PRADHAN MANTRI JAN-DHAN YOJANA (PMJDY)

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana(Hindi: प्रधानमंत्री जन धन योजना, English: Prime Minister's People Funding Scheme) is an ambitious scheme for comprehensive financial inclusion launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014 He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014.

Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, on the inauguration day, 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened under this scheme. By September 2014, 3.02 crore accounts were opened, with around 1500 crore (US$240 million) were deposited under the scheme, which also has an option for opening new bank accounts with zero balance.

SBI, India's largest bank had opened 11,300 camps for Jan Dhan Yojana over 30 lakhs accounts were opened so far, which include 21.16 lakh accounts in rural areas and 8.8 lakh accounts in urban areas. On the contrast, even taking together all the major private sector banks, have opened just 5.8 lakh accounts.

Purpose

In a run up to the formal launch of this scheme, the Prime Minister personally mailed to CEOs of all PSU banks to gear up for the gigantic task of enrolling over 7.0 crore (75 million) households and to open their accounts. In this email he categorically declared that a bank account for each household was a "national priority".

The scheme has been started with a target to provide 'universal access to banking facilities' starting with "Basic Banking Accounts" with overdraft facility of Rs.5000 after six months and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh and RuPay Kisan Card. In next phase, micro insurance & pension etc. will also be added.^[1]

Under the scheme:

1. Account holders will be provided zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh.

2. Those who open accounts by January 20, 2015 over and above the 1 lakh ₹ accident, they will be given life insurance cover of Rs 30,000.

3. After Six months of opening of the bank account, holders can avail 5,000 ₹ loan from the bank.

4. With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone which was earlier limited only to smart phones so far.

5. Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together

Performance

Due to the preparations done in the run-up, as mentioned above, on the inauguration day, 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened.The Prime Minister said on this occasion- "Let us celebrate today as the day of financial freedom." By September 2014, 3.02 crore accounts were opened under the scheme, amongst Public sector banks, SBI had opened 30 lakh accounts, followed by Punjab National Bank with 20.24 lakh accounts, Canara Bank 16.21 lakh accounts, Central Bank of India 15.98 lakh accounts and Bank of Baroda with 14.22 lakh accounts.  It was reported that total of 7 Crore (70 million) bank accounts have been opened with deposits totaling more than 5000 crore Rupees (approx 1 billion USD) as of November 6, 2014. 

Q.  What is RuPay Debit Card?

Ans. Rupay Debit Card is an indigenous domestic debit card introduced by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). This card is accepted at all ATMs (for cash withdrawal) and at most of the PoS machines (for making cas

Q.  What is special advantage of RuPay Debit Card?

Ans. It provides accidental insurance cover upto Rs.1.00 lac without any charge to the customer.hless payment for purchases) in the country.

Q. How to keep your RuPay Card safe?

Ans. Beneficiary of RuPay Card is required to keep the Card in safe custody. PIN should be changed at frequent intervals and should never be shared with anyone. While using the card at ATM Machine or PoS, PIN should be entered in machine very secretly so that nobody could even guess about the PIN Number. As far as possible, Card should be used at authorized places / centres only. Besides, PIN number should never be written on the Card.Q. 11. Whether illiterate customers can be issued RuPay Card?

Ans. Yes. However, Branch Manager will have to advise all the related risks to the illiterate account-holder at the time of issuance of RuPay Card.

MAKE IN INDIA

Seeking to make the country a global manufacturing hub, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious 'Make in India' campaign in the presence of global and domestic CEOs .
The 'Make in India' campaign is aimed at making India a manufacturing hub, and the government is pulling out all the stops for ensuring a smooth sailing for investors, by setting up a dedicated cell to answer queries of business entities within 72 hours. It will also closely monitor all regulatory processes to make them simple and reduce the burden of compliance.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his flagship 'Make in India' campaign to put the country prominently on the global manufacturing map and, in turn, facilitate the inflow of new technology and capital, while creating millions of jobs.
The ambitious scheme, that also puts in place the logistics and systems to address, in a timely manner, queries of potential investors, was unveiled along with a logo, a portal and brochures on 25 identified growth sectors before bigshots from the corporate world from India and abroad at the Vigyan Bhavan conference complex in the national capital.
The event was watched live in several cities in the country and overseas via video conferencing.
Laying out the red carpet before investors,

Objective

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Make in India

The major objective behind this initiative is to focus upon the heavy industries and public enterprises while generating employment in India.
The highlights and purpose of Come, Make in India are-

• The campaign, 'Make in India' is aimed at making India a manufacturing hub and economic transformation in India while eliminating the unnecessary laws and regulations, making bureaucratic processes easier and shorter, and make government more transparent, responsive and accountable.

• The government emphasized upon the framework which include the time-bound project clearances through a single online portal which will be further aided by the eight-members team dedicated to answering investor queries within 48 hours and addressing key issues including labor laws, skill development and infrastructure.

• This campaign basically gives hope to the unemployed to find a decent job if not big jobs as manufacturing leads to creation of lot of service sector activity. But India will have to make sure to focus on quality education rather than just skill development. It is also hoped that this is a precursor to change some labor laws that would make investing in manufacturing more attractive to Indians as well as other nations.

Investment and development in these sectors is important for improvement of manufacturing sector in India.

Five challenges that the 'Make in India' could face.

. Creating healthy business environment will be possible only when the administrative machinery is efficient. India has been very stringent when it comes to procedural and regulatory clearances. A business-friendly environment will only be created if India can signal easier approval of projects and set up hasstle-free clearance mechanism.

2. India should also be ready to tackle elements that adversely affect competitiveness of manufacturing. To make the country a manufacturing hub the unfavorable factors must be removed. India should also be ready to give tax concessions to companies who come and set up unit in the country.

3. India's small and medium-sized industries can play a big role in making the country take the next big leap in manufacturing. India should be more focused towards novelty and innovation for these sectors. The government has to chart out plans to give special sops and privileges to these sectors.

4.India's make in India campaign will be constantly compared with China's 'Made in China' campaign. The dragon launched the campaign at the same day as India seeking to retain its manufacturing prowess. India should constantly keep up its strength so as to outpace China's supremacy in the manufacturing sector.

5. India must also encourage high-tech imports, research and development (R&D) to upgrade 'Make in India' give edge-to-edge competition to the Chinese counterpart's campaign. To do so, India has to be better prepared and motivated to do world class R&D. The government must ensure that it provides platform for such research and development.

Sectors included

Following sectors have been included by the Government in this campaign-
Automobiles,Automobile Components,Aviation,Biotechnology,Chemical,Construction,Defence Manufacturing,Electrical Machinery,Electronic Systems,Food Processing,IT and BPM,Leather,Media and Entertainment,MiningOil and Gas,Pharmaceuticals,Ports,Railways,Renewable Energy ,Roads and Highways,Textile Garments,Thermal Power,Tourism and HospitalityWellness

Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) is a rural development programme launched by the Central government in India in the financial year 2009–10 for the development of villages having a higher ratio (over 50%) of people belonging to the scheduled castes through convergence of central and state schemes and allocating financial funding on a per village basis
The plan is considered ambitious as it aimed to bring a number of development programs to the villages. Some of these programs are Bharat Nirman, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for rural roads, water supply, housing, electrification and other big-ticket schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, ICDS, sanitation. This program would be applicable to around 44,000 villages which had a scheduled castes population above 50% and so qualified for PMAGY.

Political background

This Program was brought by the UPA coalition government supported by the left parties. The project was aimed at getting a larger political role in scheduled caste (dalit) politics and was thought of strengthening the votebank of UPA leaders in regions having a high dalit population. The program was considered beneficial by the Congress party as the scheme gave a direct role to Centre to develop dalits at the grassroots. Congress hoped to improve its election results in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana which will have a large number of beneficiary villages.

The plan

The Plan aims to build an "Adarsh Gram" (Model village} which has adequate physical and institutional infrastructure, in which minimum needs of all sections of the society are fully met. The village which is progressive and dynamic and its residents live in harmony. All the facilities necessary for dignified living should be available and the residents are enabled to utilise their potential to the fullest.



How is funding for the programme done?
 
In the launching phase the Centre had allocated a sum of 555.4 million (US$9.0 million) to Assam, Bihar and Rajasthan. As a pilot project the program was implemented in 1,000 villages in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu with an allocation of 1 billion (US$16 million) with each village to get 1 million (US$16,000) per year.
In September 2011 the annual funding on the project was raised to 2 million (US$32,000) per village and 1.94 billion (US$31 million) had been spent in these villages till then. In the 12 Five Year Plan the government plans to cover 44,000 villages during with an allocation of 5 million (US$81,000) to each villages.

Implementation

The aim of the scheme is to integrated development of the selected villages so that they have all required physical and social infrastructure for an all round socio-economic development. Another objectives of the plan is elimination of disparity between SCs and other communities in terms of common socio-economic indicators such as literacy rate, completion rate of elementary education, infant mortality rate/maternal mortality rate and ownership of productive assets.To ensure the implementation two committees an advisory committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister and a steering committee headed by the Chief Secretary have been formed.

EBOLA

The Ebola virus has claimed more than 4,800 lives during the current epidemic in West Africa, the largest outbreak since the virus was discovered nearly 40 years ago.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 13,000 people have been infected

What is Ebola?

Ebola is a serious infectious illness which often proves fatal.The virus, which is thought to have originated in fruit bats, was first detected in 1976 in an outbreak near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
How is the disease caught and spread?
 People are infected when they have direct contact through broken skin, or the mouth and nose, with the blood, vomit, faeces or bodily fluids of someone with Ebola.
The virus can be present in urine and semen too.Infection may also occur through direct contact with contaminated bedding, clothing and surfaces - but only through broken skin.
It is still unclear how long the virus exists on surfaces but there is some evidence to suggest it can last up to six days. Bleach and



chlorine can kill Ebola.

The disease is not airborne, like flu. Very close direct contact with an infected person is required for the virus to be passed to another person.

It can take up anything from two to 21 days for humans with the virus to show symptoms.
People are not infectious until the symptoms develop.
People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus - in some cases, up to seven weeks after they recover.
World Health Organization guidance on Ebola

What are the symptoms?

The Ebola virus causes a range of painful and debilitating symptoms

The early symptoms are a sudden fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding - both internal and external - which can be seen in the gums, eyes, nose and in the stools.
Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure.

How is it treated?

Ebola vaccines are being tested on humans in trials in the US and the UK

There is no proven cure for Ebola.
Severely ill patients need to be rehydrated quickly using intravenous fluids. They should be isolated from other people and given intensive care by medical experts.
Potential vaccines are being tested. If the trials are successful they would be used to protect healthcare workers first.
Experimental drugs such as ZMapp have also been used, but their effectiveness has not been proved.
Blood products from survivors are also being tried as a potential therapy.
The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says this outbreak comes from the deadliest and most aggressive strain of the virus.
It is not known which factors allow some people to recover while most succumb but experts say early treatment is key.
Experimental treatments
Ethics: Resolving the Ebola dilemma
I caught Ebola in Guinea and survived

Who is at risk?

Doctors wearing protective equipment outside an Ebola treatment unit in Nigeria

Anyone in close contact with Ebola patients is at risk.
Healthcare workers are using protective clothing such as full-body suits and goggles, but hundreds have still died.
Family members of patients are also at risk. In West African funerals, it is traditional for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the dead person, washing and embracing them before burial.
But the Ebola virus is still dangerous and present in the body after death. Prompt and safe burials are now being urged.
MSF has been trying to make people aware of how their treatment of dead relatives might pose a risk to themselves. However, it is a very difficult message to get across.

What precautions can be taken?

Washing hands and improving hygiene is one of the best ways to fight the virus

Avoid contact with Ebola patients and their bodily fluids, the WHO advises. Do not touch anything - such as shared towels - which could have become contaminated in a public place.
Carers should wear gloves and protective equipment, such as masks, and wash their hands regularly.
The WHO also warns against consuming raw bushmeat and any contact with infected bats or monkeys and apes. Fruit bats in particular are considered a delicacy in the area of Guinea where the outbreak started.
In March, Liberia's health minister advised people to stop having sex, in addition to existing advice not to shake hands or kiss. The WHO says men can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to seven weeks after recovering from Ebola.
How not to catch Ebola
Profile: Dr Sheik Umar Khan
Saving lives on the Ebola front line
No handshakes, no sex

Where is Ebola a problem?

A woman suspected of having Ebola virus cries outside a hospital in Sierra Leone.

Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa are the countries worst affected by this outbreak, which was identified as Ebola in March 2014.
It started in Guinea, which has never before been affected, and quickly spread to urban areas.
From Nzerekore, a remote area of south-eastern Guinea, the virus spread to the capital, Conakry, and neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Nigeria and Senegal have confirmed a small number of cases, and the US has had three confirmed cases.
In October, a nurse in Spain became the first person to contract the virus outside of West Africa.
Ebola deaths since 1976

Why is this outbreak particularly bad?

Health workers have been brought into affected countries to help treat patients with Ebola

The virus has taken hold in major urban areas this time, allowing it to spread more easily.
The countries most severely affected by the disease have weak health systems. They are short of qualified doctors and nurses, and lack the appropriate equipment and resources to combat the virus.
As a result, this is the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was discovered.
There have been more cases and deaths in this one than all other outbreaks combined.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

 Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Campaign Clean India) is a national level campaign by the Government of India covering 4041 statutory towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.

Objectives

This campaign aims to accomplish the vision of 'Clean India' by 2 October 2019, 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and is expected to cost over 62000 crore (US$10 billion). The campaign was described as "beyond politics" and "inspired by patriotism".
More than 3 million government employees and schools and colleges students of India are going to participate in this event.

MYGOV.IN

Success of democracy is impossible without participation of the people" - Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

India is the largest democracy in the world and citizens here are highly enthusiastic to be a part of Governance. In a democratic system, citizen participation is one of the key components of decision making process. MyGov- External website that opens in a new window is an innovative platform launched to ensure citizens' engagement in decision making by the Government so that the ultimate goal of "Good Governance" for building India is achieved. This initiative is an opportunity for citizens and well-wishers from across the world to share their views on key issues directly with the Prime Minister of India- External website that opens in a new window.

Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi- External website that opens in a new window launched MyGov- External website that opens in a new window to empower the citizens of India to contribute towards Surajya. The Prime Minister believes that "the success of democracy is impossible without participation of the people".

The platform - MyGov- External website that opens in a new window - encourages citizens as well as people abroad to 'Discuss' and 'Do'. There are multiple theme-based discussions on MyGov- External website that opens in a new window where a wide range of people can share their thoughts and ideas. Further, any idea shared by a contributor will also be discussed on these discussion forums, allowing constructive feedback and interaction among participants. MyGov- External website that opens in a new window aims to establish a link between Government and Citizens towards meeting the goal of good governance in the country. For those who wish to go beyond discussions and wish to contribute on the ground, MyGov- External website that opens in a new window offers several avenues to do so. Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and submit their entries. These tasks would then be reviewed by other members and experts. Once approved, these tasks can be shared by those who complete the task and by other members on MyGov- External website that opens in a new window platform. Every approved task would earn credit points for completing the task.

Groups and creative corners are an important part of MyGov- External website that opens in a new window. The platform has been divided into various groups namely Clean Ganga- External website that opens in a new window,Green India- External website that opens in a new window, Job Creation- External website that opens in a new window, Girl Child Education- External website that opens in a new window, Skill Development- External website that opens in a new window, Digital India- External website that opens in a new window, Swachh Bharat (Clean India)- External website that opens in a new window. Each group consists of online and onground tasks that can be taken up by the contributors. The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people's participation.

Digital India’ programme

It is an ambitious programme to “transform India into digital empowered society and knowledge economy”. Envisaged by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity), Digital India will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018.

Digital India is transformational in nature and is aimed at ensuring that government services are available to citizens electronically, the government said. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government’s services electronically.

The programme aims at providing digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen as well as high-speed internet as a core utility in all gram panchayats.

It also envisions providing a “cradle to grave digital identity” that is “unique, lifelong and online”.

The overall scope of this programme is “to prepare India for a knowledge future”, “to make technology central to enabling change” and “to become an umbrella programme covering many departments”, Union Law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The programme aims to seamlessly integrate departments to provide easy and a single window access to all persons. It also aims at making available government services in real time from online and mobile platforms. The government will set up a programme management structure for monitoring implementation of his programme.

The key components of the management structure would consist of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for according approval to projects, a Monitoring Committee headed by the Prime Minister, a Digital India Advisory Group chaired by the Minister of Communications and IT, an Apex Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.