YEARLY REVIEW 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS PART – 3
Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
- Key Initiative & Highlights:
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: Food security to nearly 80 crore Indians ensured in Covid times. Centre incurs an expenditure of nearly Rs.2.60 lakh Crore in PMGKAY Phase I- V.
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is a food security welfare scheme announced by the Government of India in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. PM Modi Cabinet Anurag Thakur Extends PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Till March 2022.
- Portability of Ration Cards: The portability of ration cards, which was initially started as interstate portability in 8 States in August 2019, was evolved into seamless national portability of ration cards in 12 States by January 2020.
- Since then, up to November 2021, the national portability under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan is progressively enabled in a total of 34 States/UTs covering nearly 75 Crore beneficiaries (about 94.3% NFSA population) to lift their foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of choice in these States/UTs using their same/existing ration card.
- 2 more States of Assam and Chhattisgarh are expected to be integrated with the national ONORC cluster shortly.
- 100% digitized ration cards are now available in all States/UT’s.
- 88% of Aadhar cards are now biometrically authenticated nationally for distribution of monthly allocated foodgrains to States/UTs under NFSA.
- To address anemia and micro-nutrient deficiency in the country, the Government of India approved a Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice & its Distribution under Public Distribution System” for 3 years beginning in 2019-20.
- During Kharif Market Season (KMS) 2021-22, 396.77 LMTs of paddy procured up to 19.12.2021 during KMS 2021-22 benefiting 38.40 Lac farmers with an MSP value of Rs. 77,766.76 crore
- During Rabi Market Season (RMS) 2021-22, 433.44 LMT of Wheat procured, an all-time high, in RMS benefiting 49.20 Lac farmers with MSP value of Rs. 85,603.57 crore
Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education
- National Education Policy 2020:
- Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035; 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
- The policy envisages a broad-based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Undergraduate Program with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entries and exit points with appropriate certification.
- Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits
- Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
- The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
- Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. HECI to have four independent verticals – National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC ) for standard-setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding, and National Accreditation Council( NAC) for accreditation.
- public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and academic standards.
- Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
- Over some time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an Autonomous degree-granting College or a constituent college of a university.
- SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active–Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is a program initiated by the Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity, and quality. One hundred and fifty-four (154) Universities have come on board for accepting credit transfer for courses offered through the SWAYAM platform till now.
- Bhasha Sangam App: Under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat the Ministry has launched two Mobile Apps. The first Bhasha Sangam has a collection of 100 sentences of daily conversation in 22 Indian languages and aims to teach the same to at least 75 lakh people during the AKAM period. The other Mobile App is a fun quiz game in different states of India. Both Apps allow for self-testing and certificate generation.
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
- Rashtriya Gokul Mission: To improve productivity and enhance milk production, thereby making dairying more remunerative to the farmers Rashtriya Gokul Mission for genetic up-gradation of bovine population and development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds has been extended for implementation with an allocation of Rs 2400 crore over 5 years. Several new technologies have been accessible to the farmers at their doorstep under the Mission such as sex-sorted semen, IVF technology, genomic selection, etc.
- Accelerated Breed Improvement program: Under the component, IVF technology and artificial insemination with sex-sorted semen are being leveraged to produce female calves for dairy farmers.
- Gopal Ratna Awards: has been launched by the Department in 2021 and is one of the highest national awards in the field of livestock and dairy sector. The objective of the award is to encourage all individual farmers, artificial insemination technicians’ clinicians, and Dairy cooperative societies working in this sector.
- Launching of Dairy Mark: Dairy mark has been launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 23 December 2021, this unified logo featuring the earlier respective logos BIS-ISI mark & NDDB-Quality Mark and Kamdhenu Cow, for product – Food Safety Management System – Process’ certification under one umbrella.
- e-GOPALA app: e- Gopala app the digital platform is helping farmers in managing livestock including buying and selling of disease-free germplasm in all forms (semen, embryos, etc); availability of quality breeding services (Artificial Insemination, veterinary first aid, vaccination, treatment, etc) and guiding farmers for animal nutrition, treatment of animals using appropriate ayurvedic medicine/ethnoveterinary medicine.
Ministry of Heavy Industries:
- FAME Scheme: Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II Scheme redesigned in June 2021.
- FAME India is a division of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. The main aim of this FAME scheme is to promote the demand for electric vehicles by offering subsidies to customers. The FAME India Scheme is aimed at encouraging all vehicle segments.
- The second phase of faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles (FAME-II) scheme was originally intended for three years ending 31 March 2022. It was extended earlier this year by a period of 24 months till 31 March 2024.
- Cabinet approved the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore to incentivize the setting up of manufacturing facilities in the country.
- Cabinet approved the Productivity Linked Incentive scheme for Automobile and Auto Components with an outlay of Rs 25,938 crore.
- PLI to incentivize manufacturing of Advanced Automotive Technology products and attract investments in the Automotive Manufacturing value chain.
- Ministry of Heavy Industries organized Round Table Conference on December 4 in Goa to promote the adoption of Electric Vehicles in India.
- Will also attract investment in manufacturing of Evs, batteries, and high technology automotive components in India.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
- Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U):
- Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) was launched on 25th June 2015 to address urban housing shortage among the EWS/ LIG and MIG category, including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban households by the year 2022.
- Against the total assessed demand of 1.12 Cr houses, 1.14 Cr houses have been sanctioned. Of these, a total of 91.5 lakh houses was grounded for construction and 53 lakh houses were completed/delivered, as of 12th Dec’ 2021.
- Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 1st October 2021 with the aim of making the cities ‘water secure’ and providing functional water tap connections to all households. The total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is 2,77,000 Cr including a central share of 76,760 Cr for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
- Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0: Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 on 1st October 2021 with an outlay of about ₹ 4.4 Lakh Crore to adopt ‘Universal Approach’ and make a move towards ‘Saturation’ in sanitation and water availability in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
- Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM): Since its inception, it has covered 28 states, 7 UTs, and 3,806 Towns creating 25.60 livelihoods. Under the scheme, 1.30 lakh shelter spaces were created for the urban homeless and 66.70 lakh women members were mobilized in to 6.4 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs).
- PM Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi): The PM SVANidhi was launched to empower street vendors, making them independent and self-sustainable. Under “SwadishtVyanjankiAadhunikDukaan (SVAD)”, MoHUA has signed MOU with Swiggy and Zomato providing a digital platform for Street Food Vendors (SUVs). Presently, over 8,486 SFVs have been onboarded and have generated sales of over ₹4.9 Crores.
Ministry of Railways
- The Year 2021 witnessed unprecedented growth in the development of infrastructure, innovation, capacity expansion of the network, freight diversification.
- Rail Freight operations contributed to the national economic recovery.
- Covid challenge met head-on: Railways ensure delivery of Oxygen to the States through Oxygen Express.
- Kisan Rail proves to be a boon for the farmer. 1806 Kisan Rails run on 153 routes (up to 24.12.2021) and carried around 5.9 lakh tones of agricultural products.
- Railways launched a new tourism product i.e., theme-based tourist circuit trains ‘Bharat Gaurav’.
- Bharat Gaurav- Theme Based Trains: To tap the vast tourism potential of India, Indian Railways have launched a new tourism product i.e., theme-based tourist circuit trains ‘Bharat Gaurav’. Service providers spread across the length and breadth of the country will be able to showcase untapped, yet historically significant rich treasures of the country service Providers would be able to refurbish the coaches and have been given full flexibility to decide the themes, tariff, interior designs, and other business modalities.
- Commissioned Wi-Fi at a total of 6089 stations (120 during the year).
- 78 Oxygen generating plants have been installed and are functional in Railway hospitals. 17 more Oxygen plants have been sanctioned and at different stages of commissioning.
- Railways completed Redevelopment of Gandhinagar Capital (WR) & Rani Kamalapati (WCR) station.
- Tejas Rajdhani Trains were introduced on 4 routes.
Ministry of Jal Shakti
- Ken-Betwa Interlinking Of Rivers Program: The First Such Program Under The National Perspective Plan, Approved By The Union Cabinet At An Outlay Of Rs 44,605 Crores To Provide Annual Irrigation Of 10.62 Lakh Ha And Drinking Water Supply To A Population Of About 62 Lakhs In Bundelkhand Area Of UP And MP.
- Dam Safety Bill (2019) Passed by The Parliament; Bill Provides For An Institutional Mechanism At Both Central And State Levels To Address Structural And Non-Structural Measures Required For Ensuring The Safe Functioning Of Dams.
- After China and USA, India is the 3rd largest dam-owning nation in the world. There are around 5,700 large dams in the country, of which about 80% are already over 25 years old. Nearly 227 dams that are over 100 years old are still functional. Although India’s track record of dam safety is at par with that of the developed nations, there have been instances of unwarranted dam failures and of poor maintenance issues.
- The Dam Safety Bill provides for adequate surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of all the large dams in the country so as to prevent dam failure-related disasters. The Bill provides for an institutional mechanism at both Central and State levels to address structural and non-structural measures required for ensuring the safe functioning of dams.
- Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) Approved For 2021-26 With An Outlay Of 93,068 Crore To Benefit About 22 Lakh Farmers; Two National Projects, Namely Renukaji Dam Project (Himachal Pradesh) And Lakhwar Multipurpose Project (Uttarakhand) Provisioned For Central Funding Of 90% Under The Scheme.
- Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana is a national mission to improve farm productivity and ensure better utilization of the resources in the country. A budget of ₹53 billion in a period of one year 2015-2016 has been allocated to this scheme.
- National Water Mission: The National Water Mission (NWM), under the aegis of the Ministry of Water Resources, is one of the eight missions being constituted under the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC). The NAPCC was launched by the Prime Minister in 2009 as a nationwide effort to tackle climate change. Campaigns undertook: “Catch the Rain” with a tagline “Catch the Rain – when it falls, where it falls”.
- National Mission For Clean Ganga: In 2021, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) sanctioned 24 projects at a total cost of Rs 1208.77 Cr., bringing the cumulative total to 357 projects sanctioned worth Rs 30,780.18 Cr. In the same period, NMCG also completed 37 projects which resulted in the completion of a total of 177 projects.
- Several public outreach programs were also organized by NMCG, which included Ganga Quest, Ganga Utsav, Ganga Mashal Abhiyan, etc. – all of which received an overwhelming response. Ganga Quest 2021 saw the active participation of over 11 Lakh persons from India as well as from over 113 countries.
- Ganga Utsav 2021, organized under the Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign, celebrated not just River Ganga but all other rivers in the country.
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was launched to provide Food security during _____ times.
- Inflation
- COVID-19
- Recession
- Unemployment
ANSWER: B
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has been recently extended till
- April 2022
- March 2022
- April 2023
- March 2023
ANSWER: B
- ____ are main target beneficiaries under One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)
- Below Poverty Line
- Migrant Laborers
- Downtrodden Communities
- Backward Communities
ANSWER: B
- Which of the following is not among three cropping seasons in India
- Rabi
- Kharif
- Summer
- Zaid
ANSWER: C
- Pick the Odd One Out
- Rabi Crops – October To March – Wheat, Barley, Peas Etc
- Kharif Crops – July To October – Maize, Jowar, Bajra Etc
- Zaid Crops – March To June – Watermelon, Muskmelon, Cucumber Etc
- None of the above
ANSWER: D
- National Education Policy was first announced in
- 1968
- 1986
- 1992
- 2020
ANSWER: A
- The National Policy on Education 1968 was based on the recommendations of
- Dinesh Goswami Committee
- D R Gadgil Committee
- Kothari Commission
- Jaya Jaitley Committee
ANSWER: C
- Gadgil Committee Report and Kasturirangan Committee Report are associated with
- Higher Education
- Judicial Reforms
- Environmental Protection
- Police Reforms
ANSWER: C
- Bhasha Sangam App has a collection of 100 sentences of daily conversation in ____ Indian languages
- 20
- 18
- 22
- 24
ANSWER: C
- ______ schedule consists of 22 Languages recognized in the Indian Constitution.
- 6th
- 7th
- 8th
- 9th
ANSWER: C
- It is not an aim of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- Development and conservation of indigenous breeds
- Breed improvement program for indigenous cattle breeds to improve their genetic makeup and increase the stock
- Enhancement of milk production and productivity
- None of the above
ANSWER: C
- e-GOPALA app is associated with
- Management Of Livestock
- Buying & Selling Of Livestock
- Treatment Of Animals
- All The Above
ANSWER: D
- The government adopted the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV (FAME) scheme in
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
ANSWER: B
- Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) was launched in
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
ANSWER: B
- AMRUT 2.0 & Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 was recently launched on
- June 21
- October 2
- August 15
- September 14
ANSWER: B
- PM SVANidhi is associated with
- MSME
- Migrant Labourer
- Street Vendors
- Start-Ups
ANSWER: C
- _____ is the Current Minister of Railways, India
- Piyush Goyal
- Ashwini Vaishnav
- Nitin Gadkari
- Nirmala Sitharaman
ANSWER: B
- Provision of Wi-Fi facilities at Railway stations was provided with the help
- RailTel
- TATA Trust
- All the above
ANSWER: D
- Ken River passes through ____ tiger reserve.
- Panna
- Pench
- Bandhavgarh
- Ranthambore
ANSWER: A
- Largest Tiger Reserve in India
- Panna
- Jim Corbett
- Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve
- Ranthambore
ANSWER: C
- St. Petersburg Declaration (2010) is associated with
- Lion Conservation
- Tiger Conservation
- Rhino Conservation
- Whale Conservation
ANSWER: B
- Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) works under the aegis of
- Jal shakti Mantralaya
- Ministry of rural development
- Ministry of agriculture
- All the Above
ANSWER: D
- National Water Mission was launched in
- 2004
- 2007
- 2009
- 2011
ANSWER: C
- ______ is the Official Mascot of Namami Gange Program
- Krrish
- Shaktiman
- Chacha Chaudhry
- Spiderman
ANSWER: C
- Chacha Chaudhary is an Indian comic book character, created by cartoonist
- Pran Kumar Sharma
- R K Laxman
- R K Narayan
- Rajinder Puri
ANSWER: A
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