Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon ((Polity & International Relations (Social Justice)) – September 2, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Atal Bhujal scheme to strengthen the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and bringing about behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in seven States.

• The scheme will be implemented in about 8,350 gram panchayats in 78 districts of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• Of the total outlay of ₹6,000 crore to be provided from 2020-21 to 2024-25, 50% will be in the form of World Bank loan to be repaid by the Central government.
• The remaining part will be made available via Central assistance from regular budgetary support.
• The entire World Bank’s loan component and the Central assistance will be passed on to the States as grants.
• The Prime Minister said the scheme, or the guidelines related to the Jal Jeevan Mission, were big steps in proving the resolve to deliver water to every household in the country by 2024.
• He said the Jal Jeevan Mission would work towards delivering piped water supply to every house and Atal Bhujal scheme would pay special attention to those areas where groundwater was very low.

Microsoft & Data Security Council of India (DSCI) in association with ISEA of Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) have launched Project Cyber Shikshaa for skilling women engineering graduates in the niche field of Cyber Security in September 2018.

As part of this program, C-DAC, NIELIT and other noted training partners are conducting training exclusively for women and making them Industry ready by imparting the requisite technical skills in the domain of Cyber Security.

One of the major requisite for the pensioners post their retirement from service, is to provide life certificates to the authorized pension disbursing agencies like Banks,Post offices etc., following which their pension is credited to their account.

• In order to get this life certificate the individual drawing the pension is required to either personally present oneself before the Pension Disbursing Agency or have the Life Certificate issued by authority where they have served earlier and have it delivered to the disbursing agency.
• Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners Scheme of the Government of India known as Jeevan Pramaan seeks to address this very problem by digitizing the whole process of securing the life certificate.
• It aims to streamline the process of getting this certificate and making it hassle free and much easier for the pensioners.
• With this initiative the pensioner’s requirement to physically present him/her in front of the disbursing agency or the certification authority will become a thing of the past benefiting the pensioners in a huge way and cutting down on unnecessary logistical hurdles.

The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244a of the Indian Constitution.

• Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
• ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.
• The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize boundaries of the tribal areas. In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.
• They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a separate legislation.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) is a Pension Scheme announced by the Government of India exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60 years and above which was available from 4th May, 2017 to 31st March, 2020.

• The scheme is now extended up to 31st March, 2023 for a further period of three years beyond 31st March, 2020.
• Pension is payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly/ quarterly/ half-yearly/ yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase.
• The scheme is exempted from GST.
• Loan up to 75% of Purchase Price shall be allowed after 3 policy years (to meet the liquidity needs).
• Loan interest shall be recovered from the pension installments and loan to be recovered from claim proceeds.
• On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the Purchase Price shall be paid to the beneficiary.

The term pressure group originated in the USA. A pressure group is a group of people who are organised actively for promoting and defending their common interest.

• It is so called as it attempts to bring a change in the public policy by exerting pressure on the government. It acts as a liaison between the government and its members.
• The pressure groups are also called interest groups or vested groups.
• They are different from the political parties in that they neither contest elections nor try to capture political power.
• They are concerned with specific programmes and issues and their activities are confined to the protection and promotion of the interests of their members by influencing the government.
• The pressure groups influence the policy-making and policy implementation in the government through legal and legitimate methods like lobbying, correspondence, publicity, propagandising, petitioning, and public debating, maintaining contacts with their legislators and so forth.
• However, sometimes they resort to illegitimate and illegal methods like strikes, violent activities and corruption which damages public interest and administrative integrity.

In order to realize the objectives of equality and justice as laid down in the Preamble, the Constitution makes special provisions for the scheduled castes (SCs), the scheduled tribes (STs), the backward classes (BCs) and the Anglo-Indians.

These special provisions are contained in Part XVI of the Constitution from Articles 330 to 342.

The Constitution does not specify the castes or tribes which are to be called the SCs or the STs.

• Similarly, the Constitution has neither specified the BCs nor used a single uniform expression to characterize the BCs.
• Unlike in the case of SCs, STs and OBCs, the Constitution has defined the persons who belong to the Anglo-Indian community.
• Accordingly, an Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is domiciled within the territory of India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein and not established there for temporary purposes only.

The following are the features of Cabinet Committees:

• They are extra-constitutional in emergence. In other words, they are not mentioned in the Constitution. However, the Rules of Business provide for their establishment.
• They are of two types—standing and ad hoc. The former are of a permanent nature while the latter are of a temporary nature. The ad hoc committees are constituted from time to time to deal with special problems. They are disbanded after their task is completed.
• They are set up by the Prime Minister according to the exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation. Hence, their number, nomenclature, and composition vary from time to time.
• Their membership varies from three to eight. They usually include only Cabinet Ministers. However, the non-cabinet Ministers are not debarred from their membership.
• They not only include the Ministers in charge of subjects covered by them but also include other senior Ministers.
• They are mostly headed by the Prime Minister. Sometimes other Cabinet Ministers, particularly the Home Minister or the Finance Minister, also acts as their Chairman. But, in case the Prime Minister is a member of a committee, he invariably presides over it.

The salaries, allowances, privileges, leave and pension of the judges of a high court are determined from time to time by the Parliament.

• They cannot be varied to their disadvantage after their appointment except during a financial emergency.
• In 2009, the salary of the chief justice was increased from 30,000 to 90,000 per month and that of a judge from 26,000 to 80,000 per month.
• They are also paid sumptuary allowance and provided with free accommodation and other facilities like medical, car, telephone, etc.
• The retired chief justice and judges are entitled to 50% of their last drawn salary as monthly pension.