PIB Summary- 29th May, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

PM-CARES for Children Scheme

Context: PM-CARES for Children Scheme launched for support & empowerment of Covid affected children.

Details

• All children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid-19 will be supported under the ‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme.

The benefits under the scheme are as follows:

• Fixed Deposit in the name of the child:
  • PM CARES will contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age. 
  • This corpus will be used to give a monthly stipend from 18 years of age, for the next five years to take care of his or her personal requirements during the period of higher education, and on reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal and professional use.
• School Education for children under 10 years:
  • The child will be given admission to the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
  • If the child is admitted to a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from PM CARES.
  • PM-CARES will also pay for expenditure on the uniform, textbooks and notebooks.
• School Education for children between 11-18 years:
  • The child will be given admission to any Central Government residential school such as Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya, etc.
  • In case the child is to be continued under the care of the guardian/grandparents/extended family, then he or she will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
  • If the child is admitted to a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from PM CARES.
  • PM CARES will also pay for expenditure on the uniform, textbooks and notebooks.
    
• Support for Higher Education:
  • The child will be assisted in obtaining an education loan for Professional courses/Higher Education in India as per the existing education loan norms. The interest on this loan will be paid by PM CARES.
  • As an alternative, scholarship equivalent to the tuition fees/course fees for undergraduate/vocational courses as per Government norms will be provided to such children under Central or State Government Schemes. For children who are not eligible under the existing scholarship schemes, PM CARES will provide an equivalent scholarship.
• Health Insurance
  • All children will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs.
  • The premium amount for these children till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

Drone operations

Context: 166 additional green zone sites approved for NPNT (No-Permission-No-Takeoff) compliant drone operations.

Details

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted permission of “No-Permission-No-Takeoff’ (NPNT) compliant drone operations at 166 additional green zones to facilitate, smoothen, and promote drone operations in the country. 
• The approved sites allow drone usage up to 400 ft Above Ground Level (AGL). 
• These zones are in addition to the Sixty-Six green zone sites approved earlier.
• As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), under NPNT or ‘No Permission – No Take-off’ compliance, every Remotely Piloted Aircraft (except Nano) has to obtain valid permission through the Digital Sky platform before operating in India. 
• The framework mandates users to register on the online portal that acts as the national unmanned traffic management system for remotely piloted aircraft. 
• Flying in these approved ‘green-zones’ will require only intimation of the time and location of the flights via the Digital Sky portal or the app.

YUVA (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors)

Context: Government launched YUVA.
About YUVA

• YUVA – Prime Minister’s Scheme For Mentoring Young Authors, an Author Mentorship programme to train young and budding authors (below 30 years of age), has been launched by the Ministry of Education, Dept of Higher Education.
• The chief goal of the programme is to promote reading, writing and book culture in the country, and project India and Indian writings globally.
• YUVA is a part of the India@75 Project (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) to bring to the fore the perspectives of the young generation of writers on themes like Unsung Heroes, Freedom Fighters, Unknown and Forgotten Places and their role in National Movement, and other related themes in an innovative and creative manner. 
• The National Book Trust (NBT) under the Education Ministry is the implementing agency for the scheme.
• Books prepared under this scheme will be published by the NBT. They will also be translated into other Indian languages.
• The selected young authors will interact with some of the best authors of the world; participate in literary festivals, etc. 
• Highlights of YUVA (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors):  
  • A total of 75 authors will be selected through an All India Contest to be conducted through https://www.mygov.in/ in June – July 2021.
  • The winners will be announced on 15 August 2021.
  • The young authors will be trained by eminent authors/mentors.
  • A consolidated scholarship of Rs.50,000 per month for a period of six months per author will be paid under the Mentorship Scheme.

Low-chilling apple variety developed by Himachal farmer spreads far & wide

Context: A farmer from Himachal Pradesh has developed an innovative self-pollinating apple variety that does not require long chilling hours for flowering and fruit setting. 

Details

• Commercial cultivation of this apple variety has been initiated in Manipur, Jammu, low lying areas of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and fruit setting has been expanded to 23 states & UTs so far.
• The apple variety is called HRMN 99.
• The farmer claimed that growing apple in low chilling conditions is no longer impossible.
• His claims were verified by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
• NIF evaluated the distinctiveness and potentiality of the variety by facilitating molecular & diversity analysis studies and fruit quality testing.
• NIF also provided financial and technical support for establishing and expanding the nursery, besides aiding the registration of the variety under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001.
• This apple variety is bigger in size as compared to other varieties, with very soft, sweet, and juicy pulp and striped red over yellow skin colour during maturity.

Bal Swaraj (COVID-Care link)

Context: NCPCR Asks States/UTS to Upload Data of Children Who Have Lost Both or Either of The Parent To Covid-19 On Online Tracking Portal “Bal Swaraj (Covid-Care)”.

Details

• The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has devised an online tracking portal “Bal Swaraj (COVID-Care link)” for children in need of care and protection. 
• The portal has been created for online tracking and digital real-time monitoring mechanism of children who are in need of care and protection. 
• The Commission has extended the use of this portal for tracking children who have lost both parents or either of the parents during COVID-19 and provided a link under the name of “COVID-Care” for uploading data of such children by the officer/department concerned on the portal.
• Children who have lost family support or are without any ostensible means of subsistence are children in need of care and protection under Section 2(14) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and all procedures given under the Act for such children must be followed to ensure the well-being and best interest of children.
• “Bal Swaraj-COVID-Care” portal is aimed at tracking the children affected by COVID-19 right from the production of children before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to the restoration of the children to their parent/guardian/relative and its subsequent follow-up.