MPLADS suspended
Context :
The Union Cabinet has approved a 30% cut in the salaries of all Members of Parliament and a two-year suspension of the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme so that the amount saved can go to the Consolidated Fund of India to fight COVID-19.
In this regard, it approved an ordinance to amend the Salaries, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, to cut the salaries of MPs by 30%.
Now, the consolidated amount of MPLAD Funds for 2 years – Rs 7,900 crores – will go to Consolidated Fund of India.
About MPLAD scheme :
What is it?
It was launched in December, 1993, to provide a mechanism for the Members of Parliament to recommend works of developmental nature for creation of durable community assets and for provision of basic facilities including community infrastructure, based on locally felt needs.
- The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by Government of India. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crore.
Special focus:
- MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.
- In order to encourage trusts and societies for the betterment of tribal people, a ceiling of Rs. 75 lakh is stipulated for building assets by trusts and societies subject to conditions prescribed in the scheme guidelines.
Works under the scheme:
Works, developmental in nature, based on locally felt needs and always available for the use of the public at large, are eligible under the scheme. Preference under the scheme is given to works relating to national priorities, such as provision of drinking water, public health, education, sanitation, roads, etc.
Release of Funds:
- Funds are released in the form of grants in-aid directly to the district authorities.
- The funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable.
- The liability of funds not released in a particular year is carried forward to the subsequent years, subject to eligibility.
Execution of works:
The MPs have a recommendatory role under the scheme. They recommend their choice of works to the concerned district authorities who implement these works by following the established procedures of the concerned state government. The district authority is empowered to examine the eligibility of works sanction funds and select the implementing agencies, prioritise works, supervise overall execution, and monitor the scheme at the ground level.
Recommendation of works:
- The Lok Sabha Members can recommend works in their respective constituencies.
- The elected members of the Rajya Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the state from which they are elected.
- Nominated members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select works for implementation anywhere in the country.
RBI to set up Wing for banking fraud oversight
Context :
Reserve Bank of India is planning to set up exclusive wing for banking fraud oversight. Nothing official has been revealed in this regard.
What may be the composition of this wing?
It may have teams for meta-data processing and analysis, artificial intelligence analysis units, as well as pro-active risk assessment cell. Experts from the private sector working in all these domains will be roped in to train the new members in the fraud oversight wing.
Why there is a need for separate wing for fraud oversight?
After the loan fiasco at Punjab National Bank, the RBI had been mulling ways to pro-actively detect such frauds. As part of that plan, the banking regulator had late last year moved to create a separate cadre of its own employees who would work in regulation and oversight sections. With the latest Yes Bank crisis, it has been felt even more necessary to have such a wing at the earliest to protect the consumer interests.
source : indian express
Fall in IHS Market India Services Business Activity Index
Context :
The IHS Market India Services Business Activity Index (i.e Service Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)) was at 49.3 in March, down from February’s 85-month high of 57.5.
Key Points :
- The Index is compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide. IHS Markit is a global leader in information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide.
- The fall implies contraction in India’s services sector activity during March basically due to COVID-19.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced demand, particularly in overseas markets. Nationwide store closures and prohibition to leave the house weighed heavily on the services economy.
- In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.
- The Composite PMI Output Index that maps both the manufacturing and services sector also fell to 50.6 in March, down 7 points from February’s 57.6.
- This signals a sharp slowdown in private sector output growth and brought an abrupt end to the recent strong upward-moving expansion trend.
Purchasing Managers’ Index :
- PMI is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors.
- It consists of a diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions, as viewed by purchasing managers, are expanding, staying the same, or contracting.
- The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision makers, analysts, and investors.
- It is different from the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which also gauges the level of activity in the economy.
Jobless rate in India rose to 23 percent due to Lockdown said CIME
Context :
A survey released by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. (CMIE) stated that the unemployment rate in India has climbed to more than 20%. The decline has occurred as the people lost jobs after the nationwide lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights :
- The report stated that the jobless rate based on a sample size of 9,429 observations was 23.4% as of 5 April 2020.
- CMIE estimated the jobless rate for the month of March 2020 as 8.7% compared with 7.8% in February.
- Labor statistics for March 2020 was declined.
- It also stated that an estimated 100 million workers in mining, construction, manufacturing, and services sectors have been rendered jobless due to the lockdown.
CMIE :
CMIE was established in 1976. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is a leading business information company. It provides services to the entire spectrum of business information consumers including governments, academia, financial markets, business enterprises, professionals and media. It conducts the largest survey to estimate household incomes, the pattern of spending and savings. The company analyses the data to decipher trends in the economy.
Animals and Covid-19
Context :
Owing to a recent news report on a Tiger being infected with Covid-19 in New York (Bronx Zoo), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued an advisory regarding the containing and management of Covid-19 in National Parks/Sanctuaries/Tiger Reserves.
- Also, a tiger in Pench Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) has died due to respiratory illness. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is investigating whether the tiger should be tested for the novel coronavirus disease.
- However, swabs from the throat and nose to test for rhinotracheitis, a viral infection that afflicts cats and causes respiratory illness were collected.
Key Points :
- Spread of Infection from humans to animals
- The Bronx Zoo case suggests that a zoo employee spread the virus to the tiger.
- The virus came from an animal source and mutated; humans have since been infecting humans. Thus, it is theoretically possible for the virus to mutate again to survive in certain species after being transmitted by humans.
- Advisory by the MInistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- It has asked all Chief Wildlife Wardens (CWLWs) of all States/UTs to take immediate preventive measures to stop the transmission and spread of the virus from humans to animals and vice versa, in National Parks/Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves.
- The CWLW is the statutory authority under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 who heads the Wildlife Wing of a State Forest Department and exercises complete administrative control over Protected Areas (PAs) within a state.
- Guidelines issued by the NTCA and CZA
- Both the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and the NTCA have issued guidelines that require zoos to be on the “highest alert” and monitor animals on closed-circuit cameras 24/7 for “abnormal behaviour and symptoms.”
- The CZA has also directed zookeepers to approach sick animals wearing personal protective equipment and isolate and quarantine them.