PIB Summary and Analysis for RBI Grade B, NABARD Grade A : 2nd Aug 2021

Daily PIB Summary & Analysis for RBI Grade B 2022, NABARD Grade A 2021, and SEBI Grade A Exam. In this Article we will discuss Press Information Bureau (PIB) Programs and their Summary for RBI Grade B Economics and Social Issue Section.

Press Information Bureau (PIB) releases news related to the policies, programmes, initiatives and achievements of the Government of India. PIB releases are important to be read for the RBI Grade B Exam however, equally important is to know which PIB release should be read.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is the nodal agency of the government of India to broadcast and publicize information on government policies, initiatives, achievements and working of every ministry and department within the government through its official website using various articles, images and photographs.

The proposed NSEB aims to promote sports from grassroots level to higher education and then provide opportunities to pursue the same for achieving excellence: Shri Anurag Thakur

The proposed NSEB would allow collaboration with existing boards so that the sportsperson could grow well academically along with sports.

The aims and objectives of the proposed National Sports Education Board (NSEB) will be as under:

• Initiating large scale participation in sports and promoting personal, social and community development.

• Promoting excellence in sports by ‘catching them young’ and nurturing identified talents.

• Providing assurance to the sports community and parents that practicing sports would not lead to loss in academics, vertical mobility & employment opportunities. 

• Promoting alternative career opportunities related to sports in an organized way.

• Involving Teachers, PE staff, Coaches, Community Outreach Volunteers, Health Specialists, mental health and wellness psychologists, nutritionist, physiotherapists in preparing and conducting online and face to face modular training, orientations and webinars.

• Engaging in sports development by devising better and more effective ways of promoting interest, participation and performance in sport

PM CARES for Children Scheme

Aim : The PM CARES for Children Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 29th May, 2021 to support children who have lost both the Parents or legal Guardian or Adoptive Parents or Surviving Parent to COVID-19 pandemic during the period starting from 11th March 2020

Objective : The objective of the Scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of Children in a sustained manner, and enable their well being through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support on reaching 23 years of age.

Nodal Ministry and Department : The Ministry of Women and Child Development shall be the nodal Ministry for execution of the scheme at the central level. Department of the State/UT government dealing with the Juvenile Justice set up in the State shall be the nodal agency at State level. The District Magistrates shall be the nodal authority at District level for execution of the scheme

Any Citizen Can Inform Administration Regarding A Child Eligible For Support Under This Scheme Through The Portal https://pmcaresforchildren.

Tribal affairs Ministry has launched ‘Adi-Prashikshan Portal’to create an end-to-end centralized online interactive training platform on tribal development.

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has launched ‘Adi-Prashikshan Portal’ on 16th June 2021 to act as a central repository of all training programs conducted by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, State Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs), National Society for Education of Tribal Students (NESTS) and other organizations funded by the Ministry for strengthening the capacities (in terms of knowledge, skills, attitude) of government functionaries, ST PRI members, Teachers, SHG women, Youth and Tribal Communities.

• The main objective of the portal is to create an end-to-end centralized online interactive training platform on tribal development which brings together training organizers, thematic experts/resource persons, master trainers, trainees and training material at one place.

Several measures have been taken by the Government to improve livelihood of Tribals especially during COVID situation.

• Under the schemes ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)’, ‘Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)’ and ‘Grants under Article 275(1)’ during 2020-21. An amount of Rs. 587.47 crore was approved / sanctioned to various State Governments for undertaking various livelihood activities

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been implementing the Scheme of ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ since 2013-14, with an objective of providing fair price to MFP gatherers, enhance their income level and ensure sustainable harvesting of MFP.

• The Ministry revised minimum support prices of MFP with a purpose of providing enhanced income to tribal gatherers. Further, additional 37 MFP items have also been included in the list of MSP for MFP Scheme to expand the ambit and coverage of the scheme vide notification dated 26.5.2020 and 11.11.2020. Thus, the Scheme currently covers a total 87 items.

• Under the scheme of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Minor Forest Produce (MFP), TRIFED also implements the initiative of Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs), launched in 2018-19, wherein tribal community owned Minor Forest Produce centric multi-purpose Kendras are set up in predominantly tribal districts which act as common facility centres for procurement cum value addition to locally available MFPs.

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation : Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) – Quarterly Bulletin [July, 2020 – September, 2020]

• Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
• On the basis of PLFS, a Quarterly Bulletin is brought out giving estimates of labour force indicators in urban areas, viz., Worker population ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), distribution of workers by broad status in employment and industry of work in the Current Weekly Status (CWS)

[Know More About PLFS Survey In Detail, What is It, How its calculated]

Skill Development Scheme in Backward Districts.

• As per the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 India has a target to train 402.87 million by 2022.

• This overall targets includes 104.62 million new entrants to existing workforce in the country who need to be skilled to meet industry requirement. In addition 298.25 million of existing workforce need to be reskilled/upskilled.

• This target is an estimation based on NSSO and CENSUS data, as per the methodology mentioned in the ‘National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015’.

• Further, Government has identified 112 Aspirational Districts where targeted development initiatives are being implemented to provide opportunities for people in these districts that have trailed in development journey of the country.

Skill Development for Divyangjan under NSDC

• Under PMKVY, there are incentives to encourage participation of Divyangjan in the skill training, namely, monthly conveyance support (Rs. 1500 for Conveyance outside the Home District/ Rs.1000 for conveyance within the Home District) being directly paid to the candidates while financial support of Rs.5000 for assistive devices, aid and appliances; and boarding and lodging as per Common Cost Norms being provided to the Training Provider (TP).

• Also, an exclusive Sector Skill Council for Divyangjan known as Skill Council for PwD (SCPwD) has been created for addressing the skilling needs of the Divyangjan

Scholarships for Minorities

• The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme for the educational empowerment of minority students pursuing professional and technical courses at under-graduate and post-graduate levels in a Government or private institution, selected and notified in a transparent manner by the State Government/Union Territory Administration concerned.

• A selected student pursuing a course in any of the 85 Reputed Premier Institutes, covered under the scheme is eligible for reimbursement of full course fee as scholarship during an academic year.

• Minority students can also avail scholarship for professional education under the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme of Ministry of Minority Affairs.                          
• In addition Ministry of Minority Affairs also implements Padho Pardesh Scheme, Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) Scheme and Education Loan by National Minority Development and Finance Corporation(NMDFC).

• Under Padho Pardesh scheme, interest subsidy is provided to students of minority communities on educational loans for overseas higher studies.

• In MANF Fellowship in the form of financial assistance is given to students from minority communities, to pursue regular and full time research studies leading to award of M.Phil/Ph.D degree within India.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram

• The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram (PMJVK), in the identified Minority Concentration Areas (MCAs) of the country, with the objective to develop socio economic assets and basic amenities in the MCAs.

• The scheme was restructured in May 2018 and areas identified for implementation of the scheme was increased from a coverage of  196 districts to  308 districts which includes 870 Minority Concentration Blocks, 321 Minority Concentration Towns and 109 Minority Concentration District Headquarters.

• In the last 7 years under the “Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram” (PMJVK) more than 43,000 basic infrastructure projects including education, health, skill development, women related projects, sports and sadbhav mandaps etc. have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 10955.75 crore, and Rs. 8115.67 crore has been released to the States/UTs for implementation of the projects.

Implementation of National SC/ST hub.

• The National SC/ST Hub (NSSH) is being implemented through National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) a PSU under this Ministry to provide professional support to SC/ST entrepreneurs to fulfill the obligations under the Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises, adopt applicable business practices and leverage the Stand up India initiative with an objective to promote “enterprise culture” amongst the SC/ST Population.

• A number of initiatives have been taken under the Hub which include Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS), Special Marketing Assistance Scheme(SMAS), Single Point Registration Scheme(SPRS), capacity building programmes, reimbursement of Bank Guarantee charges, Bank Loan processing charges, Testing Charges/fee of various NABL accredited laboratories etc.

• Further, to provide mentoring and handholding support to SC/ST entrepreneurs 15 National SC-ST Hub Offices (NSSHOs) have been set up across the country.

Observation of MSMEs Day on 27th June

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) day instituted by United Nations General Assembly is celebrated every year on 27th June.

• A virtual conference on the theme “Indian MSMEs – Growth Engines of Economy” was organized to celebrate International MSME Day and acknowledge the contribution of MSME sector to the Indian economy.

• As per Central Statistics Office (CSO), share of MSMEs in the Gross Value Added (GVA) in All India Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the year 2020-21 is 30%. Further, as per 73rd Round of National Sample Survey (NSS) Report on Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises’ (July 2015-June 2016), 11.10 crore workers are estimated to be in the MSME sectors.

• A provision has been made in Public Procurement Policy which mandates 25 % of annual procurement from Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) by Central Ministries/ Departments and CPSEs, thus providing marketing opportunities to MSEs for their growth and development.

To counter the impact of Covid 19, Government has taken a number of initiatives under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan to support the MSME sector. Some of them are:

• Rs. 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for MSMEs.
• Rs. 3 lakh crores Collateral free Automatic Loans for business, including MSMEs.
• Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Self-Reliant India Fund
• New Revised criteria of classification of MSMEs.
• Registration of MSMEs through ‘Udyam Registration’ Portal for Ease of Doing Business.
• No global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crores.

An Online Portal “Champions” has been launched on 01.06.2020, which covers many aspects of e-governance including redressal of grievances and handholding of MSMEs. 

Further, RBI has also announced several measures to Reduce Financial Stress of MSMEs.

Nationwide Programme/ Scheme for Water Conservation

Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up a nationwide campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan - Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) with the theme “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls”  for creating appropriate rainwater harvesting structures  in urban and rural areas of all the districts in the country, with people's active participation, during the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods.

• The campaign, primarily focusing on saving and conserving rainwater, was launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister on 22 March, 2021, the world water day.

Government of India has been implementing various schemes and programmes like  Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee  Yojana (PMKSY); Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS); Watershed Development Management; Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transforming (AMRUT); Unified Building Bye Laws (UBBL); Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016; Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation & Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014 and  National Water Policy 2012 for addressing different aspects of water conservation. 

Plan to Irrigate Sizeable Area of Land Under The BNY

• Government of India had implemented the Bharat Nirman Yojana (BNY) from 2005 to 2014 to build rural infrastructure for the development of rural areas of the country. Irrigation(Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme-AIBP) is one of the components for development of rural infrastructure under Bharat Nirman.

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched during 2015-16 by the Central Government to complete long pending irrigation projects, ensuring Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP)-Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM), Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) / Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies and Ground Water Irrigation with an overarching vision to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation for all agricultural farms in the country, and to produce ‘per drop more crop’, thus bringing much desired rural prosperity.

• This scheme is under implementation at present

Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises : Rs.756.66 Crore allocated and Rs.53.27 Crore Utilized till June 2021 under FAME Scheme

• Under Phase-II of FAME India Scheme, Rs. 1000 Cr. is allocated for the development of charging infrastructure in the country.

Further, following initiatives have also been taken up by the Government of India for promotion of electric vehicles in the country :-

• Recently, the demand incentive under FAME-II scheme has been increased to Rs. 15,000/KWh from Rs. 10,000/KWh with an increase in cap from 20% to 40% of cost of vehicle, thus enabling cost of electric two wheelers at par with ICE two wheeler vehicle.

• The Government on 12th May, 2021 approved a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing of Advanced chemistry cell (ACC) in the country in order to bring down prices of battery in the country. Drop in battery price will result in cost reduction of electric vehicles.

• GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12% to 5%; GST on chargers/ charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18% to 5%

Major initiatives by Government & RBI took to mitigate hardship faced by farmers due to Covid-19

• In respect of loans to allied activities viz., dairy, fishery, animal husbandry, poultry, bee-keeping and sericulture, RBI has also issued a clarification that these loans can be taken up for resolution under the Resolution Framework for Covid-19 related Stress issued on 6th August 2020 which, inter alia, provides for a moratorium upto two years

• Further, RBI’s extant directions on relief measures to be provided by respective lending institutions in areas affected by natural calamities, such as flood, cyclone, drought, hailstorm, cold wave/frost, etc

• The benchmark for initiating relief measures by banks has also been reduced to 33% crop loss in line with the National Disaster Management Framework.

• To meet the credit needs for post-harvest and kharif sowing requirements of farmers including small and marginal farmers, a front-loaded Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) of Rs. 55,000 crore under SLF–I and SLF-II has been extended by NABARD during COVID-19 pandemic

Source : Multiple PIB Article