The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a micro-credit facility for street vendors under the Swanidhi Scheme.
◎ What is it? ➔ It is a special micro-credit facility scheme to enable more than 50 lakh urban/peri-urban & rural street vendors to restart their livelihoods affected due to the lockdown. ◎ The loans are meant to help kick-start activity for vendors who have been left without any income since the lockdown was implemented on March 25.
Duration ➔ The scheme will be applicable till March 2022. ◎ Expected beneficiaries ➔ This loan will be given to those who run shops on the roadside, handcart or streetcar. Fruit-vegetable, laundry, saloon and paan shops are also included in this category. ◎ Features of the Scheme ➔ ○ Under this, each of the street vendors will be given a credit loan of Rs 10,000 which they can return as monthly installments within a year. ○ Those who repay their loans on time will get 7% annual interest as subsidy which will be transferred in their bank accounts. ○ The loans would be without collateral. There will be no penalty on early repayment of the loan.
2)Social Stock Exchanges
A working group constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Social Stock Exchanges (SSEs) has recommended allowing non-profit organisations to directly list on such platforms.
◎ What is it? ➔ An SSE is a platform which allows investors to buy shares in social enterprises vetted by an official exchange. ◎ The SSE will function as a common platform where social enterprises can raise funds from the public.
Social Stock Exchanges
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◎ It will function on the lines of major stock exchanges like BSE and NSE. However, the purpose of the Social Stock Exchange will be different – not profit, but social welfare. ◎ Under the regulatory ambit of SEBI, a listing of social enterprises and voluntary organizations will be undertaken so that they can raise capital as equity, debt or as units like a mutual fund. ◎ Why SSEs? ➔ ○ India needs massive investments in the coming years to be able to meet the human development goals identified by global bodies like the UN. ○ Currently, social enterprises are very active in India. However, they face challenges in raising funds.
Social Stock Exchanges
◎ Benefits ➔ ◎ There is a great opportunity to unlock funds from donors, philanthropic foundations and CSR spenders, in the form of zero-coupon zero principal bonds. These bonds will be listed on the SSE. ◎ At first, the SSE could become a repository of social enterprises and impact investors. ◎ The registration could be done through a standard process.
3)NISARGA
On the western coast of India, Cyclone Nisarga is headed towards the coastline of north Maharashtra and south Gujarat.
◎ In strength and intensity, Cyclone Nisarga would be much weaker than Cyclone Amphan that struck on May 20 and passed through West Bengal on its way to Bangladesh. ◎ Cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal side of the north Indian Ocean are more frequent and stonger than those on the Arabian Sea side.
NISARGA
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◎ The relatively cold waters of the Arabian Sea discourage the kind of very strong cyclones that are formed on the Bay of Bengal side; Odisha and Andhra Pradesh face the brunt of these cyclones every year.
4)Antifa
As massive protests following the death of George Floyd continued to rock the United States, President Donald Trump has announced that the far-left group Antifa would be designated as a terrorist organisation by his government.
◎ What is it? ➔ Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left-leaning movements that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacistsat demonstrations. ◎ History ➔ Antifa has been around for several decades, with some dating it as far back as Nazi Germany.
Antifa
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◎ Membership ➔ Antifa does not have a formal organisational structure. It draws its members from other movements such as Black Lives Matter and the Occupy movement. ◎ Functioning ➔ Antifa members typically dress in black and often wear a mask at their demonstrations, and follow far-left ideologies such as anticapitalism. They take up causes such as LGBTQ and indigenous rights. What makes them stand out is the violence. ◎ Global presence ➔ While the movement has had a presence in several European countries and has now come into focus in the United States following the election of President Trump in 2016, with violence marking some of its protests and demonstrations.
5)Upward Definition of MSME
Union Cabinet has announced policy changes for the MSME sector as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package.
Upward Definition of MSME
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◎ It may be noted that this revision was done after 14 years since the MSME Development Act came into existence in 2006. ◎ It has also been decided that the turnover with respect to exports will not be counted in the limits of turnover for any category of MSME units whether micro, small or medium.
6)Moody’s downgrades India’s rating
In Recent, the Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded India’s rating from ‘Baa2’ to ‘Baa3’ while maintaining the negative outlook.
Moody’s downgrades India’s rating
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◎ In specific, the agency has downgraded the Indian Government’s foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2. ◎ Baa3 ➔ the lowest in the investment grade in Moody’s rating implying that India is just a notch above the non-investment grade or junk grade.
◎ The rating agency expects the country’s GDP to contract by 4% in the current financial year due to the shock from COVID-19 and the pandemic driven lockdown measures. ◎ There are expectations of GDP growth to pick up in the next fiscal to 8.7% and closer to 6% growth thereafter. ◎ What does “negative” outlook mean? ➔ The negative outlook reflects dominant, mutually-reinforcing, downside risks from deeper stresses in the economy and financial system that could lead to a more severe and prolonged erosion in fiscal strength.
Moody’s downgrades India’s rating
About Moody’s: ◎ It is a globally integrated risk assessment firm that empowers organizations/governments to make better decisions based on data and analytical solutions. ◎ Moody’s Corporation is the holding company that owns Moody’s Investor Services, which rates fixed-income debt securities.
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