PIB Summary- 25th April, 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

UDAN 5.0 Scheme

Why in News?
Recently, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the UDAN 5.0 to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country.

UDAN 5.0 Scheme

• Focus on Category-2 and Category-3: The current round of the scheme is targeted towards Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats) aircraft.
• No restriction on stage length: The earlier cap of 600 km on stage length has been waived off, allowing airlines to operate flights on any distance between the origin and destination.
• Increased Viability Gap Funding (VGF) cap: The VGF to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority areas, which was earlier capped at 500 km.
• Shorter deadline for commencement of operations: Airlines would be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route. Earlier this deadline was 6 months.

About Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN)

• It is a regional airport development and “Regional Connectivity Scheme” (RCS) of the Union Government of India.
• The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through the revival of existing airstrips and airports.

Objective

• To create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the common man even in small towns.
• To stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses.
• The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing air-strips and airports. The scheme is operational for a period of 10 years.
• UDAN is a market driven ongoing scheme where bidding rounds are conducted periodically for covering more destinations/stations and routes under the scheme.
• Interested airlines assess the demand on particular routes connecting these airports and submit their proposals at the time of bidding.

UDAN 1.0

• Under this phase, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 flight routes to 70 airports (including 36 newly made operational airports)

UDAN 2.0

• In 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced 73 underserved and unserved airports.
• For the first time, helipads were also connected under phase 2 of UDAN scheme.

UDAN 3.0
Key Features of UDAN 3 included:

• Inclusion of Tourism Routes under UDAN 3 in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism.
• Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes.
• Bringing in a number of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN.

UDAN 4.0

• The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.
  • The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme.
  • Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.

National Panchayati Raj Day

Why in News?
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on National Panchayati Raj Day. He said that Panchayats are the pillars of the Indian Democracy.

What is National Panchayati Raj Day?

• The first National Panchayati Raj Day was celebrated in 2010. Since then, the National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on 24th April every year in India.
• The day marks the enactment of the 73rd amendment of the constitution in 1992.

What is Panchayati Raj?

• After the Constitution came into force, Article 40 made a mention of panchayats and Article 246 empowered the state legislature to legislate with respect to any subject relating to local self-government.
• Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) was constitutionalized through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 to build democracy at the grass roots level and was entrusted with the task of rural development in the country.
• PRI is a system of rural local self-government in India.
• Local Self Government is the management of local affairs by such local bodies who have been elected by the local people.
• To strengthen e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has launched eGramSwaraj, a user-friendly web-based portal.
• It unifies the planning, accounting and monitoring functions of Gram Panchayats. Its combination with the Area Profiler application, Local Government Directory (LGD) and the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) renders easier reporting and tracking of Gram Panchayat’s activities.