NETAJI IAS

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 1

Sharada Prasad Committee report

It was constituted to Review, Rationalize and Optimize the Functioning of

Sector Skill Councils

The committee was constituted by the Ministry of Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship on May 2016

Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) are industry led and industry governed bodies

which have been mandated to ensure that skill development efforts being

made by all the stake holders are in accordance with the actual needs of the

industry and develop National Occupational Standards/Competency

Standards and Qualification Packs (QPs)

Presently, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has approved

formation of 40 SSCs in different Sectors

To ensure convergence and optimal functioning of SSCs as per mandate

given under the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

2015, it was decided to constitute a Committee to review the functioning of

the SSCs and provide a roadmap for their harmonious growth so as to ensure

effective development of the skilling ecosystem

The Report has three volumes

o Volume I is the main report which deals with the major challenges

facing the vocational education and training system of the country and

convergence, synergy and rationalisation of Sector Skill Councils

o Volume 2 contains appendices arranged chapter-wise

o Volume 3 Maps of National Classification of Occupations, 2015 with

National Industrial Classification, 2008

The Ministry is now in the process of examining the Report and the

recommendations made therein

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 2

“One IP- Two Dispensaries” and “Aadhaar Based

Online Claim Submission” Schemes launched on

International Labour Day

One IP- Two Dispensaries scheme

o ESIC (Employee State Insurance Corporation) has given an option to

an Insured Person (IP) to choose two dispensaries, one for self and

another for family through an employer (until now only one dispensary

was supposed to be chosen. This rule will help migrant workers)

o This will especially benefit migrant workers who are working in other

than home State, while their families are living in their native States.

Because of non-availability of option of second dispensary, the

dependant members of family are often deprived of medical benefits.

By introducing the concept of ‘One IP- Two Dispensaries’, IP as well as

their family members would now be able to get treatment from either

of the dispensaries and in case of emergency from any ESI Institution

Aadhaar based Online Claim Submission scheme

o All EPF Members who have activated their UAN (Universal Account

Number) and seeded their KYC (Aadhaar) with EPFO will be able to

apply for PF final settlement, Pension withdrawal benefit and PF part

withdrawal from the their UAN Interface directly (rather than going to

EPFO field office)

o The three forms collectively form more than 80% of EPFO’s claim

workload

o They are not required to give any supporting document while

preferring online PF part withdrawal case. Member’s applying online

will be taken as his self-declaration for preferring the advance claim

About ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance Corporation)

o ESIC is a pioneer Social Security organization providing comprehensive

social security benefits like reasonable Medical Care and a range of

Cash Benefits in times of need such as employment injury, sickness,

death etc

o The ESI Act applies to premises/precincts where 10 or more persons

are employed

o The employees drawing wages up to ₹ 21,000 per month are entitled

to health insurance cover and other benefits, under the ESI Act

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 3

‘Wall of Valour’ IN Educational

Institutions Launched

It is part of a nationwide ‘Vidya Veerta Abhiyan’, initiated by writer and

former Rajya Sabha member Shri Tarun Vijay

Was launched in 1,000 educational institutions across the country

Under this, portraits of Param Vir Chakra (PVC) decorated soldiers will be

displayed at designated places on educational campuses to instil sense of

nationalism among the students

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NETAJI IAS 4

Tarang Sanchar

It is a web Portal for Information sharing on Mobile Towers and EMF Emission

Compliance

Launched by Department of Telecom

The portal will allow users to get a tower or base station checked for

radiation emission, for a fee of ₹ 4,000

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 5

Swachh Sarvekshan 2017

The ranking for 500 cities was published

The city of Indore (Madhya Pradesh) is the cleanest city

This is the second time that the cities have been ranked based on the efforts

of the municipalities

Gujarat has the highest number of cities in the list followed by Madhya

Pradesh in the top 50 cities

Swachh Survekshan-2017 aimed at capturing the outcomes on ground of the

ongoing efforts to make urban areas Open Defecation Free and to improve

door-to-door collection, processing and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste

Of the total score of 2,000, 900 marks were assigned for performance in

respect of ODF and solid waste management, 600 marks for Citizen Feedback

and 500 marks for Independent Observation

Quality Council of India that conducted the survey during January-February

this year used geo-tagged devices for collecting evidence in real time

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 6

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of

India (IBBI) constitutes Technical

Committee

Has been constituted in accordance with Regulation 14 of the IBBI

(Information Utilities) Regulations, 2017

The committee shall be chaired by Dr B R Barman and 3other members

It shall give its recommendation for laying down Technical Standards for the

performance of core services and other services under Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Board of India (Information Utilities) Regulations, 2017 and

specifically on matters such as The Application Programming Interface;

standard terms of service; registration of users; unique identifier for each

record and each user; submission of information etc.

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 7

Cabinet approves initiation of the

process of disinvestment of ITDC

properties

CCEA has approved the initiation of the process of disinvestment of

hotels/properties of the India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ITDC)

This decision has been taken because of

o Government is of the view that running and managing hotels on

professional lines is not the work of the Government or its entities

o There has been considerable development in the hospitality sector in

the country in past years, with world class hotels and all leading

international chains of hotels present in the country and providing

services and facilities of highest standards

As part of the disinvestment policy, it has been decided to lease/sub-lease

the hotels / properties jointly with the concerned States or return the

properties to the States, after fair valuation. The States would then have the

option to upgrade and operate the Hotels by involving the private sector or to

utilize the properties as per their requirements

In the first stage of the disinvestment process, three hotels have been taken

up for disinvestment

o Hotel Lake View Ashok, Bhopal (ITDC is divesting its share of 51% in

the Joint Venture Company formed for operation of the hotels)

o Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok, Guwahati (ITDC is divesting its share of

51% in the Joint Venture Company formed for operation of the hotels)

o Hotel Bharatpur Ashok, Bharatpur (the unit which was only managed

by ITDC is being returned to the State Government)

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 8

Cabinet approves New Central Sector

Scheme – SAMPADA

SAMPADA – Scheme For Agro-Marine Processing And Development Of Agro-

Processing Clusters

SAMPADA is an umbrella scheme incorporating ongoing schemes of the

Ministry like Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition

Infrastructure, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure, etc. and

also new schemes like Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation

of Backward and Forward Linkages, Creation / Expansion of Food Processing

& Preservation Capacities

The objective of SAMPADA is to supplement agriculture, modernize

processing and decrease agri-waste

It will be for the period of 2016 to 2020 with an allocation of ₹ 6,000 Cr is

expected to leverage investment of ₹ 31,400 Cr, handling of 334 lakh MT

agro-produce valuing over a lakh crore, benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate

5,30,500 direct/ indirect employment in the country

It includes new schemes of Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters,

Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages and Creation / Expansion of

Food Processing & Preservation Capacities aim at development of modern

infrastructure to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units

based on cluster approach, provide effective and seamless backward and

forward integration for processed food industry by plugging gaps in supply

chain and creation of processing and preservation capacities and

modernization/ expansion of existing food processing units

The implementation of SAMPADA will result in

o Creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain

management from farm gate to retail outlet

o Creation of huge employment opportunities especially in the rural

areas

o Help in reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the

processing level, availability of safe and convenient processed foods at

affordable price to consumers and enhancing the export of the

processed foods

The government has already taken various measures in the food processing

sectorto give a boost to the food processing sector. With these measures

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food processing sector has grown at 7 per cent. In order to arrest post-

harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce, the Ministry has

accorded approval to 42 Mega Food Parks and 236 Integrated Cold Chains for

creation of modern infrastructure for the food processing along the value

chain from the farm to the market. Out of 42 Mega Food Parks, 8 are

operational. Of this, 6 Mega Food Parks have been made operational during

the last 3 years. Another 4 Mega Food Parks are targeted for

operationalization in next three months. Similarly, out of 236 Cold Chains,

101 Cold Chains have been sanctioned recently in March, 2017. 100 Cold

Chains have become operational. Of which, 63 Cold Chains have been made

operational during last 3 years

o To provide impetus to investment in food processing and retail sector,

govt. has allowed 100% FDI in trading including through e-commerce,

in respect of food products manufactured and / or produced in India.

This will benefit farmers immensely and will create back – end

infrastructure and significant employment opportunities

o The govt. has also set up a Special Fund of ₹ 2000 Cr in NABARD to

make available affordable credit at concessional rate of interest to

designated food parks and agro processing units in the designated

food parks

o Food and agro–based processing units and cold chain infrastructure

have been brought under the ambit of Priority Sector Lending (PSL) to

provide additional credit for food processing activities and

infrastructure thereby, boosting food processing, reducing wastage,

create employment and increasing farmers’ income

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 10

India unanimously elected to head UN-

Habitat

It is the United Nations’ Human Settlements Programme

It promotes socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements

across the world

India has been selected after 10 years

There are 58 member countries in the UN-Habitat Governing Council. The

Governing Council is an inter-governmental policy making and decision

making body, the Governing Council of UN-Habitat seeks to promote

o Integral and comprehensive approach to human settlements

o Assist the countries and regions in addressing human settlement

problems

o Strengthen cooperation among all countries on human settlement

issue

The theme of the 26th Meeting of the Governing Council to be chaired by

Shri M Venkaiah Naidu from today is “Opportunities for effective

implementation of the New Urban Agenda” with focus on inclusive,

sustainable and adequate housing for a better future and planning

and financing sustainable urbanization and integrated human settlements

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 11

DIPP & WIPO to set up Technology and

Innovation Support Centers (TISC)

An agreement has been signed between the two to set up the TISCs

WIPO’s TISC program provides innovators in developing countries with

access to locally based, high quality technology information and related

services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create,

protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP) rights

The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is designated as the

National Focal point for the TISC national network. As per the mandate

o CIPAM shall identify potential host institutions, assess their capacities

and support them in joining the TISC project

o CIPAM will act as the main intermediary between WIPO and TISC host

institutions and co-ordinate all the activities of the national TISC

network

Services offered by TISCs are

o Access to online patent and non-patent (scientific and technical)

resources and IP-related publications

o Assistance in searching and retrieving technology information

o Training in database search

o On-demand searches (novelty, state-of-the-art and infringement)

o Monitoring technology and competitors

o Basic information on industrial property laws, management and

strategy, and technology commercialization and marketing

There are over 500 TISCs operating worldwide and establishing TISC in India

will give the host institutions access to the Global network

In upcoming years CIPAM is planning to establish TISC’s in Universities,

State Science Councils, R&D institutions etc. TISC will give an impetus to

Knowledge sharing, sharing of best practices among the TISC’s, capacity

building, generation and commercialization of IPs

PIB GIST MAY 1-15

NETAJI IAS 12

Revision of Base Year of All-India Index

of Industrial Production (IIP)

The change of BY is from 2004-05 to 2011-12

IIP is calculated by CSO

The revision is done to reflect the changes in the industrial sector but to also

align it with the base year of other macroeconomic indicators like the Gross

Domestic Product (GDP), Wholesale Price Index (WPI)

Under the new system

o An institutional mechanism has been established for facilitating

dynamic revision of the item list of products and the panel of factories

o This is Technical Review Committee. It will be chaired by Secretary,

Ministry of Statistics & PI)

o This Committee will meet at least once a year for identifying new items

that need to be included in the item basket and removing those that

have lost its relevance in the industrial sector or are no longer being

produced

o The revised series will continue to represent the Mining, Manufacturing

and Electricity sectors

o The revised series uses the National Industrial Classification (NIC)

2008 for the purpose of classification of industrial production

o The unit coverage of IIP will, as before, cover entities in the organized

sector units registered under the Factories Act, 1948

o The weightage given to the groups will be

Mining – 14.373% (previously it was 14.157%)

Manufacturing – 77.633% (previously it was 75.527%)

Electricity – 7.994% (previously it was 10.316%)

o The item groups will be

Mining – 1 (previously it was 1)

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Manufacturing – 405 (previously it was 397)

Electricity – 1 (previously it was 1)

o The practice of using Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to deflate items for

which data is reported in value terms will continue

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NHAI Masala Bond Launched at London

Stock Exchange

Issue size is ₹ 3000 Cr with a yield rate of 7.30%

The transaction marks the largest ever 5-year issuance and the largest

inaugural transaction in Masala Bond market

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NETAJI IAS 15

e-Krishi Samvad

It is internet-based interface and is a unique platform that will provide direct

and effective solutions to the problems faced by farmers and stakeholders in

the agriculture sector

Uses to farmers are:

o They can directly connect to the ICAR websiteand get the appropriate

solutions from the subject matter specialists and institutes through

web or SMS

o Stakeholders can upload photographs related to diseases of the crops,

animals or fishes for diagnostics and remedial measures instantly from

the specialists