Prelims Factoids
PM remembers ‘Tamil Thatha' U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer on his birth anniversary

What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to ‘Tamil Thatha' U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer on his birth anniversary.

Know! about Swaminatha Iyer

• Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer (19 February 1855 - 28 April 1942) was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light.
• His singular efforts over five decades brought to light major literary works in Tamil and contributed vastly to the enrichment of its literary heritage.
• Iyer published over 90 books in his lifetime, on a variety of matters connected to classical Tamil literature, and collected over 3,000 paper manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts and notes of various kinds.
• He is affectionately called Tamil Thatha (literally, "Tamil grandfather").
• Swaminatha Iyer also read the Jain epics and collated several manuscript versions and arrived at a correct conclusion.
• It was due to his efforts that the Cevaka Cintamani was published in 1887.
• From that time onwards, he began to search for Sangam classics with a view to editing and publishing them. After the Cevaka Cintamani, the Pattupattu was published.
• In a span of about five decades, Swaminatha Iyer published about 100 books, including minor poems, lyrics, puranas and bhakti (devotional) works.
• Swaminatha Iyer retired from active teaching in 1919. His research work increased several times after retirement.
• He travelled from place to place in search of palm leaf manuscripts so as to edit and publish them.
• From 1924 to 1927, Iyer was the Principal of the Meenakshi Tamil College in Annamalai University, Chidambaram.
• On health grounds, he resigned the post, came to Madras and continued his research.
• Swaminatha Iyer published his autobiography, En Saritham, serialised in the Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan, from January 1940 to May 1942. It was later published as a book in 1950.

Bilateral Relations/GSII

India and UAE sign the historic CEPA

What's the NEWS

• India and UAE signed the historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) aimed at boosting the merchandise trade between the two countries to US$ 100 billion over next five years.
• The deal was signed during the virtual summit meeting between Hon'ble Prime Minister of India and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Agreement Highlights

• The Agreement was not an interim arrangement but a complete and comprehensive economic partnership finalized in the shortest possible time in history.
• The shared objective is to promote new trade, investment and innovation dynamic in diverse sectors, including economy, energy, climate action, emerging technologies, skills and education, food security, healthcare and defence and security.

• The Agreement will provide significant benefits to Indian and UAE businesses, including enhanced market access and reduced tariffs.
• It is expected that the CEPA will lead to increase in bilateral trade from the current USD 60 bn to USD 100 bn in the next 5 years.
• The agreement covered the widest possible array of subjects from free trade to digital economy to government procurement and several other strategic areas of mutual interest.

• Major sectors like gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, agriculture and food products, plastics, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, sports goods etc. will benefit from this deal and create large scale, employment for our young boys & girls.
• UAE had agreed to automatic registration and market authorization for Indian medicines in case of their regulatory approval in developed countries such as USA, EU, UK and Japan.
• The agreement also had a permanent safeguard mechanism which can be resorted to in a situation of sudden surge in imports along with strict rules of origin, which will prevent products from other countries through the CEPA route.

Education/GSII
Government approves Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) Scheme to continue till 31^st March, 2026

What's the NEWS

• The Government has approved the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for continuation till 31.03.2026 or till further review, whichever is earlier.
• The proposal entails an expenditure of Rs. 12929.16 crore out of which Central Share is Rs. 8120.97 crores and the State Share is of Rs. 4808.19 crores.
• It has been envisaged to support around 1600 projects under the new phase of the scheme.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) is an overarching scheme, operating in mission mode for funding the state government universities and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.
• New phase of RUSA targets to reach out the unserved, underserved areas; remote/ rural areas; difficult geographies; LWE areas; NER; aspirational districts, tier-2 cities, areas with low GER etc., and to benefit the most disadvantaged areas and SEDGs.
• The new phase of the scheme has been designed to implement some of the recommendations and aims of the New Education Policy, which suggests some key changes to the current higher education system to revamp and re-energize it and thereby deliver quality higher education, with equity and inclusion.
• Under the new phase of the scheme, State Governments will be supported for Gender inclusion, Equity Initiatives, ICT, Enhancing employability through vocationalisation & skill upgradation.
• States will also be supported for creation of new Model Degree Colleges.
• State Universities will be supported for Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research.
• Grants will be provided for strengthening both accredited and non-accredited Universities and Colleges for undertaking various activities including teaching-learning in Indian languages.

Agriculture /GSIII
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) enters its 7th year of implementation

What's the NEWS

• The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has successfully entered its 7th year of implementation with the upcoming Kharif 2022 season, completing 6 years of its implementation since its launch announcement on 18th February 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.

Know! about the key features of the scheme.

• A flagship scheme of the Government of India, PMFBY aims to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities.
• Over 36 crore farmer applications have been insured under PMFBY, with over INR 1,07,059 crores of claims have already been paid under the scheme as of 4^th February, 2022.
• Launched 6 years ago, the scheme was revamped in 2020 enabling voluntary participation of the farmers.
• It also made it convenient for the farmer to report crop loss within 72 hours of the occurrence of any event - through Crop Insurance App, CSC Centre or the nearest agriculture officer, with claim benefit transferred electronically into the bank accounts of the eligible farmer.
• Integration of land records with the PMFBY's National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), Crop Insurance mobile app for easy enrollment of farmers, remittance of farmer premium through NCIP, a subsidy release module and a claim release module through NCIP are some of the key features of the scheme.
• Through its State/District Level Grievance Committee's, the scheme also enables farmers to submit their grievances at the grassroots level.
• This also includes acknowledging and resolving farmer grievances through IEC activities such as Crop Insurance Week which is celebrated twice bi-yearly, PMFBY Paathshaala, social media campaigns, a toll-free helpline and email communication.
• The scheme has been able to provide financial assistance to the most vulnerable farmers, as around 85% of the farmers enrolled with the scheme are small and marginal farmers.
• The recent announcement by Finance Minister of India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman during her 2022-23 budget speech on the use of drones for crop insurance will further strengthen the integration of technology for smooth implementation of the scheme on the ground.
• It is to be noted that the scheme will be launching a doorstep distribution drive to deliver crop insurance policies to the farmers ‘Meri Policy Mere Hath' in all implementing States.
• The campaign aims to ensure all farmers are well aware and equipped with all information on their policies, land records, the process of claim and grievance redressal under PMFBY.

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