Kisan Credit Card Scheme.
For Prelims and Mains: KCC scheme- features and significance
- The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was announced in the Budget speech of 1998-99 to fulfil the financial requirements of the farmers at various stages of farming through institutional credit.
- The model scheme was prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on the recommendation of V Gupta committee.
- The KCC scheme is being implemented by the all Co-operative banks, Regional Rural Banks and Public Sector Banks throughout the country.
- Scheme covers risk of KCC holders against death or permanent disability resulting from accidents.
Objectives:
- To provide adequate and timely credit support from the banking system to the farmers at the cheap rate of interest.
- To provide credit at the time of requirement.
- To support post-harvest expenses.
- To provide Working capital for maintenance of farm assets and activities allied to agriculture.
- Investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities (land development, pump sets, plantation, drip irrigation etc.)
- Consumption requirements of farmers.
Other Salient features of the Scheme:
- Revolving cash credit facility involving any number of drawals and repayments within the limit.
- Limit to be fixed on the basis of operational land holding, cropping pattern and scale of finance.
- Entire production credit needs for full year plus ancillary activities related to crop production to be considered while fixing limit.
- Card valid for 5 years subject to annual review. As incentive for good performance, credit limits could be enhanced to take care of increase in costs, change in cropping pattern, etc.
- Conversion/reschedulement of loans also permissible in case of damage to crops due to natural calamities.
- Operations may be through issuing branch (and also PACS in the case of Cooperative Banks) through other designated branches at the discretion of bank.
- Crop loans disbursed under KCC Scheme for notified crops are covered under Crop Insurance Scheme, to protect the interest of the farmer against loss of crop yield caused by natural calamities, pest attacks etc.
Non-communicable disease
For Prelims
What are NCDs?
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behaviours factors.The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
What are the socioeconomic impacts of NCDs?
NCDs threaten progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes a target of reducing premature deaths from NCDs by one-third by 2030.
Poverty is closely linked with NCDs. The rapid rise in NCDs is predicted to impede poverty reduction initiatives in low-income countries, particularly by increasing household costs associated with health care. Vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people get sicker and die sooner than people of higher social positions, especially because they are at greater risk of being exposed to harmful products, such as tobacco, or unhealthy dietary practices, and have limited access to health services.
In low-resource settings, health-care costs for NCDs quickly drain household resources. The exorbitant costs of NCDs, including often lengthy and expensive treatment and loss of breadwinners, force millions of people into poverty annually and stifle development.
US Senate clears proposal to bring India on a par with its Nato allies
What to study?
For Prelims and Mains: Key features and significance of the bill, implications if encated, overview of NATO.
Context: The US Senate has passed a legislative provision that brings India on par with Washington’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) allies and countries such as Israel and South Korea for increasing defence cooperation.
The National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA for fiscal 2020, that contained the proposal was passed by the US Senate recently.
What it contains?
The legislative provision provides for increased US-India defence cooperation in the Indian Ocean in areas of humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, counter-piracy, and maritime security.
Significance:
The US has already recognized India as a “major defence partner” in 2016. This allows India to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from America on par with that of the closest allies and partners of the US, and ensures enduring cooperation in this sphere. The passage of the NDAA clarifies in greater detail what the closer defence cooperation actually means and entails.
Background:
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense. The first NDAA was passed in 1961.
About North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Alliance):
It is an intergovernmental military alliance.
Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.
Headquarters — Brussels, Belgium.
Headquarters of Allied Command Operations — Mons, Belgium.
Significance: It constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
Objectives:
Political – NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
Military – NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty – Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.