Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

In an ambitious bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and
physically sustainable spaces.

The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent
potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall
development in the region. These clusters would be developed by provisioning of
economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing
infrastructure amenities. The Rurban Mission will thus develop a cluster of Smart
Villages.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Hindi: बेटी बचाओ, बेटी पढ़ाओ, Save girl child,
educate girl child) is a Government of India scheme that aims to generate
awareness and improving the efficiency of welfare services meant for women.

e-Pramaan

 e-Pramaan is a National e-Authentication service offered by DeitY.
 e-Pramaan provides a simple, convenient and secure way for the users to
access government services via internet/mobile as well as for the government to
assess the authenticity of the users. e-Pramaan builds up confidence and trust
in online transactions and encourages the use of the e-services as a channel for
service delivery.
 Major Components of e-Pramaan includes:
 Identity Management (including Credential Registration)
 e-Authentication (including Step-up Authentication)
 Single Sign-on
 Aadhaar based credential verification
 e-Pramaan offers authentication as a service by verifying the credentials of a
person who is wishing to access any e-Governance service.

SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

 Farming as an activity contributes nearly 1/6th of our Gross Domestic Product
and a majority of our population is dependent on it for their livelihood.
Deteriorating soil health has been a cause of concern and that has been leading
to sub optimal utilization of farming resources. Imbalanced use of fertilisers, low
addition of organic matter and non-replacement of depleted micro and secondary
nutrients over the years, has resulted in nutrient deficiencies and decrease in soil
fertility in some parts of the country
 Soil health needs to be assessed at regular intervals so as to ensure that farmers
apply the required nutrients while taking advantages of the nutrients already
present in the soil.
 Government has launched a scheme to provide every farmer a Soil
Health Card in a Mission mode. The card will carry crop
wise recommendations of nutrients/fertilizers required for farms, making it
possible for farmers to improve productivity by using appropriate inputs.
 Central Government provides assistance to State Governments for setting up
Soil Testing Laboratories for issuing Soil Health Cards to farmers. State
Governments have adopted innovative practices like involvement of agricultural
students, NGOs and private sector in soil testing, determining average soil health
of villages, etc., to issue Soil Health Cards.
 A Soil Health Card is used to assess the current status of soil health and, when
used over time, to determine changes in soil health that are affected by land
management. A Soil Health Card displays soil health indicators and associated
descriptive terms. The indicators are typically based on farmers’ practical
experience and knowledge of local natural resources. The card lists soil health
indicators that can be assessed without the aid of technical or laboratory
equipment.

SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SCHEME

The scheme will help in reducing the demand for physical gold by shifting a part of the
estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for Investment into
gold bonds. Since most of the demand for gold in India is met through imports, this
scheme will, ultimately help in maintaining the country’s Current Account Deficit within
sustainable limits.
The issuance of the Sovereign Gold Bonds will be within the government’s market
borrowing programme for 2015-16 and onwards. The actual amount of issuance will be
determined by RBI, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance. The risk of gold price
changes will be borne by the Gold Reserve Fund that is being created. The benefit to
the Government is in terms of reduction in the cost of borrowing, which will be
transferred to the Gold Reserve Fund.
The salient features of the scheme are:-
i. Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued on payment of rupees and denominated in
grams of gold.
ii. Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the RBI. Thus, the
Bonds will have a sovereign guarantee.
iii. The issuing agency will need to pay distribution costs and a sales commission to the
intermediate channels, to be reimbursed by Government.
iv. The bond would be restricted for sale to resident Indian entities. The cap on bonds
that may be bought by an entity would be at a suitable level, not more than 500 grams
per person per year.
v. The Government will issue bonds with a rate of interest to be decided by the
Government. The rate of interest will take into account the domestic and international
market conditions and may vary from one tranche to another. This rate of interest will
be calculated on the value of the gold at the time of investment. The rate could be a
floating or a fixed rate, as decided.
vi. The bonds will be available both in demat and paper form.
vii. The bonds will be issued in denominations of 5,10,50,100 grams of gold or other
denominations.
viii. The price of gold may be taken from the reference rate, as decided, and the Rupee
equivalent amount may be converted at the RBI Reference rate on issue and
redemption. This rate will be used for issuance, redemption and LTV purpose and
ix. Banks/NBFCs/Post Offices/ National Saving Certificate (NSC) agents and others, as
specified, may collect money / redeem bonds on behalf of the government (for a fee, the
amount would be as decided).
x. The tenor of the bond could be for a minimum of 5 to 7 years, so that it would protect
investors frommedium term volatility in gold prices. Since the bond, will be a part of the
sovereign borrowing, these would need to be within the fiscal deficit target for 2015-16
and onwards.
xi. Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio is to be set equal
to ordinary gold loan mandated by the RBI from time to time.
xii. Bonds to be easily sold and traded on exchanges to allow early exits for investors
who may so desire.
xiii. KYC norms will be the same as that for gold.
xiv. Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold for an ‘individual’
investor. The Department of Revenue has agreed that amendments to the existing
provisions of the Income Tax Act, for providing ‘indexation benefits to long term capital
gains arising on transfer of bond’; and for ‘exemption for capital gains arising on
redemption of SGB’ will be considered in the next budget (Budget 2016-17).This will
ensure that an investor is indifferent in terms of investing in these bonds and in physical
gold- as far as tax treatment is concerned.
xv. The amount received from the bonds will be used by Gol in lieu of government
borrowing and the notional interest saved on this amount would be credited in an
account “Gold Reserve Fund” which will be created. Savings in the costs of borrowing
compared with the existing rate on government borrowings, will be deposited in the
Gold Reserve Fund to take care of the risk of increase in gold price that will be borne by
the government. Further, the Gold Reserve Fund will be continuously monitored for
sustainability.
xvi. On maturity, the redemption will be in rupee amount only. The rate of interest on the
bonds will becalculated on the value of the gold at the time of investment. The principal
amount of investment, which is denominated in grams of gold, will be redeemed at the
price of gold at that time. If the price of gold has fallen from the time that the investment
was made, or for any other reason, the depositor will be given an option to roll over the
bond for three or more years.
xvii. The deposit will not be hedged and all risks associated with gold price and currency
will be borne by Gol through the Gold Reserve Fund. The position may be reviewed in
case ‘Gold Reserve Fund’ becomes unsustainable.

GOLD MONETISATION SCHEME

The objective of introducing the modifications in the schemes is to make the existing
schemes more effective and to broaden the ambit of the existing schemes from merely
mobilizing gold held by households and institutions in the country to putting this gold
into productive use. The long-term objective which is sought through this arrangement is
to reduce the country’s reliance on the import of gold to meet domestic demand.
GMS would benefit the Indian gems and jewellery sector which is a major contributor to
India’s exports. In fiscal year 2014-15, gems and jewellery constituted 12 per cent of
India’s total exports and the value of gold items alone was more than $13 billion
(provisional figures).
The mobilized gold will also supplement RBI’s gold reserves and will help in reducing
the government’s borrowing cost.
The revamped Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) and the Gold Metal Loan (GML) Scheme
involves changes in the scheme guidelines only. The risk of gold price changes will be
borne by the Gold Reserve Fund that is being created. The benefit to the Government is
in terms of reduction in the cost of borrowing, which will be transferred to the Gold
Reserve Fund.
The scheme will help in mobilizing the large amount of gold lying as an idle asset with
households, trusts and various institutions in India and will provide a fillip to the gems
and jewellery sector. Over the course of time this is also expected to reduce the
country’s dependence on the import of gold. The new scheme consists of the revamped
GDS and a revamped GML Scheme.

Means cum Merit Scholarship

 The Centrally Sponsored Scheme “National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship
Scheme (NMMSS)” was launched in May, 2008. The objective of the scheme is
to award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to
arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at
secondary stage. Scholarship of Rs.6000/- per annum (Rs.500/- per month) per
student is awarded to selected students every year for study in classes from IX to
XII in Government, Government aided and local body schools.

TUFS Scheme
 The Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) was introduced in 1999 to
attract investments for modernization of the Indian Textile Industry. The scheme
initially provided for 5% interest reimbursement.
 Now the TUFS Scheme has been extended until 31.3.2017 under the 12th plan
period. The newly extended TUFS Scheme is officially named as
the Revised Restructured – TUFS Scheme.

NAYI MANZIL

 The scheme “Nai Manzil” scheme will address educational and livelihood needs
of minority communities in general and muslims in particular as it lags behind
other minority communities in terms of educational attainments.
 It is a new direction and a new goal for the all out of school/dropped out students
and those studying in Madrasas. It is so because they will not be getting formal
Class XII and Class X Certificates rendering them largely un employed in
organised sector. The Nai Manzil scheme is aimed at this target group as an
integrated intervention in terms of providing education as well as skill
development.
 The scheme aims at providing educational intervention by giving the bridge
courses to the trainees and getting them Certificates for Class XII and X from
distance medium educational system and at the same time also provide them
trade basis skill training in 4 courses :
1. Manufacturing
2. Engineering
3. Services
4. Soft skills
 The scheme is intended to cover people in between 17 to 35 age group from all
minority communities as well as Madrasa students. This scheme will
provide avenues for continuing higher education and also open up employment
opportunities in the organised sector.

PAHAL

 PaHaL or Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh, formerly the Direct Benefit Transfer
Scheme for LPG subsidy, is a Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy in India. Under the scheme, LPG cylinders are sold
at market rates and consumers receive a subsidy from the Union Government
directly into their bank accounts. It replaced the previous system of selling
subsidised LPG cylinders directly to consumers. It is the largest cash transfer
programme in the world.[1] The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged
the Pahal scheme as the world’s largest cash transfer programme on 13 August
2015.

Pragati – Pro Active Governance And Timely Implementation

 New governance Reform initiative Pragati – Proactive Governance and
Timely Implementation. It is touted to be a credible mechanism for redressal of
public grievances.

Features of the program
– Three major objectives of the program
 grievance redressal
 project implementation
 project monitoring

NAYI ROSHNI

Nai Roshni is a scheme for leadership development of minority women.
Objectives:
• Empower and install confidence in women of minority communities by equipping them
with knowledge, tools and techniques to interact with government systems, banks and
intermediaries
• Encouraging minority community women to move out of the home and assume
leadership roles within the community
Features
• Organisations eligible under the scheme for applying for financial assistance include:
(a) Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
(b) Public Trust registered under any law for the time being in force.
(c) Private limited non-profit company registered under Section 25 of the Indian
Companies Act
(d) Universities/ Institutions of higher learning recognised by UGC
(e) Training institutes of Central and State Government/UT Administration including
Panchayati
Raj Training institutes.
(f) Duly registered Cooperative Societies of Women/ Self Help Groups.
• The scheme will be implemented through the above organisations with the aid of
Ministry of Minority Affairs
• Leadership development training modules will be developed pertaining to rights of
women in education, employment, livelihood etc; these will be used to empower
women
• Specific training modules will also be based on local needs and issues faced by
women from the minority community

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
 Is being set up under NITI.
 AIM will be an Innovation Promotion Platform involving academics,
entrepreneurs, and researchers drawing upon national and international
experiences to foster a culture of innovation, R&D in India.
 The platform will also promote a network of world-class innovation hubs and
grand challenges for India.

ONE RANK ONE PENSION

Defining OROP
 OROP implies uniform pension for Armed Forces personnel retiring at the same
rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, with
future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the
past pensioners.
 The 10-member parliamentary panel, known as the Koshyari Committee, set to
look into the issue in 2011, explained OROP as a scheme that seeks to bridge
the gap between the rates of pension payable to current pensioners and past
pensioners.
 The committee pointed out that in the Armed Forces, equality in service has two
components, namely, rank and length of service. The importance of rank is
inherent in the Armed Forces, as it has been granted by the President of India
and signifies command, control and responsibility in consonance with the ethos
of service. These ranks are even allowed to be retained by the individual
concerned after his/her retirement. Hence, two armed personnel at the same
rank and with equal length of service should get the same pension, irrespective
of date of retirement.
In other words, this means is that Armed Forces personnel should get the benefit of
changes in salary even after their retirement. Thus, if an officer retires as a Major, his
salary level will be linked to that of a Major who retires 10 years after he does.

MAKE IN INDIA

 Make in India is an initiative of the Government of India to encourage
multinational, as well as domestic, companies to manufacture their products in
India.

 The major objective behind the initiative is to focus on job creation and skill
enhancement in twenty-five sectors of the economy. These sectors include:
automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports, aviation, leather,
tourism and hospitality, wellness, railways, design manufacturing, renewable
energy, mining, bio-technology, and electronics. The initiative hopes to increase
GDP growth and tax revenue. The initiative also aims at high quality standards
and minimising the impact on the environment. The initiative hopes to attract
capital and technological investment in India.

Sagar Mala Project
 Sagar Mala project is a strategic and customer-oriented initiative of the
Government of India to modernize India’s Ports so that port-led development can
be augmented and coastlines can be developed to contribute in India’s growth. It
looks towards “transforming the existing Ports into modern world class Ports
and integrate the development of the Ports, the Industrial clusters and hinterland
and efficient evacuation systems through road, rail, inland and coastal waterways
resulting in Ports becoming the drivers of economic activity in coastal areas.
 The Union Ministry of Shipping is the nodal ministry for this initiative . A National
Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC), composed of the Minister incharge of
Shipping, with Cabinet Ministers from stakeholder Ministries and Chief
Ministers/Ministers incharge of ports of maritime states as members, will provide
policy direction and guidance for the initiative’s implementation, shall approve the
overall National Perspective Plan (NPP) and review the progress of
implementation of these plans.

Start-up India, Stand up India
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2015 launched a new campaign Startup India, Stand up India to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to
boost entrepreneurshipand job creation.
 The campaign was launched during the celebrations of 69th Independence Day
at Red Fort, Delhi. The initiative is aimed at
encouraging entrepreneurship among the youth of India.
 As per the initiative, each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches should encourage at
least one Dalit or tribal entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur.
 Under this initiative, in addition to existing systems to facilitate start-ups, loans
would also be given to help people. This initiative will give a new dimension
to entrepreneurship and will help set up a network of start-ups in the country.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana :

According to Census 2011, India has 55 million potential workers between the ages of
15 and 35 years in rural areas. At the same time, the world is expected to face a
shortage of 57 million workers by 2020. This presents a historic opportunity for India to
transform its demographic surplus into a demographic dividend. The Ministry of Rural
Development implements DDU-GKY to drive this national agenda for inclusive growth,
by developing skills and productive capacity of the rural youth from poor families.

There are several challenges preventing India’s rural poor from competing in the
modern market, such as the lack of formal education and marketable skills. DDU-GKY
bridges this gap by funding training projects benchmarked to global standards, with an
emphasis on placement, retention, career progression and foreign placement.

NAMAMI GANGE
An integrated programme. Involves different ministries–water resources, river
development and Ganga rejuvenation, environment and forest, shipping, tourism,
urban development, drinking water and sanitation and rural development Talks
for the first time about involving people living on the banks of the river, urban
local bodies and panchayati raj institutions Plan includes establishing a Ganga
Eco-Task Force, a Territorial Army unit and roll out of legislation to check
pollution and protect the river Cleaning programme to be implemented jointly
by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), which is the implementation
wing of NGRBA, and State Program Management Groups (SPMGs) Talks about
strengthening monitoring system through committees at national, state
and district levels

RASHTRIYA RAJMARG ZILA SANJOYOKTA PARIYOJNA and SETU
BHARATAM

 After Bharat Mala and Sagar Mala — aimed at improving road
connectivity in border areas and coastal regions respectively — the government
has now cleared plans to connect 100 of the 676district headquarters in the
country with world-class highways.
 The Rashtriya Rajmarg Zila Sanjoyokta Pariyojna, approved by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at a review meeting last week, entails development of
6,600 km of highways at an estimated cost of about Rs 60,000 crore.
 “Under the Rashtriya Rajmarg Zila Sanjoyokta Pariyojna, roads will be
developed to connect100 district headquarters across the country. The 6,600 km
of national highways do not have uniform configuration across the length…
These would be upgraded to ensure better connectivity,” said a senior official in
the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
 The government has backed up this mega push for roads development
projects with policy initiatives designed to facilitate resource mobilisation. The
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved an
exit policy permitting developers to exit highway projects two years after
completion of construction to release locked-in equity as potential capital for
future projects.