USD 750 Million approved under COVID-19 Emergency Response Program for MSMEs in India by World Bank Group

A USD 750 Million loan was approved for the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India by the World Bank Group. The Approval for the loan amount was given on 30^th June 2020 by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group.  As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MSME sector is under severe financial stress due to lack of exports and domestic businesses, loan approval is under Emergency Response Program to ensure increased financial support for the MSMEs in India.

• The loan amount will help in addressing the immediate need for liquidity and credit for around 15 lakh (1.5 million) MSMEs in the country. 
• The amount will be disbursed through Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), which will further help in strengthening the SFBs and NBFCs.

Financing of the Loan Amount

• The loan amount will be sanctioned by the lending arm of the World Bank Group- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). 
• Including a grace period of 5 years, the loan amount will be has a maturity of 19 years.

Total of USD 2.75 billion committed to date

• With this USD 750 Million loan amount, this is the 3^rd loan amount that the World Bank Group has approved under Emergency COVID-19 response to India. 
• The first was USD 1 billion in the month of April 2020 for support to the health care sector, while another USD 1 billion in May 2020 for providing food benefits and cash transfers to the financially weaker sections of the society. 
• This takes the total World Bank Group has committed to India to USD 2.75 billion under the COVID-19 response to India

Estimated Rs 1,48,938 crore of food grains and pulses will be distributed from April to November 2020

The Department of Food and Public Distribution has estimated that food grains (Rice and Wheat) and pulses worth Rs 1,48,938 crore will be distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana in the period between 8 months from April to November 2020.

Breakdown of the Estimation

• The estimations were made based on Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) for the previous three months April to June 2020 of the scheme. 
• Under the Yojana, 5 Kg of Rice/Wheat is provided for free to each member of the beneficiary family per month, also 1 Kg of pulses is provided to each beneficiary family per month.
• Estimations made suggests that a total of 32 million tonnes of foodgrains worth Rs 1,22,829 crores will be provided from April to November 2020. 
• An estimate of approx Rs 11,800 crore of Pulses will be distributed in total during the April to November 2020 period.
• Apart from the above costs, Rs 3109.52 crores for distribution of foodgrains to migrant labourers in the months of April and May 2020 and Rs 11,200 crore for Central Issue Price under the National Food Security Act from April to November 2020 was been included in the estimation.

Extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana

• Extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann  Yojana was announced on 30^th June 2020 while addressing the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
• The Yojana that commenced in the month of April 2020 has provided free ration to more than 80 crore people across the country in the last 3 months.  
• The Prime Minister announced the extension for a period of another 5 months until November 2020.

K.K.Venugopal reappointed as Attorney General for India

On 29^th June 2020, the President of India has reappointed Senior Advocate K.K. Venugopal as the Attorney General for India. The current tenure of K.K. Venugopal was up to 30^th June 2020, his tenure was extended for a period of one year effective from 1^st July 2020 to 30^th June 2021.

On 30^th June 2017, K.K. Venugopal succeeded Mukul Rohatgi to become the 15^th Attorney General of India.

K.K. Venugopal

• K.K. Venugopal has been conferred with the second highest( Padma Vibhushan) and the third-highest (Padma Bhushan) civilian honour by the Indian Government. 
• In 2002, he was conferred with Padma Bhushan while in 2015 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
• When Bhutan’s Constitution was drafted, he served as the Constitutional Adviser for the Royal Government of Bhutan.

Attorney General for India

• On advice with the Union Cabinet, the President of India appoints the Attorney General of India under Article 76 (1) of the Indian Constitution. 
• The term of the Attorney General is decided by the President of India. 
• The Attorney General is the Chief Legal Advisor for the Government of India.
• M.C Setalvad served as the first Attorney General for India from 1950 to 1963.

Indigenously Developed ‘COVAXIN’ gets DGCI approval for Human Clinical Trials

The Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) has given approval for Phase I and Phase II human clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine ‘COVAXIN’. In association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), COVAXIN is developed by Hyderabad based vaccine & bio-therapeutics manufacturer-Bharat Biotech.  At NIV Pune, the strain of SARS-CoV-2 was isolated before being transferred to Bharat Biotech.

• COVAXIN is the first indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for Human Clinical Trials. 
• The approval was granted based on the results from the pre-clinical studies of the vaccine. 
• During preclinical studies, the vaccine has demonstrated safety and effective immune response.
• The vaccine is developed at the high containment facility of Bharat Biotech- BSL-3 (Bio Safety Level 3). 
• Human trials are expected to begin from the month of July in a phased manner.
• Bharat Biotech has developed several vaccines over the last decades such as Polio, Rabies, Chikungunya, Rotavirus, Zika.
• Last month, the Indian Government has announced that for developing a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus, as many as 30 Indian Companies are working on it.

New Strain of Swine Flu Virus having Human Pandemic Potential Discovered in China

A new virus has been discovered by scientists in China that is quite similar to the 2009 Swine Flu that caused a global pandemic. The new strain of the virus is named as ‘G4 EA H1N1 (commonly called G4 virus)’, it has human pandemic potential.

G4 Virus

• The G4 virus was detected by scientists at several institutions of China including the National Influenza Centre of China during a pig surveillance program. 
• The surveillance program was conducted in between 2011 to 2018 by collecting above 30,000 nasal swab samples from pigs across 10 provinces of China.
• A total of 179 swine influence viruses were identified during the program, mostly didn’t pose such concern for human transmission. 
• The new strain of the G4 Virus has sharply increased among the pigs since 2016 after which tests were conducted on the strain of the virus.
• The tests conducted found that the virus can cause zoonotic infection (animal to human) but there hasn’t been any evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus yet. 
• The G4 virus can replicate in human cells and the test results have further shown that the immunity developed by a human body against seasonal flu won’t be able to provide protection to the human body against the G4 virus.

RBI to conduct Special OMOs on 2nd July to Pump up Liquidity

On 29^th June 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will be conducting a special Open Market Operations (OMOs) on 2^nd July 2020. The Open Market Operations was announced after reviewing the market conditions and evolving liquidity situations in banks. Through this special Open Market Operations, the aim will be to pump up liquidity in the financial system of the country.

About the Special Open Market Operations

• Government Securities worth Rs 10,000 crore will be purchased and sold simultaneously during the special Open Market Operations.
• At first, the Reserve Bank of India will be selling short term government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore that is maturing in between 15^th October 2020 to 29^th April 2021.
• Then it will be purchasing new long term government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore that will have a maturity period between May 2027 to 5th December 2033.
• Such operations were simultaneous selling and purchase of government securities are conducted by the Central Bank of the country are known as Operation Twist. 
• This will be the second such operation in this financial year to be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India. 
• The first Operation Twist of this financial year was conducted on 27^th April 2020 of Rs 10,000 crore.

29th June: National Statistics Day

To popularize the use of Statistics in everyday life, every year 29th June is celebrated as the National Statistics Day. The day 29th June was chosen to acknowledge the invaluable contributions made by Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in establishing the National Statistical System. 29th June is the birth anniversary of Prof. P.C Mahalanobis.

• National Statistics Day was celebrated first in the year 2007. World Statistics Day is celebrated on October 20th every year.

Aim of the Day

• The day is being celebrated to sensitize the citizens of the country as to how Statistics helps in shaping and framing policies. 
• Statistics helps us in presenting a result much effectively through correct analyses and the proper methods for collecting the data.

Prof. P C Mahalanobis

• Recipient of Padma Vibhushan in 1968 Prof P.C Mahalanobis’s contribution in the field of Statistics is recognized all over the world. 
• He served as the Chairman of the United Nations Sub Commission on Statistical Sampling from 1947 to 1951.
• In 1931, Prof. P C Mahalanobis founded the ISI-Indian Statistical Institute (ISI formally registered in April 1932). 
• Post Independence, a comprehensive socio-economic national sample survey was designed and planned by ISI, for this survey-the National Sample Survey (NSS) was established by him in the year 1950. 
• To date, for the collection of sample surveys in the country, NSS is the premier agency of the Indian Government.