Hasmukh Adhia is the present finance secretary of India. (18/3/2018)

Hasmukh Adhia is the present finance secretary of India. (18/3/2018)

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT REGARDING THE LOANS TO WOMEN SELF HELP GROUPS IN UNION BUDGET 2018-19 1) It increased to grow about 37% over previous year. 2) Loans to Women Self Help Groups will increase to Rs.75,000 crore in 2019. Which of the statement given above is/are correct? A. Only 1 is true B. Only 2 is true C. Both are true D. Both are false

WHAT IS A SELF-HELP GROUP (SHG)? Self-Help Groups are informal associations of people who choose to come together to find ways to improve their living conditions. Most SHGs are women s groups with membership ranging between 10 and 20.

WHAT IS OPERATION GREENS? Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to launch Operation Greens in his speech while presenting the Union Budget 2018-19 Jaitley proposed that it would be launched with an allocation of Rs 500 crore on the lines of Operation Flood. The idea behind Operation Greens is to double the income of farmers by the end of 2022. It is essentially price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce.

NOTES Finance Minister also said that MSP for kharif crops will be at 1.5 times cost of produce. Kharif Crops are sown in season. A. Autumn B. Summer C. Winter D. Rainy

WHAT IS NATIONAL HEALTH PROTECTION SCHEME? National Health Protection scheme intended to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families and 50 crore beneficiaries. Covers 40% of Indian population is Regarded as the Worlds biggest health policy scheme.

NOTES Up to Rs. 5 Lakhs a year, for free healthcare treatment. The Government has allocated about Rs 2,000 Crores towards this scheme, but more money is required, as the scheme rolls out over the year Rs 5 lakh a family

PREMIUM Under the Modi care, government will invite bids from insurance companies to cover these 10 crore families. These insurance companies will tie up with healthcare chains where the insured will be treated Under the Obamacare Act, the United States government pays subsidy in the premium to those whose income fall between 100-400 per cent of the Federal Poverty Line US Affordable Care Act

INDIA'S TOTAL HEALTH SPENDING Currently, India's public health budget is 1.15 per cent of GDP and it expects to raise it to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025. However, the United States spends around 18 per cent of its GDP on healthcare.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REVENUE DEFICIT AND FISCAL DEFICIT? fiscal deficit = total receipts excluding market borrowing and other liabilities -total expenditure primary deficit = fiscal deficit-interest payment Revenue Deficit a situation where the reveue falls short of the expenses incurred to generate it which are regular in nature.

GROWTH Indian economy has performed very well it has achieved an average growth of 7.5% in first three years of our Government. Indian economy is now 2.5 trillion-dollar economy seventh largest in the world. IMF, in its latest Update, has forecast that India will grow at 7.4% next year. Manufacturing sector is back on good growth path. The services, mainstay of our growth, have also resumed their high growth rates of 8% plus. Exports are expected to grow at 15% in 2017-18.

AGRICULTURE Finance minister announces raising institutional credit for agriculture sector to Rs.11 Lakh crore for 2018-19 from Rs.10 Lakh Crore in 2017-18. Rs. 500 Crore operation greens announced to address price volatility of perishable commodities like potato, tomato and onion and benefit both producers and consumers

AGRICULTURE 22,000 rural Haats to be developed and upgraded into Gramin agricultural markets (grams) for farmers to directly sell to consumers and bulk purchasers. Rs.1290 Crore re-structured national bamboo mission announced to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner. Doubling allocation for food processing sector to Rs.1400 Crore, government to promote establishment of specialized agro-processing financial institutions.

The Government allocated Rs.600 crore to provide nutritional support to which whom an at what rate per month for the duration of their treatment. a) TB patients at Rs.500 b) Pregnant women at Rs.1200 c) Malnutrition patient Rs.1000 d) TB patients at which Rs.800

ANSWER In an attempt to achieve its goal of eliminating tuberculosis, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech on Thursday allocated Rs 600 crore for nutritional support to TB patients in India Under this scheme, Rs 500 per month will be given to TB patients for nutritional support.

TB IN INDIA The government is making all possible efforts to ensure that tuberculosis is eliminated from the country by 2025. Tuberculosis, which remains to be a major health condition affecting a large number of Indians, is a preventable infectious disease. In 2016, TB killed 423,000 people in the country. Earlier, the Global TB Report 2017 released by the WHO revealed that India topped the list of seven nations, accounting for 64% of the 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide in 2016.

MCQ What is the disinvestment target for Financial Year 2018-19: a) 80,000 crore b) 1,00,000 crore c) 50,000 crore d) 75,000 crore

MCQ How much amount did Union government allotted for Restructured National Bamboo Mission? A. 1290 B.1291 C.1280 D.1281

NOTES The proposed Restructured National Bamboo Mission, can capitalise on the immense bamboo potential for the north-eastern states.

What hindered the development of the Bamboo Industry in India? Bamboo is a multi-utility grass and more than 300 ethnic groups in the northeast have traditionally been using it as food, housing and other needs. It is essentially a type of grass, but was classified as a tree in India for over 90 years till recently. This prevented the northeast, which grows 67% of India s bamboo, from exploiting it commercially until recently.

HOW DOES THE SCENARIO LOOK PRESENTLY? Bamboo s commercial journey began when it was struck off the list of trees by amending the Indian Forest Act last year. The recent budget has allocated of Rs. 1,290 crores for a restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM). But the restructured NBM needs to be more focussed on value-chain management and value-addition of bamboo at the community level.

MCQ To which of the following sectors Kisan credit card scheme to be extended A. Fisheries B. Animal husbandry C. Farmers. D. All of these.