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Committee on India's Haj policy

Dairy Processing Fund ✪ Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund has been proposed in the Union Budget to set up to augment income of farmers with a corpus of Rs.8,000 crores over three years. ✪ National Testing Agency has been set up to conduct all entrance examinations for higher education institutions. This is part of revamping India's education system. ✪ Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, several new AIIMS are being set up and existing medical institutions are being upgraded. Note: Under the NHM, support is provided to States and Union Territories to strengthen their health systems including support for setting up and upgradation of health centres.

To eradicate leprosy.. The Supreme Court has directed the government to prepare a comprehensive policy for implementation of a plan within four weeks to eradicate leprosy from the country. ✪ Earlier, the court had asked the Centre and state governments to apprise it of steps taken to eradicate and curb leprosy. As per the plea, leprosy affects over 1, 25,000 people in the country annually. It said, the governments have failed to eliminate the disease despite medical treatment available since 1981. ✪ The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced that the National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test (NEET) Under Graduate 2017 for admission to medical colleges across the country will be considered as the first out of three available attempts for all candidates. The exam will be conducted in 10 different languages on 7th May 2017.

National Testing Agency (NTA) The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has announced to set up a National Testing Agency (NTA) department to conduct examinations for higher and secondary. Note: Initially, examinations like IIT, NIT and even university exams will be conducted by the NTA. An open web-based platform 'SWAYAM' will be launched by next month. The two thousand courses will be run for students across the country through SWAYAM. ✪ Ministry of Health & Family WelfareGovernment of India has launched Measles Rubella vaccination campaign in the country at a function in Bengaluru. Note: The campaign against these two diseases Measles and Rubella started from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep, covering nearly 3.6 crore children. ✪ The Lok Sabha has passed the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017 to enable employers to pay wages to workers through cheque or directly crediting to their accounts. Note: The bill will replace the Ordinance promulgated by the President in December 2016 to amend the Payment of Wages Act, 1936. ✪ The Supreme Court has approved the government's plan to record the identification details of mobile subscribers through an eKYC (Know Your Customer) mechanism linked to Aadhaar in a bid to enhance national security and prevent fake users.

A six-member committee has been formed by the Union Govt to give a report on ways to improve India's Haj policy and also look into the issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage. Former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah, Afzal Amanullah has been appointed as convener of the high-level panel, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge).

Objective of TAMRA Portal..? Note: The mechanism would cover at least 100 crore mobile phone subscribers, 90% of whom use prepaid cards. ✪ The Union Cabinet has approved 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019. Note: As per the 71st National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) Survey on Education 2014, only 6% of the total 16.85 crore rural households have a computer. It highlights that more than 15 crore rural households i.e. 94% do not have computers.

TAMRA Portal The Union Govt has launched TAMRA (Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augmentation) portal and Mobile Application on 10th February, 2017 with an objective to enhance transparency and accountability as a part of the Ease of Doing Business in the Mining sector. Note: Ministers of Mining and senior officers from 12 mineral rich States would also be connected through videoconferencing. ✪ The Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore inaugurated the 17th International Seminar on Counter Terrorism at Manesar, Haryana. It was organized by National Security Guard. Note: The focus of the seminar was on various challenges of terrorism, such as countering the growing IED menace, global terror threats and the need for international cooperation to fight the scourge collectively.

Namami Gange programme Centre has formed a committee to expedite the implementation of its ambitious Namami Gange programme under which it plans to free the Ganga River of waste by 2018. Note: More than 2700 villages have been declared as open-defecation free out of 4 291 marked villages along the main stem of the river. ✪ A detailed data analysis carried out by the National Security Guard, a counter-terror and counter-hijack force, shows that it is the unarmed civilians who often fall victim to IED (improvised explosive device) blasts set off by terrorists across India.

National Productivity Week Every year National Productivity Council celebrates the National Productivity Week from 12th to 18th of February and this year the theme of week is 'From Waste to Profitsthrough Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.' ★ National Productivity Council, an autonomous body under Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion was established on 12th February in 1958. The objective of Council is to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in the country.

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BHIM app

The Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app has been launched on the iOS platform after its successful launch on android platform. On iOS it is currently supporting over 35 banks and is currently available in Hindi and English Note: BHIM app on iOS also has a limit of Rs 10, 000 per transaction and Rs20, 000 in a day for transfers through the bank account. Note: Between 2012 and 2016, anywhere between 49% and 72% of the attacks annually have been targeted at ordinary civilians. In contrast, attacks targeting VIPs were in the range of 1% to 7%. ✪ On 9th Feb, 2017 Amnesty International India has quoted that the U.P. government has failed to expeditiously investigate and prosecute the seven cases of gang-rape filed after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and deliver justice. ✪ The Supreme Court on 14th Feb 2017 has clarified that the audience need not stand when the National Anthem is played as a part of the storyline of a film, newsreel or documentary.

Single Entrance Exam Union Govt has announced to do away with multiple tests conducted by the central agencies; state governments and private institutions and admission to all engineering colleges in the country will be done through a single entrance examination from next year (2018). Note: Students seeking admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will have to clear the JEE Advanced after taking the engineering entrance exam. ✪ The Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar has inaugurated orientation programme for launching of 1000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras in New Delhi. Note: These Janaushadhi Kendras will provide affordable quality medicine to all citizens. ✪ The Union government has announced its target of linking 5.58 lakh ration shops Aadhaar-enabled by June 30, 2017.

Braille atlas

The Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan released the world's first comprehensive Braille atlas for nearly 50 lakh visually challenged people in New Delhi, India. Note: For the first time that such atlas has been prepared for physically challenged with such minute details. The Braille Atlas has been prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) under Department of Science & Technology. ✪ In a massive crackdown on unauthorized agencies offering Aadhaar - related services illegally and charging excessive money from the public, UIDAI has shut down 12 such websites and 12 mobile apps available on the Google Play store. ✪ Out of 18,452 un-electrified villages, 11,931 villages have been electrified as on 30.01.2017 under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).

Digital Payment of Salaries The Lok Sabha has passed the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017 on 7th Feb 2017, which allows for digital payment of salaries or through cheque. The bill will now go to Rajya Sabha and following its passage in the upper House, the amendments will be notified. Note: The move will enable employers to pay wages of less than Rs.18,000 a month by cheque or digitally to bank accounts, besides in cash, by doing away with the requirement of employees' written consent for the same. ✪ The Union government has set a target of constructing 15,000 km of highways in the next financial year, 50 percent more than that in the current fiscal. Note: Highways in the North East have got an allocation of Rs.5,765 crore, whereas Rs.7,300 crore has been kept aside for development of roads owned by states and Rs.3,000 crore will be spent on maintenance of highways.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate. ✪ PMGDISHA is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programs in the world. Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in the FY 2017-18; and 300 lakh in the FY

2018-19. To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the 250,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register an average of 200-300 candidates.