PIB Summary- 12th January, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

National Youth Parliament Festival

Context: Prime Minister lauds the winners and final panelists of the second National Youth Parliament Festival.

Details

• The second NYPF was launched in December 2020 through virtual mode.
• 34 lakh youth from across the country participated in the first stage.
• It was followed by State Youth Parliaments through virtual mode in January 2021.
• The finals of the second NYPF will be held in the Central Hall of the Parliament on 11th January 2021.
• The top three winners will get the opportunity to speak before the Prime Minister of the country on the concluding day.

About the National Youth Parliament Festival

• The objective of the National Youth Parliament Festival (NYPF) is to hear the voice of youth between 18 and 25 years of age, who are allowed to vote and will join various careers in the coming years, including public services.
• NYPF is based on the idea given by the Prime Minister in one of his Mann Ki Baat Addresses in 2017.
• The first NYPF was organised in 2019 (Jan – Feb) with the theme “Be the Voice of New India and Find solutions and Contribute to Policy”.

About National Youth Festival

• The National Youth Festival is celebrated every year from 12^th to 16^th January. 
• 12^th January, being the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, is observed as National Youth Day.
• The objective of the National Youth Festival is to bring the youth of the country together to showcase their talents; provide them with an arena, by creating a mini-India, where they interact in formal and informal settings and exchange their social and cultural uniqueness.
• It is also to promote national integration, the spirit of communal harmony, brotherhood, courage and adventure.
• The basic aim is to propagate the spirit, essence and concept of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.
• National Youth Festival 2021 theme: ‘YUVAAH – Utsah Naye Bharat Ka’

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Context: PMFBY completes five years of operation. 

Details: The Scheme benefits farmers who face crop losses due to various reasons.

About Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is the flagship scheme of the government for agricultural insurance in India in line with the One Nation-One Scheme theme.

• Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops, oilseeds, and food crops (Cereals, Millets, and Pulses) are covered under the scheme. 
• PMFBY is optional for the farmers who have not availed institutional credit, while all the farmers who have borrowed institutional loans from banks are covered under the scheme mandatorily. (This was modified and enrolment was made voluntary post-Kharif season 2020.) 
• The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Revamping the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

To address the challenges in the implementation of the crop insurance scheme, the Union Cabinet has approved to revamp the PMFBY and to bring modifications to its existing provisions. This remarkable scheme has completed five years since its inception. Therefore, the revamped PMFBY 2.0 aims to ensure quick computation and payment of claims to the farmers, proportionate to the crop loss through a series of technological interventions and implement more modifications to the scheme by the government. 

• For north-eastern states, the centre’s share in premium subsidy to be increased to 90% from 50% earlier. 
• Information, Communication and Education (ICE) Activities – 0.5% of the total premium collected by the insurance companies to be spent on ICE activities. 
• Flexibility to states: 
  • States/UTS to be given an option to choose their scale of finance for any district crop combination. 
  • States/UTs given option to run the scheme with the selection of additional risk covers. 
• Cap on Centre’s Premium Subsidy: 
  • For unirrigated areas/crops, the central subsidy to be limited for premium rates up to 30% 
  • For irrigated area/crops, the central subsidy to be limited for premium rates up to 25%. 
• Those districts that will have an area under irrigation for more than 50% will be considered as an irrigated district. 
• Penalty on states: 
  • If a state delays to release requisite premium subsidy to insurance companies beyond a set time-limit (March 31 – For Kharif Season; September 30 – For Rabi Season), states will not be allowed to run the scheme in subsequent seasons. 
• To conduct Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), there will be the adoption of technology solutions including Smart Sampling Technique (SST).

Why is Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana being revamped?

• To make farmers’ self-sufficient to manage risk in agriculture production. 
• To stabilise the farm income. 
• To enable farmers of North-Eastern states to manage agriculture risks. 
• Enable faster claims settlements through quick and accurate yield estimation.

What is covered under PMFBY?

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will cover the following cases under crop insurance: 

• Local natural calamities like landslides, hailstorms, etc. 
• Calamities leading to loss of yield like floods, dry spells, droughts, etc. Pest infestation that causes yield loss is also covered by PMFBY. 
• Losses that occurred after harvesting crops can also be covered under this scheme. These circumstances may befall due to cyclones, unseasonal rains, cyclonic rains, etc. 
• Nevertheless, PMFBY does not provide any safety against the following circumstances: 
  • Losses occurred due to war or similar hazardous activities. 
  • Loss of yield due to the act of enmity or riots. 
  • Yield destruction caused by domestic and/or wild animals 
  • Contamination due to nuclear risks. 
  • Malicious damage leading to yield carnage. 
• It is proposed by the scheme to use remote sensing technology, smartphones, or drones to expedite crop loss estimation.

PMFBY Objectives

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) aims at providing support for the sustainable production of yield in the agricultural sector. PMFBY will achieve this by implementing the following: 

• Financial support will be provided to farmers in distress due to loss and damage to crops caused by unexpected calamities. 
• Making sure the income of farmers is stabilized for them to continue their farming activities. 
• Promoting farmers to adopt and use modern equipment and agricultural practices for efficient and high yield farming. 
• Ensuring the flow of credit to the agriculture sector contributes to food security, crop diversification, and enhancing growth and competitiveness of the agriculture sector besides protecting farmers from production risks.

New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26

Context: New Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2021-2026 to be rolled out from April 2021. 

Details

• The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that India’s new Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026, under formulation, will come into effect from April 1, 2021. 
• India’s FTP has conventionally been formulated for five years at a time. The FTP 2015-20 came into effect in April 2015 and the same was extended by one year till 31 March 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 
• The FTP will strive to make India a leader in the area of international trade and channelize the synergies gained through merchandise and services exports for growth and employment with a goal to make India a USD 5 Trillion economy. 
• Improvements in the operations of the domestic manufacturing and services sector in combination with efficient infrastructure support by the government would result in correcting the imbalances within India and feed into the trade policy. 
• The District Export Hubs initiative will form an important component of the new FTP. 
  • The Department of Commerce through the Regional Authorities of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has engaged with State/UT Governments to take forward this initiative in the districts and enable its implementation in a phased manner. 
  • The objective is to mobilize the potential of each district of the country to achieve its potential as an export hub.

13th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue

Context: The 13^th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue was held between India’s Defence Secretary and the Deputy Defence Minister of Vietnam. 

Details

• During the interaction, the Defence Secretary and the Deputy Defence Minister exchanged views on the plan of action that has emanated from the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in December 2020. 
• New areas of defence cooperation were also discussed. 
• Both the sides reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and expressed commitment to further elevate engagements between the Armed Forces under the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

India-Vietnam Relations – Background

India-Vietnam relations have been exceptionally friendly and cordial since their foundations were laid by Prime Minister Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh more than 50 years ago. The traditionally close and cordial relations have their historical roots in the common struggle for liberation from foreign rule and the national struggle for independence. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the first visitors to Vietnam after its victory against the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. President Ho Chi Minh went to India in February 1958.
President Rajendra Prasad visited Vietnam in 1959. In recent times, political contacts have strengthened as reflected in several high-level visits by leaders from both sides. Trade and economic linkages continue to grow. India’s thrust under the ‘Look East’ policy combined with Vietnam’s growing engagement within the region and with India has paid rich dividends. Vietnam is an important regional partner in South East Asia. India and Vietnam closely cooperate in various regional forums such as ASEAN, East Asia Summit, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) besides UN and World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Developments Regarding India-Vietnam Relations

Since 1992, the bi-lateral ties between India and Vietnam have developed extensively in many fields such as economic ties, agriculture and manufacturing. Not being limited to economic reasons alone, there has been extensive fostering of bilateral military cooperation that includes sale of military equipment, sharing of intelligence, joint naval exercises and training in counterinsurgency and jungle warfare.
Some of the more recent developments are highlighted:
Commercial and economic ties 
During President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Vietnam in 2014, India and Vietnam signed seven agreements, including one for enhanced cooperation in the oil sector. The details of the agreements are given in the table:
During President Trần Đại Quang state visit to India in March 2018, a total of three agreements – two Mou’s and one Work Plan  – were signed between India and Vietnam. The details of the agreements are highlighted:

Strategic cooperation 
India and Vietnam are both members of the Mekong–Ganga Cooperation, which is created with the aim to develop and enhance close ties between India and nations of Southeast Asia.
Vietnam has been a close supporter of India’s bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and also supported India’s membership to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
In a 2003 joint declaration, India and Vietnam collaborated on creating an “Arc of Advantage and Prosperity” in Southeast Asia. For this purpose Vietnam has done much to support the increasing significance of the relationship between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its negotiation of an Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement. India and Vietnam have also built strategic partnerships, including extensive cooperation on developing nuclear power, enhancing regional security and fighting terrorism, transnational crime and drug trafficking.
With a view to enhance Indian and Vietnamese military relations, the Indian Navy has been welcomed many times. Vietnam has also accepted Indian support for a peaceful resolution of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.  Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid refers to Vietnam as one of the pillars of India’s “Look East” policy. In 2018, India and Vietnam conducted their first bilateral naval exercise together, in Vietnamese waters.

Central Board of Direct Taxes

Context: CBDT launches e-portal for filing complaints regarding tax evasion/Benami Properties/Foreign Undisclosed Assets. 

Details

• CBDT has launched an automated dedicated e-portal on the e-filing website of the Department to receive and process complaints of tax evasion, foreign undisclosed assets as well as complaints regarding benami properties. 
• The facility allows for filing of complaints by persons who are existing PAN/Aadhaar holders as well as for persons having no PAN/Aadhaar. 
• Upon successful filing of the complaint, the Department will allot a unique number to each complaint and the complainant would be able to view the status of the complaint on the Department’s website. 
• The CBDT is taking this step towards e-governance and to encourage the participation of citizens as stakeholders in curbing tax evasion.

Urban local bodies reforms

Context: Manipur becomes the 4^th state to complete urban local bodies reforms. 

Details

• Manipur has become the 4^th state in the country to successfully undertake “Urban Local Bodies (ULB)” reform stipulated by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. 
• Thus, the State has become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources of Rs.75 crore through Open Market Borrowings. 
• Manipur has now joined three other states namely, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, who have completed this reform. 
• On completion of Urban Local Bodies reform, these four States have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs.7,481 crore.

Objectives/Need for reforms

• Reforms in the Urban Local Bodies and the urban utilities reforms are aimed at financial strengthening of ULBs in the states and to enable them to provide better public health and sanitation services. Economically rejuvenated ULBs will also be able to create good civic infrastructure. 

The reforms stipulated by the Department of Expenditure to achieve these objectives are: 

• The State will notify –
  • Floor rates of property tax in ULBs which are in consonance with the prevailing circle rates (i.e. guideline rates for property transactions) 
  • Floor rates of user charges in respect of the provision of water-supply, drainage and sewerage which reflect current costs/past inflation. 
• The state will put in place a system of periodic increase in floor rates of property tax/user charges in line with price increases.

Background

• To meet the challenges posed by the pandemic, GOI had enhanced the borrowing limit of the states by 2 percent of their GSDP. 
• Half of this special dispensation was linked to undertaking citizen centric reforms by the states. 
• The four citizen centric areas for reforms identified were: 
• Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System (done by 10 states) 
• Ease of doing business reform (done by 7 states) 
• Urban Local body/utility reforms (done by 3 states) 
• Power sector reforms

Red Ribbon Club Quiz Competition

Context: Union Health Minister inaugurates the grand finale of the first-ever Red Ribbon Quiz Competition. 

Details

• The Red Ribbon Quiz Competition is held by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 
• The objective of the programme is to actively engage members of the Red Ribbon Clubs in disseminating information related to HIV/AIDS, adolescent health, mental health and any other public threat, etc. and make them discuss these things through the mode of quiz.
• Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs): 
  • NACO has established 12,500 Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs) to reach out to the college going youth. 
  • This programme is a comprehensive promotional and preventive intervention to harness the potential, specifically to mainstream HIV prevention, care & support and treatment, impact mitigation, stigma reduction and enhance Voluntary Blood Donation.

Main causes of HIV infection in India

• Engagement in high-risk behaviours: 
  • Unprotected sexual behaviours 
  • Unsafe injecting drug use behaviour 

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)

• NACO is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides leadership to HIV/AIDS control programme in India through 35 HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Societies. 
• In 1986, following the detection of the first AIDS case in the country, the National AIDS Committee was constituted in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 
• As the epidemic spread, the need was felt for a nationwide programme and an organization to steer the programme. In 1992 India’s first National AIDS Control Programme (1992-1999) was launched, and National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) was constituted to implement the programme. 
• NACO envisions an India where every person living with HIV has access to quality care and is treated with dignity. 
• Effective prevention, care and support for HIV/AIDS is possible in an environment where human rights are respected and where those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS live a life without stigma and discrimination. 
• NACO works to contain the spread of HIV in India by building an all-encompassing response reaching out to diverse populations.

Kayakalp Award Scheme

What is the Kayakalp Award Scheme? 

• The award scheme was launched in 2015 to appreciate and recognise the efforts of public health facilities to create a healthy environment. 
• The parameters for judging are hospital/facility upkeep, sanitation and hygiene, waste management, infection control, support services and hygiene promotion. 

Objectives of Kayakalp

• To promote cleanliness, hygiene and Infection Control Practices in public Health Care Facilities. 
• To incentivize and recognize such public healthcare facilities that show exemplary performance in adhering to standard protocols of cleanliness and infection control. 
• To inculcate a culture of ongoing assessment and peer review of performance related to hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation. 
• To create and share sustainable practices related to improved cleanliness in public health facilities linked to positive health outcomes. 

Categories of the award

• Best two District Hospitals in each state (Best District hospital in small states) – cash award of Rs.50 lakh and Rs.20 lakh for first and second respectively. 
• Best two Community Health Centres/Sub District Hospitals (limited to one in small states) – cash award of Rs.15 lakh and Rs.10 lakh for first and second respectively. 
• One Primary Health Centre in every district – case award of Rs.2 lakh.

Spintronics

What is spintronics? 

• Spintronic, also known as spin electronics, is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices. 
• Spintronics fundamentally differs from traditional electronics in that, in addition to charge state, electron spins are exploited as a further degree of freedom, with implications in the efficiency of data storage and transfer. 
• The field of spintronics emerged because of the need for attaining new functionalities in modern electronic devices which has led to the manipulation of the property of an electron called spin degree of freedom along with its charge. 
• A phenomenon called the ‘Rashba effect’, which consists of splitting of spin-bands in an electronic system, might play a key role in spintronic devices.

What’s in News?

• Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali (Punjab), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, have produced an ultra-high mobility 2d-electron gas (2DEG) at the interface of two insulating oxide layers. 
• Benefits:
  • Due to the high mobility of the electron gas, electrons do not collide inside the medium for a long distance and hence do not lose the memory and information. 
  • Hence, such a system can easily remember and transfer its memory for a long time and distance. 
  • In addition, since they collide less during their flow, their resistance is very low, and hence they don’t dissipate energy as heat. 
  • So, such devices do not heat up easily and need less input energy to operate. 
• The realization of large Rashba-effect at such oxide interfaces containing highly mobile electron gas may open up a new field of device physics, especially in the field of quantum technology applicable for next-generation data storage media and quantum computers.

Rashba Effect

• The Rashba effect, or Rashba-Dresselhaus effect, is a momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands in two-dimensional condensed matter systems. 
• Discovered in 1959, the phenomenon continues to supply fertile ground for fundamental research and applications. 
• It provided the basis for the proposal of the spin transistor by Datta and Das in 1990, which has largely inspired the broad and dynamic field of spintronics. 
• More recent developments include new materials for the Rashba effect such as metal surfaces, interfaces and bulk materials.