PIB 19th March 2021

PRADHAN MANTRI FASAL BIMA YAJANA (PMFBY)

Focus: GS II- Welfare Schemes

Why in news?

PM writes to a farmer on crop insurance scheme

About Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched on 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an insurance service for farmers for their yields.
• PMFBY is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme.
• The PMFBY will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.
• The Scheme shall be implemented through a multi-agency framework by selected insurance companies under the overall guidance & control of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India (GOI) and the concerned State in co-ordination with various other agencies.
• Premium cost over and above the farmer share is equally subsidized by States and the Central Government of India. However, the Central Government shares 90% of the premium subsidy for North Eastern States to promote the uptake in the region.

Objectives

• To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
• To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
• To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
• To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.

Beneficiaries: All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.

Coverage of Crops:

• Oil seeds
• Food crop
• Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops.
• In addition, for perennial crops, pilots for coverage can be taken for those perennial horticultural crops for which standard methodology for yield estimation is available.

Risks covered under the scheme

• Prevented Sowing/Planting/Germination Risk: Insured area is prevented from sowing/planting/germination due to deficit rainfall or adverse seasonal/weather conditions.
• Standing Crop (Sowing to Harvesting): Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, viz. Drought, Dry spell, Flood, Inundation, widespread Pests and Disease attack, Landslides, Fire due to natural causes, Lightening, Storm, Hailstorm and Cyclone.
• Post-Harvest Losses: Coverage is available only up to a maximum period of two weeks from harvesting, for those crops which are required to be dried in cut and spread / small bundled condition in the field after harvesting against specific perils of Hailstorm, Cyclone, Cyclonic rains and Unseasonal rains
• Localized Calamities: Loss/damage to notified insured crops resulting from occurrence of identified localized risks of Hailstorm, Landslide, Inundation, Cloud burst and Natural fire due to lightening affecting isolated farms in the notified area.
• Add-on coverage for crop loss due to attack by wild animals: The States may consider providing add-on coverage for crop loss due to attack by wild animals wherever the risk is perceived to be substantial and is identifiable.
• General Exclusions: Losses arising out of war and nuclear risks, malicious damage and other preventable risks shall be excluded.

Progress made by PMFBY in the 5 years

• Integration of land records with the PMFBY portal, Crop Insurance mobile-app for easy enrollment of farmers and usage of technology such as satellite imagery, remote-sensing technology, drones, artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess crop losses are some of the key features of the scheme.
• The scheme makes it easier for the farmer to report crop loss within 72 hours of occurrence of any event through the Crop Insurance App, CSC Centre or the nearest agriculture officer.
• States have also been provided flexibility to rationalize the sum insured so that adequate benefit can be availed by farmers.
• The Scheme covers over 5.5 crore farmer applications year on year.

GAGANYAAN MISSION

Focus: GS III- Science and Technology

About Gaganyaan

• Gaganyaan is a mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under which 3 flights will be sent into orbit of which 2 are unmanned flights and 1 is human spaceflight.
• The human space flight programme, called the Orbital Module will have three Indian astronauts, including a woman.
• It will circle Earth at a low-earth-orbit at an altitude of 300-400 km from earth for 5-7 days.
• The payload will consist of a Crew module (spacecraft carrying human beings) and a Service module (powered by two liquid propellant engines).
• It will be equipped with emergency escape and emergency mission abort.
• GSLV Mk III, also called the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability.

Training in Russia

• In 2019, the Human Space Flight Centre of the ISRO and the Russian government-owned Glavkosmos signed a contract for the training, which includes Russian support in the selection of candidates, their medical examination, and space training.
• The candidates will study in detail the systems of the Soyuz manned spaceship, as well as be trained in short-term weightlessness mode aboard the Il-76MDK aircraft.
• The Soyuz is a Russian spacecraft. The Soyuz carries people and supplies to and from the space station.
• The Il-76MDK is a military transport plane specially designed for parabolic flights of trainee astronauts and space tourists.

Significance of the Gaganyaan Mission

• Gaganyaan will involve numerous agencies, laboratories, disciplines, industries and departments and help inspire youth along with enhancing science and technology levels.
• It will help in improvement of industrial growth and development of technology for social benefits.
• It will also help in improving international collaboration in the field of space technology.

ATAL INNOVATION MISSION

Focus: GS II- Government policies and Interventions

Why in news?

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced new initiatives to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India, by empowering school students with cloud computing skills, and enabling entrepreneurs to build innovative education technology (EdTech) solutions on the cloud.

About Atal Innovation Mission

• AIM is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• It’s objective is to develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy, provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, create awareness and create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation ecosystem of the country.

Major Initiatives:

• Atal Tinkering Labs: Creating problem solving mindset across schools in India.
• Atal Incubation Centers: Fostering world class startups and adding a new dimension to the incubator model.
• Atal New India Challenges: Fostering product innovations and aligning them to the needs of various sectors/ministries.
• Mentor India Campaign: A national mentor network in collaboration with the public sector, corporates and institutions, to support all the initiatives of the mission.
• Atal Community Innovation Center: To stimulate community centric innovation and ideas in the unserved /underserved regions of the country including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• Atal Research and Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE): To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry.

VAN DHAN VIKAS YOJANA

Focus: GS II- Government policies and intervention, Prelims

Why in news?

Manipur emerges as the model state for Van Dhan Vikas Yojana

About Van Dhan Vikas Yojana:

Nodal: Ministry of Tribal affairs

• TRIFED is the implementation agency of the Van Dhan programme
• The program addresses the formidable problems that the Tribals face such as possession of land/house with no rights; restrictions in the collection of minor forest produce; exploitation by middlemen; displacement from national parks and wild sanctuaries, lack of development in forest villages etc.
• The Van Dhan Yojana or Van Dhan Scheme, a component of the The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’
  • An initiative targeting livelihood generation for tribal gatherers and transforming them into entrepreneurs.
  • The idea is to set-up tribal community-owned Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) in predominantly forested tribal districts.
  • A Kendra shall constitute of 15 tribal SHGs, each comprising of up to 20 tribal NTFP (Non timber forest products) gatherers or artisans i.e. about 300 beneficiaries per Van Dhan Kendra.
  • 100% Central Government Funded with TRIFED providing Rs. 15 lakhs for each 300 member Van Dhan Kendra.

US INDIA ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (USIAI)

Focus: GS II- International Relation

Why in news?

The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum’s US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) initiative was launched on 17 March 2021. The Indo-US relationship in the field of Science & Technology is very old collaborations have resulted in great benefits for both the countries that need to further scale it up in various fields, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play a major role in the future.

Key points:

• The initiative focuses on AI cooperation in critical areas that are priorities for both countries.
• The U.S.-India AI Initiative will provide an opportunity for key stakeholder groups to share experiences, identify new R&D areas and opportunities that would benefit from synergistic activities, discuss the emerging AI landscape, and address the challenges of developing an AI workforce.
• The ambitious flagship initiative, USIAI, leverages Indo-US Science and Technology Forum’s (IUSSTF’s) unique ability to bring together key stakeholders from India and the United States to create synergies that address challenges and opportunities at the interface of science, technology, and society.
• Over the next year, IUSSTF will conduct a series of roundtables and workshops to gather input from different stakeholder communities and prepare White Papers that identify technical, research, infrastructure, and workforce opportunities and challenges, and domain-specific opportunities for R&D in healthcare, smart cities, materials, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.

 PRADHAN MANTRI KRISHI SINCHAYEE YOJANA

Focus:  GS II- Welfare Schemes

About Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY):-

Nodal: Ministry of Jal Shakti.

• PMKSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (Core Scheme) launched in 2015 with implementation share of Centre- States in 75:25 per cent and in the case of the north-eastern region and hilly states it will be 90:10.
• This scheme has an outlay of Rs.50,000 crores for a period of 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20)  and it has been formulated by amalgamating 4 different schemes namely Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation; Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources; and On-Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) of Department  of Agriculture and Cooperation.
• PMKSY is to be implemented in an area development approach, adopting decentralized state-level planning and execution. 

About Per Drop More Crop

The Per Drop More Crop of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana focuses on water use efficiency through the sprinkler and drip irrigation. It also aims at reducing fertilizer use, labour expenses and input costs.