Current Affairs Analysis – 6.April.2020

Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)

Context :

As a part of Government’s continued efforts to contain spread of COVID 19, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modihas decided not to operate Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years (2020-21 and 2021-22). These funds will be used to strengthen Government’s efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact of COVID19 in the country.

What is “MPLADS“

The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme known as MPLADS is a government scheme launched on 23rd December 1993. This central sector scheme was developed as an initiative to enable the parliament members to recommend developmental work in their constituencies based on locally felt needs. These developmental works mainly focused on the areas of national priorities such as drinking water, education, public health, sanitation, roads, etc.

Some of the key features of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) are:

It is a government-funded scheme where the annual fund provided to each MP constituency is Rs. 5 crores.
Recommendation by the MPs should be done annually with works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.
A sum of Rs. 75 lakhs is provided for building assets by trusts and societies as per the scheme guidelines to encourage the trusts and societies for the betterment of tribal people.
Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their Constituencies and Elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State of Election. Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country.

Implementation of MPLADS :

An MP is required to provide his/her choice of the nodal district to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in a prescribed format. A copy of the same should be given to the State Government and the District Magistrate of the chosen district.
The Government of India releases an annual entitlement of Rs. 5 crores in two equal instalments. This amount is given to the District Authority of the Nodal District selected by the concerned MP.
The Implementing Agency should be identified by the District Authority. The Implementing Agency should have the capability to execute the eligible work qualitatively, timely and satisfactorily.
All the recommended works must be sanctioned within 75 days from the date of receipt of the recommendation after the completion of all formalities. If any work is not sanctioned within the prescribed time period, the District Authority shall, however, may inform the MPs regarding the rejection of the work within 45 days from the date of receipt of recommendations.
This scheme can also be converted into individual/stand-alone projects under the Central and State Government schemes provided they meet the eligibility conditions of MPLADS.
Funds from local bodies can be similarly pooled with MPLADS works but the funds provided by other scheme sources should be used first. MPLADS funds should be released later for the successful completion of the project. As soon as a work under the Scheme is completed, it should be put to public use.

Source : the hindu

DST and ‘Module Innovations” developing a rapid test device for detection of antibodies

Context :

The Department of Science & Technology has funded ‘Module Innovations”, a Pune based healthcare startup working on point of care diagnostics to build up on its platform technology for rapid diagnosis of diseases to develop a product for detecting COVID 19 with a 10 to 15 minute test.

Using the proven concept from its flagship product USense, Module is now developing nCoVSENSEs (TM) which is a rapid test device for detection of antibodies that have been generated against the COVID 19 in the human body.

The nCoVSENSe test is aimed at detecting the IgG and IgM antibodies generated in the human body upon the onset of viral infection and is targeted against the Spike proteins making it specific for COVID 19.

Benefits :

With the rapid test device it will be possible to confirm infection in patients and also determine whether an infected patent has recovered and also identify the stage of infection in the patients.
The current confirmatory method of Real-TimeReverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) though a gold standard is costly, takes longer time and needs trained manpower. This new rapid test will help manage the problem in a more efficient way at a lesser cost.

Source : pib

Free Testing and Treatment for Covid-19

Context :

Recently, the Central government has decided to provide free testing and treatment of coronavirus under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme or the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).

Key Points :

Objective:
- To increase the supply of testing and treatment facilities.
- To increase access by roping in the private sector through AB-PMJAY as per the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.
It will help more than 50 crore Ayushman beneficiaries to avail free testing and timely and standard treatment in designated private hospitals across India.
It will significantly expand government’s capacities and mitigate the adverse impact of this pandemic on the poor.
States have already enlisted private sector hospitals to convert them into Covid-19 only hospitals.
- Hospitals can use their own authorised testing facilities or tie up with an authorised testing facility for the scheme.
- These tests would be carried out as per the protocol set by ICMR and by private labs approved/registered by the ICMR.
Information on symptoms, testing and treatment for the disease can be accessed from the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and by calling the national Covid-19 helpline 1075.

Source : the hindu

Complete Export Ban on Hydroxychloroquine

Context :

India has banned all exports of hydroxychloroquine – an anti- malaria drug that is being used in the treatment of Covid-19.

This implies that the exceptions (export obligation and humanitarian grounds) mentioned in the previous order have come to an end.
The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had prohibited the export of the drug on 25^th March, 2020. But it left the option of export open to fulfil “export obligation” and on “humanitarian grounds”.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) organisation is an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This Directorate, with headquarters at New Delhi, is responsible for formulating and implementing the Foreign Trade Policy with the main objective of promoting India’s exports.

Key Points :

The export of hydroxychloroquine and formulations made from hydroxychloroquine is not even allowed from Special Economic Zones/ Export -Oriented Units (SEZs/EOUs) or against Advance Authorisation (AA) or against full advance payment.
- SEZs are treated as foreign territory in terms of customs laws. Normally, export ban or restrictions imposed by the government does not apply on these zones as well as EOUs, which are specially meant to promote outbound shipments from the country.
- Under the Advance Authorisation (AA) scheme, firms are allowed to import raw material at zero duty but with the condition of export obligation within a certified time frame.
Reasons
- India has banned exports of a host of medical devices, including sanitiser, all types of ventilators and surgical masks.
- The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for treating healthcare workers handling suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases and also the asymptomatic household contacts (showing no symptoms) of the lab-confirmed cases. It needs to be noted that the drug is yet to be proven as a cure for the novel coronavirus.
- All this has been done to deal with the number of rising cases in the country.
USA’s Request
- India is considering the request by the USA to release the ordered amount of hydroxychloroquine drug.
  - USA has been using the drug along with a combination of other drugs to treat COVID-19 patients. It is being said that the drug is yielding positive results.
- This can be viewed as an opportunity for India’s pharmaceutical industry to gain access to the USA markets, but a call should be taken only after considering domestic requirements.
- This may provide India and the US with an opportunity to sort out issues related to India’s capping of prices of drugs and medical equipment like stents that have figured prominently in trade disputes between the two countries.
- This can also be seen as India, despite a complete ban on exports, may give priority to the USA’s request. This highlights the importance of India-US relationship.