Contents
- Atmanirbhar Bharat
- International Nurses Day
- Price Movement of Consumer Price Index
- Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production
ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT
Focus: GS-III Disaster Management
Why in news?
The Prime Minister addressed the nation regarding the battle against the COVID-19 crisis and how we are going to face it as a nation.
Self-reliant India
PPE kits N-95 masks, whose production in India has gone up from almost being negligible to 2 lakh each, on a daily basis is an example of inspiration for ensuring that the country becomes self-reliant.
Five pillars of a self-reliant India
- Economy: which brings in quantum jump and not incremental change;
- Infrastructure: which should become the identity of India;
- System: based on 21st century technology driven arrangements;
- Vibrant Demography: which is our source of energy for a self-reliant India;
- Demand: whereby the strength of our demand and supply chain should be utilized to full capacity.
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan
- Prime Minister announced a special economic package to the tune of Rs 20 lakh crore, which is equivalent to almost 10% of India’s GDP, which will help achieve “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
- The package will also focus on Land, Labour, Liquidity and Laws.
- Reforms include supply chain reforms for agriculture, rational tax system, simple and clear laws, capable human resource and a strong financial system.
- These reforms will promote business, attract investment, and further strengthen Make in India.
- The package will also focus on empowering the poor, labourers, migrants, etc., both from organized and unorganized sectors.
Living with COVID
Several experts and scientists have said that the virus is going to be part of our lives for a long time.
INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY
Focus: GS-II International Relations
Why in news?
- The International Nurses Day 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.
- This year is also significant as World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it as the ‘Year of the Nurse and the Midwife’.
International Nurses Day
- International Nurses Day is a celebration on the 12th of May every year to commemorate the anniversary of Florence Nightingale.
- Florence Nightingale is considered to be the founder of modern nursing.
- 2020 Theme: Nursing the World to Health – Declared by The International Council of Nurses (ICN)
Significance of the day
- Nurses account for more than half of all the world’s health workers. It will encourage the entire nurse community and the public to celebrate the day as well as would provide necessary information and resources to raise the profile of the nursing profession.
- The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the vital role nurses play. Without nurses and other health workers, it is not possible to win the battle against outbreaks
Florence Nightingale
- Florence Nightingale was a British social reformer, statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.
- She is famously known as “The Lady with the Lamp” making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.
- Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War.
- Much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge.
What has Indian Government done for Nurses during this Pandemic?
- 50 lakh Rs. insurance cover as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for each of the frontline health workers involved in managing the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Recently an ordinance was passed for the protection of healthcare workers battling COVID-19 on the frontline from attacks by miscreants.
- Supreme Court had recently directed the government to ensure the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to all health workers.
PRICE MOVEMENT OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
- The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is releasing Price Movement of selected Sub-Groups/Groups of Consumer Price Index (CPI).
- The Price data are usually collected from selected 1114 urban markets and selected 1181 villages through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster.
National Statistical Office (NSO)
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation hadmerged the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) into National Statistical Office (NSO).
The Statistical Wing, comprising the NSO with constituents as the CSO and the NSSO, to be an integral part of the main ministry.
- NSO would be headed by Secretary, Statistics and Programme Implementation, with various divisions reporting to the Secretary through Director Generals (DGs).
- The CSO headed by a DG brings out macro-economic data like economic (GDP) growth data, industrial production and inflation.
- The NSSO conducts large-scale surveys and brings out reports on health, education, household expenditure and other social and economic indicators. The NSSO and the CSO were functioning independently.
Functions of NSO
- NSO is responsible for conduct of large-scale sample surveys in diverse fields on All India basis.
- Primarily data are collected through nation-wide household surveys on various socio-economic subjects, Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), etc.
- Besides these surveys, NSO collects data on rural and urban prices and plays a significant role in the improvement of crop statistics through supervision of the area enumeration and crop estimation surveys of the State agencies.
- It also maintains a frame of urban area units for use in sample surveys in urban areas.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the measure of changes in the price level of a basket of consumer goods and services bought by households.
- It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them.
- The CPI measures the average change in prices over time that consumers pay for a basket of goods and services, commonly known as inflation.
- Changes in the CPI are used to assess price changes associated with the cost of living; the CPI is one of the most frequently used statistics for identifying periods of inflation or deflation.
- The weighted average of the prices of goods and services that approximates an individual’s consumption patterns is used to calculate CPI.
- The Consumer Price Index or CPI is calculated by multiplying 100 to the fraction of the cost price of the current period and the base period. CPI = (Cost of basket in current period/ Cost of basket in base period) x 100
QUICK ESTIMATES OF INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is released on 12th of every month (or previous working day) with a six weeks lag and compiled with data received from source agencies.
For the month of March 2020, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stands at ~ 120.
About IIP
- The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a fixed period of time.
- It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- IIP is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
- Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
- Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods.
- Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.
- The eight core industries of India represent about 40% of the weight of items that are included in the IIP.
The Eight Core Sectors/Industries are:
- Electricity
- Steel
- Refinery products
- Crude oil
- Coal
- Cement
- Natural gas
- Fertilisers
Significance of IIP :
- IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production.
- It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, etc., for policy-making purposes.
- IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates.
