ECLGS aims to provide 100% guaranteed coverage to the banks, NBFCs and other lenders in order to enable them to extend emergency credit to businesses/MSMEs hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and struggling to meet their working capital requirements.

NEWS TODAY

VISIONIAS

30th & 31st MAY, 2021

NTP systems offer greater flexibility for deep space missions. They can reduce travel times to Mars by up to 25% and, more importantly, limit a flight crew’s exposure to cosmic radiation.

‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme is designed to support all children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid 19.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification under the 2009 rules of the Citizenship Act, 1955 which empowered non-Muslims belonging to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and residing in 13 districts of five states namely Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to apply for Indian citizenship.

This notification intends to benefit legal migrants (who entered on passport/visa) from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have already applied for Citizenship under Section 5 (by registration) and Section 6 (naturalisation) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.Citizenship is a Central subject and the MHA periodically delegates powers to States through gazette notification under Section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

This notification is not related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2020 that is yet to come into effect.

It will be funded through the PM-CARES fund and includes five measures as:

Fixed Deposit in the name of the child

School Education: For children under 10 years

School Education: forchildren between 11-18 years

Support for Higher Education

Health Insurance

It will provide a monthly financial support/ stipend from 18 years of age and on reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount.

PM-CARES will create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child through a specially designed scheme.

Ensure admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya/private school as a day scholar.

Assist in obtaining an education loan for Professional courses / Higher Education in India with interest payment on this loan from PM-CARES fund.Or, scholarship equivalent to the tuition fees/course fees for undergraduate/vocational courses under Central or State Government Schemes. In case of no scholarship schemes, PM-CARES will provide an equivalent scholarship.All children will be enrolled under Ayushman Bharat Scheme.The premium amount will be paid from PM CARES till the child reaches 18 years of age.

The child will be given admission in any Central Government residential school such as Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya etc.In case the child is to be continued under the care of Guardian/ grandparents/ extended family, then he or she will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.

If the child is admitted in a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from the PM CARES.

Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for the acquisition of Indian citizenship viz. birth (section 3), descent (section 4), registration (section 5), and naturalisation (section 6).Citizenship Act, 1955 prescribes 3 ways of losing Indian citizenship viz. Renunciation, Termination, and Deprivation.

Non-Muslims include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsi, Christian and Buddhists

UNION GOVT ANNOUNCES ‘PM-CARES FOR CHILDREN’ SCHEME TO SUPPORT CHILDREN IMPACTED BY THE COVID-19

13 MORE DISTRICTS EMPOWERED TO GRANT CITIZENSHIP TO APPLICANTS FROM THREE COUNTRIES

SAANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (SAGY) FOR MODEL VILLAGES LAGS AMID COVID

SAGY was launched in 2014 under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.

A total of 6,433 Adarsh Grams, of the 2,65,000-gram panchayats, aims to be created by 2024.

MPs can select any gram panchayat, other than their own village or that of their spouse, to be developed as an Adarsh Gram.

Fund scarcity due to suspension of MPLAD scheme for 2 year SAGY envisages synergy and convergence of various development schemes, which is a tough task.

Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024.

The official data shows 2,111-gram panchayats have so far been identified under this programme and of that, 1,618 have prepared their development plans.

Objective is to trigger processes which lead to holistic development of the identified Gram Panchayats and substantially improve the standard of living.

Under SAGY, no new funds have been allocated for the Yojana. Refer infographic for SAGY funding.Issues with SAGY

Ministry of Rural Development will be nodal Ministry

Ministry of Finance (MoF) has expanded Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).

Government periodically announced ECLGS 1.0, ECLGS 2.0 and ECLGS 3.0 and now ECLGS 4.0 (see Infographic) to enhance the utility and impact of ECLGS by providing additional support to MSMEs.MoLE announced additional benefits through ESIC (Employees' State Insurance Corporation) and EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) scheme

Under ECLGS, 100% guarantee coverage to be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for Collateral Free Automatic Loans up to Rs. 3 lakh crores to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA borrowers, in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility.

Under the EPFO’s Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme, amount of maximum benefit has been increased from 6 lakhs to 7 lakhs to the family members of deceased employee.

MoF AND MINISTRY OF LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT (MOLE) ANNOUNCED COVID-19 RELIEF MEASURES UNDER VARI-OUS SCHEMES

Measure Provisions

Dependent insured persons will be entitled to pensions under the ESIC scheme.

PM-CARES will pay for the uniform, textbooks and notebooks.

Cap of ₹500cr of loan outstanding removed; assistance will be max 40% or ₹200 crore,whichever is lower100% gurantee cover of outstanding as on Feb 29, 2020, to hospitals, nursing homes/clinics forsetting up on-site 02 plantsAdditional 10% assistance of outstanding as on Feb29, 2020, to borrowers who availed previous version of ECLGS Borrowers eligible for RBI restructuring 2.0 can avail of a tenure of 5 years vs 4 years earlierValidity of scheme extended of sept 30 or tillgurantees for ₹3 trn are issued

BENEFITS ON OFFER

The Member of Parliament Local

Area DevelopmentScheme (MPLADS)

Central and State Finance Commission

Grants

The gramPanchayat’s own

revenueCorporate Social

Responsibilityfunds

Funds from existing schemes by converging Central

Sector, Centrally Sponsored and State Schemes

SAGYFunding

GOVERNMENT PROPOSED SEVERAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS TO DEVELOP ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS

VISIONIAS

VISIONIASALSO IN NEWS

Antibody-dependent Enhancement (ADE)

CSC E-Governance India Ltd (CSC SPV)

‘YUVA - Prime Minister’s Scheme For Mentoring

Young Authors’

Bal-swaraj-COVID-Care Portal

Instead, these antibodies act as a ‘Trojan horse’, allowing the pathogen to get into cells and exacerbate the immune response.

It is the largest tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.

It is a national park situated in the northern part of Orissa’s Mayurbhanj district.It was formally designated a tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1973 and declared a biosphere reserve in 1994.

It comes under Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve that includes the adjacent Hadgarh and Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuaries.

The portal is aimed at empowering small and marginal farmers, who constitute 86% of India's farming community. 

Bal-swaraj is an online tracking and real-time monitoring portal, devised by NCPCR for child in need of care & protection.

It has been part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserve since 2009.

It acts as buffer for Periyar Tiger Reserve and offer excellent genetic exchange grounds for the tigers of Anamalai region.It protects Vaigai River and its catchment areas. Its basin is bounded by the Cardamom Hills and the Palani Hills on the West and by the Palk Strait and Palk Bay on the East.It covers forests of Megamalai wildlife sanctuary and Srivilliputhur grizzled squirrel wildlife sanctuary in the districts of Theni, Virudhunagar and Madurai.

Few experts have suggested that anti- SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could exacerbate COVID-19 through ADE.ADE occurs when the antibodies generated during an immune response recognize and bind to a pathogen, but they are unable to prevent infection.

However, various experts have suggested that the potential problem of ADE has already been addressed during COVID-19 vaccine development.

The CSC SPV, recently, announced the launch of an e-marketplace or portal for agri services that will enable farmers to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, cattle feed, and other agri-input products.

YUVA (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors), launched by the Ministry of Education, is a mentorship programme to train young and budding authors (below 30 years of age) for promoting reading, writing and book culture in the country, and project India and Indian writings globally.

Recently, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has extended the use of Bal-swaraj-COVID-Care Portal for tracking children who have lost both its parents or either of the parent during COVID-19

It helps NCPCR in performing its duties as a monitoring authority under section 109 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

It is a part of India@75 Project (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) to bring to the fore the perspectives of the young generation of writers on themes like Unsung Heroes and their role in the National Movement.

The CSC SPV, a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, provides a host of electronic services to consumers through its common service centres.

Tiger reserve in news

Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve (SMTR)

Simlipal Tiger Reserve

Significance of development of A&N

Issues with development plan

Strategic location: These islands help India to defend its vital stakes in Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Counter Chinese presence in IOR: In recent years, China strengthens its overall presence in IOR

Buffer Zone: These Islands act as a buffer zone between India and rest of the nations present in IOR.

Presently, the developmental projects are under Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) committee consideration.

De-notification of certain areas of tribal reserves (reserved for Onge tribe).Threats to sensitive ecology and several endemic species.

Economically important: It gives a boost to tourism and business there

Examples include deployment of a submarine at Colombo harbour, developing naval bases at Gwadar and Djibouti etc.

EACs are central and state level committees to advise the government on environmental clearance of development projects under Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.CRZ committee functions under the national and state level Coastal Zone Management Authorities to review developmental projects under the CRZ Notification, 2019,