1. RUSA- Launched by Ministry of Human Resource Development.

- Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS),

launched in 2013 aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational
institutions. The central funding (in the ratio of 65:35 for general category States and 90:10 for
special category states) would be norm based and outcome dependent. The funding would flow in
this way:
Central Ministry

States/ UTs

State Higher Education Councils

Identified Institutions.
- The salient objectives of RUSA are to;
a. Improve the overall quality of state institutions by ensuring conformity to prescribed norms and
standards and adopt accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
b. Usher transformative reforms in the state higher education system by creating a facilitating
institutional structure for planning and monitoring at the state level, promoting autonomy in State
Universities and improving governance in institutions.
c. Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination systems.
d. Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and ensure
capacity building at all levels of employment.
e. Create an enabling atmosphere in the higher educational institutions to devote themselves to
research and innovations.
f. Expand the institutional base by creating additional capacity in existing institutions and
establishing new institutions, in order to achieve enrolment targets.
g. Correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved
& underserved areas.
h. Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to
SC/STs and socially and educationally backward classes; promote inclusion of women, minorities,
and differently abled persons.
2. What is RSBY?
- RSBY was launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2008, has now been shifted to
the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare from April 1 2015, to provide health insurance coverage
for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
- The objective of RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities
arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization. Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to
hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization.
-Government has even fixed the package rates for the hospitals for a large number of

interventions. Pre-existing conditions are covered from day one and there is no age limit. Coverage extends to five members of the family which includes the head of household, spouse and
up to three dependents. Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central
and State Government pays the premium to the insurer selected by the State Government on the
basis of a competitive bidding.
- Under RSBY, smart cards are issued to BPL families.
3. PMKSY: 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY)
- In order to reduce farm sector's dependence on monsoon, the Centre approved a central scheme
for providing irrigation facility to every village by converging the ongoing schemes being
implemented by various ministries.
- The PMKSY was cleared at the Union Cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. The new scheme assumes importance as 65 per cent of the total 142 million hectare of
cultivable farm land in the country is still not covered by irrigation.
- The PMKSY aims to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural
farms in the country, to produce 'per drop more crop', thus bringing much desired rural prosperity.
- The scheme, with a budget allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for this fiscal, proposes to provide
flexibility and autonomy to states in the process of planning and executing projects for ensuring
water to every farm.
- It would also ensure that district and state irrigation plans get prepared on the basis of agroclimatic conditions and sources of availability of water in that region.
- That apart, PMKSY seeks to promote extension activities relating to 'on farm water management
and crop alignment' for farmers and grass root level field functionaries.
- The state agriculture department would be the nodal agency for implementation of PMKSY
projects, while there would also be an inter-ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) for
periodic review of the same.
- The PMKSY intends to focus on 'end-to-end solution' in irrigation supply chain by implementing
the new programme in a "project mode" with decentralised state-level planning and execution.
- A number of central schemes are operational to augment irrigation coverage. However, the goal
of bringing irrigation water to every village farm has still been far from reality, primarily due to
fragmented approach followed by existing schemes.
- PMKSY funds would be given to states as 75% grant by the central government and the
remaining 25% share is to be borne by the state government. For north-eastern region and hilly
states, the funding pattern would be 90:10.

4. Anganwadi Karyakartri Bima Yojana

- The Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers are getting insurance coverage under
Anganwadi Karyakartri Bima Yojana (AKBY). The Scheme operates with premium contributions
of Government of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India and the beneficiaries.
- The premium amount of Rs.80/- per annum payable by Anganwadi Workers & Helpers to LIC
under the Anganwadi Karyakartri Bima Yojana (AKBY) has been waived off for a further period
of two years i.e. from 01.04.2015 to 31.03.2017.
The Scheme provides the following compensation:
Natural Death
Rs.30,000/Accident:
Death/Total permanent disability
Rs.75,000/Partial Permanent disability
Rs.37,500/Female Critical Illness (FCI) Benefits: An amount of Rs.20,000/- is payable on the diagnosis of
invasive cancers (malignant tumour) manifest in the following organs (subject to proof of
affliction satisfactory to Corporation):
Breast
Cervix Uteri
Corpus Uteri
Ovaries
Fallopian Tubes
Vaginal/Vulva
- Shiksha Sahayog Yojana: A free add-on scholarship benefit is available for the children of
AWWs and AWHs. Scholarship of Rs.300/- per quarter for students 9th to 12th Standard
(including ITI Courses) is available for maximum 2 children per family.
5. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA)
- It is under Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry to uplift rural India.
- All higher educational institutions (HEIs) to adopt backward villages in their vicinity, and apply
their knowledge and expertise to improving the infrastructure in the gram panchayats under their
watch.
- Some of the tasks that the Ministry would like HEIs to take up include sanitation, drinking water
supply, energy including renewable energy, agriculture and allied activities, irrigation, affordable
housing, improving educational and health facilities, besides making panchayats IT-efficient.

6. Sehat' : Unique Initiative for Health Care Launched

- The digitalization initiative of the Government is to build a truly inclusive and enlightened India.
The unique initiative for health care in India-SEHAT launched is an initiative in furtherance to
Government's commitment to empower rural citizens in having access to information, knowledge,
skills and other services in various sectors through the intervention of digital technologies and

fulfilling the vision of a Digital India.

- The Government was working to mainstream the underprivileged classes to come at par and to
develop the rural community both socially and economically so as to build an inclusive and
enlightened India.
- Digital India program is to transform India into a digitally empowered society so as to share the
fruits of development with every section of the society especially those living in rural India.
Digitally empowered rural women can truly address the issues of structural imbalances and
poverty.
7. MGNREGA:
- The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, also known as the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is an Indian labour law and social security measure.
Aims:
a. To guarantee the right to work and ensure livelihood security in rural areas.
b. To create durable assets that would augment the basic resources available to the poor.
c. To follow the Directive Principles of State Policy enunciated in Part IV of the Constitution of
India and conforms to the Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that defines
the right to work as a basic human right.
How?
- By providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every
household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
More Details:
- The provisions of the law also adhere to the principles enunciated in the Constitution of India
under Article 21 of the Constitution of India that guarantees the right to life with dignity to every
citizen of India.
- This law guarantees the right to work to the people of India and hence is termed as a
Peoples Act.
- It is believed that targeting poverty through employment generation is the effective way to
alleviate poverty.
- Employment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is a guaranteed legal right. The major
responsibility of the implementation rests with Panchayati Raj institutions.
- Previous employment guarantee schemes (EGS) like Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
(SGRY) Programme and National Food For Work Programme (NFFWP) were merged with
MGNREGA to make it more effective.
- The Act sets a minimum limit to the wages, to be paid with gender equality. The states are
required to evolve a set of norms for the measurement of works and schedule of rates. The
unemployment allowance must be paid if the work is not provided within the statutory limit of 15
days.

8. Mission Indradhanush:
- an initiative launched by the Union Health Ministry on 25th December 2014, as a special drive to
vaccinate all unimmunised and partially immunised children and pregnant women by 2020, under
the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in the country.
- was launched by the Health & Family Welfare Ministry. The Mission was launched on Good
Governance Day to mark the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Madan Mohan Malaviya and
birthday of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Aim:
- The Mission Indradhanush, depicting seven colours of the rainbow, aims to cover all those
children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine
preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis,
measles and hepatitis B.
9. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana:
-The government has set a target of achieving 100% literacy in villages adopted under the Sansad
Adarsh Gram Yojana by March 2016.
- It is a village development project under which each MP will take the responsibility of
developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019. The district Collector
will be the nodal officer for implementing the SAGY
- The scheme will be implemented through a village development plan that would be prepared for
every identified gram panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out
of poverty.
- The constituency fund, MPLADS, would be available to fill critical financing gaps.
The planning process in each village will be a participatory exercise coordinated by the District
Collector. The MP will play an active facilitating role in this exercise.
- SAGY gives focus to community participation. Social mobilization of village community can
trigger a chain of other development activities in the village. For instance, reducing risk
behaviours like alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse (drugs/tobacco/gutkha etc) among all age
groups of population.
- Women participation in the decision-making process will be encouraged.

10. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Rurban Mission:

- aimed at transforming rural areas to economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces.
- It primarily aims at development of rural clusters which have latent potential for growth in all
States, which would trigger overall development in the region. The Rurban Mission will thus
develop a cluster of smart villages.
11. PM unveiled three gold-related schemes, namely
(i) Gold Monetisation Scheme,
(ii) Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and

(iii) Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme.

Gold Monetisation Scheme :
- Under the GMS, resident Indians (classified as individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, Trusts
including Seri-registered Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds) can deposit gold at
collection and purity testing centres certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
- The deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness of gold and the
principal and interest of the deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold. The terms of
deposit range from short-term deposits (1-3years), medium-term deposits (5-7years) and longterm deposits (12-15 years).
- The minimum deposit at any one time shall be raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones
and other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fineness. There is no maximum limit for
deposit under the scheme.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme :
- Under the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India will issue Gold Bonds on
behalf of the Government of India. The Bonds will be sold through banks and designated
postoffices as may be notified.
- As with the GMS, the GoldBonds will be sold only to Indian entities including
individuals,HUFs, trusts, Universities, charitable institutions. They will be denominated in
multiples of gram(s)of gold with a basic unit of one gram.
- The Bonds will be for a tenor of eight years, with an exit option from the 5th year. Those buying
the bonds will not be allowed to purchase less than two grams-worth of bonds and not more than
500grams-worth per person per financial year.
National gold coins
- Under the Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme, the government will issue gold coins, the first ever
national gold coins, which will have the Ashok Chakra engraved on them.
- Initially, coins of five grams and 10grams will be available, soon to be followed by a 20 gram
bar.The government will make available 15,000 coins of five grams, 20,000 coins of 10 grams and
3,750gold bars.
- The Indian Gold coin is unique in many aspects and will carry advanced anti-counterfeit features
and tamper proof packaging that will aid easy re-cycling.
12. Vidya Lakshmi Portal:
- To ensure that the information about loans is available to everyone and the process of applying
for educational loans is hassle-free, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov)
has launched the Vidya Lakshmi Portal.
- The portal has been developed under the guidance of Department of Financial Services, Ministry
of Finance, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and
Indian Banks Association (IBA).

- Portal provides a single window mechanism for Students to access information and make
application for Educational Loans provided by Banks and also Government Scholarships.
- While 24 banks have registered, only eight have integrated their system with the portal for
providing loan processing status to the students. All the remaining banks are requested to take
steps to integrate with the portal.
13. Neeranchal
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given approval to implement the World
Bank assisted National Watershed Development Project "Neeranchal" .
- The project will be implemented at the national level as well as in the 9 states of Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan & Telangana.
Funding
- 50% funding will be borne by the Govt. & the rest will be assisted by World Bank in the form of
loan.
- Neeranchal is designed to further strengthen & provide technical assistance to the Watershed
Component of PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana).
Challenges for Watershed development :
a) enhanced participation of communities
b) building stronger capacities and systems to plan
c) Implementation & Monitoring, and
d) post-project sustainability of local institutions and assets.
14. Sagar Mala project :
- It is a strategic and customer-oriented initiative of the Government of India.
Aim :
(a) to modernize India's Ports so that port-led development can be augmented and coastlines can
be developed to contribute in India's growth.
(b) transforming the existing Ports into modern world class Ports and integrate the development of
the Ports, the Industrial clusters and hinterland and efficient evacuation systems through road, rail,
inland and coastal waterways resulting in Ports becoming the drivers of economic activity in
coastal areas.
15. The government can finally start deploying funds from the Self-Employment and Talent
Utilisation (SETU) scheme and the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) announced in the Union
Budget for 2015-16 to promote startups and scientific research.
- While the AIM would focus on inviting aspiring entrepreneurs to solve Indias contemporary
socio-economic problems via grand challenges that offer substantial awards to incubate and
scale up winning ideas, the SETU schemes resources would be devoted to strengthening
incubators and setting up tinkering labs where ideas can be shaped into prototypes before
they are ripe for funding.

- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had allocated Rs1,000 crore to the SETU scheme and Rs150 crore
for AIM.
- Half of the funds under SETU would be earmarked for strengthening existing incubators in the
country, backed by diferent departments, so that the support mechanism for budding entrepreneurs
is more robust.
- The rest, Rs 500 crore, would be used for setting up tinkering labs, where students can literally
potter about and create prototypes and models of their ideas with the ability to demonstrate basic
functions.
16. PMFBY :
- Faced with two consecutive drought years, the Centre cleared a crop insurance scheme under
which farmers premium has been kept at a maximum of 2% for foodgrains and oilseeds and up
to 5% for horticulture/cotton crops.
- To be rolled out from the kharif season this year, the much awaited scheme Pradhan Mantri
Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was cleared at the Cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
- PMFBY will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well
as Modified NAIS which have had some inherent drawbacks.
- Under this scheme, 90% premium money will be paid by the Centre and not just the fully grown
crop but even the stem will be insured.
- The government liability on premium subsidy would be shared by the Central and State
governments on a 50:50 basis. The scheme will have a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by
the farmers for all kharif crops and 1.5% for all rabi crops. In case of annual commercial crops
such as cotton and horticultural crops, it will be only 5%.
- The premium rates to be paid by farmers are kept very low and the balance premium will be paid
by the government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of
natural calamities.
- There is no upper limit on government subsidy. Even if the balance premium is 90%, it will be
borne by the government.
- Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in
claim payment and remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
17. High-power body to lead Namami Gange :
- The Central government will be setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for its ambitious
programme 'Namami Gange or Clean Ganga initiative.
- The Chief Secretaries of all States through which the Ganga passes will be made members of the
board of this SPV, as would select municipal commissioners of big cities on the Ganga route.
Various Ministries Involved in This Project :
- As of now, the Clean Ganga project involves the Ministries of Water Resources, Urban
Development, Environment and Forests, Roads and Highways and Rural Development and

Sanitation. It is hoped that an SPV will help coalesce all these diferent strands into one coherent
plan."
18. Indian Government, World Bank signs a loan agreement for Neeranchal National
Watershed Project.
- The Government of India has signed a loan agreement with World Bank for the Neeranchal
National Watershed Project.
- The project to be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development over a 6-year period
(2016-21) will support the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana in hydrology and water
management, agricultural production systems, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation.
- The Neeranchal project was approved by the cabinet in October last year with a total budget
outlay of Rs.2142 crore with the Government share of Rs.1071 crore and the rest 50% by the
World Bank.
- All 29 states which implement the watershed projects will benefit from Neeranchal and 9 states
of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Rajasthan and Telangana will benefit more from the project due to an implementation of a large
number of watershed schemes in these states.
- The 12% of the area which can be called as wasteland will be targeted through this project to
make about 336 lakh hectares of land arable. The effective implementation of the scheme will go a
long way in strengthening the economic conditions of the farming community.
19. ATUFS (Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme) :
- The CCEA, chaired by PM, has approved the introduction of "Amended Technology
Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS)" in place of the existing Revised Restructured Technology
Upgradation Fund Scheme (RRTUFS), for technology upgradation of the textiles industry, with
effect from the date of notification of the scheme.
- The new scheme specifically targets:
a. Employment generation and export by encouraging apparel and garment industry, which will
provide employment to women in particular and increase Indias share in global exports.
b. Promotion of Technical Textiles, a sunrise sector, for export and employment
c. Promoting conversion of existing looms to better technology looms for improvement in quality
and productivity
d. Encouraging better quality in processing industry and checking need for import of fabrics by
the garment sector.
- The amended scheme would give a boost to Make in India in the textiles sector; it is
expected to attract investment to the tune of one lakh crore rupees, and create over 30 lakh jobs.
- The implementation of the scheme would be executed and monitored online under iTUFS,
launched in April, 2015.

- Under the new scheme, there will be two broad categories:

i. Apparel, Garment and Technical Textiles, where 15 percent subsidy would be provided on
capital investment, subject to a ceiling of 30 crore rupees for entrepreneurs over a period of five
years.
ii. Remaining sub-sectors would be eligible for subsidy at a rate of 10 percent, subject to a ceiling
of Rs.20 crore on similar lines.
20. Viability Gap Funding Scheme :
- Government of India has notified a scheme for Viability Gap Funding to infrastructure projects
that are to be undertaken through Public Private Partnerships.
- It will be a Plan Scheme to be administered by the Ministry of Finance with suitable budgetary
provisions to be made in the Annual Plans on a year-to- year basis.
- Support under this scheme is available only for infrastructure projects where private sector
sponsors are selected through a process of competitive bidding.
21. UD Ministry comes out with Smart National Common Mobility Card model :
- The Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a Smart National Common Mobility
Card (NCMC) model to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transport systems
across the country besides retail shopping and purchases.
- Globally, there is no nationwide common card except in Singapore where in inter-operability is
confined to city only.
Functions of this payment card :
- This Smart Common Mobility Payment Card addresses the deficiencies associated with other
cards being used in Singapore and other countries.
- This card meets travel needs based on stored value of money and can be used for travelling
by any means of transport and also enables account based retail applications. - Accordingly, this
card does away with the need for carrying separate cards for banking and transit requirements.
22. Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency :
- The Govt. proposes to set up MUDRA Bank for granting loans to small entrepreneurs. It will
be established through a statutory enactment.
- A sum of Rs. 20,000 crore would be allocated to the MUDRA Bank from the money available
from shortfalls of Priority Sector Lending for creating a Refinance Fund to provide refinance to
the Last Mile Financers.
- Another Rs. 3,000 crore would be provided to the MUDRA Bank from the budget to create a
Credit Guarantee corpus for guaranteeing loans being provided to the micro enterprises.
- MUDRA Bank will operate through regional level financing institutions who in turn will connect
with last mile lenders such as MFIs, Small Banks, Primary Credit Cooperative Societies, Self Help
Groups (SHGs), NBFC (other than MFI) and other lending institutions.
- MUDRA Bank will refinance Micro-Finance Institutions through a Pradhan Mantri
Mudra Yojana (PMMY).
- In lending, priority will be given to SC/ST enterprises. These measures will greatly increase

the confidence of young, educated or skilled workers who would not be able to aspire to become
first generation entrepreneurs; existing small businesses, too will be able to expand their activities.
- Since the MUDRA Bank will be set up through an enactment of law and it will take some
time. To begin with, the same is being operationalised as a subsidiary of Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
23. #100 Women Initiative :
- The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has sought increased participation of
people in nominating women achievers for its #100 Women Initiative launched in collaboration
with Facebook.
- Through this unique initiative, the Government wishes to acknowledge and recognize 100
women achievers who have contributed to community and nation building across the
country.
- The #100Women Initiative involves a contest to select 100 women achievers of India
through public nominations via social media and was launched on 15th July, 2015.
24. Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) launched :
- to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the
funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).

Objectives of the scheme :

(i) to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas
that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central Government
(ii) to minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health
and socio-economics of people in mining districts
(iii) to ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas
Areas of focus :
- High priority areas like drinking water supply, health care, sanitation, education, skill
development, women and child care, welfare of aged and disabled people, skill development and
environment conservation will get at least 60 % share of the funds.
- funds will be spent on making roads, bridges, railways, waterways projects, irrigation and
alternative energy sources.
25. Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) :
- The Union Cabinet has approved this program in Higher Education.
Aim :
(i) to tap the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs, internationally (and not only
western or a specific country).
(ii) to encourage their engagement with the institutes of Higher Education in India so as to
augment the countrys existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and
elevate Indias scientific and technological capacity to global excellence.

26. AIDS PREVENTION: CENTRE LAUNCHES PROJECT SUNRISE IN MANIPUR

- Project Sunrise was launched in Manipur.
Q. What is Project Sunrise?
Ans- Project Sunrise is a 5 year programme which would complement the ongoing National AIDS
Control Programme (NACP) that involves primarily improving coverage, quality and scale of HIV
interventions among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in eight North East States.
- The Centre is working towards bringing the people living with HIV/AIDS into the national
mainstream. The new initiative will cover one lakh people living with HIV/AIDS giving them
treatment and care facilities free of cost.
- The activities of the project are to be implemented through the existing system in close coordination with State AIDS Control Societies (SACS) in the North-Eastern states.
- Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram have the highest adult HIV prevalence in the country.
- In comparison to other Indian states, North East has some 100,000 people living with this
condition.
27. Bio- digester based toilet :
- It is the next age Sanitation Technology which :
(a) does not require Sewage system,
(b) does not pollute water,
(c) recharges the ground water and
(d) saves government resources by eliminating the need for maintenance of sewage system.
- No evacuation of bio digester tank for lifetime is needed, hence, eliminating manual
scavenging in any form (as night soil, as a dried manure in single and twin pit toilets ).
- The effluent water is free of any disease carrying pathogens, free of odour and colourless.
Effluent water is safe. Additionally, it recharges water table with clean water.
28. 2 Types of Indradhanush Plan :
(i) On Public Sector Banking Reforms :
- The Indradhanush package was announced on 14th August, 2015 for transforming Public
Sector Banks (PSBs) through a bottoms-up approach. It represents the most comprehensive
reform effort undertaken since banking nationalisation in 1970.
- The framework mainly comprised of appointments, Banks Board Bureau (BBB), capitalization
plan, de-stressing, empowerment, framework of accountability and governance reforms among
others.
(ii) Mission Indradhanush, depicting seven colours of the rainbow, aims to cover all those
children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against seven
vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio,
tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.
29. 'India Handloom brand goes Social !

- The Government of India has started a promotional campaign for the India Handloom
Brand.
- The campaign seeks to make handloom products aspirational, especially among the younger
generation, by instilling in them a sense of pride in wearing handloom products.
- It is an initiative of the Ministry of Textiles, for branding of high quality handloom products
from different parts of India.
- 1st National Handloom Day was celebrated on Aug 7, 2015.
30. Setubharatam is a scheme for building bridges and rail over bridges on national highways.
* Bharatmala is a Road network to be built all along the borders and coastal areas.
31. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana :
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi, has approved Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana - Scheme for Providing Free LPG
connections to Women from BPL Households.
- Under the scheme, Rs 8000 crore has been earmarked for providing five crore LPG connections
to BPL households for over 3 financial years. The Scheme provides a financial support of Rs 1600
for each LPG connection to the BPL households.
- The identification of eligible BPL families will be made in consultation with the State
Governments and the Union Territories. This Scheme would be implemented over three years,
namely, the FY 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
- The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Funding :
- The scheme, launched at Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, is to be partially funded from the savings
accruing to the government from LPG users who gave up their subsidy as part of the Give It Up
programme.
- Over one crore consumers have given up their subsidy, leading to savings of nearly Rs. 2,000
crore per year. This money would be utilised to provide LPG connections to BPL families.
- The households will be selected using the socio-economic and caste census data.
- Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in
the country and this will empower women and protect their health.
- Apart from those who voluntarily gave up their LPG connections, those earning Rs. 10 lakh or
more a year have been deemed ineligible for the subsidy.
32.