CIVIL SERVICE DIGEST (CSD-Daily) - SAI IAS

CIVIL SERVICE DIGEST (CSD-Daily)
                                                 October 22, 2018

    Nearly one lakh patients benefited for serious illnesses in
        hospitals across the country under PM JAY: Govt

The government has said that nearly one lakh patients have received medical
benefits for serious illnesses in hospitals across the country under Ayushman
Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in less than a month.

Health Minister J P Nadda said that a 46-year-old from Madhya Pradesh
admitted in Rewa, has become the 1,00,000th beneficiary under Ayushman
Bharat PMJAY.

Mr Nadda further stated that PMJAY has lifted the burden of hospitalization
expenses off the poor man’s head by providing the range of free medical
treatments from laparoscopy to brain tumour removal costing 30,000 rupees to 5
Lakh rupees.

He added that Prime Minister Modi had emphasized that to ensure optimal
access to health care and health outcomes, the foundation of a large indigenous

healthcare infrastructure is being built.

Go back:

       The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,           launched the
          Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) at Ranchi,
          Jharkhand, on September 23, 2018.
       Under this scheme, over 10 crore families will be provided
          health assurance worth Rs. 5 lakh each, every year.

About the scheme:

   Ayushman Bharat is an attempt to ensure that universal healthcare
     reached the weaker sections of society and it could raise the ratio of
     people availing primary and secondary healthcare.

   The scheme will provide a defined benefit coverage of Rs 5 lakh per
     family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 10 crore
     poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries).

   The beneficiary families covered under the scheme will be allowed to take
     cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the
     country.

   The beneficiaries will be decided on the basis of the Socio-Economic and
     Caste Census 2011 (SECC) database.

   It will be rolled out across all States/UTs in all districts with an objective
     to cover all the targeted beneficiaries. To control costs, the payments for
     treatment will be done on a package rate basis.
   The scheme proposes setting up of Ayushman Bharat National Health
     Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC) at the national level to give
     policy directions and fostering coordination between centre and states.
     The council will be chaired by Union Health and Family Welfare
     Minister.

 The states would be required to set up a dedicated entity called the
   State Health Agency (SHA) to implement the scheme.

 In partnership with NITI Aayog, a robust, modular, scalable and
   interoperable IT platform will be made operational which will
   entail a paperless, cashless transaction.

 The expenditure incurred in premium payment will be shared
   between Central and State Governments in a specified ratio as per
   Ministry of Finance guidelines.

 The scheme is expected to increase access to quality health and
   medication. It is also expected to lead to timely treatments,
   improvements in health outcomes, patient satisfaction, improvement
   in productivity and efficiency, job creation thus leading to an
   improvement in the quality of life.

Importance of the program:

        o The government has made this a technology-driven initiative, which
           is a great step to ensure transparency and effective implementation,
           and at a grander scale, this initiative would encourage more work in
           development of overall health infrastructure in the country.

        o Growing healthcare infrastructure in the country will help 50 crore
           poor people access medicines and essential drugs.

        o Besides addressing the challenges of geographic inaccessibility and
           unaffordability, Ayushman Bharat has the potential of creating a
           cost-effective digitised health economy and catapulting India to the
           league of developed nations.

     First cruise service launched between Mumbai and Goa

 As a part of the government’s plan to develop Cruise Tourism in the
    country, the first cruise service has been launched between Mumbai and
    Goa.
   For those looking forward to joyful ride experience through the Mumbai-
    Goa coastline have wonderful premium cruise service ready to take them.
    The rates for the luxury Mumbai-Goa ride begin from Rs 7,000 dorm room
    per person and goes up to Rs 11,000 family suite per person. The fares
    include two meals, along with morning and evening snacks.
 Apart from the inclusive food and services provided, a range of brands are
    set-up on the cruise, offering paid services to the passengers. There will be
    multiple restaurants offering a wide array of food genres, coffee
    shops, swimming pool, massage and spa services.
 India's first ever passenger cruise ship service is a joint venture between
    Mumbai Port Trust and Angriya Sea Eagle Pvt Ltd.

 The cruise ship Angriya has been named after first Maratha Navy Admiral
    Kanhoji Angre and the great Angria bank coral reef near Vijaydurg,
    Maharashtra.

             Launching of Samruddh Madhya Pradesh Abhiyan

  In Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP has launched Samruddh Madhya Pradesh
    Abhiyan (Prosperous MP campaign) from today to seek inputs from people
    on how to make the state prosperous. The campaign with the tag line Mera
    Sujhav Mera Chunav (my suggestion my election) will go on for 15 days.
  Meanwhile, Congress has described this campaign as a violation of the
    model code of conduct. AIR correspondent reports that the Party has
    demanded an immediate ban from the Election Commission on this
    campaign

Water level of Brahmaputra river in Assam & Siang river in Arunachal
                             Pradesh receded

 The water level of the Brahmaputra river at Dibrugarh in Assam and at
   Siang river at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh has receded.
 Official sources said both the rivers are flowing below the danger mark and
   there is no reason to be panicked. The NDRF teams have already been
   deployed at a few places in Upper Assam to tackle any eventuality.
 The governments of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh issued an for a possible
   flood in the Brahmaputra river. The was sounded after China informed India
   about a landslide blocking a river in Tibet leading to the formation of an
   artificial lake there

Maharashtra government proposes to extend benefits of Employees
                              Provident Fund

 The Maharashtra government has proposed to extend benefits of Employees
   Provident Fund (EPF) as well as insurance schemes to those cutting,
   harvesting and transporting sugarcane.

 According to state Labour department official, the state has around eight
    lakh labourers engaged in these works in 168 cooperative and private sugar
    factories.
 The official said that it has been proposed to extend benefits of EPF,
    insurance schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and
    Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, financial assistance for children's
    education and housing to these labourers.
   The official informed that for the implementation of the scheme, there will
    be an office in Parli in Beed district, as a large number of cane labourers are
    from there. The official added that a drive would also be undertaken to
    register them.

          A botanical garden comes up at Madhavaram

 Established by the State Horticulture Department, the garden, which had a
   soft launch last week, is the second in Chennai, the first one being
   Semmozhi Poonga.
 Broadly, it is divided into sections for fruits, medicinal plants, indoor plants,
   cactus and ornamental arboretum, apart from one for protected cultivation.
 About 200 varieties of ornamental plants will soon be available in
   Madhavaram for sale.
 The main challenge faced by the department behind the setting up of the
   garden is the “unsuitability” of the place, from the climate point of view.
 “It is not that difficult to establish it in a hilly area where you have temperate
   climate but not in a tropical place,”.