Miscellaneous
Better Than Cash Alliance

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about better than cash alliance)
What's the NEWS

• Department of Economic Affairs ( DEA), Ministry of Finance hosted a learning session "Accelerating Responsible Digital Payments: Unlocking the Role of Fintech in Last Mile Service Delivery" with leaders from States and Union Territories across India.
• This Peer Exchange is a result of the tremendous success and opportunities highlighted during COVID-19 and is co-organized with the UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance.

Know! more about the Better Than Cash Alliance

• United Nations, the Better Than Cash Alliance is a partnership of over 75 governments, companies and international organizations committed to accelerate the transition from cash to digital payments to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
• India became a member of the Better Than Cash Alliance in 2015 to digitize payments to achieve financial inclusion and to share success stories from Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the world's largest financial inclusion program.
• Alliance is working with several state governments towards the goal of building knowledge and programs where people, governments, and businesses can make and receive digital payments.
• The Digital Payment Infrastructure established by Government of India including Jandhan accounts, Aadhaar and Mobile phone (JAM) was put to excellent use during the pandemic.
• The Government of India has taken several initiatives to foster innovation and adoption of technology to bring in greater inclusive growth. Globally, India is being viewed as a model in implementing initiatives where the barrier to technology is at its lowest ever.

Prelims Factoids
International Bharati Festival, 2020

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about International Bharati Festival + about Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati )
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister address the International Bharati Festival, 2020
• This year the festival is being organised in virtual mode and will see participation of several national and international poets and artists.
• The festival is being organised by Vanavil Cultural Centre to celebrate the 138th birth anniversary of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati

Know! about Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati

• He was a Tamil writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot.
• Popularly known as "Mahakavi Bharathi" ("Great Poet Bharathi"), he was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry and is considered one of the greatest Tamil literary figures of all time.
• His numerous works included fiery songs kindling patriotism during the Indian Independence movement.
• He wrote many books and poems on how Tamil is beautiful in nature Indian writer of the nationalist period who is regarded as the father of the modern Tamil style.
• Exposure to political affairs led to his involvement in the extremist wing of the Indian National Congress party, and, as a result, he was forced to flee to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), a French colony, where he lived in exile from 1910 to 1919.
• During this time Bharati's nationalistic poems and essays were popular successes. Upon his return to India in 1919 he was briefly imprisoned and later rejoined Swadesamitran. He was killed by a temple elephant in Madras.
• Bharati's best-known works include Kaṇṇan pāṭṭu (1917; Songs to Krishna), Panchali sapatham (1912; Panchali's Vow), and Kuyil pāṭṭu (1912; Kuyil's Song).
• Many of his English works were collected in Agni and Other Poems and Translations and Essays and Other Prose Fragments (1937).

Government Schemes
PM-WANI

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PM-WANI) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions + GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet approved Centre's plan to launch massive wi-fi network in India. The cabinet gave nod to the setting up of public wi-fi networks to provide public wi-fi service through Public Data Offices(PDOs) without levy of any license fee.
• This Central government's scheme is called the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) and is being seen as an attempt by the government to elevate wireless internet connectivity in the country.

Know! about PM-WANI

• Public Data Offices (PDOs) will be established on the lines of Public Call Offices (PCOs). These PDOs will establish, operate, and maintain only the WANI compliant Wi-Fi access points to deliver broadband services to its subscribers.
• These PDOs will either provide internet on their own or will lease from some other Internet Service Provider (ISP). PDO Aggregators (PDOAs) will also be set up.
• These will perform the function of authorisation and accounting of the numerous PDOs.
• The government will develop an application which will register the users on to the network.
• The application will also help them discover WANI-compliant Wi-Fi hotspots in nearby areas
• A central registry will be set-up which will maintain details of all app providers, PDOAs and PDOs. The registry will be handled by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT).
• A customer wanting to access the network from a PDO's premise can do so only after an eKYC authentication
• The eKYC authentication can be done through an app provider. All the customer would have to do is to download the app provider's app from an app store once they enter the PDO premise.
• No license fee will be charged for providing broadband internet services.

Government Schemes
Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana) +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

• Cabinet has approves Rs 22,810 crore outlay for Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana that aims at encouraging businesses to do fresh hiring.
  
  
• Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana, the government will for two years provide employee and employer contribution to the retirement fund for new hires by businesses and entities
• The scheme would till 2023 entail an outgo of Rs 22,810 crore and would benefit around 58.5 lakh employees.
• The ABRY would boost employment in the formal sector and incentivize the creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid recovery phase under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0.

Salient features of ABRY

• The government will provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employees engaged on or after 1st October 2020 and up to 30th June 2021
• The government will pay both 12% employees' contribution and 12% employers' contribution i.e. 24% of wages towards EPF in respect of new employees in establishments employing up to 1000 employees for two years
• The government will pay only employees' share of EPF contribution i.e. 12% of wages in respect of new employees in establishments employing more than 1000 employees for two years.
• An employee drawing monthly wage of less than Rs 15000/- who was not working in any establishment registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) before 1st October 2020 and did not have a Universal Account Number or EPF Member account number prior to 1st October 2020 will be eligible for the benefit.
• Any EPF member possessing Universal Account Number (UAN) drawing monthly wage of less than Rs 15000/- who made exit from employment during Covid pandemic from March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, and did not join employment in any EPF covered establishment up to September 30, 2020, will also be eligible to avail benefit.
• EPFO will credit the contribution in the Aadhaar seeded account of members in an electronic manner.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS