General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - July 2019

Jul 2019

Aug 17, 2019

Govt May Tweak Farm Insurance Scheme For Crops

The Modi government is considering major changes to its flagship farm insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, including an entirely new model of agricultural insurance in the country and making the programme optional for farmers availing farm loans, as messy implementation and delayed payouts have stoked farmers' angst.
The government hopes that making the scheme voluntary will remove a major gripe of farmers with agricultural loans, for whom buying a crop-insurance plan is mandatory, and whose share of premium is automatically deducted from their sanctioned loan amounts, while compensation is often delayed.
The scheme is already voluntary for those farmers who don't avail loans.

Aug 16, 2019

3.3 Lakhs Cr Announced For Water Mission

PM Narendra Modi turned the focus on the country's precarious water situation in his Independence Day speech, announcing Rs.3.35 lakh crore for the government's ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission to conserve water resources and provide drinking water for all.
Urging people to conserve water, Modi said half the country's households still lacked access to drinking water, although previous governments too tried in their own ways to mitigate the water crisis.
Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Har Ghar Jal programme aims to provide all rural households with piped drinking water.

Women Can Travel For Free On City Buses From Oct 29, 2019

Announcing the initiative as a "Raksha Bandhan gift for women", the Delhi CM said the free rides will be offered by buses run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) as well as orange-coloured buses that are managed by private concessionaires.
Travel will be free for women in all DTC and cluster buses from October 29, 2019, which again is the day of Bhai Dooj.

Aug 15, 2019

Housing And Urban Affairs Ministry Launches Fifth Edition Of Swachh Survekshan 2020

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the fifth edition of Swachh Survekshan 2020 (SS 2020), an annual cleanliness survey. The survey will be conducted in January 2020.
Hardeep Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs also launched Swachh Survekshan 2020 tool-kit which has the detailed survey methodology and component indicators with scores to help cities to prepare themselves for the survey.
The Ministry also launched the Water PLUS Protocol which aims to provide a guideline for cities and towns to ensure that no untreated waste-water is released into the environment thereby enabling sustainability of the sanitation value chain.

Rajasthan Assembly Passes Honour Killing, Anti-Mob Lynching Bills

Rajasthan had witnessed a spurt in lynchings in 2017, beginning with dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in April 2017.
The Rajasthan Assembly passed Bills against mob lynching and honour killing, which make the, cognisable, non–bailable and non-compoundable offences with life imprisonment and fine up to Rs 5 lakh.
The bill to curb honour killing also has a provision of death penalty for the convict.
The Bills, including the Rajasthan Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill was tabled by Cabinet minister Shanti Dhariwal.

Bill To Amend The Motor Vehicles Act

Compensation of Rs 5 lakh for death and Rs 2.5 lakh for grievous injury in a motor vehicle accident case have been proposed by the government as it seeks to make the Motor Vehicles Act more stringent.
Govt proposes Rs 5 lakh compensation for death in motor vehicle accident case.
The government again introduced a bill to amend the Motor Vehicles Act that also provides for higher penalties for violations and protection of good Samaritans, among other provisions.

Aug 13, 2019

'Uber For Tractors': Government To Launch App To Aid Farmers

India's agriculture ministry developed a farm equipment rental app for Indian farmers let with hire tractors, rotavator. This app will be similar to Uber and this corresponding mobile app is expected to be launched by the end of August, 2019.
There are now more than 38,000 custom hiring centres (CHCs) across the country, which rent out 2.5 lakh pieces of farm equipment every year.
The CHC app is already open for registrations by the farmers, societies and entrepreneurs who run these centres. So far, almost 26,800 CHCs have registered to offer more than one lakh pieces of equipment for hire.
The Ministry's app will also create an invaluable database for policy-makers, who can track the use and cost of equipment.
The system would also help to track the usage of new technology that the government wants to promote, such as the Happy Seeder that aims to prevent stubble burning that causes air pollution, or solar dryers that can help farmers process and preserve their produce.

Power Subsidy Expands in Delhi

The Delhi government will extend its 100% power subsidy scheme to those domestic consumers who manage to keep their power bills to at most Rs. 800
Others who consume up to 400 units will also get a discount of Rs. 800 on their monthly bills.
Soon after the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), a quasi-judicial independent body, announced new tariffs effective from August 1, 2019, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had offered a power subsidy scheme for domestic consumers who consume a maximum of 200 units of power every month, with the additional caveat of a maximum 5kW sanctioned load.

Aug 12, 2019

Govt To Roll Back Tax On Disability Pension For Forces

Disability pensions in the Indian armed forces will continue to be exempt from tax effectively rolling back a recent order that brought the provision in the tax net.
At the same time, however, the minister has called on the three services – the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy -- to device a mechanism to reduce instances of misuse of the rules.
According to a June 24,2019 notification by the finance ministry, disability pension and the pension of soldiers who have served their full tenure with the three services would no longer be exempt from income tax.
The order said only soldiers who have been "invalidated" during military service will get exemption.Orders to reverse to the process have been issued.
At the same time forces have been asked to work out a formula to handle instances of the misuse.

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