Schemes and others

Both statements are incorrect.
The Parivar Pehchan Patra Yojna is a unique initiative of Government of Haryana in which each family will be considered a single unit and allotted an 8-digit unique identification number.
It is mandatory for each family to register themselves on the Parivar Pehchan Patra portal in order to avail the benefits of social security schemes of the state government. The Haryana government has also made it mandatory for its employees to go for this scheme, failing which their salaries may also be withheld.
Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are also exploring the possibility of implementing a similar project.

Both statements are correct.
India’s rich cultural, historical, religious and natural heritage provides a huge potential for development of tourism and job creation in the country.
In due recognition to this the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector Scheme) – for integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.
This scheme is envisioned to synergize with other Government of India schemes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, Make in India etc. with the idea of positioning the tourism sector as a major engine for job creation, driving force for economic growth, building synergy with various sectors to enable tourism to realize its potential.
Recently “Thenzawl Golf Resort” Project implemented under the under Swadesh Darshan Scheme- North East Circuit of Ministry of Tourism has been inaugurated in Mizoram.

Both statements are correct.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has initiated Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs), a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri AWAS Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U). This will provide ease of living to urban migrants/ poor in Industrial Sector as well as in non-formal urban economy to get access to dignified affordable rental housing close to their workplace.
The ARHC scheme will be implemented through two models:
-Utilizing existing Government funded vacant houses to convert into ARHCs through Public Private Partnership or by Public Agencies
-Construction, Operation and Maintenance of ARHCs by Public/ Private Entities on their own vacant land

Both statements are correct.
In rural areas Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen is being the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) till 2024-25 will focus on Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus), which includes ODF sustainability and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).
ODF plus as an area where along with regular availability and usage of toilets, management of solid and liquid waste, cleanliness of water resources, maintenance of public and household toilets and awareness on personal hygiene are at their highest.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched with an aim of providing basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks as to improve the quality of life for all especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
The Mission covers covering 500 cities that include all cities and towns with a population of over one lakh with notified Municipalities.

Statement 2 is correct. According to the ranking of the states released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Odisha has topped the list in effective implementation of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme by securing 85.67 per cent of marks. Chandigarh and Telangana have secured second and third positions with 75.08 and 74.04 per cent respectively.

Option 1 is correct. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with PiramalSwasthya, the Centre of Excellence has developed this Tribal Health and Nutrition Portal ‘Swasthya’, a one-stop solution presenting all information pertaining to tribal health and nutrition related to Scheduled Tribe people.
Option 2 is correct. ‘Going Online as Leaders (GOAL)’ Programme is an initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with Facebook. Through the GOAL Programme, the Ministry aims to mentor 5000 Tribal Youth across India and enable them to become village-level digital young leaders for their communities.
Option 3 is incorrect. SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas) scheme is a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It aims to provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.

Statement 1 is correct. Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund and Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.
The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees (Prime Minister) has the power to nominate three trustees to the Board of Trustees who shall be eminent persons in the field of research, health, science, social work, law, public administration and philanthropy.
Statement 2 is correct. The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support.
Statement 3 is correct. Donations to PM CARES Fund qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013
PM CARES Fund has also got exemption under the FCRA and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened. This enables PM CARES Fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations based in foreign countries.

Statement 1 is correct. The Union Cabinet recently approved the proposal to set up the National Recruitment Agency (NRA).
The NRA will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment to non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks and replace multiple examinations conducted by different recruiting agencies.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The CET will be conducted in 12 major Indian languages.
Other salient features:
-The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year.
-There will be different CETs for graduate level, 12th Pass level and 10th pass level to facilitate recruitment to vacancies at various levels.
-To begin with CET will cover recruitments made by three agencies: viz. Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. This will be expanded in a phased manner.
-CET will be a first level test to shortlist candidates and the score will be valid for three years.
-There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit. Age relaxation for SC/ST and OBC candidates as per existing rules will apply.

With the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund)’ has been set up.
Statement 1 is incorrect. The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support.
Statement 2 is correct. PM CARES Fund has also got exemption under the FCRA and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened. This enables PM CARES Fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations based in foreign countries.
# This is consistent with respect to Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). PMNRF has also received foreign contributions as a public trust since 2011.

Statement 1 is incorrect. TRIFOOD Scheme is a joint initiative of Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).
Statement 2 is correct. TRIFOOD aims to enhance the income of tribals through better utilization of and value addition to the Minor Forest Produce (MFP) collected by the tribal forest gatherers. TRIFOOD Scheme, implemented in the backdrop of VanDhan Yojana will promote value addition to Minor Forest Produce (MFP).
As a start, two Minor Forest Produce (MFP) processing units are being set up in Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh and Raigad in Maharashtra.
The units are envisaged to be professionally operated by reputed food processors who will operate the facilities for a designated period of time under the overall administrative control of TRIFED so that the assets created are efficiently commercially utilised as per its installed capacities and designed objectives.

Statement 1 is correct. The NRA will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment to non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks. This test aims to replace multiple examinations conducted by different recruiting agencies for selection to government jobs advertised each year, with single online test.
Salient features:
-The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year.
-The CET will be conducted in 12 major Indian languages.
-The CET will cover recruitments made by three agencies in beginning: Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. This will be expanded in a phased manner.
-CET will be held in 1,000 centres across India in a to bid remove the currently prevalent urban bias. There will be an examination centre in every district of the country. There will be a special thrust on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 aspirational districts.
-CET will be a first level test to shortlist candidates and the score will be valid for three years.
Statement 2 is incorrect. National Recruitment Agency will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act. It will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India. It will have representatives of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, SSC, RRB & IBPS.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Testing Agency (NTA) has been established as a premier, specialist, autonomous and self-sustained testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.
National Testing Agency (NTA) is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It is chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by the Ministry of Education.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Union Cabinet recently approved the proposal to set up the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment to non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks. The CET will be held twice a year and score will be valid for three years.

Statement 1 is incorrect. “Chhavni COVID: Yodha Sanrakshan Yojana” is a group life insurance scheme to be implemented through the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

Statement 2 is correct. The scheme will cover more than 10,000 employees in all 62 Cantonment Boards in event of any unfortunate fatal calamity with an insurance cover of Rs five lakhs each. The Scheme will benefit permanent and contractual employees including doctors, paramedics and sanitation staff.

Khelo India Programme was introduced by the Ministry of Sports and Youth affairs to revive sports culture in India at grass-root level.
• The objective of the programme is to build a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.
• The programme is the merger of following schemes (a) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA) (b) Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and (c) National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS).

Under the Dr. Ambedkar scheme for Social integration through Inter Caste Marriages scheme, 500 couples can apply annually. Each couple gets Rs 2.5 lakh, of which Rs 1.5 lakh is paid up-front. The balance amount is kept as a fixed deposit and released to the couple after three years
• The number of couples who can avail the scheme in a state depends on its Scheduled Caste population as per the 2011 census.
• Among the beneficiary couple, one of the spouses should belong to Scheduled Caste and the other to a Non-Scheduled Caste.
• It shall be the discretion of the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment & Chairman of Dr. Ambedkar Foundation to sanction the incentive to the Couple.

The Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Act was passed on 19th September, 2013 and the same was notified on 1st February, 2014.
• PFRDA is regulating NPS, subscribed by employees of Govt. of India, State Governments and by employees of private institutions/organizations & unorganized sectors.
• Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a pension scheme launched by Government of India and run by PFRDA is focused on the unorganized sector workers.
• Under the APY, minimum guaranteed pension of Rs. 1,000/- or 2,000/- or 3,000/- or 4,000 or 5,000/- per month will start after attaining the age of 60 years depending on the contributions by the subscribers for their chosen pension amount.

eShakti or Digitization of SHGs is an initiative of Micro Credit and Innovations Department of NABARD in line with our Hon’ble PM statement, ‘we move with the dream of electronic digital India…’
• Digital India is an Rs 1.13-lakh crore initiative of Government of India to integrate the government departments and the people of India and to ensure effective governance. It is to “transform India into digital empowered society and knowledge economy”.
• Keeping in view the Government of India’s mission for creating a digital India, NABARD launched a project for digitization of all Self Help Group (SHG) in the country.
• The project is being implemented in 250 districts across the country.

The Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit is a global virtual
summit of overseas and resident Indian Researchers and Academicians.
It is a collaborative initiative by S&T and Academic Organizations of India to enable
deliberations on thought process, practices and R&D culture with a problem-solving
approach for well-defined objectives.
The VAIBHAV initiative aims to bring out the comprehensive roadmap to leverage the
expertise and knowledge of global Indian researcher for solving emerging challenges. By
bringing the Indian Overseas and Resident academicians/scientists together a structure of
association will be evolved.
The summit will reflect on the collaboration and cooperation instruments with academia
and scientists in India and abroad. The goal is to create an ecosystem of Knowledge and
Innovation in the country through global outreach.

Union Education Minister recently launched the ‘KAPILA’ Kalam Program
for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness campaign on the 89th birth
anniversary of former President and Scientist Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Under this campaign, students pursuing education in higher educational institutions will
get information about the correct system of application process for patenting their invention
and they will be aware of their rights. He further said that we need to take a giant leap in
the field of patents.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Streets for People Challenge is an initiative of
the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
Statement 2 is correct. The challenge aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly
streets through quick measures, in response to COVID-19.
As the lockdowns lift, cities face many challenges in providing safe, affordable, and
equitable modes of transport that enable social distancing. Limited public transport
options, narrow, crowded sidewalks particularly in market places and deterioration of
mental health, are key issues that must be addressed on priority.
All cities participating in the challenge shall be encouraged to use the ‘test-learn-scale’
approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions.
The interventions can include inter alia creating pedestrian-friendly streets in high footfall
areas, re-imagining under-flyover spaces, re-vitalizing dead neighbourhood spaces, and
creating walking links through parks and institutional areas.
Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of
the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) have partnered with the Smart
Cities Mission to support the challenge.

Statement 1 is correct. Government e Marketplace (GeM), facilitates online
procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government
Departments / Organisations / PSUs. GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and
speed in public procurement.
It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the
government users, achieve the best value for their money.
Statement 2 is correct. Government has recently amended the Public Procurement
(Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017 enabling nodal Ministries and Departments to
notify higher minimum local content requirement for local suppliers.
Further, as per the Order, entities of countries which do not allow Indian companies to
participate in their Government procurement for any item, shall not be allowed to
participate in Government procurement in India for all items related to that nodal Ministry
or Department, except for the list of items published by the Ministry or Department
permitting their participation.

Statement 1 is correct. Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) aims at providing
Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024. The
programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, i.e. water supply regularly in
adequate quantity and of prescribed quality.
Statement 2 is correct. National Jal Jeevan Mission in partnership with Ministry of
Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY) has launched an (Information and
communications technology) ICT Grand Challenge to create innovative, modular, and costeffective
solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’ to
be deployed at the village level.
The ICT grand challenge will be inviting proposal from Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs,
Indian Companies, Indian LLPs.
It will provide support at ideation Stage, prototype development stage, deployment stage.
The pilot will be conducted at 100 villages. The successful developers will be given an
opportunity to join the MEITY supported incubator/ CoEs for further nurturing of their
solution.

Statement 1 is correct. The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM
SVANidhi) is a Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to
facilitate street vendors to access affordable working capital loan for resuming their
livelihoods activities, after easing of lockdown.
Statement 2 is correct. The credit is being provided by Scheduled Commercial Banks,
Regional Rural Banks, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, Non-Banking Financial
Companies, Micro-Finance Institutions and SHG Banks.
Salient features of the Scheme:
-Initial working capital of up to `10,000/-
-Interest subsidy on timely/ early repayment at 7%
-Monthly cash-back incentive on digital transactions
-Higher loan eligibility on timely repayment of the first loan.

Statement 1 is correct. National Service Scheme (NSS) is an extension of
activities to the higher education system to orient the student youth to community service
while they are studying in education institutions
Statement 2 is incorrect. The scheme is under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs &
Sports. National Service Scheme starts from 11th standard onwards.
# The awards for the best National Service Scheme (NSS) units at higher secondary and
vocational higher secondary schools, programme officers, and volunteers for the 2019-20
academic year have been declared recently.

Statement 1 is correct. The Target Olympic Podium Scheme is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which is an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes. The Scheme looks to add a premium to the preparations of these athletes so that they can win Olympic medals in 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
Under the Scheme, the Department of Sports shall identify athletes who are potential medal winners in 2020 / 2024 Olympics. The idea of the Scheme is to also keep an eye in the future and fund a Developmental Group of Athletes who are medal prospects for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Statement 2 is correct. The Mission Olympic Cell is a dedicated body created to assist the athletes who are selected under the TOP Scheme. The idea of the MOC is to debate, discuss and decide the processes and methods so that the athlete receives best assistance. The MOC also focuses on selection, exclusion and retention of athletes, coaches, training institutes that can receive TOPS assistance.

Apart from the higher capital cost of providing telecom services in rural and remote areas, these areas also generate lower revenue due to lower population density, low income and lack of commercial activity. Thus, normal market forces alone would not direct the telecom sector to adequately serve backward and rural areas.
Therefore, most countries of the world have put in place policies to provide Universal Access and Universal Service to ICT.
Statement 1 is correct. The New Telecom Policy – 1999 (NTP’99) provided that the resources for meeting the Universal Service Obligation (USO) would be raised through a ‘Universal Access Levy (UAL)’, which would be a percentage of the revenue earned by the operators under various licenses. The Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was passed by Parliament in December 2003.
Statement 2 is correct. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for Provision of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable Connectivity between Mainland (Kochi) and Lakshadweep Islands (KLI Project). The Project would be funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund.

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs’ scheme PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) aims to empower Street Vendors by not only extending loans to them, but also for their holistic development and economic upliftment.
The scheme intends to facilitate collateral free working capital loans of up to INR10,000/- of one-year tenure, to approximately 50 lakh street vendors, to help resume their businesses in the urban areas, including surrounding peri-urban/rural areas.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched a programme of Socio-Economic Profiling of PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their families recently, as an additional component of PM SVANidhi Scheme. Based on the profiled data, benefits of the various eligible Central Schemes would be extended to them for their holistic socio-economic upliftment.

Both statements are incorrect.
The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the formal recognition of Yogasana as a competitive sport recently.
Minister of Sports stated that it is being planned to include Yogasana as a Sport discipline in Khelo India and in the University Games and we will also pitch it at the National Games.
The Secretary AYUSH gave a presentation and explained that the sports discipline of Yogasana is likely to have 51 medals in 4 events & 7 categories. The proposed events for both men and women include Traditional Yogasana, Artistic Yogasana (Single), Artistic Yogasana (Pair), Rhythmic Yogasana (Pair), Free Flow/Group Yogasana, Individual All Round – Championship and Team Championship.

Statement 1 is correct. Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (“SANKALP”) is a programme of the Ministry of Skill Development with loan assistance from the World Bank.
SANKALP is funded through three major parts: World Bank loan assistance, States’ contribution and Industry contribution.
Statement 2 is correct. It aims to improve short term skill training qualitatively and quantitatively through strengthening institutions, bring in better market connectivity and inclusion of marginalised sections of the society. SANKALP was launched on 19th January 2018 and has a tenure till March 2023.
SANKALP has four key result areas: (i) Institutional Strengthening at Central, State & District level; (ii) Quality Assurance of skill development programmes; (iii) Inclusion of marginalized population in skill development programmes; and (iv) Expanding Skills through PPPs.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India.
Statement 2 is correct. Under the Scheme an income support of Rs.6000/- per year is provided to all farmer families across the country in three equal installments of Rs.2000/- each every four months.
The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with the State / UT Governments.
Statement 3 is correct. All Persons who paid Income Tax in last assessment year are not eligible for benefits under the scheme.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Bharat Skills is a e-learning portal of the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Statement 2 is correct. Bharatskills is a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem, to access updated curriculums and course content of all courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.
This platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.
# The Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students and also future-ready employability skilling program for upskilling and reskilling. Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by this digitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has launched Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) as a nation-wide Campaign.
Statement 2 is correct. It aims at achieving universal accessibility for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). The mission aims at achieving accessibility by:
— Enhancing the proportion of accessible government buildings
— Transportation System Accessibility
— Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility