Infrastructure Development
NATRAX

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NATRAX) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises inaugurated NATRAX- the High Speed Track(HST) in Indore which is the longest such track in Asia.

Know! all about NATRAX

• NATRAX, developed in an area of 1000 acres of land , is a one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests for widest categories of vehicles from 2 wheelers to heavy tractor trailers.
• The world class 11.3 km High Speed Track, Shri Javadekar stated that India is destined to become a hub of automobiles, manufacturing, and spare parts.
• The NATRAX centre has multiple test capabilities like measurements of maximum speed, acceleration, constant speed fuel consumption, emission tests through real road driving simulation, high speed handling and stability evaluation during manoeuvred such as lane change, high speed durability testing, etc. and is a Centre of excellence for Vehicle Dynamics.
• HST is used for measuring the maximum speed capability of high-end cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Tesla and so forth which cannot be measured on any of the Indian test tracks.
• Being centrally located in Madhya Pradesh, it is accessible to most of the major OEMs.
• Foreign OEMs will be looking at NATRAX HST for the development of prototype cars for Indian conditions .
• At present, foreign OEMs go to their respective high speed track abroad for high speed test requirements.
• It is one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests, being one of the largest in the world.
• It can cater to widest category of vehicles; say from two wheelers to the heaviest tractor trailers.
• Vehicle can achieve max speed of 375 Kmph on curves with steering control and it has less banking on ovals making it also one of the safest test track globally.

Infrastructure Development
6^th review meeting on CAPEX & infrastructure roadmap

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about CAPEX and infrastructure roadmap -steps taken by the Ministry) + Mains ( GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs held a virtual meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap ahead.

Know! the meeting highlights

• This was the 6th review meeting by the Finance Minister with Ministries/Departments on the infrastructure roadmap ahead.
• During the meeting, Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) plans of Ministries and their CPSEs, status of implementation of budget announcements and measures to expedite infrastructure investment were discussed.
• Finance Minister emphasised that enhanced CAPEX will play a critical role in revitalising the economy post-pandemic and encouraged the Ministries to front-load their capital expenditure.
• Ministries were also requested to aim to achieve more than their CAPEX targets.
• The infrastructure expenditure is not just Central Government budgetary expenditure on infrastructure and includes infrastructure spending by State Governments and private sector.
• It also includes Government expenditure through extra-budgetary resources. Therefore, Ministries are to actively work on getting projects funded through innovative structuring and financing and provide all support to private sector for enhancing infrastructure spending.
• The Ministries also need to explore Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for viable projects.

Capital Expenditures (CapEx)

• Capital expenditures (CapEx) are funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, and maintain physical assets such as property, plants, buildings, technology, or equipment.
• CapEx is often used to undertake new projects or investments by a company. Making capital expenditures on fixed assets can include repairing a roof, purchasing a piece of equipment, or building a new factory.
• This type of financial outlay is made by companies to increase the scope of their operations or add some economic benefit to the operation.

Government Scheme/Governance
Electoral Bearer Bond Scheme

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Electoral Bond) + Mains ( GS II governance)
What's the NEWS

• The Government of India has notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 vide Gazette Notification No. 20 dated 02^nd January 2018.
• As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person (as defined in item No. 2 (d) of Gazette Notification), who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
• Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.
• The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
• State Bank of India (SBI), in the XVII Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches ( as per list enclosed) w.e.f. 01.07.2021 to 10.07.2021.
• The Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.
• The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.
  
  

Defence
TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION FORUM (TIF)

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

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Navy and M/s Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore on 29 June 21at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy), New Delhi for creation of a joint Technology Incubation Forum (TIF).

Know! about TIF

• The Technology Incubation Forum reflects the joint vision of Indian Navy and Bharat Electronics Limited towards innovative and creative thinking and fostering development of Emerging Technologies.
• The broad charter of the TIF includes technology development in the domain of Weapons & Sensors, Information Technology and Emerging Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Autonomous Platforms/ Robotics, Image Processing and Cognitive Radio.
• The TIF will spearhead mission mode development of deployable productsunder the Government's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative with involvement of Industry, Academia and Start-Ups.

Food Processing
Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Completes One Year

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PMFME + achieved under the PMFME Scheme + Mains ( GS III food processing + farmers welfare)

What's the NEWS

• The centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, launched under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and promote formalization of the sector, marks the completion of its one year.
• Launched on 29th June 2020, the PMFME Scheme is currently being implemented in 35 States and Union Territories.
• The online portal for the application of the PMFME Scheme was made live on 25th January 2021.
• More than 9000 individual beneficiaries have registered on the portal, out of which more than 3500 applications have been successfully submitted under the scheme.

Milestones achieved under the PMFME Scheme
1. One District One Product

• Under the One District One Product (ODOP) component of the PMFME Scheme, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries approved ODOP for 707 districts for 35 States and UTs, including 137 unique products as per the recommendations received by States/UTs.
• The GIS ODOP digital map of India has been launched to provide details of ODOP products of all the States and UTs.
• The digital map also has indicators for Tribal, SC, ST, and aspirational districts. It will enable stakeholders to make concerted efforts for its value chain development.

2. Convergence

• Under the PMFME Scheme, the Ministry signed three joint letters with the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has signed six Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI).
• An agreement has been signed with the Union Bank of India as the Nodal Bank of the scheme and MoUs with 11 banks as official lending partners for the PMFME Scheme.

3. Capacity Building and Incubation Centres

• Under the Capacity Building component of the PMFME Scheme, the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) have been performing a key role in providing training and research support to selected enterprises/groups/clusters in partnership with the State Level Technical Institutions.

4. Seed Capital

• The component under PMFME for providing seed capital to SHGs is being implemented with the support of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and its network of State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLMs) operating at the state level.
• The PMFME Scheme envisages financial support of Rs. 40,000 for working capital and purchase of small tools for each member of SHGs engaged in food processing activities.

5. Marketing and Branding

• Under the scheme, MoUs have been signed with NAFED and TRIFED to take up the marketing and branding support for 10 products each.

6. Institutional Mechanism

• All the 35 participating States and UTs have constituted/ identified their respective State Nodal Agencies, State Level Approval Committees, District Level Committees, and State Level Technical Institutions. Moreover, a call centre has been established at NIFTEM to address queries and guide the stakeholders of the Scheme.

7. Promotion and Publicity of the PMFME Scheme

• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries in collaboration with States/UTs and Agricultural Universities is conducting nationwide promotion and publicity of the PMFME Scheme to sensitize the stakeholders
• To commemorate 75 years of India's Independence, under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is conducting 75 Unique One District One Product (ODOP) webinars/offline workshops across the country in collaboration with States/UTs, NIFTEM, and IIFPT.
• A weekly series of success stories titled "Kahaani Sukshma Udyamon Ki" has been launched to bring 75 stories of existing micro food processing enterprises.

Health
NITI Aayog Releases Report on Not-for-Profit Hospital Model in India

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the report on the not-for-profit hospital model in the country)
What's the NEWS

• NITI Aayog released a comprehensive study on the not-for-profit hospital model in the country, in a step towards closing the information gap on such institutions and facilitating robust policymaking in this area.

Know! the report highlights

• There has been relatively low investment in the expansion of the health sector in the private domain.
• The report was released by NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Paul, in the presence of CEO Mr Amitabh Kant, Additional Secretary Dr Rakesh Sarwal, and representatives of hospitals across the country who participated in the study.
• The study provides insights into the operation model of not-for-profit hospitals. It presents research-based findings on such hospitals-categorized under ownership and premise of service-and makes subsequent comparisons with private hospitals and health schemes of the Union government.
• NITI Aayog has been extensively studying the private-sector healthcare-delivery landscape in the country.
• While there exists adequate information on for-profit healthcare providers and institutions, there is a dearth of reliable and structured information on their not-for-profit counterparts, known for their tireless service in making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to everyone.
• The not-for-profit hospital sector provides not only curative but also preventive healthcare.
• It links healthcare with social reform, community engagement, and education.
• It uses government resources and grants to provide cost-effective healthcare to people without being concerned about profits. However, over the years, this sector has remained understudied.
• The study discusses in detail the cost-containment strategies implemented by not-for-profit hospitals.
• It seeks to understand the challenges that burden the operations of these institutions and hinder their growth.
• The report proposes short- and long-term policy interventions-such as developing criteria to identify these hospitals, ranking them through a performance index, and promoting top hospitals for practising philanthropy, among others.
• It also highlights the need to use the expertise of these hospitals in managing human resources with limited finance in remote areas.

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