Miscellanous Quiz: Society & Welfare – II |24 Mar, 2021

A graph showing the degree of inequality in income and wealth in a given population or an economy.

· It is a rigorous way to measure income inequality. In this method (for example), personal incomes in an economy are arranged in increasing order; the cumulative share of total income is then plotted against the cumulative share of the population.

· The curve’s slope is thus proportional to per capita income at each point of the population distribution.

· In the case of complete equality of income, the lorenz curve will be a straight line and with greater curvature the inequality rises proportionally–the Gini Coefficient measures this inequality.

Source: TMH Ramesh Singh

Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana launched in 2018, it aimed to cover households left out under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

Except families having a pensioner, income taxpayer or any member employed with the government, board, corporation etc, all households of the state without an LPG connection were eligible.

Source: The Hindu

The Ministry of Urban Affairs launched a new Web Portal and Mobile App, e-Sampada which provides a single window for all these services including allotment for over one lakh government residential accommodations, office space allotment to government organisations in 28 cities and venues like 5, Ashoka Road for social functions.

In its endeavour to provide ‘One Nation, One System’, the erstwhile four websites (gpra.nic.in, eawas.nic.in, estates.gov.in, holidayhomes.nic.in), and two Mobile Apps (m-Awas & m-Ashoka5) of the Directorate of Estates have been integrated into one, which paves the way for all services on the same platform throughout the country.

Source: The New Indian Express.

Due to the committed efforts of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the 1000-year-old heritage art – the Monpa Handmade Paper of Arunachal Pradesh – which was driven to the extinction, has come to life once again.

· The art of making Monpa handmade paper originated over 1000 years ago. Gradually the art became an integral part of local custom and culture in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

· Once produced in every household in Tawang, this handmade paper was a major source of livelihood for the locals. However, the handmade paper industry almost disappeared in the last 100 years; prompting KVIC to plan revival of this ancient art.

Source: Press Information Bureau

A municipal bond is a kind of debt instrument where investors offer loans to local governments.

They are issued by civic bodies for specific projects and usually have a 10-year tenure. The ULB pays the annual interest on the bonds to the investor at the decided rate.

· Ahmedabad was the first city in south Asia to launch a municipal bond of Rs 100 crore in 1998, which was completely subscribed.

· Surat Municipal Corporation was the second city in Gujarat to announce bonds in 2018, to fund a sewage treatment project worth Rs 450 crore.

· The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is expected to launch municipal bonds in January, and will become the third Urban Local Body (ULB) in Gujarat to use this method to raise money to fund development work sanctioned under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

Source: Indian Express

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India runs the “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan” project which is a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, Archaeological Survey of India and State/ UTs Government for developing tourism amenities at heritage/ natural/ tourist sites spread across India for making them tourist friendly, in a planned and phased manner which I started in September 2017.

The project aims to encourage companies from public sector, private sector, trusts, NGOs, individuals and other stakeholders to become ‘Monument Mitras’ and take up the responsibility of developing and upgrading the basic and advanced tourist amenities at these sites as per their interest and viability in terms of a sustainable investment model under CSR. They would also look after the Operation & Maintenance of the same.

Source: Indian Express

The Population growth of Sentinelese does not show any improvement in the last Decade.

· The Sentinelese, with a population of about 50 to 100 on the North Sentinel Island, are not only among the most isolated of nearly 70 PVTGs across the country.

· The Andaman Islands are home to four ‘Negrito’ tribes namely the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese.

· Nicobar Islands are home to two ‘Mongoloid’ tribes – the Shompen and Nicobarese.

Source: The Hindu

Ministry of External Affairs has launched the Global Pravasi Rishta Portal and app in order to connect with nearly 3.12 crore Indians across the world.

It acts as a dynamic communication platform by facilitating a three-way communication between the Indian Missions (meaning the embassies), external affairs ministry and Indian diaspora.

Source: Indian Express

The Human Freedom Index 2020 has been jointly released by Fraser Institute in Canada and the Cato Institute in the United States.

· The index presents a broad measure of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraints.

· It uses a 0 to 10 scale to measure personal freedom based on parameters such as rule of law, safety and security, identity and relationships, freedom of movement, economic

freedom, and ability of individuals to make their own economic decisions without government or crony interference.

· New Zealand has topped the index followed by Switzerland and Hong Kong. India has been placed at the 111th spot out of 162 countries.

Source: The Hindu

India and the UK Government have launched a Virtual Vaccines Hub. It aims to distribute vaccines for Covid-19 and other deadly viruses by sharing knowledge on clinical trials and regulatory approvals and get vaccines to people who need them most in a safe, secure and energy-efficient way.

Source: Times of India