EducatorIAS

Monetary policy and liquidity operations during 2020-21 were geared towards mitigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The monetary policy committee (MPC) cut the policy repo rate by 115 basis points (bps) during March-May 2020, on top of a cumulative reduction of 135 bps during February 2019 to February 2020. Backed by conventional and unconventional liquidity measures, these actions bolstered financial market sentiments while ensuring orderly market conditions. Interest rates and bond yields declined across market segments and spreads narrowed, with a distinct improvement in monetary transmission.   In the face of COVID-19 related stress and the large contraction in output, and in consonance with the monetary policy stance, the Reserve Bank undertook several monetary policy measures, both conventional and unconventional, during 2020-21, driven by the goals of  (i) improving monetary transmission;  (ii)facilitating and incentivising bank credit flows;  (iii)addressing sector-specific

Millets are grown on marginal and un-irrigated land and procurement will help in doubling farmers income. Millets are more nutritious and hence would help India fight against malnutrition, Millets are more environment friendly and hence help in promoting sustainable agriculture and in preservation of environment, Local procurement and local consumption will save transportation and avoidable movement of other cereals and Shelf life of some coarse grains is more than three months. Coarse grains are procured by State Government Agencies/FCI from farmers as per extant guidelines. The major coarse grains crop covered under Minimum Support Price (MSP) are Jowar (Hybrid), Jowar (Maldandi), Bajra, Ragi, Maize and Barley. All millets, Maize and Barely are known as Coarse grains.In India, total 3,04,914 farmers have been benefitted during KMS 2020-21. Total of 1162886 (11.62 LMT) coarse grains have been procured during year 2020-21. revision of norms will result in encouraging procur

India has lauded the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) as ‘a very successful model of local area development’that ‘should serve as a best practice for several other countries where regional disparities in development status persist for many reasons’.   The report said due to concerted efforts made under the ADP, previously neglected districts, including those in remote locations and those affected by Left Wing Extremism, ‘haveexperienced more growth and development in the last three years than ever before’. Notwithstanding some speedbumps in its journey, the APD ‘has been immensely successful in propelling development among the backward districts’.   The reportwas handed over today by UNDP India Resident Representative Shoko Noda to NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant. It captures the progress of the Aspirational Districts Programme and makes recommendations for further improvements. The report is based on quantitative analysis of publicly available data a