Relevance IN - Prelims (about Chatra Vishwakarma awards and its objective) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

What's the NEWS

• AICTE has been organizing Vishwakarma Awards since the year 2017.
• The awards have been instituted for promoting innovative spirit and scientific temperament for holistic development of society through the stakeholders of its approved institutes.
• The Awards are aimed at motivating young individuals, inspiring leaders and institutions/ organizations to raise their performance in their specific domains leading to significant contribution towards the growth and development of the Nation as a whole.
• The competition/ call for entries for the third edition of Vishwakarma Award for the year 2019 were earlier announced by HRD Minister on 11 Sep 2019 and was based on the theme of "How to enhance the income of Village"
• Indian Society of Technical Education (ISTE) and Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Ayog also agreed to collaborate with AICTE for the Vishwakarma Awards 2019.

Applications were called in 02 categories:
a. Category-I : Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards (CVA)
for Outstanding Innovative Team (for Students & Mentor).
b. Category-II : Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award (USVA)
for exemplary Institutional intervention.

• NITI Ayog has agreed to support the shortlisted students by bringing their ideas into reality by supporting them through their pre-incubation centres of ATAL Community Innovation centre (ACIC).
• AICTE &MHRD's Innovation Cell has also announced to provide financial assistance to a few of the best teams of Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards after following the due process of evaluation.
• In addition to this, IIT Delhi has also agreed to support the best technical interventions of Vishwakarma Awards through their Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan (UBA) program by providing financial support to the institution for implementing their ideas in the village.

Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
1^st Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

Relevance IN - Prelims (about PM-KISAN) + Mains (GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Know! all about PM-KISAN

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India.
• The Scheme is effective from 1.12.2018.
• Under the Scheme an income support of Rs.6000/- per year is provided to all farmer families across the country in three equal installments of Rs.2000/- each every four months.
• Definition of family for the Scheme is husband, wife and minor children.
• The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with the State / UT Governments.
• The fund is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
• Farmers covered under the Exclusion Criteria of the Operational Guidelines are not eligible for the benefit of the Scheme.
• For enrollment, the farmer is required to approach the local patwari / revenue officer / Nodal Officer (PM-Kisan) nominated by the State Government.
• The Common Service Centres (CSCs) have also been authorized to do registration of the farmers for the Scheme upon payment of fees.
• Farmers can also do their self-registration through the Farmers Corner in the portal.
• Farmers can also edit their names in PM-Kisan database as per their Aadhaar database / card through the Farmers Corner in the portal.
• Farmers can also know the status of their payment through the Farmers Corner in the portal.

Prelims Factoids
MCA inaugurates SPICe+ web form

 
Relevance IN - Prelims (about SPICe+ app)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA) inaugurated the ‘SPICe+' Web Form
• As part of Government of India's Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified a new Web Form christened ‘SPICe+' (pronounced ‘SPICe Plus') replacing the existing SPICe form. SPICe+ would offer 10 services by 3 Central Govt Ministries & Departments (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance) and One State Government (Maharashtra), thereby saving as many procedures, time and cost for Starting a Business in India and would be applicable for all new company incorporations.

Following are the features of the new Spice+ web form:

• SPICe+ would be an integrated Web Form.

SPICe+ would have two parts viz.: Part A-for Name reservation for new companies and Part B offering a bouquet of services viz.

• Incorporation
• DIN allotment
• Mandatory issue of PAN
• Mandatory issue of TAN
• Mandatory issue of EPFO registration
• Mandatory issue of ESIC registration
• Mandatory issue of Profession Tax registration(Maharashtra)
• Mandatory Opening of Bank Account for the Company and
• Allotment of GSTIN (if so applied for)

More about SPICE+

• Registration for EPFO and ESIC shall be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated through SPICe+ and no EPFO & ESIC registration nos. shall be separately issued by the respective agencies.
• Registration for Profession Tax shall also be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated in the State of Maharashtra through SPICe+.
• All new companies incorporated through SPICe+ would also be mandatorily required to apply for opening the company's Bank account through the AGILE-PRO linked web form.

Infrastructure Development
‘Har Kaam Desh Ke Naam': Corporates joins Ganga Rejuvenation effort

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Har kaam desh ke naam initiative + about the tripartite MoU) + Mains ( GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What's the NEWS

• A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), State Program Management Group-Uttarakhand (SPMG-UK) and Indorama Charitable Trust (ICT) to work together for renovation/ development of the Ghat at Badrinath and Ghats and Crematoria at Gangotri in Uttarakhandat a total cost of 26.64 Crore.
• Gangotri and Badrinath being part of the Char DhamYatra, are especially important.
• This MoU is a significant step for improving amenities and sanitation at these holy locations with the underlying spirit of partnership and of private corporates taking responsibility by contributing to the National Mission: Rejuvenation of the sacred river Ganga.
• This project is being taken up under the Government initiative of ‘HarKaamDeshKeNaam'.
• The Minister lauded the Indorama Group for financing the project and hoped this will inspire other entrepreneurs as part of their companies' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
• For the first time the novel Operation and Maintenance Clause has been inserted, which will take care of the project's upkeep over a period of time.

The activities under the project include:

• Construction of Bathing Ghats and Crematoria
• Repair and modernization of existing Ghats and Crematoria
• Providing public amenities on Ghats
• Bank erosion protection works
• Operation & Maintenance (O&M) for 5 years

Badrinath Bathing Ghat

• Badrinath Bathing Ghat is situated along the bank of river Alaknanda. Through local consultation, the sites of Ghat was identified.

Gangotri Bathing Ghat and Crematoria

• GangotriGhat is situated along the bank of river Bhagirathi at Gangotri. One bathing ghat and one crematoria to be developed at Gangotri.

Prelims Factoids
Online Chatbot ‘ASKDISHA'
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Online chatbox ASKDISHA)
What's the NEWS

• In order to resolve queries of railway passengers over the internet pertaining to various services offered, Indian Railways had introduced the services of Artificial Intelligence based ASKDISHA chatbot in October 2018 for the benefit of the users of the ticketing website www.irctc.co.in and tourism website www.irctctourism.com of its PSU, Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).
  
  

Know! more about ASKDISHA

• The ASKDISHA Chatbot was initially launched in English language but in order to further enhance the customer services rendered and to further strengthen the services of the chatbot, IRCTC has now powered voice enabled ASKDISHA to converse with customers in Hindi language also in the e-ticketing site www.irctc.co.in. The customers can now ask queries to ASKDISHA in Hindi language by voice as well as text.
• The chatbot is a special computer programme designed to simulate conversation with users, especially over the internet.
• The first-of-its-kind initiative by IRCTC is aimed at facilitating accessibility by answering users' queries pertaining to various services offered to railway passengers.
• Since its initial launch, more than 150 million passengers have been benefited by ASKDISHA with 10 billion interactions for seeking help on reservation of tickets, cancellation, enquiry of refund status, fare, PNR search, train running status, enquiry about retiring rooms and tourism products.

Government Schemes
Cabinet approves Revamping of "Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)" and "Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)"
Relevance IN - Prelims (about PMFBY and RWBCIS changes) + Mains (GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet, has approved revamping of "Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)" and "Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)" to address the existing challenges in implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes.

It is proposed to modify certain parameters/provisions of ongoing schemes of PMFBY and RWBCIS as under:
a. Allocation of business to Insurance Companies to be done for three years (Both PMFBY/RWBCIS).
b. Central Subsidy under PMFBY/RWBCIS to be limited for premium rates upto 30% for unirrigated areas/crops and 25% for irrigated areas/crops.
c. Districts having 50% or more irrigated area will be considered as irrigated area/district (Both PMFBY/RWBCIS).
d. For estimation of crop losses/admissible claims, two-Step Process to be adopted based on defined Deviation matrix
e. Technology solutions like Smart Sampling Technique (SST) and optimization of number of CCEs to be adopted in conducting CCEs (PMFBY).
f. Enrolment under the Scheme to be made voluntary for all farmers (Both PMFBY/RWBCIS).
j. Central Share in Premium Subsidy to be increased to 90% for North Eastern States from the existing sharing pattern of 50:50 (Both PMFBY/RWBCIS).
k. Provisioning of at least 3% of the total allocation for the Scheme to be made by Government of India and Implementing State Governments for administrative expenses. This shall be subject to an upper cap fixed by DAC&FW for each State (Both PMFBY/RWBCIS).
Benefits

• With these changes it is expected that farmers would be able to manage risk in agriculture production in a better way and will succeed in Stabilizing the farm income.
• Further, it will increase coverage in north eastern region enabling farmers of NER to manage their agricultural risk in a better way. These changes will also enable quick and accurate yield estimation leading to faster claims settlement.
• These changes are proposed to be implemented from Kharif' 2020 Season throughout the Country.

Cabinet Decision
Cabinet approves Elevation of BISAG as BISAG(N) under MEITY, Government of India

Relevance IN - Prelims (about BISAG (N) + Mains (GS II Centre-State relations + GS III awareness in the field of space)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved Elevation of Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG), Gujarat as Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG(N)) under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY), Government of India.

Know! the Benefits

• To maintain efficiency and innovation of services, the current skilled manpower working at BISAG may join the national level institute on as-is and where-is basis.
• To facilitate implementation of expanded scope of activities aid research & development and technology development.

Know! all about BISAG

• At present, BISAG is a state agency of Department of Science and Technology Government of Gujarat, located at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• It is registered as a Society and Trust with the Charity Commissioner of Ahmedabad.
• Its Governing body is chaired by the Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat.
• Its charter is based on the philosophy that modern day planning for a holistic development calls for transparent, efficient and low-cost decision-making systems.
• This involves multi-disciplinary information that encourages people's participation and ensures equitable development.
• The application of space technologies (especially the space based remote sensing technology), satellite communication and geo-informatics has contributed significantly towards the socio-economic development.

Elevation of BISAG

• This is not a new organisation but only an elevation of existing body which will be an Autonomous Scientific Society under Government of India instead of State Government
• The elevation of BISAG has been done to maintain efficiency and innovation of services, facilitate implementation of expanded scope of activities, efficient rollout of GIS projects and facilitate aid, research and development at the institute, according to the statement.

Tribal Affairs
16^th foundation of day of NCST

Relevance IN - Prelims (about NCST and its objective) + Mains (GS II Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.)
What's the NEWS

• The celebration for the 16th Foundation of Day of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)"organised by National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)

Know! all about NCST

• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was set up with effect from 19^th February, 2004 by amending Article 338 and by inserting a new article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment Act, 2003 which inter-alia enjoins upon the Commission to oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any other law for time being in force or under any other order to the Govt. and to evaluate the working of such safeguards.
• Former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee created a separate Ministry of Tribal Affairs in year 1999 and later on separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was created on 19^th February, 2004.
• The Commission comprise a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and three full time members (including one lady member).
• The term of office Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Members of NCST is three years from the date of assumption of charge.
• The Chairperson has been given the rank of Union Cabinet Ministries, the Vice Chairperson have the rank of a Minister of State and other Members have the rank of a Secretary to the Government of India.

Constitution of India under Clause (5) of Article 338A has assigned the following duties and functions to the Commission:

1. To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Schedule Tribes under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards.
2. To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Tribes.
3. To participate and advice in the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State.
4. To present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, report upon the working of those safeguards.
5. To make in such reports, recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes.
6. To discharge such other function in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes as the President may subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament by rule specify.
   
   

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