Relevance IN - Prelims (about Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) + Mains (GS II Government policies and interventions for the development of various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Minister of Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

• The Phase-III of PMGSY aims at consolidation of 1,25,000 Kms Through Routes and Major Rural Links that connect habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals with an estimated cost of Rs. 80,250 crores (Central Share of Rs. 53,800 crores) for the period 2019-20 to 2024-25.
• The funding pattern for the PMGSY-III will be 60:40 between Centre and the States for States other than NE & Himalayan States and 90:10 for NE and Himalayan States as applicable for Central sponsored schemes.
• More than 6 Lakh Kms of Roads have been constructed across rural India.
• The Minister highlighted the importance of roads in bringing about all round positive development and empowering the villages
• A total of 1,53,491 rural road works have been completed under the PMGSY Scheme connecting 97.27% of the eligible and feasible habitations and adding up a road length of 6,07,900 Kms across the country.
• Out of the above, a road length of 36,063 Kms has been constructed using green technologies, a major portion of which includes Waste plastic and cold mix technology.
  
  

• Government launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana on 25th December, 2000 to provide all-weather access to unconnected habitations.
• The Ministry of Rural Development along with state governments is responsible for the implementation of PMGSY.

• PMGSY - Phase I was launched in December, 2000 as a 100 % centrally sponsored scheme with an objective to provide single all-weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected habitation of designated population size (500+ in plain areas and 250+ in North-East, hill, tribal and desert areas, 00 - 249 population in LWE districts as per Census, 2001) for overall socio-economic development of the areas.
• The unit for this Programme is a Habitation and not a Revenue village or a Panchayat. A Habitation is a cluster of population, living in an area, the location of which does not change over time. Desam, Dhanis, Tolas, Majras, Hamlets etc. are commonly used terminology to describe the Habitations.
• An Unconnected Habitation is one with a population of designated size located at a distance of at least 500 metres or more (1.5 km of path distance in case of Hills) from an All-weather road or a connected Habitation.

• The Phase II of PMGSY was approved during May, 2013. While the ongoing PMGSY - I continued, under PMGSY phase II, the roads already built for village connectivity was to be upgraded to enhance rural infrastructure.
• For the 12th Five Year Plan period a target of 50,000 Km length under PMGSY-II. 75 per cent of the cost of the upgradation was by the Centre and 25 per cent by the state.
• For hill states, desert areas, Schedule V areas and Naxal-affected districts, 90 per cent of cost was borne by the Centre

• Government launched Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism affected Areas in the year 2016 as a separate vertical under PMGSY to provide all-weather road connectivity with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures in 44 districts (35 are worst LWE affected districts and 09 are adjoining districts), which are critical from security and communication point of view.

• The Phase III was approved by the Cabinet during July 2019. It involves consolidation of Through Routes and Major Rural Links connecting habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals.
• Under the PMGSY-III Scheme, it is proposed to consolidate 1,25,000 Km road length in the States. The duration of the scheme is 2019-20 to 2024-25.
• The funds would be shared in the ratio of 60:40 between the Centre and State for all States except for 8 North Eastern and 3 Himalayan States (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand) for which it is 90:10.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the benefits of SEZ)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has notified the setting up of the first ever Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tripura.

Know! more about SEZ

• The SEZ is being set-up at Paschim Jalefa, Sabroom, South Tripura District, which is 130 km away from Agartala. It will be a Sector Specific Economic Zone for Agro-Based Food Processing.
• The estimated investment in the project will be around 1550 Crore.
• The developer of the SEZ will be Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) Ltd. The SEZ is estimated to generate 12,000 skilled jobs.
• Rubber based industries, textile and Apparel Industries, bamboo and Agri-food Processing Industries will be set-up in the SEZ.
• Setting up of the SEZ in Sabroom will open up new avenues to attract private investment considering the proximity of the Chittagong Port and construction of the bridge across Feni River in South Tripura which is underway.
• After it is set up, 100 percent Income Tax exemption will be provided on export income for SEZ units under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act for the first 5 years. Also 50 percent exemption will be provided for the next 5 years and 50 percent of the ploughed back export profit for another 5 years.

Human Resource Development
Manthan- Impeccable Academia
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Manthan- Impeccable Academia) + Mains (GS II issues relating to the development and management of social sectors/services relating to education, health and human resource)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank' inaugurated the third chapter of ‘Manthan- Impeccable Academia

Know! more about it

• Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) in collaboration with Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) organized this event.
• Skill education forms the backbone of development of any nation, which helps cultivate skilled youth and workforce which is the need of the hour.
• India's young population is its most valuable asset and dominates 54% of the population.
• It also has a history of being the world leader in education; to put our vision and mission to create a better skilled population for future, the work MHRD and MESC are doing is commendable.

Know! about MANTHAN

• MANTHAN is focused on a plethora of opportunities available in the Media and Entertainment Industry.
• It's highlighting the possibilities of Association between Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) and participating esteemed Academic Institutions, colleges & universities.
• The Ministry of Human Resource & Development along with MESC has developed specialized employment oriented Bachelor Courses as: BSc. Animation & VFX,BSc. Performing Arts and B.Sc. Film Making.

State Specific
QCI Conclave in Uttarakhand

Relevance IN - Prelims (about QCI)
What's the NEWS

• Quality Council of India (QCI) along with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) is organizing its 11th Regional Quality Conclave (RQC) on 20th December 2019

Know! more about it

• The theme of the RudrapurRQC is "Advance Manufacturing with Quality, Innovation & Technology Interventions."
• The objective of the Conclave is to create awareness about significance of quality culture in businesses, deliberate on how organizations could continuously improve and innovate and share the technological advancement like Industry 4.0 and predictive maintenance.
• The Conclave will have sessions on Adding Value in Manufacturing and Supply Chain with Digital Transformation, Mapping Organization's Route to Quality, Up skilling for Industry 4.0
• Through this Conclave the Quality Council of India hopes to reach out to industries in the hilly regions of the country.

Know! more about QCI

• Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up in 1997 by Government of India jointly with Indian Industry as an autonomous body under the administrative control of the Department to establish and operate the National Accreditation Structure for conformity assessment bodies; providing accreditation in the field of education, health and quality promotion.
• Besides the role of putting in place the accreditation structure, it also promotes the adoption of quality standards relating to Quality Management Systems (ISO 14001 Series), Food Safety Management Systems (ISO 22000 Series) and Product Certification and Inspection Bodies through the accreditation services provided by National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB).
• Indian industry is represented in QCI by three premier industry associations namely ASSOCHAM; CII; and FICCI.
• QCI is assigned the task of monitoring and administering the National Quality Campaign a plan scheme of the department, and also to oversee function of the National Information and Enquiry Services.
• To realize the objective of improving quality competitiveness of Indian products and services, QCI provides strategic direction to the quality movement in the country by establishing conformity assessment system which is recognized at the international level

Know! about Industry 4.0

• Industry 4.0 is the subset of the fourth industrial revolution that concerns industry. The fourth industrial revolution encompasses areas which are not normally classified as an industry, such as smart cities, for instance.
• Although the terms "industry 4.0" and "fourth industrial revolution" are often used interchangeably, "industry 4.0" factories have machines which are augmented with wireless connectivity and sensors, connected to a system that can visualise the entire production line and make decisions on its own.
• In essence, industry 4.0 is the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes which include cyber-physical systems (CPS), the internet of things (IoT), industrial internet of things (IIOT), cloud computing , cognitive computing and artificial intelligence.

Government Schemes
GEM launches National Outreach Programme - GEM Samvaad

Relevance IN - Prelims (about GeM and about GeM Samvaad) + Mains (GS II Government policies and interventions for the development of various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation)
What's the NEWS

• A national outreach Programme, GeM Samvaad, was launched
• The outreach programme will take place with stakeholders across the country and with local sellers in order to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers.
• The outreach programme will take place from 19 Dec 2019 to 17 Feb 2020 and will cover all the States and UTs of the country.

Know! more about GeM Samvad and Government e Marketplace (GeM)

• GeM has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40,000 Government buyer organizations.
• In its short journey of three years, GeM has processed more than 28 lakh orders worth Rs. 40,000 crores in Gross Merchandise Value out of which 50% has been transacted by MSMEs.
• State Departments and Organizations and Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) have been using GeM for their buying needs.
• Sellers from the State are also benefitting through the access to national Public Procurement market using the portal.
• Through GeM Samvaad the marketplace is looking forward to receiving feedback from users which shall be used for making improvements and advancements in the system.
  
  
• Government e Marketplace (GeM) is the national public procurement portal offering end to end solutions for all procurement needs of Central and State Government Departments, PSUs, autonomous institutions and local bodies.
• Since its commencement on 9th August 2016, GeM has transformed public procurement in the country by leveraging technology and making procurement contactless, paperless, and cashless.

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