Daily Current Affairs

PMJJBY, PMSBY & APY complete 8 years of providing social security cover (GS Paper 3, Economy)

Why in news?

• Recently, three social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes; Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY), completed 8 years of providing social security cover.

 

Details:

• In order to ensure that the people from the unorganised section of the country are financially secure, the Government launched two insurance schemes; PMJJBY and PMSBY; and also introduced APY to cover the exigencies in the old age.
• PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY were launched by Prime Minister on 9th May, 2015 from Kolkata, West Bengal.

 

 

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)

• Scheme: PMJJBY is a one-year life insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death due to any reason.
• Eligibility: Persons in the age group of 18-50 years having an individual bank or a post office account are entitled to enroll under the scheme. People who join the scheme before completing 50 years of age can continue to have the risk of life covered up to age of 55 years upon payment of regular premium.
• Benefits: Life cover of Rs. 2 Lakh in case of death due to any reason against a premium of Rs. 436/- per annum.
• Enrolment: Enrolments under the scheme can be done by visiting the branch/ BC point or website of the bank of the account holder or at the post office in case of post office savings bank account. The premium under the scheme is auto debited every year from the subscriber’s bank account based on a one-time mandate from the account holder.
• Achievements: As on 26.04.2023, the cumulative enrolments under the scheme have been more than 16.19 crore and an amount of Rs. 13,290.40 crore has been paid for 6,64,520 claims.

 

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY):

• Scheme: PMSBY is a one-year accidental insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death or disability due to accident.
• Eligibility: Persons in the age group of 18-70 years having an individual bank or a post office account are entitled to enroll under the scheme.
• Benefits: Accidental death cum disability cover of Rs.2 lakh (Rs.1 lakh in case of partial disability) for death or disability due to an accident against a premium of Rs.20/- per annum.
• Enrolment: Enrolment under the scheme can be done by visiting the branch/ BC point or website of the bank of the account holder or at the post office in case of post office savings bank account. The premium under the scheme is auto debited every year from the subscriber’s bank account based on a one-time mandate from the account holder.
• Achievements: As on 26.04.2023, the cumulative enrolments under the scheme have been more than 34.18 crore and an amount of Rs. 2,302.26 crore has been paid for 1,15,951 claims.

 

Atal Pension Yojana (APY):

• Background: 

• The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched to create a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the under-privileged and the workers in the unorganised sector.
• It is an initiative of the Government to provide financial security and cover future exigencies for the people in the unorganised sector.
• APY is administered by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the overall administrative and institutional architecture of the National Pension System (NPS).

• Eligibility: APY is open to all bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 40 years who are not income tax payers and the contributions differ, based on pension amount chosen.
• Benefits: Subscribers would receive the guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000 or Rs. 2000 or Rs. 3000 or Rs. 4000 or Rs. 5000 after the age of 60 years, based on the contributions made by the subscriber after joining the scheme.
• Disbursement of the Scheme Benefits:

• The monthly pension is available to the subscriber, and after him to his spouse and after their death, the pension corpus, as accumulated at age 60 of the subscriber, would be returned to the nominee of the subscriber.
• In case of premature death of subscriber (death before 60 years of age), spouse of the subscriber can continue contribution to APY account of the subscriber, for the remaining vesting period, till the original subscriber would have attained the age of 60 years.

• Contribution by Central Government:

• The minimum pension would be guaranteed by the Government, i.e., if the accumulated corpus based on contributions earns a lower than estimated return on investment and is inadequate to provide the minimum guaranteed pension, the Central Government would fund such inadequacy.
• Alternatively, if the returns on investment are higher, the subscribers would get enhanced pensionary benefits.

• Payment frequency: Subscribers can make contributions to APY on monthly/ quarterly / half-yearly basis.
• Withdrawal from the Scheme: Subscribers can voluntarily exit from APY subject to certain conditions, on deduction of Government co-contribution and return/interest thereon.
• Achievements: As on 27.04.2023 more than 5 crore individuals have subscribed to the scheme.

 

Minimising the threat from IEDs

(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)

Context:

• Why are improvised explosive devices potent tools in the hands of militants? What can be done beyond standard operating procedures to take on terrorists in Kashmir or Maoists in central India?

Recent incidents:

• On May 5, five soldiers were killed and another was injured in a gunfight with militants in the Rajouri-Poonch sector of Jammu division.The gunfight broke out after an explosive device was triggered.
• On April 26, an IED (improvised explosive device) killed 10 security personnel of the District Reserve Guard in Chattisgarh’s Dantewada area. The jawans were out on an anti-Maoist mission when they were ambushed.

 

Were any tactical mistakes made?

• Militants, whether they are the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Kashmir or the Maoists in central India, have the ‘first mover advantage’, on triggering a landmine or an IED on a mobile Army vehicle or opening burst fire with an AK- 47 on a static CRPF sentry post.
• In all such scenarios, particularly in landmine/IED ambushes, the reaction or the response time available for what is called “Immediate Action (IA) or Counter Ambush drill” is a few seconds, and that too, if a few of the security personnel are lucky enough to survive the initial IED ambush.
• Hence, all standard operating systems and procedures, technological measures etc. are directed towards identification and detection of IEDs/landmines and to avoid being caught in them.

 

How can errors be minimised?

• The first thing that must be kept in mind is to avoid travel by vehicle. The safest mode of travel is on foot in a region where left-wing extremism is active.
• Studies show that over 60% of casualties/fatalities in Maoist territories are because of vehicles ambushed in landmines/IEDs, as also seen in the recent Chhattisgarh incident.
• Routine operations like area domination, cordon-and-search, long range patrolling, ambush-cum-patrolling and so forth should only be undertaken on foot. Vehicle travel should be undertaken rarely and that too, only for urgent operational reasons, after exercising due diligence.
• If vehicle travel is absolutely essential, the onward and return journeys should never be by the same route, nor undertaken during the day time.
• Maoists, to avoid the risk of civilian casualties, neither trigger IEDs during night time, nor use anti-personnel/pressure induced mines.

 

Will moving around in camouflage help?

• Stealth, camouflage and concealment are integral to anti-terrorist operations.
• Olive green vehicles of the Army and light green vehicles of the CRPF are easily identified from a distance, giving adequate time and opportunity to terrorists to organise an IED ambush.
• If vehicle travel is absolutely essential, security forces are expected to take civilian or State Road Transport Corporation buses. To avoid easy identification, they must travel with civilians in mufti with weapons carefully concealed.

 

What about armoured vehicles and other protective gear?

• In certain war zones, vehicular deployment is inevitable. Security forces working in such areas should be equipped with appropriate protective gear, such as blast-resistant clothing, helmets, and eye protection.
• Their vehicles should also be equipped with V-shaped and armour-plated hull, blast-resistant technology and proper sandbagging to minimise damage in the event of an explosion.
• Machine guns and other weapons should be mounted on top of the vehicles with outward facing rotatory seats, from where the men can have a 360-degree observation outside.
• Also, security forces should always travel in a convoy of minimum two to three vehicles, maintaining a distance of at least 40 to 50 metres between them, so that even if one vehicle is caught in a landmine, the personnel in other vehicles are able to take positions and neutralise the threat.

 

How can a region be made safe for travel?

• Rigorous and regular implementation of various detection methods, such as metal detectors, ground-penetrating radar, and trained sniffer dogs, to locate and clear landmines and IEDs, is essential.
• Road opening parties play an important role in detection of ambushes. Aerial surveillance carried out through drones and road opening parties equipped with UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles).
• Based on the above inputs, areas known or suspected to contain landmines or IEDs can be mapped and contingency plans prepared for them. This includes establishing safe routes, setting up checkpoints, and creating evacuation plans as part of both preventive and mitigation measures.

 

What can be learnt from an explosion?

• An IED ambush is not an insular, standalone event. There is a whole ecosystem behind it, comprising of financiers, suppliers, transporters, builders and triggermen.
• It is pertinent to mention here that in just one year alone (2008-9) in Afghanistan, the U.S. forensic investigation teams picked up a mindboggling 5,000 finger prints from the remnants of IEDs and explosives, recovered from the scenes of bomb blasts.
• This enabled identification and detection of hundreds of suspects and accomplices involved in IED ambushes.
• Diligent and scientific investigation, establishment of linkages through meticulous collection and marshalling of evidence, framing of chargesheets, followed by speedy trials and conviction, serve as a strong deterrent to terrorism.

 

What are some of the other measures that need to be undertaken?

• Several measures need to be undertaken at the government level, both at the Centre and States.
• These include collaboration with international organisations, NGOs, and other countries to share information, resources, and best practices for landmine and IED prevention, detection, and clearance; implementation and enforcement of national and international laws, policies, and regulations aimed at preventing the use, production, and trade of landmines and IEDs.
• Legislative measures are required for mandatory addition of odoriferous chemicals and/or biosensors to explosives used in industry and mining etc. for their easy detection during transport.
• Likewise, legislative measures are required for stricter controls on manufacture, supply and sale of explosives and detonators. Other countries have taken several counter-IED measures spending billions.
• The U.S., for example, set up the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization to “prevent, identify and defeat IEDs” and has spent about $20 billion on counter IED measures since 2005.
• NATO’s Counter-IED Centre of Excellence is based in Madrid; a small unit exists in India under the National Security Guard.

 

Way Forward:

•  But given that IEDs have been causing major setbacks to fighting militants in India, it is high time that an overarching agency is created under the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate the efforts of both the Government of India and the State governments, and to provide legislative, technological and procedural support to law enforcement agencies.

 

Most Asia-Pacific countries ill-prepared for natural disasters: ESCAP

(GS Paper 3, Disaster Management)

Why in news?

• Most countries in Asia and the Pacific are inadequately prepared to manage the rising challenges of extreme weather events and natural disasters, according to a new study by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
• Countries in the region lack the necessary data as well as means to support adaptation and mitigation efforts.
• In the absence of decisive action, climate change will remain a leading cause of poverty and inequality across the region.

 

Potential threats:

• Over the past 60 years, temperatures in the region have increased faster than the global mean. Extreme, unpredictable weather events and natural hazards have become more frequent and intense. Tropical cyclones, heatwaves, floods and droughts have brought immense loss of life and displacement, damaging people’s health and pushing millions into poverty. 
• Of the 10 countries most affected by these disasters, six are in the region. Food systems here are being disrupted, economies damaged and societies undermined.
• If left unchecked, climate change will exacerbate the strains of ongoing overlapping crises and imperil Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
• Climate change and climate-induced disasters are increasingly threatening development in Asia and the Pacific, often undermining hard-won development gains. 

 

Observations on Asia-Pacific region:

• The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is one of the most rapidly developing regions of the world, with a significant proportion of the global population. The region is also home to most of the world’s low-lying cities and vulnerable small island states.
• The costs of climate change are already too high. The annual average losses from natural and biological hazards in Asia and the Pacific are approximately $780 billion.
• Under a moderate climate change scenario, these losses are expected to increase to $1.1 trillion and, under the worst-case scenario, to $1.4 trillion.
• The current financing on this front is insufficient to meet the region’s requirements for investment in climate action or to contain global warming at 1.5°C.
• With only seven years left to 2030, the target year for SDG, scaling up the available finance and increasing climate action ambition is important.

 

Steps needed:

Energy:

• Some 85 per cent of the region’s primary energy supply came from fossil fuels in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. Steel and cement production here relies heavily on fossil fuels.
• The rapid uptake of renewable energy requires restructuring national energy systems, new technical capacities and significant investment in supply and infrastructure. The report stresses on cross-border electricity grids to increase the share of renewable energy.
• It stressed on climate-proofing energy systems. Hydropower, which holds the largest share of the region’s installed renewable energy capacity, has become increasingly unreliable.

 

Transport sector:

• The transport sector, primarily powered by oil, should be shifted to a low-carbon pathway.
• This can be achieved by reducing transport distance through integrated land use, planning, shifting to sustainable transport modes with low-carbon or net-zero-carbon emissions, as well as improving vehicle and fuel efficiency.
• A 2019 report said no country (developed or developing) is on track to achieve sustainability in the transportation sector. Most developed and developing countries were ranked low on policy goals of universal urban access, gender and efficiency.

 

International trade & investment:

• It is crucial to integrate climate considerations into regional trade agreements. Trade must be climate-smart, 85 per cent of the regional trade agreements signed since 2005 to which at least one Asia-Pacific economy is party contained climate-related provisions.
• The private sector must be encouraged to work towards a low-carbon pathway and sustainability should be ingrained into business operations.
• The number of companies issuing sustainability reports and accounting for greenhouse gas emissions has increased recently. Some companies have introduced internal carbon pricing as a tool to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

 

Common uniforms at higher ranks of the Army

(GS Paper 3, Defence)

Why in news?

• A decision has been taken at the recent Army Commanders Conference that from August 1, all officers of the rank of Brigadier and above; Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals, and General will wear common uniform items irrespective of their regimental or corps affiliation.

 

How will the uniforms worn by these senior Army officers change?

• All officers of the rank of Brigadier, Maj General, Lt General, and General will now wear berets (caps) of the same colour, common badges of rank, a common belt buckle, and a common pattern of shoes.
• They will no longer wear regimental lanyards (cords) on their shoulders. They will also not wear any shoulder flashes like ‘Special Forces’, ‘Arunachal Scouts’, ‘Dogra Scouts’, etc.
• Thus, there will be no item of uniform that will identify them as belonging to a particular Regiment or Corps. All officers of these higher ranks will dress alike in the same pattern of uniform.

 

What is the present position on wearing such items in the Army?

• As of now, all officers from the rank of Lieutenant to General wear uniform accoutrements (additional items of dress or equipment) as per their regimental or corps affiliation.
• Therefore, Infantry officers and Military Intelligence officers wear dark green berets; armoured corps officers wear black berets; Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Air Defence, EME, ASC, AOC, AMC, and some minor corps officers wear dark blue berets; Parachute Regiment officers wear maroon berets; and Army Aviation Corps officers wear grey berets.
• The ceremonial headgear also varies — while most Infantry regiments, Armoured Corps regiments, and other arms and services have a peak cap with the regimental badge, the Gorkha Rifles regiments, Kumaon Regiment, Garhwal Regiment, and Naga Regiment officers wear a kind of slouch hat which is called Terai Hat or Gorkha Hat colloquially.
• Each Infantry Regiment and Corps has its own pattern of lanyard which they wear around the shoulder and which tucks into the right or left shirt pocket as the tradition may be.
• The badges of rank also differ — the rifle regiments wear black coloured badges of rank, while some regiments wear gilt and silver coloured badges. There are different coloured backings, which are worn with these badges of rank as per individual traditions and customs of the Regiment or Corps.
• The buttons on the uniform also vary in accordance with the regimental tradition. The rifle regiments wear black buttons while officers of the Brigade of The Guards wear golden buttons.
• The belt has varied buckles as per regimental traditions, and each carries its own crest.

 

So what is the reason for making the change?

• Regimental service in the Army ends at the rank of Colonel for most officers who rise further. Thus, all uniform affiliations with that particular Regiment or Corps must also end at that rank, so that any regimental parochialism that may exist is not promoted to the higher ranks.
• Since appointments at higher ranks can often mean commanding troops of mixed regimental lineage, it is only appropriate that the senior officers commanding these troops should present themselves in a neutral uniform rather than a regimental one.

 

Is this the first time that this is being done?

• In fact, the Army is now reverting to the practice that was followed almost 40 years ago, when the changes towards wearing regimental affiliations took hold in the service.
• Until about the mid-1980s, the regimental service was till the rank of Lt Colonel. Officers of the rank of Colonel and above had common uniform patterns and insignia. Colonels and Brigadiers shed their regimental insignia and wore the Ashoka emblem on their cap badges. The colour of beret was khaki.
• However, a decision was taken in the mid-1980s to upgrade the command of a Battalion or Regiment to the rank of Colonel. Thus, Colonels again started wearing the regimental insignia.
• In addition, Brigadiers were allowed to wear the cap badge of General officers which comprises crossed sword and baton with a wreath of oak leaves.

 

What is the tradition in other armies?

• In the British army, from where the Indian Army derives its uniform pattern and associated heraldry, the uniform worn by officers of the rank of Colonel and above is referred to as the Staff uniform, to distinguish it from the Regimental uniform.
• The wearing of any item of Regimental uniform, particularly headdress, with the Staff uniform is not authorised.
• Among neighbouring countries, the Pakistan and Bangladesh armies follow the same pattern as the British army. All regimental uniform items are discarded beyond the rank of Lt Colonel. All officers of the rank of Brigadier and above wear similar pattern uniforms.