General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - August 2019

Aug 2019

Aug 22, 2019

Heftier Penalties For Traffic Violations Under Amended MV Act

As many as 63 clauses of the newly amended Motor Vehicle Act pertaining to heftier penalties for traffic violations will be implemented from September 1, 2019.
The Motor Vehicle Bill, 2019, aimed at amending the Motor Vehicle Act 1988, was passed by Parliament, following which President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to it.
The new Act has substantially increased penalties for traffic violations such as ₹10,000 for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from the earlier ₹2000, ₹10,000 for not giving way to emergency vehicles while drivers without helmets will be fined ₹1000 instead of the present ₹100 .
It also recommends that the parents of a juvenile caught for traffic offences be jailed for three years and fined ₹25,000.
The newly amended law mandates that a juvenile accused of violations would be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act.

Allahabad High Court Bans DJs In Uttar Pradesh For Flouting Noise Rules

The Allahabad High Court banned DJs all across Uttar Pradesh. If someone violates the order, he or she can be sentenced up to five years and may have to pay a hefty fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Announcing its verdict, the court has asked the state government to ensure that no noise pollution rules are violated in the state.
The decision was given by a bench of Justice P.K.S. Baghel and Justice Pankaj Bhatia on a public interest litigation filed by advocate Sushil Chandra Srivastava, an Allahabad resident.
The court said that violation of noise pollution laws were a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens, and directed all district magistrates to ensure compliance of the court order in their respective districts.
The order is significant in view of the upcoming festive season that includes Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri.

Aug 21, 2019

Punjab Rolls Out Mega Health Insurance Scheme

The Punjab government rolled out a mega health insurance scheme clubbing the Centre's Ayushman Bharat plan with its own, a combination which will benefit 46 lakh families covering 76 per cent of the state's population.
The 'Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana' incorporates the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the Centre's health insurance scheme for the poor unveiled in September 2018 and kept on hold so far by the Punjab government.

Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019

Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019.
It has invited comments and suggestions from stakeholders including public/private organizations, experts and concerned citizens on the draft policy.
Natural resources form backbone of any economic development.
India, as one of fastest growing economies with GDP at US $2.6 trillion has increased its material consumption to six times, from 1.18 billion tonnes (BT) in 1970 to 7 BT in 2015.
It is expected to increase further to provide for increasing population, rapid urbanization and growing aspirations.

Aug 19, 2019

EC Seeks Nod To Collect Voters' Aadhaar Info

The Election Commission has requested the government to give it statutory backing to collect Aadhaar numbers of existing and new voters, which will help it weed out duplicate entries in the electoral rolls.
In a letter to the law ministry, the commission proposed that provisions of the Representation of the People Act be amended to allow the EC to seek Aadhaar numbers of those applying to be voters and those already part of the voters' list.
In August 2015, a SC order on Aadhaar card had put brakes on EC's National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) — under which the Unique Identification Authority of India Aadhaar numbers would be linked to electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) database to 'purify' electoral rolls.

Govt May Tweak PM's Scholarship Scheme

The human resource development (HRD) ministry is considering tweaking the norms related to the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) to allow more institutions to be part of the prestigious research programme.
The fellowship is being offered to students with high academic scores opting for doctoral (PhD) programmes at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), and the Bengaluru based Indian Institute of Science to carry out research in "cutting edge science and technology domains".
However, over a year after the scheme was launched, the number of students qualifying for these fellowships has remained below 500.
The sanctioned strength for these fellowships was 1,000 per year.

Aug 18, 2019

Govt Plans GPS Tracking To Prevent Rogue Drones

The civil aviation ministry is trying to figure out ways of ensuring that drones don't turn rogue and pose a security threat in areas deemed to be no-fly zones — a quandary that has impeded government efforts to make the operation of unmanned aircraft systems legal in India.
One possible solution is to have a GPS (global positioning system) trackers installed in all privately owned and operated drones that are registered for use.

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.

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