Daily Current Affairs 14 July 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Iran drops India from Chabahar rail project

• Four years after India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, the Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.
• Iranian Transport and Urban Develop­ment Minister Mohammad Eslami inaugurated the track­laying process for the 628 km Chabahar­Zahedan line, which will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan
• The entire project would be completed by March 2022, and that Iranian railway will proceed without India’s assistance using approximately $400 million from the Iranian National Development Fund.
• The development comes as China finalizes a massive 25­year, $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran, which could cloud India’s plans.
• The railway project, which was being discussed between the Iranian Railways and the state­owned Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON), was meant to be part of India’s commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran, and Afghanistan to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
• In May 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran to sign the Chabahar agreement with Iranian President Rouhani and Afghanistan President Ghani, IRCON had signed an MoU with the Iranian Rail Ministry. 

Why is Chabahar Port Important to India? What is its Geopolitical Significance?

• The multiple reasons behind the geopolitical significance of the Chabahar port are listed below.
• Boost trade ties, diplomatic ties, and military ties with Iran.
• Provides India with better connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.
• It will be the gateway to the International North-South Transport Corridor which is a combination of road, rail, and sea routes connecting Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Iran, and India.
• India can carry out humanitarian operations from this port if the need arises.
• This port is just 170 km away from Gwadar port operated by China in Pakistan, hence this port would be of strategic importance to the Indian Navy and defense establishment.

What is the Meaning of Chabahar?

• Chabahar is made of Persian words Chahar meaning four; and bahar meaning spring. It translates as a place that has spring in all the four seasons of the year. Chabahar is important for its fishery sector and will act as an important trade center connecting South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. India is involved in building railway lines from this place to the mineral-rich Hajigak region of Afghanistan.

25-­year Strategic Partnership Between Iran And China, close to signing it

• Iran and China are close to finalizing a 25­year Strategic Partnership which will include Chinese involvement in Chabahar’s duty ­free zone, an oil refinery nearby, and possibly a larger role in Chabahar port as well. 
• According to leaked versions of the 18­page “Comprehensive Plan for Cooperation between Iran and China”, being finalized by officials in Tehran and Beijing, the cooperation will extend from investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and upgrading energy and transport facilities, to refurbishing ports, refineries, and other installations, and will commit Iranian oil and gas supplies to China during that period.
• The proposed tie­up comes even as Iran decided last week to go ahead on its own with the construction of a railway line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, in Afghanistan for which an MoU had been signed with the PSU Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON) four years ago. 
• The MoU, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran in 2016, was to construct the
• Chabahar ­Zahedan railway as “part of transit and transportation corridor in a trilateral agreement between India, Iran, and Afghanistan”.
• However, despite several site visits by IRCON engineers, and preparations by Iranian railways, India never began the work, ostensibly due to worries that these could attract U.S. sanctions. 
• The U.S. had provided a sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port and the rail line to Zahedan, but it has been difficult to find equip­ment suppliers and partners due to worries they could be targeted by the U.S.
• India could join later on in this project as such there is no cancellation of MoU between the IRCON Ltd and Iran government 
• Iranian officials denied a report that also suggested Chabahar port, where India took charge of operations at one terminal last December, would be leased to China. 
• However, Iran proposed a tie-­up between the Chinese-run Pakistani port at Gwadar and Chabahar last year and has offered interests to China in the Bandar-­e-­Jask port 350km away from Chabahar, as well as in the Chabahar duty­free zone

Source: The Hindu

2) Google for India Digitisation Fund

• US TECH giant Google said that it has set up a ‘Google for India Digitisation Fund’, through which it will invest $10billion in the country over the next five to seven years through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, operations, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments.
• The announcement comes close on the heels of New Delhi signaling curbs on Chinese technology investments and banning 59 mobile apps with links to Chinese technology majors such as Alibaba — one of the largest Chinese investors in Indian startups. Google’s investment plan includes a renewed“focus on bringing more high-quality low-cost smartphones to enable Internet access”.
• Aheadoftheannouncement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai and other senior executives

Source: Indian Express

3) Sree Padmanabhaswa­ temple shebaitship to Travancore royal family: SC

• The Supreme Court held that the erstwhile Travancore royal family is the “human ministrant” or the shebait (manager) of the properties belonging to Sree Padmanabha, chief deity of the famed and fabulously rich Sree Padmanabhaswa­ my temple in Kerala
• A Bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and Indu Malhotra, in a218­page judgment, brought quietus to a dispute of over a decade on whether the temple and its considerable assets should devolve to the Kerala government following the death of Travancore ruler Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma in July 1991.
• The 26th Constitutional Amendment, which put an end to privy purses enjoyed by erstwhile rulers, would nudge the temple and properties into the hands of the State. In fact, the Kerala High Court, in 2011, directed the State to take over the temple and exhibit its treasures for public viewing in a museum.
• Justice Lalit, who wrote the judgment, categorically held that the death of a ruler does not affect the royal fa­mily’s shebaitship of the temple. “Shebaitship was always in the royal family and the Ruler represented the unbroken line of shebaits,” the judgment said. Shebaitship does not lapse in favor of the State by the principle of escheat (reversion of property to the State). 
• Accepting the royals’ sub­ mission that the temple is a “public temple”, the court issued a slew of directions for its transparent administration in the future.
• It directed the setting up of an administrative committee, with the Thiruvananthapuram district judge as its chairperson. The other members would be a nominee of the trustee (royal fa­mily), the chief thanthri of the temple, a nominee of the State, and a member nominated by the Union Ministry of Culture. The panel would take care of the daily administration of the temple.
• The court defined ‘shebait’ as the “custodian of the idol, its earthly spokesman, its authorized representative entitled to deal with all its temporal affairs and to manage its property”. The court traced how the shebaitship descended from King Marthanda Varma, who rebuilt the temple and installed a new idol after a fire destroyed the temple in 1686. It referred to how the King surrendered his kingdom in January 1750 and assumed the role of ‘Padmanabhadasa’ after realizing “the futility of battles as a means to an end and the conscious feeling that the Travancore he created was built on a foundation of the sacrifice of the liver and limbs of countless numbers who fell due to him and for him
• It also ordered a second committee to be constituted to advise the administrative committee on policy matters. This would be chaired by a retired High Court judge nominated by the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. Both committees should start functioning within the next two months and an executive officer should be appointed without delay.
• The primary duties of the committees would be to preserve the treasures and properties. They would take a call on whether to open Kallara B, considered to be the richest among the temple vaults, for inventorisation.
• The committees would ensure that rituals and religious practices are conducted as per custom and on the advice of the chief thantri.
• The court ordered an audit to be conducted for the past 25 years. Audit results have to be filed annually with the State Accountant General.
• The court ordered status reports to be filed by the second week of December 2020. A further report should be filed after an audit on March 31, 2021.
• The Sree Padmanabaswamy Temple is one of the 108 divyadesams of Lord Vishnu.

Source: The Hindu

4) Indian Jets on Aircraft Carrier by 2032

• The Navy is expected to start receiving new twin­-engine aircraft carrier­based fighter aircraft being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) by 2032 and it will be a replacement for the Russian MiG­29K carrier jets in service
• The Navy is expected to get the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)­built twin­engine carrier aircraft by 2032. It will replace the MiG­29Ks in service which are scheduled to start going out by 2034
• The Navy currently operates Russian-­origin carrier INS Vikramaditya and expects to have the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC­I) Vikrant is operational by 2022. With a second carrier to come in, the Navy is already evaluating a global tender for 57 carrier­based twin­engine fighter aircraft. 
• With the new jet under development and also factoring in budgetary constraints, the Navy is looking to revise the tender for 57 carrier-based jets downwards. 
• Last January, the naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) successfully completed arrested landing and take­off on board Vikramaditya and has since undertaken several trials. 
• Based on the experience of
• the carrier landing, the
• DRDO has offered to develop a twin­engine deck­based fighter for the Navy. With the successful deck landing, they decided to drop the naval LCA Mk2 and move on to the twin­engine jet
• The new jet being developed by DRDO should be ready by 2026
• The Navy currently has 45 Russian MiG­29K aircraft and its officials had stated that there will not be enough aircraft to operate from both carriers. 
• The Navy is currently evaluating the responses to the Request For Information (RFI) from Boeing with its F-­18 Super Hornet and Dassault Aviation with its Rafale jets. Both companies had stated that their jets can operate off the ski-­jump of Vikramaditya and in future the Vikrant.

Source: The Hindu

5) Indian Railways on MISSION MODE of becoming a "Green Railway" by 2030

• Ministry of Railways, to transform Indian Railways into Green Railways by 2030 has taken several major initiatives towards mitigation of global warming and combating climate change. Railway Electrification, improving the energy efficiency of locomotives & trains and fixed installations, green certification for installations/stations, fitting bio-toilets in coaches, and switching to renewable sources of energy are parts of its strategy of achieving net-zero carbon emission.
• Indian Railways has completed electrification of more than 40,000 Route km (RKM) (63% of BG routes) in which 18,605 km electrification work has been done during 2014-20. Previously, only 3,835 km electrification work was completed during the period 2009-14. Indian Railways has fixed a target of electrification of 7000 RKM for the year 2020-21. All routes on the BG network have been planned to be electrified by December 2023. Indian Railways is focusing on the electrification of last-mile connectivity & missing links. With this in mind, 365 km of major connectivity work has been commissioned during the COVID period.
• Major connectivity commissioned during the COVID  period like Katni-Satna section (99 RKM) of Mumbai-Howrah via the Allahabad route has been commissioned providing an alternate route to Howrah. Likewise, Pachore-Maksi (88 RKM) section on Indore - Guna-Bina route has also been commissioned providing an alternate route to Maksi-Bhopal-Bina. On Howrah/Sealdah-SVD Katra via Patna route, Bhagalpur-Shivnarayanpur (45 RKM) section has been commissioned.  On the route connecting Karaikal port to coal, fertilizer & steel plants of Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh, Thiruvarur - Karaikal port (46 RKM) section has been commissioned providing port connectivity to Erode, Coimbatore & Palghat.
• Indian Railways has also taken several initiatives to promote solar energy. Indian Railways is working to harness the potential of 500 Mega Watt (MW) energy through rooftop Solar panels (Developer model). To date, 100 Mega Watt (MW) of solar plants have been commissioned on roof-tops of various buildings including 900 stations. Solar plants with a combined capacity of 400 MW are under different stages of execution. Tenders are already awarded for 245 MW and the target for completion of these plants is December 2022. 
• Besides this, Indian Railways is trying to produce power from land Based Solar installations for running trains. Indian Railway has 51,000 hectares of the land potential of installing 20 GW land-based solar plants. The Solar power so generated will be fed to Central / State Grid or directly to a 25 kV AC traction system.  Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL), a Joint Venture Company of Indian Railways (49 % Equity) and RITES Limited (51 % Equity) have been mandated for the proliferation of taking up land-based projects.
• One project of 1.7 MW at Bina (Madhya Pradesh) in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has already been installed and is presently under extensive testing. This is the first of its kind of solar project in the world.
• Initially, for the Land Based Solar Projects, Indian Railways has taken up 3 GW Solar Project in three phases. In phase, I tender has been floated under the developer model on 29th April 2020 for 1.6 GW capacities in railway plots for open access states. In Phase II, 400 MW capacities in railway plots will be developed for non-open access States under the ownership model of REMCL (captive use). This tender has floated on 16th June 2020. In Phase III 1 GW capacity in railway plots along the tracks under the developer model will be installed for open access States for which tender has been floated on 1st July2020.
• In the wind energy sector, 103 MW wind-based power plants have already been commissioned. Among them, 26 MW is in Rajasthan (Jaisalmer), 21 MW is in Tamil Nadu and 56.4 MW is in  Maharashtra (Sangli). Indian Railways has also planned to set up 200 MW wind energy plants in the next 2 years in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. 
• Realizing its role in climate change Indian Railways has started other Green Initiatives like 100 percent LED illumination of buildings and stations. Indian Railways has also acquired Green Certification from CIII to 7 Production Units (PUs), 39 Workshops, 6 Diesel sheds, and 1 Stores depot. 14 Railway Stations and 21 other buildings/ campuses have also been Green certified. Other than this 215 Stations have been certified with Environment Management System (EMS)/ISO 14001.
• A total of 505 pairs of trains have been converted to Head On Generation(HOG), unleashing approx 70 million liter diesel/ Rs 450 crore per annum potential of saving.  Energy Efficiency Studies of all 8 Production Units & 12 workshops have been completed under MOU with CII resulting in a 15% improvement in energy efficiency.
• In the field of Green Initiatives, a total of 69,000 coaches have been fitted with more than 2,44,000 bio-toilets in Indian Railways.

Source: PIB

6) NHAI to collaborate and partner with premier Technical Institutes for improving Highway Infrastructure leveraging local expertise

• In its endeavor to provide world-class National Highways (NH) network, NHAI has approached all IITs, NITs, and reputed Engineering Colleges to collaborate and adopt nearby stretches of NH, voluntarily, as part of Institutional Social Responsibility (ISR). The objective is to leverage the intellectual prudence of students and faculty towards the improvement of the road infrastructure ecosystem of the country. The Institutes along with its faculty and students have a better appreciation of local requirements, topography, resource potential, etc. and these vital inputs can be utilized by NHAI during different stages of pre-construction, construction, and operation of NH stretches. This decentralized approach, besides building a sense of participation in decision making, also provides an opportunity to the students for hands-on-learning, options for an internship, and future areas of research. The adoption of stretch by the Institute opens an avenue for access to important data, which can be used to improve the quality and safety aspects of NH and enhance the local capacity of the Institute in terms of advanced Lab and Simulation systems.
• Adoption of NH stretch by an Institute would facilitate stakeholder engagement and help to mitigate the routine local problems such as traffic movement, congestion, and immediate identification of accident-prone sites. The Highway users become more empowered in resolving local problems through the Institute and the Authority. Such instances would help NHAI in understanding the local needs both in the present and future projects, improve the maintenance & riding comfort, and develop wayside amenities for enhanced user experience. The overall outcome shall be a commuter-friendly and enjoyable ride on the NH stretch.
• A large number of IITs, NITs, and Engineering Colleges have opted to join the scheme and NHAI officers have started mutual consultation with Directors of the interested Institutes. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is being signed between the individual Institutes and NHAI for the institutionalization of the scheme and bring reformative improvements in the road infrastructure of the country.

Source: PIB

7) MoU between NATGRID and NCRB

• Recently, the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to access the centralized online database on FIRs and stolen vehicles.
• NATGRID which seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies will be operational by 31st December 2020.

Key Points

• Access to CCTNS: The MoU will give NATGRID access to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) database, a platform that links around 14,000 police stations.
• All-State police are mandated to file First Information Reports (FIR) in the CCTNS.
• The MoU enables the NATGRID to get information about details of a suspect as mentioned in the FIR such as his/her father’s name, telephone number, and other details.
• Concerns:
• Infringe on the Federal System of the Constitution: The NCRB under the Union government is only a repository and the data about FIRs of a particular police station are a State subject.
• However, it does not seem to violate any legal provisions as data about FIRs is shared with all the police stations.
• The State Police will not be a part of NATGRID and they could directly contact the airlines or railways for information.
• Providing Information to Multiple Agencies: Earlier the Civil Aviation Ministry and airline companies had raised concerns in providing information to yet another agency — NATGRID as they already provide information to the Bureau of Immigration and the customs authorities.
• Privacy Issues: Many agencies raised their concern regarding the accessibility of Data and privacy.
• However, the information accessed by one agency through the grid will not be accessible to any other agency as it will be an automated system and the request will land directly with the concerned department.
• Expenditure: The major amount of funds would be required for the expenditure towards the NATGRID software solution and for building infrastructural works of offices, Data Centre, etc. at Delhi and Bengaluru.
• National Intelligence Grid
• As a counter-terrorism measure, it was proposed after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 and functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It is the integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India.
• It is intending to set up an Entity Extraction, Visualization, and Analytics (EVA) system.
• Significance:
• Secure Centralised Database: It will become a secure centralized database to stream sensitive information from sets of data sources such as banks, credit cards, visas, immigration and train, and air travel details, as well as from various intelligence agencies.
• Presently, the security agencies directly contact an airline or a telephone company if they are on a suspect’s trail through international servers such as Google, etc.
• Acts as a Link: It will act as a link between intelligence and investigation agencies.
• It will be a medium for at least 10 Central agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) to access data on a secured platform.
• Technology Intensive Solutions: The solutions provided by the NATGRID would be technology-intensive (e.g. use of Big Data and analytics) involving multiple stakeholders.

National Crime Records Bureau

• It was set-up in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the MHA’s Task Force (1985).
• It functions as a repository of information on crime and criminals to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
• It releases the Crime in India report which serves as a statistical tool in understanding the law and order situation across the country.
• It developed CCTNS in 2009 which aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing at all levels through the adoption of principles of e-Governance.
• It digitizes data related to FIR registration, investigation, and charge sheets in all police stations leading to the development of a national database of crimes and criminals.
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Source: The Hindu

8) Flood Resistant Paddy: Assam

• Recently, farmers from the Golaghat district in Assam have cultivated new flood-resistant paddy varieties to shift from the traditional ones.
• The varieties called Ranjit Sub1, Swarna Sub1 and Bahadur Sub1 have been used by about 60% farmers of the West Brahmaputra area.

Key Points

• Farmers in flood-prone areas of Assam have been harvesting the water-resistant Swarna Sub1, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute, since 2009.
• But the switchover from traditional varieties of paddy has been slow.
• The flood-resistant varieties including Ranjit Sub-1 were reintroduced in 2018.
• Significance:
• Resist Submergence: The new rice varieties can resist submergence for up to two weeks, and significantly do not get damaged by the heavy flood.
• However, comparison with the traditional varieties is difficult as they get damaged in the flood.
• Greater Yield: Enriched with the ‘submergence’ (sub in short) gene, the varieties can yield up to five tonnes per hectare on average.
• Reduction in Crop Loss: Some 1,500 farmers cultivate on about 950 hectares in crop-yielding areas which have been impacted by the regular flood. Therefore, rice varieties can reduce flood-caused crop loss substantially.
• Regeneration: These varieties can get regenerated again in case damaged by the flood, hence ensure maximum productivity.

Rice

• It is a Kharif crop that requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
• About one-fourth of the total cropped area in India is under rice cultivation.
• Leading Producer States: West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.
• High Yielding States: Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Kerala.
• In West Bengal, farmers grow three crops of rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’, and ‘boro’.
• India contributes 21.6% of rice production in the world and ranks second after China.

Source: The Hindu

9) FASTag Details for New Vehicle Registration

• Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has decided to ensure capturing of FASTag details while registering or issuing fitness certificates to vehicles all over the country.
• Besides facilitating smooth commutation/transit, the use of the electronic medium of FASTag payment would also help in checking Covid-19 spread as cash payment is avoided.

FASTag

• Introduced in 2017, it is an electronic toll collection system with a reloadable tag feature which allows the automatic deduction of toll without having to stop for carrying out the cash transaction.
• The reloadable tag allows the addition of monetary values multiple times.
• It is operated by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under the supervision of MoRTH.
• The tag uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is fixed on the windscreen of the vehicle once active.
• RFID is the use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object. A tag can be read from up to several feet away and does not need to be within the direct line-of-sight of the reader to be tracked.
• It is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted.
• Consumers avoided using it following complaints of technical glitches, and money getting deducted twice from their bank accounts or e-wallets.

Key Points

• The MoRTH has directed the National Information Centre (NIC) to ensure the details of the electronic toll collection device are captured on the VAHAN portal.
• The full integration of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) with VAHAN portal has been achieved and the portal is now getting all information on FASTags through Vehicle Identification Number/ Vehicle Registration Number (VIN/VRN).
• VAHAN Portal: It acts as an integrated solution for vehicle registration for the State Transport Department. It helps in various processes like fitness, taxes, permits & enforcement to get computerized.
• The State Transport Department is governed by both the Central Motor Vehicle Regulation (CMVR) and state-specific Motor Vehicle Regulation (State MVR).
• Consequently, VAHAN was conceptualized as a product that would capture the functionalities mandated by CMVR as well as state MVRs.
• National Electronic Toll Collection: It was developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016 for electronic toll collection at toll plazas using FASTag.

Source: PIB

10) Disabled are Entitled to Same Benefits of SC/ST quota: SC

• Recently, the Supreme Court of India observed that persons suffering from disabilities are also socially backward and entitled to the same benefits of relaxation as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates in public employment and education.

Key Points

• Background:
• The decision came on a petition filed by Aryan Raj, a special needs person, against a Punjab and Haryana High Court order.
• Raj was denied relaxation in minimum qualifying marks in the Painting and Applied Art course in the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh.
• The college insisted that disabled persons to need to meet the general qualifying standard of 40% in the aptitude test, whereas SC/ST candidates were given relaxation to 35%.
• Upheld Delhi High Court Judgement:
• In the Anmol Bhandari v. Delhi Technological University case (2012), the Delhi High Court held that people suffering from disabilities are also socially backward, and are, therefore, at the very least, entitled to the same benefits as given to the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe candidates.
• New academic courses should be designed to specifically cater to the needs of intellectually disabled persons.
• The Court observed the fact that intellectually/mentally challenged persons have certain limitations, which are not there in physically challenged persons.
• Benefits to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe:
• Article 15 (4) empowers the State to make special provision for the advancement of the SCs and the STs. E.g. providing fee concession in admission to any educational institution, building hostels for SCs/STs.
• Article 15 (5) empowers the State to reserve seats for SCs and the STs in admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State.
• However, it excludes minority educational institutions referred to in Article 30 (1).
• Article 16 (4) empowers the State to make provisions for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of SCs/STs.

Initiatives for the Disabled in India

• Rights of Person with Disabilities Act, 2016.
• Under this, persons with disabilities are provided reservation of seats in government higher educational institutions (not less than 5%) and government jobs (not less than 4%).
• Accessible India Campaign.
• DeenDayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme.
• Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP).
• National Fellowship for Students with Disabilities (RGMF).
• Schemes of the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Multiple Disabilities.

Source: The Hindu