The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has decided to launch, a student tracking system programme ASMITA.
•    It is acronym for All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis.
•    It will be launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY).
•    It aims to track the educational journey of school students from Class I to Class XII across the 15 lakhs private and government schools in the country. 
•    ASMITA will be an online database which will carry information of student attendance and enrolment, learning outcomes, mid-day meal service and infrastructural facilities among others. 
•    Students will be tracked through their Aadhaar numbers and incase those not having unique number will be provided with it.
•    The Ministry of Human Resource Development is responsible for the development of human resources. 
•    The Ministry is divided into two departments: the Department of School Education and Literacy, which deals with primary, secondary and higher secondary education, adult education and literacy, and the Department of Higher Education, which deals with university education, technical education, scholarship etc. 

Andhra Pradesh is going to implement e-Governance initiatives.
•    It is going to be implemented in all districts. 
•    e-Office will be introduced on a pilot basis in all 13 districts in June 
•    Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced this program.
•    It was announced during the two-day conference of district collectors. 
•    Already 2,23,582 files with 1,72,40,119 pages have been scanned and kept ready while another 2,02,193 files would also be digitised soon. 
•    The Chief Minister directed officials to constitute a Cyber Security wing to ensure safety of the electronic files. 
•    A three-member committee would also be constituted to prepare the e-file protocol. 
•    He directed the Information Technology Department to submit quarterly reports on e-files and e-Office implementation. 
•    Employees associations are happy with the e-Office system as it eases the work. 
•    Advisor to government J Satyanarayana made a presentation on various e-Governance initiatives. 
•    Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker and other top bureaucrats attended. 

Andhra Pradesh is going to implement e-Governance initiatives.
•    It is going to be implemented in all districts. 
•    e-Office will be introduced on a pilot basis in all 13 districts in June 
•    Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced this program.
•    It was announced during the two-day conference of district collectors. 
•    Already 2,23,582 files with 1,72,40,119 pages have been scanned and kept ready while another 2,02,193 files would also be digitised soon. 
•    The Chief Minister directed officials to constitute a Cyber Security wing to ensure safety of the electronic files. 
•    A three-member committee would also be constituted to prepare the e-file protocol. 
•    He directed the Information Technology Department to submit quarterly reports on e-files and e-Office implementation. 
•    Employees associations are happy with the e-Office system as it eases the work. 
•    Advisor to government J Satyanarayana made a presentation on various e-Governance initiatives. 
•    Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker and other top bureaucrats attended. 

The Union government announced the names of 13 more cities that will be developed under the Centre’s “Smart City Mission.” 
•    Lucknow in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh tops the list, followed by Warangal in Telangana and Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
•    These cities were chosen from the 23 that failed to get representation in the first round of a competition held in January, and participated in the “fast-track competition.” 
•    The results were announced by Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on 24th May 2016.
•    Other cities on the list are Chandigarh, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur (Bihar), Panaji (Goa), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Imphal (Manipur), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and Faridabad (Haryana). 
•    The 13 cities selected in the competition have proposed a total investment of Rs. 30,229 crore. 
•    The  investment proposed by 33 cities under the smart city plans is now Rs. 80,789 crore
•    Of the 13 cities that qualified for the project, four are from BJP-ruled States while two are from Congress-governed States.
•    Lucknow is in Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh
•    Warangal is in Telangana, which is ruled by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
•    Chandigarh and Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands were also among the winners of this round.
•    Assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation are some of the highlights of the smart city project.
•    It aims to transform 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs. 48,000 crore over five years.

Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on 22 May 2014 launched the Smart Village programme to improve public facilities in villages.
•    It was conceptualized on the lines of Smart Cities initiative of the Union Government under which 100 cities were chosen for infrastructure development.
•    Under the Smart Village programme, 300 villages will be selected.
•    Villages will be shortlisted by the state-level committee consisting of experts on the basis of Gram Panchayat’s performance through a transparent process.
•    The objective of the programme is to make villages self-reliant, clean and hygienic.
•    Toilets, cleanliness, drop-out rate in primary schools, malnutrition ratio, Anganwadi facilities, vaccination of children, ATVT services are some of the parameters on which a village will be adjudged as a Smart Village.
•    These villages will get 80 lakh to 2 crore rupees cash assistance from the State government to implement the programme.

The Odisha Government on 17 May 2016 decided to launch Green Passage Scheme for orphan students.
•    The scheme will ensure that the orphan students get free of cost higher education in the state.
•    Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also gave his green signal for the scheme, which would function under the department of higher education.
•    Orphan students pursuing higher education from Plus-II level to post-graduation level will no longer have to bear the education expenses.
•    As many as 16382 orphan students lodged in 272 institutions across the state, will be exempted of admission fee, tuition fees and laboratory fees for higher studies.
•    They will be provided free hostel facilities and food.
•    The state government has also directed all government, private, government aided colleges and universities to ensure that the orphan students are not charged in any form.
•    The state government will bear all cost of the orphan students.
India records its Highest temperature at 51 C

India's first national social security platform will be developed by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology ( DeitY ), which has been entrusted with the task following the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office to end the tug of war between three central ministries.
•    Officials said the PMO stepped in after the ministries of labour, finance, and communications and IT could not reach consensus on who should set up the backbone for distributing social security benefits.
•    Finance minister Arun Jaitley had in his budget speech said that the government will develop a national social security platform for handing out monetary benefits.
•    Officials said that once the platform is established, beneficiaries under various schemes will have to enrol with the ministries concerned which are offering benefits under the particular schemes.
•    Multiple Benefits Providing social security to Indians has been one of the key focus areas of various schemes launched by the Narendra Modi -led NDA government. Most of these schemes require the beneficiary to pay a small amount as premium or contribution.
•    While the Jan Dhan scheme launched in 2014 aimed to provide a bank account along with a Rupay debit card to every Indian household, the Jan Suraksha Scheme launched in 2015 aimed to provide a social security net to Indians.
•    Under Jan Suraksha, the government brought in three schemes - Suraksha Bima Yojana providing an accident cover, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana providing a life insurance cover and the Atal Pension Yojana for old age pension.

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari has called upon stakeholders to make conscious and active use of  innovations and successful best practices from round the world in engineering and construction of roads.
•    The meet was attended by officials of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, and NHIDCL, besides   contractors, consultants, bankers and material suppliers concerned with road construction. 
•    Technological initiatives have also been brought in like satellite based road asset management system, use of concrete for road construction, electronic toll collection,  INAMPRO other IT initiatives. 
•    Gadkari also launched ePACE, INFRACON and an updated version of  INAMPRO, three innovative IT initiatives of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, developed  in house by NHIDCL( National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.)
•    ePACE (Projects Appraisal & Continuing Enhancements) is an online integrated Management  Information System that brings projects from all wings of the  Ministry under a common platform,  ensuring  their effective and real time tracking. 
•    INFRACON is the National Portal for Infrastructure Consultancy Firms and Key Personnel. This portal acts as a kind of bridge between consultancy firms working in the road engineering and construction sector and domain experts and key personnel who are deployed both for project preparation and supervision.  
•    INAM PRO has been developed as a web-based application for Infrastructure and Material Providers. It is a kind of a web based market place that brings together the material providers and the prospective buyers on a common platform.  
•    The Minister also released the IT Task Force Report on the occasion. The report has suggested many innovative ways in which IT can be used to make the working of the transport sector more efficient and transparent.

On 9 May 2016 Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti launched nine projects for rural sanitation initiatives in Jharkhand.
•    The initiatives were launched under Namami Gange Programme of the Ministry.
•    The main aim of these projects is to improve the health and quality of life of around 45000 households located in 78 villages of the Ganga River basin in Jharkhand 
•    The projects will cover the entire 83 kilometer stretch of Ganga in Jharkhand.
•    Promotion of safe, individual hygiene practices to ensure open defecation free status of all 78 villages along the river Ganga.
•    Promotion of cost-effective, appropriate local, low cost, easy to manage technologies to ensure improved access, sustained use and maintenance of infrastructure created for effective management of solid and liquid waste.
•    Strengthening of local institutions including panchayats, village level sanitation committees and self-help groups to effectively manage, enhance and maintain facilities established for improved sanitation in the villages and an integrated and a holistic livelihood approach.
•    78 units will be established in project villages for collection, storage and composting of degradable solid waste 
•    5460 households will be supported for adoption of composting 
•    1860 households will be supported for adoption of Bio gas plants 
•    Eight village level crematoriums and 32 bathing Ghats will be 

On 1 May 2016 Indian PM launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
•    The scheme aims to provide cooking gas connections to five crore BPL beneficiaries over.
•    LPG spread predominantly in Urban and Semi Urban Areas 
•    But the rural poor have limited access to Clean fuel (LPG).
•    Use of fossil fuels and conventional fuel like cow dung are having serious health implications for women and Children.
•    According to WHO,5 Lakhs die every year due to heart disease, pulmonary diseases etc.
•    5 crore LPG connections will be provided to BPL families with 1600 rupees.
•    Connections will be given in the name of Women.
•    EMI Facility for meeting the cost of Stove and Refill cost.
•    Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is an ambitious social welfare scheme of Narendra Modi Government. 
•    Under the PM Ujjwala Yojana, the government aims to provide free LPG connections to BPL households in the country. 
•    The scheme is aimed at replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas).