General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - August 2021

Aug 2021

Jul 31, 2023

Kerala to Soon Launch its Overseas Emigrants with Shubhayatra Scheme

Giving a fresh impetus to the international migration from Kerala post COVID-19, the State government will soon roll out a unique scheme to provide financial support to first-time overseas emigrants from Kerala. Titled 'Shubhayatra', the project envisages creating a positive and productive migration ecosystem by providing a financial assistance of up to Rs. 2 lakh with a tax holiday for six months and attractive interest subvention to meet the incidental expense of eligible candidates.

Punjab Tops Beneficiary List under Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana

Punjab is the leading beneficiary among states (as in July 2023) under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), a scheme initiated by the Centre during the pandemic to give a fillip to formal employment.
According to data, one in every five active Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers in the state joined the workforce.
According to Rameshwar Teli, minister of state, labour and employment, 20.1 per cent of formal workers in Punjab had benefited from the central scheme until July 18, 2023.
They were followed by beneficiaries in Himachal Pradesh (19.1 per cent), Rajasthan (18.9 per cent), Gujarat (15.4 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (14.2 per cent).
However, Maharashtra (978,308), Tamil Nadu (817,315), Gujarat (643,573), and Karnataka (486,278) topped the list in terms of total number of beneficiaries under the scheme.

Jul 30, 2023

Rajya Sabha Passes Cinematograph Amendment Bill, 2023

The Rajya Sabha passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 that introduces stringent anti-piracy provisions, expanding the scope of the law from censorship to also cover copyright.
In the bill, the government proposes a maximum three-year jail term and a fine up to five per cent of the production cost of a film for persons making pirated copies of movies.
The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill-2023 also proposes to allow the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) grant certificate to films with perpetual validity by doing away with the 10-year validity period.
The bill seeks to introduce three age-based certifications under 'UA' category, namely 'UA 7 ', 'UA 13 ' and 'UA 16 ', and also to empower the CBFC to sanction a film with a separate certificate for its exhibition on television or other media.

Jul 28, 2023

Lok Sabha Passes Jan Vishwas Bill to Promote Ease of Business

Lok Sabha passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 that seeks to promote ease of business by decriminalising minor offences by amending 183 provisions in 42 acts.
The Bill was discussed and passed in Lok Sabha through a voice vote as Opposition members protested and raised slogans on the Manipur issue. They have been demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in Parliament on the violence in the north-eastern state.
The bill converts several fines to penalties, meaning that court prosecution is not necessary to administer punishments. It also removes imprisonment as a punishment for many offences. All offences under the Post Office Act, 1898 are being removed.

Jul 27, 2023

Lok Sabha Passes Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill

The Bill to amend the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, was passed by Lok Sabha with voice vote, exempts certain kinds of infrastructure or development projects from the need to get forest clearance, which is mandatory at present. These include strategic linear projects of national importance and concerning national security" situated within 100 km of international borders.
Even non-linear projects involving the creation of security related infrastructure would remain exempt, if the area of forest land to be diverted is restricted to 10 hectares.
The amendment Bill, in fact, renames the parent legislation, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, to Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, which translates to Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act. Besides being in Hindi, the new name is a reflection of a new focus on afforestation and reforestation activities, with the objective of increasing India's forest cover and fulfilling its international commitment of creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes by 2030.
These objectives have been included in the preamble to the proposed amended Act. The original Act did not have any preamble.
The primary objective of this Bill is to increase the forest area of the country to meet our goals of conservation of forests, conservation of biodiversity and the challenges posed by climate change.

Jul 26, 2023

Bill in Lok Sabha to Add Two Synonyms for Mahar Community in Chhattisgarh to State's Scheduled Ca...

The Union Social Justice Ministry introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha to add two synonyms for the Mahar community in Chhattisgarh to the State's Scheduled Castes list.
The Bill, introduced by Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar, adds 'Mahara' and 'Mahra' as synonyms of the Mahar community, thereby expanding government schemes and benefits meant for SCs in the State to around 2 lakh more people. Chhattisgarh is set to see its next Assembly elections later this year (2023).
In the Bill, the inclusion of these two synonyms was first proposed by the State Government, as required by the rules. Subsequently, the office of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had given their approval for the same, allowing for this Bill to be brought.
The Bill will entail some additional recurring and non-recurring expenditure on account of benefits of schemes meant for the development of the Scheduled Castes to which the persons belonging to the newly added communities will become entitled, as a result of this Bill.

Lok Sabha Passes Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill

The Lok Sabha passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to amend Biological Diversity Act of 2002.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2021, before being referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by Sanjay Jaiswal for examination.
The Bill amends Biological Diversity Act, 2002 with an aim to simplify compliance requirements for domestic companies.
It proposes to exempt users of codified traditional knowledge and AYUSH practitioners from sharing benefits with local communities.
The Bill also removes research and bio-survey activities from the purview of benefit-sharing requirements. Benefit sharing will be based on terms agreed between the user and the local management committee represented by the National Authority.

Union Cabinet Clears Bill to Replace Delhi Services Ordinance for Control, Posting of Officers

The Union Cabinet gave its nod to a bill that will replace the ordinance promulgated for the creation of an authority for transfers and postings of Group-A officers in Delhi. The legislation was approved by a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. The bill is expected to be tabled in the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament to replace the ordinance.
An ordinance is promulgated by the President on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet when the Parliament is not in session. The Parliament must adopt a law to replace the ordinance within six weeks of the commencement of the next session.
The controversial Delhi ordinance was promulgated by the central government in May 2023, a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi excluding police, public order and land to the elected government headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

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