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Dated : 3 March 2020

Topic Covered :

KISAN CREDIT CARD

Why in news?
The benefits of Kisan Credit card have been extended to those engaged in Pisciculture in
Rajasthan for providing short term loans to them, while covering the cost of establishing the
fisheries cost and their maintenance.

Highlights
1. Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme meets the financial requirements of farmers at
various stages of farming. The scheme aims at providing adequate and timely credit
support from the banking system under a single window with flexible and simplified
procedure to the farmers for their cultivation and other needs as indicated below:
a. To meet the short term credit requirements for cultivation of crops;
b. Post-harvest expenses;
c. Produce marketing loan;
d. Consumption requirements of farmer household;
e. Working capital for maintenance of farm assets and activities allied to
agriculture;
f. Investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities.
2. The KCC scheme also provides the facility of ATM enabled RuPay Card, one-time
documentation, built-in cost escalation in the limit and any number of drawals
within the limit.
3. The farmers eligible under the KCC scheme include small farmers, marginal farmers,
share croppers, oral lessee and tenant farmers. The Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint
Liability Groups (JLGs) are also eligible for availing benefits under the said scheme.

Source : PIB and HINDU

ATAL BHUJAL YOJANA

Why in news?
Andhra Pradesh is not in the list of states that benefitted from the 6000 crore Atal Bhujal
yojana.

Highlights :
1. In the scheme 8353 gram panchayats in seven states – Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and UP have been selected for the period
2020-21 to 2024-25.
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2. Under the central sector scheme, groundwater resources would be developed and
managed sustainably with community participation.
3. The scheme is being implemented with the financial assistance of the world bank
with a sharing pattern of 50:50 between the government of India and the World
Bank.
4. Two components of the scheme :
a. Institutional strengthening and capacity building for sustainable ground
water management in the states including improving monitoring networks,
capacity building, strengthening of water user associations.
b. Incentivising the states for achievements in improved groundwater
management practices namely data dissemination, preparation of water
security plans, implementation of management interventions through
convergence of ongoing schemes, adopting demand side management
practices, etc.

Source : HINDU AND TOI

INSTITUTES OF EXCELLENCE (IoE)

Why in news?
As per an investigation by Indian Express, two institutes – Kalinga Institute of Industrial
Technology (KIIT), Odisha and Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Tamil Nadu that were
declared IoE, do not meet the eligibility criteria on net worth.

Highlights :
1. Eligibility criteria :
a. The collective net worth of the sponsoring organisation should be 3000 crore
for existing institutes and 5000 crores for new ones.
2. Greater autonomy –
a. To admit foreign students up to 30% of admitted students;
b. To recruit foreign faculty upto 25% of faculty strength;
c. To offer online courses upto 20% of its programmes;
d. To enter into academic collaboration with top 500 in the world ranking
Institutions without permission of UGC;
e. Free to fix and charge fees from foreign students without restriction;
f. Flexibility of course structure in terms of number of credit hours and years to
take a degree;
g. Complete flexibility in fixing of curriculum and syllabus, among others.
3. Finance –
a. Each public Institution selected as ‘Institution of Eminence’ will get financial
assistance up to Rs. 1000 Crore over the period of five years under this
scheme.

Source : PIB and INDIAN EXPRESS

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IN-FLIGHT WIFI NETWORK

Why in news?
The Telecom Commission had given its green signal to in-flight connectivity of Internet and
mobile communications on aircraft in Indian airspace in 2018. The government has
permitted airlines operating in India to provide in-flight WiFi services to passengers.

Highlights :
1. The pilot “may permit the access of Internet services by passengers on board an
aircraft in flight, through Wi-Fi on board, when laptop, smartphone, tablet,
smartwatch, e-reader or a point of sale device is used in flight mode or airplane
mode”.
2. Technology :In-flight connectivity systems use two kinds of technologies.
a. One, an onboard antenna picks up signals from the nearest tower on the
ground, and unless the aircraft flying over a large space with no towers (such
as a water body), the connection will remain seamless up to a certain
altitude.
b. Otherwise, satellites can be used to connect to ground stations in the same
way that satellite TV signals are transmitted. Data is transmitted to a
personal electronic device through an onboard router, which connects to the
plane’s antenna. The antenna transmits the signals, through satellites, to a
ground station, which redirects the traffic to a billing server that calculates
the data consumption. It is then relayed to the intercepting servers, and to
the World Wide Web.
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c. Once flight mode is activated, the plane’s antenna will link to terrestrial
Internet services provided by telecom service providers; when the aircraft
has climbed to 3,000 m (normally 4-5 minutes after take-off), the antenna
will switch to satellite-based services. This way, there will be no break in
Internet services to passengers, and cross-interference between terrestrial
and satellite networks will be avoided.

Source : Indian Express

NOMINATIONS TO WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Why in news?
Nomination dossiers of ‘Dholavira: A Harappan City’ and ‘Monuments and Forts of Deccan
Sultanate’ have been submitted for inclusion in the World Heritage List for the year 2020

Highlights :
1. Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has submitted the proposal of ‘Group of Monuments at
Mandu’ in the year 2019. The dossier was further forwarded to World Heritage
Centre (WHC) for completeness check. Inputs received from WHC have been
conveyed to the State Government for further incorporation
2. India has 38 world heritage sites, making it the 6th largest number of world heritage
sites in the world.
3. There are 30 cultural sites, 7 natural sites and 1 mixed as recognised by UNESCO.

Source : PIB and UNESCO

Figure 1 Some of the world heritage sites of India

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