Airlift 2: Vande Bharat and Samudra Setu missions

Vande Bharat Mission

It is one of the largest evacuation exercises since the 1990 Kuwait airlift (in which 1.7 lakh people from Kuwait were airlifted). In this mission the government will operate 64 flights from May 7 to 13 to bring home thousands of Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown. 

• The government will facilitate the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds in a phased manner.
• Priority will be given to compelling cases in distress, including migrant workers, labourers who have been laid off and those faced with expiry of short term visas, persons with medical emergency, pregnant women, elderly, those required to return to India due to death of family member, and students.
• The government  will operate of 64 flights to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the Covid-19 lockdown. 
• Air India and its subidiary Air India Express will operate these flights.
• India will operate flights to following 12 countries 
1. the UAE (10 flights), 
2. the US  (7 flights), 
3. the UK (7 flights), 
4. Saudi Arabia (5 flights), 
5. Singapore (5 flights) 
6. Qatar (2 flights)
7. Malaysia 
8. Bangladesh, 
9. Kuwait 
10. Philippines, 
11. Oman and 
12. Bahrain.
• Approximately, 2,000 people be repatriated daily from abroad.
• Passengers will bear the cost of tickets.

Samudra Setu

It is the name of operation launched by the Indian Navy to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas. 

• Naval ships Jalashwa and Magar are enroute to the port of Male (Republic of Maldives) to evacuate people from May 8. 
• Only those who test Covid-19 negative would be allowed to travel.
• The evacuated personnel will be disembarked at Kochi and entrusted to the care of State authorities.
• This operation is being progressed in close coordination with Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the Government of India and State governments.

Source: Indian Express

April 2019: Developments, Schemes and Issues Concerning Society, Environment, Technology.

Tribal Welfare/Forest Dwellers:

1. Forced Eviction of tribals. The SC ordered forced eviction of tribals and forest dwellers from forest lands of 16 states, after their claim as forest dwellers under Forest Rights Act, 2006 were rejected.

Agriculture/ farmers.

1. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN): a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India to augment the income of the farmers by providing income support to all landholding farmers’ families across the country, to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs. 
2. Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) Scheme to provide extra income to farmers, by giving them an option to sell additional power to the grid through solar power projects set up on their barren lands.
3. A new rainfed agriculture atlas has been released by Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture (RRA) Network. It reveals:
1. There has been “negligence” toward rainfed areas which is leading to lower incomes for farmers in these areas.
2. Flagship government schemes, such as seed and fertiliser subsidies and soil health cards, are designed for irrigated areas and simply extended to rainfed farmers without taking their needs into consideration.
4. Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) for developing marketing infrastructure in Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and Grameen Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). 
5. Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) for specified agriculture products to provide assistance for the international component of freight and marketing of agricultural produce.

Labour/workers.

1. The Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana (PM-SYM), a mega pension scheme for unorganised sector.
2. Seven centenary initiatives as part of the 100th Anniversary of ILO. Major initiatives are:
1. The end to poverty initiative 
2. The women at work initiative 
3. The green initiative

Consumer protection.

1. Parliament has passed the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019 to ban unregulated deposit schemes and protect the interests of depositors.

Unemployed.

1. Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) to provide vocational training to non-literate, neo-literate, as well as school dropouts by identifying skills as would have a market in the region of their establishment.
2. Industry 4.0, also the fourth industrial revolution, it is a name given to the current trend of automation, interconnectivity and data exchange in manufacturing technologies to increase productivity.
3. Credit linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) facilitates technology upgradation of small scale industries.

Education 

1. Operation Digital Board to leverage technology in order to boost quality education in the country
2. Rajasthan Assembly passed Bills which seek to end the minimum education criterion for panchayat and civic poll candidates.

Environment.

1. Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) for sustainable management of groundwater with community participation in seven States, viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
2. Super-Efficient Air Conditioning Programme for promoting energy efficiency, energy security and sustainability.
3. Circular economy. In this process almost everything is reused, remanufactured, recycled back into a raw material or used as a source of energy. It is restorative or regenerative by intention and design.

Poors.

1. Global Housing Technology Challenge. The challenge is undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban (PMAY-U) to fast-track the construction of affordable housing and meet the target of constructing 1.2 crore houses by 2022.

Gender Equality/ Gender Issues.

1. Women’s livelihood bond. The World Bank, UN Women and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) launched it to help rural women in the country’s poorest States to set up or scale up their own enterprises.