Miscellanous Quiz: Schemes & Miscellaneous |3 Apr, 2021

Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) has been setup with a corpus of Rs. 10,000 crores managed by SIDBI.

Government participates in the capital of SEBI registered Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs), known as daughter funds, who in turn invest in Indian startups through equity/equitylinked instruments.

Source: PIB

It is a Central Sector, umbrella scheme of Department of Commerce for the period 2019-20 to 2023-24.

· 12 Champion services sectors have been identified to give focused attention on their promotion. Example: IT & ITeS, tourism, legal services, financial services etc.

· Ministries/Departments concerned with these sectors have been directed to finalize and implement the Action Plans for the identified Champion Services Sectors which in effect would be their sectoral schemes operating under the umbrella scheme CSSS. Example: nodal ministry for CSSS: IT & ITeS is Ministry of electronics and technology.

· The respective line Ministries/Departments will also finalize a monitoring mechanism to monitor implementation under the overall guidance of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) under Cabinet Secretary.

· A dedicated fund of Rs. 5000 crores have been proposed to be established to support initiatives for sectoral Action Plans of the Champion Sectors.

Source: PIB

Announced as part of Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 in 2011 to focus on mentoring the first-generation entrepreneurs in the field of international trade.

Source: The Hindu

It aims to provide a minimum bandwidth of 100 Mbps to each of the 2.5 lakhs GPs.

· It will facilitate delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, public internet access, G2C, B2B, P2P, B2C etc., weather, agricultural and other services to rural India.

· It is the new brand name of NOFN (National Optic Fibre Network) which is being implemented in three phases.

· First phase – Envisaged to provide one lakh gram panchayats with broadband connectivity by laying underground optic fibre cable lines with deadline of 31st December 2017, which was achieved.

· Second Phase – It will provide connectivity to all 2,50,000 Panchayats using an optimal miz of underground fibre, fibre over powerlines, radio and satellite media to be completed by March 2019.

· Third Phase – It will be implemented from 2019 to 2023 during which state-of-the-art, future proof network, including fiber between districts and blocks, with ring topology would be created.

· It is being implemented by a special purpose vehicle named Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. set up under Companies Act.

· It is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

Source: PIB

Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana aims to provide affordable life insurance services to people living in rural areas of the country through the postal network.

· It will identify at least one village (having a minimum of 100 households) in each of the revenue districts of the country and cover all households with a minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) policy.

· All villages under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana would also be covered under the scheme to turn them into Sampoorna Beema Gram.

Source: The Hindu

Red soil is formed as a result of weathering of metamorphic and igneous rocks.

· The red color of the soil comes from the high percentage of iron content.

· The soil’s texture varies from being sandy to clayey, but it is mainly loamy.

· Red soil is rich in potash content but lacks phosphate, humus and nitrogen content.

· The red soil is found in regions such as Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, some parts of Karnataka and southeast Maharashtra.

Source: NCERT

Taptapani hot spring famous for a perennial hot spring of “Medicinal Sulfuric Water” which is located on the State Highways that connects Berhampur with Western Odisha.

Being surrounded by a cluster of hills and thick forests, the serenity of nature at Taptapani is added by wonderful sights of sun rise, sun set moon lit night, tribal dance and music, chirps of birds and sight of wild animals.

Source: The Hindu

The Non-Aligned Movement was formed during the Cold War, largely on the initiative of then-Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, as an organization of States that did not seek to formally align themselves with either the United States or the Soviet Union, but sought to remain independent or neutral.

The basic concept for the group originated in 1955 during discussions that took place at the Asia-Africa Bandung Conference held in Indonesia.

The First NAM Summit Conference took place in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in September 1961.

Source: Laxmikanth

Committees related to Panchayati Raj Institutions:

· Balvantrai Mehta Committee, appointed in January 1957, submits its report on 24 November 1957.

· Ashok Mehta Committee on working of panchayats, appointed on 12 December 1977, submits its report on 21 August 1978.

· L.M. Singhvi Committee submits its report on 27 November 1986. It recommends constitutional status for panchayats.

Source: Laxmikanth

The Polavaram Irrigation Project on River Godavari is a Multipurpose one conferring Irrigation benefits in the upland areas of Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna Districts.

Source: The Hindu