PM Modi launches Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) Yojana

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes;

Context :

★The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) Yojana.

Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) Yojana :

★ The scheme was announced in the Interim Budget 2019.

★ The PM-SYM is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme that will benefit as many as 10 crore workers in the unorganised sector.

★ It will provide monthly pension of Rs 3000 to the employees of unorganised sector after 60 years of age.

Eligibility :

★ The unorganised sector workers, with income of less than Rs 15,000 per month and who belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years, will be eligible for the scheme.

★ Those workers should not be covered under New Pension Scheme (NPS), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme or Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

★ He or she should not be an income tax payer.

Benefits :

★ Minimum Assured Pension: Each subscriber under the scheme will receive minimum assured pension of Rs 3000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.

★ In case of death during receipt of pension: If the subscriber dies during the receipt of pension, his or her spouse will be entitled to receive 50 percent of the pension as family pension. This family pension is applicable only to spouse.

★ In case of death before the age of 60 years: If a beneficiary has given regular contribution and dies before attaining the age of 60 years, his or her spouse will be entitled to continue the scheme subsequently by payment of regular contribution or may even exit the scheme.

Contribution:

★ Contribution by the Subscriber: The subscriber is required to contribute the prescribed contribution amount from the age of joining the scheme till the age of 60 years.

★ Medium of contribution: The subscriber can contribute to the PM-SYM through ‘auto-debit’ facility from his or her savings bank account or from his or her Jan- Dhan account.

★ Equal contribution by the Central Government: Under the PM-SYM, the prescribed age-specific contribution by the beneficiary and the matching contribution by the Central Government will be made on a ‘50:50 basis’.

                                                                                                            Source :- PIB

Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) for Specified Agriculture Products

GS PAPER - 03 AGRICULTURE - Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions.

Context :

★ Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has notified a scheme for Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) for Specified Agriculture Products.

Objective :

★ The “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) for specified agriculture products scheme aims to provide assistance for the international component of freight and marketing of agricultural produce which is likely to mitigate disadvantage of higher cost of transportation of export of specified agriculture products due to trans-shipment and to promote brand recognition for Indian agricultural products in the specified overseas markets.

Highlights :

★ All exporters, duly registered with relevant Export Promotion Council as per Foreign Trade Policy, of eligible agriculture products shall be covered under this scheme.

★ The assistance, will be available for export of eligible agriculture products to the permissible countries, as specified from time to time.

★ The Scheme would be applicable for a period as specified from time to time.  Presently the Scheme would be available for exports

★ The assistance will be provided on export of all agriculture products covered in HSN chapter 1 to 24 including marine and plantation products except - live animals, products of animal origin, milk, cream, curd, butter, buttermilk, whey, rice, wheat, tobacco and garlic.

                                                                                                                              Source :- PIB

 AL NAGAH 2019

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -  Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

★ Exercise Al Nagah III, third in the series of bilateral joint exercise between India and Oman is scheduled to be held at Jabel Al Akhdar Mountains in Oman.

Exercise Al NAGAH :

★ India-Oman bilateral security ties have continued to develop since the beginning of India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation meetings in 2006.

★ Exercise Al Nagah III follows the first two joint exercises that were held in Oman in January 2015 and India in March 2017 respectively

★ The exercise will see both the armies exchanging expertise and experience in tactics, weapon handling and firing, with an aim to enhance interoperability in counterterrorist operations in semi urban mountainous terrain.

★ The exercise will go a long way in enchaining understanding of capabilities and strengthening camaraderie between both the Armies

                                                                                                                            Source :- PIB

Swachh Bharat Grameen confirms over 96% usage of toilets

GS PAPER - 01 SOCIETY    - Population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

Context :

★ The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19, conducted by an Independent Verification Agency (IVA) under the World Bank support project to the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), has found that 96.5% of the households in rural India who have access to a toilet use it.

★ The NARSS also re-confirmed the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of 90.7% of villages which were previously declared and verified as ODF by various districts/States.

Key Findings :

★ 93.1% of households were found to have access to toilets during the survey period (the corresponding figure as per the SBMG MIS in November 2018 was 96%)

★ 96.5% of the people who had access to toilets used them

★ 90.7% of villages which were previously declared and verified as ODF were confirmed to be ODF. The remaining villages also had sanitation coverage of about 93%

★ 95.4% of the villages surveyed found to have minimal litter and minimal stagnant water

                                                                                                                           Source :- PIB

Tariff hike to hit exports to U.S.

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

★ U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he intends to end preferential trade terms for India under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

More about the news:

★ The GSP programme, which sets zero tariffs for certain goods from a set of 121 developing countries to foster their trade and economic development, accounts for some $5.6 billion of India’s exports to the U.S., making India the largest GSP beneficiary.

★ Chemicals, gems and jewellery, engineering and textiles are among the Indian industrial sectors that benefit from the GSP.

★ This could impact India’s competitiveness in items groups such as raw materials in the organic chemicals sector and intermediary goods in the US market, alongside items such as iron or steel, furniture, aluminum and electrical machinery.

Why Such a move now?

★ “India has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on United States commerce. Despite intensive engagement, India has failed to take the necessary steps to meet the GSP criterion,” the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said on its website.

★ One of the discretionary criteria the President must (as per the GSP statute) take into account while determining GSP eligibility is whether the beneficiary “will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets and basic commodity resources and the extent to which it has assured the United States it will refrain from engaging in unreasonable export practices.”

★ India’s new e-commerce rules — which have impacted American companies like Amazon and Walmart (majority owner of Flipkart), price controls on medical devices (cardiac stents), tariffs on ICT products like smart watches and high-end mobile phones and lack of greater market access for the U.S. dairy industry are among the issues that have caused trade friction between the two countries.

Impact :

★ India’s Department of Commerce feels the impact is “minimal”, given that Indian exporters were only receiving duty-free benefits of $190 million on the country’s overall GSP-related trade of $5.6 billion.

★ Some experts feel the move will not have a major impact on India also because it has been diversifying its market in the Latin American and the African region and its trade with countries of the Global South has also been expanding at a “very competitive pace”.

★ “The amount of price advantage India has versus competitor countries and what happens to their GSP privileges will determine the extent to which India’s exports will be impacted,” said Dr Jaimini Bhagwati, former ambassador to the UK who also worked in the World Bank.

                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

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