JHARKHAND
In a first, govt rolls out customised crop insurance policy
For the first time, the Centre has come out with customised crop insurance (single peril insurance cover) for states by factoring in one specific natural disaster. Such insurance will first be made available to farmers in Punjab, parts of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh where farmers are not generally hit by droughts or floods but have to suffer due to hailstorms.
This model, having low premium due to risk coverage against single extreme weather event, will be available to other states or Union Territories (UTs) as well under the existing Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme (PMFBY).
This model of providing cover against single extreme weather event may increase the footprints of the crop insurance scheme. Other states may opt for it by analysing impact of region-specific disaster without going for base cover which attracts higher premium.
Under the revamped scheme, the Centre has not slashed its share of premium by 25% or 30% as interpreted by certain political parties and farm activists. The Centre has simply put ceiling of 30% and 25% on premium against sum insured for its subsidy for unirrigated and irrigated districts, respectively.
The move will not increase any burden on farmers as they will continue to pay premium rate of 2% for kharif (summer sown) crops, 1.5% for rabi (winter sown) crops and 5% for horticulture and commercial crops. The remaining premium amount, subject to the ceiling, will continued to be shared equally as subsidy between Centre and respective states.
States will have to pitch in with more only if premium breaches the 30% or 25% ceiling. New provisions will lead the states to work on mitigating risk factors so that the crops do not attract high premium. It will also prevent arbitrarily jacking up of premium of certain crops.
INTERNATIONAL
India, US signs 2 MoUs and 1 Letter of Cooperation during Trumps State visit to India
US President Donald J. Trump along with the First Lady Melania Trump visited India on 24-25 February. During his visit, 3 MoUs and 1 Letter of Cooperation were signed.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mental Health between Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of the Republic of India and Department of Health and Human Services of the Government of the US.
An MoU was signed on the Safety of Medical Products between Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) within the Directorate General of Health Services of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Republic of India and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America.
An agreement to purchase more than $3 billion of American military equipment
A Letter of Cooperation was signed between India’s Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and ExxonMobil India LNG Limited and America’s Chart Industries Inc.
NATIONAL
Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2020 concluded
The 5th edition of joint military Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2020 concluded at West down Camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK. The exercise was held between India and the United Kingdom. Brigadier Tom Bewick, Commander of UK 7 Infantry Brigade and Brigadier Gavin, Defence Attache of the UK in India attended the closing ceremony of the event.
The exercise was aimed to conduct company-level joint training with an emphasis on counter-terrorist operations in urban and semi-urban areas.
The exercise included joint training in urban and semi-urban areas.
Important lectures, demonstrations, and drills related to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations were rehearsed and executed jointly.
ISRO to launch geo imaging satellite on March 5
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that GSLV-F10 will launch geo imaging satellite, GISAT-1, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on March 5.
GSLV-F10 will launch geo imaging satellite (GISAT-1) from the second launch pad of the SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
Weighing about 2,275 kg, GISAT-1 is a state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite that will be placed in a ‘geosynchronous transfer orbit’ by GSLV-F10.
Subsequently, the satellite will reach the final geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system.
Operating from geostationary orbit, GISAT-1 will facilitate near real-time observation of the Indian subcontinent, under cloud-free conditions, at frequent intervals.
MP becomes first state to launch unified vehicle registration card
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to introduce the unified registration card and the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had issued the guidelines to bring uniformity in driving licenses and vehicle registration cards across the country in March last year.
The new cards will have more exhaustive information printed on both sides of the cards.
The unified smart cards for driving license and vehicle registration will each have a QR code that will help in verifying authenticity of the data printed on the cards.
The unified driving license card will also have information about the ability of the driver to drive in hilly and dangerous areas and an emergency contact number.
NPCI launches ‘UPI Chalega’ campaign for payment mode to gain currency
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in association with the payment ecosystem players have co-created an industry campaign “UPI Chalega” to promote UPI as easy, safe, and instant mode of payment.
The campaign is aimed to guide users towards the right usage of UPI and help create a habitual change, use of UPI in their daily life.
The campaign also focuses on safety aspects while transacting on UPI enabled apps.
The campaign targets users across all ages and aims to promote how to safely use UPI.
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