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Identify ?

PM's interaction with Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories

ThisinteractionwaspartoftheNationalConferenceofChiefSecretariesonthetheme of "States as Drivers for Transforming India." Thisisthefirsttime,thatthePrimeMinisterhasaddressedsuchagathering,atsuchanevent.

Thebest practices presentedbytheChiefSecretariesincludedthemes such as ruraldevelopment,skilldevelopment,cropinsurance,healthinsurance,tertiaryhealthcare,welfareofdivyang children,reducinginfantmortality,tribalwelfare,solidwastemanagement,sanitation,drinkingwater,river

conservation,watermanagement,e-governance,pensionreform,emergencyservices,developmentofmineral-richareas,PDSreform,DirectBenefit

Transferofsubsidy;solarenergy,clusterdevelopment,goodgovernanceandeaseofdoingbusiness.

HesaidthesuccessesofsmallStatesandUnionTerritories,couldbereplicatedbylargestatesinonedistricttobeginwith.

InthisregardhementionedHaryana and Chandigarh becoming kerosene-free.

Haryana became kerosene-free as the supply of the fuel has been stopped under the public distribution system (PDS) from April 1

True/False

Haryana isthefirstKerosenefreestate/UTofIndia

The PAHAL scheme waslaunchedfortheconsumerstomandatorilyhaveanAadhaar number foravailing

KeroseneSubsidy.

Jharkhand becamethe firststate inthecountrytoimplementDirectBenefitTransfer(DBT)in Kerosene

Essay

CompareandcontrasttheDirectBenefitTransfer(DBT)schemeforKeroseneVisaVisDirectBenefitTransfer(DBT)forliquefiedpetroleumgas(LPG)/cookinggasinIndiaandalso

commentontheimpactofbothschemes

Success of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)/cooking gas

PAHAListhedirectbenefittransferschemeforLPGsubsidy,underwhichthebeneficiarygetsthesubsidy,whichistransferredtothebank

account,for12cylindersayear.Simultaneously,thegovernmenthasworkedoneliminatingduplicateconnections.Thiswasfollowedbythe“GiveItUp”campaign,through

whichthePrimeMinisterhimselfencouragedcustomerstogiveupLPGsubsidy.About 15 million families gave up subsidy under “GiveItUp”.ThegovernmentclaimstohavesavedatleastRs 21,000 crore (Rs 210billion)through eliminating fake and duplicate LPG connections and

PAHAL.

Truth is different

Thefigurewas,however,contestedbyaComptroller and Auditor General report,whichsaidonly Rs 1,764

crore (Rs 17.64billion)insubsidywassavedonLPG onaccountoftheschemesandthebulk of Rs 21,552 crore

was due to a sharp fall in global prices.

RapidimplementationofDBTforLPG waspossiblebecauseofastreamlinedandunifieddigitalconsumerdatabase

Here,theentiredatabaseacrossIndiawasmanagedbyjust three public sector oil marketing companies,whicharedirectlyundertheMinistry of Petroleum and

Natural Gas.

(Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum CorporationLimited(BPCL)andHindustan Petroleum CorporationLimited(HPCL)

This enabled easier coordination for a nationwide rollout of the scheme.

For Kerosene, The biggest hurdle is the lack of a streamlined and unified digital consumer database

Incomparison,thedatabaseofsubsidised kerosenebeneficiariesfallsunderthePublic Distribution System (PDS), whichismanagedand

maintainedbyeachStategovernment.CoordinationamongthelargenumberofState-levelactors,especiallyinthecaseofanon-digitised PDS beneficiary database,createsbarriers.

Whilee-PDSisbeingimplementedacrossIndia,adigitalPDSbeneficiarydatabaseisnotyetavailableforalltheStatestoenable

implementationofDBTK.

Thesecondhurdleisthepoliticaleconomyassociatedwithsubsidised kerosene.

WhiletheCentreburnsthefiscalimpactofsubsidy,the States determine who gets the subsidy and to what extent — intermsof

thequantum of subsidised kerosene.

ThisisanimportantpoliticalcurrencyforStategovernments.Thus,political alignment of States tobuyintotheideaof DBTK iscriticalinensuringeffectiveimplementationofthescheme.

Amajordrawbackisthelimited ability of DBTK toreduceincentivesfordiversion.

Currently,subsidised keroseneismainlydivertedas a substitute or as an adulterant to diesel.

GiventhesignificantCentralexciseandStatetaxesondiesel,itsmarketpriceremainsmuchhigherthantheunsubsidised priceofkerosene.

AnalysisbytheCouncilonEnergy,EnvironmentandWater(CEEW)showsthatunlessthegovernmentrestructuresthemarketpriceofkerosene,the price differential between unsubsidised kerosene and diesel would be in the range

between Rs.18 and Rs.32 per litre — varyingacrossStates.

Suchanincentivewouldstillbesignificantformiddlemenaswellasendconsumerstodivertthefuelasdieselsubstitute.

Anotherchallengeisinensuringthatthesubsidyisaccessibletoitsmajorbeneficiaries— poorhouseholds.

ThePradhanMantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)hassucceededinprovidingbankaccountstoasubstantialnumberofhouseholds,accessingthesubsidyamountisstillnoteasyforseveralpoorerhouseholds,whomay,attimes,losetheirpotentialdaywagein

withdrawingthissubsidyfromfar-located bank branches.

TheCEEW’s analysis ofNational Sample Survey Office datahighlightsthatkerosene ispredominantlyusedasalighting fuel inruralIndia,withless

than 1 per cent of households using it as a primary cooking fuel.

Inurban-poor households,itisusedforbothlightingandcooking.ArecentreportbytheCEEWshowshowshiftingfromkerosenetoalternativessuchassolar-assisted solutions for lighting and LPG for

cooking couldbeeconomicallybeneficialforboththegovernmentaswellashouseholds.

Theshiftwouldprovidehouseholdswithmuchbetterend-servicesandavoidingtheadversehealthimpactsassociatedwithkeroseneusewhichcouldresultinanannualsavingbetweenRs.8,000andRs.12,000crore

totheexchequer.

AsLPG is a clean and efficient fuel,itisrationaltocontinuesubsidising itfortheunderprivilegedwhocannotafforditotherwise.However,withenergysecurityandcleanenergyaccesshighonIndia’spriorities,we

must look beyond kerosene toprovidecookingandlightingsolutionstopoorhouseholds,whileensuringaffordability,reliabilityanduniversal

availabilityofthesealternatives

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)8000 crore, 5 cr, 1.5 crore

ModilaunchedthePradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)onMay1lastyear, Thepromisewastoprovidefive crore LPG connections toBPLhouseholdsoverthreeyears.2.5

croresofar(Successful)• The BPL families are identified in consultation with the governments of States and Union

Territories.

Aflagshipprogramme,PMUYaimstoedgeoutsmokefromthekitchensofIndianhouseholdsbyprovidingcleancookingfuel.Thereachoftheprogramme issuchthatitwastoutedasoneofthereasonsforBJP’ssweepingwininUttarPradeshAssembly

elections, 4.3millionconnectionsinthestatetoBPLfamilies.

Insixoutofeightnortheasternstates,theModigovernmentfailedtoprovideevenasingleLPGconnectionunderitsflagshipschemePradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)tillMay2017,JustthetwoBJP-ruledstatesinnortheastIndia-- AssamandManipur-- saw

fiveand27LPGconnections,respectively.

The national average of LPG cylinder refills is around 7.6 per year, around one refill every 45 days.

However, the refilling rate varies across states. “For instance, Bihar and UP have quite high refill rates, but forest areas in Chhattisgarh and Madhya

Pradesh have low refilling rate of around two per year. This is because of easy availability of firewood

Motivation was the key

Benefits

• Forwomen,whoarethechiefbeneficiariesofthescheme,theassessmentsrevealedthatcookingongasstoveshelpedsaveatleast1-2hoursdaily,whichtheyusedforleisureactivitiesorotherhouseholdpursuits.Thiswaspartlybecausecookingongaswasfaster,andbecause it saved them the time and effort needed to go out to collect firewood.• Thelackofsmokehadalsoreducedhealthproblemsinwomen,suchasburningsensationintheeyes,coughingandevenheadaches.• Closeto80% people refillingthecylinders

• Beneficiariesrequiredinstructionsthatlow-risethatchedceiling,poorventilation,flammablehousematerialsandclothingweremajorriskswhilecookingongasstoves.

State-runoilmarketingcompaniesareexpectedtohaveanadditionalcapacityof1,242metrictonnes perannumintheirLPGbottlingplantsbythestartofFY22throughsixbrownfieldand10greenfieldprojects,accordingtodatafromtheministryofpetroleumandnaturalgas.

DuringFY16-17,LPGconsumptioninthecountryincreasedby9.8%to21.5milliontonne

Ujjawal plus?(Donations,SECC)

(The Greenfield project meansthataworkwhichisnotfollowingapriorwork.IninfrastructuretheprojectsontheunusedlandswherethereisnoneedtoremodelordemolishanexistingstructurearecalledGreen

FieldProjects.Theprojectswhicharemodifiedorupgradedarecalled brownfield projects)

ThePrimeMinistergavetheexampleofmonthlyPRAGATI meetings,whichhadgivenadecisivepushtomanylong-pendingprojects

Pro-ActiveGovernanceAndTimelyImplementation(PRAGATI isauniqueintegratingandinteractiveplatform.Theplatformisaimedataddressingcommonman'sgrievances,andsimultaneouslymonitoringandreviewingimportantprogrammesandprojectsoftheGovernmentofIndiaaswellasprojects

flaggedbyStateGovernments.)

Hesaid"ease of doing business"shouldbeaccordedtoppriority,andwouldgreatlyhelpStatesinattractinginvestment.

Speakingontheagriculturesector,thePrimeMinistersaidtheuseoftechnologywasimperative.Hestressedoneliminatingwastageinfarmproduce,andfocusonfood

processing.ThePrimeMinistercalledforStatestofocusonagriculturereforms,ande-NAM inparticular.

ThePrimeMinistersaidtheuseofAadhaar hasbroughtbenefitallaround,andeliminatedleakages.Heurgedall

presenttomaximizeitsuseintheinterestofgood governance.

HesaidGovernment e-Marketplace (GeM) couldprovideefficiency, savings and transparency ingovernment

procurement.HeaskedallState Governments tomaximize

theuseofGeM byAugust15th.

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has strongly condemned the attack on Amarnath Yatris in Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister has also spoken to Jammu and Kashmir Governor Shri NN Vohra and Chief

Minister Ms Mehbooba Mufti and assured all possible assistance required.

Seven Amarnath pilgrims from Gujarat, six of them women, were killed and 32 injured in a terrorist attack on their bus in Anantnag

The last time an armed attack was staged against the annual yatra which draws lakhs of Hindus from across India to the state was on August 1, 2000, when around 30

pilgrims and local porters were killed near Pahalgam

Policesaidthebuswasnotapartoftheyatra convoywhichisbeingprovidedelaboratesecurity.Itwasnotregisteredwiththeauthoritieseither.

Theterroristsfirstattackedabullet-proofbunkerofthepoliceatBotengoo,apoliceofficialsaid.Afterthepoliceretaliated, thegunmenmovedonand firedona

policepicketnearKhanabal.Whenthepoliceretaliated,themilitantsfled,firingindiscriminatelyinwhichthe

buscarryingtheyatris gothit.Whilethesepoliceaccountssuggesttheyatris wereasecondarytarget,someofthesurvivingpilgrimswerequotedbytelevisionchannelsassayingtheterrorists

hadinfactdirectlytargetedthem

Total52deathssofar

45 percent rise in terrorism-related deaths – and 164 percent increase in civilian deaths alone – over the year ending 30 June

2017

On27June2017,UnitedStates designated Hizbul Mujahideen chiefSyedSalahuddin a“globalterrorist

Salahuddin alsoleadstheUnitedJihadCouncil,an umbrella organisation foranti-Indiaterroristorganisations suchasLashkar-e-Taiba andJaish-e-Mohammed,knowntooperateoutof

Pakistan-OccupiedKashmir.Salahuddin hasopenly admitted tocarryingoutattacksagainstIndia,

includingonanIndianAirForcebaseinPathankot,Punjab,on2January2016.

PM condoles the demise of Shri Naresh Chandra

FormerIndianAmbassadortotheUS

“ShriNareshChandrawasanoutstandingpublicservant,wholeftanindeliblemarkonmattersofgovernanceandpolicy.

Painedbyhisdemise.

DeclarationofHistoricCityofAhmadabadasaUNESCO’sWorldHeritageProperty

Indianowhasoverall36WorldHeritageInscriptionswith28Cultural,07Naturaland01Mixedsite

duringthe41stSessionofWorldHeritageCommittee.ThismakesAhmedabadthefirstcityinIndiaandthethirdinAsiatobeinscribedtotheWorldHeritageList.Inthepast3yearsalone,Indiahasmanagedto

putfivebuiltheritagesitesontheworldheritagelistofUNESCO

Old name - KarnavatiThewalledcityofAhmadabad,foundedby

SultanAhmadShahinthe15thcentury,ontheeasternbankoftheSabarmatiriver,presentsaricharchitecturalheritagefromthesultanateperiod,notablytheBhadra citadel,thewallsandgatesoftheFortcityandnumerous

mosquesandtombsaswellasimportantHinduandJaintemplesoflaterperiods.

Withinthiscomplexare28ASICentrallyProtectedMonuments.TheurbanstructuresofthehistoriccityofAhmedabadaredistinctiveduetotheirpuras (neighbourhoods),pols(residentialstreets),andkhadki (inner

entrancestopols)largelymadeoftimber.

Indiastandssecond largest innumberafterChina (52,2ndintheworld)intermsofnumberofworldheritagepropertiesin

ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region,itisoverallseventhintheworld.

Italy(53)– MostworldheritagesitesintheworldCultureMinisterDr. MaheshSharma

Exercise Malabar Commences in Bay of Bengal/ North Indian Oceann

TheMALABARseriesofexercises,initiatedin1992betweentheIndianandUSNavies,havesteadilygrowninscope,complexityand

participationintoamultifacetedexercisewiththeparticipationofJapaneseMaritimeSelfDefense Force(JMSDF).

The21st editionoftheexercise,MALABAR-17willbeconductedintheBayofBengalfrom10to17July2017.

Theprimaryaimofthisexerciseistoincreaseinteroperabilityamongstthethree navies

TheIndianNavywillberepresentedbytheaircraftcarrierINS Vikramaditya withitsairwing,guidedmissiledestroyerRanvir,indigenousstealthfrigatesShivalik andSahyadri,indigenousASWcorvetteKamorta,missilecorvettesKoraandKirpan,oneSindhughosh classsubmarine,fleet

tankerINSJyoti andLongRangeMaritimePatrolAircraftP8I.

The US Navy will be represented by the ships from the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group

Japan will be represented by JS Izumo

TheUnionFinanceMinisterShriArun Jaitley tobetheChiefGuestontheoccasionof36thFoundationDayofNABARDdedicatedtocelebrate

theSilverJubileeofSHG Bank Linkage Programme

TheProgramhadacatalyticeffectinsourcingcollateralfreeloanstothetuneofRs 61,000croretothepoorwomenfromthemainstream

bankingsystematthenormalratesofinterest.

SelfHelpGroupBankLinkageProgramme(SHGBLP),thepioneeringinitiativeofFinancialInclusionbyNABARDcompleted25yearsduringthis

year

Underthisprogramme,bankswereallowedtoopensavingsaccountsforSelf-HelpGroups(SHGs).SHGs are registered/unregistered entitieswhichusuallyhasa

membershipof15to20membersfromverylowincomefamilies,usuallywomen.

Theymobilizesavingsfrommembersandusesthepooledfundstogiveloanstotheneedymembers.Underthisprogramme,banksprovideloanstotheSHGsagainstgroupguaranteeandthequantumofloancouldbeseveraltimesthe

depositsplacedbysuchSHGswiththebanks.

BanksshouldconsiderentirecreditrequirementsofSHGmembers,namely,(a)incomegenerationactivities,(b)socialneedslikehousing,education,marriage,

etc.and(c)debtswapping".

LendingtoSHGsshouldbeincludedbythebanksaspartoftheirlendingtotheweakersections.AspertheRBI’slatest(May 2016) PrioritySectorLendingnorms,

bankcredittomembersofSHGsiseligibleforprioritysectoradvanceunderrespectivecategoriesviz.,Agriculture,Micro,SmallandMediumEnterprises,Social

InfrastructureandOthers.

Prioritysectors- (1)Agriculture(2)Micro,SmallandMediumEnterprises(3)ExportCredit(4)Education(5)Housing(6)SocialInfrastructure(7)RenewableEnergy

Total Priority Sector - 40 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC)$

Agriculture – 18% , Micro enterprise – 7.5%

Thereareanestimated48millionMSMEs inthecountrywhichprovideemploymentto11crorepeople,andcontributenearly45percentofmanufacturingoutputandaround

40percenttoIndia’sexports

SmallFinanceBankstogive75%ofnetbankcredittoprioritysector:RBI,SFBsarerequiredtoopenatleast25%ofitsbranchesinunbankedruralcentres.

Sinceitspilotstagein1992,theSHGProgrammehascomealongwayincoveringmorethan10 crore rural families.Ason31

stMarch, 2017 these

groupshadsavingsofmorethanRs 16,000 crore inbanks

Withmorethan8.5 crore rural women asthedirectparticipantsinthismassmovement

Aaykar Setunewtaxpayerservicemodule ‘Aaykar Setu’,waslaunched byShriArun Jaitley

CentralBoardofDirectTaxes(CBDT),adepartmentwithintheministryoffinance,hascomeupwithanappcalledAaykar Setu tohelpuserscarryoutbasictax-

relatedtasksontheirown.

ThetermAayakar meansincometaxandSetu standsforbridge.

Theprimaryobjectiveoftheappistohelpusersunderstandthevariousnuancesofdirecttaxes,fileincometax,applyforPAN(PermanentAccountNumber),checkTDS(taxdeductedatsource)statement,andevensharegrievanceswiththerightauthorities.Thereisalivechatoption,whichwillbeavailabletousersfrom10amto6pmandwillansweralltax-related

queries.

Forfilingcomplaintswiththetaxdepartment,thereisasectioncalled‘Gotaproblem’,whereuserscanregistertheirgrievances.Italsoallowsusersto

contactofficialsinCBDTorDirectorateofIncomeTax

Userscanreceivetimelynotificationsforimportantdatesandnewannouncementsrelatedtoincometax,byregisteringtheirmobilenumberin

theapp.

Oneofthekeyhighlightsoftheappisthatitallowsuserstolinktheir12-digitAadhaar numberwithPAN.FollowingtheSCrulingon9June,linking Aadhaar to PAN is mandatory forallexisting

Aadhaar cardholders.

Tomakeunderstandingtaxesmorefunandeasy,thedeveloperhasaddedaquizgamecalled Tax Gyaan.Itisdesignedtotest

users’knowledgeabouttaxesthroughmultiplechoicequestions.

GiftsuptoavalueofRs 50,000/- peryearbyanemployertohisemployeeareoutsidetheambitofGST.

However,giftsofvaluemorethanRs 50,000/- madewithoutconsiderationaresubjecttoGST,whenmadeinthecourseor

furtheranceofbusiness

MinistryofHealthsignsMoUwithGovernmentofWestBengaltosetupCentreofExcellenceinTransfusionMedicine

MinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfaresignedamemorandumofunderstanding(MoU)withGovernmentofWestBengaltoformalizeitssupporttosetupastate-of-the-artCentreofExcellenceinTransfusion

MedicineatKolkata,heretoday.GovernmentofIndiahasapprovedthisimportantinitiativewithan

outlayofapproximatelyRs.200Crorestowardsequipment,manpowerandrunningcosts.

IndianRailwaysOrganizationforAlternateFuel(IROAF)winsGolden Peacock Award forEcoInnovationfortheyear2017forintroducingecofriendlyandcostsaving

DualFuel1400HPDieselenginesonDEMUtrains.

forsubstitutionoffossilfuels(Diesel)byenvironmentfriendlyCNGinDEMUpassengertrainservices.UseofCNGinTrainSetsforpassengertransportationhas

beendoneforthefirsttimeintheworld.

TheCNGbaseddualfuel1400HPengineusedinDEMUtrainsdevelopedbyIROAFhassuccessfullysubstituteddieselfuelwithCNGupto 20%.ThisinnovationwillreduceemissionsconsiderablybybringingdownNOxby16%,CO2 by6%andParticulateMatterby18%besidesachievingeconomyinfuelcostby8%.

Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by the Institute Of Directors (IOD), India in 1991, are now regardedas a benchmark of Corporate Excellence worldwide. Golden Peacock awards have become a hallmark ofexcellence, both locally & globally. Based on internationally recognised criteria, the credibility of theseawards lies in the transparency depth & impartiality of the assessment process.

Present technology of 20% substitution of diesel by CNG, has potential to save uptoRs. 1360 crores annually if implemented over entire fleet of Diesel Locomotives of Indian Railways. Animproved technology of 40% substitution is at present being developed by IROAF. This will enhance thepotential of saving of fuel cost of IR to about Rs. 3400 crore per annum. The environmental benefits willalso double with this improved approach, if successful.future.

IndianPowerSector- AnUpdate , AllIndiaStatisticsofIndianPowerSectorarereleasedbyCentral Electricity Authority (CEA) today. Themainhighlightsare

asfollows:-GenerationCapacityAdditiontargetduringtheperiod2012-17fromconventional

sourceswas99,209.47MWagainstatargetof88,537 MW,overachievingthesameby112%.Conventionalgenerationcapacityadditionachievedinthepast3years(2014-15,2015-16&2016-17)hasbeen60,752.6MW,whichisabout61%ofthetotalcapacityadditionachieved

duringthisperiod.

In2015-16,conventionalgenerationcapacityadditionachievedwas23,976.6 MW whichisthelargestevercapacityadditioninasingleyear.

TheRenewableEnergySourcesinstalledcapacityason31.03.2014was31,692.14 MW.Ason31.03.2017,IndiahasachievedanInstalledCapacityof

57,260.2MWofRESshowinganincrease of 80% during 2014-2017.ThePeakDemandmetincreasedfrom130 GW in2013-14to157 GW in2016-17,whichworksouttoaCAGRof

6.5%.

Targetforrenewableenergy

1,75GWtill2022,1,00GWSolar,60GWWind,

10 GWBiomass5GWSmallHydro

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