General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - December 2018

Dec 2018

Feb 02, 2019

Pension Plan for Informal Workers

In a move aimed at benefiting workers in India's unorganised or informal sector, the government in its interim budget announced the launch of a pension yojana 'Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan' that can be availed by workers with monthly income up to Rs. 15,000.
The scheme will benefit 100 million workers in the informal sector.
As per the result of labour force survey on employment conducted in 2011-12 by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, the number of estimated employed persons in 2011-12 on usual status basis were 474.1 million of which 391.4 million were in the informal sector.
Finance minister Piyush Goyal said the scheme would give workers an assured monthly pension of Rs. 3,000 from the age of 60 years on a monthly contribution of a small amount during their working years.

Government Looking at Dropping Key Bills

With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may give a silent burial to the contentious triple talaq and the citizenship amendment bills, as well as the long-pending land acquisition legislation.
Since the first two bills have run into Opposition protests in Rajya Sabha, the BJP leadership has decided not to pursue them in the ongoing last session of Parliament that ends on February 13.
Non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties have claimed victory by not allowing the ruling side to push its luck in the Upper House.
The NDA's tactical decision has created space for passage of other bills by avoiding divisive and controversial ones at least till the elections.
According to law, a bill that originates in Lok Sabha but is pending in Rajya Sabha lapses after the term of the Lok Sabha ends.
A bill that originates in and is passed by Rajya Sabha but is pending in Lok Sabha also lapses, as do bills passed by Lok Sabha but are pending in Rajya Sabha.

Jan 31, 2019

SC Refuses to Stay Amended SC/ST Act

The Supreme Court refused to stay the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2018 which nullified a controversial March 20 judgment diluting the stringent provisions of the Dalit protection law.
A Bench led by Justice U. U. Lalit posted the petitions for hearing on February 19. The government brought in the amendments as the Scheduled communities faced the same social stigma, poverty and humiliation which they had been subjected to for centuries.

Jan 29, 2019

Kerala Temples Prasadam to be Approved by FSSAI

Temples in Kerala are set to offer prasadam [offerings made to deities] approved by the country's food regulator, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) — a decision that has been taken in the wake of a series of food poisoning incidents in some Karnataka temples that killed more than a dozen people in the past two months.
To begin with, at least 10 major temples will implement the new policy for hygienic preparation of
prasadam from March 1.
All offering packets will carry manufacture and expiry dates, contents and FSSAI licence number. All prasad vendors will have to obtain an FSSAI licence.
Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have implemented BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God), a project conceived in 2017 that mandates food safety licence for all offerings, including free food serving (anna danam) and pooja prasad.

Jan 27, 2019

MP Unveils 100-day Job Scheme for EWS

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath announced the launch of Yuva Swabhiman Yojana — a scheme that assures 100 days of employment to the economically weaker sections (EWS) in urban areas, riffing off a similar programme for rural poor families launched by the then UPA government in 2005-06. Registration for the scheme is to begin from February 10.
The announcement was made by Nath during his Republic Day address in Chhindwara.
According to the provisions of the scheme, the beneficiaries will be trained in a field of their choice during the 100-day period.
These skills will make them employable in different sectors.
The chief minister said the scheme was launched because there were programmes that benefited the urban poor the way Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS) helped the rural poor get 100 days of employment.
According to the state census, there are 2.4 million unemployed people in Madhya Pradesh and every seventh house in the state has an unemployed person.
During his speech, Nath also announced an increase in social security pension from the existing ~300 to ~600 per month for the elderly, differently abled and widows from April, with a promise to increase the amount every year. The Congress, in its election manifesto, had promised that the amount would be increased to ~1,000 per month.

Jan 24, 2019

Constitutional Amendments For North-Eastern States

The Union Cabinet cleared Constitutional amendments to give more resources and administrative powers to the autonomous councils of the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, amid an ongoing controversy over the citizenship bill that seeks to allow minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to become Indian citizens.
The Finance Commission will be asked to recommend devolution of financial resources to the 10 autonomous district councils as well as village and municipal councils in the so-called sixth schedule areas of the north-east.
This move to amend Article 280 and the sixth schedule to the Constitution, will fulfill the "long standing aspirations" of tribes people in the region.
The sixth schedule of the Constitution makes special provisions for the management of areas dominated by tribals in the region.
It lists 10 autonomous district councils across the four states with specific judicial and administrative powers.

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