THE WISDOM ACADEMY FOR CIVIL SERVICES...THE WISDOM ACADEMY FOR CIVIL SERVICES “YOUR SUCCESS,YOUR...

THE WISDOM ACADEMY FOR CIVIL SERVICES

“YOUR SUCCESS,YOUR WAY,TO BUILD A NATION”

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GOVERNMENT SCHEMES JANUARY 2017

Central Government Schemes

Govt gets 45 initial bids for more than 200 regional routes

i. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has received 45 initial proposals

coming in from 11 bidders covering more than 200 regional routes under

Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) said by Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok

GajapathiRaju on January 18, 2017.

ii. These proposals will cover 65 airports out of of which 52 are unserved and 13

are underserved airports.

Union Cabinet Approves to Launch Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017

As a part of government‘s commitment for financial inclusion and social security

the Union Cabinet has given its post-facto approval to launch Varishtha

Pension Bima Yojana 2017 (VPBY 2017) on January 24, 2017.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) would be the

implementing body of the scheme during the current financial year.

The scheme aims to provide social security to elderly persons aged 60

years during their old age.

Under the scheme, an assured pension with guaranteed rate of return

of 8% per annum would be provided for a period of ten years.

Besides, the nominee would have an option for pension on a monthly

/ quarterly / halfyearly and annual basis.

Telangana and Assam Joins UDAY Scheme

i. Assam and Telangana signed a pact with the Power Minister, PiyushGoyal

to join

the UDAY scheme on January 4, 2017 in New Delhi in a bid to improve the

performance of state run power distribution companies (DISCOM).

ii. Since the launch of the UDAY Scheme, the Power Ministry has signed

Agreements with 18 states to join the Scheme.

Tamil Nadu Becomes 21st State to Join UDAY



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The Tamil Nadu Government signed anMoU with the Ministry of Power on

January 9, 2017 to join the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY)

scheme which aims at reviving the financial turnaround of debt stressed

electricity distribution companies of India (DISCOMs). With the agreement Tamil

Nadu has become the 21st state to join UDAY scheme.

Entrepreneurship Development Scheme inaugurated in Mizoram

The Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (EDS) was launched under the

New Economic Development Policy (NEDP) by Lalmalsawma in Mizoram,

Mizoram Chief Secretary on January 19, 2017.

♦ The State government has allocated Rs.2 Crore for New Economic Development

Policy (NEDP)

Civil Aviation Ministry Announces First Flight under UDAN Scheme to Take off in February 2017

i. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation JayantSinha, on January 19,

2017 announced that the under UDAN (UdeDeshKeAamNaagrik) Scheme

is likely to take off in February 2017.

ii. Presently there are 75 operational airport in the country and after the

implementation of UDAN scheme 43 new airports will be added.

Cabinet approves Amendment in Modified

Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) Prime

Minister ShriNarendraModi approved amendment in the Modified Special

Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) to attract investment in electronics

manufacturing.

The amendment aims to further incentivize investments in Electronic

Sector and further move towards the goal of ‗Net Zero imports‘ in

electronics by 2020.

State Government Schemes

Kerala CM Inaugurates e-Health Kerala scheme at Peroorkada Hospital

i. The Chief Minister of Kerala, PinarayiVijayan launched the IT Project, e-

Health Kerala which is named JeevanRekha on January 25, 2017 at



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Peroorkada Model Government Hospital.

ii. The project has been developed by the Health Department in association with the state

IT Mission. It aims to create a centralized database that will have the complete

healthcare records of all the citizens in the state through the digitization of

government hospitals.

Arunachal launches „DulariKanya‟ scheme to check infant mortality

i. Arunachal Pradesh launched ‗DulariKanya‘, a special scheme to check

infant mortality in the state.

ii. Governor V Shanmuganathan launched the scheme, under which

the government will deposit Rs 20,000 in the bank account of a girl child,

born in any government hospital.

iii. It would be paid along with the accrued interest after she attains 18 years of her age.

Madhya Pradesh Launches Digital Dakiya Scheme For Digital Literacy

i. Madhya Pradesh government inaugurated a first of its kind scheme of the

country, ―Digital Dakiya‖ in Indore on January 14, 2017 to encourage

cashless transaction in the state.

ii .Under the scheme, a Digital Postman referred as Digital Dakiya would

visit door to door in both urban and rural areas to train households

specially women and elderly people about digitized transactions

Anandam Scheme Launched in Madhya Pradesh to Help Poor

i. Madhya Pradesh government lead by Shivraj Singh Chouhan has

launched Aanandam programme of the newly-formed Aanand

Department.

ii. Aim : To help the poor and the needed person.

iii. Aanandam scheme will help the poor people to get the daily needs

like like jackets, sarees, blankets, utensils, school bags from the wealthy

people. For this particular place is alloacted in each district to collect this

items.

Chandrababu Naidu Launches ArogyaRaksha Scheme to cover APL Families



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Chandrbabu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh launched a new health

scheme, ArogyaRaksha Scheme on January 1, 2017 at TummalapalliKalakshetram

in Vijayawada to provide the medical treatment to the people of the Above

Poverty Line at Rs. 1200 premium per annum.

Aim:To achieve the ambitious target of making the state among top three

best developed state in the country by 2020 and first best developed

state by 2050.

Features of ArogyaRaksha Scheme

The ArogyaRaksha Scheme would provide health insurance coverage to about

35 Lakh Above Poverty Line families in the state.

Under the scheme, an end-to-end cashless service would be rendered

to a total of 1044 diseases covered under the scheme. Unlike other

insurance schemes pre existing disease will not be considered.

To avail the ArogyaRaksha scheme benefits, every individual of

the family would be required to pay Rs. 100 per month or Rs.

1200 per annum as policy premium.

A total of 432 hospitals including 80 government general hospitals

have been enrolled for the implementation of the scheme.

The scheme would provide an insurance coverage of up

to Rs. 2 Lakh per annum and free treatment in any 432

corporate hospitals in the state.

The scheme is estimated to cost Rs 160.56 crore and the government

would sanction the necessary allocations for the scheme in the budget

session 2017-2018.

Telangana to Provide Monetary Help of Rs. 1000 to Single Women in State

i. The Telangana Government led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao,

announced a new scheme on January 6, 2017, to provide financial assistance of

Rs. 1000 per month to poor single women in the state.

ii. Making an announcement in the Legislative Assembly, the CM informed that

the new scheme will be implemented from April 2017 and necessary funds

will be allocated in the upcoming budget.



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Government Schemes - February 2017


Sikkim becomes 22nd State to join UDAY

i. India‘s first fully organic state Sikkim has joined the union

government‘s Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) as 22 nd state , the

so called UDAY will in turn hand it an overall benefit of Rs 356 crore.

ii. Upon this decision Sikkim has inked MoU with the union government

under the Scheme UjwalDiscom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) for

operational improvement of the state‘s Power Distribution Department.

iii. The MoU will help in improving operational efficiency of the power

distribution and reduction in AT&C and transmission losses to 15 per cent and

3.50 per cent, respectively, is possibly to bring in added revenue of around Rs

328 crore.

Commerce Ministry approves Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops

i. The Union Ministry of Commerce under NirmalaSitharaman has approved

the pilot Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops (RISPC) on

February 8, 2017 to protect the growers of plantation crops from the twin risks.

ii. Firstly the risks of yield loss due to adverse weather parameters,

pest attacks etc and secondly income loss caused by fall in

international/domestic prices.

iii. The Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops (RISPC) is an

improved version of Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) Scheme, 2003 which was

closed on September 30, 2013.

iv .RISPC will be implemented on a pilot basis for two years covering

tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom and tobacco in eight districts in West

Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu

by the commodity boards.

v. On the basis of performance of the pilot project the Ministry will consider

for extension of the scheme to other districts.

Cabinet approves Rs. 2,351.38 crore „Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan‟ for digital



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literacy The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the ‗Pradhan

Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan‘ (PMGDISHA) on February

8, 2017 to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019.

The outlay for PMGDISHA is Rs.2,351.38 crore.The project will be

carried out in a phased manner. In the FY 2016-17, 25 lakh

candidates will be trained under the programme. Further 275 lakh in

the FY 2017-18 and 300 lakh in the FY 2018-19 would be trained.

The programme would be implemented under the overall supervision

of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs

through their designated State Implementing Agencies, District e-

Governance Society (DeGS), etc.

To ensure that the programme covers overall geographical area,

each of the 250,000 Gram Panchayats have been directed to

register an average of 200-300 candidates.

The scheme will enable the rural people to operate computers and

other digital devices like tablets, smart phones, send and receive

emails, browse internet, access Government Services, undertaking

cashless transactions, etc.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar Adopts Donja Village in Maharashtra For Transformation

i. Indian Cricket Icon Sachin Tendulkar is set to adopt his second village in

Maharashtra for transformation after successfully transforming the lives of

villagers

in PuttamrajuKandriga in Andhra Pradesh which he adopted in 2016 at

an investment of about Rs. 6 crore.

ii. The RajyaSabha MP Sachin Tendulkar is adopting Donja village in

Osmanabad, Maharashtra under the SansadAdarsh Gram Yojna to

transform the undeveloped village into a model one.

iii. Tendulkar has sanctioned over Rs 4 crore from his Members of

Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund for development of

Donja. The total amount will be spent on the development of a school

which is over 70-years-old.

iv .The school will also be replaced with a new school building, a water supply



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scheme, concrete roads, banking services, to set up micro cash-recycler ATMs

and a sewage line attached to the same.

v. Five special village level meetings have been held since the village was

adopted by Tendulkar in which the women were also given the opportunity to

give their suggestions for the village transformation.

vi. Out of 610 households in Donja, 400 did not have toilets but after Tendulkar‘s

adoption, nearly 231 toilets have been built and are in use.

SC Introduces Middle Income Group Scheme to Provide Legal Services at Affordable Rate

i. The Supreme Court has introduced the Middle Income Group (MIG)

Scheme for the middle income group people whose gross income is not

exceeding Rs. 60,000 per month or Rs. 7.5 lakh per annum.

ii. The MIG Legal Aid Scheme is a self-supporting scheme which aims to

provide legal services to the middle income group who cannot afford the

expensive litigation in the Supreme Court.

iii. Under the scheme, middle class people who have the desire to avail the

benefit of the Scheme shall have to fill up the form prescribed and accept all the

terms and conditions contained within and thus can avail the services of the

society for a nominal amount.

Key Features of the Scheme

♦Under the scheme a Supreme Court Middle Income Group

Legal Aid Society (SCMIGLAS) would be set up as a

governing body.

♦ The society will have Chief Justice-of-India as Patron-in-Chief, Attorney

General for India as Ex-officio Vice-President, Solicitor General of India

as Secretary and other senior advocates of the Supreme Court as its

members.

♦The applicants will have to pay a sum of Rs 500 to the Supreme Court

Middle Income Group Legal Aid Society (SCMIGLAS) as service charges.

♦Besides, the applicant shall also have to deposit the fee as indicated by the

Secretary which will be in accordance with the schedule attached to the

scheme.

♦ The Secretary will also be responsible to register the case under the MIG

Legal Aid Scheme and further proceed to forward the papers to the Advocate-

on-Record or the Arguing Counsel or Senior Counsel for opinion.



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♦If Advocate-on-Record is satisfied with the case to be proceeded forward

then only the Society will consider that the applicant is entitled to legal aid.

♦ If the advocate who is appointed under the scheme is found negligent in the

conduct of the case entrusted to him then he will be required to return the brief

together with the fee received by him from the applicant under the scheme.

♦The society will not be responsible for the negligent conduct of the case and

the entire responsibility will be that of the advocate. The name of the

Advocate will be struck off from the panel prepared under the scheme.

CCEA approves 40,000-mw solar park scheme

The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) okayed revised

norms for the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar

Power Projects with the production

target enhancement to 40,000 MW from the present 20,000 MW.

The enhanced target capacity would ensure development of at least 50

solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts

of the country.

In the recent development smaller parks in Himalayan and other

hilly States where contiguous land may be difficult to acquire in view

of the difficult terrain, will also be considered under the scheme.

Government Clears that BetiBachaoBetiPadhao has no provision for cash transfer component

i. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has clarified that

there is no provision for individual cash transfer component in

BetiBachaoBetiPadhao scheme.

ii. The Scheme simply focuses on generating awareness about girl child and

changing the mindsets and deep rooted patriarchy of the society and improve

the efficiency of welfare services for girls.

iii .The clarification came after the report that some unauthorised sites,

organisations, NGOs and individuals were distributing forms in the name of cash

incentive under the scheme.

iv. The centre said that there is no cash incentive associated in any form for

B3P scheme and distribution of such forms was completely illegal.

Cabinet approves Extension of tenure of loans



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under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) of PMAY from 15 to 20 years

i. The Union cabinet led by PM Modi has given its approval on February 1,

2017 to extend the tenure of loans under the Credit Linked Subsidy

Scheme (CLSS) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Mission from the

current 15 years to 20 years.

ii. Besides the scheme has been introduced for the middle income group

(MIG) category and an initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore has been made at

Budgetary Estimate stage in 2017-18 for the proposed CLSS for MIG.

iii. For economically weaker sections of society/Lower Income Group

(LIG), the scheme has been named as CLSS.

iv. The Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) that have signed an MoU with

the Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs), under the CLSS of PMAY (Urban) have also

been directed to extend the necessary conditions of their MoU to CLSS for MIG

with appropriate changes as applicable.

v. The schemes aim to ensure greater participation amongst the

Economically Weaker Section (EWS), LIG and MIG segment of the society to

provide Housing for All by 2022.

vi. The interest subsidy would be disbursed to the home loan account of the

beneficiaries by the PLIs


Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das launches UJALA scheme

i. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das launched energy efficient fans and

LED tube lights under the ‗UnnatJeevan by Affordable LEDs and

Appliances for All‘ (UJALA) scheme in the state.

ii. The UJALA scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services

Limited (EESL), a JV under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government

of India.

iii. In Jharkhand, EESL plans to distribute more than 25 lakh LED tube lights

and one lakh energy efficient fans to people on upfront payment. It is estimated

that over 5.5 lakh consumers will benefit from the scheme.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Launches Chief



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Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) in Assam

Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, launched Chief Minister

Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) in a function held at Sri

SriMadhavdev International Auditorium of SrimantaSankardevKalakshetra in

Guwahati on February 5, 2017 with an aim to develop all the villages to

Assam in the next five years.

Aim: The CMSGUY scheme aims to bring a revolutionary change in the state

by doubling the farm income by 2022 which also marks the 75 anniversary

of India‘s Independence.

The total financial outlay of the CMSGUY scheme is Rs.

30,000 crore. It will be implemented in phased manner in the

villages of Assam till 2021-22.

About the CMSGUY Project

For the propoer implementation of the scheme a Mega Mission Society has

been constituted under the chairmanship of Sarbananda Sonowal.

As per the Situation Assessment Survey done during 2002-03 to

2012-13, the report estimated that the farm income in Assam was

only 0.88 percent as against national average of 5.2 per cent.

The CMSGUY scheme would be launched in a time bound manner. It

would cover each village of the state for complete rural

transformation though massive investment so as to enhance rural

productivity.

It would include focused interventions in direct economic

activities, logistic support including market linkages, and

community support.

Under the 5-year scheme, five teams will be constituted in each block

which will work as a base to implement different missions of the

programme. These teams will prepare development plans for them to

be implemented in each village.

A village knowledge centre will also be set up in each village as a

part of the scheme. Besides, MGNREGA play ground will be built in

each village.

Out of the total outlay of Rs. 30,000 crore of the project, Rs.



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1.20 crore has been planned as average investment to be made

on each revenue village of the state.

In the Union Budget 2017-18, an initial amount of Rs. 500 crore

has already been provided by the Finance Minister to Assam Chief

Minister.

Assam Minister has proposed Rs 1000 crore as a Supplementary

Demand and by the end of the financial year 2017 the CMSGUY will

have Rs 1500 crore.

Government Schemes March 2017


Centre to build 1 crore houses under PMAY-G by 2019

In a written reply to question raised in Lok Sabha, Ram Kripal Yadav -

Minister of State for Rural Development mentioned that Central Govt. has

approved the construction of 1 crore houses under Pradhan Mantri Awaas

Yojana-Grameen (PMAY-G) with the financial outlay of Rs 81,975 crore

during the period of 2016-17 to 2018-19.

This decision is a part of Govt. efforts to achieve ‗Housing For All by

2022‘ mission set by PM Modi.

Moving towards ‗Housing For All‘ by 2022:

Going by provisional figures of Socio Economic and Caste

Census (SECC) 2011, approximately 4 crore rural households in

India are face housing deprivation.

After considering work done in this direction under Indira Awaas

Yojana (IAY) and various State Govt. supported schemes since 2011,

2.95 crore houses still remain to be constructed for achieving the goal

of ‗Housing For All by 2022‘.

This approval to build 1 crore houses under PMAY-G by 2019

constitutes the first phase of action plan.



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Kerala, Tripura & Arunachal Pradesh Takes States‟ List Under UDAY to 26

i. The power ministry has informed that a total of 26 states have now

become the part of the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) with

the recent entry of Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura for the

revival of debt stressed Discoms.

ii. While the state government of Kerala and Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd

along with the government of India signed the UDAY scheme on March 2,

2017, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura joined the scheme on March 29, 2017.

iii. With the participation of the three states in the UDAY, they would have an

overall net benefit of approximately Kerala-Rs 4,178 crore, Arunachal

Pradesh-Rs 309 crore and Tripura-Rs 810 crore due to cheaper funds,

reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency

during the turnaround period.

Government Approves Solar Energy Scheme for Small Powerloom Units

i. The Minister of State for Textiles, Shri Ajay Tamta informed the Lok Sabha

on March 16, 2017 that the Government has approved a new scheme, Solar

Energy Scheme, to provide financial assistance/capital subsidy to small

powerloom units, for installation of Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) plant.

ii. Aim: To mitigate the problem of power cut/ shortage faced by decentralized

powerloom units in the country so as to improve utilization, efficiency,

productivity to face both the domestic and international markets competitively.

iii. The Scheme is meant for Units having 04, 06 & 08 powerlooms and

subsidies for different SPV plants will be given in the range of Rs 2,25,000 to

Rs 8,55,000 depending upon the capacity of the SPV plant (4KWP, 6KWP, 8

KWP).

iv. Besides, the Government of India shall provide financial assistance/capital

subsidy to the extent of 50%, 75% & 90% of the basic cost of the Solar

Energy Plant (Cost of Solar Panel + Inverter + batteries) to the applicants of

General category, SC & ST respectively.

v. The Scheme will come into force with effect from April 1, 2017.



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Government Launches Rs. 52000 lakh Mission Fingerling to achieve Blue Revolution

i. The Union government has launched Mission Fingerling on March 11,

2017 to achieve Blue Revolution with the holistic development and

management of fisheries in the country.

ii. The Blue Revolution programme focuses on creating an environment that

envisages integrated and holistic development and management of fisheries for

the socio economic development of the fishers and fish farmers.

iii. The main motive behind this programme is to enhance the fisheries

production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21.

iv. The Department has identified 20 States based on their potential and other

relevant factors to strengthen the Fish Seed infrastructure in the country.

v. Total expenditure of about Rs. 52000 lakh has been identified by the

government for the programme to establish hatcheries and Fingerling

rearing pond to ensure the fish production of 426 crores fish fingerling, 25.50

crores Post Larvae of shrimp and crab in the country.

Centre Launches New Scheme TIES for Developing Export Linked Infrastructure

The Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

launched a new scheme named Trade Infrastructure for Export

Scheme (TIES) on March 15, 2017 for

developing export linked infrastructure and boost the competitiveness of

India‘s shipments.

Aim: TIES aims to bridge the infrastructure gap in India to ensure

smoother movement of export cargo and also ensure quality standards

and certification measures to promote outbound shipment.

The scheme will have a total budgetary allocation of Rs 600 crore for

three years with an annual outlay of Rs 200 crore.

It will be implemented from April 1, 2017 and span from 2017-18 till 2019-20.

Salient Features of TIES

An inter-ministerial empowered committee under the chairmanship

of commerce secretary Rita Teaotia has been constituted for sanctioning

and monitoring of the project.

The 10 member committee comprises of commerce secretary, DGFT,



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NITI Aayog CEO, joint secretaries from DIPP, Home Affairs Ministry and

Ministry of Development of North East Region.

The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and

upgradation of infrastructure projects with export linkages like the

border haats, land customs stations, quality testing and certification

labs, cold chains, trade promotion centres, dry ports, export

warehousing and packaging, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and

ports/airports cargo terminuses

Besides, TIES would also consider the last and first

mile connectivity projects related to export

logistics.

Under the scheme, priority would be given to the projects

involving significant contribution by the implementing agency and

bank financing for achieving financial closure.

Two states, Rajasthan and Karantaka, have already submitted

project proposals under this scheme.

Centre Approves Rs 756 cr scheme for Treating Cataract Patients

i. The Union Health Minister J P Nadda has announced that an amount of Rs.

756 crore has been approved by the government under a scheme for the

treatment of 786 lakh cataract patients over the period of 5 years.

ii. The aim of the scheme is to eradicate the blindness among people due

to cataract by 2022. The scheme is a part of the National Blindness Control Programme.

iii. Under the scheme the government would provide Rs. 2000 financial

assistance for each cataract operation which would include the cost of

lenses as well.


LED Lights, Energy Saving Fans Distribution Scheme – launched by Virbhadra Singh

i. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh officially launched

the LED Lights, Energy Saving Fans Distribution scheme on March 29,

2017. As the part of the scheme, LED tube lights and energy-efficient fans are

distributed to promote energy saving.



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ii. The distribution of LED tube lights and energy saving fans is carried out

under Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA)

scheme

iii. The Himachal Pradesh government on September 2016, launched the

UJALA scheme to distribute subsidized CLF bulbs and LED lights, which

helped in saving energy worth about Rs 200 crore and the present initiative is

an extension of that scheme.

Arunachal Pradesh Launches Adarsh Gram Yojana for Rural Poor

i. The Arunachal Pradesh government has launched a new scheme Adarsh

Gram Yojana that is in accordance with the basic philosophy of the Prime

Minister ―Sabka Saath Sabka

Vikaas‖ (Collective Efforts Inclusive Growth).

ii. The scheme aims to reach the poor people in rural areas of the state to serve

them better.

iii. Under the scheme, 123 villages (comprising one village per circle)

will be developed as ‗Model Villages‘ during the fiscal year 2017-18.

iv. The state government has allocated an amount of Rs.93 crore in the

Budget 2017-18 for infrastructure development and for creating employment

opportunities and community assets for the people of those villages.

Haryana Government announces Tirtha Darshan Scheme for Senior Citizen

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced Tirtha Darshan

Scheme on March 3, 2017 during the ongoing budget session of the Haryana

Assembly.Under the scheme, senior citizens of Haryana domicile above the age

of 60 years will be able to go on a Pilgrimage within the country at government

expense.

The government would bear the entire cost of the tour of senior

citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

In case of a couple, the expenses of the spouse belonging to BPL family

would also be borne by the government. They would also be allowed to

take an assistant along with them.In case of senior citizens of non-BPL

families, the government would bear only 70 percent of the cost.



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Delhi Govt Extends Midday Meal Scheme for Girls Up To Class 12

i. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government has come up with an initiative to extend

the mid-day meal facility for the girl students upto class 12 in all Delhi government schools.

ii. Currently Delhi provides the facility to all the students of government

schools including boys upto class 8 only.

iii. However, from April 1, 2017, the midday meal service will also include girl

students from 9- 12 also. Later the facility would also cover boys upto class 12.

iv. Delhi government has decided to set aside an amount of Rs. 50 crore for

this purpose in its Budget for 2017-18 to be presented on March 8, 2017.

v. The initiative makes Delhi the ―first state‖ in the country to serve midday meal

up to class 12.

Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami Launches Rs 1580 cr Housing Scheme

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami launched a Housing Scheme

on March 9, 2017 for construction of concrete houses for the economically

poor section of the society.

♦The project is estimated at Rs 1,580 crore and will be implemented

by the state government with financial assistance from the Center.

While launching the scheme, CM Palaniswami gave away work orders to five beneficiaries.

For the current fiscal 2016-17, concrete houses will be constructed for

50,170 beneficiaries in town panchayat limits.

Government Schemes - April 2017


„Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana‟ launched in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

i. On 1s t

April 2017, Mr. Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social

Justice and Empowerment launched, first of its kind ―Rashtriya Vayoshri

Yojana‖ in Nellore; Andhra Pradesh aimed to make life comfortable for



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senior citizens of India.

ii. This scheme has been launched for providing Physical Aids and

Assisted-living Devices to Senior Citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line

(BPL) category who suffer from age related problems viz. hearing

impairment, low vision, dental problems etc.

iii. This scheme was proposed in Union Budget 2015-16 and is fully funded by

Central Government. Money required to run this scheme will be drawn from

Senior Citizens‘ Welfare Fund.

Govt launches PowerTex India scheme for powerloom sector

i. Union Textiles Minister, Ms. Smriti Irani launched PowerTex India

Scheme on 1s t

April 2017 at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra. It is

a gamut of schemes aimed at development of powerloom sector in India

with a special focus on small powerloom weavers. The scheme was

simultaneously launched at 45 locations across India.

ii. She also launched PowerTex India helpline for scheme related

assistance. For nationwide publicity of scheme, a PowerTex van was also

flagged off.

Components of PowerTex India Scheme:

In-situ upgradation scheme of Plain Powerlooms: Provides subsidy to

financially weak powerloom unit owners for upgradation of looms. As

a result of upgradation, productivity and quality of fabrics will

improve, which will provide a competitive edge to powerloom fabrics

in domestic and international markets.

Group Workshed Shceme (GWS): Provides subsidy for construction

of worksheds for shutterless looms. This will provide better working

conditions in terms of more space.

Yarn Bank Scheme: Under this scheme, Government of India will

provide Interest-Free corpus fund to Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or

Consortium to purchase yarn at wholesale price. This will benefit

weavers by eliminating middlemen‘s commission and local suppliers‘

brokerage.

Common Facility Centre: Government of India will provide Rs. 2 crore

subsidy to setup Common Facility Centre having pre-weaving and

post-weaving facilities.

Pradhan Mantri Credit Scheme for Powerloom weavers: Provides



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access to affordable credit facility to powerloom units (including SC,

ST and Women Entrepreneurs) through Pradhan Mantri Mudra

Yojana (PMMY) and Stand-up India. Under PMMY in context of

PowerTex India Scheme, decentralised powerloom unit/weavers will

be

provided 20% margin money of the project cost, subject to a ceiling of

Rs. 1 lakh. They will also get benefit of interest subvention at the rate

of 6% per annum on working capital and term loans up to Rs. 10 lakh

for 5 years. Under Stand-up India in context of PowerTex India

Scheme, SC, ST & Women Entrepreneurs will be provide 25% margin

money of project cost, subject to a ceiling of Rs. 25 lakh.

Solar Energy Scheme: Provides subsidy to set up on-grid or off-grid

Solar Photo Voltaic Plant. This scheme will help weavers to save

power cost and will also promote usage of renewable energy.

Tax venture Capital Fund: Capital required for expansion will be

provided to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises by Ministry of Textiles

through SIDBI Venture Capital Fund Ltd. (SVCL)

Mizoram becomes 27 th State to join UDAY scheme

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Government

of India (GoI) and Mizoram under the scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance

Yojana (UDAY). The agreement was signed for operational improvement of

the State‘s Power Distribution Department.

By this agreement Mizoram would get an overall net benefit of

approximately Rs.198 crores by participating in UDAY

This benefit is achieved in the way of cheaper funds, reduction in

Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) and transmission

losses and interventions in energy efficiency.

Government withdraws subsidy to mild hybrids under FAME scheme

As per a notification issued by Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public

Enterprises, benefits to given to mild hybrid vehicles under FAME India

scheme have been withdrawn with effect from 1s t

April 2017. The notification

also clarified that decision does not apply to sales of mild hybrid vehicles made

to retail purchasers up to 31s t

March 2017.

This news has negatively affected Maruti Suzuki – the largest car



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maker in India, whose popular models ‗Ertiga‘ and ‗Ciaz‘ use hybrid

technology and were eligible for benefits under FAME India scheme.

Beneficiaries of PM‟s Ujjwala Yojana crosses 2 crore mark

i. The number of people benefitting from the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

for providing (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) LPG connections to Below Poverty Line

(BPL) households has crossed 2 crore mark. This feat has been accomplished

in less than a year‘s time since its launch.

ii. This unparalleled success has been attributed to serious efforts made by

Govt. authorities in implementing the scheme.

Cabinet approves closure of Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana

Union Cabinet has approved closure of the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi

Suraksha Yojana (MGPSY). This scheme was launched in 2012 to provide

insurance, resettlement expenses and other social security needs of blue

collar workers going abroad for work to Emigration Check Required (ECR)

countries.

Very low subscription and no new subscription received for more

than a year were the reasons cited for closure of this scheme.

Closure of the scheme will save the recurring administrative and

record-keeping expenditure.

Government reduces number of centrally sponsored schemes to 28

The Government has reduced the number of Centrally Sponsored Schemes

(CSS) from 66 to 28 and effective from the financial year 2016-2017.

i. The GOI has rationalized Centrally Sponsored Schemes based on the

recommendation of the sub group of chief ministers.

ii. The minister has mentioned that 6 Schemes have been categorized as

Core of the Core 20 Schemes as Core Schemes and remaining 2 as

Optional Schemes.

iii. The related Schemes could be merged and implemented as

―Umbrella Schemes‖to administer the satisfactory component in the

line with state specific requirements.



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Lucky Grahak Yojana, Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana

mega draw at Rashtrapati Bhavan On April 9, 2017,

President Pranab Mukherjee will draw lots for Lucky Grahak Yojana (3

Mega Prizes for worth Rs. 1 crore, Rs. 50 lakh, Rs. 25 lakh – for consumers)

and Digi Dhan

Vyapar Yojana (3 Mega Prizes worth Rs 50 lakhs, Rs. 25 lakh, Rs. 12 lakh –

for merchants) at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bahvan.

i. These Mega Prize winners will be felicitated by PM Narendra Modi

on 14th

April 2017 in Nagpur on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.

ii. Till March 30, 2017, 1350000 lucky consumers and 79,519 lucky

merchants have received prizes under these schemes.

Lucky Grahak Yojana (for Consumers):

Starting Date: 25th

December 2016

Daily: Rs. 1000/- each for 15000 lucky winners

Weekly: 7000+ lucky winners. Prizes worth Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10000 and

Rs. 5000

Mega Prize: 3 Mega Prize Winners, Prizes worth Rs. 1 crore, Rs. 50 lakh

and Rs. 25 lakh.

Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana (for Merchants):

Starting From: 25th

December 2016

Weekly: 7000 lucky winners. Prizes worth Rs. 5000, Rs. 5000 and Rs.

2500

Mega Prize: 3 Mega Prize Winners, Prizes worth Rs. 50 lakh and Rs.

25 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh.

For Mega Prizes in both the above schemes, all transactions from 8th

November 2016 will be eligible.

Implementing Agency: National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)

Eligibility: Transaction within the range of Rs 50/- and Rs 3000/- done

through UPI, USSD, Ru Pay cards and Aadhar Enabled Payment

System (AEPS). Transactions through credit cards and e-wallets are

not eligible.

Estimated Expenditure (till 14th

April 2017): Rs. 340 crore

Methodology to Select Winners: Random draw of digital transaction Ids

Government to launch Rs 6000-crore 'SAMPADA' scheme for food processing

Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has announced that her



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ministry will soon approach the Cabinet for the approval for an umbrella

programme ‗Scheme for Agro-Marine Produce Processing and

Development of Agro-Processing Clusters (SAMPADA).‘

About SAMPADA:

Financial Outlay: Rs. 6000 crore

To be implemented by: FY 2019-20

Proposed Schemes to improve food supply chain:

1. ‗Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities‘

2. ‗New Agro-Processing Clusters‘

3. ‗Backward and Forward Linkages‘

Initiative to create Food Processing Infrastructure:

Ms. Harsimrat Kaur also mentioned that in order to ensure seamless transfer of

food products from production place to consumption centre, Govt. will provide up

to Rs 10 crore of subsidy grant or 35% subsidy (whichever is lower) for creating

infrastructure at food clusters, agriculture hubs, food labs and cold chains across

the country.

UP govt, center sign MOU for Power for All scheme

MOU has been signed between Uttar Pradesh government and Centre for the

―Power for All‖ scheme in the state.

Highlights:

i. The main purpose of this scheme is to provide 24-hour quality power

supply in the state by October 2018.

ii. To provide electric connection to every house and agriculture field by 2019.

iii. The cost of the project will be 40 thousand crore and 20 thousand

crore will be spent till 2018.

iv. UP government has also announced 1912 helpline for the power related

complains.Smart meter will also be installed to stop electricity theft.

PM Modi inaugurates maiden Shimla-New Delhi flight under UDAN scheme

On April 26, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged-off first UDAN

flight from Shimla to Delhi under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

PM Modi also flagged off UDAN flights from Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) to



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Hyderabad and Nanded (Maharashtra) to

Hyderabad through video conferencing link.

While flagging-off the Shimla-Delhi flight from Shimla Airport, PM

Modi mentioned that UDAN flights will start operating from 70 airports

across India in next one year.

About Shimla-Delhi UDAN Flight:

Travelling from Delhi to Shimla takes around 10 hours by road journey.

Through the UDAN flight this distance will be covered within an hour.

Exclusive rights to operate flights in Shimla-Delhi sector has been

given to Alliance Air (subsidiary of Air India).

Currently the frequency of this flight‘s round trip is five times a week.

The fare for 24 seats reserved for UDAN passengers on this 70-

seater flight has been fixed at Rs. 2036/- per seat. 3340/- Viability

Gap Funding (VGF) per seat will be provided to Alliance Air for

next 3 years.

Over Rs 1 lakh-cr investment approved for housing of urban poor

Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Ministry of Housing and Urban

Poverty Alleviation has sanctioned 1, 00,537 houses for urban poor.

Key Facts:

i. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Programme launched by the

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA).

ii. Its mission is to make Housing for All by 2022 when the Nation

completes 75 years of its Independence.

iii. The Ministry has approved construction of 18, 75,389 houses for

Economically Weaker Sections under PMAY (Urban) in 2,151 cities and

towns in 34 States/UTs.

iv. Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction /enhancement.

v. Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked

subsidy.

vi. The total investment approved includes central assistance of Rs.29, 409

cr, assistance from State Governments and beneficiary contribution.




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Haryana extends Accidental insurance cover to all residents

One of the most prominent schemes of Modi government Pradhan Mantri

Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) has been implemented by the Haryana

government.

Key Points:

i. The scheme is applicable for 1 year and renew after it. It offers accidental

death and disability cover.

ii. To cover to all Haryana residents in the age group of 18-70 years.

iii. All residents of Haryana must have Aadhaar-enabled saving bank

accounts that are entitled for this scheme.

iv. In case of Accidental death sum insured would be Rs 2 lakh each and Rs

1 lakh in case of total and irrecoverable loss of sight of one eye and loss of use

of one hand or foot due to accident.

v. Aadhaar would be the primary KYC for the bank account and insurance

coverage.

vi. The Premium of Rs 12 per annum will be deducted from the account

holder's savings bank account through 'auto-debit' facility in one instalment on

or before June 1 of each annual coverage period under the scheme.

'Advanced Farming - Enriched Farmer' scheme

announced by Maharashtra Govt Maharashtra State

Govt. has announced ‗Advanced Farming – Enriched Farmer‘ scheme,

with an aim to increase farmers‘ income by cutting production cost and

increasing the output.

i. The scheme will be launched in the upcoming kharif season.

ii. Major Tasks to be executed under 'Advanced Farming - Enriched

Farmer' Scheme 1.Raising production of major crops (up to the

level of its genetic yield potential) 2.Diversification of crops

3. Introducing marketing techniques

4. Uniting farmers through farm producers‘ companies and making them financially stable

iii. Additional measures under 'Advanced Farming - Enriched Farmer' scheme:

♦ Maharashtra Govt. will spend 60% of the fund available for

mechanisation of farming on tractors, power tillers, transplanters, and

machines for polishing, grading, and packing the produce.



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♦ Maharashtra Govt. has also announced to increase grants for construction

of green houses, onion shades and shade nets, among others.

♦ A farmer outreach campaign will also be launched from May 25 to June

8 2017, to inform farmers about the techniques to be used in agriculture

ahead of the kharif season.

Bengal government introduces Social Security

Yojana converges 5 beneficiary schemes The Bengal

government has launched the scheme for unorganized sectors and self-

employed people.

Key Notes:

A common beneficiary programme is prepared for all the sectors and

according to that workers from each of the sectors and their family

members will be benefitted.

Children who will enroll in this scheme will also get education benefits.

5 crore people will get benefit from the Social Security Yojana

and around 1 crore will get direct benefit.

The state government has introduced Social Security Yojana by converging five

separate beneficiary schemes for workers.People will get more benefit from this

new scheme as compared with five earlier schemes.

1. State Assistance Scheme for Provident Fund for Unorganised Sector

2. West Bengal Unorganized Sector Workers‘ Health Security Scheme

3. Social Security scheme for Construction Workers

4. West Bengal Transport Workers Social Security Scheme

5. West Bengal Bidi Workers Welfare Scheme are being converged.

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu relaunches Adarana

The 191st birth anniversary of social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. It is

being celebrated for the first time as a state function. Andhra Pradesh CM

relaunches Adarana.

Key Highlights:

Chandrababu Naidu announced the re-launch of ‗Adarana‘, a

scheme for improving traditional occupations.



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It includes modern tools, technology, marketing, and financial

support that are for the artisans.

It also provides employment in the rural areas those pursuing

traditional occupations to raise their income levels.

Financial assistance was being provided under the ‗NTR

Unnata and Videsi Vidyadarana‘

An assistance of Rs. 2.5 lakh was given for those preparing for all-India

services, Rs. 30,000 was given for Group II, and Rs. 20,000 and Rs.

19,000 respectively for bank POs and clerks.

The Government had allocated Rs. 25,000 crore for the welfare of

the Backward Classes (BCs) during the last three years and Rs.

10,000 crore during the year for BC welfare and development.

Uttar Pradesh govt scraps Samajwadi Pension Scheme

The Uttar Pradesh State Govt., headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

has stalled the Samajwadi Pension Scheme of the previous Samajwadi Party

Govt. under Akhilesh Yadav. He has ordered the officials to conduct a detailed

review of this scheme to ascertain whether the beneficiaries are deserving

candidates fulfilling the eligibility criterion. The officials have been given one

month‘s time to complete this task.

This decision was taken during second cabinet meeting in which CM

Yogi Adityanath was reviewing various social welfare schemes run by

State Welfare Department.

About Samajwadi Pensions Scheme:

Samajwadi Pension Scheme was launched in year 2014 with an aim to

provide financial assistance to 40 lakh below poverty line (BPL)

category families in Uttar Pradesh.

This yojana replaced the erstwhile Rani Laxmibai Pension Yojana.

Under this scheme, BPL families were entitled to monthly pension

of Rs. 500 per month for one year. The beneficiary family had to

follow other conditions which were related to children education,

adult literacy and health standards.

Post completion of one year, the pension was to be hiked by Rs. 50

every year, till the total amount reaches Rs. 750 per month. This hike

of Rs. 50 was subject to fulfilment of other conditions as listed above.



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Non-fulfilment of conditions would result in termination of benefits.

The scheme was being administered by Uttar Pradesh State Welfare Department.

Deendayal Rasoi Yojana launched in 49 districts of MP

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched

subsidized meal scheme at Rs.5 in Gwalior. This scheme helps people to get

economical nutritious and good quality food under the Deendayal Rasoi

Yojana at cheaper rates. It is launched in 49 districts across the state.

i. The scheme includes 49 districts in first phase. Under this scheme the poor

peple will get four chapattis, one vegetable curry and dal everyday between

11 am to 3 pm.

ii. Breakfast will be served at Rs 5 and lunch will be served at Rs.8. All these

arrangements will be done by Level Coordination And Monitoring

Commiittee in which they will monitor all aspects of scheme and at least 2000

people will serve every day.

iii. The budget of this scheme is Rs 10 crore and it will be funded by

Corporate Sector Under Corporate Social Responsibility.

Government Schemes - May 2017


MoAs signed for first wind auction Scheme

The Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for purchase of 1000 MW wind

power under MNRE‘s first wind auction Scheme was signed between PTC India.

i. According to MoAs for meeting their non-solar RPO (Renewable Purchase

Obligations) UP to buy

449.9 MW, Bihar-200 MW, Jharkhand-200 MW, Delhi-100 MW, Assam-50 MW

and Odisha-50MW of wind power.

ii. The Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful wind power developers under the

first wind auction scheme have been issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India

(SECI).

iii. The projects are to be commissioned within 18 months from the date of issue



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of LoA.

iv. With the success of first wind auction scheme, MNRE launched a scheme for

another round of wind auction for 1000 MW capacity wind power projects.

India to give Rs 35 cr to children of freedom fighters in Bangladesh

Under the new ‗Muktijodha scholarship‘ scheme India will give Rs. 35 crore

rupees to

children of freedom fighters in Bangladesh in the next five years.

i. All freedom fighters will be eligible for multiple entries on Indian visa for a period of five years.

ii. Every year 100 of them will be entitled to free medical treatment in Indian hospitals.

iii. Under the scheme, students at higher secondary level will get a one-time

grant of Taka 20,000 (Rs 15,370) and students at the undergraduate level will

get a grant of Taka 50,000 (Rs 38,430).

PM Narendra Modi launches Sampada scheme for value addition of agriculture produce

On May 26, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the new

scheme SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and

Development of Agro- Processing Clusters) which will bring value

addition of agriculture produce and will thereby increase farmers‘ income.

PM announced this scheme at a ceremony for laying the foundation stone of

Indian agricultural research institute in Gogamukh in Assam

Details about SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and

Development of Agro- Processing Clusters):

Financial Outlay: Rs. 6000 crore

To be implemented by: FY 2019-20

PM Modi launches Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Sanchar Kaushal Vikas Pratisthan Scheme

This scheme aims to train rural youth to maintain mobile towers, repair optical

fibres and fix other communication technologies.

Under first phase of this scheme, training will be provided to

10,000 people from 10 States/UTs including Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, Odisha, Punjab and Haryana. Government will spend Rs.



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7 crore for this purpose.

Sinha mentioned that Department of Telecommunications (DoT)

will establish more than 1,000 Sanchar Kaushal Vikas

Pratisthan in future under this scheme.

SAMADHAN - Rajnath Singh coins an acronym to wipe out left-wing terror

A meeting of the Chief Ministers of states affected by Left-Wing Extremism

(LWE), presided over by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was held in

New Delhi on May 8, 2017. In this meeting, Mr. Rajnath Singh announced

SAMADHAN, a new strategy to wipe out left – wing terror.

Other Govt. functionaries who attended the meeting included Ajit

Doval - National Security

Adviser, Rajiv Mehrishi - Union Home Secretary, Director of

Intelligence Bureau, State Heads of Police Department and Heads of the

Central Forces.

Components of SAMADHAN Strategy:

S – Smart Leadership: In LWE affected areas, a Smart Leadership is required that

can boost the

morale of jawans and reorient them towards victory.

A – Aggressive Strategy: Aggression should be inculcated in thinking, operations

and development of infrastructure which can be useful during combat.

M – Motivation and Training: Training based on careful analysis of

enemy‘s strengths and weaknesses should be provided to security

forces

A – Actionable Intelligence: An efficient intelligence network should be

developed by involving locals and surrendered LWE cadre.

D - Dashboard KPIs and KRAs: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key

Result Areas (KRAs) should be outlined for assessing the performance of state

police and the central forces.

H – Harnessing Technology: To gain an edge, Mr. Singh recommended

extensive use of technology such as high-resolution cameras, GPS tracking,

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and satellite images.

A – Action Plan for each Theatre: As LWE is spread across vast geographical

area spanning various states, a specific action plan for each front has to be

prepared.



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N – No access to financing: Mr. Singh mentioned that identifying and choking

up the source of funds of LWE should be the ‗basic mantra‘.


Haryana govt to offer meals at subsidised rates for workers

The Haryana government has decided to open canteens that offer meals at

subsidized rates for workers.

i. It offers meals to registered construction workers under the Antyodaya

Anna Yojana, at 23 locations in the state.

ii. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is a Government of India sponsored scheme

to provide highly subsidized food to millions of the poorest families.

iii. Mobile food vans would also be started at 23 convenient sites with large

number of workers.

iv. Meals would be served in these canteens between 8 am and 2 pm.

Haryana announces pension scheme for journalists

On May 27, 2017, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced

following incentives for journalists at the "Swarna Jayanti Journalists'

Meet" in Panchkula:

i. Rs 10,000 monthly pension scheme, for those who are above 60 years

and have completed 20 years in the profession.

ii. A life insurance covers of Rs 10 lakh and a cashless media claim policy of Rs 500,000.

Government Schemes - June 2017


Cabinet approves Interest Subvention to banks

on Short-Term crop loan to farmers Union Cabinet has

approved the Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for farmers for the year

2017-18.

Salient Features of Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS):

The Central Government will provide interest subvention of 5% per

annum to all prompt payee farmers for short term crop loan up

to one year for loan up to Rs. 3 lakhs borrowed by them during the

year 2017-18.



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The Central Government will provide approximately 20,339

crore as interest subvention for 2017-18.

Government launches VAJRA scheme to attract Indian scientists abroad

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched a scheme

named 'Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty' (VAJRA) on 22nd

of June

2017.

i. It has been done to bring the Indian scientists abroad and India-based

researchers together for conducting joint researches in India.

ii. Under this scheme, scientists or senior researchers abroadof Indian origin

or otherwise can collaborate with faculties.

iii.Under the scheme the broad areas of research like energy, health,

advance material and others would be promoted.


Telangana launches single-woman pension scheme, first in India

On June 4, 2017, Telangana State Government launched single-

woman pension scheme across the state, thereby becoming the first

state in India to launch such scheme.

i. Under this scheme, Telangana State Govt. will provide 1,000 financial

assistance per month to single women. The beneficiaries would get the

pension in their bank accounts every month.

ii. Officials have identified 108302 beneficiaries in 31 districts.

iii. This scheme will benefit unmarried women, joginis and divorced women.

Punjab govt launches 'Chief Minister Scholarship Scheme'

On June 6, 2017, Punjab State government launched the ―Chief Minister

Scholarship Scheme‖ with an aim to provide cheaper and quality technical

education to the meritorious and poor students of the state.

i. The scheme was formally launched jointly by the Punjab Finance Minister

Manpreet Singh Badal and Punjab Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh

Channi after approval from Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

ii. Under the scheme, students scoring 60-70% marks in Class 10 will



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get 70% fee waiver, 80% fee waiver for those getting between 70%

and 80% marks and 90% for those scoring 80-90% marks. Students

with 90-100% marks will get free education.

Madhya Pradesh government launches farmers‟debt relief scheme, allocates Rs 1,000 crore

Madhya Pradesh government has launched a new debt relief scheme

―Krishi Rin Samadhan Yojana‖ for farmers.

i. The cabinet has allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme.

ii. Under this scheme, the interest rate on loans would be less which

would in turn also help defaulting farmers get loan.

iii. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has announced a compensation of

Rs 1 crore for the kith and the kin of the dead farmers.

DDA launches new housing scheme with 12,000 flats

The Delhi Development Authority will launch its new housing scheme on 30th

June.

i. The scheme is being floated under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to

help a large number of people avail subsidy on interest.

ii. The cost of the flats varies from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 1.44 crore,

depending on the type and location.

iii. A majority of these flats fall under the LIG one-bedroom category.

iv. There are 10,000-plus flats in the LIG-one-bedroom category and

the price range is between Rs 14 and Rs 30 lakh.

v. The benefit will range between Rs 2.4 lakh and Rs 2.7 lakh. But only

those allottees can benefit from CLSS who meet the income status and

other criteria of the scheme.

vi. To apply for the flats, people will have to pay Rs 1 lakh for LIG and

Rs 2 lakh for MIG HIG flats as earnest money.

Mizoram launches scheme for better treatment of HIV-Hit people

The Mizoram Health Minister Lal Thanzara has launched the 'Test and

Treat Strategy' of the Mizoram state AIDS Control Society (MSACS)

to improve treatment for HIV affected people in the state.



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i. Under the 'Test and Treat Strategy', the HIV affected people would

be given free Anti Retrovira Therapy (ART) irrespective of the CD4

count.

ii. The Test and Treat Strategy is a new initiative of the Centre to

combat the HIV/AIDS disease.

Government Schemes - July 2017


Arun Jaitley launches Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana pension scheme with 8 pct fixed rate

On July 21, 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley formally launched Pradhan

Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme exclusively for

senior citizens (60 years and above) with 8% fixed rate of interest on their

savings.

More Details aboutPradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY):

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India which has been given the sole

privilege to operate this scheme started offering the scheme from May 4,

2017. The scheme will remain open till May 3, 2018.

It can be purchased offline as well as online through Life Insurance

Corporation (LIC) of India.Pension is payable at the end of each

period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of

monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly as chosen by the pensioner at

the time of purchase.

PMVVY provides an assured return of 8% per annum payable monthly

for 10 years.

Loan up to 75% of purchase price shall be allowed after 3 policy

years to meet the liquidity needs.

The scheme also allows for premature exit for the treatment of

any critical or terminal illness of self or spouse. On such

premature exit, 98% of the purchase price will be refunded.

On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the

purchase price shall be paid to the beneficiary.



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Ministry of Rural Development to launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana

The Ministry of Rural Development will launch a new sub-scheme under

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission

(DAY-NRLM) which will be named as ―Aajeevika

Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)‖.

Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY) – Objectives & Mode of Implementation

As mentioned by Minister of State for Rural Development, Ram Kripal Yadav

the main objectives of AGEY are to provide an alternative source of livelihoods to

members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM by facilitating

them to operate public transport services in backward rural areas.

This will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural

transport services like e-rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler motorised

transport vehicles to connect remote

villages with key services and amenities including access to

markets, education and health for the overall economic

development of the area.

This sub-scheme will be implemented in 250 blocks in the

country on a pilot basis for a period of 3 years from 2017-18 to

2019-20.

One of the options proposed to be given under the sub-scheme is that

the Community Based Organisation (CBO) will provide interest

free loan from its own corpus to Self Help Group member for

purchase of the vehicle.

Government approves construction of 30,000

affordable houses on private land The Centre has

approved the construction of 30,000 houses for the urban poor on

private land in Maharashtra's Sholapur on 25th

of July 2017.

i. It is the first such project to be taken up on private land under PMAY(U).

ii.Itsmain aim is to give momentum to affordable housing in urban areas.

iii .The State Level Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (SLSMC), set up

under PMAY(U), will oversee the implementation of the project.

iv. Central assistance of Rs 1.50 lakh for each beneficiary is provided under



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this component.

v. Under the Centre's flagship programme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

(Urban), the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry gave a nod to central

assistance of Rs 450 crore for the project.

vi. Under PMAY(U) the Raynagar Cooperative Housing Federation, Sholapur

had submitted a proposal to build 30,000 houses for its members comprising

beedi and textile workers and other urban poor belonging to the Economically

Weaker Sections (EWS) at a cost of Rs 1,811 crore.

vii. The cost of each dwelling unit of Rs 6,03,777 has been determined in a

transparent manner with central and state assistance. The delivery price would

be Rs 3,53,777 per house.

viii. The CSMC, in its 24th meeting has approved the construction of

2,84,803 more affordable houses for urban poor under PMAY (U).

ix. Total cost of these houses to be built in six states is Rs 16,407 crore

for which central assistance of Rs 4,272 crore has been approved.

x. Andhra Pradesh has been sanctioned 2,25,245 houses, Uttar

Pradesh 23,322, Tamil Nadu 15,374, Manipur 10,392, Assam 9,767

and Meghalaya 703.

Cabinet approves revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme

On July 26, 2017, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra

Modi gave

approval for revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB)

Scheme with a view to achieve its intended objectives.

Cabinet has approved following changes in Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme:

The investment limit per fiscal year has been increased to 4 kg for

individuals, 4 Kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 Kg for

Trusts and similar entities notified by the Government from time to time.

The ceiling will be counted on financial year basis and will include the

SGBs purchased during the trading in the secondary market.

SGBs will be available ‗on tap‘ (instantly available). Based on the

consultation with NSE, BSE, Banks and Department of Post,

features of product to emulate ‗On Tap‘ sale would be finalised by

Ministry of Finance.

To improve liquidity and tradability of SGBs, appropriate market

making initiatives will be devised. Market makers could be commercial



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banks or any other public sector entity, such as MMTC or any other

entity as decided by Government of India.


UP govt launches free power connection scheme for BPL families

Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Srikant Sharma has launched free power

connection scheme for the BPL card holders in the state on 23rd

of July

2017.

i. The scheme has been launched at 624 places across the state.

ii. The scheme will also benefit the poor people who do not have BPL cards at

present.

iii. Those people who do not have BPL cards will have to pay between Rs 80 to

Rs 120 for getting the power connection.

Delhi govt launches Free Surgery Scheme

Delhi‘s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 8th July, 2017 announced a new

health scheme to enable capital‘s residents avail free surgery in private

hospitals at government‘s cost. This would be applicable in case

government hospitals were unable to operate within one month.

i. According to the scheme, if the waiting period for 52 surgeries — heart

bypass, cataract and kidney stones removal,etc—listed by the government is

more than one month, patients would be eligible to get it done at 48

empanelled hospitals.

ii. The new scheme is open for all residents of Delhi, irrespective of their

income slab. The patient can get the authorization letter from Delhi Arogya

Kosh (Health Fund) after submitting residence proof along with OPD slip.

Maharashtra govt approves revised policy of 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme

The Maharashtra government has approved a revised policy of the 'Majhi

Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme who have a yearly income of upto Rs 7.5 lakh

will be benefited from this

scheme.

i. According to the earlier provisions, the 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme is

for those girls who come under Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and those



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whose annual income was upto Rs 1 lakh.

ii .According to the revised provisions, families having an income upto Rs

7.5 lakh will be eligible for the scheme.

iii. As per the revised provisions after having the first girl child, if the

mother or the father undergoes a family planning operation, a sum of Rs

50,000 shall be deposited in a bank in the name of the girl child.

iv. If any of the parents undergo a family planning operation after having the

second girl child, a sum of Rs 25,000 shall be deposited in the name of both

children.

v. The scheme will be valid only if there are a maximum of two girl children

born. In case a third child is born, the scheme shall become invalid for the first

two as well.

vi. The girl will be able to withdraw the interest money twice - once she

attains 6 years of age and when she turns 12.

vii. The girl will be able to withdraw the principle money plus the interest

when she turns 18, provided she has completed her education upto

Standard 10 and is unmarried.

Shala Siddhi Prohatsan Yojana started in 25,000 MP schools

Madhya Pradesh‘s school education department is going to start programmes

such as

'Hamari Shala Kaisi Ho' and 'Shala Siddhi Karyakram' in all government

schools of the state.

i. It aims to provide qualitative education to the government school

students.

ii. The State Education Centre has also started Shala Siddhi Prohatsan

Yojana under the programme in 25 thousand schools of the state to

encourage best works.

iii. A time table has also been fixed for the award process going by the time

table, the district core committees would be required to form block-level

selection committees by 22nd July.

Punjab launches flagship 'care companion programme' scheme

The Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra has launched a flagship care

companion health scheme on 28th

of July 2017.

i. The main aim is to improve patient outcomes through better family



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engagement and education.

ii. The state department of health and family welfare has signed an MoU

with Noora Health India Trust, a healthcare non-profit organisation, for

implementation of the 'Care Companion Programme' (CCP).

iii .The objective is to reduce the number of infant deaths and complications like infections in the first 30 days post- discharge and ensure adoption of long-term health pro-motive behaviours.

Punjab launches „Apni Gaddi Apni Rozgar‟ scheme

The Punjab government has announced the launch of its flagship 'Apni

Gaddi Apna Rozgar' scheme by flagging off over 100 uber MOTO bikes.

i. Under the scheme the state government will be providing commercial two wheelers and

four wheelers to unemployed youth at subsidised rates.

ii. The scheme aims to generate job opportunities for youth and

providing better mobile transport in Punjab.

iii. In its first phase the Uber bike taxis will run in Mohali,

ludhiana, Zirakpur and Kharar regions of Punjab.

Government Schemes - August 2017


Cabinet approves New Central Sector Scheme – “”Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana”

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the renaming of the

new Central Sector Scheme – SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine

Processing and Development of Agro- Processing Clusters) .‖Pradhan

Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) ―covers for the period of 2016-20

coterminous with the 14th Finance Commission cycle.

The objective of PMKSY is to supplement agriculture,

modernize processing and decrease Agri-Waste.

PMKSY with an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore is expected iv.It will

benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5, 30,500 direct and indirect

employment in the country by the year

2019-20.



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It will provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country.

Axis Bank to waive 12 EMIs on home loans under Shubh Aarambh scheme

Under the new scheme Shubh Aarambh Home Loans Axis Bank will

waive 12 equated monthly installments (EMIs) on regular

repayments of loans of up to Rs 30 lakh.

Key Points:

i. The lender has introduced ShubhAarambh Home Loans, in which 12 EMIs

are waived 4 EMIs each after the fourth, eighth and 12th year from the date

of the first disbursement.

ii. The waiver will be in the form of reduction in tenure.

iii. The loans can be used to purchase an under-construction, ready, resale house, self- construction, and a plot plus construction.


Assam Plans To Introduce Compassionate Family Pension Scheme

On August 20,2017 Assam state government is introducing a new Scheme

called, Scheme for Compassionate Family Pension (CFP) at

GAUHATI.The scheme plans to offer the compassionate family pension

instead of job offers to family members due to some practical difficulties.

i.A new scheme called ‗Scheme for Compassionate Family Pension in lieu of

Compassionate Appointment‘, which will be known as ‗Compassionate Family

Pension Scheme‘ or CFP Scheme. ii.Current Policy couldn‘t satisfy the objectives

completely and legal heir fails to get an appointment immediately due to lack of

educational qualifications and sometimes non-availability of vacancies.

iii.The scheme will be applicable to those employees who died in harness

on or after April 1, 2017, but the relevant office message related to the

compassionate appointments will be applicable to those who died on or

before March 31, 2017.

The new scheme will be applicable to all employees of the state government, all

others as eligible under Assam Services (Pension) Rules, 1969, all state

government employees under NPS category and All India Services officers

borne on Assam cadre.



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Amazon to help implement Karnataka

government’s ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ Scheme Amazon

has announced a partnership with the Akshaya Patra

Foundation to implement the Karnataka government‘s ‗Ksheera

Bhagya‘ Scheme in Bengaluru on 30th

Aug 2017.

Key Notes:

i. Under this scheme schoolchildren would be provided a glass of milk

each five days a week.

ii. The partnership aims to reach out to 170,000 children across 1,300

government schools in the state.

iii. The scheme is developed by Karnataka Milk Federation on Chief

Minister‘s (Siddaramaiah) to help poor children by providing them

nutritious food essential for healthy growth and all-round development of

schoolchildren.

Odisha launched special Programme to prevent spread of malaria

Odisha Government will soon launch ―Durgama Anchalare Malaria

Nirakaran‖ (DAMAN), a special programme to prevent the spread of

malaria in remote areas of Ganjam district.

More Information about Odisha‘s Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran:

The health officials have identified over 135 remote villages under the

jurisdiction of five community health centres as malaria prone areas.

The community health centres that have been identified are

Patrapur, Adapada, Badagada, Dharakote and Gallery.

Under this programme, camps will be held in these remote areas

for mass test for malaria. As many as 103 camps will be held in the

next three months. Around 15,000 people would be covered

under the programme

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

launches Namo Yuva Rojgar Kendra The Chief

Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis has launched Namo Yuva

Rojgar Kendra on 14 August 2017.



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Key Notes:

i.Namo Yuva Rojgar Kendra is an initiative on the part of the state

government to provide job opportunities to the unemployed youth in

Mumbai.

ii. Under the programme, there will be various schemes including farmer‘s weekly

market, farmer‘s mobile market and mother‘s tiffin.

iii. Under this Yuva Rojgar Kendra, Mumbaikars can get fresh and

healthy food, as well as farm, produce procured directly from

farmers.

iv.These products will be made available with the help of mobile vans all

over Mumbai and the information about the location of the vans is made

available through an app.

v. BJP‘s state president Raosaheb Danve, Mumbai president Ashish Shelar,

Agriculture minister for state Sadabhau Khot were also present on the occasion.

Facebook to monitor MSME growth in Odisha, launches SheMeansBusiness

Facebook will monitor the growth of the MSMEs in Odisha after imparting

training to them in next one year.

Key Notes:

i. Facebook has partnered with the Odisha‘s MSME department and

Project Mission Shakti to train 25,000 entrepreneurs by the end of

2018.

ii. The state government has plans to organize hands-on

workshops for MSME entrepreneurs and women SHGs on

‗Digital Marketing Skills‘.

iii. The partnership aimed to reduce the digital divide and empower nearly

25,000 entrepreneurs and SHGs over the next one year

Government Schemes - September 2017


Prime Minister launches Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana „Saubhagya‟

On 25th

September 2017, Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi launched a new

scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –‗Saubhagya‘, to carry



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out electrification of all households in India.

Saubhagya:

i. The total budget for this project is Rs.16,320 crore. Gross

Budgetary Support (GBS) provided is Rs.12,320 crore.

ii. The budget allocated for the rural households is Rs.14,025 crore.

For which, GBS is Rs.10,587.50 crore.

iii. Budget allocated for urban households is Rs.2,295 crore. For which, GBS is

Rs.1,732.50 crore. iv.All the States and Union Territories should

complete household electrification by 31st

December 2018.

v. The beneficiaries for free electricity connection would be

identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011

data.

The aim of this Scheme is:

Environmental upgradation by eliminating Kerosene usage for lighting

Improvement of education, health services and communication

Increasing economic activities and jobs

Improvement of quality of life particularly for women

Dr.Harshvardhan launches Pt. Deen Dayal

Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana On 22nd

September 2017, The Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences &

Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr.Harshvardhan launched ‗Pt. Deen

Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana‘ in Uttarakhand.

Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana:

i. This project has been inspired by teachings and ideals of

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay.

ii. Department of Science and Technology (DST) has planned to adopt a few

clusters of villages in Uttarakhand and make them self-sustainable using the

tools of Science and Technology.

iii. The main idea of this project is to acquire local resources and skill sets

and transform

them using science and technology. So the value addition is imparted to

the local products and services, which would develop the rural community.

Government extends FAME India Scheme by six-month

Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Anant Geete mentioned that



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the government wasconsidering the extension of a scheme to

promote electric and hybrid vehicles by another six months.

Key Points:

i. The scheme‘s phase-I was introduced from April 1, 2015, to March 31,

2017.The phase was subsequently extended by six months till

September end.

ii. The scheme extends incentives for purchase of electric and hybrid

vehicles in particular areas.

iii. Under the scheme, a total of 150,550 electric and hybrid vehicles were

extended the incentive till 26th

July 2017.

Government to launch „School Chalo Abhiyan‟ scheme to enroll 80 lakh kids

On 8th

September 2017, Union Human Resource Development Minister

Mr.Prakash Javadekar announced that Government would implement ‗School

Chalo Abhiyan‘ scheme in 2018, in New Delhi.

School Chalo Abhiyan:

1. The ‗School Chalo Abhiyan‘ scheme was announced during a seminar on

Literacy Day.

2. This scheme has been introduced in order to enroll students

who have dropped out from school.

3. The scheme aims to enroll 70 to 80 lakh students around the country.

Cabinet approves implementation of the scheme “Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund”

On September 12,2017, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA)

approved a ―Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund‖

(DIDF) with an outlay of Rs10,881 crore during the period from 2017-18 to

2028-29.This fund will give new impetus to the dairy industry and to people

relying on it.The project will be implemented by National Dairy

Development Board (NDDB) and National Dairy Development

Cooperation (NCDC).

The objective of the fund : –

i)Building an efficient milk procurement system by setting up of cold storage



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infrastructure. ii)Installation of electronic milk adulteration testing

equipment. iii)Creation/modernization/expansion of processing

infrastructure and manufacturing

faculties for Value Added Products for the Milk Unions/ Milk Producer

Companies.

Government launches „Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat‟ to boost PMUY

on 23rd September 2017, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas,

Mr.Dharmendra Pradhan launched the ‗Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat‘

in Mota Ishanpur village of Gujarat. i.On this occasion, Mr.Dharmendra Pradhan

handed over free LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) connection to a beneficiary of

PMUY (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) scheme.Gujarat Chief Minister Mr.Vijay

Rupani was also present in the occasion.

ii. ‗Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat‘ will focus on spreading awareness

among LPG users about the proper use and benefits of LPG.

iii. This Panchayat will act as an interactive forum for PMUY beneficiaries,

officials, LPG distributors and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations).Under

one Panchayat, around 100 LPG customers will be clubbed.

vi.The customers can share their experiences with others.The Panchayats will

also discuss about safety practices, quality of service provided by distributors

and availability of refill cylinders.


Karnataka launches unified health scheme „Arogya Bhagya‟

Karnataka government will merge the existing seven health schemes to

launch a unified health scheme- ‗Arogya Bhagya‘. It will cover all 1.4

crore households of the state.

Key Points:

i.The main theme of the ‗Arogya Bhagya‘ scheme is ‖Treatment Firstand

Payment Next‖. ii.All the health facilities will be provided through Aadhaar

linked Universal Health Card. iii.Universal Health Coverage scheme would help

the card holder to get treatment in all the enroll private hospitals besides

government hospitals to get treatment without paying any cash.

iv. The State Cabinet had given administrative sanction for the unified schemes

and it will come to effect from 1st

of November.



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v. The facilities would be provided by categorising the beneficiaries into

two groups—A and B.

Jharkhand Government launches Shaheed Gram Vikas Yojana

On September 17,2017 Jharkhand Government launched the ―Shaheed

Gram Vikas Yojana‖ at Ulihatu Village ,Khunti district of Jharkhand. BJP

President Amit Shah along with Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar

Das launched the initiative.

The scheme aims at developing the villages of freedom fighters in the state .

Ulihatu Village is the birth place of freedom fighter and Jharkhand‘s tribal

icon, Birsa Munda.

Benefits of Shaheed Gram vikas yojana:-

i. villages of many tribal freedom fighters will be developed and their

habitants will be provided basic amenities. Amit shah gave away gas

connections, solar lamps to some of the beneficiaries.

ii.136 pucca houses will be built. Development in this area was sluggish

due to left wing extremism.

Odisha Government launched „Sampurna Yojana‟

On 24th September 2017, Odisha Government launched ‗Sampurna

(Sishu Abond Matru Mrityuhara Purna Nirakaran Abhijan) Yojna‘

scheme for pregnant women, in Odisha. Sampurna Yojana:

i. Under the ‗Sampurna Yojana‘ scheme Odisha government will

provide Rs.1,000 as transport cost for pregnant women to travel to

the hospital from inaccessible areas arranging their own vehicles.

ii. This schemes covers villages where 102, 108 ambulances or four-

wheeler vehicles cannot reach.

iii. The government has launched this scheme to increase institutional

deliveries in order to reduce Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Mother

Mortality Rate (MMR).

iv. The Odisha Government has planned to spend Rs.6 crore per year on this scheme.

Haryana government scraps Dadupur Nalvi canal scheme



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The Haryana Cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar

has approved a proposal of Irrigation and Water Resources Department

to announce 1,019.2994 acres of land acquired for construction of

Dadupur Nalvi Irrigation Scheme. Key Points:

i. The scheme was meant to provide water to even those areas

which fall under the category of dark zone because of low level of

underground water.

ii. This project was launched after long pending demand of the farmers. The

primary objective of the project of providing canal irrigation could not

be fulfilled.

iii. The Dadupur Nalvi scheme was initiated in the year 1985 and the

project was approved by the then government for Rs 13 crore for irrigation and

recharging of ground water in the Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Ambala

districts.

iv. In october 2005, the project was again approved by the

government for Rs 267.27 crore for this scheme in which Shahbad

Feeder, Shahbad Distributory and Nalvi Distributory along with off taking

channels were to be constructed for utilising 590 cusecs discharge.

Gujarat government launches „Gyankunj Project „in schools

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani has launched ―Gyakunj e-class project‖ from

Shahpur primary school in Gandhinagar announced on 4th

Sept 2017.

Key Points:

i. Under this initiative, interactive e-class will be launched with smart board.

ii. In the first phase, 550 schools will be covered under the ‗Gyankunj

Project‘ and gradually standard 5th to 9th of every schools of the state

will cover under the project. iii.‘Gyankunj Project‘ covers under total worth

of Rs. 35.85 crore.

iv.The objective of the project is to produce world-class students. The

project is launched at expenditure of Rs. 222,000/- per school.



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Government Schemes - October 2017


Government launches special course for untrained teachers

On 4th

October 2017, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry started

a special training course for untrained teachers, designed by National Institute

of Open Schooling (NIOS), called Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed).

Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed):

i. The HRD Ministry had announced that ‗untrained teachers‘ have to

complete the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) course, within

2019.

ii. This course would be offered through ‗Swayam‘, a platform for online

education and knowledge through Dish TV. A mobile application has

also been launched to help with clarifications.

Centre launches six-year secure Himalaya project

On October 2, 2017, Union Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan

in association with the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) launched SECURE Himalaya project for conservation of

biodiversity, land and forest resources in the high Himalayan ecosystem.

Salient Features of SECURE Himalaya Project:

SECURE Himalaya stands for securing livelihoods, conservation,

sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan

ecosystems.

The project is meant for specific landscapes in High Himalaya

ecosystem spread across four states viz. Jammu and Kasmir,

Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.

Landscapes-States to be covered under SECURE Himalaya:

Landscape

State

Changthang Jammu & Kashmir

Lahaul-Pangi and Kinnaur Himachal Pradesh



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Gangotri-Govind and Darma-Byans Valley in Pithoragarh Uttarakhand

Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley Sikkim

National Wildlife Action Plan for the period 2017-2031 and Global

Wildlife Programme conference

On October 2, 2017, during the inaugural day of Global Wildlife

Programme conferencein New Delhi, Harsh Vardhan also launched

India Wildlife mobile App and released National Wildlife Action

Plan for the period 2017-2031.

Through 103 wildlife conservation actions and 250 projects, National Wildlife

Action Plan for the period 2017-2031, which is India‘s third National Wildlife

action plan will focus on preservation

of genetic diversity and sustainable development across the India

Cabinet approves SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes to boost Skill India Mission

In a bid to provide a boost to ‗Skill India Mission‘, on October 11, 2017,

Union Cabinet approved two new skill development schemes named Skills

Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion

(SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement

(STRIVE). Both these schemes are result oriented programmes focusing on

vocational education and training.

Salient Features of Skills Acquisition and Knowledge

Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Scheme:

SANKALP is a centrally sponsored scheme having financial outlay Rs

4,455 crore out of which 3300 crore will be in the form of a loan

from World Bank.

Under this scheme, over 50 Trainers and Assessors academies with

self-sustainable models will be set up in priority sectors.

The scheme also has provision to set up additional academies to

plug sectoral and geographical gaps.

Underprivileged and marginalised sections of the society including

women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Schedule Tribes (STs) and Persons with

Disabilities (PWD) will be provided skill training opportunities under

SANKALP.



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Salient Features of Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value

Enhancement (STRIVE) Scheme:

STRIVE is a central sector scheme having financial outlay Rs 2200 crore out

of which half the amount will be in the form of loan assistance from

World Bank.

Under STRIVE scheme, emphasis will be laid on incentivizing

Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to improve overall

performance including apprenticeship by involving Small and

Medium Enterprises (SMEs), business associations and industry

clusters.

A robust mechanism for delivering quality skill development training

will be developed. This will be done by strengthening institutions such

as State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), National Skill

Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs),

ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc.

National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) including

National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) across central

and state government schemes will be universalised in order to

ensure standardization in skill delivery, content and training output.

Department of Post launches Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana

On 13th

October 2017, the Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha launched

the Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana and an initiative for expansion of

clientele base of Postal Life Insurance (PLI).

SBG Plan & for expansion of clientele base of PLI:

i. Under Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana, at least one village (having a

minimum of 100 households) will be identified in each of the revenue districts

India.

ii. All households of that identified village will be covered with a

minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) policy each.

iii. Under the expansion of clientele base of PLI, benefits of PLI will

not be confined to Government and semi-Government employees

anymore.



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VAJRA faculty scheme – 260 applicants for government‟s visiting researcher programme

Central Government has received 260 applications from foreign scientists for

Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme. Out of these

260 applications, 70 will be shortlisted for this year.

About Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme:

VAJRA Faculty scheme is a pilot project by the Department of Science

and Technology (Under Union Ministry of Science and Technology)

which was launched in May 2017.

The department intends to select 1,000 scientists every year under

this scheme.

Public funded academic institutions and national laboratories in India

are eligible to host VAJRA faculties and can appoint them as visiting

faculty. At these institutions/laboratories, the selected scientists will

be involved in co-guiding and mentoring students as well as in

developing collaborative programmes.

Interacting with these scientists will help Indian doctorate students

to collaborate with best scientific minds and gain international

exposure in their area of research.

Scientists selected under this scheme will be paid US

$15,000 in the first month of residency and US $10,000

per month from the next month.

They will work in India for a minimum of a month and a

maximum of three months.


Uttar Pradesh government launches „Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana‟

On October 3, 2017, Uttar Pradesh State Government launched a mass

marriage scheme called ‗Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana‘.

Details of ‗Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana‘

i. Under the scheme, Uttar Pradesh social welfare department will conduct mass

marriages.



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ii. In order to avail the benefits of this scheme, parents of the brides have to

be residents of Uttar Prdaesh and should be from below poverty line

category. The scheme will also cover widows and divorced women.

HP Cabinet approves Heritage Tourism policy & „Mukhya Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme‟

On October 4, 2017, Himachal Pradesh Cabinet under Chief Minister

Virbhadra Singhapproved ‗Heritage Tourism Policy 2017‘ & ‗Mukhya

Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme‘ along with other developmental

and welfare initiatives.

‗Himachal Pradesh Heritage Tourism Policy‘ 2017:

i. This policy has been approved with an aim to offer an experience of

the culture and heritage of Himachal Pradesh.

‗Mukhya Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme‘:

This scheme has been approved under Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for rural roads.

The roads to be renovated would be selected by the concerned

panchayats after approval in gram Sabha.

Madhya Pradesh launches „Single Click Pension Delivery‟ scheme

On October 1, 2017, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh

Chouhan launched ‗Single Click Pension Delivery‘ scheme. Under this

scheme, the money will go directly into the account of the beneficiaries.

‗Single Click Pension Delivery‘ scheme and ―Shataayu Award‖ by Madhya Pradesh Government:

‗Single Click Pension Delivery‘ scheme will benefit 35 lakh people in

Madhya Pradesh.

On October 1, 2017, Mr. Chouhan also honoured the elderly who

completed the age of 100 years with the ―Shataayu‖ award.

L-G Anil Baijal approves Delhi government education loan scheme

On 5th

October 2017, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved the Delhi

government‘s students higher education loan scheme, in New Delhi.

Approval for Delhi government‘s higher education loan scheme:



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i. The Delhi government‘s students higher education loan scheme wou ld

help thousands of students and parents.

ii. The Delhi government had started this scheme 2 years back, to provide

loans to students for higher education, even if they didn‘t have any

property or land as security.

Karnataka launches „Mathru Purna‟ scheme for pregnant women

On 2nd

October 2017, Karnataka Chief Minister Mr.Siddaramaiah launched

‗Mathru Poorna‘ scheme, for nutritional wellness of pregnant and lactating

women in rural areas, at Vidhan Soudha, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Mathru Purna:

i. The ‗Mathru Purna‘ scheme, aims at providing pregnant and lactating

poor women in rural areas with one nutritious meal daily, for 25 days

in a month.

ii. A full meal, of rice, dal with vegetables or sambar, one boiled egg and

200ml of milk, will be

given to pregnant women, through anganwadis. Two varieties of sprouts will

be provided to vegetarians instead of egg.

iii. This will meet 40-45% of the daily nutrition requirement of

pregnant and lactating mothers. Each meal would cost around

Rs.20.

Uttarakhand Govt. launches ‘Solar Briefcase’ to

provide electricity in remote areas On October 8, 2017,

Uttarakhand State Government and a charitable funding agency

named Swan Cultural Center and Foundation, launched ‗Solar

Briefcase‘ in Kedarnath Dham.

i. This initiative aims to provide electricity to far flung areas in Uttarakhand.

ii. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has stated that around

47 villages and 1,40,000 families in Uttarakhand do not have access to

electricity. Moreover there are 60 villages in the state where electrification has

not yet been done due to the difficult terrain.



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President Ram Nath Kovind launches Rs.100 crore clean water initiative

On 8th

October 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind launched Mata

Amritanandamayi Math (MAM)‘s, ‗Jivamritam‘ filtration system, a clean water

initiative, in Vallikkavu, Kollam district of Kerala. ‗Jivamritam‘ filtration

system:

i. ‗Jivamritam‘ filtration system aims at providing filtration for clean

drinking water to 1 crore villagers. The first phase of this project is to

install ‗Jivamritam‘ filtration systems for clean drinking water in 5,000

villages all over India.

ii. This project will be funded by MAM for Rs.100 crore.MAM has planned

to implement all 5,000 Jivamritam systemswithin 1 year. Each Jivamritam

system would filter daily drinking-water supply for around 400 five-member

families.

iii. The Jivamritam system was conceptualised and designed by faculty

and students of MAM‘s university, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

(Amrita University).

Maharashtra govt approves climate change adaptation policy

On October 10, 2017, Maharashtra State cabinet approved a climate

change adaptation policy that will focus on developing environment-

friendly villages and cities.

Decisions taken by Maharashtra State Cabinet:

Maharashtra State Government will set up a special cell under the state

Environment department for the effective implementation of this policy of

developing environment-friendly villages and cities.

Besides, Maharashtra cabinet has approved financial allocation for

special scheme for pending agricultural pumps in Vidarbha and

Marathwada region.

Grant of Rs 10 lakh to the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya

Mahamandal and six other regional educational institutions have been

approved by Maharashtra cabinet.

Maharashtra launches web portal with information on new government schemes



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On October 10, 2017, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnacis

launched a web portal that will help people get information about all the

government schemes. The portal has been named ‗MahaLabharthi‗.

Himachal Pradesh implements Senior Citizen

Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) On 9th

October

2017, Himachal Pradesh government implemented the Senior Citizen

Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS), in Shimla.

Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS):

i. SCHIS has been introduced to provide easy access to curative old age

related health care services through additional cover.

ii. The scheme would increase coverage of Rs.30,000 per senior citizen to all

existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smart card holders.This

would be in addition to the basic coverage of Rs.30,000 in Trust and Society

mode.

iii. The beneficiaries of this scheme would be RSBY enrolled people

aged 60 years and above. But, senior citizens who are eligible for RSBY but

not currently enrolled in this scheme, will not get the benefit of SCHIS.

Assam approved new IT policy

On October 17, 2017, Assam State Government approved a new

Information Technology (IT) Policy.

More Details about Assam Govt‘s ne IT Policy:

i. Under the new IT policy, companies involved in Business Process

Outsourcing (BPO),companies engaged in software development and

firms carrying out research will be provided financial support.

ii. Call centres will receive one-time incentive of Rs. 1.20 lakh per

employee, with minimum intake of 100 employees.

iii. Companies engaged in software development will receive one-time support of

Rs 1.50 lakh per employee.

Assam govt rolls out new Tourism policy

On October 19, 2017, Assam State Government rolled out ‗Tourism Policy of

Assam



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2017‘ with an aim to increase tourist inflow in the state by at least two to three

times within next five years.

Details about ‗Tourism Policy of Assam 2017‘:

‗Tourism Policy of Assam 2017‘ will be effective from January 2018 to

December 2022.

To channelize resources in making this policy a success story,

tourism sector in Assam has been accorded the ‗Industry‘

status.

In the policy, special emphasis has been laid on making the

state a preferred destination of film making by offering a

range of incentives to movie

producers.

Hindi, English and foreign language cinema makers, who have

produced a minimum of five feature films in Assam will be offered

cash grant of 25 per cent or Rs 1 crore, whichever is less, of

expenditure in Assam.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister launches Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana

On October 16, 2017 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh

Chouhan launched the ambitious ‗Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna‘ in the presence

of the farmers at the Krishi Upaj Mandi in Khurai, Sagar district of Madhya

Pradesh.

Under this scheme, farmers will be compensated the difference between

Minimum

Support Price (declared by Union Government) and the actual sale price

or Model Price, whichever is higher.

Currently, compensation under this scheme will be provided for

8 crops including oilseed and pulses.

Registration is compulsory to avail benefits under this scheme.

Besides, farmers are required to sell their crops only in mandis

and obtain a receipt for the same.

The difference amount will be deposited in the bank account

within a period of 2 months.



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Chhattisgarh government reduces interest on loan under Saksham Yojna

Chhattisgarh State Government has reduced the rate of interest on loan

given to women and their self help groups (SHGs) under ‗Saksham Yojna‘

from 6.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

More Details:

i. This decision was taken by Chhattisgarh Women and Child

Development Minister Ramsheela Sahu while chairing a meeting of

‗Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh‘ (CMK)‘.

ii. Through various schemes, ‗Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh‘ (CMK) disburses

easy term loans to women and SHGs in Chhattisgarh.

iii. Saksham Yojana too is operated by Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh, under

which loans to the tune of Rs 72 lakh had been distributed to about 111 SHGs

during current fiscal year 2017-18.

Maharashtra government releases Rs 4,000

crore in phase 1 of loan waiver scheme On October

18, 2017, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis announced

that the State Government has released a sum of Rs 4,000 crore under the

first phase of the farm loan waiver scheme. Details about First Phase of

Farm Loan Waiver Scheme in Maharashtra:

i. Out of Rs 4000 crore which has been released under Phase I, Rs 3200 crore

is for writing off the loans of 4.62 lakh farmers and Rs 800 crore will be

distributed as incentive for 3.78

ii. lakh farmers who are paying their loans on time.

iii.It is to be noted that total farm loan waiver (announced in June

2017) which will be provided to the farmers has been estimated at Rs.

34000 crore.



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Government Schemes –November 2017


Government launched Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana, a scholarship program for school children

On November 3, 2017, Union Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha

launched a pan India scholarship program for school children called Deen

Dayal SPARSH Yojana to increase the reach of Philately.

What is Philately?

Philately is the hobby of collection and study of

Postage stamps. Salient Features of Deen

Dayal SPARSH Yojana:

Abbreviation SPARSH stands for SPARSH(Scholarship for

Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby).

Under this scheme annual scholarships will be awarded to

children of Standard VI to IX who have good academic record

and are also pursuing Philately.

The amount of Scholarship will be Rs. 6000/- per annum

@ Rs. 500/- per month.

Total 920 scholarships will be awarded across India.

Project Saksham – Railways to start 9-month „upskilling‟ exercise for employees

Indian Railways will start ‗Project Saksham‘, India‘s largest time-bound

‗upskilling‘ exercise, to upgrade the skill sets of its 13 lakh employees.

‗Sakham‘ is a Hindi word which translates as ‗capable‘ in English.

More Details about ‗Project Saksham‘:

‗Project Saksham‘ will begin in January 2018 and will continue till

September 2018.

Railway General Managers have been directed to identify training

needs, divide their subordinates into small groups and communicate

the entire training plan to Union Railway Ministry by December

31, 2017.

The project will be launched on January 12, 2018 (tentative date). This

date coincides with the 155th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda



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Cabinet introduces „Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra‟

On November 22, 2017, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

gave approval for the expansion of schemes of the Ministry of Women and

Child Development (WCD) under the umbrella scheme ―Mission for

Protection and Empowerment for Women‖.

The expansion has been approved for a period from 2017-18 to 2019-

20 with financial outlay of 3636.85 crore. Central Share will

be approximately Rs.3084.96 crore.

Government is planning to establish One Stop Centres (OSCs) to

provide

comprehensive support to women affected by violence and deployment of

Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) to create public-police interface.

Pan-India expansion of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao yojana to cover all 650

districts has been approved by CCEA.

Besides, a new scheme called ‗Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra‘

(PMSSK)‘, which will empower rural women through community

participation, has also been approved.

Salient Features of ‗Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra‘:

PMSSK will be geared towards empowering rural women through community

participation with an aim to create an environment in which they realize their

full potential.

Under Union Budget 2017-18, corpus of Rs 500 crore was

announced for setting up Mahila Shakti Kendras in 14 lakh

Anganwadi Centres at village level.

Most important will be the block level initiatives, under which

community engagement through Student Volunteers is

envisioned in 115 most backward districts.

More than 3 lakh student volunteers from local colleges will strive

to generate awareness about various important government schemes/

programmes as well as social issues.




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Road accident victims in Kerala to get free treatment for first 48 Hours

Kerala State Government has decided to formulate a ‗Trauma-Care

Scheme‘, under which all accident victims in Kerala will be provided necessary

emergency care and treatment free-of-cost for the first 48 hours after being

admitted to a hospital.

President Ram Nath Kovind launches schemes worth Rs 3,455 crore in Jharkhand

On November 15, 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind launched various

schemes and laid the foundation stones of infrastructure projects in Jharkhand.

These schemes and projects are to be carried out at an expenditure of Rs 3455

crore. It is to be noted that November 15, 2017 was 17th

Statehood Day of

Jharkhand.

Schemes launched by President Ram Nath Kovind in Jharkhand:

President Kovind was the chief guest of the statehood day celebrations

organized by Jharkhand State Government.

Firstly, he launched Rs 290-crore ‗108 Ambulance‘ service in the state.

Thereafter, President Kovind launched Jharkhand State

Government‘s JOHAR (Jharkhand‘s Opportunities for

Harnessing Rural Development)

scheme. Financial outlay for JOHAR is Rs. 1500 crore.

Kovind also launched Mukhyamantri Swasth Bima Yojana.

Under this scheme, 57 lakh households in Jharkhand whose annual

incomes are less than Rs 72000 will be provided premium free

medical insurance cover.

During the course of this visit to Jharkhand, President Kovind also

distributed 40000 tablets to the teachers under Manki Munda and

e-Vidya Vahini scheme. He also unveiled a commemorative

stamp on the terracotta temple complex in Maluti village in

Dumka.



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Madhya Pradesh launches Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat Yojana

Madhya Pradesh is the partner state of Manipur and Nagaland under ‗Ek

Bharat- Shreshtha Bharat‘ Yojana. Thus, Madhya Pradesh State

Government has assigned the task of implementing this scheme to Higher

Education Department of State.i. An 8-member team from Madhya Pradesh

has already toured Manipur and Nagaland in this regard.

ii. It has been decided that Madhya Pradesh will participate in Manipur‘s

Sangai Mahotsav from 21s t

– 30th

November, 2017 and teams of Manipur and

Nagaland will take part in Madhya Pradesh‘s Lok Rang and Bal Rang

programmes.

Odisha to launch new irrigation scheme – Nabakrushna Choudhury Seccha Unnayan Yojana

On 22nd

November 2017, Odisha government decided to launch ―Nabakrushna

Choudhury Seccha Unnayan Yojana‖ to provide irrigation facility to about

55,000 hectare of agricultural

land across Odisha.

Nabakrushna Choudhury Seccha Unnayan Yojana:

i. The scheme, ―Nabakrushna Choudhury Seccha Unnayan Yojana‖, has been

named after former chief minister and freedom fighter Nabakrushna

Choudhury.

ii. The scheme would be implemented with an outlay of Rs 635 crore over

a period of three years.

Haryana Government‟s New Scheme Offers

Domestic Power Connections On EMI On November

19, 2017, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a

new scheme offering Domestic Power Connections in rural areas On

Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI).

i. Currently it costs between Rs. 3000/- to Rs. 4000/- to get a domestic power connection.

ii. Under this new scheme, households in rural areas can pay just Rs. 200

and get a domestic power connection. The remaining amount can be paid in

easy instalments of Rs. 100 to Rs. 200.



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Odisha launches Fish Pond Yojana to increase fish production

On November 27, 2017, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched

the ‗Fish Pond

Yojana‘ while inaugurating a workshop on ‗Doubling of Farmer Income

through Dairy and Allied Farming Practices‘ in Bhubaneswar.

Salient Features of ‗Fish Pond Yojana‘:

i. Aim of this scheme is to boost fish production in Odisha.

ii. The scheme has been launched with a budgetary provision of Rs 96 crore.

iii. Under the scheme, additional 2200 hectare of fresh water aquaculture

farming will be created, for which farmers will be given 50 per cent financial

assistance from state government.

SAUBHAGYA Scheme launched in Manipur

On November 28, 2017, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and

New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh and N. Biren Singh, Chief

Minister of Manipur, launched Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar

Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) in Manipur.

‗SAUBHAGYA‘ Scheme – Manipur:

i. SAUBHAGYA scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in

September 2017. Objective of this scheme is to achieve universal household

electrification in all parts India. ii.Rural Electrification Corporation Limited

(REC), is the nodal agency for coordinating the implementation of

SAUBHAGYA scheme

Government Schemes - December 2017


Vice President Naidu launches Deen Dayal Divyangajan Sahajya Scheme in Assam

On December 3, 2017, on the occasion of International Day of Persons with

Disabilities, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched Deen Dayal

Divyangajan Sahajya Scheme in Guwahati, Assam.



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i. Under this scheme, every differently abled person in Assam would be

entitled to a one-time grant of Rs 5000 for their treatment.

Cabinet approves continuation of NLCPR

scheme for North East till March 2020 Union

Cabinet has approved the continuation of the current Non Lapsable

Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme for North Eastern India.

The latest continuation has been approved till March, 2020 so

that the ongoing projects can be completed.

NLCPR is being administered with financial outlay of Rs.5300 crore.

NITI Aayog proposes scheme for saving jobs from automation

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Rajiv Kumar has stated that Central

Government should consider setting up a labour utilisation fund in order to

handle the challenge of growing redundancy of low-skilled labour in India with

increase of automation and advent of artificial intelligence.

i. The fund should be used for improving skills of workforce and increase its cost

competitiveness. This will encourage businesses to hire more such human

resource.

ii. This should be done by imparting relevant training. Besides, the fund

can also be utilised for paying provident fund contribution and for covering the

health costs of low-skilled workforce.

Government to roll out „Condonation of delay scheme‟

In order to provide relief for disqualified directors of companies, Union

Ministry of Corporate Affairs will roll out ‗Condonation of Delay

Scheme‘, which will be operational from January 1 to March 31, 2018.

i. Earlier, in a bid to clamp down on illicit fund flows, Union Corporate

Affairs Ministry had disqualified more than 3.09 lakh directors of

companies, who failed to submit annual filings for a long time.

ii .Following this, concerns were raised that many directors of genuine

companies have also been disqualified. Some of the disqualified individuals also

resorted to litigation.

iii .In order to address these concerns, Ministry of Corporate Affairs decided to

come up with this scheme, under which, post submission of filings, the

company concerned would have to file a separate form seeking



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condonation of the delay along with a fee of Rs. 30000.


Jammu & Kashmir government launches SAUBHAGYA to provide free electricity

On 11th

December 2017, the Jammu and Kashmir government launched

SAUBHAGYA (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna) with an aim to provide free electricity

connections to poor people in the state.

i. SAUBHAGYA, an initiative taken by the prime minister, seeks to provide

electricity to 4 crore families across India by December 2018. Jammu &

Kashmir‘s Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh launched the scheme.

ii. He said electric connections would be given to poor people, identified by the

Socio Economic and Caste Census of 2011 and others sections for Rs 500, payable in 10 installments in the bill. The scheme also provides on-the-spot

registration of applicants.

Bihar launches scheme for checking crimes against women at public places

On December 11, 2017, Bihar State Government approved a "Safe City

Surveillance" scheme for curbing eve-teasing, harassment and other crimes

against women at public places.

i. Decision to launch this scheme was taken at State Cabinet meeting chaired

by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

ii .The scheme envisages installation of CCTV cameras at public places across

the state.

SDMC launches Atal Jan Aahar Yojana for poor

On 25th

December 2017, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC)

launched ‗Atal Jan Aahar Yojana‘ for poor people to provide them meal at

Rs 10, marking the Good Governance Day.

i. The Atal Jan Aahar Yojana was launched by South Delhi

Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Chairman of the civic

body's Standing Committee Bhupender Gupta and Leader of

Opposition Ramesh Matiala at Matiala Chowk.

ii. The Atal Jan Aahar Yojana scheme has been started at 5 outlets in different

locations of south Delhi. Its aim is to provide nutritious meal to the poor and

needy.

iii .The menu includes puri, chapattis, rice, rajma, vegetables, chhole, and



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halwa. The meal is provided for Rs 10 from 11 am to 2 pm every day.

Haryana govt launches 'Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana' for vegetable growers

On December 30, 2017, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar

launched Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana from Karnal district.

i. Under this scheme, farmers will be compensated by state

government, whenever the market prices of the stipulated produce

go below the mentioned prices. Haryana State Government will

constitute a separate fund for this purpose.

ii. This scheme for compensation will also apply for tomato, onion, potato and cauliflower.

Government Schemes - January 2018


Government to launch new scheme for free treatment of Hepatitis C

From financial year 2018-19, Union Health Ministry will roll out a National

Programme for Control of Viral Hepatitis, with a focus on Hepatitis

C.

i. Under the programme, an anti-viral treatment for Hepatitis C will be

provided free at all government health set-ups.

ii. Rs 600 crore for the next three years has been sanctioned for executing this programme.

iii. In India, about 1.2 crore people are reported to be suffering from Hepatitis C.

iv. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus

(HCV). It primarily affects the liver.

MEITY launches Cyber Surakshit Bharat Yojna to strengthen cyber security

On January 19, 2018, Minister of State for Electronics & Information

Technology. KJ Alphons launched Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative.

i. Objective of this initiative is to spread awareness about cybercrime

and to train and prepare Chief Information Security Officers



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(CISOs) and frontline IT staff of all government departments to

effectively deal and neutralize cyber threats.

ii. This initiative has been launched in association with National e-Governance

Division (NeGD) and leading companies of Information Technology Industry.

iii. Microsoft, Intel, Redhat, Wipro and Dimension Data are the founding

partners while Organisations such as Cert-In, NIC, CISCO, NASSCOM and the

FIDO Alliance, and consultancy firms Deloitte and EY are knowledge partners

for this initiative.

Government announces 4 new schemes to promote young scientists

On January 24, 2018, Central Government launched four new schemes to

promote young scientists and researchers in India. All the schemes focus

on empowering, recognising and motivating youth.

1st

Scheme - Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE)

Scheme: Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan

stated that this Scheme will connect the educators to leading public

funded institutions like Indian Institute of

Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) or national institutions like

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)to pursue research.

Under this scheme, educators will be paid Rs 5 lakh yearly, and a

monthly out- of-pocket expense of Rs 5000.

This amount is in addition to the salary they draw from their existing

employer.

2nd

Scheme - Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship:

Under this scheme, support will be offered to 100 PhD scholars for

training at foreign universities/laboratories up to 12 months during

their doctoral research.

Such scholars will be given a monthly fellowship equivalent to USD

2000 and a one-time contingency allowance of Rs 60000 to cover travel

and visa fee.

3rd

Scheme - Distinguished Investigator Award:

Under this scheme, 100 fellowships will be offered to principal

investigators of Science and Engineering Research Board/Department

of Science and Technology projects.

100 researchers selected under this scheme will be given a monthly



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fellowship of Rs 15000 for three years and an optional research grant,

based on peer review of the project proposal submitted by them.

4th

Scheme - Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research

(AWSAR):

This scheme aims to encourage science writing.

Under this scheme, 20000 PhD scholars in science will be roped in to

popularise and communicate their research outcome.

Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat launched in Jharkhand

On 25th

January 2018, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das launched

‗Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat‘ at Balijore village, in Dumka district

of Jharkhand.

i. Raghubar Das said that, Jharkhand is the first state in India, where

beneficiaries are provided stoves along with gas connections.

ii. He said that, Rs 300 crore was alloted in the budget for LPG connection and

stove distribution. Out of that, 10 lakh beneficiaries have been provided with

connections so far.

iii .He also said that, ‗Adivasi Vikas Samiti‘ will be formed in tribal populated

areas. ‗Gram Vikas Samiti‘ will be established in villages having less tribal count

with 7 members in small villages and 11 members in bigger villages.


Haryana to implement solar-based micro irrigation schemes in all districts

On January 2, 2018, Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar directed

the state irrigation department to implement the integrated solar-based micro

irrigation scheme in all districts of Haryana.

i. Mr. Khattar has constituted a committee headed by Haryana Renewable

Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) chairman to form a strategy to execute this scheme.

ii. Currently, solar-based micro irrigation scheme is being implemented on

pilot basis across 13 districts of Haryana at a cost of Rs 24.65 crore.

Assam Launches „Chah Bagichar Dhan Puraskar Mela 2017-18‟ Scheme For Tea Garden Workers On 2

nd January 2018, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched

‗Chah Bagichar Dhan Puraskar Mela 2017-18‘ at a function held at



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Sarbananda Singha auditorium in Tinsukia, Assam.

i. During the launch Sarbananda Sonowal distributed cheques to beneficiaries.

Under this scheme people belonging to tea community who opened bank

accounts during demonetisation will be credited Rs 2500 in their accounts.

ii. In the demonetisation period, 6,58,250 tea community members opened bank

accounts. Assam government will spend Rs. 182 crore for giving financial

incentives to all the account holders.

J&K Government announces 'Muhafiz' for workers in unorganized sector

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government has announced to launch ‗Muhafiz‘

scheme, a major welfare initiative for providing institutionalized socio-

economic security to workers in the unorganised sector of the state:

iii. Under this scheme, 3 lakh workers registered with Jammu and Kashmir

Building and Other Construction Workers‘ Welfare Board (JKBOCWWB),

will be provided accidental, life and disability insurance cover. The premium for

the same will be borne by JKBOCWWB.

iv. The registered workers will also be offered Micro Credit facility with a

credit limit of Rs 10000. Counter guarantee for the same will be deposited by

the JKBOCWWB with the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank.

Nitish Kumar launches schemes worth over Rs

200 crore during Vikas Samiksha Yatra On 13th

January 2018, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched schemes

worth over Rs.200 crore during his state-wide ―Vikas Samiksha Yatra‖.

i. Nitish Kumar visited Rohtas and Bhojpur districts for the ―Vikas Samiksha Yatra‖.

ii. He inaugurated 257 schemes worth Rs. 222 crore, at a village in the Jagdishpur block of Bhojpur.

iii. He also visited a village under Amethi panchayat of the Sanjhauli block of Rohtas, which is the first panchayat in Rohtas to become ODF (Open Defecation Free).

Odisha launches Mukshyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Jojana‟ (MMKSJ)

On January 15, 2018, Odisha State Government announced ‗Mukshyamantri

Kalakar Sahayata Jojana‘ (MMKSJ), under which artists from across the state



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will get a monthly assistance of Rs 1200.

i. This scheme of giving Rs 1200 per month as artist assistance was announced by Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.

ii. Around 50000 artists across Odisha will be benefited from this scheme. iii. As per the new eligibility criteria, a male artist can avail assistance under

the scheme after attaining the age of 50 years (earlier it was 60 years), while the age criteria for female artist has been reduced to 40 years from 50 years earlier.

Uttar Pradesh launches Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana Gramin

On January 30, 2018, Uttar Pradesh State Cabinet launched ‗Mukhya

Mantri Awas Yojna Grameen‘, a new scheme to construct houses in

rural areas.

i. Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana Gramin is for those who have not been

covered under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and those who are

not beneficiaries of any other government housing schemes.

ii. Under this scheme, Rs 1.30 lakh financial aid (for constructing houses) will

be given to people residing in Naxal-affected areas of Uttar Pradesh and Rs 1.20

lakh to selected beneficiaries.

Manipur CM N Biren Singh launches health

assurance scheme for poor & disabled people On

January 21, 2018, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched the Chief

Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT), a health assurance scheme for the

poor and disabled people.

i. Under this scheme, poor people of Manipur will be provided cashless

treatment at government hospitals, health centres and other

empanelled selected private hospitals.

ii. All eligible families, identified from the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC),

will be provided

iii. Rs. lakh cover for treatment of seven critical identified critical ailments

viz. cardiovascular diseases, neurological conditions, kidney ailments, liver

ailments, neo-natal diseases, cancer

and burns.

Himachal Pradesh launches nutrition scheme for



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HIV-positive children

On 22nd

January 2018, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur

unveiled a state- level nutrition scheme for HIV-positive children, at a

campaign conducted by Himachal Pradesh AIDS Control Society on the eve of

National Youth Day, in Shimla.

i. As per this nutrition scheme, nutritional supplement will be provided to boost

immunity of more than 400 youth within the age of 18.

ii. Himachal Pradesh has made HIV test compulsory for every expectant

mother from 2018. Jai Ram Thakur urged to conduct awareness campaigns in

schools and colleges.

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approves 'one district, one product' scheme

On January 23, 2018, Uttar Pradesh State Cabinet approved 'one district, one

product' scheme to promote products indigenous to every district.

i. Decision in this regard was as taken at State Cabinet meeting chaired by

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiatyanth.

ii. Under this scheme, one product indigenous to every district of Uttar

Pradesh would be showcased at the three-day UP Diwas event

beginning from January 24, 2018.

Punjab CM launches „Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana‟ for distressed sections of society On 26

th January 2018, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder

Singh launched the ‗Mahatama Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana‘ to help the

distressed sections of the society.

i. The ‗Mahatama Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana‘ aims to help the distressed

sections of the society socially, economically and psychologically.

ii. Captain Amarinder Singh said that, 10.25 lakh farmers of Punjab coming under

the debt waiver scheme will receive the benefits by November 2018.

iii. He also launched the e-POS scheme for fair price shops. This will replace

the previous blue card system for distribution of Atta-Dal.



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