Toll Free 1800 572 9282 
mailus@wbcsmadeeasy.in
Government Of India Scheme Notes – Miscellaneous Schemes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.
ভারত সরকারের প্রকল্পের নোট – বিবিধ পরিকল্পনা – WBCS পরীক্ষা।
1. Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana
• Governmentt has launched the Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana.Continue Reading Government Of India Scheme Notes – Miscellaneous Schemes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.
• Under the scheme, a group of Indian diasporas will be taken on a governmentsponsored tour of religious places in India twice a year.
• The group will be taken to the religious places of all major religions in India.
• The tour would be completely government sponsored.
• Under the eligibility criteria, all people of Indian-origin, aged between 45 and 65 can apply and a group will be selected out of them.
• The first preference will be given to people from ‘Girmitiya countries’ such as Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
• Who are Girmityas?
o Girmityas or Jahajis are descendants of indentured Indian labourers
brought to Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, East Africa, the Malay Peninsula,
Caribbean and South America (Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and
Suriname) to work on sugarcane plantations for the prosperity of the
European settlers and save the Fijians from having to work on these
plantations and thus to preserve their culture.
o The term Girmitiya was coined by Mahatma Gandhi who referred to
himself as first Girmitiya.
o The countries where these indentured Indian labourers settled are
known as Girmitiya countries.
2. Project ReWeave
• Microsoft India has launched a new e-commerce platform ‘re-weave.in’ under project ReWeave to help handloom weavers.
• About Project ReWeave:
o Initiated by Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt. Limited in 2016 as part of its
Philanthropies efforts.
o Aim: To revive the handloom weaving ecosystem in India.
o Features: Under the initiative, Microsoft is working closely with NGO
partner, Chaitanya Bharathi to provide infrastructure, financing and
marketing support to help weaver families keep their weaving traditions
alive by sustaining livelihoods.
3. Floating Solar Plants
• A 50MW floating solar plant will be set up in the country’s largest reservoir Rihand dam in Sonbhadra district in UP.
• The largest floating solar plant to date is a 2MW one in Vishakhapatnam.
Another is a 500-kWh plant built by the Kerala State Electricity Board at the
Banasura Sagar Dam.
4. India’s Longest Railroad Bridge
• The Bogibeel bridge is India’s longest railroad bridge. It was inaugurated
recently. The bridge is 4.94 km long in length. The double decker rail and road bridge, on the Bramhaputra river, will cut down the train-travel time between Tinsukia in Assam to Naharlagun town of Arunachal Pradesh by more than 10 hours.
• Built by the Indian Railways, the double-decker bridge is strong enough to
withstand movement of heavy military tanks.
• The Bogibeel bridge will connect the south bank of the Brahmaputra river in Assam’s Dibrugarh district with Silapathar in Dhemaji district, bordering
Arunachal Pradesh. The railways have reduced the distance between Dhemaji
and Dibrugarh from 500 Kms to 100 kms with the completion of the project.
5. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Programme
• To ensure energy security, the Government of India had decided to set up
million metric tons (MMT) of strategic crude oil storages at three locations
namely, Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur (near Udupi).
• These strategic storages would be in addition to the existing storages of crude
oil and petroleum products with the oil companies.
• In the 2017-18 budget, it was announced that two more such caverns will be set
up Chandikhole in Jajpur district of Odisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan as part of
the second phase.
• The construction of the Strategic Crude Oil Storage facilities is being managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a Special Purpose
Vehicle, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
• The Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in Abu Dhabi to explore the possibility of storing ADNOC crude oil at ISPRL’s underground oil storage facility at Padur in Karnataka, which has a 2.5 million tonne capacity.
o ISPRL is an Indian government-owned company mandated to store
crude oil for emergency needs.
o ADNOC is the only foreign oil and gas company, so far, to invest by way
of crude oil in India’s strategic petroleum reserves program.
o ISPRL has already built 5.33 million tonnes of underground storage
capacity at three locations – Visakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes),
Mangalore (1.5 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes), that can
meet around 9.5 days of the country’s oil needs.
6. Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme
• To cater to the needs and aspirations of the youth, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has come up with a youth-friendly scheme ‘Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme” for attracting them to cooperative business ventures.
• Key facts:
o The scheme would encourage cooperatives to venture into new and
innovative areas.
o NCDC has created a dedicated fund with liberal features enabling youth
to avail the scheme.
o The scheme will be linked to Rs 1000 crore ‘Cooperative Start-up and
Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC.
It would have more incentivesfor cooperatives of North Eastern region,
Aspirational Districts and cooperatives with women or SC or ST or PwD
members.
o The funding for the project will be up to 80% of the project cost for
these special categories as against 70% for others.
o The scheme envisages 2% less than the applicable rate of interest on
term loan for the project cost up to Rs 3 crore including 2 years
moratorium on payment of principal.
o All types of cooperatives in operation for at least one year are eligible.
• About NCDC:
o National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) was established
by an Act of Parliament in 1963 as a statutory Corporation under
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
o It has many regional centres to provide the financial assistance to
Cooperatives/Societies/Federations.
7. Paisa – Portal for Affordable Credit & Interest Subvention Access
• PAiSA – A centralized electronic platform for processing interest subvention on
bank loans to beneficiaries under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National
Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).
• It is designed and developed by Allahabad Bank (Nodal bank).
• Benefits of PAiSA:
o Another effort by the government to connect directly with the
beneficiaries for ensuring greater transparency and efficiency in
delivery of services.
o DBT ofsubvention on monthly basis under DAY-NULM will give the
necessary financial support to small entrepreneurs in a timely manner.
o All 35 States/UTs & allscheduled commercial banks, RRBs and
Cooperative Banks are expected to be on board the PAiSA portal the
year end.
8. Swasth Bharat Yatra National Campaign
• Union Government has launched national campaign ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’ on occasion of World Food Day (16 October) to sensitise people about eating safe food and be healthy.
• The campaign has been launched in association with states and led by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
• About Swasth Bharat Yatra national campaign:
o Under it, pan-India cycle rally is being organized to create consumer
awareness about eating safe and nutritious food for becoming healthy
and combating food adulteration.
o This campaign will not only mobilise masses but also create large pool of
local community to sustain this movement.
• World Food Day:
o World Food Day is celebrated on October 16 every year to raise
awareness on the issues of poverty and hunger.
o World Food Day was established by Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO) in November 1979 and since then the day is celebrated worldwide by many organisations that are concerned with
food security.
o 2018 theme: “OUR ACTIONS ARE OUR FUTURE. A #ZERO HUNGER
WORLD BY 2030 IS POSSIBLE”.
9. National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)
• The Union Cabinet has approved the merger of the existing regulatory
institutions in the skills space – National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT)
and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) into the National Council for
Vocational Education and Training (NCVET).
• Functions:
o NCVET will regulate the functioning of entities engaged in vocational
education and training, both long-term and short-term and establish
minimum standards for the functioning of such entities.
o The primary functions of NCVET will include:
▪ Recognition and regulation of awarding bodies, assessment
bodies and skill related information providers.
▪ Approval of qualifications developed by awarding bodies and
Sector Skill Councils (SSCs).
▪ Indirect regulation of vocational training institutes through
awarding bodies and assessment agencies.
▪ Research and information dissemination.
▪ Grievance redressal.
• Composition:
o The Council would be headed by a Chairperson and will have Executive
and Non-Executive Members.
• Benefits:
o This institutional reform will lead to improvement in quality and market
relevance of skill development programs lending credibility to
vocational education and training, encouraging greater private
investment and employer participation in the skills space.
o This in turn will help achieve the twin objectives of enhancing
aspirational value of vocational education and of increasing skilled
manpower furthering the Prime Minister’s agenda of making India the
skill capital of the world.
o Being a regulator of India’s skill ecosystem, NCVET will have a positive
impact on each individual who is a part of vocational education and
training in the country.
o This is also expected to facilitate the ease of doing business by
providing a steady supply of skilled workforce to the industry and
services.
• Facts for Prelims:
o The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) is an autonomous body
under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
o It coordinates and harmonizes the skill development efforts of the
Indian government and the private sector to achieve the skilling targets
of the 12th Plan document and beyond.
The NSDA’s role is also to anchor the National Skills Qualifications
Framework (NSQF) and facilitate the setting up of professional certifying
bodies in addition to the existing ones.
10.#Self4Society App
• #Self4Society app, developed by MyGov, has been launched by the government
to help coordinate volunteer work undertaken by professionals.
• This platform will help to create better synergies among so many CSR and other
initiatives and lead to a much better outcome of the efforts of professionals.
• Companies have observed that a spirit of service and volunteering improves
employee satisfaction and reduces employee attrition.
• The app will have incentives, gamification and intra- and inter-company
competitions, and social networking.
• The volunteer time for the government’s flagship programmes such as Swachh
Bharat is expected to increase.
11.Strategic Policy Group
• The government has set up Strategic Policy Group or SPG to help the National
Security Council, which advises the Prime Minister on matters of national
security and strategic interests.
• About the Strategic Policy Group (SPG):
• Composition:
o It will be headed by National Security Advisor.
o Its members include the NITI Aayog vice chairman, cabinet secretary,
the chiefs of the three defence services, the RBI governor, the foreign
secretary, the home secretary, the finance secretary and the defence
secretary.
o The secretary of the Department of Defence Production and Supplies,
the scientific adviser to the defence minister and the secretary, cabinet
secretariat will also be members of the panel.
o The other members are secretary, department of revenue; secretary,
department of atomic energy; secretary, department of space; director,
Intelligence Bureau, and secretary, National Security Council Secretariat.
o Representatives of other ministries and departments will be invited to
the meetings of the group as and when necessary.
• Functions:
o It will assist the National Security Council and undertake among other
tasks, a long-term strategic review of country’s security affairs.
o It will be the principal mechanism for inter-ministerial coordination and
integration of relevant inputs in the formulation of national security
policies.
• Meetings:
o The NSA will convene the meetings of the SPG and the cabinet secretary
will coordinate implementation of the group’s decisions by union
ministries and departments, and state governments.
12.Mobilise Your City (MYC) Programme
• India and France have signed an implementation agreement on “MOBILISE YOUR CITY” (MYC) programme.
Based on a proposal made by AFD in 2015, the European Union has agreed to provide funds of Euro 3.5 million through the AFD to contribute to specific
investments and technical assistance components within the Mobilise Your City (MYC) programme in India.
• About Mobilise Your City (MYC):
o MobiliseYourCity (MYC) is a global climate initiative for integrated
urban mobility planning, and one of 15 international transport initiatives
of the UN Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA).
o Mobilise Your City (MYC) is part of an international initiative which is
supported by the French and the German Governments and was
launched at 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) meeting in December,
2015.
o The MYC is an initiative combining urban mobility objectives and
climate considerations.
o It aims at providing solutions in a fully integrated manner, analysing
different modes of transportation within the urban fabric, with the
objective of providing people long-term, sustainable, adequate, reliable
and cost-efficient transportation opportunities.
o The project seeks to back 100 cities worldwide in three years, which are
engaged in sustainable urban mobility planning to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
o In India, the MYC aims at supporting three pilot cities viz. Nagpur,
Kochi and Ahmedabad in their efforts to reduce their Green House Gas
(GHG) emissions related to urban transport by implementing urban
mobility plans at local level and to help India at national level to improve
their sustainable transport policy.
o The three pilot cities selected under the programme as well as MoHUA
will benefit from the Technical Assistance activities.
• The main components of the proposed assistance are:
o To support planning and implementation of sustainable urban transport
projects.
o Support to strengthening institutional capacity for regulating, steering
and planning urban mobility.
o Learning and exchange formats with other cities across India for
exchanges on best practices.
Please subscribe here to get all future updates on this post/page/category/website
