Top News Highlights- 26 September 2024

Six Years of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY

• Overview: The largest global health assurance program, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, provides a family with a benefit cover up to Rs. 5 lakhs per year for both secondary and tertiary care.
• Coverage: The scheme has issued more than 35.4 crores of Ayushman cards and has successfully impanelled 30,529 hospitals across India.
• Recent Extension: It has recently extended the scheme to the senior citizen category, that is, over 70 years of age.

100 Years of Harappan Civilization Discovery

• Historical Insight: The Harappan Civilization, discovered in 1924, spans across India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan with major cities like Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
• Archaeological Finds: Excavation at Padta Bet in Gujarat throws new insights into the civilization and its connectivity.
• Cultural Importance: Studies, including DNA analysis, are continually showing that the gene pool of present-day South Asians was shaped to a large extent by the Harappan Civilization.

Minerals Security Partnership (MSP)

• Global Partnership: With MSP, India and 14 other countries join in with the vision of building resilient global supply chains for critical minerals. They are critical minerals required in clean energy technologies.
• Strategic Significance: Minerals like lithium and cobalt are used across many sectors such as telecommunication and electric vehicle manufacturing.
• India’s Strategic Interest: The participation by India places its security interest strategically into the building of resilient mineral supply chains to achieve the economic and security desired benefits.

Priority Sector Lending (PSL) Developments

• Financial Inclusion: PSL extends credit to the less privileged sectors, with banks more than their 40 percent target lending to the priority sectors such as agriculture.
• Impact on Policy: The establishment of PSLCs has enabled banks to specialize in particular segments, thus providing a greater and more efficient delivery of financial services.
• Economic Impact: Greater growth in PSL is likely to be associated with better bank asset quality, which reflects the effectiveness of the policy in rescuing the health of the banking sector.

Guidelines on School Safety and Security

• Rule of Law: The guidelines have been prepared by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the NCPCR to ensure the safety of the children from abuse in school.
• Enforcement: The Supreme Court’s directive requiring all the states and UTs to implement these guidelines is one of the factors that show such guidelines to be pertinent to educational settings as well.
• Responsibility: Though advisory, the guidelines hold the management of a school responsible; that is again the way the government asserts its concern over child safety.

India-Nepal Trade Dynamics

• Trade Volume: India is the largest trading partner of Nepal by any measure, and has maintained a large deficit favoring India.
• Export/Import Details: The current exports of Nepal to India are hydroelectric power and agricultural produce, whereas petroleum products and other essentials are imported from India.
• Strategic Relations: Trade relationships are the most significant in both nations, affecting other economic policies, and regional cooperation.

Key Concepts and Policies

• Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY: Through this Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, all eligible Indian families are getting comprehensive coverage by being offered health assurance.
• Minerals Security Partnership (MSP): This is an international partnership to secure supply chains of the critical minerals necessary for high-tech industries.
• Priority Sector Lending (PSL): It is a financial policy ensuring that the economy’s many sectors, including agriculture and MSME, are not denied adequate flow of banking services and credit.
• School Safety Policies: Policies formulated to ensure the safety of children not only physically but also psychologically in all educational institutions in India.
• India-Nepal Trade Relations: An important economic relation, characterized by high volumes of trade in the exchange of goods and services, which impacts regional economic dynamics and policy determination.