YEARLY REVIEW 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS PART – 1
Ministry of Ayush
- Nationwide Distribution Campaign Of AYUSH 64:
- It was done through 86 clinical units of Research Councils and National Institute under the Ministry of Ayush across the country with support from Sewa Bharti.
- The scientists of reputed research institutions of the country found that AYUSH 64, a polyherbal formulation developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), is useful in the treatment of asymptomatic, mild, and moderate COVID-19 infection as an adjunct to standard care.
- A dedicated community support helpline was operationalized by the Union Ministry of Ayush to provide AYUSH-based approaches and solutions for the challenges raised by Covid-19.
- The toll-free number is 14443. The helpline is operational pan-India from 6 am to 12 midnight seven days a week.
- ‘WHO mYoga’ App:
- Launched on June 21 This app will enable easy learning of Yoga training practice, based on the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) in many languages.
- “Y-break” App:
- For working professionals to Refresh, Re-focus and Destress in just 5 minutes at their workplace to increase their productivity. The protocol includes Asanas, Pranayama and Dhyana.
- Mission Kalpataru: Mission Kalpataru is a program under the Women and Child Development Ministry to eradicate malnutrition. Under Mission Kalpataru the government aims to plant around 200 million trees as “food forests” for long-term nutritional requirements.
- AYUSH UDYAMAH: It is a National Seminar organized to work towards promoting India’s Startups and the Start-up Ecosystem in Ayush Sector.
- Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force: It was formed to formulate and design clinical research protocols for prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in COVID-19 positive cases.
- Collaborative Campaign on Nutrition: It was launched by the Ministry of Ayush and Ministry of Women and Child Development. Under this campaign, herbal plants are being planted in Anganwadis, schools, and kitchen gardens to ensure the easy availability of nutritious food and medicinal plants for pregnant and lactating women and children.
- AYUSH Sector in India: Prospects and Challenges: According to this report, the market size of AYUSH has grown by 17% in 2014-20 to reach US dollars 18.1 billion. In terms of the global share, India accounts for about 2.8% of the AYUSH market share.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
- Production: For the year 2021-22, the production data is available for only Kharif crops (as per first advance estimates)
- Foodgrains (Kharif) – 150.50 MT
- Oilseeds (Kharif) – 23.39 MT
- Sugarcane – 419.25 MT
- PM- KISAN: Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme (PM-KISAN), more than 1.60 lakh crore rupees have been directly transferred to more than 11.54 crore farmers till now. Launched in 2019 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is an initiative by the government of India in which all farmers will get up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support.
- PM-KMDY: Total 21,42,718 number of farmers have been enrolled under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMDY).
- Under this scheme, a minimum fixed pension of Rs.3,000/- is provided to the small and marginal farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria, on attaining the age of 60 years.
- It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme. The eligible farmer is required to contribute to a Pension Fund between Rs.55 to Rs.200 per month depending on the entry age. The Central Government also contributes in equal amounts to the Pension Fund.
- Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF): To date, a total of 8702 projects have been sanctioned under the scheme with a loan amount of Rs. 6254 crores, out of which, Rs. 2291 crores have been disbursed for 4315 projects.
- MSP: The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep MSP at levels of one and half times the cost of production. In line with the same principle, the Government had announced the increase in MSP for all mandated Kharif crops of the year 2021-22 on 9th June 2021. return to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%.
- Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
- National Food Security Mission: In view of the stagnating food grain production and an increasing consumption need of the growing population, the Government of India has launched this Centrally Sponsored Scheme, ‘National Food Security Mission’ in October 2007.
- The Mission met with an overwhelming success and achieved the targeted additional production of rice, wheat, and pulses.
- During 2021-22, NFSM is being implemented in identified districts of 28 states & 2 Union Territories (UTs) viz. Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in the country.
- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY): Under PKVY Scheme 19043 clusters formed during 2018-19 to 2020-21 in Phase-II against the target of 20500 clusters. Work continues in 19043 clusters (Phase-II) and old 11891 clusters of Phase-I (2015-16 to 2017-18) in 2021-22.
- “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) of the major project National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
- Under PKVY Organic farming is promoted through the adoption of the organic village by cluster approach and PGS certification.
- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR): In 2021-22 l Rs. 1034.21 crore has been released to the States during 2021-22. l So far, 286 projects have been approved by the States for implementation during 2021-22.
- The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana was introduced with an aim to provide support to the agricultural sector in achieving 4% annual agriculture growth.
- RKVY scheme was launched in the year 2007 which was later rebranded as Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RAFTAAR) to be implemented for three years till 2019-20 with a budget allocation of Rs 15,722 crore.
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY): Against budget provision of Rs. 16000 crore, Rs. 9719.24 crore have been released/utilized during 2021- 22.
- PMFBY provides a comprehensive insurance cover against the failure of the crop thus helping in stabilizing the income of the farmers. The Scheme covers all Food & Oilseeds crops and Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops for which past yield data is available and for which the requisite number of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) are conducted being under the General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES).
- Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centers: During 2021-22, with the release of the amount of Rs.1194.98 lakhs, a total of 3033 candidates trained, 1337ventures established and 166 ventures subsidized till now.
- Kisan Call Centre: During 2021-22, a total of 32,95,656 calls were answered, and Rs. 2336.01 lakhs have had been released till now.
- National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM): Madhukranti portal for online registration/ traceability system for a source of Honey & other beehive products have been launched.
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
- Central Public Grievance Redressal Mechanism: An Appeal Mechanism/functionality in CPGRAMS has been introduced. A separate workflow and functionality for escalation of grievances to appeal authorities in CPGRAMS has been operationalized and made live on 20.01.2021.
- DARPG signed an MoU with Common Service Centres (CSCs) on 20.09.2021 to increase the accessibility of CPGRAMS to rural population.
- Civil Services Day, 2021: The Government of India celebrates April 21 every year as ‘Civil Services day as an occasion for the civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of citizens and renew their commitments to public service and excellence in work.
- April 21 is chosen as National Civil Service Day to commemorate the day when the first Home Minister of Independent India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the probationers of Administrative Services Officers in 1947 at Metcalf House, New Delhi. In his speech, Patel referred to the civil servants as the ‘steel frame of India’. The first National Civil Service Day function was held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on April 21, 2006.
- Special Campaign for Disposal of Pending Matters: On the direction of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India a Special Campaign on disposal of pending matters and cleanliness drive was undertaken from 2nd October to 31st October 2021 in every Ministry/ Department of the government of India including their attached/ subordinate offices and autonomous organizations across the country and abroad.
- Good Governance Week: From Dec 20 to Dec 25 with the theme of “Prashasan Gaon ki Aur” a nationwide campaign for redressal of Public Grievances and Improving Service Delivery was conducted. Over 700 District Collectors participated in the campaign.
- Good Governance Index 2021: It is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across the States and UTs which enables ranking of States/Districts. Good Governance Index (GGI) 2021 Framework covered ten sectors and 58 indicators.
- Gujarat tops the composite ranking in 58 indicator indexes followed by Maharashtra and Goa. Uttar Pradesh registers an 8.9 percent improvement in GGI indicators in the period 2019 to 2021.
Department of Biotechnology
- GarbhINI: is an Interdisciplinary Group for Advanced Research on Birth outcomes. Under this initiative, a unique pregnancy Cohort comprising >8000 women has been established using an interdisciplinary approach comprising methodologies of clinical, epidemiological, statistical, genetic to study Pre-Term Birth (PTB).
- Pusa Basmati: Country’s first-ever non-GM (genetically modified) herbicide-tolerant basmati rice varieties Pusa Basmati 1979 and Pusa Basmati 1985 for direct-seeded conditions which can significantly save water and labor compared to conventional transplanting.
- IndiGau Chip: India’s first Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) based chip for the conservation of pure varieties of indigenous cattle breeds like, Gir, Kankrej, Sahiwal, Ongole, etc. was developed
- Biotech-PRIDE: Guidelines have been developed through extensive Expert Consultation and Inter-ministerial consultation to facilitate and enable sharing and exchange of high-throughput, high-volume biological data, knowledge, and information generated within the country for promotion of research and innovation.
- DBT Star College Scheme & Star College Mentorship Programme: Supported science Departments in >300 colleges all over the country; 240 UG colleges, 55 colleges from rural areas, and 8 colleges from Aspirational Districts have been supported.
- Science Setu Programme: 15 Autonomous Institutes engaged with 225 colleges to organize 125 seminars benefitting >7500 students.
- Skill Vigyan Programme (Skill Development Programme) in Biotechnology being implemented in 9States. The Expert Committee recommended the proposals of 6 States. Efforts are being made to partner with all States/UTs S&T Councils/Departments.
- Global Bio India 2021: The DBT along with its PSU, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) organized the 2 editions of Global Bio-India 2021 from 1 -3 March 2021 on a digital platform. The event showcased India’s potential in the biotech sector both within the country and to the international community. The theme of this year was ‘ Transforming Lives’ with the tagline ‘ Biosciences to Bio-economy ’.
- India International Science Festival (IISF): The Department of Biotechnology proactively participated and coordinated the 7 IISF, 2021 at Goa for: a) New Age Technology, b) Eco-Fest and c) Expo with its all-Autonomous institutes and PSUs.
Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Export Target of US$ 400 billion for Merchandise in 2021-22: Target of US$ 400 billion for 200 countries and 30 Quick estimates commodity groups has been set by the Department of Commerce for the year 2021-22, based on past trend, current scenario and policy dynamics in India and rest of the world.
- India’s merchandise exports have reached 65.89 percent of the target of USD 400 Billion, till November 2021.
- India’s Merchandise Exports have been performing extremely well in the last 8 months with exports exceeding USD 30 billion for the 8th consecutive month in the current financial year.
- India’s Services Exports remained relatively resilient to the pandemic which impacted world trade in commercial services in 2020. India’s share in world commercial services exports has increased from 3.5% in 2019 to 4.1% in 2020, leading to the improvement of India’s rank in leading exporters of commercial services from 8th to 7th in 2020.
- ‘Vanijya Saptah’: To commemorate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Department of Commerce organized ‘Vanijya Saptah’ from 20th to 26th September 2021 with an objective to highlight how India is empowering every stakeholder in the international trade ecosystem to produce quality products that can stand the global competition – Make in India for the world.
- Ease of Doing Business: In order to provide policy stability during the pandemic period, Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was extended for the year 2021-22 i.e., up to 31st March 2022. Exemption from Integrated Goods & Service Tax and Compensation Cess under Advance Authorizations (AA) scheme extended up to 31st March 2022.
- India and Mauritius signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) on 22nd February 2021 which entered into force on 1st April 2021.
- India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations were launched on 22nd September 2021 during the visit of the UAE delegation. Two rounds of negotiations have been held so far and both sides are aiming to conclude the negotiations by December 2021 and signing of the Agreement by March 2022.
- India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) Negotiations are in the final stage of Discussion.
- World Expo 2020 is being held in Dubai from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2022. This is the first expo that is being held in MEASA (Middle East, Africa, and South Asia) region. The India Pavilion at World Expo at Dubai was inaugurated by CIM on 01.10.2021.
- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) forOpen and Transparent Procurement saw a total of 31.8 Lakh vendors have been onboarded on GeM, out of which 7.39 Lakh are MSMEs, which constitute about 23% of the vendor base and contribute over 57% of the cumulative Gross Merchandise Value on GeM.
- National Logistics Policy has been developed after wide consultations with all Central Ministries on the supply and demand side and takes a comprehensive view of the sector defining specific action points with the key objective of matching and improving upon global standards in logistics efficiency and integrate with Global supply chains.
- PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal infrastructure connectivity to Economic Zones which is an Integrated Plan depicting Economic zones and Multi-modal Connectivity Infrastructure on a GIS Platform was launched in October 2021 to holistically integrate individual interventions of various Ministries/Departments with a national perspective and provide coordinated IT-enabled Map-based approach to planning, operations and monitoring of projects.
Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
- Key Highlights & Initiatives:
- To mitigate the price rise of horticulture commodities like onion, potato, and pulses, buffer stock was created for procurement and distribution.
- Onion buffer of 2.08 LMT built for market intervention.
- The total number of standards in force, as of 25 November 2021 is 21466.
- During 2021, BIS formulated1028 standards (624new and 474 revised) and reviewed 3484 Standards.
- From 1st January 2021 to 25th November, 2021number of hallmarking registration increased from34,487 to 1,25,558.
- BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking centers increased from 943 to 976.
- 5.95 crore articles of gold and silver jewelry/artifacts hallmarked from 01.01.2021 till 25.11.2021.
- Around 82 companies compounded with a total compounding amount of around Rs 44.55 lakhs under the Legal Metrology Act.
- Such weights or measures which are used by the industries for their internal use, and which do not affect the quantity delivered to the consumers or are not used in any transaction or for protection, shall not require re-verification.
- For adopting a uniform procedure throughout the country and to avoid double stamping of the same weights and measures in the interest of industries, the procedure for first time verification and stamping of weights and measures, sent from one State to another State, has been made.
Ministry Of Civil Aviation
- Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN: RCS-UDAN entered the fifth year. Under UDAN 4.1, 168 routes were awarded during the year. 100 routes commenced as part of the vision to improve connectivity across India. 12 airports were operationalized which included 3 heliports.
- Krishi UDAN 2.0 launched on 27.10.2021, to ensure seamless, cost-effective, time-bound air transportation.
- Logistics for all Agri-produce originating especially from the Northeast, hilly and tribal regions of the country.
- Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Dept. of Fisheries, Dept. of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, DONER are coordinating for implementation of the scheme.
- Under the scheme, full waiver of Landing, Parking, TNLC, and RNFC charges for Indian freighters and P2C has been implemented at 25 airports from NER, Hilly, and Tribal region and 28 airports from remaining parts of the country.
- Drone Rules 2021 notified on 25th August airspace
- The policy aims to make India a global hub for the research and development, testing, manufacturing, and operation of drones.
- To facilitate further growth, the Government approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme on 30 Sep 2021 for drones and drone components in India.
- Digital Sky Platform (DSP) has been launched to regulate the entire gamut of activities pertaining to drone operations as well as to function as a single-window online platform to ensure the smooth functioning of the applications.
- Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) Policy framework, 2021 has been released on 24 Oct 2021 to enable complex operations of drones and increase the overall safety in the UTM airspace.
- AirSewa 3.0 made live on 02 Oct 2021 with the enhanced feature of grievance redressal. New features include – Grievance escalation by users or on Service Level Agreement (SLA) expiry, Grievance transfer among stakeholders, Enhanced roles and permissions for nodal officers, Enhanced flight information and tracking of flights, Public forum for discussions, Mobile app for nodal officers.
- Air India Disinvestments: For Air India sale, share purchase agreement signed with Talace Pvt Ltd on 25th October 2021. A winning bid of Rs.18,000 crore as Enterprise Value (EV) consideration.
- e-Governance in Directorate General of Civil Aviation (eGCA) was launched on 11 Nov 2021 to bring about ease of doing business, transparency, and automation of the processes and functions of DGCA.
- Under this initiative, services are provided to various DGCA stakeholders such as Pilots, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers, Air Traffic Controllers, Air Operators, Airport Operators, Flying Training Organizations, Maintenance and Design organizations, etc. are now available on the eGCA.
- Airport Monetization & Development: 6 airports including Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram handed over for management under the PPP model.
- Under National Monetization Pipeline, 25 additional airports have been identified for monetization in the next 3 years. Three airports including Kushinagar, Kurnool, and Sindhudurg have been operationalized this year under the RCS-UDAN scheme.
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
- ‘AYUSH 64’ is
- Polyherbal Tablets
- Research Centre in Ayurvedic Sciences
- Ayurvedic Vaccine
- Portal for Grievance
ANSWER: A
- “Y-break” App is Associated with
- Boxing
- Taekwondo
- Judo
- Yoga
ANSWER: D
- ‘mYoga’ App was created in collaboration with
- UNESCO
- WHO
- World Yoga Council
- FAO
ANSWER: B
- ________ National Seminar organized for promoting India’s Startups and the Start-up Ecosystem in Ayush Sector.
- Ayush Udyog
- Ayush Udyamah
- Ayush Manthan
- Ayush Vani
ANSWER: B
- Mission ___ is the program under the Women and Child Development Ministry & Ayush to eradicate malnutrition.
- Mission Kalpataru
- Mission Poshan
- Mission Kuposhan
- Poshan 3.0
ANSWER: A
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme (PM-KISAN) was launched in
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
ANSWER: C
- What is the minimum fixed pension under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMDY)
- ₹ 6000
- ₹ 5000
- ₹ 4000
- ₹ 3000
ANSWER: D
- Pick the wrong statement about Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMDY)
- It is a Mandatory and contributory pension scheme.
- The eligible farmer is required to contribute to a Pension Fund between Rs.55 to Rs.200 per month depending on the entry age.
- The Central Government also contributes in equal amounts to the Pension Fund.
- The Pension is provided post attaining the age of 60 years.
ANSWER: A
- What is the Full form of MSP?
- Maximum Support Price
- Minimum Service Price
- Minimum Support Price
- Maximum Service Price
ANSWER: C
- National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was launched under the leadership of
- P V Narsimha Rao
- Indira Gandhi
- Manmohan Singh
- Narendra Modi
ANSWER: C
- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched in
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
ANSWER: A
- The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (2007) aims to provide support to the agricultural sector in achieving ______ annual agriculture growth.
- 4%
- 5%
- 6%
- 7%
ANSWER: A
- Madhukranti Portal is associated with
- Apiculture
- Aquaculture
- Sericulture
- Pisciculture
ANSWER: A
- Civil Services Day is celebrated annually on
- Jan 21
- Apr 21
- Jun 21
- Nov 21
ANSWER: B
- The first National Civil Service Day function was held on
- April 21, 2004
- April 21, 2005
- April 21, 2006
- April 21, 2007
ANSWER: C
- ______ tops the composite ranking in Good Governance Index (GGI) 2021
- Maharashtra
- Goa
- Uttar Pradesh
- Gujarat
ANSWER: D
- India’s first Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) based chip for the conservation of pure varieties of indigenous cattle breeds.
- IndiGau
- BharathGau
- GarbhINI
- None
ANSWER: A
- India International Science Festival (IISF) 2021 was held at
- New Delhi
- Chennai
- Hyderabad
- Goa
ANSWER: D
- ‘Vanijya Saptah’ from 20th to 26th September 2021 was conducted by
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Finance
- Department of Expenditure
- Department of Biotechnology
ANSWER: A
- World Expo 2020 was recently held at
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Sharjah
- Riyadh
ANSWER: A
- Pick the wrong statement about PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan
- It was launched in October 2021.
- It is a multi-modal infrastructure connectivity Plan.
- It holistically integrates various Ministries/Departments.
- None of the above
ANSWER: D
- National Logistics Policy was developed by
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
- Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
- Ministry of Finance
ANSWER: A
- Bureau of Indian Standards was formed in
- 1958
- 1986
- 1996
- 2007
ANSWER: B
- RCS-UDAN sometimes seen in news is associated with
- LPG Distribution
- LED Distribution
- Domestic Connectivity
- Scholarship for Meritorious
ANSWER: C
- Pick the wrong statement about Air India Disinvestments
- Share Purchase Agreement Signed With Talace Pvt Ltd.
- Talace Pvt Ltd is SPV established in 1996.
- A Winning Bid Of Rs.18,000 Crore As Enterprise Value (EV) Consideration.
- None of the Above
ANSWER: B
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