Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas Campaign                                                                         

Decision on Kashmir doesn’t affect LAC, Delhi tells Beijing                                   

FinMin plans 16-point ‘KRA’ to push PSBs                                                              

World Elephant Day                                                                                                     

From Assam to Chhattisgarh, a maiden 1,500-km journey for wild buffaloes       

Govt looks to reverse economic slowdown with a stimulus package                    

National Youth Awards                                                                                                

Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas Campaign

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The central government has decided to launch the People's Plan Campaign, also known as “Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas”from September 2019.

  • It aims to draw up a development plan for each Gram Panchayat (GP) in the country and place it on a website where anyone can see the status of the government’s flagship schemes such as SBM and PM Awas Yojana, etc.

Background :

•  Last year’s data suggest that a majority of the GPs scored between 41 per cent and 50 per cent on a scale of 100, showing glaring deficiencies.

  • Merely 0.1% and 0.6% GPs fell in the high 91-100 and 81-90 score respectively.

• A comparison of the performance among the larger states shows that Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, in that order, were the top scorers, while GPs in Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh were at the bottom.

• A recent study of 100 randomly chosen GPs by National Institute of Rural Development has shown that several GP has reported improvements while others have slipped down over the past year. A fresh survey is, therefore, significant.

Gram Panchayat Development Plans :

• Gram Panchayats have been mandated for the preparation of GDP for economic development and social justice utilizing the resources available to them.

• The GPDP planning process will be comprehensive and participatory by involving full convergence with the schemes of all related Central Ministries / Line Departments.

• The People's Plan Campaign initiated under "Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas" is an intensive and structured exercise for planning at Gram Sabha through convergence between Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and concerned departments of the State.

GDP - working :

• Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) will include 48 indicators covering various aspects such as health and sanitation, education etc.

• After each GP is scored out of 100 — with 30 marks for infrastructure, 30 marks for human development, and 40 marks for economic activity— the GPs will be ranked.

• The data on the 48 indicators would come from Census 2011 (for physical infrastructure), Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (for Household-level deprivation data), and fresh survey starting in September 2019 that will be carried out by local facilitators.

• The score for each GP will reflect the local needs and priorities.
   

  • For instance, for a drought-prone area, water conservation would be accorded the highest priority.

  • Within this ranking, households suffering the worst deprivations would be prioritised further.

• The entire ranking exercise is meant to identify the gaps at the GP level, make an assessment of where it stands, and accordingly plan the interventions.

                                                                                                                 Source :- Indian Express

Decision on Kashmir doesn’t affect LAC, Delhi tells Beijing

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

• India’s external affairs minister is on a visit to China, During the visit,India and China has agreed on a host of initiatives to improve their relations.

Issue :

• China had objected to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019.It said that the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh has undermined its sovereignty.

• However,India has reassured China that its decision to exercise greater administrative control over Ladakh would have no implications for India’s external boundaries or the Line of Actual Control with China.

• India has also said that legislative measures were aimed at better governance and socio-economic development.

• During the meeting,China has also raised the rising tensions between India and Pakistan as a result of these changes.But India has reiterated that it was an internal matter that had no bearing on Pakistan. 

More in the news:

• The two countries also discussed India’s trade deficit with China. Besides,four bilateral pacts were signed on culture, traditional medicine, sports and museum management.

• The foreign minister also co-chaired the second meeting of the High Level Mechanism(HLM) on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges.

                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

FinMin plans 16-point ‘KRA’ to push PSBs

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Context :

• The Finance Ministry to closely monitor the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) achievements on 16 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) at the branch, region, state and national level in order to address the continuing decline of PSBs shares in Indian banking.

Performance indicators for PSB’s :

• The 16 KPIs include- Credit for infrastructure, Farm sector, Blue economy, Housing, MSMEs, Stand-Up India scheme, Education, Exports, Green economy, Cleanliness activities, Financial inclusion and women’s empowerment; and others such as direct benefit transfer, digital economy, ATM usage and performance, ease of living and corporate social responsibility.

• The banks will then be benchmarked against the 18 PSBs’ average. If found lagging, specific action will be taken after consultation at various levels to improve their performance.

More in the news:

• As of end-December 2018 PSBs accounted for 63% of the outstanding credit of scheduled commercial banks against 67% as of June-end 2017.

• The fall comes in the backdrop of these banks facing asset quality issues since 2015.

• Further, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are borrowing from banks and are able to attract customers in spite of higher interest rates.

                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu Business Line

World Elephant Day

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Every year World Elephant Day is observed on August 12 to spread worldwide awareness for the conservation and protection of elephants from the numerous threats they face.

World Elephant Day :

Goal :

• The goal of Elephant Day is to create awareness of the urgent plight of African and Asian elephants.

• This day also aims to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better care and management of captive and wild elephants.

More in the news:

• frican elephants are listed as “vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “endangered” in IUCN Red List of threatened species.

• The elephant has been accorded the highest possible protection under the Indian wildlife law through its listing under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Government of India has launched various initiatives for conservation of elephants.

                                                                                                                             Source :- The Hindu

From Assam to Chhattisgarh, a maiden 1,500-km journey for wild buffaloes

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Recently, the government has decided to translocate five female wild buffaloes from Manas National Park in Assam to Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary in Raipur district, Chhattisgarh.

More in the news:

• This will be the longest such translocation in the country ever, that seeks to revive the waning population of Chhattisgarh's State animal.

• The survival hazard of inbreeding, poaching for horns and increasing male population have necessitated the translocation.

• The Central India Wild Buffalo Recovery Project aims to stabilise the wild buffalo population in Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

Govt looks to reverse economic slowdown with a stimulus package

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - growth, development and employment.

Context :

• The government is planning a set of measures to reverse an economic slowdown that is going through losses, layoffs and an investment freeze.

Causes for slowdown :

• India’s merchandise exports have contracted, signalling the impact of US-China trade war.

• Poor sentiment in the equity markets and in the banking sector have led to stalling the investment in India.

• With domestic economic activity remaining weak, while the global slowdown and trade tensions have intensified, there are further chances of intensification of this slowdown.

• In this scenario, the industry has demanded a stimulus package of ₹1 trillion to initiate an investment cycle amid slowing global and domestic slowdown.

Proposed measure :

• steps to boost infrastructure investments

• Goods and services tax(GST) relief to specific sectors

• ways to further cut red tape on cross-border trade and

• steps to improve ease of doing business.

• The government is also working on a new World Trade Organization (WTO) compliant duty reimbursement scheme.

• Further,fiscal responsibility and budget management(FRBM) Act constrained the government from providing a fiscal push in the Union budget.

• But the government is considering the use of escape clause in the FRBM Act for deviation in the fiscal deficit up to 50 basis points.

• This may give the government leeway to spend an additional ₹1.15 trillion in the current fiscal.The package will have concrete steps to implement the government’s ambitious plans for ₹100 trillion infrastructure investment over the next five years.

• The panel led by N.K. Singh to review the FRBM Act had suggested an escape clause allowing deviations up to 0.5 percentage points of Gross Domestic Product based on triggers including far-reaching structural reforms in the economy with unanticipated fiscal implications,acts of war and farm distress.

                                                                                                                          Source :- Livemint

National Youth Awards

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Achievement of Indians

Context :

• The Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports conferred the National Youth Awards on individuals (aged between 15-29 years) and organizations for excellent work and contribution.

National Youth Awards :

• The objective of the awards given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Department of Youth Affairs is to:

• Motivate young persons to achieve excellence in the field of national development and social service

• To encourage young people to develop a sense of responsibility to the community and thus to improve their own personal potential as good citizens

• To give recognition to the outstanding work done by voluntary organizations working with the youth for national development including social service.

• The Ministry is organizing various programmes to motivate youth, the National Youth Awards Function is one such programme.

                                                                                                                            Source :- PIB

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