General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - August 2019

Aug 2019

Oct 04, 2019

Inter-State portability for ration cards launched

An inter-State portability for ration cards has been launched for Rajasthan and Haryana to facilitate the distribution of foodgrains to beneficiaries of the National Food Security scheme.
Labourers in the unorganised sector, migrating from one State to the other in search of work, will mainly benefit from the scheme.
Rajasthan Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Chand Meena said here on Wednesday that the beneficiaries would be able to purchase their quota of wheat from the fair price shops in either of the States on one ration card.
The scheme will later be expanded to cover essential commodities in addition to wheat.
While the portability for Rajasthan and Haryana had been launched, the Centre would implement it all over the country soon, officials said.
He said the online public distribution system operative in Rajasthan had made the work easier.

Govt Launches Portal For Improving Coal Supply Coordination To Power Plants

The government launched a portal for transparency and better coordination among stakeholders, including Coal India Ltd, Indian Railways, power utilities and, ministries of coal and power, for coal supplies to power plants.
Union Ministers R K Singh and Pralhad Joshi launched the portal, namely 'PRAKASH', which stands for 'Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony'.
This is an important step in ensuring adequate availability and optimum utilisation of coal at thermal power plants.
On this occasion, Joshi said this portal will help us ensure that supply harmony is assured from the coal ministry.

MEITY Launches Smart-Board For Effective Monitoring Of The Key Programmes

The ministry of electronics and IT (MEITY) launched an Automated Real Time Performance Smart-board for effective monitoring and measurement of the key programmes of the government such as Digital India, Aadhaar, Digital Payments etc.
The dashboard was launched by Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister for electronics and IT, communication and law and justice while celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
During the event, Prasad directed the National Informatics Center (NIC) to prominently place at least one thought of Gandhi on every website of the government.
He said this will bring about Gandhian approach in the functioning of Government.

Oct 03, 2019

Chhattisgarh Government To Start Five New Schemes On Gandhi Jayanti

Chhattisgarh government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched five new schemes on October 2, 2019 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The schemes are Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyaan (Chief Minister Nutrition Scheme), Mukhyamantri Haat Bazaar Clinic Yojana (Chief Minister Market Clinic Scheme), Mukhyamantri Shahariya slum Swasthya Yojana (Chief Minister Urban Slum Health Scheme), Universal PDS scheme and Mukhyamantri ward Karyalaya (Chief Minister Ward Offices).
Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyaan has been started as a pilot project since June 2019 in some gram panchayats in Bastar and other forest areas of the state.
Under the scheme, fresh and nutritious food has been provided to malnourished children and anaemic women with the help of panchayats and self-help groups.

Patnaik Launches 'Mo Sarkar' Initiative

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched his government's 'Mo Sarkar' (my government) initiative and directly talked to some people to know about their experience in state-run hospitals and police stations.
The objective of the 'Mo Sarkar' initiative is to provide service with dignity to people who are coming to government offices for different purposes.

Trade Apprentices To Get Minimum Monthly Stipend Ranging From Rs 5000 To 9000

The government has notified changes in Apprenticeship Rules (1992) that envisages to increase skilled manpower in the country, and raise monetary compensation of apprentices.
The Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019 seeks to raise hiring limit of apprentices to 15 per cent of total strength of an establishment, and their stipend to up to Rs 9,000 per month.
It has also lowered size-limit of an establishment with a mandatory obligation to engage apprentices on an optional basis from 40 to 30, and reduced the size-limit of an establishment wanting to engage apprentices from 6 to 4.

Oct 02, 2019

SC Recalls Verdict Diluting SC/ST Anti-Atrocities Law

Correcting an error of judgment, the Supreme Court recalled its March 20, 2018 verdict, which bent the written law to protect persons accused of committing atrocities against the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
A judgment by Justice (now retired) A.K. Goel diluted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, to grant anticipatory bail to accused persons and directed that the police should conduct a preliminary enquiry on whether complaint under the 1989 law is "frivolous or motivated" before registering a case.
Both conditions were not part of the original legislation.

1.34 Crore Street Lights To Be Replaced With LED By March 2020

The number of LED street lights in the country has doubled from 49 lakh in March 2018 to 1 crore on October 1, 2019.
These lights are being installed under the Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) that was launched on January 5, 2015 with the objective to replace all conventional street lights with smart and energy efficient LED street lights by March 2019.
This target was set to replace 1.34 crore conventional street lights with energy efficient LED lights by March 2019. Now the target for replacing these street lights has been fixed for March 2020.

Govt Launches Unified Portal For Licensing Of Eating And Lodging Houses In Delhi

Union minister G Kishan Reddy launched a single window online system for licensing of eating and lodging houses, a move aimed at facilitating the ease of doing business.
The portal is a step in the direction to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to establish a corruption-free economy by bringing in welfare-oriented economic reforms.
India has progressively improved its ease of doing business ranking and the government is encouraging entrepreneurs to start up new businesses.

Sep 29, 2019

Centre To Introduce Rating System for SMEs to Help Them Get Loans Easily

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Centre is considering a proposal to introduce a rating system for small and medium enterprises to help them get credit easily.
Addressing women entrepreneurs in Chennai, the Minister said that the prevailing sense of gloomy industrial scenario is due to the business cycle, demand and supply issues and a global downtrend.
Mr. Gadkari said that the Centre is making all efforts to reduce finance costs and power price to the industry. He also informed the small entrepreneurs that the Central Government is in the process of introducing a national portal for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to market their products easily.

SC Sets Up 5-Judge Constitution Bench to Hear Pleas Challenging Abrogation of Article 370

The Supreme Court set up a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice N. V. Ramana which would commence hearing from October 1, 2019 on a batch of pleas mounting legal challenges to the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The bench also comprises justices S K Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Suryakant.
The hearing by the Constitution bench would commence from October 1, 2019. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on August 28, 2019 had referred the matter to a five-judge constitution bench.

Sep 26, 2019

Tenants Can Avail Power Subsidy in Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government announced a new scheme under which people residing as tenants in Delhi will be able to avail power subsidy.
Announcing the 'Mukhyamantri Kirayedar Bijli Meter Yojna', Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said till now, tenants were not able to avail the Delhi government's power subsidy scheme under which there is no charge for the electricity consumption of up to 200 units.

Govt Launches CPGRAMS Reforms In Postal Dept For Quick Grievance Redressal

Union minister Jitendra Singh launched CPGRAMS reforms in the Department of Posts to reduce the time taken for grievance redressal and also improve the quality.
The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said the priority of the government is to provide transparent and citizen-centric governance to the people.
At the launch of the Centralised Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) reforms, Singh said it will lead to reduction in grievance disposal time and improved quality of redressal.

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