Daily PIB Summary & Analysis for RBI Grade B 2022, NABARD Grade A 2021, and SEBI Grade A Exam. In this Article we will discuss Press Information Bureau (PIB) Programs and their Summary for RBI Grade B Economics and Social Issue Section.
Press Information Bureau (PIB) releases news related to the policies, programmes, initiatives and achievements of the Government of India. PIB releases are important to be read for the RBI Grade B Exam however, equally important is to know which PIB release should be read.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is the nodal agency of the government of India to broadcast and publicize information on government policies, initiatives, achievements and working of every ministry and department within the government through its official website using various articles, images and photographs.
Steps taken by the government to provide online education to students
A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated as part of AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes:
- DIKSHA (one nation, one digital platform) is the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades are available on it.
- One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel).
- Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- ShikshaVani.
- Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.
Also, to reach out to those students who lack access to technology various innovative activities are being done at national, state or district level such as Gali-GaliSim-Sim, Tili-Mili programme, Motor Eskool, Roving Teacher, Project SMILE (Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement), e-Kaksha, formation of Whatsap and other social media groups, Work Book Distribution at home, Teacher calling to maintain connects with students.
Depending on the states’ requirement the Ministry of Education provides Rs.6.40 Lakh for setting up computer labs and Rs.2.40 Lakh for smart classroom.
Also, the approval in 2021-22 for ICT, DIKSHA and Smart classrooms are given below:
- An amount of Rs. 68685.2 Lakh is approved under Non- recurring head for ICT lab in 10727 schools.
- An amount Rs. 94633.20 Lakh is approved for smart classrooms in 42204 schools under the Non- Recurring head.
- An amount of Rs.1098.01 Lakh is also recommended under DIKSHA for development of digital contents.
ATAL TINKERING LABS (ATL)
Atal Innovation Mission (“AIM”) is Government of India’s endeavor launched to create an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in India by establishing new incubation centers, scaling up established incubation centers and setting up Atal Tinkering Labs in schools.
Till date, 8,706 schools have received the ATL sanction and grant-in-aid
The selection and establishment of ATL is being done as per a document compliance and due-diligence process. Schools which successfully complete their compliance process as per AIM requirements are sanctioned ATL grant-in-aid, subject to budgetary provisions
- A total Grant-in-Aid of Rs. 20,00,000/- is sanctioned to schools. Out of which, Rs. 10,00,000/- is provisioned as establishment cost and Rs. 10,00,000/- is provisioned as operations and maintenance cost for 5 years, at the rate of Rs. 2,00,000/- per year.
To facilitate smooth functioning and monitoring of ATL schools across the country, AIM has created an online monitoring tool – ATL Dashboard. Through ATL Dashboard, schools are able to update their activities in real time and submit reports on a monthly basis.
Steps taken by the government to develop educational institutions of global standards
World Class Institutions Scheme was launched in the year 2017 to enable ten institutions each from the public and private category to have world class academic & research facilities and grant them the status of Institution of Eminence (IoE).
- So far, twelve institutions (08 public & 04 private) have been approved under the scheme. Significant amount of autonomy in academic, administrative & financial matters has been provided under the regulatory framework to these institutions so that they can emerge as global educational institutions.
- The Government is providing financial assistance of upto Rs. 1000 Crore each (over a period of five years) to public Institutions of Eminence.
- The scheme envisions the selected institutions to feature in top 500 of the global educational institutions in a period of ten years after selection as IoE and improve to get into the list of top 100 global institutions eventually in any of the world renowned ranking frameworks.
Har Khet Ko Paani Under PMKSY
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched in 2015-16 with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc.
Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP) is one of the components of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). Under HKKP, financial assistance is being provided by this Ministry under
- Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM);
- Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI);
- Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies;
- and Ground Water components.
CADWM Programme aims for improving water use efficiency in irrigation, providing assured supply of water to every farm field, and transfer of control and management of irrigation system to the Water Users’ Associations (WUAs).
Presently the CADWM component of 99 prioritized projects of Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) only has been included for funding under PMKSY.
- The Scheme for PMKSY-HKKP was valid till March, 2021. The extension of the scheme for the period 2021-26 is under consideration of the Government. The targets for this period shall be firmed up based on approval of the scheme for the period 2021-26.
The monitoring of SMI, RRR of Water Bodies and CADWM projects is done through monitoring visits undertaken by officials of regional offices of Central Water Commission (CWC).
Under PMKSY, so far 8562 WUAs have been created, out of which 4061 WUAs have taken over the control of CAD assets.
Assistance to MSMEs
As per Udyog Aadhaar Portal (since inception October 2015 to June 2020), the number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) registered in All India was 102,32,468.
On 1st July, 2020, after adoption of new definition of MSMEs, a new registration portal ‘Udyam Registration’ has been launched by M/o MSME and so far 41,37,443 classified MSMEs are registered on the portal in All India (from 01.07.2020 to 31.07.2021).
Studies have been conducted by National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to assess the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on MSMEs including units set up under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
A. The main findings of the online study conducted by NSIC to understand the operational capabilities and difficulties faced by the beneficiaries of NSIC schemes amid Covid-19 pandemic are as follows: -
- 91% MSMEs were found to be functional.
- Five most critical problems faced by MSMEs were identified as Liquidity (55% units), Fresh Orders (17% units), Labour (9% units), Logistics (12% units) and availability of Raw Material (8% units.).
B. The findings of the study conducted by KVIC are as under:-
- 88% of the beneficiaries of PMEGP scheme reported that they were negatively affected due to Covid-19 while the remaining 12% stated that they were benefitted during Covid-19 Pandemic.
- Among the 88% who were affected, 57% stated that their units were shut down for some time during this period, while 30% reported drop in production and revenue.
- Among the 12% who had benefitted, 65% stated that their business increased as they had units in retail and health sector and around 25% stated that their units benefitted as they were dealing with essential commodities or services.
- On the question of regular payment of salaries to the employees, around 46.60% respondents stated that they had paid the salaries in full, 42.54% reported to have partially paid and 10.86% reported to have not paid salary for some time during this period.
- Majority of the beneficiaries expressed the need for additional financial support, relaxation of waiver of interest and marketing support for their products.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) implement various other schemes for the growth and development of MSME sector in the country. These include Prime Minister Employment generation Programme (PMEGP), Micro and Small Enterprises-Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Upgradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) and SC/ST Hub.
Post Covid-19, Government has taken a number of initiatives under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to support the MSME Sector in the country especially in Covid-19 Pandemic. Some of them are:
- Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for MSMEs.
- Rs 3 lakh crores Collateral free Automatic Loans for business, including MSMEs.
- Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds.
- New revised criteria for classification of MSMEs.
- New Registration of MSMEs through ‘Udyam Registration’ for Ease of Dong Business.
- No global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crores, this will help MSME.
All new and existing Micro and Small Enterprises engaged in manufacturing or services including trading activity are eligible to be covered under Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) implemented by Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE). CGTMSE has approved 4,35,520 guarantees for an amount of Rs. 30,168.57 crore during 2018-19, 8,46,650 guarantees for an amount of Rs. 45,851.22 crore during 2019-20, 8,35,592 guarantees for an amount of Rs. 36,899.39 crore during 2020-21.
- Under Interest Subvention Scheme for Incremental Credit to MSMEs, number of beneficiaries and amount are 13,62,355 and Rs. 541.51 crore during 2019-20 and 9,08,860and Rs. 431.07 crore during 2020-21 respectively.
ECLGS : As part of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), around 1.09 crore MSME borrowers have been provided with guarantee support amounting to Rs. 1.65 lakh crore as on 02.07.2021.
Champions Portal: An online Portal “Champions” has been launched on 01.06.2020 by Hon’ble Prime Minister. This covers many aspects of e-governance including grievance redressal and handholding of MSMEs. Through the portal, total 35,361 grievances have been redressed upto 12.07.2021.
MSMEs Share in GVA : As per the information received from Central Statistics Office , Ministry of Statistics & PI, Share of MSMEs in Gross Value Added (GVA) to All India GVA at current prices (2011-12) for the years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 was 32.7%, 33.5% and 33.1% respectively.
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) was announced as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package in 2020 with the objective to help businesses including MSMEs to meet their operational liabilities and resume businesses in view of the distress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, by providing Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), 100 percent guarantee against any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment of the ECLGS funding by borrowers. The eligibility criteria for availing credit under ECLGS are:
- For ECLGS 1.0: MSME units, Business Enterprises, Mudra Borrower and individual loans for business purpose having loan outstanding upto Rs.50 crore and days past due upto 60 days as on 29.02.2020.
- For ECLGS 2.0: Borrower belonging to 26 stressed sectors identified by Kamath Committee & Healthcare sector having loan outstanding above Rs.50 crore and upto Rs.500 crore and days past due upto 60 days as on 29.02.2020.
- For ECLGS 3.0: Borrower belonging to Hospitality, Travel & Tourism, Leisure & Sporting and Civil Aviation sector having days past due upto 60 days as on 29.02.2020.
- For ECLGS 4.0: Existing Hospitals/Nursing Homes/Clinics/Medical Colleges/units engaged in manufacturing of liquid oxygen, oxygen cylinders etc. having credit facility with a lending institution with days past due upto 90 days as on March 31, 2021.
The overall ceiling initially announced for ECLGS was Rs 3 lakh crore which was subsequently enhanced to Rs 4.5 lakh crore. However, ECLGS being a demand driven scheme, sanctions/disbursements are made by lending institutions based on assessment of borrower’s requirement and their eligibility.
ECLGS is under the operational domain of Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services (DFS). As informed by DFS, as on 2.07.2021 an amount of Rs.2.73 lakh crore have been sanctioned under the scheme of which an amount of Rs.2.14 lakh crore has been disbursed. Total 1.14 crore borrowers have been issued guarantee under the scheme.
- In order to ensure easy and softer repayment terms on the credit extended to the MSME sector, Government has capped the interest rate under ECLGS scheme at 9.25 percent for Banks and Financial Institutions and 14 percent for Non-Banking Financial Institutions.
- In addition to this, the other scheme announced under Atma Nirbhar Bharat package i.e. ‘Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt’ also has moratorium clause of 7 years on the payment of principle component with the overall all repayment period of 10 years.
TRIFED to celebrate its 34th Foundation Day tomorrow
- TRIFED was founded on August 6, 1987 and will celebrate its 34th Foundation Day. It was founded to drive tribal development through marketing support for tribal products, both, handicrafts and Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP)
- In collaboration with Ministry of External Affairs, TRIFED is going to set up an Atmanirbhar Bharat corner in 100 Indian Missions/ Embassies across the world.
Budget Allocation and Expenditure for Nirbhaya Fund
The Government of India had set up a dedicated non-lapsable fund called ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country. From inception, till 2020-21, the total allocation under Nirbhaya Fund has been Rs. 5712.85 crore, out of which the allocation for the last five years i.e. from 2016-17 to 2020-21 has been Rs.3712.85 crore. During the last five years, an amount of Rs.3766.03 crore has been released for implementation of various schemes/ projects under Nirbhaya Fund
Setting UP of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh
The Government had set up Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK). It was established in 1993 as a national level autonomous body for socio-economic empowerment of women, especially those in the rural and unorganized sector, by providing them concessional, collateral free micro-credit.
- The operating model followed by RMK has been of extending loans to Intermediary Micro-Finance Organizations (IMOs) which further onlend for entrepreneurial activities of women.
- However, as per recommendations in the report on ‘Rationalisation of Government Bodies’, prepared by the Principal Economic Adviser to the Government of India in November, 2020, the Government has decided to close down RMK as it has lost its relevance and utility in the present scenario with substantial alternative credit facilities becoming available to women through various governmental initiatives and efforts such as Jan Dhan Yojana, PM Mudra Yojana etc and also to avoid duplicacy of efforts.
Rs 100 crore sanctioned for Restoration of roads affected by unprecedented rains in Konkan and Western Maharashtra
The share of natural gas in the primary energy mix is envisaged to increase to 15% by 2030 by boosting domestic production and procuring LNG.
News Source : Multiple PIB Articles
