PIB Summary- 24th February, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

PM-Kisan Scheme

Context: PM-Kisan scheme completes two years.

PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is a central sector scheme under the government of India which provides income support to the farmers and their families. PM-KISAN scheme was first implemented as the Rythu Bandhu scheme by the Government of Telangana where a certain amount was handed directly to the eligible farmers. Later, on 1 February 2019, during the 2019 Interim Union Budget of India, Piyush Goyal announced the implementation of this scheme as a nationwide project.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM-KISAN scheme on 24 February 2019 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme, all small and marginal farmers will be provided with income support of Rs.6,000 per year in three instalments which will be deposited directly to their bank accounts. The total annual expenditure for this scheme is expected to be Rs.75,000 crore which will be financed by the Union Government.

About PM Kisan Yojana – Key Features of Scheme

Objectives of PM-KISAN Scheme
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana is implemented as a central sector scheme by the Government of India. This scheme was introduced to augment the source of income of many small and marginal farmers. The main objectives of the PM-KISAN scheme are mentioned below:

• To provide income support to all eligible land-holding farmers and their families.
• PM-KISAN scheme also aims to supplement the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income.
• The scheme is expected to increase the coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries. It aims to cover around 2 crores more farmers with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 87,217.50 crores that will be funded by the Central Government.

Eligibility to avail benefits under PM-KISAN Scheme
Any small or marginal farmer should not fall under the following criteria to be eligible under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Below are some of the categories of beneficiaries who are not eligible for benefit under this scheme:

• Any institutional land-holders.
• The farmer as well as any member of the family belonging to the following categories:
• Former and present holders of constitutional posts
• Former and present Ministers/ State Ministers
• Former or present members of LokSabha/ RajyaSabha/ State Legislative Assemblies/ State Legislative Councils
• Former and present Mayors of Municipal Corporations
• Former and present Chairpersons of District Panchayats.
• Any serving or retired officers as well as employees under the Central/ State Government Ministries /Offices/Departments.
• All retired pensioners who get a monthly pension of Rs.10,000/-or more and belonging to the above category.
• Any individual who paid their income tax in the last assessment year is not eligible under this scheme.
• Professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, and Architects registered with Professional bodies and carrying out profession by undertaking practices.

The farmers eligible under the scheme are required to produce the below-mentioned documents for their verification:

• Citizenship certificate
• Landholding papers
• Aadhaar card
• Bank account details

Advantages of PM-KISAN Scheme

• The direct transfer of funds is one of the biggest advantages of this scheme. On December 25, 2020, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, Rs.18,000 crores were directly transferred to the bank accounts of 9 crore farmers
• All the records related to farmers is registered officially on a digital platform which has made the registration and fund transfer easy. The digitalised records have brought about a new start to this welfare scheme
• This scheme eases liquidity constraints of farmers
• PM-KISAN yojana is a big step towards the Government’s initiatives of modernisation of agriculture
• There is no discrimination in choosing the PM-KISAN beneficiaries

PLI for Pharmaceuticals

Context: Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Pharmaceuticals.

Details

• The union cabinet has approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals for the period 2020-21 to 2028-29.

Background

• The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the 3rd-largest in the world by volume and is worth USD 40 billion in terms of value.
• The country contributes 3.5% of total drugs and medicines exported globally.
• India exports pharmaceuticals to more than 200 countries and territories including highly regulated markets such as the USA, the UK, the European Union, Canada, etc.
• At present, low value generic drugs account for the major component of Indian exports, while a large proportion of the domestic demand for patented drugs is met through imports.
• This is because the Indian pharmaceutical sector lacks in high value production along with the necessary pharma R&D.
• In order to incentivize the global and domestic players to enhance investment and production in diversified product categories, a well-designed and suitably targeted intervention is required to incentivise specific high value goods such as bio-pharmaceuticals, complex generic drugs, patented drugs or drugs nearing patent expiry and cell based or gene therapy products, etc.

Objectives of the scheme

• To enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities by increasing investment and production in the sector and contributing to product diversification to high value goods in the pharmaceutical sector.
• To create global champions out of India who have the potential to grow in size and scale using cutting edge technology and thereby penetrate the global value chains.

Salient features of the PLI Scheme for Pharmaceuticals

• Production-Linked Incentive or PLI scheme is a scheme that aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units.
• The pharmaceutical goods manufacturers registered in India will be classified according to their Global Manufacturing Revenue (GMR) into three groups to decide the quantum of their incentive allocation.
• The three groups or categories are:
  • Group A: Applicants having GMR (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods more than or equal to Rs 5,000 crore.
  • Group B: Applicants having GMR (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods between Rs 500 (inclusive) crore and Rs 5,000 crore.
  • Group C: Applicants having GMR (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods less than Rs 500 crore. A sub-group for MSME industry will be made within this group, given their specific challenges and circumstances.
• The incentive allocation among the Target Groups is as follows:
  • Group A: Rs.11000 crore
  • Group B: Rs.2250 crore
  • Group C: Rs.1750 crore
• Financial Year 2019-20 shall be treated as the base year for computation of incremental sales of manufactured goods.
• Rate of incentive will be 10% (of incremental sales value) for Category 1 and Category 2 products for first four years, 8% for the fifth year and 6% for the sixth year of production under the scheme.
• Rate of incentive will be 5% (of incremental sales value) for Category 3 products for first four years, 4% for the fifth year and 3% for the sixth year of production under the scheme.

Significance

• The Scheme will benefit domestic manufacturers, help in creating employment and is expected to contribute to the availability of wider range of affordable medicines for consumers.
• The scheme is expected to promote the production of high value products in the country and increase the value addition in exports.
• It is expected to promote innovation for development of complex and high-tech products including products of emerging therapies and in-vitro Diagnostic Devices as also self-reliance in important drugs.
• It is also expected to improve accessibility and affordability of medical products including orphan drugs to the Indian population.
• The Scheme is also expected to bring in investment of Rs.15,000 crore in the pharmaceutical sector.

PLI for IT Hardware

Context: Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive Scheme for IT Hardware.

Background

• The vision of the National Policy on Electronics 2019 is to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.
• Currently, the laptop and tablet demand in India is largely met through imports valued at USD 4.21 billion and USD 0.41 billion respectively in 2019-20.
• The market for IT Hardware is dominated by 6-7 companies globally which account for about 70% of the world’s market share.
• These companies are able to exploit large economies of scale to compete in global markets.
• It is imperative that these companies expand their operations in India and make it a major destination for manufacturing of IT Hardware.
• Manufacturing companies across the globe are looking to diversify their manufacturing locations to mitigate the risk involved in depending on a single market.

Features of the scheme

• The scheme proposes production linked incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the value chain of IT Hardware.
• The Target Segments under the proposed Scheme include Laptops, Tablets, All-in-One PCs and Servers.
• The Scheme shall extend an incentive of 4% to 2% / 1% on net incremental sales (over base year i.e. 2019-20) of goods manufactured in India and covered under the target segment, to eligible companies, for a period of four years.
• This is an important segment to promote manufacturing under AtmaNirbhar Bharat as there is huge import reliance for these items at present.

Benefits

• The scheme will enhance the development of electronics ecosystem in the country.
• India will be well positioned as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) on account of integration with global value chains, thereby becoming a destination for IT Hardware exports.
• The scheme has an employment generation potential of over 1,80,000 (direct and indirect) over 4 years.
• The Scheme will provide impetus to Domestic Value Addition for IT Hardware which is expected to rise to 20% – 25% by 2025.

Record Foodgrain production

Context: Record Foodgrain production of 303.34 million tonnes.

Details

• The second advance estimates of production of major crops reveal a record production of 303.34 million tonnes of food grains.
• According to the Agriculture Ministry, India’s foodgrain production is estimated to rise 2 per cent in 2020-21 crop year to an all-time high of 303.34 million tonnes on better output of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals amid good monsoon rains last year.
• The Agriculture Minister attributed the rise in production to efforts of the farmers and scientists as well initiatives of the central government.

Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display (ARHMD) System

Context: Indian Army in the process of acquiring 556 Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display systems.

ARHMD System

• The ARHMD System is conceived as a capability enhancement to Land Based Air Defence Weapon Systems such as IGLA shoulder fired Infra Red Homing Air Defence Missile System and ZU 23mm 2B AD Gun System which will provide the operator with radar and Thermal Imaging (TI) sight outputs as overlays.
• The proposed system intends to enhance the engagement capability during night and conditions of inclement weather and the day-time engagements are also intended to be enhanced through increased reaction times, data computation for decision support and integration of output of TI sight.

Grant of Government Business to Private Banks

Context: Embargo lifted on grant of government business to private banks.

Details

• The Government has lifted the embargo on private sector banks (only a few were permitted earlier) for the conduct of Government-related banking transactions such as taxes and other revenue payment facilities, pension payments, small savings schemes, etc.
• This step is expected to further enhance customer convenience, spur competition and higher efficiency in the standards of customer services.
• This move is expected to aid private sector banks, which are at the forefront of imbibing and implementing latest technology and innovation in banking, to be equal partners in the development of the Indian economy and in furthering the social sector initiatives of the Government.
• With the lifting of the embargo, there is now no bar on RBI for authorization of private sector banks (in addition to public sector banks) for Government business, including Government agency business.

Meeting of BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies

Context: India hosts First Meeting of BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies.

Details

• India hosted a Meeting of BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies virtually.
• It was co-chaired by the Secretary, Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry and the Deputy Governor of the RBI.
• Other participants included BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
• This was the first meeting on BRICS Financial Cooperation under the India Chair in 2021.
• During the meeting, India shared priorities under financial cooperation agenda and issues for discussion during 2021 such as Global Economic Outlook and Response to COVID-19, Social Infrastructure Financing and Use of Digital Technologies, New Development Bank (NDB) Activities, Fintech for SME and Financial Inclusion, BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), among others.

Background

• India assumed the BRICS Chairship in 2021, at a time when BRICS is celebrating its 15th
• Under the theme BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation, India’s approach is focused on strengthening collaboration through Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.

International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)

Context: International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) Symposium on Sustainable Development of Dams & River Basins inaugurated.

Details

• The symposium is being organised by ICOLD in collaboration with the Central Water Commission (CWC), Dam Rehabilitation Improvement Project (DRIP) and National Hydrology Project (NHP) in New Delhi.
• The symposium is being organised to provide an excellent opportunity to Indian Dam Engineering Professionals and Agencies to share their experiences, ideas and latest developments in new materials and construction technologies, advancement in investigation techniques, best engineering practices, dam safety issues, etc.

National Hydrology Project

• The National Hydrology Project (NHP) was started in 2016 as a Central Sector Scheme with 100% grant to implementing agencies on a pan-India basis with a budget outlay of Rs 3680 Crore to be spent over a period of 8 years.
• The project aims at improving the extent, reliability and accessibility of water resources information and to strengthen the capacity of targeted water resource management institutions in India.
• Thus, the NHP is facilitating the acquisition of reliable information efficiently which would pave the way for an effective water resource development and management.
• Under the Project, the National Water informatics Centre (NWIC) has been established, which is a nationwide repository of water resources data.
• NHP will improve and expand hydrology data and information systems, strengthen water resources operation and planning systems, and enhance institutional capacity for water resources management.
• The project will thus strengthen the information base and institutional capacity for evidence-based decision making in water resources planning and operational management at the basin scale across India using the latest technology and tools.

About International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)

• The International Commission On Large Dams (ICOLD) is a non-governmental International Organization which provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in dam engineering.
• ICOLD was founded in 1928 and has National Committees from more than 100 countries with approximately 10000 individual members.
• The members are mostly practising engineers, geologists and scientists form governmental or private organizations, consulting firms, universities, laboratories and construction companies.
• ICOLD leads the profession in setting standards and guidelines to ensure that dams are built and operated safely, efficiently, economically, and are environmentally sustainable and socially equitable.
• It is headquartered in Paris, France.

Potential Treatment for Alzheimer’s

Context: JNCASR Scientists develop a new molecule that could be a potential drug candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

JNCASR – Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, autonomous institute under the Dept. of Science and Technology, GOI. Located in Bengaluru.

Details

• Scientists have developed a small molecule that disrupts the mechanism through which neurons become dysfunctional in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
• The molecule could be a potential drug candidate to halt or cure the leading cause of dementia (70-80%) worldwide.

Alzheimer’s Disease

• In the Alzheimer’s brain, abnormal levels of naturally forming protein clump together to form plaques that collect between neurons and disrupt cell function.
• This is caused by production and deposition of the amyloid peptide (Aβ) that accumulates in the central nervous system.
• The multifactorial nature of Alzheimer’s disease attributed to multifaceted amyloid toxicity has kept researchers from developing effective treatment.

The Study

• The scientists designed and synthesized a set of novel small molecules and identified a lead candidate which they found could reduce the toxicity of Amyloid Beta (Aβ) toxicity.
• The detailed studies established the molecule called TGR63 as the lead candidate to rescue neuronal cells from amyloid toxicity.
• Mice brain affected with Alzheimer’s disease when treated with TGR63 showed a significant reduction of amyloid deposits, validating its therapeutic efficacy.
• The mice also showed reduction of learning deficiency, memory impairment, and cognitive decline as revealed by distinct behavioural tests.
• These key attributes have validated the potential of TGR63 as a promising drug candidate for the treatment of AD.

Background

• Currently available treatments provide only temporary relief, and there are no approved drugs that directly act on the disease mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Thus, there is an unmet need to develop drug candidates to halt or cure Alzheimer’s disease.
• AD severely affects the patients, families, caregivers and hence is a major societal and economic burden globally.

Solar Rotation

Context: Kodaikanal Solar Observatory Digitized Data probes Sun’s rotation over the century.

Who conducted the study?

• Researchers led by a Ph.D. student from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India
• Collaborators from Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Goettingen, Germany.
• Collaborators from Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, USA.

The researchers studied the solar rotation by tracing sun spots from century-old digitalized films and photographs.

• The old films and photographs were taken at the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO) of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru).
• This estimation would help study magnetic field generated in the interior of the Sun, which causes sunspots and results in extreme situations like the historical mini-ice age on Earth (absence of sunspots).
• It could also help predict solar cycles and their variations in the future.

Solar Rotation

• The Sun rotates more quickly at its equator than at its poles.
• Over time, the Sun’s differential rotation rates cause its magnetic field to become twisted and tangled.
• The tangles in the magnetic field lines can produce strong localized magnetic fields.
• When the Sun’s magnetic field gets twisted, there are lots of sunspots.
• The sunspots which form at the surface with an 11-year periodicity are the only route to probe the solar dynamo or solar magnetism inside the Sun and hence measure the variation in solar rotation.
• The solar rotation period is 24.47 days at the equator and almost 38 days at the poles. The average rotation is 28 days.