General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - December 2018

Dec 2018

Mar 25, 2020

Government Asks States To Ensure Smooth Functioning Of Print, Electronic Media

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday directed all states, union territories to ensure the smooth functioning of print and electronic media as the threat of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic looms large across the country.
The sources of news in this case would include TV channels, news agencies, teleport operators, digital satellite news gathering (DSNG), direct-to-home (DTH) and highend-in-the sky (HITS), multi-system operators (MSOs), cableo, frequency modulation (FM) radio and community radio stations (CRSs).

Patnaik Launches Mo Jeeban Programme

Hours after the state government announced total lockdown of Odisha due to the coronavirus outbreak, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched Mo Jeeban programme and urged people to take a pledge to stay indoors.
I am launching the Mo Jeeban (My Life) programme and appealing to all to remain indoors. If you go outside, you may bring the virus at home which will affect your family. Therefore, please stay at home, Patnaik said in a video message.
Striking an emotional chord with the people who have voted him to power five times in a row since the year 2000, Patnaik said, During the last 20 years, I have made several appeals and you have responded. Today, I am seeking your cooperation and support to keep everyone safe.

Rajya Sabha Approves Rs 1-Lakh Crore Budget for J-K for FY 21

The Rajya Sabha approved a bill for the budget of Rs 1-lakh crore for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for 2020-21.
After approval, the bill was returned to the Lok Sabha.
Replying after a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bills, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said only 10 per cent of the funds will be spent for security purposes in the union territory and the remaining have been earmarked for developmental objectives.
Thakur said the government has made a provision of over Rs 1 lakh crore towards the union territory's budget in 2020-21, as against Rs 88,911 crore in the previous financial year.

Finance Minister Extends Deadline For GST Returns To June 30

The FM made these announcements during her address to the media on measures to tackle the economic impact of coronavirus. She added that no different staggering dates will be followed while filing GST returns for March, April and May.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the last date for filing GST returns for March, April and May has been extended to June 30. The previous date for filing of GST returns was March 31, 2020. The deadline for composition returns on GST has been also been extended to June 30, 2020.
Sitharaman also announced that companies with less than Rs 5 crore turnover won't be charged interest or penalty for the late filing of GST. Bigger companies will have have to pay the interest amount at 9 per cent for delayed filing of GST, but no late fee or penalty will be levied.
The FM has also announced that the deadline for filing income tax returns for Financial Year 2018-2019 has been extended to June 31, 2020.
The deadline for Aadhar-PAN linking has been extended to June 30. The interest charged on delayed deposits of TDS has been lowered from 12 per cent to 9 per cent and will be charged till June 2020.

TN's 38th District Mayiladuthurai To Be Carved Out Of Nagapattinam

Nagapattinam district will be bifurcated into two districts. The new district Mayiladuthurai will be established as the 38th district in the state, said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
The Chief Minister announced this in the state Assembly on the last day of the shortened budget session that ends on March 24, 2020 instead of the earlier business schedule of April 9. The session ends sine die on Tuesday in the wake of coronavirus threat and the lockdown announced by the government.
The existing district of Nagapattinam will be bifurcated and Mayiladuthurai will become the headquarters of the new district.

Mar 24, 2020

Centre Allows States And UTs To Lift Foodgrains For 3 Months In Advance From FCI For PDS Scheme

The Central government allowed States and Union Territories to lift foodgrain for three months from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to ensure an adequate supply of foodgrains to the public in view of coronavirus spread in the country.
"To ensure an adequate supply of foodgrains to the public and financially assist State Govts, Dept of Expenditure, Finance Ministry, has agreed to Food & Public Distribution Department's proposal that foodgrain for 3 months can be lifted by States/UTs on credit from the FCI," Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted.

Lok Sabha Passes Finance Bill Without Discussion

The Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, by voice vote without discussion, amid ruckus in the House with opposition parties seeking a fiscal stimulus package in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
In the Union Budget 2020-2021, the government proposed to spend Rs 30,42,230 crore in the next financial year, 12.7% higher than the revised estimate of 2019-20. By passing the Bill, these financial proposals have been given effect.
The government has assumed a nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 10% in 2020-21, versus the nominal growth estimate at 12% for 2019-20. It expects that receipts will increase by 16.3% to Rs 22,45,893 crore, owing to higher estimated revenue from divestment.

Parliament Adjourned Sine Die 11 Days Before Schedule Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

Parliament was adjourned sine die on March 23 (2020), 11 days before its Budget Session was scheduled to conclude, in view of the intensifying nationwide measures to encourage social distancing to combat the coronavirus.
The Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, a crucial budget legislation, without a discussion after the leaders of all political parties agreed to forgo a debate due to an "extraordinary situation", a term used by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lower House.
The government had claimed that the session will continue in accordance with its schedule, asserting that parliamentarians should be seen doing their job when emergency workers, including medical and airline staff, were doing theirs.

Mar 23, 2020

Govt Constitutes High Level Committee Of Medical Experts For Prevention & Control Of COVID-19

The government has constituted a high level technical committee of Public Health Experts for COVID-19 to guide the prevention and control activities in the country.
The 21 member committee will be headed by NITI Aayog member Dr V K Paul. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and Director General Indian Council of Medical Research are the Co-Chair.
Besides, Director, AIIMS, Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi Dr Sujeet Singh, Director of Institute of Infectious Diseases, Pune Dr Sanjay Pujari and Additional Chief Secretary of Kerala Dr Rajan Khobragade are among the members of the Task Force.

Mar 20, 2020

Lok Sabha Passes Bill Declaring Jamnagar Ayurveda Centre as Institution of National Importance

The Lok Sabha passed a bill that will accord the Jamnagar-based Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda the status of 'institution of national importance' by clubbing the cluster of ayurveda institutes at the Gujarat Ayurveda University campus in Jamnagar.
The Minister of State for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Shripad Yesso Naik said that people across the globe were now showing greater interest in ayurveda.
Though Opposition members including Kerala's N. K. Premachandran sought to move some amendments to the legislation, these proposals were defeated by a voice vote.
The three institutes which would be a part of the proposed conglomeration are the Institute of Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gulabkunwerba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya and the Institute of Ayurveda Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Mar 19, 2020

Rajya Sabha Passes Two Bills

Rajya Sabha passed two bills that seek to provide for quality medical education system in homoeopathy and promote Indian systems of medicines.
The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 and the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019 were passed in the Upper House by voice vote.
The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in January 2019. Later, it was sent to a standing committee, which submitted its report in November 2019.
The proposed legislation seeks to repeal the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 and provides for a medical education system to ensure availability of quality medical professionals of Indian System of Medicine, and adoption of the latest medical research, among other objectives.
Another key feature of the bill is setting up a National Commission for Indian System of Medicine.
The second legislation, the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, too was introduced in January 2019 in the Upper House.
It seeks to repeal the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973.

Govt. Sanctions Rs. 20,466.94 crore Loan to Women under 'Stand Up India Scheme'

According to the Minister of State (MoS) for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur, the central government sanctioned a loan of Rs. 20,466.94 crore to over 91,000 accounts up to March 10, 2020 since inception of the Stand Up India Scheme, as it counted the work being done for the empowerment of women.
It was launched on April 5, 2016 to promote entrepreneurship for economic empowerment and job creation. To set up a new venture, it is mandatory for every branch of the scheduled commercial bank to give a loan of Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore to a person belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) and at least one woman.
As on February 17, 2020, more than 81% account holders under this scheme were women.

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