CURRENT AFFAIRS : NATIONAL- JUNE – 2022
- PMEGP : The Central Government has extended the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) till the financial year 2025-26 (FY26), with a total outlay of Rs.13,554.42 crore. The extension of the scheme is over the 15th Finance Commission Cycle for five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The scheme was further amended as below
- The government has increased the maximum project cost for manufacturing units from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh, and for service units from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
- Territories under Panchayati Raj institutions will be classified as rural, while areas under municipal jurisdiction will be classified as urban.
- The scheme will create sustainable employment opportunities for about 40 lakh persons in five financial years.
- PMEGP applicants under aspirational districts and transgender will be treated as special category applicants and entitled to a higher subsidy.
- For special category candidates such as SC, ST, OBC, women, transgender, physically challenged, north eastern region, aspirational, and border district applicants, the margin money subsidy under the scheme will be 25% of the project cost in urban areas and 35% of the project cost in rural regions.
- The subsidy is 15% of the project cost in urban areas and 25% of the project cost in rural regions for general category applicants.
- PM CARES FOR CHILDREN SCHEME : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released benefits under the ‘PM CARES for Children’ scheme via video-conferencing. He has transferred scholarships to school-going children and distributed passbooks of the PM CARES for Children to children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19. He has also handed over a health card for treatment up to Rs.5 lakh under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to the eligible children.
- PARAM ANANTA: A state-of-the-art Super-computer, has been commissioned at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It is capable of offering peak performance of 838 teraflops. It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST). It is established under Phase 2 of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). It is based on Direct Contact Liquid Cooling technology to obtain a high power usage effectiveness and thereby reducing the operational cost.
- ASTRA MK-I BVR AAM : Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract worth Rs 2,971 crore with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) to procure several batches of the Astra MK-I beyond visual range (BVR) air-to- air missiles (AAM) and associated equipment. The missiles have been procured for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy.
It has been indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based on the requirements issued by the IAF. The air-to-air missile with BVR capability provides large stand-off ranges to the IAF’s fighter jets.
- PRADHAN MANTRI JEEVAN JYOTI BIMA YOJNA (PMJJBY) : The Government of India (GoI) has raised the premium for its flagship insurance schemes ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)’. The new premium rates are effective from 1st June 2022.
- The annual premium for PMJJBY has been increased from Rs.330 to Rs.436.
- The annual premium for PMSBY has been increased from Rs.12 to Rs.20.
The number of active subscribers enrolled under PMJJBY and PMSBY as on 31st March 2022 were 6.4 crore and 22 crore, respectively.
- INDIAN NAVAL AIR SQUADRON (INAS) 325 : Operating the indigenously built Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) MK-III aircraft, has been commissioned into the Indian Navy during an event in an INS Utkrosh, Port Blair of Andaman and Nicobar Island. The newly inducted aircraft flew for the first time over the Andaman Islands earlier and were officially inducted on 28th January 2022.
- The ‘Eagle Owl’ is the name of INAS 325. The Squadron derives its name for the keen sense of observation and tracking of the eagle is exemplified in the sensors and advanced avionics of the helicopter, while the nocturnal prowess of the owl is personified in the night vision capabilities of the aircraft.
- It has been developed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL).
- WORLD’s FIRST NANO UREA LIQUID PLANT : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid Plant at Kalol in the Gandhinagar district of Gujarat. The plant has been set up by Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative (IFFCO).
- It has been constructed at a cost of around Rs. 175 crores to provide farmers the means to boost productivity and help increase their income.
- The plant will produce about 1.5 lakh bottles of 500 ml capacity per day.
- Nano Urea is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle.
- One nanometre is equal to a billionth of a metre.
Note: India is the second largest consumer of urea across the globe and third in production of urea.
- OLYMPIC LEVEL SPORTS COMPLEX : Union Home Minister Amit Shah has laid the foundation stone of an Olympic-level sports complex in Naranpura area of Ahmedabad city, Gujarat. This project will be completed in the next 30 months in 20.39 acres of land at a cost of Rs 631.77 crore. The facility will provide training in 1012 different Olympic sports.
- REGULATION ON ONLINE GAMING INDUSTRY : The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a 7-member inter-ministerial panel to work on regulations for the online gaming industry and identify a nodal ministry to look after the sector.
- The seven-member panel includes government think-tank Niti Aayog’s CEO as well as secretaries of home affairs, revenue, industries and internal trade, electronics and IT, information and broadcasting and sports.
The panel will look into various aspects to promote online gaming and frame regulatory mechanisms for the segment, protection of gamers, ease of doing business, among others.
- NATIONAL MISSION DOCUMENT ON COAL GASIFICATION: The Central Government has set a target to increase coal gasification to 100 million tonnes (MT) by 2030 with investments worth over Rs.4 lakh crores. The government has also prepared a National Mission document to achieve 100 MT Coal Gasification by 2030.
- Coal Gasification is considered a cleaner option compared to the burning of coal. It facilitates utilization of the chemical properties of coal.
- GOVERNMENT e-MARKETPLACE (GeM) : The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has developed an IT module for Ministry of Defence to integrate competent financial authorities and Internal Financial Advisers (IFA) for online e- concurrence and approval of procurement proposals on the GeM portal. The integration module has been launched by Rajnish Kumar, Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), in the presence of Shri Prashant Kumar Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) at Defence Accounts Department Headquarters in New Delhi.
Cabinet approval (June 2022):
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a proposal to expand the mandate of Government e-Marketplace-Special Purpose Vehicle (GeM-SPV) to allow cooperative societies to register as buyers on this portal.
- At present, the platform is open for procurement by all government buyers: central and state ministries, departments, public sector enterprises, autonomous institutions, local bodies, etc.
- As per existing mandate, GeM is not available for use by private sector buyers. Suppliers (sellers) can be from across all segments: government or private.
- HAR GHAR DASTAK 2.0 CAMPAIGN : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched the ‘Har Ghar Dastak 2.0’ campaign to vaccinate and cover the eligible population groups for first, second and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns.
- It is a two-month-long door-to-door campaign that is being implemented from 1st June 2022 to 31st July 2022.
- This campaign will be focusing on old age homes, colleges, schools, out-of-school children (for coverage of children between 12 to 18 years of age), brick kilns, prisons, etc.
- The campaign will also focus on improving sub-optimal coverage of persons aged 60 years and above with precaution dose.
- The campaign is being supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). So far, 193.57 crore doses have been administered across the country. 3% of all persons above 15 years of age have received at least one dose and 86.3% have received both the doses of
COVID-19 vaccine. HarGharDastak 1.0 campaign: It was launched in November 2021 to promote Covid-19 vaccination and protect individual citizens of India.
- ASIA’s LARGEST INTERNATIONAL LIQIUD-MIRROE TELESCOPE (ILMT) : India has commissioned its first and Asia’s largest International Liquid-Mirror Telescope (ILMT) at the Devasthal Observatory campus owned by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital in Uttarakhand. The 4-meter (m) class telescope will monitor the sky for transient or variable objects like supernovae, gravitational lenses, space debris, and asteroids.
- The ILMT is situated at an altitude of 2450 meters.
- It has been designed and built at the Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems Corporation and the Centre Spatial de Liege, Belgium.
- The major instrumentation funding of the Liquid Mirror Telescope has been jointly provided by Belgium and Canada while India is responsible for the operations and the upkeep of the telescope
- DELHI AIRPORT FIRST TO INTRODUCE RFID-ENABLED TAG: The Delhi Airport has become the first Indian airport to introduce an ‘RFID-enabled tag’ to track check-in luggage. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology will give passengers real-time information about when and on which belt is their check-in luggage arriving in the terminal. The bag tags will be called “BAGG TRAX’.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID):
It refers to a wireless system comprised of two components: tags and readers. The reader is a device that has one or more antennas that emit radio waves and receive signals back from the RFID tag. They use radio frequencies ranging from 300 gigahertz (GHz) to as low as 9 kilohertz (kHz). It is also used in toll plazas in India.
- DIRECT-TO-MOBILE (D2M) : The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has constituted a committee to study the feasibility of a spectrum band for offering broadcast services directly to users’ smartphones. “Band 526-582 MHz is envisaged to work in coordination with both mobile and broadcast services.
- In 2021, Public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati had announced a collaboration with IIT Kanpur to test the feasibility of the technology called D2M.
- D2M is based on the convergence of broadband and broadcast, using which mobile phones can receive terrestrial digital TV. It would be similar to how people listen to FM radio on their phones, where a receiver within the phone can tap into radio frequencies. Using D2M, multimedia content can also be beamed to phones directly.
- PACE MISSION : Bangalore-based Datair Technology Pvt Ltd (Ambee), a global platform for hyperlocal and geospatial datasets on air quality, weather, pollen, soil, water vapour and fire, has joined Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Mission of National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) as an early adopter.
It is currently in the design phase of mission development. It is scheduled to launch in 2024. PACE mission aims to make significant advances to aid air quality improvement and brings exciting new technology for the study of oceans and atmospheres.
- COURT ORDER ON ECO-SENSITIVE ZONE: The Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and Aniruddha Bose in the Supreme Court of India has ordered that mining and construction of new permanent structures within Eco- Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of 1-km radius of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries will not be permitted.
The court has directed that each protected forest, that is a national park or wildlife sanctuary, must have an eco-sensitive zone of a minimum of one kilometre measured from the demarcated boundary of such protected forest in which the activities proscribed and prescribed in the Guidelines of 9th February 2011, shall be strictly adhered to.
- INAUGRATION OF SANT KABIR ACADEMY AND RESEARCH CENTRE AND SWADESH DARSHAN YOJNA : President Ram Nath Kovind has paid tributes to Sant Kabir and inaugurated Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre and Swadesh Darshan Yojana at Kabir Chaura Dham, Maghar in Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The foundation stone of this academy was laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. The Academy has been built at a cost of Rs. 25 crore.
- He was born in the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
- He was a 15th century mystic poet, saint and social reformer and a proponent of the Bhakti Movement.
- He founded a religious community known as ‘Kabir Panth’ and the members of this forum are referred to as ‘Kabir Panthis’.
- Literary works: Bijak, Sakhi Granth, Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar.
- LIFESTYLE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT MOVEMENT : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement’, a global initiative, via video conferencing on the occasion of World Environment Day (5th June). The idea of LiFE promotes an environmentally conscious lifestyle that focuses on mindful and deliberate utilization instead of mindless and wasteful consumption.
The idea of LiFE was introduced by the Prime Minister during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021.
LiFE Movement Aims At:
- To bring positive change in the environment by collective action.
- To persuade individuals across the world to undertake simple climate-friendly actions in their daily lives or adoption of environment-conscious lifestyle.
- To make the best use of social networks to influence social norms surrounding climate.
- To replace the prevalent ‘use-and-dispose’ economy with a circular economy of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’.
- To create and nurture a global network of individuals, namely ‘Pro-Planet People’ (P3).
Achievements of India in the environment sector:
- India’s forest cover is increasing and so is the population of lions, tigers, leopards, elephants and rhinos.
- India’s commitment to reach 40% of installed electric capacity from non-fossil fuel-based sources has been achieved, 9 years ahead of schedule.
- The target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol has been achieved 5 months ahead of the November 2022 target. This is a major accomplishment given that blending was hardly 1.5% in 2013-14 and 5% in 2019-20.
- NATIONAL FOOD LABORATORY OF FSSAI AT RAXAUL (BIHAR) : Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya has inaugurated National Food Laboratory of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) at Raxaul in Bihar. It has been established under the Indo-Nepal bilateral agreement to reduce the time in the testing of imported food samples brought into Raxaul from Nepal. Earlier, all the imported samples having legal sanctity were being sent to National Food Laboratory at Kolkata, for testing.
- IAF HERITAGE CENTRE IN CHANDIGARH : The Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Territory of Chandigarh to set up the ‘IAF Heritage Centre’ in Chandigarh. The objective is to showcase the role of the Indian Air Force in various wars and its overall functioning. This heritage centre will have artefact, simulators and interactive boards to highlight various facets of IAF.
- JAN SAMARTH PORTAL : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the national portal for credit-linked government schemes ‘Jan Samarth Portal’. The main purpose of the portal is to encourage inclusive growth and development of various sectors by guiding and providing them with the right type of government benefits through simple and easy digital processes. As of now, at least 12 schemes that granted beneficiaries credit from banks has been included in the portal.
- ADOPT PEOPLE WITH TB : Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has announced that India will introduce a newly approved “made in India” TB infection skin test called ‘c-TB’. This cost- effective tool will be of immense benefit to other high burden countries as well. A new initiative, “Adopt people with TB” will also be launched this year, based on Indian values of collectivism.
- OPEN RAN BASED RADIO NETWORK FOR 5-G : The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has signed an agreement with WiSig Networks Private Limited and VVDN Technologies Private Limited to collaborate in the area of Open RAN-based Radio Network for 5G solution. This partnership will leverage the technical competencies of the Indian Research and Development (R&D) industry for indigenous design, development, manufacturing and deployment of cost-effective 5G products and solutions.
- UIC INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABLE RAILWAY AWARD (IRSA) : Indian Railways have been awarded by the UIC International Sustainable Railway Awards (ISRA) in the category of “Best use of Zero-Carbon Technology” for feeding Solar Energy directly to 25 KV AC Traction System. It has been awarded on the occasion of the World Environment Day (June 5th) in a gala ceremony held in Berlin, Germany.