27th Dec 2017 – Press Information Bureau (Daily PIB PDF For UPSC)

President’s Secretariat

• The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the centenary
  conference of the Indian Economic Association in Guntur, Andhra
  Pradesh.
• President said that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the
  world.
• Without growth there can be no development and little scope for
  redistribution.
• And yet, while growth is necessary, it is not sufficient.
• To tackle the inequities in our society, to overcome the social and
  economic inequalities between different sections and even different
  regions, requires imaginative policy making.
• The President said that significant numbers of our fellow citizens still
  live in poverty or very close to poverty.
• They have insufficient access to health-care, education, housing and civic
  amenities.
• This is particularly true for traditionally weaker sections of society, such
  as SCs, STs, segments of OBCs and of course women.
• We also have to treat investment in health and education as investment
  in human capital – a critical building block for our economy.

Ministry of Labour & Employment

• Government has developed an online portal PENCIL (Platform for
  Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) which was launched on
  26.9.2017.
• Purpose: to provide a mechanism for both enforcement of the provisions
  of Child & Adolescent Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 and
  effective implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP)
  Scheme for rehabilitation of child & adolescent labour.
• Main components of PENCIL portal are complaint corner, child &
  adolescent labour tracking system, NCLP and State Resource Centre
  which are connected with the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
• Further, the data obtained on the portal is to be shared with Ministry of
  Women & Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development
  and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.
• At the State Government level the monitoring is to be done by State
  Resource Centre established at State Labour Department.
• At district level District Nodal Officers (DNOs) are nominated to take
  action on the complaints of their respective districts.

Ministry of Defence

• In view of the fly-past at heights varying from 60 to 500 meters and the
  associated flight safety concerns posted by birds, the IAF appeals to all
  citizens of Delhi and its neighbourhood to keep their areas clean and
  avoid throwing eatables, garbage, dead animals or carcasses in the open
  in all the days leading upto 26 January.
• Responsible citizens are also requested to alert the nearest Air Force
  Unit or Police Station and report instances of carcasses found in the
  open.

Ministry of Food Processing Industries

• It has been the endeavor of the Government to promote food processing
  industry in the country to reduce wastage of agricultural produce and
  minimize post- harvest losses.
• The objective of Scheme of Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition
  Infrastructure: is to provide integrated cold chain and preservation
  infrastructure facilities from the farm gate to the market in order to
  arrest post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce.
• Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided in the form of grantin-aid
  of maximum Rs10 crore per project for setting up of integrated
  cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities.
• The Integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure can be set up
  by individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, Self Help
  Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), NGOs,
  Central/State PSUs, etc.
• The scheme is primarily private sector driven and proposals under this
  scheme are invited through Expression of Interest (EOI).
• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
• Scheme for holistic development of Horticulture which provides
  assistance for creation of post harvest management infrastructure
  including setting up of staging cold room and cold storage for perishable
  horticulture produce in rural areas.

Ministry of Labour & Employment

• The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, defines an unorganized
  worker and provides for a self-declaration by such worker confirming that he
  or she is an unorganized worker.
• There is no centralized national database of unorganized workers in India.
• Accordingly, it has been decided to create a national platform for unorganized
  workers.
• A proposal to issue a Unique ID i.e. Unorganized Workers Identification Number
  (UWIN) and allotment of a Aadhaar seeded Identification number to them
  without issuing any smart card, has been approved by the Central Government
  with an estimated cost of Rs. 402.7 Crore to be implemented in two years
  during 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched the
  ‘Udyami Mitra’ Portal (www.udyamimitra.in) to improve accessibility of
  credit and handholding services to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
  (MSMEs).
• Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) have been advised to ensure a
  target of 7.5% of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) for Micro Enterprises,
  that collateral security is not required for loans upto Rs. 10 lakh to MSE
  sector, a simplified working capital requirement for MSEs.
• This Press Release is based on information given by the Minister of State
  for MSME Shri Giriraj Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya
  Sabha on 27.12.2017(Wednesday).
• Govt. of India and State Governments are trying their best to put public
  over private transport.
• It has the potential to significantly reduce demand for petroleum
  products, speedily drive down crude oil imports, and lead to a host of
  related benefits like reduced pollution and better traffic flows going
  forward.
• It would also improve the trade balance, boost public health and help
  India meet its climate goals as well.
  It does not work in silos. It works at its best when it is integrated.
• Most of the time investment in public transportation systems are carried
  out more as an afterthought, to simply try and cope with everburgeoning
  demand for commuting and transport.
• It results in haphazard transport planning, which, in turn, misallocates
  resources and overburdens the system.
• As India grows fast, with industry and service growing much faster than
  farm output, more and more people will migrate to towns — some 25
  crore people, if half of India becomes urban over the next 15-20 years.
• They have to be accommodated in new towns: existing towns cannot
  absorb such huge numbers.
• They have to be accommodated in new towns: existing
  towns cannot absorb such huge numbers.
• These new towns must be planned to minimise
  commutes and use public transport for such commutes
  cannot be averted.
• Common payment means for bus, train, taxi and shared
  bike rides would encourage multimodal public transport.
• Dense, vertical towns with mixed land use would put
  residences, work, education, healthcare and
  entertainment spaces within close proximity to one
  another, and build in large playgrounds and green spaces
  as well.
• The way ahead is to plan and invest in metro rail systems in such urban
  centres, and also provide efficient feeder bus services for seamless
  multimodal transport.
• Planning must provide for energy-efficient personal transport for
  segments that cannot be catered to by trains and buses.
• Shared vehicles bring down energy consumption.
• Electric cars and bikes can be shared using a combination of geotagging
  and phone-based activation/aggregation.
• This, of course, will call for proactive policy for ubiquitous broadband
  access.

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