DAILY GK C.A 15 MAY
1. SCO FOREIGN
MINISTERS VIDEO CONFERENCE ON COVID-19
·
External
Affairs Minister (EAM) S.Jaishankar
participated in a virtual conference of foreign ministers hosted by Russia from
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) member
states and insisted on the collective action against the terrorism and the
security challenges.
·
India
and Pakistan became the members of the SCO in 2017.
2. PM CARES
FUND TRUST ALLOCATES RS 3,100 CRORE
·
PM
CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and
Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund Trust has allocated Rs 3100
crores to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
·
Out
of the total amount around Rs 2000 crores will be allocated for the purchase of
ventilators, Rs 1000 crores to care migrant labourers and Rs 100 crores to
support vaccine development.
·
50,000 Made-in-India ventilators are
to be purchased at Rs 2000 crores to boost the infrastructure so as to tackle
COVID-19 cases across the country.
3. JAL JEEVAN
MISSION
·
UT Jammu
& Kashmir (J&K) and the state Government of Haryana have
planned to provide tap connection to supply water to all rural families
by December 2022 under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
·
Jal
Jeevan Mission is a central government initiative with
the aim to provide drinking water to every rural household.
·
Works
under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the government implement the mission on a
priority basis.
4. ATMANIRBHAR
BHARAT ABHIYAAN PART-1
·
Nirmala
Sitharaman provided the details of the first part of the Special economic and
comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crores, equivalent to 10% of
India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on May 12, 2020.
·
The 15
points plan details were dubbed as “Atmanirbhar Bharat
Abhiyaan” (self-reliant India Movement) which is premised on 5 pillars
viz. Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand.
·
Also,
the measures taken in the package are focused on “Getting back to
work” which enables employees, employers, and businesses to get back
to production and workers back to gainful employment.
·
The
second part of the package will be unveiled by the Union Finance Minister on
May, 14, 2020.
–Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Working
Capital Facility for Businesses, including MSMEs for 4 years
–Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for
Stressed MSMEs; Max upto Rs 75 lakhs
Apart from above, a provision of Rs.
20,000 cr has been made for 2 Lakh MSMEs which are Non-performing assets (NPA)
or are stressed. In this regard, a financial support of Rs 4000 crore will be
provided to Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small enterprises
(CGTMSE). CGTMSE will provide partial Credit Guarantee support to
banks. Further banks are expected to provide the subordinate-debt to promoters
of such MSMEs equal to 15% of his existing stake in the unit.
–New definition set for MSME to boost
growth
·
Micro
Units: Companies with Investments up to Rs
1 crore & Turnover of below Rs 5 crore.
·
Small
Units: Companies with investment below Rs
10 crore and turnover under Rs 50 crore.
·
Medium
Units: Companies having investment under
Rs 20 crore and turnover below Rs 100 crore.
As per the proposal, amendments will need
to be made in the MSME Development Act of 2006.
–Global tenders to be disallowed upto Rs
200 crores in government procurement
To overcome the unfair
competition faced by MSMEs from foreign companies, the global tenders
will be disallowed in government procurement tenders up to Rs 200 crore. This
step will not only support the “Make in India” initiative but also help MSMEs
to increase their business.
–Rs. 2500 crore Employees Provident Fund
(EPF) Support for Business & Workers for 3 more months
Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan
Package (PMGKP), payment of 12% of employer and 12% employee contributions
was made into EPF accounts of eligible establishments. This was provided
earlier for salary months of March, April and May 2020. Now, this support will
be extended by another 3 months to salary months of June, July and August
2020.
–EPF contribution reduced for Business
& Workers for 3 months- Rs 6750 crores Liquidity Support
To provide more take home salary for
employees and to give relief to employers, the EPF or Employee Provident Fund
contribution is being reduced for businesses and workers for three months to
10% each from the existing 12% for all establishments covered by EPFO. This
will provide liquidity of about Rs.2250 Crore per month
and Rs 6,750 crores for 3 months. This will provide liquidity
relief to 3.67 lakh establishments and for 72.22 lakh employees.
–Reduction in Rates of ‘Tax Deduction at
Source’ and ‘Tax Collected at Source” by 25% for the remaining period of FY
20-21
The Central Board of Income Tax on
Wednesday ordered a 25% reduction in the rate of income tax deducted at source
(TDS) and tax collection at source (TCS) from 14 May, 2020 to 31st March, 2021
to provide more money in the hands of taxpayers. This will provided liquidity
to the tune of Rs 50,000 Crore.
–Other Direct Tax Measures
Extension of dates: The due date of all Income Tax
Returns for Assessment Year 2020-21 will be extended to 30 November,
2020. Similarly, tax audit due date will be extended to 31 October 2020.
·
The
date for making payment without additional amount under the “Vivad Se
Vishwas” scheme will be extended to 31 December, 2020.
–Relief to Real Estate Projects
The Central Government has extended the
Registration and Completion Date of Real Estate Projects under Real
Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) amid COVID-19 impact. The Central
Government directed to advise States/UTs and their Regulatory Authorities to
the following effect:
·
Treat
COVID-19 as an event of ‘Force Majeure’ (natural disaster)
under RERA.
·
The
registration and completion date for all registered projects will be extended
up to 6 months and may be further extended by another 3 months
based on the State’s
5. INDIA
LIKELY TO MISS GLOBAL NUTRITION TARGETS BY 2025
·
According
to World Health Organization(WHO)’s Global Nutrition Report 2020, India is
one among 88 countries to miss global nutrition targets by
2025 & is with highest rates of domestic inequalities in malnutrition.
·
India
along with Nigeria & Indonesia are worst in disparities in stunting &
the levels varied four-fold across communities.
·
The
World Health Assembly in 2012 identified 6 nutrition targets for maternal,
infant and young child nutrition to be met by 2025 they are:
·
Reduce stunting by
40% in children under 5; Reduce Anaemia by 50% in women of
reproductive age(15-49 years); Reduce 30% in low birth weight; No
increase in childhood overweight; Increase the rate of
exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months up to at least
50%; Reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.
6. FOREST LOSS
RATE GLOBALLY DECLINED
·
According
to the Global Forest Resources Assessment(FRA)
2020 released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization(FAO), the forest loss rate in
2015-2020 has declined to
an estimated 10 million hectares(mha), down from 12 mha in 2010-2015.
·
The
world has lost 178 mha of forest since 1990, an area the size of Libya.
·
Among
the world’s regions, Africa has
the largest annual
rate of net forest loss in
2010–2020, at 3.9 mha, followed by South America, at 2.6 mha, whereas Asia has
the highest net gain of forest area in 2010–2020, followed by Oceania and
Europe.
·
The
world’s total forest area was 4.06 billion hectares(bha), which was 31% of the
total land area; this area was equivalent to 0.52 ha per person.
7.
DIRECT-TO-BANK DEPOSITS IN INDIA
·
MoneyGram
Payment System, a subsidiary of MoneyGram International, global leader in P2P
payments tied up with Federal Bank Limited, a private bank in India to provide
the customers a cost-effective way to receive deposits directly in their bank
accounts in India.
8.
UN FORECASTS INDIA TO GROW AT 1.2% IN
CY20
·
In the
United Nations(UN) World
Economic Situation and Prospects(WESP) mid
year report forecast that the COVID-19 pandemic situation will shrink the world
economy by 3.2% in 2020 this is the sharpest contraction since the 1930’s Great
Depression and India’s economy to grow at 1.2% in 2020.
