NATIONAL

Govt Launched Direct Cash Transfer Scheme in 20 Districts

On 1 January 2013 The government launched its scaled down Cash Transfer Benefit
(CBT) in 20 districts,but food, fertiliser and fuel subsidies will not be cover
ed in the initial phase. All 26 schemes are ready for rollout. On 1 January 2013
the seven schemes in which payout is due in the (20 selected) districts, the mo
ney will be transferred through the direct benefit transfer system using the UID
AI platform.The scheme is going to be rolled out in 43 districts by 1 March 2013
, 20 districts from January 1, 11 districts from February 1 and 12 districts fro
m March 1. By end of 2013, the direct cash benefit transfer will be rolled out i
n all the districts of the country.
PA Sangma launched National People s Party
PA Sangma, who broke away with the NCP in 2012 to contest the presidential elect
ions, though unsuccessfully, on 05 January 2013 launched National People s Party (
NPP), and chosen a book as its symbol. Sangma has chosen to align his party with
the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
President Released Stamps on Swami Vivekananda
On 12 January The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee released the Commemorative Po
stage Stamps, at the Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivek
ananda, in New Delhi .
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012
On 17 January According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012 rep
ort has found that learning levels have dipped to an all-time low. So, almost h
alf the 6-7 year-olds (Class I) in India cannot read even one letter in any lang
uage, over 57% cannot read any English while almost 40% cannot recognize numbers
between 1 and 9.The 12.8% children between Class I and V could not read a singl
e letter while 10.7% could not recognize numbers 1 to 9. The number of children
in Class V who could read Class II text fell from 53.7% in 2010 to 46.8% in 2012
. In 2010, seven out of 10 children could solve a two-digit subtraction problem
with borrowing. This has come down to five out of 10 in 2012.