1. Indian Heritage

• Culture

• Modern Indian history

• The Freedom Struggle

 

• Post-independence

• Indian Society

A. population and associated issues

B. poverty and developmental issues

C.urbanization

   7. Geographical features

8.Indian Constitution

9. Polity

 

 

10. Governance

A. institutions

B. regulatory

C. Government policies

D. role of NGOs

E. measures

11. Social Justice

A. Welfare schemes

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

For transparent calculation and settlement of claims by insurance companies, claims module namely, DigiClaim has been developed and implemented w.e.f. Kharif 2022 season wherein all the claims are worked out through National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) instead of by insurance company and paid to farmers accounts using Public Finance Management System (PFMS),   which can be monitored by Central and State Government.  Farmers do not operate the DigiClaim module and only GoI & State Govt. functionaries have access to it. However, on settlement of claims, a SMS with a link is sent to the farmer from which farmer can track the status of payment of claims.  

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana operational guidelines provide for stratified grievance redressal mechanism. At the initial level, for grievance redressal, each block & district have designated block/district level grievance redressal officer to respond to the grievances of Farmers, Banks, Insurance Companies etc. within 7 days of receipt of grievance. In case of dissatisfaction at block level, the matter can be brought before District Level Grievance Redressal Committee (DGRC) headed by the District Magistrate/Collector. In case of disagreement with the decision by any party at district level; the same is represented to the State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) within 15 days from the decision of DGRC.  SGRC is headed by Principal Secretary/Secretary of Nodal Department. The SGRC has to dispose the grievance within 15 days time of receipt of grievance. The decision of the Committee shall be accepted by all the parties.

A Krishi Rakshak Portal & Helpline – a single toll-free phone number integrated grievance redressal mechanism having digital portal and a call centre has been developed to enable farmers to lodge their grievances/concerns/queries. This Krishi Rakshak Portal & Helpline was launched on pilot basis for Chhattisgarh

National Crop insurance Portal (NCIP) was launched in April, 2018 and henceforth it is being upgraded with new functionalities time to time to develop it as a centralized IT platform to ensure the better administration, coordination, transparency and centralized data source for getting real time information and monitoring in a phased manner. NCIP is a web-based portal for crop insurance (https://pmfby.gov.in) that facilitates to digitize the processes of PMFBY like notification, farmer enrolment through various channels like Banks, CSC, Intermediaries etc and claim calculation. It also enables the utilities to manage the processes under the IT setup. NCIP captures the entire data relating to insured crops and also serves as the repository for the data relating to the crop insurance scheme. 

First Meeting of National Traders’ Welfare Board 

The first meeting of the National Traders’ Welfare Board (NTWB), constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), was held on 5th December, 2023 at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi under the chairmanship of Shri Sunil J. Singhi.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade had constituted National Traders’ Welfare Board for the Welfare of Traders and their employees. NTWB has been constituted to advise the Government for the fulfilment of the following objectives:

• To identify policy measures to achieve the objective of welfare of traders and their employees.
• To suggest simplifications in the Acts and Rules applicable to traders.
• To make recommendations to reduce the compliance burden of traders.
• To improve access to funds for traders.
• To make recommendations regarding social security benefits like insurance, pension, healthcare etc., for traders and their employees.
• To make recommendations to address any other problems and issues of traders and their employees.

The Board consist of the following members:

• One Chairperson (Non-Official)
• Up to 5 members (Non-Official) having special knowledge of matters relating to the technical or other aspects of retail trade
• Up to 10 members (Non-Official) representing Trade Associations.
• One Non-Official member representing each State and Union Territory
• 9 Ex-officio representatives from Ministries/Departments.
• Joint Secretary, DPIIT (dealing with Internal Trade) shall be the Convener of the Board.

RASHTRIYA VAYOSHRI YOJANA

As per the Census figures of 2011, the population of senior citizens in India is 10.38 crore. More than 70% of the population of senior citizens live in rural areas of the country. A sizeable percentage (5.2%) of the senior citizens suffers from some sort of disabilities related to old age. Projections indicate that the number of elderly population will increase to around 173 million by 2026. 1.2 The Central Government proposes a new Central Sector Scheme to be put in place to provide Physical aids and Assisted Living Devices for such senior citizens suffering from age related disabilities/ infirmities, who belong to BPL category. Accordingly, the following scheme is hereby formulated for bringing such senior citizens into active life and to build an age-friendly society by providing them with devices to maintain near normalcy in mobility, communication and independence. 2. Aims and Objectives The Central Sector Scheme aims at providing senior citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age related disability/infirmity mentioned in Para 4, with such assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions. The assistive devices shall be of high quality and conforming to the standards laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards, wherever applicable.

Scope of the Scheme The beneficiaries of the Scheme shall include Senior Citizens of BPL Category suffering from any of the age related infirmities as indicated in para 4 of the Scheme. For loss of vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and for loco-motor disability requiring wheelchair, a certificate from any Government Medical Officer shall suffice. For other simple devices stated in para 5 (items 1 to 4), the implementing agencies shall satisfy themselves as to the eligibility of the Senior Citizen to receive the device. 4. The Scheme aims to address following types of disability/infirmity:- (i) Low Vision; (ii) Hearing impairment; (iii) Loss of teeth; and (iv) Locomotor disability.

 

 

B Health

India Ageing Report 2023

The “India Ageing Report 2023” has been prepared by the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) and International Institute of Population Sciences(IIPS), on welfare of senior citizens in India. However, the Government of India has already been addressing the challenges and opportunities related to elderly care through various constitutional provisions, like, Article 41 of the Constitution of India; through laws, like the, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007; policies, like the, National Policy on Older Persons, 1999; Schemes and Programmes, like, Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana, Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Atal Pension Yojana, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, among others.

The Government of India through its schemes and programmes is collaborating with Non-Governmental/Voluntary Organizations, Regional Resource Training Centres and National Institute of Social Defence for implementing its programs, including capacity building. The Private Sector already has provision to work in the field of elderly welfare through Corporate Social Responsibility as per provisions of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013.

C. Education

D. Human Resources

E. poverty and hunger

12. International relations

A. India and its neighbourhood

B. groupings and agreements

C.Indian diaspora

13. Economic Development

A. Government Budgeting

B. industrial

FARMING AND FORESTRY

he Government is cognizant that blending of farming and forestry has number of advantages.  Therefore, keeping in view the importance of Agroforestry, a land use system that integrates trees and shrubs on farmlands and rural landscapes to enhance productivity, profitability, diversity and ecosystem sustainability, natural resource management system through integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production and builds social institutions; the Government has formulated the National Agroforestry Policy-2014. The policy envisages encouraging and expanding tree plantation in complementarity and integrated manner with crops and livestock to improve productivity, employment, income and livelihoods of rural households, especially the smallholder farmers. It also focuses on protecting and stabilizing ecosystems and promoting resilient cropping and farming systems to minimize the risk during extreme climatic events.

      As recommended in the National Agroforestry Policy; Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF) was launched in the year 2016-17 to encourage tree plantation on farm land with the aim of “Har Medh Par Ped”, along with crops/ cropping system to help the farmers get additional income. Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF) was implemented from 2016-17 to 2021-22. Presently, the restructured Agroforestry Component is being implemented under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and focuses on Quality Planting Material. Agroforestry is known to have the potential   to mitigate the climate change effects through microclimate moderation, conservation of natural resources and creation of an additional source of livelihood and income opportunities. The scheme is implemented with objectives to encourage and expand tree plantation in a complementary and integrated manner with crops to improve productivity, additional income generation and improved livelihoods of rural households, especially the small farmers. 

India Infrastructure Report 2023

About IIR 2023

The India Infrastructure Report (IIR) 2023 contains 25 chapters by prominent names in the urban development and policy ecosystem on the current state of urban development in India.

This annual publication has been instrumental in identifying and analyzing legal, fiscal, regulatory, technological, social, and conceptual aspects related to contemporary themes relevant to infrastructure development. This makes it an invaluable resource for those involved in formulating urban policy, as well as for those interested in the development of India’s infrastructure and urbanization, such as policy makers, investors, academics, financiers, and multilateral agencies.

Key Highlights of the India Infrastructure Report 2023:

• Spotlight on the transformative potential of digital technology in shaping the urban landscape of India. Focus areas include the concept of ‘smart cities’ and the significance of performance ranking criteria.
• Examination of financial dimensions of urban development, with a special emphasis on public-private partnerships (PPPs), the financial sustainability of urban local bodies, and the efficacy of municipal bonds as potent financing instruments.
• Urban transportation planning and urban redevelopment as pivotal components of effective urban governance through transit-oriented development, efficient urban goods movement, and floor space and land price regulation in India.

E.issues

14. Technology

 

15. Environment

As fireworks light up night sky, air pollution spikes to 120 times WHO limit

16. Security

            Cyber Crime

Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cyber crime through their Law Enforcement Agencies. The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through  advisories  and  financial  assistance  under  various  schemes for their capacity building of their LEAs. To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include the following:

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to deal with all types of cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.

2. Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been constituted for Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam, and Guwahati under I4C covering the whole country based upon cyber crime hotspots/ areas having multi jurisdictional issues by on boarding States/UTs to enhance the coordination framework among the Law Enforcement Agencies of the States/UTs. Seven workshops were organized for JCCTs at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow, Ranchi and Chandigarh in 2023.
3. The state of the art ‘National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation)’ has been established, as a part of the I4C, at New Delhi to provide early stage cyber forensic assistance to Investigating Officers (IOs) of State/UT Police. So far, National Cyber Forensics Laboratory (Investigation) have provided its services to State LEAs in around 8,840 cyber forensics like mobile forensics, memory forensics, CDR Analysis, etc. to help them in investigation of cases pertaining to cyber crimes.
4. The ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched, as a part of the I4C, to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT Law Enforcement Agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law.

L.S.US.Q.N.O. 455 FOR 05.12.2023

5. The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, under I4C, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters. So far, financial amount of more than Rs. 930 Crore have been saved in more than 3.80 lakh complaints. A toll-free Helpline number ‘1930’ has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.
6. The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, namely ‘CyTrain’ portal has been developed under I4C, for capacity building of police officers/judicial officers through online course on critical aspects of cyber crime investigation, forensics, prosecution etc. along with certification. More than 72,800 Police Officers from States/UTs are registered and more than 50,000 Certificates issued through the portal.

vii. Till date more than 2.45 lakhs SIM cards and 42,000 IMEIs as reported by Police authorities have been blocked by Government of India.

8. I4C has imparted cyber hygiene training to 5,600 officials of various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India.

9. I4C has imparted cyber hygiene training to more than 17,000 NCC cadets.
10. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 122.24 crores under the ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)’ Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of  junior cyber  consultants  and training of LEAs’ personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers. So far, cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 33 States/UTs. So far, more than 24,600 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cyber crime awareness, investigation, forensics etc.
11. National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Evidence) has been set up at Hyderabad. Establishment of this laboratory provides the necessary forensic support in cases of evidence related to cyber crime, preserving the evidence and its analysis in line with the provisions of IT Act and Evidence Act; and reduced turnaround time.
12. To spread awareness on cyber crime, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include; dissemination of messages through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. X (formerly Twitter) (@Cyberdost), Facebook(CyberDostI4C), Instagram(cyberdostI4C), Telegram(cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple mediums, organizing Cyber Safety and Security Awareness weeks in association with States/UTs, publishing of Handbook for Adolescents/Students, etc. The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness.

Naxalite Activities

As per Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, subjects of Police and Public Order are with the State Governments. However, the Government of India (GoI) has been supplementing the efforts of States affected by left wing extremism (LWE). To address the problem of LWE holistically, a National Policy and Action Plan to address Left Wing Extremism (LWE) was approved in 2015. It envisages a multi-pronged strategy involving security related measures, development interventions, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities etc. While on security front, the Central Government assists the LWE affected State Governments by providing Central Armed Police Forces battalions, training, provision of funds through schemes like Security Related Expenditure (SRE) and Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), funds for modernization of State police forces, equipment & arms, sharing of intelligence, construction of Fortified Police Stations etc; on development side, the Central Government has taken various measures including construction of roads, installation of mobile towers, improving network of banks, post offices, health and education facilities in the LWE areas.

Under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme funds are provided to LWE affected states for capacity building of the States through provisions of ex-gratia to the family of civilian/security forces killed in LWE violence, training and operational needs of security forces, rehabilitation of surrendered LWE cadre, community policing, compensation to security force personnel/civilians for property damage by left wing extremists, etc. Under the scheme, Rs. 1648.23 crore have been released to the LWE affected states since 2018-19. This includes Rs. 587.96 crore for Chhattisgarh.

Strengthening of Special Forces (SFs), Special Intelligence Branches (SIBs) and District police: Under Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), works of Rs. 969.80 crore have been sanctioned for Strengthening of the Special Forces (SFs)/ Special Intelligence Branches (SIBs) and District Police, since 2017-18 for LWE affected states, which include works for Rs. 276.20 crore for Chhattisgarh.

Fortified Police Stations (FPS): 704 FPSs, including 148 for Chhattisgarh, have been sanctioned for LWE affected states. Of these, 603 FPSs, including 120 in Chhattisgarh have been constructed. Of the constructed 603 FPSs, 537 FPSs have been constructed after May-2014. (v) To give further impetus for development in the most LWE affected districts, funds are provided to the States under ‘Special Central Assistance (SCA)’ to fill the critical gaps in public infrastructure and services. Rs. 3249.78 crore has been released to the LWE affected states since 2018-19. This include Rs. 921.20 crore released to the state of Chhattisgarh.

On development front, apart from flagship schemes of Government of India (GoI), several specific initiatives have been taken in LWE affected States, with special thrust on expansion of road network, improving Telecomm connectivity, skill development and financial inclusion

Phase-II of ICJS

he Information Technology (IT) systems for criminal justice delivery established in the country primarily consists of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems i.e. CCTNS (for police), eForensics (for the Forensic Science Laboratories), eProsecution (for public prosecutors), eCourts(for courts) and ePrisons (for Prisons). These IT systems are stand-alone systems functional in all States/ Union Territories. The phase-II of the ICJS Project will inter-link these stand-alone  IT  systems  for  seamless  data  exchange  and  also  provide new technologies for smart policing. The objectives of ICJS Phase-II are as under:-

1. 1. Facilitate seamless integration between the various data sets of Police, Prisons, Forensics, Prosecution and Courts.
2.  

2. Enhance data quality by reducing errors in data entry.
3.  

3. Increase effectiveness and timeliness in investigations, and consequently in trials, due to easy access of data between pillars.
4.  

4. Enable effective use of data analytics and modern tools available in the investigations.
5.  

5. Reduce dependence on paper records in decision-making.
6.  
7. Enable a shift towards “SMART Policing”.

The components of ICJS Phase-II are as under:-

1. Hardware (application servers and client-end systems)
2. Software update for ICJS
3. ICJS development and management
4. Network connectivity
5. IT infrastructure (dedicated and secure cloud-based)
6. Operations & maintenance
7. Awareness & capacity building

 

 

17. Disaster Management