Relevance IN - Prelims ( about tech for tribals + about TRIFED + about VDVK) + Mains ( GS II Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes)
What's the NEWS

• An unique project aimed to transform 5 crore Tribal Entrepreneurs under the name "Tech for Tribal" has been launched by TRIFED.

• To infuse best in class training and capacity building for Tribals to start their enterprise.
• It was launched by TRIFED and IIT-Kanpur along with IIT-Roorkee, IIM Indore, Kalinga Institute of Social Science, Bhubaneshwar and SRIJAN

• Tech for Tribals, an initiative of TRIFED supported by Ministry of MSME, aims at capacity building and imparting entrepreneurship skills to tribal forest produce gatherers enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri VanDhan Yojana(PMVDY).
• The trainees will undergo a 30 days program over six weeks comprising 120 sessions.
• TRIFED has drawn out a Five Year strategy for 10X impact in Tribal development.
• TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs is establishing 1,200 "Van Dhan Vikas Kendra (VDVK)", across 28 States engaging 3.6 Lakhs Tribal Forest Produce gatherers.
• One typical VDVK comprises of 15 Self Help Groups, each consisting of 20 Tribal gatherers.
• The program aims at providing skill upgradation and capacity building of VDVK lead members.
• Under the Tech for Tribals program, the Partners will develop course contents relevant to Entrepreneurship in Value Addition and Processing of Forest Produces.
• The Tech for tribals capacity building program will ensure higher success rate of the Tribal Entrepreneurs by enabling and empowering them to run their business with marketable products with quality certifications.

• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987.
• It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India.
• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) is engaged in marketing development of tribal products and provides marketing support to the products made by tribals through a network of retail outlets

• The Van Dhan Scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED. It was launched on 14th April, 2018 and seeks to improve tribal incomes through value addition of tribal products.
• The scheme will be implemented through Ministry of Tribal Affairs as Nodal Department at the Central Level and TRIFED as Nodal Agency at the National Level.
• At State level, the State Nodal Agency for Minor Forest Produce(MFPs) and the District collectors are envisaged to play a pivot role in scheme implementation at grassroot level.
• Locally the Kendras are proposed to be managed by a Managing Committee (an SHG) consisting of representatives of Van Dhan SHGs in the cluster.

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the bridge and about project Swastik + about BRO) + Mains ( GS III Security challenges and their management in border areas)
What's the NEWS

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened the 360 feet long bailey suspension bridge over Teesta River in North Sikkim
• The 86 Road Construction Company (RCC) of 758 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF), under Project Swastik, commenced the construction of the bridge in October 2019 and completed it in January 2020.
• The bridge will give impetus to tourism and facilitate the movement of logistics for the Armed Forces deployed in forward areas.

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries.
• Currently, the organisation maintains operations in twenty-one states, one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
• The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometers of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country.
• The BRO operates in 18 Projects namely: Arunank, Beacon, Brahmank, Chetak, Deepak, Dantak, Himank, Hirak, Pushpak, Sampark, Setuk, Sewak, Shivalik, Swastik, Udayak, Vartak, Vijayak and sela tunnel.

• Teesta River is a 315 km long river that rises in the eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.
• It forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal. It joins the Jamuna River at Fulchhari in Bangladesh
• Teesta River is the fourth largest transboundary river shared between India and Bangladesh after Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna river systems.
• There is a dispute regarding water sharing of River Teesta between West Bengal and Bangladesh

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about EMC2.0 its objective and benefits) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS
• The Union Cabinet has approved financial assistance to the Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC2.0) Scheme for development of world class infrastructure along with common facilities and amenities through Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs).
Know! more about EMC2.0
• The Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme would support setting up of both Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) and Common Facility Centers (CFCs).
• The Scheme will create a robust infrastructure base for electronic industry to attract flow of investment in ESDM sector and lead to greater employment opportunities.
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) Scheme to build and create requisite infrastructure ecosystem for electronics manufacturing;
• There is a need for continuation of such scheme in modified form for further strengthening the infrastructure base for electronics industry in the country and deepening the electronics value chain.
• India's share in global electronics manufacturing grew from 1.3% (2012) to 3.0% (2018). It accounts for 2.3% of India's GDP at present.
Scheme for Promotion of manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors(SPECS)

Relevance IN - Prelims (about SPECS its objective and benefits) + Mains (GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved to offer financial incentive of 25% of capital expenditure for the manufacturing of goods that constitute the supply chain of an electronic product under the Scheme for Promotion of manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS).

Know! more about SPECS

• The scheme will help offset the disability for domestic manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductors in order to strengthen the electronic manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
• The proposal when implemented will lead to the development of electronic components manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

Know! about NPE 2019

• The vision of National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019) is to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including, chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.

Production Linked Incentive Scheme
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PLI its objective and benefits) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved the Production Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing.

Know! more about the scheme

• The scheme proposes production linked incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components including Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units.
• The Scheme shall extend an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies, for a period of five (5) years subsequent to the base year as defined.
• The proposed scheme is likely to benefit 5-6 major global players and few domestic champions, in the field of mobile manufacturing and Specified Electronics Components and bring in large scale electronics manufacturing in India.

Know! the benefits

• The scheme has a direct employment generation potential of over 2,00,000 jobs over 5 years.
• The scheme would lead to large scale electronics manufacturing in the country and open tremendous employment opportunities.
• The production of mobile phones in the country has gone up significantly from around INR 18,900 crore (USD 3 Billion) in 2014-15 to INR 1,70,000 crore (USD 24 Billion) in 2018-19 and the domestic demand is almost completely being met out of domestic production.
• By integrating "Assemble in India for the world" into "Make in India", India can significantly increase manufacturing output.
  
  

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