1. Ujjwala scheme : 90 lakh beneficiaries did not refill the cylinder
Tags: Government Schemes National News
In the last financial year, 90 lakh beneficiaries of flagship welfare scheme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana did not refill their cylinders.
Along with this, there are about 1 crore beneficiaries who have filled the cylinder only once in a year after taking LPG connection.
About the PM Ujjwala Yojana
It is a central government scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
The aim of the scheme was to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
In the second phase, a target has been set to provide LPG connections to eight crore women by March 2020.
Under this scheme financial assistance of Rs 1600 is provided to BPL families for each LPG connection.
The scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
Nodal Ministry - Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG)
Ujjwala Scheme 2.0
It aims to provide maximum benefits to migrants who live in other states and find it difficult to furnish address proof.
They only have to give "Self Declaration" to get the benefit.
Under Ujjwala 2.0, an additional 10 million LPG connections will be provided to the beneficiaries.
2. Indian Embassy in Ukraine to resume its operation in Kyiv from May 17
Tags: International Relations
India announced on 13 May that its embassy in Ukraine would resume its operations from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv from 17 May.
The embassy was temporarily operating from Warsaw in Poland since mid-March.
Several Western countries have also decided to resume the operation of the embassy from Kyiv.
India had decided to temporarily relocate the embassy to Poland in view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country.
The Russian military was on offensive around Kyiv.
India has moved the embassy after repatriating over 20,000 of its Indian nationals from across Ukraine as part of its mission 'Operation Ganga' launched on February 26 in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
About embassy
An embassy is the base for a country’s diplomatic mission abroad – meaning all of the political, cultural and social relationships between the states.
There is only one embassy for one country in another, this is where the country's ambassador works.
One of the roles of embassies and consulates is to provide assistance to their national citizens abroad.
A consulate is where consular services are performed.
Embassies generally have a consular section.
3. NITI Ayog launches National Data and Analytics Platform
Tags: National News
NITI Aayog launched the National Data and Analytics Platform on 13 May.
The Platform was launched by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Beri in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
This public launch follows a beta release of the platform in August 2021 that provided access to a limited number of users for testing and feedback.
The platform will help policymakers, academics and researchers to easily examine data without having to process it.
The portal will have 200 datasets from more than 46 ministries.
New datasets will be added up to the village level in the future.
Aim of the platform
To democratise access to government data by making data accessible, interoperable and interactive for open public use.
About NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog is the premier policy think tank of the Government of India.
The Government of India constituted the NITI Aayog in place of the Planning Commission, which was established in 1950.
This step was taken to better meet the needs and aspirations of the people.
On 18 September 2021, the Prime Minister approved the reconstitution of NITI Aayog, as under:
Chairperson : Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
Vice Chairperson: Dr Rajiv Kumar (currently Suman Beri)
Full-Time Members:
VK Saraswat
Prof. Ramesh Chand
Dr VK Paul
Ex-Officio Members:
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
4. The extended range version of the air-to-air BrahMos missile was successfully launched
Tags: National Science and Technology
The extended range version of the air-to-air BrahMos missile was successfully launched from a Sukhoi-30 Mark-I fighter aircraft.
During the test, the missile hit the target accurately in the Bay of Bengal.
This was the first launch of the extended-range version of the BrahMos missile from a Sukhoi-30 Mark-I fighter aircraft.
The advanced version of this missile has a range of around 350 kms while the original missile had a range of around 290 kms.
Indian Defence Research Organisation (DRDO), Indian Navy, BAPL and HAL were involved in this test along with the Indian Air Force.
Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft
The Sukhoi 30 MKI is the flagship fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
This fighter aircraft is made in collaboration with Russia's military aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
It was inducted into the Indian Air Force in the year 2002 and since 2004, they have been manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
This aircraft can attack at a distance of 3000 km.
About BrahMos missile
BrahMos is a short-range ramjet, supersonic cruise missile.
It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or even from land.
It has been jointly developed by Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Brahmos is named after the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva river of Russia.
Features of BrahMos
It can change course in the air and can also hit the moving target.
It can fly at a height of 10 metres and is not caught by radar.
5. Saudi Aramco overtakes Apple as world’s most valuable company
Tags: International News
Recently, Saudi petro company Aramco overtook Apple and received the status of the world's most valuable company.
Apple shares fell due to a slowdown in the technology sector, while the Saudi company's shares rose due to the continuous rise in oil prices.
Due to the fall in stocks, Apple's market cap has dropped 20 per cent to 2.37 lakh crore, while Aramco's market cap has climbed 28 per cent to 2.42 lakh crore.
Aramco's profits have soared 124 per cent after the sharp rise in worldwide oil prices following the Russo-Ukraine war.
Important facts
Establishment of Saudi Aramco- 1933;
Saudi Aramco Headquarters- Dhahran, Saudi Arabia;
Saudi Aramco CEO- Amin H. Nasser
6. BHARAT TAP Initiative launched
Tags: National News
The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs launched the BHARAT TAP initiative at the ‘Plumbex India’ exhibition on 12 May.
At the exhibition, NARDECO (National Real Estate Development Council) MAHI’s ‘Nirmal Jal Prayas’ initiative was also launched.
About BHARAT TAP Initiative
It will provide large-scale low flow, sanitary-ware thereby significantly reducing water consumption at the source.
This is expected to save about 40% water.
This will result in water saving and energy saving due to less water.
The initiative will be rolled out across the country and will lead to a renewed focus on water conservation efforts.
About MAHI’s ‘Nirmal Jal Prayas’ initiative
The initiative of Nirmal Jal Prayas will focus on groundwater mapping.
This initiative is very important to save ground water and it will save 500 crore litres of water per year.
7. MoU signs with UNDP for strategic partnership on Agriculture, Crop Insurance and Credit
Tags: National News
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and United Nations Development Program have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
Under this UNDP will provide technical support towards Centre’s aspirational Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme (PMFBY) and Kisan Credit Card - Modified Interest Subvention Scheme.
UNDP will support the Ministry of Agriculture for the implementation of combined agricultural credit and crop insurance.
While farmers paid a twenty one thousand crore rupees premium under PMFBY, they have received more than one lakh fifteen thousand crore rupees as compensation.
Under the Kisan Credit Card scheme, extensive efforts are being made to give benefits to those farmers who were not able to take advantage of the scheme earlier.
About The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
It is the leading agency of the United Nations.
It works to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality in 170 countries and territories.
It helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Its work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.
8. MSME Secretary inaugurates ‘MEGA JOB FAIR’ in New Delhi
Tags: National News
MSME Secretary BB Swain inaugurated a 'Mega Job Fair' and a new testing facility for MSMEs at the Technical Service Centre of National Small Industries Corporation, Okhla in New Delhi.
Objective of this fair was to provide employment opportunities to the students who are passing out from different courses being conducted in the Centre.
More than 30 major companies were present with various job offers for the students.
About MSME Sector
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy in the last five decades.
MSMEs play a vital role in providing large employment opportunities at comparatively low capital cost as compared to large industries.
It helps in industrialization of rural and backward areas, thereby reducing regional imbalances, ensuring equitable distribution of national income and wealth.
This sector contributes a lot to the socio-economic development of the country.
The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises envision a vibrant MSME sector by promoting growth and development of the MSME Sector, including Khadi, Village and Coir Industries.
9. Over 18 crore Ayushman Cards issued under AB-PMJAY so far
Tags: National Government Schemes
According to the Health Ministry under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY), more than 18 crore Ayushman cards have been issued so far.
This scheme has been implemented to provide health cover to the people.
This scheme has proved to be a boon for the poor people.
More than 3 crore 20 lakh people have availed the hospital facilities under the scheme.
About Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana ( AB- PMJAY)
launched in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It has two components Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs).
Ayushman Bharat is the largest government funded healthcare program in the world.
It offers a sum insured of Rs5 lakh per family for secondary care as well as tertiary care.
Under the scheme cashless and paperless access to services are provided to the beneficiaries.
It is an entitlement-based scheme that targets the beneficiaries identified by the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.
Funds for the scheme are shared between the Center and the states in a 60:40 ratio for all states.
10. India's hypertension control initiative
Tags: National News
A project called the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) found that out of 2.1 million Indians, about 23% have uncontrolled blood pressure.
About Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)
Hypertension is a serious, and growing, health issue in India.
Keeping this fact in mind, the Ministry of Health, Indian Council of Medical Research, State Governments and WHO-India launched a five-year initiative for monitoring and treatment of hypertension.
The programme was launched in November 2017.
In the first year, 26 districts of five states - Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra were covered under IHCI.
By December 2020, IHCI was expanded to 52 districts across ten States — Andhra Pradesh (1), Chhattisgarh (2), Karnataka (2), Kerala (4), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (13), Punjab (5), Tamil Nadu (1), Telangana (13) and West Bengal (5).
What is Hypertension?
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a common condition in which the blood pressure on the artery walls is high, which can lead to a condition such as a heart attack.
Hypertension is defined as having systolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.
Need of IHCI
India is committed to reduce premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.
One of the nine voluntary targets includes reducing the prevalence of high blood pressure by 25% by 2025.
