Recently, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to step up purchase of Government Securities (G-Sec) under the Government Securities Acquisition Programme (G-SAP) led to the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond falling below 6%. In India, the yield of 10-year G-Sec is considered the benchmark and shows the overall interest rate scenario. Important points: Bond yield is …

Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a plea by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to restrain media from reporting oral observations of the judges. The SC ruled that the media has rights to report observations made during the course of hearings (Court Proceedings). Important points: Real-time reportage of court proceedings, including the oral exchanges in courtrooms between …

Aims to take forward PM’S Vision of celebrating India’s Cultural Diversity MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of the Government of India, in partnership with Department of Higher Education has launched an Innovation Challenge for creating an Indian Language Learning App. This Innovation Challenge has been launched to take forward Prime …

A biodegradable and compostable yoga mat developed from water hyacinth by six young girls from the fishing community in Assam could turn this water plant from a nuisance to wealth. The girls belong to the fishing community living in the fringe of the Deepor Beel, a permanent freshwater lake in …

Recently, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has released the new framework for implementation of the SVAMITVA Scheme. SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas. Important points: It is a center sector scheme which was launched nationally on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April 2021. To provide an integrated property validation solution …

A report titled ‘State of Working India 2021: One Year of Covid­19’ brought out annually by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment, Bengaluru has been released. The report covers the period March 2020 to December 2020, dwells on the impact of one year of Covid­-19 on employment, incomes, inequality and poverty. Important points: 100 million …

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mooted the concept of ‘Model Insurance Village (MIV)’ to boost insurance penetration in rural areas. According to the Economic Survey for 2020-21, India’s insurance penetration, which was at 2.71% in 2001, has steadily increased to 3.76% in 2019, but stayed much below the global average of 7.23%. Recently, the Parliament …

In a major boost to exports of organic products from the country, the first consignment of millets grown in the Himalayas would be exported to Denmark. APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) has sourced ragi (finger millet), and jhingora (barnyard millet) from farmers in Uttarakhand for exports. At …

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a series of measures to support the nation’s fight against the second wave of Covid-19 infections The measures form the first part of a calibrated and comprehensive strategy against the pandemic Earlier in 2020 also the RBI took measures to help deal with the economic fall out of the pandemic. …

The United States has announced the support for waiving Intellectual Property (IP) protection for Covid-19 vaccines. The decision is a breakthrough in India and South Africa’s attempts to get World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries to agree to such a waiver to fight the pandemic equitably. Important points: The 1995 agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires ratifying countries …