Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – April 16, 2019

It is to promote organic farming and the products will be linked with the market.  It will be implemented in a cluster based approach and farmers will be funded to meet the expenditure from farm to market. There is no liability for farmers for expenditure on certification.

NAM is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.  NAM is a virtual market but it is connected to a physical market (mandi) at the back end and promotes genuine price discovery.

PradhanmantriGrameen Digital SakshartaAbhiyanis an integral component of Digital India Initiative of the Government.The scheme envisage to make 6 crore citizens digitally literate in rural India.It envisages to provide equal opportunity to rural citizens enabling them to activelyparticipate in nation building and access livelihood through Digital Technology, Devicesand Services.PMGDISHA scheme was initiated in February 2017 by the Government to provide basicdigital literacy training to six crore citizens across rural India within two years, targetingat least one person from every household.Citizens trained under PMGDISHA would be skilled in operating digital devices likecomputers, tablets, smart phones and use Internet in daily life for enhancing their skillsand knowledge, access Government to Citizens services, healthcare and financial servicesas well.The scheme also focuses on enabling digital financial transactions among the citizens. Byseeding Aadhaar number to bank account of the beneficiary and enabling him to accessvarious online Government services like booking of railway tickets, passport application,

Etcwould enable the citizen to leverage technology and participate actively ingovernance.

It was jointly launched by India and France in November 2015 in Paris on the side-lines of the UN Climate Conference (COP-21). It is first specialised intergovernmental body on solar energy expected to drive R&D on solar energy (from electricity generation to storage capacity). It is the first international organisation to be permanently headquartered in India. This will make India more attractive for investments in solar energy and help it achieve its target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022.

The objective of ‘UdeDeshkaAamNagrik’ (Regional Connectivity Scheme) is to make flying affordable for the masses, to promote tourism, increase employment and promote balanced regional growth. It also intends to revive un-served and under-served airports.

Once the scheme is implemented, passengers will be able to fly an hour’s journey (of about 500 km) for an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,500. But, only routes covering a distance of 200-800 km connecting an ‘unserved or under- served’ airport will qualify for the regional connectivity scheme. In order to support the operators for reducing the airfare, concessions as well as financial support will be given to them. Financial support will be through Viability Gap Funding, for which a cess will be charged to airlines flying on metro or trunk routes for each departure (a model of cross subsidisation).

Against the backdrop of robust macro-economic stability, the year 2016was marked by two major domestic policy developments, the passage of the Constitutional amendment, paving the way for implementing the transformational Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the action to demonetise the two highest denomination notes. The GST will create a common Indian market, improve tax compliance and governance, and boost investment and growth; it is also a bold new experiment in the governance of India’s cooperative federalism.

With a view to improve the governance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), the Government of India has set up an autonomous Banks Board Bureau(BBB). The Bureau will recommend for selection of heads – Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions (even from the private sector, if need be) and help banks in developing strategies and capital raising plans. It will also advise banks how to go ahead with mergers and acquisitions. Banks Board Bureau has three ex-officio members and three expert members in addition to Chairman. All the Members and Chairman will be part time. The appointments have been made for a period of two years.

BBB, which came to life in 2016, as part of the seven-point Indradhanush plan will constantly engage with the boards of all 22 public sector banks to formulate appropriate strategies for their growth and development. It would also be responsible for selection of non-executive chairman and non-official directors on the boards. Presently BBB is chaired by the former CAG Vinod Rai.