• Uniform premium: Farmers will pay uniform premium of 2 per cent for all Kharif crops and 1.5 percent for all Rabi crops.
• In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.
• The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
• There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
• Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
• The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.

• Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA Units (CGFMU) will guarantee loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to reduce the credit risk to Banks and other financial intermediaries who are Member Lending Institutions (MLIs).
• National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company NCGTC Ltd  will manage  and  operate  various  credit  guarantee  funds and shall  be  the  Trustee  of  the
• NCFTC will be a wholly-owned  company  of  Union Government  and shall be constituted  under  the  Companies  Act,  1956 (2013).
• Under this scheme the guarantee  would  be  provided  on  portfolio  basis  to  a  maximum  extent of  50 per cent  of  Amount  in  Default  in  the

• It will refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount 10,000 crore rupees.
• Creation of a credit guarantee mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).
• It will provide handholding support to the borrowers at both pre loan stage and during operations stage.
• Focus is on hand holding support for both SC/ST and Women borrowers.
• The overall intent of the approval is to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to these under-served sectors of the population by facilitating bank loans repayable up to 7 years and between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 100 lakh for greenfield enterprises in the non farm sector set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.
• The overall intent is to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to this under-served population. For this margin money of the composite loan will be up to 25%.

The Union Cabinet has gave its ex-post facto approval to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between India and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,China and South Africa) nations for strengthening and further developing of energy saving and energy efficiency cooperation based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit.

• joint scientific and technological research, conferencing and holding of lectures and seminars, capacity building and technology transfer, technology development, sharing policies and best practices, encouragement of use of energy efficient and energy saving approaches and instruments in the work of the business entities of the BRICS countries, carried out within the BRICS countries in Consultation with the host country.
• Counterparts for strengthening and further developing of energy saving and energy efficiency cooperation.

• The Bill provides uniform regulatory environment to ensure speedy adjudication of disputes and orderly growth of the real estate sector.
• It will boost domestic and foreign investment in the Real Estate sector and help achieve the objective of Government of India to provide ‘Housing for All’ by enhanced private participation.
• The Bill ensures mandatory disclosure by promoters to the customers through registration of real estate projects as well as real estate agents with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
• The Bill aims at restoring confidence of consumers in the real estate sector; by institutionalizing transparency and accountability in real estate and housing transactions which will further enable the sector to access capital and financial markets.
• The Bill will promote orderly growth through consequent efficient project execution, professionalism and standardization.

• The provisions of the bill would be applicable both for residential and commercial real estate projects.
• Establishment of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in all States/Union Territories (UTs) to regulate real estate transactions.
• Mandatory registrations of real estate projects and real estate agents with the RERA.
• Mandatory to disclose all registered projects along with details of the project, promoter, land status, layout plan, agreements, approvals as well as details of real estate agents, architect, contractors, structural engineer etc.
• For timely completion of the project, specified amount will be deposited in a separate bank account to cover the construction cost.
• Establishment of Appellate Tribunal for fast track dispute resolution mechanisms for settlement of disputes through adjudicating officers.
• Empowers only consumer court to hear real estate matters and prohibits civil courts from taking up matters defined in Bill.
• Without consent of consumers, promoters are barred from changing plans and design.
• Henceforth RERA would make necessary regulations and the Governments would make rules in the matters specified in the Bill.

• In its first year, each new IIT will have an initial intake of 180 students and each IIT will have a sanctioned faculty-student ratio of 1:10.
• In the second year, the intake strength would increase to 450 and subsequently in the third year to 928 (840 Undergraduates, 80 Postgraduates and 8 PhD).
• Each new IIT would function from temporary campus for the initial period of 3 years and later shift permanent campuses in the 4th year.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of the Tripartite Agreement on the IBSA Fund for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger.

• The IBSA Fund undertakes development projects in third countries and the first project under it will be financed for the support of agriculture and livestock development.
• Contribution of IBSA countries: Each member country will contribute US$ 1 million annually for the IBSA Fund.
• Till January 2015 the total amount accumulated in the fund was 28.2 million US dollars. So far, India on its part has contributed total 9.1 million US dollars to the Fund.
• The total fund used for implemented or approved projects is around 26.2 million US dollars. Remaining 2.09 million US dollars is available for programming.
• The fund is one of the three pillars of cooperation under the IBSA Dialogue Forum for South-South cooperation. The other two pillars are consultation and coordination on global political issues and trilateral collaboration in concrete areas and projects.

• NARF will be the first of its kind institution for quality laboratory animals for basic and applied biomedical research in the country.
• It will be a world-class facility for breeding and housing of animals for testing of various R&D products.
• It will breed and house animals such as primates, cabines and other specialized models such as knockout and transgenic rodents.
• The facility will develop, create and provide access to a range of laboratory animals along with related technological resources for advancement of biomedical research in the country.
• It will mainly facilitate research and development in medical colleges, universities, research and academic institutions and Biotech and Bio-pharma companies.
• It will also provide training facilities for personnel in specialized areas in the field of biomedical research.

Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing MoU between India and Colombia to strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism.

• Aims at expanding bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector and exchanging information and data related to tourism.
• Seeks to help encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders including Tour operators and Hotels in both countries.
• Establish an exchange programme for cooperation in Human Resource Development (HRD) in tourism sector.

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its nod Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY) for financial restructuring of debt of power distribution companies.

About UDAY scheme

• Allows power DISCOMs in selected states to convert their debt into state bonds as well as roll out number of measures to improve efficiency at power plants.
• Seeks to ensure that struggling DISCOMs can shake off years of losses and start on a path to profitability.
• Assures the rise of vibrant and efficient DISCOMs: through four initiatives (i) Improve operational efficiencies of DISCOMs (ii) Reduce of cost of power (iii) Reduce interest cost of DISCOMs (iv) Enforce financial discipline on DISCOMs through alignment with State finances.
• Debt Burden: Shifts 75 per cent of power DISCOMs debt burden to states’ balance sheets. This step would result in interest cost savings to the tune of 3-5 per cent.
• State Power Bonds or loans: Selected states would be able to sell the balance 25 per cent as state-backed power bonds or loans which will carry interest rates of g-sec plus 50 basis points.
• Improve operational efficiency: by implementing steps like (i) swapping of coal linkages (ii) monitoring aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses (iii) Focus on smart metering and feeder separation in states.

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between India and Maldives in case of Criminal Matters.

• Aims to enhance effectiveness of both signatory countries in investigation

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an agreement on Maritime Transport between India and Egypt.

• Strengthen cooperation in the field of merchant shipping and other matters related maritime transport between both countries.
• Encourage the development maritime relationship between both countries and mutually

The Union Cabinet has approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Mozambique in field of renewable energy.

• The objective of MoU is to establish the basis for a cooperative institutional relationship to

Union Cabinet has approved the Protocol amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) India-Israel and Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between India-Vietnam and.

• International standards for effective bilateral exchange of information on tax matters including bank information and information without domestic tax interest.

• Gave its approval to set up National War Memorial and National War Museum at Princess

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC).

About Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre

• Structure and Composition: At the centre there will be General Council consisting of a President and 12 Members.
• There will be also an Executive Council consisting of a Chairperson and 9 Members.
• Some of these members will be ex-officio and others will be experts from National Level Organizations of the Deaf or Academic Institutions or Universities or and independent experts in Indian Sign Language (ISL).
• Functions: It will seek to provide equal opportunities to hearing impaired persons to fully participate in every sphere of life.
• ISLRTC lead the way in academic development, training and propagation of the ISL. It will also play important role in developing sign language interpreters along with R&D in new technology.