MPLADS funds suspended over COVID-19 crisis

The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the temporary suspension of MPLAD Funds during 2020-21 and 2021-22 in view of the adverse impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 in India. Why suspend MPLAD? The consolidated amount of MPLAD Funds for 2 years – Rs 7,900 crores – will go to Consolidated Fund of India. The… Continue reading

[pib] Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH)

Department of Science & Technology has approved setting up of a Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH). What is CAWACH? CAWACH will help to address various challenges faced by country due to severe impact of COVID-19. CAWACH will identify up to 50 innovations and startups that are in the area of novel,… Continue reading

A niggardliness that is economically unwarranted

Context The Centre can afford to step up its COVID-19 assistance to a higher scale; fiscal deficit is no worry. Comparison with the US Unemployment benefit in the US: In the United States, for instance, where the lockdown has raised the number of persons filing unemployment claims from 2.8 lakh to 6.6 million in a… Continue reading

Let no one go hungry

Context The impact of the lockdown, effected from midnight of March 24, has been particularly severe on migrant workers. The state must utilise FCI stock for those who have ration cards and those who don’t. India’s labour force and impact of lockdown on it Nearly one-fifth of India’s labour force consists of internal migrants. As… Continue reading

Restarting the economy after lockdown

(This newscard is the excerpt from an article published in the TOI, authored by former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. It discusses a series of reformative measures to boost our economy once the lockdown restrictions are eased.) Context Economically speaking, India is faced today with perhaps its greatest emergency since Independence. The global financial crisis… Continue reading

Comparing current crisis with Great Depression, 1929

With the novel coronavirus pandemic severely affecting the global economy, some experts have begun comparing the current crisis with the Great Depression — the devastating economic decline of the 1930s that went on to shape countless world events. Looming depression ahead Experts have warned that unemployment levels in some countries could reach those from… Continue reading

AMMA Canteen and its success

The Amma Canteen, a delivery system to provide urban food security in Tamil Nadu, has become an effective mechanism in reaching the needy during the lockdown. AMMA Canteen Amma Unavagam better known as Amma Canteen is a food subsidization programme run by the Government of Tamil Nadu. Under the scheme, municipal corporations of the state-run… Continue reading

What is Drive-through Testing?

To work around the challenges of home-based testing in the country, a New Delhi based firm has offered ‘drive-through test’ for COVID-19. Drive-through Testing Those who feel sick drive up to a test centre where nurses wearing protective gear collect a nose or throat sample from the car itself. Results are mailed or messaged in… Continue reading

Tropical Butterfly Conservatory

The Tropical Butterfly Conservatory Tiruchirappalli (TBCT) has been developed in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli to create awareness among the public about the importance of the butterfly and its ecology. Tropical Butterfly Conservatory The TBC is located in the Upper Anaicut Reserve Forest, sandwiched between the Cauvery and Kollidam rivers in Tiruchirappalli. It was inaugurated during November… Continue reading

Making the private sector care for public health

Context As India enters the second week of a national lockdown imposed in response to COVID-19, it is still unclear how well prepared the healthcare system is in dealing with the pandemic. Need for roping in the private healthcare No indication of an increase in expenditure on health: A preparedness plan has to address all levels… Continue reading

BCG vaccine

According to a US-based research, a combination of reduced morbidity and mortality could make the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination a “game-changer” in the fight against novel coronavirus. What is BCG Vaccine? Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB). In countries where TB or leprosy is common, one dose is recommended… Continue reading

Still no bullseye, in volume and value

Context Based on the latest estimates released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in the period between 2009-13 and 2014-18, Indian defence imports fell even as exports increased. What are the factors responsible for the shift? Make in India initiative: The first is the ‘Make in India’ initiative, as part of which a… Continue reading

Pull out all the stops

Context Though there is coherence in India’s response to the Covid-19, still there is more that needs to be done. Sense of coherence in India’s response Since last week, a sense of coherence is settling over India’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The national lockdown, the incomes and credit support, and the three-month debt moratorium announced by… Continue reading

Telemedicine/Telehealth as a tool to fight COVID-19

The Medical Council of India and the NITI Aayog have developed new guidelines released on March 25, 2020 for registered medical practitioners to deliver consultations to patients via telemedicine. Telemedicine Telemedicine involves the use of telecom and virtual technology to deliver health care outside of traditional health-care facilities. It is the essential delivery of health… Continue reading

Ways and Means Advances (WMA)

The RBI has raised the Ways and Means Advances, or WMA, limit by 30% for all States and UTs to enable them to tide over the crisis caused by COVID-19 outbreak. What are Ways and Means Advances? The RBI gives temporary loan facilities to the centre and state governments as a banker to the… Continue reading

Price Monitoring and Resource Unit (PMRU)

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has set up price monitoring and resource unit (PMRU) in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. With this J&K has become the 12th State/UT where the PMRU has been set up. Price Monitoring and Research Unit (PMRU) It is a registered society set up for drug price monitoring. PMRUs… Continue reading

[pib] ArogyaSetu App

The Government of India has launched a mobile app ArogyaSetu developed in a public-private partnership to bring the people of India together in a resolute fight against COVID-19. AarogyaSetu App The App enables people to assess themselves the risk of their catching the Corona Virus infection. It will calculate this based on their interaction… Continue reading

PM-CARES Fund

Context In the midst of all of this, our Prime Minister announced the creation of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES), which—if the intention is to allow funds to move fast and circumvent bureaucratic hurdles—is a great initiative. About PM CARES Fund The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief… Continue reading

The sudden return of quantity planning in the wake of covid-19

Context We could take a leaf out of a booklet by Keynes in our effort to tackle some of the challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic. The Crisis-Keynesian Mode response mode to pandemic What is the war economy? One of the defining features of a war economy is that economic thinking is focused on quantities… Continue reading

Supreme Court upholds “Right to discuss COVID-19”

The Supreme Court has upheld the right to free discussion about COVID-19, even as it directed the media to refer to and publish the official version of the developments in order to avoid inaccuracies and large-scale panic. Right to Discuss The Right to Discuss falls under the purview of the right to freedom of speech… Continue reading

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