Women schemes in India

• Jagananna Ammavodi Scheme – Andhra Pradesh.
• Provides Rs15,000 annually to mothers or guardians from poor families (below poverty line) to support their children's education (from Class 1 to 12) in any government, aided, or unaided school/junior college in the state.
• Orunodoi Scheme – Assam.
• A monthly assistance of Rs 830 is transferred to women members of marginalised families of Assam.
• A Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, the money is credited directly to the bank account of the woman head of a family.
• Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana – Himachal Pradesh.
• To give Rs 1500 per month to women from 18- 60 years of age in the state.
• Gruha Lakshmi scheme – Karnataka. 
• To provide financial assistance of Rs.2,000 every month to eligible women.
• Women government employees are not eligible to get the scheme’s benefits.
• Mukhyamantri Ladli Bahna Yojana – Madhya Pradesh.
• Women in 23-60 age group will be given Rs 1,000 per month subject to certain conditions, including that they are not income tax payees and their families’ annual income is below Rs 2.5 lakh.
• Lakhpati Didi Scheme – Rajasthan.
• Offers loans to women.
• Monthly camps are set up in the neighbourhood areas to present loans to eligible women, especially the ones who have less income and A mortgage of Rs. 5 lakhs is ready for every eligible girl under the scheme.
• Mahalakshmi scheme – Telangana.
• Offers women and transgender persons free travel on state-run non-AC buses.
• The scheme has two more components that includes:
  • Financial assistance of Rs 2,500 to eligible women
  • An LPG cylinder at Rs 500.
• Lakshmir Bhandar Scheme – West Bengal.
• The scheme received the Skoch award.
• Goal – Financial empowerment for women (25-60 years old) from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Eligibility – Enrolled in Swasthya Sathi program.
• Amount – Rs 1,000 for women from SC/ST households. Rs500 for women from other households.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) – A Centrally Sponsored Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme, for implementation across the country with effect from 01.01.2017.
• It offers financial help to pregnant and new mothers who are having their first child, as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) Fund

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said that most states have not fully utilized funds received under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and the 15th Finance Commission.

• A total of 131 cities receive funds under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) or grants sanctioned by the 15th Financial Commission (FC) for air quality improvement.
• Of these, 42 are “million-plus cities” that receive 15th FC grants for “augmenting infrastructure and other essential measures at city level to improve air quality”.
• Funds are required to be utilised as per the approved action plan for non-attainment cities under the NCAP and action plans approved for cities not falling as non-attainment cities.
• Non-attainment cities (131) – Are the Cities that consistently do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for certain pollutants.
• Funds are allocated to these cities based on the assessment by the Central Pollution Control Board and the utilisation of the amount allocated in the previous financial year.
• The funding is performance-based and meant for activities included in action plans prepared for the cities.
• Fund utilisation – Of all 131 cities, Mumbai received and utilised the most funds.
• Kolkata falls second in the list and Chennai lists 3rd in the list.
• Delhi being the most polluted city in India ranks 50 in the terms of the fund received.
• Patna, the second most polluted city (in terms of PM 2.5 levels) received the 9th highest allocation for the NCAP.
• Urban local bodies are the implementing agencies for NCAP and they are responsible for spending the funds disbursed to them for clean air action plans.
• These plans outline the work that the cities are required to undertake in the short, medium and long term.

Geographic Features of Hills

• Hills are landform that is higher than the surrounding terrain and often has a distinct summit.
• A hill has a lower elevation than a mountain and usually smaller than a mountain.
• A hill is usually less than 984-1968 feet (300-600 meters) whereas a mountain is usually higher than 1968 feet (600 meters).
• Butte – An isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top.
• They are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus and tablelands.
• Soil creep – A slow, granular-scale process that occurs on gentle slopes. It's also known as downhill creep.
• Pingo – Are intra-permafrost ice-cored hills, 3–70 m high and 30–1,000 m in diameter.
• They are typically conical in shape and grow and persist only in permafrost environments, such as the Arctic and subarctic.

Ayya Vaikundar

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Ayya Vaikundar on his birth anniversary (March 3).

• Ayya Vaikundar, born in 1809, is revered as a social reformer and the founder of the Ayyavazhi sect, primarily in southern Tamil Nadu.
• His teachings focused on equality, fraternity, and the eradication of caste-based discrimination, challenging the established religious and social hierarchies of the time.
• He encouraged all devotees to wear turbans and dhotis, promoting equality.
• He pioneered education for the lower castes and opposed discriminatory taxes.
• One of his significant interventions was the introduction of simplified, inclusive marriage customs without a Brahmin priest or Sanskrit mantras.
• Thuvayal Panthy programme – To teach vegetarianism and discipline to followers, who spread these teachings across Tamil Nadu.
• Nizhal Thangals – A community worship spaces, which did not have any idol or deity and only Tamil was used for worship.
• These community worship centres also had community kitchens and even basic schools.
• Samapanthi-bhojana or community eateries – For people from all backgrounds. He would send his disciples to the homes of lower castes to eat with them.
• Thottu Namam – Inspired priests to apply the sacred paste on devotees’ forehead, irrespective of their caste.
• The paste would be applied in the form of a lamp, indicating the soul and God, representing the form of God inside every life.

Ammonium Phosphate Sulphate

Recently Rubymar, a cargo ship that was carrying 21,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulphate was sunk due to the attack by the Houthi missiles.

• Ammonium phosphate sulphate is a fertilizer made by neutralizing sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid with ammonia.

• It's a complex fertilizer that contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulphur.
• Urea is the most important nitrogenous fertilizer in the country because of its high N content (46%N).
• Urea is a white crystalline organic chemical compound with neutral pH.
• DAP is the 2nd most commonly used fertiliser in India after urea and farmers normally apply this fertiliser just before or at the beginning of sowing.
• It is the most preferred fertilizer in drill-sown areas.
• It is recommended for cereals, pulses, oilseeds and commercial cash crops.
• Having combination of Sulphur elements it has very specific importance for the crops like Paddy, Sugarcane, Banana, Oilseeds, Tobacco, Potato and all kinds of vegetables.
• It is highly soluble and could harm “fish and living organisms such as coral reefs and seaweed” if released into the sea.