UNION BUDGET-2016-17

UNION BUDGET-2016-17

In the union budgetr 20216-17, 850 crore was set aside for four dairy projects -'Pashudan Sanjivani', 'Nakul Swathya Patra','E-Pashudhan Haat' and National Genomic Centre for Indigenious Breeds.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a nonprofit organization that is responsible for coordinating the maintenance and methodologies of several databases, with unique identifiers, related to the namespaces of the Internet - and thereby, ensuring the network's stable and secure operation.ICANN was created in 1998, and incorporated 1998 in the State of California. It is headquartered in the Playa Vista section of Los Angeles, California.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

Under the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank is a new institution being set up by Government of India for development and refinancing activities relating to micro units. It was announced by the Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget for FY 2015-16. The purpose of MUDRA is to provide funding to the non corporate small business sector.Loans worth about Rs 1 lakh crore have been sanctioned to small entrepreneurs under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana.MUDRA was built up as an auxiliary of SIDBI bearing an introductory amount of Rupees 5,000 crores to give funding to all nationalized banks looking for financing small businesses under PMMY (Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana).In 2016, GOI approved conversion of Mudra Ltd (Pradhan Mantri Micro Units Development Refinance Agency), into a bank.

Jan Aushadhi

Jan Aushadhi

They are retail drug stores, fair-price medical shops. It is a plan to promote quality unbranded generic medicines through Jan Aushadhi stores. Centre and states co-operate. The central government is responsible for the supply of quality medicines, while the state governments or government-appointed NGOs were to run the shops on a not-for-profit basis. 3,000 Stores under Prime Minister’s Jan Aushadhi Yojana will be opened during 2016-17.

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

It is a new proposed scheme announced in the union financial budget 2016-17 by the Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley. Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan has been proposed with allocation of Rs. 655 crore. The scheme will help Panchayat Raj Institutions deliver Sustainable Development Goals.

Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan

Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)(“National Higher Education Mission”) 

         It is a holistic scheme of development for higher education in Indiainitiated in 2013 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. It aims at providing strategic funding to higher educational institutions throughout the country. Funding is provided by the central ministry through the state governments and union territories (UT). A total of 316 state public universities and 13,024 colleges will be covered under it. RUSA aims to provide equal development to all higher institutions and rectify weaknesses in the higher education system. Its target achievement is to raise the gross enrolment ratio to 32% by the end of XII Plan in 2017.

The major objectives are to:

1. improve the overall quality of existing state institutions by ensuring that all institutions conform to
prescribed norms and standards and adopt accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework.

2. usher trans-formative reforms in the state higher education system by creating a facilitating institutional structure for planning and monitoring at the state level, promoting autonomy in state universities and improving governance in institutions.

3. ensure academic and examination reforms in the higher educational institutions.

4. enable conversion of some of the universities into research universities at par with the best in the
world.

5. create opportunities for states to undertake reforms in the affiliation system in order to ensure that the reforms and resource requirements of affiliated colleges are adequately met.

6. ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and ensure
capacity building at all levels of employment.

7. create an enabling atmosphere in the higher educational institutions to devote themselves to research and innovations.

8. expand the institutional base by creating additional capacity in existing institutions and establishing new institutions, in order to achieve enrolment targets.

9. correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by facilitating access to high quality  institutions in urban and semi-urban areas, creating opportunities for students from rural areas to get access to better quality institutions and setting up institutions in un-served and underserved areas.

10. improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to SC/STs and socially and educationally backward classes; promote inclusion of women, minorities, and differently abled persons.

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana & Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana:

This insurance scheme says that a person will be given Rs 2 lakh for accidental death. In case of partial disability a person will be given Rs 1 lakh. This scheme is available for people whose age is between 18 to 70 years.

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana:

It is available to people between 18 and 50 years of age with bank accounts. It has an annual premium of ₹330 excluding service tax. In case of death due to any cause, the payment to the nominee will be ₹2 lakh. This scheme will be linked to the bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – (DAY) National Urban Livelihood Mission

It is a Government of India scheme for the helping the poor by providing skill training. Government of India has provisioned ₹500 crore (US$74 million) for the scheme. It replace Aajevika. The targets is training 0.5 million people in urban area per annum from 2016 and in rural area it is training 1 million people by 2017. Further, in urban areas services like SHG promotion, training centres, vendors markets, permanent shelters for homeless will be provided for. The aim of scheme is skill development of both rural and urban India as per requisite international standards

Highlights:

1. Imparting skills with an expenditure of Rs.15,000 – Rs.18,000 on each urban poor;

2. Promotion of self-employment through setting up individual micro-enterprises and group enterprises with interest subsidy for individual projects costing Rs.2.00 lakhs and Rs.10.00 lakhs for group enterprises. Subsidized interest rate will be 7%;

3. Training urban poor to meet the huge demand from urban citizens by imparting market oriented skills through City Livelihood Centres. Each Centre would be given a capital grant of Rs.10.00 lakhs.

4. Enabling urban poor form Self-Help Groups for meeting financial and social needs with a support of Rs.10,000/- per each group who would in turn would be helped with bank linkages;

5. Development of vendor markets besides promotion of skills of vendors; and

6. Construction of permanent shelters for urban homeless and provision of other essential services.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

It is a Government of India scheme designed toprovide continuous power supply to rural India. The initiative is named in honor of Indian political philosopher Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. The government plans to invest for rural electrification under this scheme. The scheme replaces the existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY). The DDUGJY scheme focuses on feeder separation (rural households & agricultural) and strengthening of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure including metering at all levels in rural areas. This will help in providing round the clock power to rural households and adequate power to agricultural consumers.

National Food Security Mission

National Food Security Mission

The National Development Council (NDC) in 2007 adopted a resolution to launch a Food Security Mission comprising rice, wheat and pulses to increase the production of rice by 10 million tons, wheat by 8 million tons and pulses by 2 million tons by the end of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12). Accordingly, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, 'National Food Security Mission' (NFSM), was launched in 2007. The Mission is being continued during 12th Five Year Plan with new targets of additional production of food grains of 25 million tons of food grains comprising of 10 million tons rice, 8 million tons of wheat, 4 million tons of pulses and 3 million tons of coarse cereals by the end of 12th Five Year Plan. The National Food Security Mission (NFSM) during the 12th Five Year Plan has five components (i) NFSM- Rice; (ii) NFSM-Wheat; (iii) NFSM-Pulses, (iv) NFSM-Coarse cereals and (v) NFSM-Commercial Crops.

Union Railway Budget -2016

Union Railway Budget 2015-2016

Budget 2015

Budget 2015
                                          Introducing budget in parliament

 

Modi conclusion in budget 2015

Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

AIC or SBA is a program to serve the differently-able community of the country. The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies. The flagship program was launched by the Prime Minister on 3 December 2015, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The initiative also in line with the Article 9 of UNCRPD (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) to which India is a signatory from 2007. The scheme also comes under Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 under section 44, 45, 46 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities. According to the census 2011, 2.21 per cent or approx. 21M Indians of the population suffers from disability. The target is to make at least fifty government buildings disabled friendly under the campaign in each of the state till end of 2016 and make 25 per cent of the public transport vehicles under government as disabled friendly till mid 2017. A website will also be made where the people can put their views on the accessibility of any building. By July 2016, the international airports in the country and railway stations which come under A1, A and B categories will be made fully disabled-friendly.

Special set-top boxes will be made available to make watching TV more convenient for the visually impaired. In the next 5 years, almost 200 persons will be trained to speak in sign languages on government TV channels. Government websites will also be made more friendly by using text to speech option. The initiative involves retrofitting buildings, framing such standards for new buildings and transport that they are friendly to the differently-abled, auditing private companies on 'accessibility index' standard and making all government websites friendly to the differently-able.

A ''Sugamya Bharat'' mobile app which can provide information on disabled-friendly public facilities in a city, will be launched under the scheme

Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan

Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan

Maharashtra government launched a programme named ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ to make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019. The project involves deepening and widening of streams, construction of cement and earthen stop dams, work on nullahs and digging of farm ponds. The programme aims to make 5000 villages free of water scarcity every year. Under the programme, micro-irrigation systems would be encouraged for efficient use of water. It aims at increasing the irrigated area. Existing water conservation schemes will be now brought under this scheme. With several parts of Maharashtra still reeling under the drought, the state government launched the scheme to combat increasing number of suicide by the farmers of the state, among other things. 

Higher broadband penetration in the country with having level playing field on the internet

Higher broadband penetration in the country with having level playing field on the internet

While the debate on Net Neutrality has been on at the global level for a long time, in India it was triggered when country’s largest operator Airtel in December 2014 announced plans to start charging customers for VoIP services, such as Skype and Viber. The debate gained national momentum when telecom regulator TRAI, in a first step towards making regulating the issue, came out with consultation paper inviting user comments on the subject. Recently, Airtel announced another initiative Airtel Zero, for which it received a lot of flak as this too is seen as violating Net Neutrality.
A neutral Internet means a level playing field. The service providers also warned that if they were to offer unlimited VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) the mobile data prices will need to be increased by atleast six times for operators to sustain business.

Penetration rate is the percentage (%) of a country's population that are subscribers. The industry body also stressed on the need to understand the guiding principles of net neutrality, which is about unfettered user right of making an informed choice in deciding access to legal content/services on the Internet.

Net neutrality creates an open and level-playing field to facilitate innovation, adoption and inclusion. For starters, in a country like India, Net Neutrality has vast implications, especially for start-ups many of whom are dependent on the medium for the success of their business.

Noting that Internet, mobile telephony, social media, big data, analytics, cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) have created a perfect confluence for economic development, the former telecom secretary said the startup and innovation ecosystem and the government's Digital India initiative would transform social and economic spheres, including education, healthcare and financial inclusion.

Highlights of the GDP growth details released by CSO

Highlights of the GDP growth details released by CSO

The Indian economy is going to grow by 7.6 per cent during 2015-16, according to the Advance Estimates released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday. The CSO has pegged the growth for the December 2015 quarter at 7.3 per cent, while revising the growth estimates for the June 2015 quarter upwards to 7.6 per cent from 7 per cent and for the September 2015 quarter to 7.7 per cent from 7.4 per cent earlier. The growth in cumulative GDP for the period April-December 2015 has been estimated at 7.5 per cent. This means that the economy will have to grow by 7.7 per cent in the last quarter if it has to achieve the CSO’s growth target for 2015-16.

The government has been striving to push growth in Asia’s third-largest economy since it took office in May last year, promising a spending boost and moving to clear up a regulatory logjam that has held up large infrastructure projects. The latest data released by the statistics department on Monday showed India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 7% in the April-June quarter from 7.5% in the January-March quarter as measured at market prices. Another measure—gross value added (GVA) at basic prices—showed that economic growth accelerated to 7.1% in April-June against 6.1% in January-March.

Private final consumption expenditure (PFCE), according to the CSO, will drive the growth of the economy in the last quarter. PFCE has grown by 6.1 per cent till December 2015. The CSO expects the fiscal year 2015-16 to end with a 7.6 per cent growth in PFCE. This means that it has assumed an 11.7 per cent growth in PFCE for the last quarter.

http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/cso-released-estimates-of-gdp-for-apriljune-quarter-of-201516-1441099934-1

Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment

Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment

With  the aim to reduce the expenditure incurred by patients on treatment of cancer and heart diseases, GOI launched the Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) outlet at AIIMs in 2015. The retail outlet will sell drugs for the two ailments at highly discounted rates at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to begin with. AMRIT will be launched in all Central Govt hospitals soon. AMRIT pharmacy reflects commitment to reduce the cost of treatment for the patients. Lakhs of patients will benefit from this initiative. The AMRIT pharmacy would be selling 202 cancer and 186 cardio-vascular drugs, and 148 types of cardiac implants at very affordable prices. Patients can buy medicines and implants at 50 to 60 percent cheaper prices than the open market from AMRIT outlet.The project has been floated in a tie-up with government-owned HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL) which is deputed to establish and run the AMRIT chain of pharmacies across the country.

India's global trade strategy today in the light of changing agenda of the WTO

India's global trade strategy today in the light of changing agenda of the World Trade Organisation

             India has been gradually moving away from a closed and protectionist economy and has been orienting itself towards the market, both in terms of disinvestment (privatization) and opening up markets to foreign players (liberalization). India did not succumb to international pressures (from IMF or the World Bank) to liberalize overnight and went in for unilateral liberalization.

The Foreign Trade Policy has a two pronged objective: to double India’s share of global merchandise trade by 2009, over the 2004 level, and to use trade to generate employment.  Several free trade zones are established that facilitate 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment. This seems to have been achieved by having a very pro-export trade policy driven by incentives to exporters, which is quite the contrast to what was the policy up until liberalization. While exports are a key goal, the Foreign Trade Policy also acknowledges the importance of facilitating imports required to stimulate the economy and calls for a simplification of import procedures and reduction of import barriers. It also calls for coherence and consistency between trade and other economic policies. Specific sectoral strategies have been put in place for agriculture and other sectors with potential for generation of exports and employment in semi urban and rural areas. Although India has been a firm supporter of multilateral liberalization, it has also sought out Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) in recent years.

India has consistently taken the stand that the launch of any new round of talks depends on a full convergence of views amongst the entire WTO membership on the scope and framework for such negotiations. Our more urgent task is to resolve the concerns of developing countries on implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements. We are against calls for new commitments from the developing world for achieving symmetry and equity in the existing agreements. It is in favour of non-trade’ issues are permanently kept off the negotiating table.

It has also been possible to maintain without hindrance the domestic policy instruments for promotion of agriculture or for targeted supply of food grains. Domestic policy measures like the operation of minimum support price, public distribution system as well as provision of input subsidies to agriculture have not in any way been constrained by the WTO agreement.

Indian industry has had to face greater competition in the wake of globalisation. But it has successfully completed, as can be inferred from the fact that there has been no particular surge in imports.

Steps to reclaim land fertility in the agricultural lands in the country

Steps to reclaim land fertility in the agricultural lands in the country.

The problems and prospects of agricultural development in the country, some suitable and practicable policy suggestions for agricultural planning are being made for viable and accelerated development of agricultural and allied activities in India.

• The first and the foremost priority should be given to expansion of more and more agricultural lands through effective, appropriate and adequate reclamation measures. Immediate ‘measures should be undertaken to develop kutcha roads up to the fertile slopes and forest. This task should be specifically entrusted to Authorized Departments, and/or Non-Governmental Organizations, with instructions to finish the reclamation works within stipulated time period.
• The government and policy implementing authorities should take into consideration the core competence of the society. The culture of work systems like community works, exchange services, group works or self help works should be encouraged in implementation of agricultural development works through appropriate incentives.
• The waste lands in the area are physically handicapped with the problems like soil erosion, soil degradation etc. The problem of soil erosion is more acute on slopes of hills and soil degradation is confined in the water-logged areas. Green manuring, compost manuring and artificial manuring etc. should be adopted to recoup and maintain the fertility of the soils.
• The practice of shifting cultivation in the high hills should be initiated to settled practice of agriculture in particular. Proper knowledge regarding consumption-demand pattern, and cost-benefit pattern, in general should be imparted. This will ensure better utilization of land and increase the income and yield of the farmers.
• The existing network of irrigational facilities should be expanded to match the present and future demands of the locality through constructing new irrigational channels, boring of new tube-wells, collection of rain water in tanks and through embanking barren valleys, wherever possible.
• The government agencies should provide adequate facilities of loans and subsidies like easy and soft loans for purchasing seeds and fertilizers and development of agriculture lands and provide the farmers to have their own facilities for irrigation through developing channels.
• Cropping belts should be identified in the study area in accordance with the physical qualities of the land, types of the soils and availability of water. Crops requiring good lands should be grown in good soil-water belts, crops with average requirements in medium grade soil-water belt and the crops with lesser requirements in low grade soil-water belt. A suitable crop combination and crop rotation should be practiced in the area where ever posse.
• Similarly, the cropping pattern in Kharif, Rabi, and Zaid seasons should also be adjusted accordingly keeping in view the quality of soils, availability of irrigation, pattern of consumption and demand.
• The practice of multiple and cash cropping should be encouraged by providing adequate irrigational facilities, inputs, storage and marketing facilities to ensure better utilization of land and human resources.
• This will help improve the income and living standard of the farmers and at the same time, it will enrich and strengthen the agricultural sector to meet its own demands as well as the demands of the other parts of the state, slowly making it self sufficient in food grains and providing food security. Similarly, the practice of cash cropping should also be encouraged to meet the diversified demand and consumption needs of the regional population and also to increase the income and living standard of the tanners and labourers.
• The use of improved farm Inputs like HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, sophisticated implements etc. is very low per unit area in the region resulting in a low production and productivity and ultimately, to general poverty among masses. It is, therefore, high time that the inputs per unit area is encouraged and promoted by giving demonstration and educating and training the farmers.
• The agricultural and horticultural pricing should be streamlined and the exploitation of the farmers by middleman, traders and merchants should be stopped by providing adequate marketing facilities for the sale and purchase of the agricultural,  horticultural products at the nearest service centre’s, so that the farmers may get returns from their fields.
• The wages of the agricultural labourers should be adequately raised, so that they are encouraged to work efficiently and honestly. This will certainly increase the labour and land productivity and will, for that matter, Improve the income and living standard of the farmers as well as of the labourers.
• The farmers of the area are mostly uneducated and untrained. They are doubtful about the new farming methods, practices and inputs and do not want to deviate from the traditions. Therefore, it is urgently needed that sufficient facilities for training and educating the farmers into the use of new methods and inputs should be provided to their nearest service centre. Care should be taken to ensure that the training brings concrete changes in their behaviour and attitudes. This will generate more confidence in the entire agricultural system.
• State Government’s encouragement and initiation is a basic requirement for over all agricultural development.