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PIB  Sumary

S E P T E M B E R - 2 0 1 7

All Important PIB Releases

1. The Code on Wages Bill 2017 (GS 1 SOCIAL ISSUES + GS 2 GOVERNANCE)
As part of labour law reforms, the Government has undertaken the exercise of rationalisation of the 38 Labour Acts by framing 4 labour codes viz Code on Wages, Code on Industrial Relations, Code on Social Security and Code on occupational safety, health and working conditions.
Details -
• The Code on Wages Bill 2017 subsumes 4 existing Laws, viz. the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. After the enactment of the Code on Wages, all these four Acts will get repealed. The Codification of the Labour Laws will remove the multiplicity of definitions and authorities leading
to ease of compliance without compromising
wage security and social security to the
workers.
• At present, the provisions of the Minimum
Wages Act and the Payment of Wages Act do
not cover substantial number of workers, as
the applicability of both these Acts is restricted
to the Scheduled Employments /
Establishments. However, the new Code on
Wages will ensure minimum wages to one and
all and timely payment of wages to all
employees irrespective of the sector of
employment without any wage ceiling.
• A concept of statutory National Minimum
Wage for different geographical areas has
been introduced. It will ensure that no State
Government fixes the minimum wage below the National Minimum Wages for that particular area as notified by the Central Government.
• The proposed payment of wages through cheque or digital/ electronic mode would not only promote digitisation but also extend wage and social security to the worker. Provision of an Appellate Authority has been made between the Claim Authority and the Judicial Forum which will lead to speedy, cheaper and efficient redressal of grievances and settlement of claims.
• Penalties for different types of violations under this Code have been rationalised with the amount of fines varying as per the gravity of violations and repeat of the offences. Provision of compounding of offences has been made for those which are not punishable by a penalty of imprisonment.
• Central Government has not fixed or mentioned any amount as “national minimum wage” in the Code on Wages Bill 2017. The apprehension that minimum wage of Rs. 18000/- per month has been fixed for all employees is, incorrect, false and baseless. The minimum wages will vary from place to place depending upon skill required, arduousness of the work assigned and geographical location.
• Further, the Code on Wages Bill 2017, in the clause 9 (3), clearly states that the Central Government, before fixing the national minimum wage, may obtain the advice of the Central Advisory Board, having representatives from employers and employees. Therefore the Code provide for a consultative mechanism before determining the national minimum wage.

2. Two new contraceptives (GS 2 Health, Governance)
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched two new contraceptives, an injectable contraceptive MPA under the ‘Antara’ programme and a contraceptive pill, ‘Chhaya’, in the public health system to expand the basket of contraceptive choices to meet the emerging needs of couples.
Details -
• The contraceptives, which are available for free in Medical Colleges and District Hospitals at present.
• The contraceptives are safe and highly effective, the ‘Antara’ injectable being effective for three months and the ‘Chayya’ pill for one week, and will help meet the changing needs of couples and help women plan and space their pregnancies.
• Training of healthcare practitioners from all the states has been completed as well, with a pool of state and district level doctors and staff nurses being trained to support the roll-out.
• To help improve the supply and distribution of contraceptives, the Ministry had recently launched a new software, Family Planning Logistics Management Information System (FP-LMIS), designed to provide robust information on the demand and distribution of contraceptives to health facilities and ASHAs.
Additional information -
In addition, Mission Parivar Vikas, a central family planning initiative has also been launched by the Ministry. The key strategic focus of this initiative is on improving access to contraceptives through delivering assured services, ensuring commodity security and accelerating access to high quality family planning services.
• The mission is being implemented in 146 high focus districts with the highest total fertility rates in the country. These districts are in the seven high focus, high Total Fertility Rates (TFR) states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam, which constitute 44% of the country’s population.
• The main objective of the Mission Parivar Vikas family planning initiative is to bring down the Total Fertility Rate to 2.1 by the year 2025.
Conclusion -
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through its sustained family planning efforts, aims to achieve its goal of increasing modern contraceptive usage and ensure that 74% of the demand for modern contraceptives is satisfied by 2020, with continued emphasis on delivering assured services, generating demand and bridging supply gaps. The Ministry’s focus remains on increasing awareness and demand through a holistic communications campaign that has simultaneously been rolled out across all states of India.
3. Task Force on Employment and Exports (GS 2 Governance + GS 3 Economy)
To provide a major thrust to job creation by enhancing India’s exports, an Expert Task Force has, today, been constituted with the NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, as its Chairperson.
Need for the task force - • While the Indian workforce has high aspirations, a majority of the workers are still employed in low-productivity, low-wage jobs in small, micro and own-account enterprises. • An urgent and sustained expansion of the organised sector is essential to address India’s unemployment and under-employment issue. • An important strategy is also to enable a shift towards more labour-intensive goods and services that are destined for exports.
Given the importance of exports in generating jobs, India needs to create an environment in which globally competitive exporters can emerge and flourish. The steps outlined by the task force to address this challenge of creating well-paid, formal sector jobs, include - • Proposing a comprehensive plan of action to generate employment and alleviate under-employment in both goods and services sectors and low wages by boosting India’s exports in key labour-intensive industries. • Recommending sector-specific policy interventions in key employment sectors. • Recommending measures to enhance trade in services with high employment potential • Identifying key macroeconomic factors constraining exports and suggesting methods to address these constraints. • Assessing the effectiveness of existing schemes to promote exports. • Addressing issues related to logistics, export credits and trade facilitation. • Suggesting ways to enhance the availability of data on trade such that it is reliable, globally comparable and timely, particularly with respect to trade in services.
Composition - Members of the Task force include CEO, NITI Aayog, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. Leading economists and industry experts are also members of the Task Force, which will submit its report by November 2017.

4. INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY (PRELIMS)
The 51st International Literacy Day is being celebrated on 8th September, 2017 and the theme announced by UNESCO is `Literacy in a digital world’.
Background –
• The International Literacy Day is celebrated on 8th September every year throughout the world.
• On this day, in the year 1965 the World Congress of Ministers of Education met in Tehran for the first time to discuss the programme of education at the international level.
• The UNESCO in its 14th Session in November, 1966, declared 8th September as the International Literacy Day. Since then, ILD is celebrated on 8th September every year by most of the member countries.
Why is it celebrated?
The key aspect of the observance of ILD is to mobilize public opinion in favour of struggle against illiteracy. ILD is a forum to disseminate information on literacy and raise the public awareness and the significance of literacy for individual and national development.
National Literacy Mission Authority –
• The National Literacy Mission Authority started celebrating International Literacy Day every year from 1988 onwards. The eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major national concerns of the Govt. of India since independence. The occasion of ILD is used for raising public awareness to eradicate illiteracy and create environment in favour of adult education programmes.
• From 1996 onwards some new elements were introduced to make the programme more attractive. In the year 1996 a ‘Mashal March’ was organized involving school students and literacy functionaries. In subsequent years, variety of activities were included as a part of ILD celebration which includes: Competitions (Rangoli, Drawing etc) for the literacy functionaries at the State level by SLMAs, Exhibition of JSS products (KRITI), International Conferences, Seminars, Cultural Progrmmes etc.
5. PAYMENT OF GRATUITY BILL (AMENDMENT), 2017 (Prelims + GS 2 Polity and Governance)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament.
The Amendment will increase the maximum limit of gratuity of employees, in the private sector and in Public Sector Undertakings/ Autonomous Organizations under Government who are not covered under CCS (Pension) Rules, at par with Central Government employees.
Background -
• The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
applies to establishments employing 10
or more persons.
• The main purpose for enacting this Act
is to provide social security to workmen
after retirement, whether retirement is
a result of the rules of superannuation,
or physical disablement or impairment
of vital part of the body. Therefore, the
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 is an
important social security legislation to
wage earning population in industries,
factories and establishments.
• The present upper ceiling on gratuity
amount under the Act is Rs. 10 Lakh. The provisions for Central Government employees under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 with regard to gratuity are also similar. Before implementation of 7th Central Pay Commission, the ceiling under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 was Rs. 10 Lakh. However, with implementation of 7th Central Pay Commission, in case of Government servants, the ceiling now is Rs. 20 Lakhs effective from 1.1.2016.
• Therefore, considering the inflation and wage increase even in case of employees engaged in private sector, the Government is of the view that the entitlement of gratuity should be revised for employees who are covered under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. Accordingly, the Government initiated the process for amendment to Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

6. SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF INDIA (PRELIMS + GS 1 GEOGRAPHY)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for a significant project to acquire 48,243 Line Kilometer (LKM) 2D seismic data for appraisal of Indian sedimentary basins where limited data is available.
Details and significance –

• The project will help in increasing the investments in domestic production of oil and gas. The project will be implemented by NOCs, i.e. Oil India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). OIL will conduct survey in North - Eastern States while remaining area will be covered by ONGC. Survey work will be carried out in 24 States.
• Entire project is likely to be completed by 2019-20. Directorate General of Hydrocarbons is monitoring the project and reviewing the progress on monthly basis.
• Project involves engagement of large number of workers at local level where work is to be executed. This is likely to generate direct as well as indirect employment for about 11,000 people in the form of skilled and unskilled workers and suppliers for support services.
Background -
• India has 26 sedimentary basins covering an area of 3.14 Million Sq Km spread over inland, shallow water and deep water. An area of about 48% of total sedimentary basin area does not have adequate geo-scientific data.
• As a base to launch future Exploration and Production (E&P) activities, appraisal of all unappraised areas has been considered an important task. The preparatory work started in 2015-16 and actual survey work started in 2016-17 and more than 9100 LKM 2D seismic data has been acquired till July, 2017.
• Data acquisition is important as it helps in giving the initial insight into the basins and helps in planning the future E&P activities.
• It will be useful in deciding the focus areas of the exploration activities in the country and on the basis of this primary data, E&P companies would take up further exploration activities in the acreages allocated to them.
7. DAIRY PROCESSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND (PRELIMS + GS 3 ECONOMY)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund” (DIDF) with an outlay of Rs 10,881 crore during the period from 2017-18 to 2028-29.
Details -
Consequent to the Union Budget 2017-18 announcement, Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund will be set up as a corpus of Rs 8004 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
The major activities of DIDF -
The project will focus on building an efficient milk procurement system by setting up of chilling infrastructure & installation of electronic milk adulteration testing equipment, creation/modernisation/expansion of processing infrastructure and manufacturing faculties for Value Added Products for the Milk Unions/ Milk Producer Companies.
Management of DIDF -
• The project will be implemented by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Dairy Development Cooperation (NCDC) directly through the End Borrowers such as Milk Unions, State Dairy Federations, Multi-state Milk Cooperatives, Milk Producer Companies and NDDB subsidiaries meeting the eligibility criteria under the project. An Implementation and Monitoring Cell (IMC) located at NDDB, Anand, will manage the implementation and monitoring of day-to-day project activities.
• The end borrowers will get the loan @ 6.5% per annum. The period of repayment will be 10 years with initial two years moratorium.
• The respective State Government will be the guarantor of loan repayment. Also for the project sanctioned if the end user is not able to contribute its share; State Government will contribute the same.
Benefits from DIDF -
With this investment, 95,00,000 farmers in about 50,000 villages would be benefitted.
Employment Generation Potential -
• The implementation of DIDF scheme will generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manpower. Direct employment opportunities for about 40,000 people will be created under the scheme.
• About 2 lakh indirect employment opportunities will be created on account of expansion of milk and milk product marketing operations.
• With the increase in milk procurement operations of the Milk Cooperatives, there would be generation of additional manpower employment for supervision of increased milk procurement operations, transportation of milk from villages to processing units, and increased input delivery services like Artificial Insemination (AI) services, Veterinary Services, etc.
8. Operation Insaaniyat (Prelims + GS 2 IR)
What is it?
Humanitarian Assistance to Bangladesh on Account of Influx of Refugees
Details -
• A humanitarian crisis arose in Bangladesh
due to heavy influx of refugees from
neighbouring Myanmar. The government of
India has decided to assist Bangladesh in
this crisis by sending relief material.
• The Indian Air Force was tasked to airlift the relief material from India to Bangladesh. One C-17 Globemaster strategic heavy lift cargo aircraft was positioned at short notice at Delhi on 13 Sep 17 to airlift 55 Tons of relief material to Chittagong, Bangladesh.
• This aircraft was loaded overnight with relief material consisting of critical daily necessities viz., rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, ready to eat meals, mosquito nets etc.

9. SWACHHTA HI SEWA (PRELIMS + GS 2 GOVERNANCE)
Starting tomorrow, the whole country will take up sanitation initiatives, for over 15 days, in an unprecedented campaign to highlight, once again. the jan aandolan that is the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Details -
The Prime Minister has named the nation-wide sanitation campaign from 15th September to 2nd October 2017 as “Swachhta Hi Seva”. This is being coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the convening Ministry for the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Objective -
The objective of the campaign is to mobilise people and reinforce the “Jan Aandolan” for sanitation to contribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India. Swachhta Hi Seva campaign will see large scale mobilisation of people from all walks of life to undertake shramdaan for cleanliness and construction of toilets and to make their environments free from open defecation. There will be targeted cleaning of public and tourist places.
Participation -
• The participation will range from the President of India to the common citizen and would involve Union Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, legislators celebrities and top officials. Celebrities, faith leaders, corporate honchos etc. are being mobilised to spearhead the campaign in their respective areas of influence.
• Arrangements have been made to ensure formal launch of “Swachhta Hi Seva” campaign in all States and Districts involving Governors, Chief Ministers, State Ministers, MPs, MLAs and District Collectors. Pledged will be taken and Shramdaans done in Panchayats and other places simultaneously.

10. Agreements/MoU’s signed between India and Japan (Prelims + GS 2 IR)
Disaster Risk Management -
MOC between the Ministry of Home Affairs, of the Government of the Republic of India and the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan - Aims to cooperate and collaborate in the field of disaster risk reduction and to share the experiences, knowledge and policies on disaster prevention.
Skills Development -
MoC in the field of Japanese Language Education in India between MEA and MOFA, Japan - To further strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the field of Japanese language education in India
Connectivity -
India Japan Act East Forum - To enhance connectivity and promote developmental projects in the North Eastern Region of India in an efficient and effective manner.
Economic & Commercial -
Arrangement between India Post and Japan Post on Administrative Instruction for the Implementation of Cool EMS service - Aims at implementing the commercial arrangement of "Cool EMS” service between the Japan Post and India Post through which fresh food can be sent from Japan to India in cool boxes to facilitate for the Japanese expatriates in India
Civil Aviation -
Exchange of RoD on Civil Aviation Cooperation (Open Sky) - It opens skies between India and Japan i.e. Indian and Japanese carriers can mount now unlimited number of flights to the selected cities of each other’s countries.

11.Montreal protocol and World Ozone Day (Prelims + GS 3 Environment)
Highlighting the strength of the active collaboration between the government, industries and all stakeholders in the implementation of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) phase-out programme in the country, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan highlighted the importance of individual awareness and the strength of collective action.
MONTREAL PROTOCOL: A BRIEF BACKGROUND
• The year 2017 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The Montreal Protocol is one of the most successful global environmental treaties, the implementation of which has not only led to the phase-out of around 98% of ozone depleting chemicals, but also averted more than 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Nearly 2 million cases of skin cancer per year have been averted globally. The Montreal Protocol is the only environmental treaty which enjoys universal ratification of 197 UN member countries.
• During the Kigali negotiations, India piloted the concept of two base lines and a differentiated phased down time schedule to factor in the needs of developing countries. This was the first time in the Montreal Protocol that the concept of two baseline has been adopted both for developed and developing countries. On India’s initiative, energy efficiency was included for the first time in the Montreal Protocol as an agreed finance solution while phasing down HFCs.
• India has consciously chosen a path for most environment-friendly and energy efficient technologies, while phasing out Ozone Depleting substances, unlike many of the developed countries. India is among the few countries globally and a pioneer, in some cases, in the use of non-ODS low Global Warming Potential (GWP) technologies.

12. REVAMPED KHELO INDIA PROGRAMME (Prelims + GS 2 Governance)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the revamped Khelo India programme at a cost of Rs.1,756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.
Significance -
• This marks a watershed moment in the history of
Indian sports, as the Programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development, economic development and national development.
• The revamped Khelo India Programme would impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy.
Salient features -
Some of the salient features of the Programme include -
• an unprecedented Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which would cover 1,000 most talented young athletes each year across select sports disciplines.
• Each athlete selected under the scheme shall receive an annual scholarship worth Rs. 5.00 lakh for 8 consecutive years.
• This is the first time ever that a long-term athlete development pathway would be made available to gifted and talented youngsters to excel in competitive sports and will create a pool of highly competitive athletes who can compete to win at the world stage.
• The Programme aims to promote 20 universities across the country as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sports persons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.
• The Programme also aims at creating an active population with healthy life-style.
• The Programme would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive, which will not only measure the physical fitness of all children in the age group, but also support their fitness related activities.
Impact -
• The power of sport in promoting gender equity and social inclusiveness is also fully recognized and special measures are provided for to achieve these objectives.
• The programme also aims at engaging youth living in disturbed and deprived areas, in sporting activities, to wean them away from unproductive and disruptive activities and mainstream them in the nation-building process.
• The programme strives to raise the standards of competition, both at school and college level, to have maximum access to organised sports competitions.
• It also includes the use of latest user-friendly technology in all aspects of sports promotion such as, use of mobile apps for dissemination of sports training; National Sports Talent Search portal for talent identification; interactive website for indigenous sports; GIS based information system for locating and using sports infrastructure, etc.
• This programme strives to promote “Sports for All” as well as “Sports for Excellence.”

13. DENTISTS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017 (PRELIMS + GS 2 POLITY)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Parliament subject to modifications of drafting or consequential nature, if any, as may be considered necessary by the Legislative Department by amending the Dentists Act, 1948. The amendment will reduce the redundancy.
Details of amendment -
The clauses being amended include those pertaining to certain modifications in the provisions of the Dentists Act, 1948 with regard to:
• the Membership of the Dental Council of India under clause (f) of section 3 and
• the Membership of State and Joint State Dental Councils under clause (b) of section 21 and clause (b) of section 23 of the said Act.
Background - As per the existing Act, it was required to have the representation of dentists registered in Part B as Central Government nominees in the Dental Council of India and the election of four/ two members from Part B to the State/ Joint State Dental Councils. However, it has lost relevance. With a view to reducing the redundancy of the provisions of their representation, the Central Government has decided to delete these provisions so that their representation does not remain mandatory any more.

14. EXTENSION OF UDAAN SCHEME (PRELIMS + GS 2 GOVERNANCE + GS 3 SECURITY)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for extension of time period of the Scheme "Special Industry Initiative for J&K" (Sll J&K)- Udaan till 31st December, 2018 without any modification and cost escalation. Initially the time period of Udaan was upto 2016-17.
What is Udaan?
• Udaan provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State.
• UDAAN seeks to provide a commitment to train youth from the State covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT, ITES, Infrastructure, Hospitality etc.
• In spite of four months of unrest, the scheme has gained a good momentum and pace of implementation has been the best during FY 2016-17 since its inception. More than 12,000 candidates had joined training and nearly 10,000 candidates were offered jobs. 140 mega selection drives were held so far covering all districts of the State.
• Udaan is a national integration scheme with the goal to mainstream J&K youth with rest of the country. The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job opportunity but also connects these bright youths from the J&K with the vibrant corporate sector of India.

15. INCREASE OF COST NORMS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY NUTRITION (PRELIMS + GS 1 SOCIAL ISSUES + GS 2 GOVERNANCE)
Introduction -
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal for revision of cost norms with annual cost indexation for Supplementary Nutrition (SN) for the beneficiaries of Anganwadi Services and Adolescent Girls (out of school 11-14 years) under the Umbrella ICDS Scheme. This addresses a long standing anomaly and ensures that the changes in norms keeps pace with changes in costs on an annual basis.
Details -
• This follows the decision by the Government to provide cash benefits to pregnant and lactating mothers under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, and is part of an intensive effort to improve the nutritional status of women and children.
• The revised Supplementary Nutrition cost norms for the beneficiaries of Anganwadi Services and for Adolescent Girls (11-14 years out of school) under the Umbrella ICDS Scheme, as approved by the Government are as under:
Category Existing Rate Rs./Day/Beneficiary Revised Rates Rs./Day/Beneficiary
Children (6-72 months)
Rs 6.00
Rs 8.00 Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW & LM) Rs 7.00 Rs 9.50
Severely Malnourished
Rs 9.00
Rs 12.00 Adolescent Girls (11-14 years out of school) Rs 5.00 Rs 9.50
• The revision in the cost norms of SN for the beneficiaries of Anganwadi Services and Adolescent Girls would impact the health and nutritional status of about 11 crore beneficiaries per annum.
16. NEW PPP POLICY FOR PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING (PRELIMS + GS 2 GOVERNANCE)
Central Government today announced a new PPP Policy for Affordable Housing that allows extending central assistance of up to Rs.2.50 lakh per each house to be built by private builders even on private lands besides opening up immense potential for private investments in affordable housing projects on government lands in urban areas.
Details -
• The two PPP models for private investments in affordable housing on private lands include extending central assistance of about Rs.2.50 lakh per each house as interest subsidy on bank loans as upfront payment under the Credit Linked Subsidy Component (CLSS) component of Pradhan Mantri Awas yojana (Urban).
• Under the second option, central assistance of Rs.1.50 lakh per each house to be built on private lands would be provided, in case the beneficiaries do not intend to take bank loans.
Other six options -
Among the eight PPP options, six options for promoting affordable housing with private investments using government lands have been evolved after extensive consultations with States, promoter bodies and other stakeholders. The six models using government lands are:
1. DBT Model: Under this option, private builders can design, build and transfer houses built on government lands to public authorities. Government land is to be allocated based on the least cost of construction. Payments to builders will be made by the public authority based on progress of project as per agreed upon milestones and buyers will pay to the Government.
2. Mixed Development Cross –subsidized Housing : Government land to be allotted based on number of affordable houses to be built on the plot offered to private builders, cross subsidizing this segment from revenues from high end house building or commercial development.
3. Annuity Based Subsidized Housing: Builders will invest against deferred annuity payments by the Government. Land allocation to builders is based on unit cost of construction.
4. Annuity-cum-Capital Grant Based Affordable Housing: Besides annuity payments, builders could be paid a share of project cost as upfront payment.
5. Direct Relationship Ownership Housing: As against government mediated payments to builders and transfer of houses to beneficiaries in the above four models, under this option, promoters will directly deal with buyers and recover costs. Allocation of public land is based on unit cost of construction.
6. Direct Relationship Rental Housing: Recovery of the costs by builders is through rental incomes from the houses built on government lands.
Under these six Government land based PPP models, beneficiaries can avail central assistance of Rs.1.00 to Rs.2.50 lakh per house as provisioned under different components of PMAY(Urban). Beneficiaries will be identified as per the norms of PMAY(Urban).
17. Project Yash Vidya (Prelims)
Objective -
Empowering the soldiers of Indian Army.
Details -
• The Bachelor’s degree Programme designed for the Army Personnel gives special recognition to the in-service training/Army courses completed and by providing exemption from studying certain courses.
• Apart from the highly subsidised fees charged, the courses offered for study by the university have been carefully selected on the basis of their relevance and overall usefulness.
• The University (Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Nasik) will award Diploma in Self Empowerment and a Bachelors Degree in Arts or Commerce under PROJECT YASH VIDYA (enabling them with academic qualifications for better future.

18. PM launches Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana “Saubhagya” (Prelims + GS 1 Social Issues + GS 2 Governance + GS 3 Infra – MOST IMPORTANT SCHEME OF THIS YEAR)
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched a new scheme Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya” to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas here today.
Details –
• The total outlay of the project is Rs. 16, 320 crores while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs. 12,320 crores. The Government of India will provide largely funds for the Scheme to all States/UTs.
• The States and Union Territories are required to complete the works of household electrification by the 31st of December 2018.
• The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data. However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 instalments through electricity bill.
• The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises of Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug. It also includes the Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.
Impact –
The expected outcome of the Scheme is as follows –
• Environmental upgradation by substitution of Kerosene for lighting purposes.
• Improvement education services.
• Better health services.
• Enhanced connectivity through radio, television, mobiles, etc.
• Increased economic activities and jobs.
• Improved quality of life especially for women
For easy & accelerated implementation of the Scheme, modern technology shall be used for household survey by using Mobile App. Beneficiaries shall be identified and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot. The Gram Panchayat/Public institutions in the rural areas may be authorised to collect application forms along with complete documentation, distribute bills and collect revenue in consultation with the Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies. The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) will remain the nodal agency for the operationalisation of the scheme throughout the country.
19. India joins race in 5G Ecosystem (Prelims + GS 3 Science and Tech)
India is at the cusp of a next generation of wireless technology 5G. 5G has been conceived as a foundation for expanding the potential of the Networked Society.
Significance -
The economic benefits from the 5G technology are also quite immense. As per the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Committee on Digital Economic Policy, it has been stated that 5G technologies rollout will help in,
a) Increasing GDP
b) Creating Employment
c) Digitizing the economy.
For India, 5G provides an opportunity for industry to reach out to global markets, and consumers to gain with the economies of scale. Worldwide countries have launched similar Forums and thus, India has joined the race in 5G technologies.
Committee -
Government has constituted High Level 5G India 2020 Forum with three Secretaries of key Ministries/Departments Telecom, Meity and DST, and also comprising of renowned experts.
Mandate of the committee -
The Term of Reference of the High Level Forum for 5G India 2020 shall be -
• Vision Mission and Goals for the 5G India 2020, and
• Evaluate, approve roadmaps & action plans for 5G India 2020.
Objectives -
The primary goals of the forum are to achieve -
• early deployment of 5G in India.
• a globally competitive product development and manufacturing ecosystem targeting 50% of India market and 10% of global market over next 5 to 7 years.
The forum will complement the eco-system by focused actions in the following areas:
• Research Ecosystem – for IPR development, standards development and proof of concepts through research projects, PPP projects, testbeds and pilot roll-outs.
• Regulatory Framework – including spectrum assignments and a start-up friendly regulatory environment to enable leap-frog and embracing of innovative technologies.
• Inclusive Business environment – with special focus on investment incentives favourable to start-ups and innovators and enablement of Venture capitalists.
Make in India - for 5G -
A vibrant eco-system of research built around 5G that encompasses Industry, Government and Academia will further strengthen the MAKE (& DESIGN) in INDIA initiatives to enable -
• Design and manufacture of 5G technologies, products and solutions in India;
• 5G start-ups that enable this design and manufacturing capabilities;
• Generation of IPR backing the above designs;
• India based companies should have some essential IPR in the 5G standard;
• Manufacture of 5G chipsets, this may require massive investments;
• Appropriate testbeds and technology platforms to enable and help Indian technical ecosystem to have an edge in 5G;
• Accelerated deployment of next generation ubiquitous ultra-high broadband infrastructure with 100% coverage of 10 Gbps across urban India and 1 Gbps across Rural India.
20. Modernisation of Police Forces (Prelims + GS 2 Governance)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for implementation of umbrella scheme of "Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF)" for years 2017-18 to 2019-20.
Financial burden -
The financial outlay for the scheme over the three year’s period is Rs.25,060 crore, out of which the Central Government share will be Rs.18,636 crore and the States’ share will be Rs.6,424 crore.
Salient Features - • Special provision has been made under the Scheme for internal security, law and order, women security, availability of modern weapons, mobility of police forces, logistics support, hiring of helicopters, upgradation of police wireless, National Satellite Network, CCTNS project, E-prison project etc. • Under the umbrella scheme, central budget outlay of Rs.10,132 crore has been earmarked for internal security related expenditure for Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern States and left wing extremism affected States. • Scheme of Special Central Assistance (SCA) for 35 worst LWE affected districts has been introduced with an outlay of Rs.3,000 crore to tackle the issue of underdevelopment in these district.
• An outlay of Rs.100 crore has been earmarked in the North Eastern States for police infrastructure upgradation, training institutes, investigation facilities etc. • Implementation of this scheme would bolster the Government's ability to address challenges faced in different theatres such as areas affected by LWE, Jammu and Kashmir and North East effectively and undertake development interventions which will catalyze in improving the quality of life in these areas and help combat these challenges effectively at the same time. • New initiatives are being introduced to provide assistance to States for upgradation of police infrastructure, forensic science laboratories, institutions and the equipment available with them to plug critical gaps in the criminal justice system. Police Stations will be integrated to set up a national data base of crime and criminals’ records. It will be linked with other pillars of criminal justice system such as ‘prisons, forensic science laboratories and prosecution offices. • The umbrella scheme also provides for setting up of a State-of Art forensic science laboratory in Amravati and upgradation of Sardar Patel Global Centre for Security, Counter Terrorism and Anti Insurgency in Jaipur and Gujarat Forensic Science University in Gandhi Nagar.
It is expected that the umbrella scheme, "Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF)" will go a long way to boost the capability and efficiency of Central and State Police Forces by modernising them.
21. CREDIT LINE AGREEMENT (Prelims + GS 2 IR + GS 3 Economy)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the signing of the (i) Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement and (ii) Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Ratings by Exim Bank with participating member banks under BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.
Details - Both the Agreement and the MoU are umbrella pacts, and are non-binding in nature, the Board of Directors of Exim Bank has been authorized to negotiate and conclude any individual contracts and commitments within their framework.
Impact -
The Agreements will promote multilateral interaction within the area of mutual interest which will deepen political and economic relations with BRICS nations.
Signing of the Agreement will position Exim Bank in the international platform along with large development finance institutions, like CDS, VEB and BNDES. At an appropriate time, Exim Bank, leveraging this umbrella agreement, could enter into bilateral agreement with any of these member institutions to raise resources for its business. As and when an opportunity arises for co-financing in commercial terms, by any two member institutions (say India and South Africa), lending in single currency by both the institutions would also be possible.
Background - Exim Bank finances, facilitates and promotes India's international trade. It provides competitive finance at various stages of the business cycle covering import of technology, export product development, export production and export credit at pre-shipment and post-shipment stages and investments overseas. Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement -
The initial Master Agreement on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currency under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism had a validity of five years, which has expired in March 2017. It is understood that some of the member banks (like CDB and VEB; CDB and BNDES) have entered into bilateral agreements for local currency financing under the Master Agreement signed in 2012. Although the current conditions are not conducive to usage, it was useful to keep the same alive as an enabling feature in case a suitable opportunity materializes in future. Exim Bank raises resources in the off-shore market in diverse currencies and swaps to mitigate the risk. The umbrella Agreement would serve as an enabler to enter into bilateral agreements with member banks subject to national laws, regulations and internal policies of the signatories. Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Ratings - It would enable sharing of credit ratings amongst the BRICS member banks, based on the request received from another bank. This would be an ideal mechanism to mitigate the credit risks associated with cross-border financing. In future, such a mechanism could also serve as pre-cursor to the proposal of having an alternate rating agency by BRICS nations. The Agreement and the MoU have also been highlighted in the BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration made in Xiamen, China on 4th September 2017.
22. India registers significant decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) (Prelims + GS 1 Social Issues)
Points to remember -
• Major drop in birth cohort and infant
deaths
• Gender gap reducing: Big boost to ‘Beti
Bachao Beti Padhao’
Details -
• India has registered a significant decline
in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). According
to the just released SRS bulletin, IMR of
India has declined by three points (8%
decline), from 37 per 1000 live births in
2015 to 34 per 1000 live births in 2016,
compared to two points decline last year.
• Not only this, India also recorded a major
drop in birth cohort, which has for the first time come down to below 25 million. India has registered 90000 fewer infant deaths in 2016 as compared to 2015. The total number of estimated infant deaths have come down from 930000 (9.3 Lakhs) in 2015 to 840000 (8.4 lakhs) in 2016.
What does the data show?
• According to the SRS Bulletin the gender gap in India for child survival is reducing steadily. The gender difference between female and male IMR has now reduced to • The results signify that the strategic approach of the Ministry has started yielding dividends and the efforts of focusing on low performing States is paying off.
• Among the EAG States and Assam, all States except Uttarakhand have reported decline in IMR in comparison to 2015.
• The decline is reported as 4 points in Bihar, 3 points in Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand and two points decline in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
Conclusion -
These remarkable achievements in merely one year is also the result of a countrywide efforts to increase the health service coverage through various initiatives of the Government that includes strengthening of service delivery; quality assurance; RMNCH+A; human resources, community processes; information and knowledge; drugs and diagnostics, and supply chain management, etc.