand for toys has increased tremendously.
The National Toy Action Plan-2020 has been launched to establish India as a global toy hub and promote traditional handmade toys.
National Toy Action Plan-2020
The government has prepared a National Toy Action Plan involving 14 ministries to make the domestic toy industry competitive.
It aims to make India self-reliant in the toy sector and increase the presence of domestic toys in the global market.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and 14 Ministries are implementing various aspects of the scheme.
3. Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates ‘Arogya Manthan’ to mark the anniversary of flagship health scheme of the government
Tags: place in news National Government Schemes Person in news
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the two days (25-26 September 2022) Arogya Manthan 2022 programme in New Delhi on 25 September 2022.
The Arogya Manthan has been organised by the National Health Authority (NHA) to celebrate the 4 years of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and 1 year of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
NHA under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the implementing agency of AB PM-JAY and ABDM.
Speaking on the occasion the minister said that presently 4.5 lakh Ayushman cards are being issued per day and the target is to increase it to 10 lakh Ayushman Cards every day. Ayushman card is issued to the beneficiaries of the AB PM-JAY.
Achievements of the AB PM-JAY
The minister released the annual report, National Health Authority 2021. The main points of the report regarding the two health schemes are as follows:
- The scheme is presently being implemented in 33 states and Union Territory;
- Over 19 crore cards have been issued to the individuals till date of which 52 per cent of them were males and 48 per cent females.
- Under the AB PM-JAY scheme, 3.8 crore of patients were admitted in hospitals across the country with 46% of them in public hospitals and 54% in private hospitals. As much as 52% of these patients were males and 48% were females.
Performance of the states in enrolling patients under AB PM-JAY
- Goa, Kerala, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were the top five states in which empanelled hospitals admitted the highest number of patients as per the AB PM-JAY.
- Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram were the top Northeast/Hilly states.
- Puducherry, Chandigarh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep and Ladakh were the top Union Territories.
Performance of the ABDM
The health minister also said that more than 24 crore ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) has been generated in India.
One crore health records have been linked digitally under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
National Health Protection Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)
- Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23rd September, 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- It is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which provides a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per eligible family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)
- The Prime Minister launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) via video conferencing on 27th September 2021.
- It aims to provide a health ID (now called as ABHA) to every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application.
- The data will be available to doctors, hospitals, health insurance companies so that a seamless health care is provided to the patients.
- It is voluntary and no citizen can be forced to join it.
Chief Executive Officer of National Health Authority : Dr Ram Sewak Sharma
4. Government of India’s flagship programme ’Make In India’ completes 8 years
Tags: National Economy/Finance Government Schemes
The flagship program of the Government of India, 'Make in India’ completed 8 years on 25 September 2022. The programme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 to transform the country into a leading global manufacturing and investment destination.
The initiative is an effort of the government to attract foreign investors to invest in India.
Giving the accomplishment of the Make in India Initiative the Union Commerce Ministry highlighted the following accomplishment of the programme.
- Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across 14 key manufacturing sectors, was launched in 2020-21 as a big boost to Make in India initiative. The PLI Scheme incentivises domestic production in strategic growth sectors where India has comparative advantage.
- Recognising the importance of semiconductors in the world economy, the Government of India has launched a USD 10 billion incentive scheme to build a semiconductor, display, design ecosystem in India.
- The Ministry highlighted that India's export of toys increased to Rs 2601.5 crore in 2021-22 as compared to Rs 1612 crore in 2018-2019, an increase of 61%.
- The Foreign Direct Investment has increased from US $ 45.15 billion in 2014-2015 to record $83.6 billion in 2021-22.
5. Jitendra Singh announces the launch of the “Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries”
Tags: Government Schemes Science and Technology
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced the launch of the Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries” developed by co-leads and active inputs from Brazil, Canada, EC and the United Kingdom.
He was speaking at the 1st Roundtable on “Sustainable Bioenergy and Bio-refineries” at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Under the Global Clean Energy Action Forum the 7th Mission Innovation and 13th Clean Energy Ministerial -2022 are being held jointly from 21-23 September 2022.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
India’s effort in furthering Biorefineries :
- A bio refinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and value-added chemicals from biomass. Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals.
- Dr Singh said that a pilot plant of 10 Tons/day capacity plant with integrated enzyme production is being set up at Panipat Haryana, which will be commissioned by December 2022.This will be the 1st indigenous technology for on-site enzyme production.
- The Minister pointed out that Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has also planned to supply this indigenous enzyme to a commercial 2G ethanol plant of 100 KL/day expected to be commissioned by 2024.
- He also said that India has established 5 Bioenergy Centers, where an interdisciplinary team is working on advanced sustainable biofuels using modern biotechnology tools.
6. Chhattisgarh government to start ‘Hamar beti Hamar mann’ for women safety in the state
Tags: Government Schemes State News
The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a tweet on 23 September 2022, has announced that the government will launch the Hamar beti Hamar Mann’ campaign for the safety of women, especially girls.
The state government will deploy a special women police patrol on girls’ schools, colleges and prominent places where women and girls visit. A mobile number will also be issued for the ‘Hamar Beti-Hamar Maan’ helpline, on which the girls will be able to register their complaints.
The state government has also decided to deploy women prosecutors for the investigation of crimes related to women.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
Chhattisgarh :
- It was known as southern Kosala in ancient times.
- The modern state of Chhattisgarh was created on 1 November 2000 by splitting Madhya Pradesh.
- The state shares boundaries with 6 states. They are Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to the north and northeast, Odisha to the east, Telangana to the south, and Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the west.
- Governor of Chhattisgarh: Anusuiya Uikey
- Capital : Raipur
- High Court seat : Bilaspur
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -
State symbol :
- State Animal : Wild Water Buffalo
- State Bird : Hill Myna
- State Tree : Sal tree
- State Flower : Foxtails Orchid
7. Union Ministry of Food Processing & Agriculture launches Convergence Portal
Tags: National Government Schemes National News
The Government launched a Joint Convergence Portal for various schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing and Agriculture on 21st September.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The portal has been jointly launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI).
The portal has been launched between the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY).
The portal was launched in the presence of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras and Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kailash Chaudhary.
This initiative is going to add a new chapter in the life of micro units engaged in food processing.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund :
It was launched in 2020 as a stimulus package against the Covid-19 crisis.
Its objective is to facilitate medium-long-term debt financing for investment in viable projects for post-harvest infrastructure management and community farm assets.
Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Yojana :
The Ministry of Food Processing launched the Centrally Sponsored PMFME Scheme on June 29, 2020.
Its objective is to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro enterprises in the unorganized sector of the food processing industry and to promote formalization of the sector.
Under this scheme, financial, technical and commercial assistance is provided for the up-gradation of micro food processing enterprises in the country.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana :
It is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
The objective of the scheme is to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
8. Union Minister Anurag Thakur launches capacity building training programme
Tags: National Government Schemes National News
Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on 21 September launched a capacity building training programme in New Delhi for 14,000 youth volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The aim of this ambitious online training program is to enhance the life skills of young volunteers so that they can contribute effectively to national development.
The content of the training program has been carefully crafted and includes in-depth exercises on communication skills, leadership skills and decision making.
This will help create the world's largest skilled workforce.
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan :
It was established in 1972.
Its objective is to provide rural youth avenues to take part in the process of nation building as well providing opportunities for the development of their personality and skills.
It is working on various fronts of youth development with various youth programs of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and special programs in coordination and collaboration with other Ministries.
9. SCALE App launched for skill development in leather sector
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance Government Schemes
Union Minister for Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan launched the SCALE (Skill Certification Assessment for Leather Employees) app at Chennai on 20 September 2022.
He inaugurated the SCALE app while on a visit to the CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
The SCALE App
- The app has been developed by the Leather Skill Sector Council. It provides a one-stop solution for the skilling, learning, assessment, and employment needs of the leather industry.
- The app allows people from all age groups interested in leather craft to access online live streamed classes from the state-of-the-art studio of the Leather Skill Sector Council office.
Leather Industry in India :
- India is the second largest producer and consumer of footwear in the world after China.
- The Leather industry in India accounts for around 13% of the world’s leather production.
- The country accounts for 9% of the world’s footwear production.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -
The major production centers for leather and leather products in India are located in the states of :
- Tamil Nadu – Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Vellore, Pernambut, Trichy, Dindigul and Erode.
- West Bengal – Kolkata.
- Uttar Pradesh – Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Saharanpur
- Maharashtra – Mumbai.
- Punjab – Jalandhar.
- Karnataka – Bangalore.
- Andhra Pradesh – Hyderabad.
- Haryana – Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad.
- Delhi.
- Madhya Pradesh – Dewas.
- Kerala – Calicut and Ernakulam / Cochin.
- Rajasthan - Jaipur.
- Jammu & Kashmir - Srinagar.
- Data Source: Invest India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
10. Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya to launch Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav
Tags: Government Schemes Science and Technology National News
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will launch Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav, a countrywide mega drive for voluntary blood donation from 17th September to 1st October this year. 1st October is observed as the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day.
According to the Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Government plans to set up a database of eligible voluntary blood donors in the country through the nationwide voluntary blood donation drive.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
Aim of the Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav :
- According to the Minister the campaign is aimed at increasing awareness about the need for regular non-remunerated voluntary blood donations.
- It would also ensure that different components of blood including packed red cells, plasma and platelets are available, accessible, affordable and safe.
- Along with filling the current capacity of blood banks in the country, the campaign would also help create a repository of blood donors in the country,
- As per the government, in the year 2021, India had 1.25 crore units of blood against the demand of 1.46 crore units. One unit comprises 350 millilitre of blood.
