PIB Summary- 9th August, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

PM-KISAN

Context: PM released the 9th instalment of PM-KISAN.

Details

• The Prime Minister released the next instalment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
• This enabled the transfer of an amount of more than Rs. 19,500 crores to more than 9.75 crores beneficiary farmer families.

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
The highlights of the PM-KISAN scheme are given in the table below:

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:

1. Any institutional land-holders.
2. The farmer as well as any member of the family belonging to the following categories:
3. Former and present holders of constitutional posts
4. Former and present Ministers/ State Ministers
5. Former or present members of LokSabha/ RajyaSabha/ State Legislative Assemblies/ State Legislative Councils
6. Former and present Mayors of Municipal Corporations
7. Former and present Chairpersons of District Panchayats.
8. Any serving or retired officers as well as employees under the Central/ State Government Ministries /Offices/Departments.
9. All retired pensioners who get a monthly pension of Rs.10,000/-or more and belonging to the above category.
10. Any individual who paid their income tax in the last assessment year is not eligible under this scheme.
11. 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
Given below are the advantages and the impact of the PM-KISAN schemes:

• 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

Indian Institute of Heritage

Context: The Government has decided to set up ‘Indian Institute of Heritage’ at Noida.

Details

• The Indian Institute of Heritage would offer Masters and Ph.D. courses in History of Arts, Conservation, Museology, Archival Studies, Archaeology, Preventives Conservation, Epigraphy and Numismatics, Manuscriptology, etc. as well as conservation training facilities to in-service employees and the students of the Indian Institute of Heritage.
• This will impact higher education and research in fields related to the rich Indian heritage and its conservation.
• The Institute is being set up as a Deemed to be University by integrating the Institute of Archaeology (Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology), School of Archival Studies under National Archives of India, New Delhi, the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology (NMICHM) and Academic Wing of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. These shall become the various schools of the Institute.

Padhna Likhna Abhiyan

About Padhna Likhna Abhiyan

• The primary objective of Padhna Likhna Abhiyan is to impart functional literacy to 57 lakh adult illiterates aged 15 and above under a Basic Literacy Programme for a period of one year – 2020 to 2021.
• The aim behind the scheme is to eradicate illiteracy in India.
• This program for adult education is initiated by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education.
• Over the period of time, the focus of the programme shall also be on the basic literacy component, i.e. vocational education (skill development), equivalency, physical and emotional development, practical arts, applied science, or recreation.
• This programme will assertively give an opportunity to those who have either lost the opportunity, or transcended the age of formal education, and now feel a need for learning.
• The Abhiyan will focus on women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) Minorities, and other disadvantaged groups. The State/UT will distribute the allotted target to districts selected by them.
• The scheme shall have a flexible approach and innovative methodologies such as involving school and college students & other volunteers of such Schemes as National Cadet Crops (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), for imparting basic literacy.

India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) – 2021

Context: India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) – 2021 to be held in October 2021.
The theme for the 2021 meeting is “Inclusive Internet for Digital India”.

About the India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF)

• The IIGF is the Indian chapter of the United Nations based Internet Governance Forum, which is an Internet Governance policy discussion platform to bring representatives together from various groups, considering all at par to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.
• The India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) is the national forum constituted by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Government of India for multi-stakeholder dialogue between the government, private sector, technical community, academia and civil society organizations on public-policy issues related to Internet Governance.
• IIGF would be reviewing the global Internet policy landscape and provide guidelines for matters related to Internet Governance, taking into account the technical development and the dynamically changing societal needs in the country.
• The basic objective of the forum is to generate discussions about policy formation. The forum will also become a starting point for identifying bottlenecks and trying to resolve bottlenecks one by one

Covid Vaccination Update

Context: Foreign nationals are now eligible for vaccination in India.

What’s in the News?

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken a decision to allow foreign nationals residing in India to get registered on the CoWin portal to take COVID-19 vaccine.
• They can use their passport as an identity document for the purpose of registration on the portal.

Significance

• A significant number of foreign nationals are living in India, especially in large metropolitan areas.
• In these areas, the potential of the spread of Covid-19 is high due to higher population density. To counter any possibility of such occurrence, it is important to vaccinate all eligible persons.
• This initiative will ensure the safety of foreign nationals residing in India. It will also bring down the possibilities of further transfer of infection from unvaccinated persons residing in India.
• It will also ensure overall safety from further transmission of COVID-19 virus.

‘Seekho Aur Kamao’ Scheme

Context: This information was given by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

About the ‘Seekho Aur Kamao’ Scheme

• Seekho Aur Kamao Scheme has been implemented since 2013-14 for the skill development of minorities. It is under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
• Seekho Aur Kamao is a skill development scheme for people of the 14 – 35 years age group and aiming at providing employment and employment opportunities, improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts, etc.
• The scheme ensures 75% placement, out of which 50% should be in the organized sector.
• As per scheme guidelines, the implementing organizations will be required to establish linkages with placement services, and for the candidates interested in self-employment after availing the training, the organization shall arrange easy micro finance/loans for them through financial institutions, National Minority Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC), banks, etc.
• Post placement support of Rs. 2000/- per month is provided to placed trainees for two months as placement assistance.