General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - October 2021

Oct 2021

Apr 08, 2023

Cabinet Approves Space Policy

Three years after opening up the space sector to private players, the Union Cabinet approved the Indian Space Policy 2023 to streamline the process of participation by private players.
The policy will clearly state the roles and responsibilities of not only private players but also bodies such as the public-private mediator IN-SPACe and the commercial arm of the department, New Space India Limited.
The Cabinet also approved setting up of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) at Maharashtra's Hingoli. The observatory is meant to detect and track cosmic gravitational waves.

Apr 06, 2023

Telangana Launches 'Cool Roof' Policy to Reduce Heat Impact on Buildings

The Telangana Government launched a Cool Roof Policy to reduce temperatures in Hyderabad and other urban areas in the state.
In the first year, the State government has set a target to 'cool roof' an area of 7.5 square kilometres, including 5 sq km in Hyderabad.
The policy is aimed at reducing heat island impact and heat stress in the state.
The urban heat islands phenomenon is gaining global attention as urban centres report 2-4 degree Celcius higher than rural areas, bearing the brunt of climate change. The government will make it mandatory for all constructions beyond 600 square yards to factor in a cool roof at the design stage.
Telangana being the third most urbanised state in the country with 48 per cent the population residing in the urban areas, there is a serious need to introduce cost-effective and climate-friendly cooling solutions to counter the urban heat island effect.

Apr 05, 2023

PM SVANidhi Scheme: Loans to Minority Street Vendors Remain Low

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha that under the PM SVANidhi scheme, 42.7 lakh loans worth Rs. 5,152.37 crore were disbursed to street vendors. Shockingly, only 9.3% of these loans were granted to hawkers from minority communities, totalling 3.98 lakh loans.
To assist street vendors in overcoming the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic, the government had launched the PM SVANidhi micro-credit scheme in 2020. This initiative provides collateral-free loans of Rs. 10,000, with 7% interest subsidy, and subsequent loans of Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000.
The data presented by the Ministry in response to MP John Brittas's query indicates that the share of loans granted to street vendors from minority communities has decreased year on year. In 2020-21, 2,10,457 loans were granted to minorities, while in 2021-22 and 2022-23, only 98,973 and 88,609 loans were granted, respectively, the lowest percentage being 7.76% in 2022-23.
In 2020-21, 2,10,457 loans were disbursed to minorities while it was 98,973 loans in 2021-22 and 88,609 in 2022-23.
According to the data shared by the Ministry, the state-wise disbursal of loans seemed to be aligned with its population, with Uttar Pradesh disbursing the maximum number of loans at 11,22,397, while Sikkim gave out just one loan.
Incidentally, Uttar Pradesh also gave the largest number of loans to hawkers from minority communities at 95,032.

Apr 04, 2023

CM Patnaik Disburses Rs. 877 crore to Farmers under KALIA Scheme

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik disbursed Rs. 877 crore to over 43 lakh farmers under the KALIA scheme.
The assistance was provided for agricultural activities in the current kharif season. Farmers from all regions of the state, except the by-poll bound Jharsuguda district received it.
The KALIA scheme was announced in December 2018 with an objective to provide financial support to farmers to carry on their agricultural activities. The main objective is to wean away farmers from depending on money lenders.
Under the scheme, a beneficiary gets Rs. 4,000 in two instalments.
The Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) is Odisha government's flagship programme for farmers.
Apart from being self-reliant in the food grain production, Odisha has also been contributing to the country's food reserves.

Rajya Sabha Passes Competition (Amendment) Bill

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day after passing the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 without discussion amid uproar by opposition members over the Adani issue.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman then moved the the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 for consideration and passage amid slogan-shouting by Opposition members.
The rate of penalty for any abuse of dominant position would now be imposed upto 10% of the global turnover of the entity or three times the profits of the companies for the last three preceding financial years. The turnover was earlier for the relevant domestic entity and this amendment can potentially impact multinational companies in India as well as Indian firms with a global presence.
Through another key amendment, all deal values involving acquisitions, mergers and amalgamations exceeding Rs. 2000 crore having target enterprise in India shall be notified to the CCI for approval before their consummation.

Apr 03, 2023

Govt. Releases Foreign Trade Policy 2023

The Centre came out with Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 seeking to boost the country's exports amid slowing global trade. The Centre outlined the vision to take India's goods and services export to $2 trillion by 2030 by shifting from incentives to remission and entitlement-based regime.
The Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal unveiled FTP 2023 which came into effect from April 1, 2023.
As per Santosh Sarangi, director general of foreign trade (DGFT), unlike the earlier practice of announcing five-year FTP, the latest policy has no end date and will be updated as and when needed.
The last five-year policy came into force on April 1, 2015. However, it was extended several times in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent disruptions in economic activities globally. The last extension was given in September till March 31, 2023.
The new FTP identifies four new Towns of Export Excellence (TEE) namely Faridabad, Moradabad, Mirzapur and Varanasi. This is in addition to the already existing 39 TEEs.
The FTP benefits have been extended to e-commerce exports.

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