General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - January 2019

Jan 2019

Nov 22, 2019

Cabinet Approves Extension Of Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy

The Union Cabinet approved the extension of Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP) for pharmaceutical Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) till their closure or strategic disinvestment.
Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP) was approved by the Cabinet in 2013 for five years in respect of 103 medicines manufactured by pharma CPSUs and their subsidiaries.
The policy is applicable to purchases by central/ state government departments and their public sector undertakings.
The pricing of the products is done by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The term of the policy expired in 2018.

Cabinet Approves The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019

The Union cabinet approved the Labour Code on Industrial Relations 2019, allowing companies to hire workers on fixed-term contract of any duration.
The code has retained the threshold on the worker count at 100 for prior government approval before retrenchment, but it has a provision for changing 'such number of employees' through notification.
Fixed-term employment means a worker can be hired for any duration, three months or six months or a year depending on season and orders.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the Industrial Relations Code, 2019 in the Parliament.
The bill provides for setting up of two-member tribunal (in place of one member), thus introducing a concept that some of the important cases will be adjudicated jointly and the rest by a single member resulting speedier disposal of cases, is one of the benefits of the bill.

Union Cabinet Approves Proposals To Mitigate Telecom Sector's Financial Stress

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved proposals for mitigating financial stress being faced by telecom service sector.
Under the approval, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) will provide an option to telecom companies to defer payment of the spectrum auction installments that are due for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, either for one or both years.
This comes soon after Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio said they will increase phone call and data tariffs.

Assam Govt To Gift 10 Gm Of Gold To Every Bride

The Assam government announced that it will gift 10 grams of gold to every adult bride, if she has studied at least up to class 10 and her marriage is registered.
The annual family income of the bride has to be less than Rs 5 lakh to avail the benefit of the scheme.
There are some other conditions as well to avail the benefit of the 'Arundhati Gold Scheme', which will cost the state exchequer around Rs 800 crores per annum.
The minister clarified that the benefit will be given only in case of the first marriage of the girl and it has to be registered under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
The scheme has some riders like the girl has to be at least 18 years of age and the boy 21 years. This will also stop child marriage. Besides, the girl has to pass matric exams (class 10 board exam) to avail the scheme. This will also emphasise on girls' education.
However, the educational qualification norm will not be applicable to the girls from the tea garden communities and adivasis as "the government has not been able to set up high schools in such places.
All the conditions, including the educational and financial, are not applicable to the bridegroom.
The figure of Rs 30,000 for 10 grams of gold has been arrived at after taking its average price for the entire year and it will be revised during the presentation of every budget.
Gold will not be given in the physical form. After registration and verification, the government will deposit Rs 30,000 in the bride's bank account. Then she has to submit the receipt of the gold purchase. This amount cannot be used for other purposes
The scheme will commence from January 1, 2020.

Cabinet Approves Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for introducing the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in order to replace the Ordinance.
Economic developments after the enactment of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (Finance Act) along with reduction of rate of corporate income tax by many countries world over necessitated the provision of additional fiscal stimulus to attract investment, generate employment and boost the economy.
As these could have been achieved through amendment to the Income-tax Act, 1961 (IT Act) or to the Finance Act and the Parliament was not in session, it was done through promulgation of The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 (the Ordinance) in September, 2019.

Nov 21, 2019

Lok Sabha Passes Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019

The Lok Sabha passed the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019 by voice vote. The bill seeks to amend the Chit Funds Act, 1982, which regulates chit funds and prohibits a fund from being created without the prior sanction of a State Government.
The amendments have been made to facilitate the orderly growth of the chit fund sector to remove bottlenecks and enable greater financial access to people.
Under the legislation, the prescribed ceiling of aggregate chit fund amount for individuals has been raised from one lakh rupees to three lakh rupees and in case of firms, the limit has been raised from 6 lakh to 18 lakh rupees.

Assam Govt Makes Sanitary Napkins Mandatory In Factories, Industries

Assam government has made mandatory for all factories and industries to keep sanitary napkins in a bid to promote hygiene among women.
The decision was taken in the Assam cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, to promote hygiene among women.
The other key decisions taken by the cabinet were related to bamboo farming and the government holiday list for the coming year among others.

Nov 20, 2019

Andhra Pradesh Govt Enhances Financial Aid for Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, other Biblical Places

The Andhra Pradesh government enhanced the financial assistance to Christians for undertaking pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other Biblical places.
A government order issued in this regard said pilgrims with an annual income of upto ₹3 lakh would be given ₹60,000 for pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jordan River, Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee.
The assistance was last enhanced to ₹40,000 which was fixed by the then Chandrababu Naidu government in 2016.

Nov 19, 2019

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Launches Toll-Free No. 14500 To Curb Sand Smuggling

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched toll-free number 14500 to curb smuggling and hoarding of sand and other irregularities in the supply of the construction material.
After launching the toll-free number, Jagan made a call to the employees manning it and gave suggestions for its effective functioning.
People can now complain against any individual indulging in smuggling, hoarding and black marketing of sand and other irregularities.
As a measure to eliminate sand mafia completely, the YSRC government enacted an Act, which does not allow a person to hoard/resale or stock sand beyond his/her requirement.
Violation of the provisions of the Act attracts a fine to the tune of Rs 2 lakh and also imprisonment up to two years.

Nov 17, 2019

SAANS Aims To Reduce Child Mortality

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan launched SAANS, a campaign aimed at reducing child mortality due to pneumonia, which contributes to around 15% deaths annually of children under the age of five.
SAANS, short for 'Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully' was launched by the Union Health Ministry to mobilise people to protect children from pneumonia, and train health personnel and other stakeholders to provide prioritised treatment to control the disease.
As per HMIS data, under-five mortality rate in the country is 37 per 1000 live births, of which 5.3 deaths are caused due to pneumonia.
The government aims to achieve a target of reducing pneumonia deaths among children to less than three per 1,000 live births by 2025.
The HMIS data for 2018-19 ranked Gujarat second in the number of child deaths due to pneumonia, after Madhya Pradesh.
The State ranked fifth in infant mortality due to pneumonia.

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