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All India Radio News Summary: 21 MARCH 2018

All India Radio News Summary: 21 MARCH 2018

  1. Government grants approval to amend the regulation for admission to PG medical courses to expand the scope of persons with disabilities getting benefits of reservation
  • The percentage of seats to be filled up by persons with disabilities has been increased from 3 per cent to 5 per cent in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
  • This will enable the Persons with Disabilities can contribute to the progress of the nation.
  • According to the amended provision, 21 kinds of Disabilities including Dwarfism, Intellectual Disability, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis and Thalassemia will now be considered under the reservation provided for persons with disabilities.

 

  1. The Union Cabinet approves the launch of Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection mission.
  • The Scheme has the benefit cover of 5 lakh rupees per family per year.
  • The target beneficiaries under the scheme will be over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families.
  • The benefits of the scheme are portable across the country.
  • A beneficiary will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public and private empaneled hospitals across the country.
  • The scheme will subsume the ongoing centrally sponsored schemes- Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana and senior citizen health insurance scheme.

 

The Cabinet has also approved the continuation of the National Health Mission,NHM with effect from April 2017 to March 2020 with a budgetary support of over 85 thousand crore rupees as Central Share over this period.

  • It will boost the health infrastructure.
  • The NHM will continue to strengthen the public health systems, particularly in high priority districts that include aspirational districts.

 

The Cabinet also gave an in-principle approval to the inclusion of two communities in Karnataka in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

  • Parivara and Talawara will be synonyms of “Nayaka” in the list of STs in Karnataka.
  • The decision will fulfill a long-term demand of the two communities for Scheduled Tribe status in the state.

 

The Cabinet approved the North East Industrial Development Scheme 2017 with a financial outlay of 3,000 crore rupees upto March, 2020.

  • In order to promote employment in the North Eastern States, the government is incentivising primarily the MSME Sector through this scheme and is also providing specific incentive through it to generate employment.

 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared a scheme called Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at a cost of over 2,100 crore rupees.

  • The scheme will promote Women Empowerment and livelihood opportunities for SC, ST and other weaker sections of society.

 

  1. Centre asks the States to submit their Annual Action Plan for 2018-19 by 15th of next month

The Centre has asked the States to submit their Annual Action Plan for 2018-19 by 15th of next month so that the funds related to Central schemes on Agriculture and allied sectors are disbursed immediately.

 

  1. IRCTC introduces billing through Point of Sale (POS) hand held machines in trains
  • Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) introduced billing through Point of Sale (POS) hand held machines in trains to check overcharging by vendors.
  • The POS billing machines will be introduced in trains in a phased manner.
  • IRCTC has already introduced POS machines in New Delhi -Karnataka Express on a pilot basis.

 

  1. Facebook CEO admits mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data, in light of a privacy scandal involving Cambridge Analytica
  • The data-mining firm is alleged to have used data, improperly obtained from some 50 million Facebook users, to try to sway US presidential elections.
  • In a facebook post, Facebook CEO said, they have already taken the most important steps to prevent such a situation from happening again.
  • He said, Facebook has a responsibility to protect its users’ data and if it fails, the company does not deserve to serve the people.

 

  1. World Water Day – March 22nd
  • The day is observed on the 22nd of March every year, to raise awareness about the importance of water.
  • The theme this year is, ‘Nature for Water’ – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges the world faces in the 21st century.