1. Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 launches National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities
Tags: Government Schemes National News
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has launched the 'National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Waste Free Cities' to strengthen the ongoing mass movement for 'Garbage Free Cities'.
A social revolution has taken place in the field of cleanliness in urban India, in which one hundred and thirty crore citizens have come together in support of the Prime Minister's call for 'Clean India'.
In the last seven years, this government policy for cleanliness has become the world's largest behaviour change programme.
It works on the principles of sustainable urbanisation, circular economy, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the second phase of the 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban' on October 2, 2021, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
It has been designed to make all cities garbage free and achieve the goal of water conservation.
In this, a provision has also been made to store and filter waste water by adopting a complete liquid waste management system in cities with a population of less than 1 lakh.
Under this, 3.5 lakh individual, community and public toilets will be constructed for the population going to urban areas for employment in the next 5 years.
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was launched on October 2, 2014 with the objective of promoting 'cleanliness and Sanitation' in the society and the country.
2. MSME Ministry launches MSME Sustainable Certification Scheme (ZED)
Tags: Government Schemes Popular National News
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Union Minister for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Narayan Rane launched the MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification Scheme.
The scheme is a comprehensive campaign to motivate and encourage MSMEs for ZED certification by adopting Zero Defect Zero Impact (ZED) practices and encouraging them to become MSME champions.
ZED has the potential to become a national movement and aims to provide a roadmap for global competitiveness for India's MSMEs.
Not only will ZED strive to improve productivity and performance, but it has the potential to change the mindset of manufacturers and make them more environmentally conscious.
Through this scheme MSMEs can reduce wastage to a great extent, increase productivity, environmental awareness, save energy, make optimum use of natural resources and expand their markets.
Subsidy Under the Scheme
Under the Scheme, MSMEs will get subsidy as per the following structure, on the cost of ZED certification:
1. Micro Enterprises: 80%
2. Small Enterprises: 60%
3. Medium Enterprises: 50%
Additional subsidy
There will be an additional 10% subsidy for MSMEs owned by women/SC/ST entrepreneurs in NER/Himalayan/LWE/Island areas/Aspirational Districts.
In addition to above, there will be an additional subsidy of 5% for MSMEs which are also a part of the SFURTI OR Micro & Small Enterprises - Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) of the Ministry.
Further, a limited purpose joining reward of Rs 10,000/- will be offered to each MSME once they take the ZED Pledge
Role of Ministry of MSME
It works to promote, develop and support MSMEs in all regions and states.
The Ministry runs more than 20 different schemes such as PMEGP, SFUTI, MSE-CDP, RAMP Scheme, ATI, Udyam Registration, etc.
These schemes offer support and strength in the areas of access to finance, market linkages, technology upgradation, capacity building, innovation/ideation and industrial infrastructure development etc.
3. Indians can now make Payments using UPI in UAE
Tags: Government Schemes Economics/Business
Tourists or migrants arriving in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Indian bank accounts will be able to make payments through UPI to shops, retail establishments and other merchants in the Gulf country.
NPCI and NEOPAY of UAE's Mashreq Bank have partnered for this service.
It will be mandatory for users to have a bank account in India with UPI enabled.
Users will also need an application like BHIM to make UPI payments.
Payment using UPI will be accepted only to those merchants and shops who have NEOPAY terminals.
About UPI
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a single platform that brings together various banking services and facilities.
A UPI ID and PIN are enough to send and receive money.
Real-time bank-to-bank payment can be done using a mobile number or virtual payment address (UPI ID).
It is developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
It is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and transfers funds instantly between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.
4. Jammu & Kashmir Ahead of All Indian States in Creating Self-Employment Under PMEGP
Tags: Government Schemes State News
KVIC has set up the maximum number of manufacturing and service units under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) in Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2021-22 as compared to all other states and union territories in India.
Under PMEGP, in the year 2021-22, the highest number of 1.73 lakh new jobs have been created in all the states and union territories of India in Jammu and Kashmir alone.
21,640 manufacturing and service units were set up in Jammu and Kashmir which is much higher than the larger states like Uttar Pradesh (12,594 units), Madhya Pradesh (8082 units), Tamil Nadu (5972 units), Karnataka (5877) and Gujarat (4140 units).
For the year 2021-22, KVIC had set a target of 3,360 PMEGP units in J&K but buoyed by the Centre's encouragement for local manufacturing, it has set up 21,640 units over 544 per cent of the target.
These units have been set up in Jammu and Kashmir with a total capital of Rs 2101 crore. Out of this, KVIC gave a record margin money subsidy of Rs 467 crore which is highest among all the States/UTs in the country.
Most of the units of PMEGP in J&K in the year 2021-22 have been set up in districts like Baramulla, Budgam, Pulwama, Anantnag, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Bandipora and Doda which are prone to large scale militancy.
In Jammu and Kashmir, out of 21,640 PMEGP units, 16807 (78 per cent) belong to the service sector, 1933 units (9 per cent) are related to rural engineering and bio-technology and 1770 units (8 per cent) belong to agriculture and food processing industry.
About Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program
This scheme was started in the year 2008 by merging the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Generation Programme.
This program has been implemented by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India.
The implementation of this scheme is done by 'Khadi and Village Industries Commission' (KVIC).
PMEGP i.e. Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program is a business loan linked subsidy program.
The objective of this program is to generate employment opportunities in rural and urban areas by promoting the development of new self-employment ventures/micro enterprises/projects.
5. Atal Pension Yojana total enrolments crossed 4 crore
Tags: Government Schemes
The total enrollments under APY Scheme have crossed 4.01 crore as on March 2022 out of which more than 99 lakh APY accounts were opened during FY 2021-22.
The scheme had seen this tremendous success due to the active participation of all categories of Banks.
Around 71% of the enrolments are done by Public-sector banks, 19% by Regional Rural Banks, 6% by Private Sector Banks, 3% by Payment and Small Finance Banks.
State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Central Bank of India achieved annual targets in the Public-sector Bank category.
Out of the total enrolments under APY as on 31st March 2022, nearly 80% subscribers have opted for Rs 1000 pension plan and 13% for Rs 5000 pension plan.
Out of the total APY subscribers 44 % are female subscribers while 56% are male subscribers.
Further, out of the total APY subscribers, 45% are aged between 18 and 25 years.
About Atal Pension Yojana
—Atal Pension Yojana is the guaranteed pension scheme of Government of India administered by Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA).
—The scheme allows any Citizen of India between the age group of 18-40 years to join through the bank or post office branches where one has the savings bank account.
—Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs1000 to Rs 5000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending upon his contribution.
—On the death of the subscriber, the spouse is guaranteed pension for life.
—In case of death of both the subscriber and his/her wife/husband, the entire pension amount is paid to the nominee.
6. PM Modi Announces Plan To Issue AYUSH Visas For Foreigners
Tags: Government Schemes Popular
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre would soon introduce a special Ayush visa category for foreign nationals who want to come to India to take advantage of traditional medicine.
It will be a part of initiatives to promote medical tourism.
With this visa, it will be easier for foreigners to come to India for AYUSH treatment.
Ayush methods of treatment are Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
It aims to further promote medical tourism in the country with a special focus on treatment under traditional systems of medicine.
Just as traditional medicine has given a boost to tourism in Kerala, it has the same potential in every nook and corner of the country.
As the acceptance of traditional medicines is growing, the market for the Ayush products has grown multifold since 2014 from about Three Billion Dollars to about $18.2 Billion now.
Tedros announced holding an annual international meet for Traditional medicines in Gujarat.
The first meeting will be held next year, when WHO and India together celebrate 75 years.
Other important announcements by PM
—Special AYUSH hallmark for high quality AYUSH products
—Expansion of AYUSH e-marketplace to enable farmers involved in growing medicinal plants to easily connect with the market.
—India will set up a network of Ayush Parks in the country to popularise Ayush products, encourage manufacturing and R&D in the area.
7. “UDAN” scheme selected for Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration
Tags: National Government Schemes
The UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) Scheme has been selected for Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2020 under the category “Innovation (General) – Central”.
Ministry of Civil Aviation will receive the award on 21st April i.e. Civil Services Day.
A special event has been organised by the Government of India at VigyanBhawan on the occasion of “Civil Service Day” where the representative of the ministry will be facilitated with the award.
Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration
–Government of India has instituted this scheme in 2006
–its purpose is to acknowledge, recognize and reward the extraordinary and innovative work done by Districts/ Organisations of the Central and State Governments.
–The Scheme was restructured in 2014 for recognizing the performance of District Collectors in Priority Programs, Innovations and Aspirational Districts.
–The Scheme was restructured again in 2020, to recognize the performance of District Collectors towards economic development of the District.
UDAN Scheme
–It was launched under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016.
–its objective is to develop the regional aviation market.
–It is also known as the regional connectivity scheme (RCS)
–it seeks to improve air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities through revival of unused and underused airports.
–The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments.
–The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.
8. e-DAR portal - speed up accident compensation claims
Tags: Government Schemes
The Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has developed the portal named ‘e-DAR’ (e-Detailed Accident Report).
The portal will provide instant information on road accidents with a few clicks and help accelerate accident compensation claims, bringing relief to victims’ families.
Digitalised Detailed Accident Reports (DAR) will be uploaded on the portal for easy access.
The web portal will be linked to the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD).
From iRAD, applications to more than 90% of the datasets would be pushed directly to the e-DAR.
Stakeholders like the police, road authorities, hospitals, etc., are required to enter very minimal information for the e-DAR forms.
Therefore, e-DAR would be an extension and e-version of iRAD.
The portal would be linked to other government portals like Vaahan.
For the benefit of investigating officers, the portal would provide geo tagging of the exact accident spot along with the site map.
Details like photos, video of the accident spot, damaged vehicles, injured victims, eye-witnesses, etc., would be uploaded immediately on the portal.
9. Cabinet approves continuation of RGSA from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2026
Tags: National Government Schemes
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs 13 April 2022 has approved continuation of revamped Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) for implementation during the period from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2026 (co-terminus with XV Finance Commission period) to develop governance capabilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs.5911 crore with the Central Share of Rs.3700 crore and that of State Share of Rs.2211 crore.
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA):
Gram Swaraj Abhiyan was launched on 1st April, 2018. Targets villages where Dalit and tribal people are predominant.
Its goal is to increase social harmony, promote awareness about government programs being run for the poor and make them aware of these schemes. It contains the following provisions:
The extension of this scheme is to all the states and union territories of the country.
Both the central and state components have been included in the scheme.
The share of the Center and the State in the State Governments will be in the ratio of 60:40 respectively.
The Centre-State funding ratio will be 90:10 in the North Eastern and Hill States. The central share will be 10 per cent for all union territories.
