MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)
Subject- Schemes
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- Union Minister of State for Ministry of Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil has found himself in a difficult situation over the alleged corruption in the MGNREGA scheme in West Bengal.
What is MGNREGA?
- The MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
- This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.
- The act was first proposed in 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Features of the scheme
- MGNREGA is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery.
- The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
- Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
- Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.
- Any Indian citizen above the age of 18 years who resides in rural India can apply for the NREGA scheme. The applicant should have volunteered to do unskilled work.
- Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.
Iran, Belarus to be newest SCO members
Subject- IR
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the China and Russia-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping, officials said on Friday.
About Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a political, economic, and security alliance.
- The creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai,
- Founding members China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Charter, formally establishing the organization, was signed in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
- The original five members, with the exclusion of Uzbekistan, were previously members of the Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996. Since then, the organization has expanded its membership to eight states when India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
- The SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;
- Expanding the group is among the issues that leaders of the grouping are likely to discuss at the SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September.
- Last year’s summit in Dushanbe agreed for Iran to join, while Belarus has also begun the membership process. China and Russia are looking to frame the grouping as a counter to the West — particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- India will host the SCO summit next year, and Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital”, a title it will hold next year coinciding with India chairing the grouping.
BBBP (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao) to be extended to all districts
Subject- Polity
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- According to the recent guidelines issued by the Women and Child Development Ministry Beti Bachao Beti Padhao will now be extended across the country.
Objective
- The objectives of the Scheme are as under:
- To prevent gender biased sex selective elimination
- To ensure survival and protection of the girl child
- To ensure education and participation of the girl child
- To increase girl’s participation in the fields of sports
About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
- It is a flagship scheme of the Government of India, launched by the Prime Minister in 2015 in Haryana to tackle the declining Child Sex Ratio and related issues of empowerment of Women over a lifecycle continuum.
- It’s a convergent initiative of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.
- It is implemented by states with 100% central assistance.
- Under, BBBP scheme there is no provision of direct benefit transfer.
- Current coverage: The programme is operational in 405 districts at present.
Components of the scheme
- It has two major components
- It aims at ensuring girls are born, nurtured and educated without discrimination to become empowered citizens of this country.
- The Campaign interlinks National, State and District level interventions with community-level action in 100 districts, bringing together different stakeholders for accelerated impact.
New Comprehensive guidelines
- It will aim for zero-budget advertising and encouraging greater spend on activities that have on-ground impact for promoting sports among girls, self-defence camps, construction of girls’ toilets, making available sanitary napkin vending machines and sanitary pads, especially in educational institutions, awareness about PC-PNDT Act, etc.
- The scheme will also look at increasing girls’ participation in sports by identifying talent and linking them with appropriate authorities under Khelo India.
- It also plans to strengthen One-Stop Centres (OSCs) set up to help women facing violence, including domestic violence and trafficking, by adding 300 OSCs in districts which either have a high rate of crimes against women or are geographically large.
- 24-hour women’s helpline, 181, will be merged with the Emergency Response Support System, and other platforms such as 1098 child line and NALSA, will also be connected to OSCs.
- Half-Way Homes to be set up under Anti-Trafficking Units, where a group of victims, ready for reintegration, can live and work out of.
- Improved targets
- The ministry has now targeted improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 2 points every year.
- Improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries at 95% or above
- 1% increase in 1st Trimester ANC Registration per year
- 1 per cent increase in enrolment at secondary education level and skilling of girls and women per year
- To check dropout rate among girls at secondary and higher secondary levels and raise awareness about safe menstrual hygiene management.
NIRF Rankings 2022
Subject- Polity
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM), is yet again the top higher educational institute in the country followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and IIT Bombay, according to the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022.
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)
- It was launched by the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) [now Ministry of Education (MoE)] in September 2015.
- This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.
- The methodology draws from the overall recommendations, broad understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by MHRD, to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions.
Assessment on Five Parameters
- Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR)
- Research and Professional Practice (RP)
- Graduation Outcomes (GO)
- Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
- Peer Perception.
Highlights of India Rankings 2022
- Overall- IIT-Madras, IISc-Bangalore, and IIT-Bombay have emerged as the country’s top three higher education institutions
- University: IISc, Bengaluru Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, tops the category
- Research Institution: IISc, Bengaluru was ranked the best research institution.
- Colleges: Miranda College retains 1st position amongst colleges, followed by Hindu college and Presidency College.
- Medical: All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi occupies the top slot in Medical.
- Management: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad was ranked one.
Unparliamentary words
Subject- Polity
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- Language not only changes across region but also profession. Similarly, Parliament, too, has its own list of absurd and archaic phrases.
About the recent controversy
- The new list has words and phrases disallowed not only in the Indian Parliament, but also in various state assemblies, as well as some parliaments of other countries.
- It includes words that have been expunged from the records in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over the last few years.
- There are phrases and words in thousands both in English and in Indian languages that are considered “unparliamentary”.
The rules and Constitutional provisions
- Discretion of the Speaker: Exactly what constitutes unparliamentary language is generally left to the discretion of the Speaker of the House.
- The Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairperson of Rajya Sabha have the job of keeping such words out of Parliament’s records.
- The Lok Sabha Secretariat has brought out a bulky tome titled ‘Unparliamentary Expressions’.
- The last such book was published in 2009.
- The state legislatures too are guided mainly by the same book, first compiled in 1999.
- Article 105(2) of the Constitution: lays down that no Member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof.
- Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha says: If the Speaker is of opinion that words have been used in debate which are defamatory or indecent or unparliamentary or undignified, the Speaker may, while exercising discretion order that such words be expunged from the proceedings of the House.
- Rule 381 says: The portion of the proceedings of the House so expunged shall be marked by asterisks and an explanatory footnote shall be inserted in the proceedings as follows: ‘Expunged as ordered by the Chair’.
How is the list prepared?
- Presiding officer: If a member uses a word that could be unparliamentary or indecent and hurts the decorum or dignity of the House, the head of the reporting section sends it to the Speaker or the presiding officer citing relevant rules and precedence with a recommendation to expunge them.
- The Speaker has the discretion under Rule 380 to expunge the word or usage.
- A compilation of words removed from the records, along with reasons, is sent to the Speaker’s office, Sansad TV and the editorial service for information.
- This editorial service section later prepares a list of all these expressions made in Indian Parliament, the state legislatures and other parliaments to release as the new addition to the existing list.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
Subject- Polity
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- Recently, the state of Andhra Pradesh has decided to rejoin the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from the ongoing Kharif season.
- Andhra Pradesh was one of six states that have stopped the implementation of the scheme over the last four years.
- The other five, which remain out, are Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Telangana.
What is PMFBY?
- The PMFBY was launched in February 2016. It is being administered by Ministry of Agriculture.
- It provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.
- It is implemented by general insurance companies.
- PMFBY insures farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest.
- Farmers have to pay a maximum of 2 per cent of the total premium of the insured amount for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi food crops and oilseeds as well as 5 per cent for commercial / horticultural crops.
- The balance premium is shared by the Union and state governments on a 50:50 basis and on a 90:10 basis in the case of northeastern states.
Farmers covered
- All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.
- Earlier to Kharif 2020, the enrolment under the scheme was compulsory for following categories of farmers:
- Farmers in the notified area who possess a Crop Loan account/KCC account (called as Loanee Farmers) to whom credit limit is sanctioned/renewed for the notified crop during the crop season. and
- Such other farmers whom the Government may decide to include from time to time.
Risks covered under the scheme
- Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado.
- Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
- Post-harvest losses coverage will be available up to a maximum period of 14 days from harvesting for those crops which are kept in “cut & spread” condition to dry in the field.
- For certain localized problems such as loss/damage resulting from the occurrence of identified localized risks like hailstorm, landslide, and Inundation affecting isolated farms in the notified area would also be covered.
How was the scheme structured, and what has changed since?
- Initially, the scheme was compulsory for loanee farmers; in February 2020, the Centre revised it to make it optional for all farmers.
- Now states and UTs are free to extend additional subsidy over and above the normal subsidy from their budgets.
- In February 2020, the Centre decided to restrict its premium subsidy to 30% for unirrigated areas and 25% for irrigated areas (from the existing unlimited). Earlier, there was no upper limit.
- Food crops (cereals, millets and pulses); oilseeds; and annual commercial / annual horticultural crops are broadly covered under the scheme.
Public Capex Plan key to long-term growth
Subject- Economy
Source- The Hindu
Reference
- Finance Minister said India’s long-term growth prospects were embedded in public capital expenditure programs.
What is Capital Expenditure (Capex)?
- The government’s expenditure is categorized into two:
- The one which results in asset development or acquisition known as CAPEX,
- Another is utilized to cover operating costs and obligations but does not result in asset creation known as Revenue expenditure.
- Capex is defined the as money spent on the acquisition of assets such as land, buildings, machinery, and equipment, as well as stock investments.
What attributes to capex?
- The portion of government payments that goes toward the construction of assets such as schools, colleges, hospitals, roads, bridges, dams, railway lines, airports, and seaports amounts to capex.
- The acquisition of new weaponry and weapon systems, such as missiles, tanks, fighter planes, and submarines, necessitates a significant financial outlay.
- The defense sector receives over a third of the central government’s capital spending, primarily for armament acquisitions.
- Despite the fact that defense spending is classified as a capital expenditure, it does not result in the development of infrastructure to support economic growth.
Significance of Capex
- Capital asset formation provides future cash flows for the economy and contributes to value creation.
- This action is crucial in light of the economic slowdown induced by the Covid-19 epidemic, as well as a dip in the employment ratio.
- Capital Expenditure serves as a macroeconomic stabilizer and is an excellent instrument for countercyclical fiscal policy.
- Capital spending creates jobs and improves labor productivity as a result of the multiplier effect.
- Capex is expected to have a Multiplier Effect (a change in rupee value of output with respect to a change in rupee value of expenditure).