Relevance IN - Prelims ( about AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR + about NCDC) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health + GS III farmer's welfare)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Agriculture launched AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR, a unique scheme to assist cooperatives play an important role in creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country formulated by the apex autonomous development finance institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).
• NCDC would extend term loans to prospective cooperatives to the tune of Rs.10,000 Crore in the coming years.
• NCDC's scheme will be a step towards strengthening farmers welfare activities by the Central Government.

AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme

• AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme would revolutionize the way healthcare delivery takes place in rural areas by virtue of their strong presence in rural areas
• The NCDC fund would give a boost to provision of healthcare services by cooperatives.
• NCDC's scheme aligns itself with the focus of the National Health Policy, 2017, covering the health systems in all their dimensions- investments in health, organization of healthcare services, access to technologies, development of human resources, encouragement of medical pluralism, affordable health care to farmers etc.
• It has a comprehensive approach-hospitals, healthcare, medical education, nursing education, paramedical education, health insurance and holistic health systems such as AYUSH.
• Any Cooperative Society with suitable provision in its byelaws to undertake healthcare related activities would be able to access the NCDC fund.
• NCDC assistance will flow either through the State Governments/ UT Administrations or directly to the eligible cooperatives. Subsidy/ grant from other sources can be dovetailed.
• Ayushman Sahakar specifically covers establishment, modernization, expansion, repairs, renovation of hospital and healthcare and education infrastructure
• The scheme also provides working capital and margin money to meet operational requirements.
• The scheme provides interest subvention of one percent to women majority cooperatives.

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

• NCDC was set up under an Act of Parliament in 1963 for promotion and development of cooperatives. Since 1963, it has extended around Rs.1.60 lakh crore as loans to cooperatives.

Defence
Malabar 2020 Naval Exercise

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Malabar 2020)
What's the NEWS

• India has invited Australia to participate in the annual Malabar series of naval exercises, marking the first time that the ‘Quad', which includes the US and Japan, will conduct extensive wargames in the Indian Ocean Region.

Know! about Malabar 2020

• The Annual Naval Exercise Malabar-2020 is expected to be held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea later this year.
• The exercises, which will take place both in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, demonstrate a change of stance for the first time since 2007 when Australia participated in Malabar but was dropped in subsequent editions
• India, the US and Japan have been conducting the Malabar series of exercises annually, the 2007 edition marked a significant expansion with the participation of Australia and Singapore.
• This year, the exercise has been planned on a ‘non-contact-at sea' format.
• The exercise will strengthen the coordination between the Navies of the participating countries.
• The Malabar series of Naval exercises started in 1992 as a bilateral Indian Navy-US Navy exercise.
• Japan joined the Naval exercise in 2015.
• This annual exercise has been conducted off the coast of Guam in the Philippine Sea in 2018, off the coast the Japan in 2019 and is expected to be held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea later this year.

Way Forward

• As India Seeks to increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain and in the light of increased defence cooperation with Australia, Malabar 2020 will see the participation of the Australian Navy.
• The participants of Exercise Malabar 2020 are engaging to enhance safety and security in the maritime domain. They collectively support free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and remain committed to a rules based international order.

Economy
IFSCA introduces Framework for Regulatory Sandbox to tap into innovative FinTech solutions

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about IFSC + about regulatory Sandbox) + Mains ( GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• IFSCA has introduced a framework for "Regulatory Sandbox".
• IFSCA with an objective to develop a world class FinTech hub at the IFSC located at GIFT City in Gandhinagar (Gujarat, India), endeavours to encourage the promotion of financial technologies (‘FinTech') initiatives in financial products and financial services across the spectrum of banking, insurance, securities and fund management

Regulatory Sandbox

• Under this Sandbox framework, entities operating in the capital market, banking, insurance and financial services space shall be granted certain facilities and flexibilities to experiment with innovative FinTech solutions in a live environment with a limited set of real customers for a limited time frame.
• The Regulatory Sandbox shall operate within the IFSC located at GIFT City.
• All entities (regulated as well as unregulated) operating in the capital market, banking, insurance and pension sectors as well as individuals and startups from India and FATF compliant jurisdictions, shall be eligible for participation in the Regulatory Sandbox.

Innovation Sandbox

• IFSCA has also proposed the creation of an "Innovation Sandbox", which will be a testing environment where FinTech firms can test their solutions in isolation from the live market, based on market related data made available by the Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) operating in the IFSC.
• The Innovation Sandbox will be managed and facilitated by the MIIs operating within the IFSC.

Know! about Fintech

• Fintech is a portmanteau of the terms "finance" and "technology" and refers to any business that uses technology to enhance or automate financial services and processes.
• The term is a broad and rapidly growing industry serving both consumers and businesses.
• From mobile banking and insurance to cryptocurrency and investment apps, fintech has broad applications.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA)

• The central government has established International Financial Services Centres Authority to regulate all financial services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) headquarters in Gandhinagar (Gujarat).
• The IFSCA will consist of nine members, appointed by the central government.
• IFSC will include Chairperson, a member each from the RBI, SEBI, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), two members from the Ministry of Finance.
• Two other members will be appointed on the recommendation of a Selection Committee.
• All members of the IFSC Authority will have a term of three years, subject to reappointment.
• The authority will regulate financial products such as securities, deposits or contracts of insurance, financial services, and financial institutions which have been previously approved by any appropriate regulator such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) etc., in an IFSC.

Government Schemes
Grand ICT Challenge under Jal Jeevan Mission receives impressive response

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ICT Grand Challenge + about Jal Jeevan. Mission)
What's the NEWS

• National Jal Jeevan Mission in partnership with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) had launched an ICT Grand Challenge to create innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System' to be deployed at the village level.

Know! about the progress of ICT Grand Challenge

• A total of 213 proposal from various Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Indian Companies, Indian LLPs have been received which will now be scrutinized by a jury committee appointed by MEITY and select the proposals.
• The ambitious mission focuses on service delivery rather than mere creation of infrastructure.
• This kind of technological challenge offers a great opportunity to ensure long-term sustainability of water supply systems in rural areas.
• This grand challenge will harness the vibrant IoT eco-systems of India for creating smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas.
• This challenge will provide opportunity to work for casue of Jal Jeevan Mission and to assure potable water supply through functional household tap connection to every rural household of the country.
• The Grand challenge will provide support at ideation Stage, prototype development stage, deployment stage.
• The pilot will be conducted in100 villages. The best solution will get cash prize of Rs. 50 Lakh and runner ups will get prize of Rs. 20 Lakh each.
• The successful developers will be given an opportunity to join the MeitY supported incubator for further nurturing of the solution.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

• Union Government's flagship programme- Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is being implemented in partnership with States for providing Functional Household Tap water Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024.
• The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, i.e. water supply regularly in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality, on long-term basis.
• This necessitates the use of modern technology in systematic monitoring of the programme and to capture service delivery data automatically for ensuring the quality of services.
• Digitisation of water supply infrastructure has the potential to solve some of the biggest societal problems facing the nation. More importantly, it will help anticipate and address future challenges.

Prelims Factoids
Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about IAHE + about Y. S. Malik committee)
What's the NEWS

• 5th General Council meeting of Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE)

Know! some recent developments

• It was proposed to expand and improve the activities of IAHE to better contribute to highway development programmes.
• The Ministry constituted a committee under the chairmanship Shri Y. S. Malik, to give recommendations to transform IAHE into a world-class premier institute in highway sector.
• The council deliberated the recommendations of the Committee to enhance the scope of the IAHE to three distinct functions, namely (i) Training, (ii) Applied Research and Development in the Highways and Public Transport Sector, and (iii) Road Safety and Regulation and decided to take further necessary action to transform IAHE into a world-class premier institute in highway sector.

Know! about IAHE

• Created in 1983, IAHE has been providing training at entry level/refresher courses/ training on specialised areas of highway, bridge & tunnel engineering/ orientation programmes/management development programmes/strategic training programmes etc. to highway engineers and professionals working in Central Government, State Governments, PSUs, Local Bodies, Contractors, Consultants etc.

Prelims Factoids
Country's first multi-modal logistic park
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about multi-modal logistic park)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways virtually lay the foundation stone for the first-ever multi-modal logistic park in Assam

• The Rs 693.97 crore park will provide direct connectivity to air, road, rail and waterways to the people.
• It will be developed under the ambitious Bharatmala Pariyojana of the Government of India.

NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog &AWS Launch Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center in India

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of IT)
What's the NEWS

• NITI Aayog announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) with Amazon Web Services (AWS)-the first of its kind in India.

Know! about Cloud Innovation Center (CIC)

• This CIC is part of the AWS CIC Global Program, which provides an opportunity for government agencies, non-profits, and educational institutions, to come together on pressing challenges, apply design thinking, test new ideas, and access the technology expertise of AWS.
• Cloud Innovation Centers program is designed to be a catalyst for innovation in public sector, by bringing together technology experts to address challenges.
• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies CIC will be a great enabler to budding innovators and start-ups, and help in piloting state-of-the-art, cloud-centric digital innovations by leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, IOT, robotics, blockchain, etc.
• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center will enable government stakeholders, start-ups, and local organizations in India to innovate and create new approaches to solving problems
• The center will identify and prioritize projects as well as collaborate with local leaders, including subject matter experts at the state and district levels, to solve critical challenges.
• With AWS Cloud, public sector organizations get the power of the broadest and deepest cloud services to accelerate their missions and make the world a better place,
• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies CIC joins a global network of AWS public sector cloud innovation centers across Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, and United States.

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