Relevance IN - Prelims (facts related to the bail out package to MF and the special liquidity facility for mutual funds (SLF-MF) + about MF and bail out) + Mains (GS III economic developments)
What's the NEWS

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a special liquidity window of Rs 50, 000 crore to bail out mutual funds hit by the turmoil in the debt fund segment that led to the closure of six credit risk funds by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund.

• A mutual fund collects money from investors and invests the money, on their behalf, in securities (debt, equity or both). It charges a small fee for managing the money.

• A bailout is the injection of money into a business or organization (here, MF) that would otherwise face imminent collapse. Bailouts can be in the form of loans, bonds, stocks, or cash.

• Under the special liquidity facility for mutual funds (SLF-MF), the RBI will conduct repo operations of 90 days tenor at the fixed repo rate (bank will borrow money from RBI in this period).
• Funds availed under the SLF-MF will be used by banks exclusively for meeting the liquidity requirements of MFs.
• Banks can extend loans to mutual funds and undertake the outright purchase of and/or repos against the collateral of investment grade corporate bonds, commercial papers (CPs), debentures and certificates of Deposit (CDs) held by MFs.
• The SLF-MF is on-tap and open-ended, and banks can submit their bids to avail the funding till May 11 or up to utilization of the allocated amount, whichever is earlier.

• The large exposures framework sets prudent limits to large exposures, whereby a large exposure is defined as the sum of all exposures of a bank to a single counterparty that are equal to or above 10% of its Tier 1 capital. The limit is set at 25% of Tier 1 capital.

• Uncertainty associated with COVID-19
• Closure of six debt schemes of Franklin Templeton and potential contagious effects has created the redemption pressure.

• It refers to spread of negative market sentiment to different sectors due to the failure of one sector/institution

• It describes the repayment of any money market fixed-income security at or before the asset's maturity date. Redemption pressure is created when more number of investors start claiming back their invested amount or before the maturity date.

• The debt segment has witnessed outflows of Rs 1.94 lakh crore in the month of March. The RBI's liquidity offer is expected to bring some degree of comfort in the debt market which is under huge redemption pressure.

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the portal - objective + benefits) + Mains ( GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What's the NEWS

• The MSME Ministry has launched Bank of Schemes, Ideas, Innovation and Research portal (http://ideas.msme.gov.in/) on MSMEs

Know! more about the portal (objective + benefits)

• The Portal gives access to all Schemes of Union, State and UT Governments.
• It has the provision for uploading Ideas, Innovations & Researches in the sector.
• The portal has unique features of not only crowd sourcing of Ideas, but also evaluation and rating the ideas by crowd sourcing.
• It can also facilitate inflow of venture capital, foreign collaboration etc.
• This portal will prove to be of great transformational significance to the MSMEs in particular and the economy in general.
• This portal will help the MSMEs in a big way through information sharing.
• This will help in the research activities like those in rural tribal knowledge, skills will get a chance for spreading their knowledge.
• It can assist the farmers in planning, production, storage and marketing of their produce.
• The online forms for Idea, innovation and research can be easily filled in 5-6 Minutes.
• The portal will benefit the potential entrepreneurs as One stop compendium of Ideas, innovation and research ready for commercialization.
• Venture capitalists can interact with Person and MSME having Idea or innovation.

Prelims Factoids
Chak-Hao, the black rice of Manipur, the Gorakhpur terracotta, the Kashmir Saffron and the Kovilpatti kadalai mittai of Tamil Nadu bagged the GI tags


Relevance IN - Prelims (about GI tag -features + objective and about the recently added GI tags - unique characteristics
Gorakhpur terracotta

• The terracotta of Gorakhpur is centuries old traditional art form
• It is a type of ceramic craft made by baking terracotta clay
• The potters of the town make animal figures like elephants, horses, camel, goat and ox with hand applied ornamentation.

Chak-Hao, the black rice of Manipur

• Geographical Indications Registry of Ministry of Commerce and Industries has announced in its website that the product, Chak-Hao of Manipur is registered under GI certificate
  
  

Incredible India

• Chak-Hao, scented glutinous rice popularly known as Black Rice which is cultivated in Manipur since centuries and popular to people
• Black aromatic rice owes its colour to powerful natural black colouring pigments called anthocyanins which boast an impressive antioxidant activity adding to the health benefits of this rice variety.

Kovilpatti kadalai mittai

• After a five-year wait, Kovilpatti kadalai mittai -- peanut candy from the southern part of Tamil Nadu -- was granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag on Thursday.
• Kovilpatti kadalai mittai was originally prepared during village festivals using palm jaggery and groundnuts from nearby districts.

Kashmiri saffron

• Kashmiri saffron, known for its quality and aroma worldwide, has been witnessing an invasion by cheaper Iranian saffron.
• Iran is currently the largest producer of saffron in the world, cultivating over 300 tonnes every year on 30,000 hectares of land.
• Kashmiri saffron is of superior quality because of the higher concentration of crocin, a carotenoid pigment that gives saffron its color and medicinal value:
• Its crocin content is 8.72% compared to the Iranian variant's 6.82%, which gives it a darker color and enhanced medicinal value.
• It is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) of Jammu and Kashmir
• Kashmiri saffron, has been witnessing an invasion by cheaper Iranian saffron.
• Iran is currently the largest producer of saffron in the world, cultivating over 300 tonnes every year on 30,000 hectares of land.
• In Kashmir, which ranks second in supply, saffron cultivation is limited to about one-eighth that area-3,715 hectares.

Know! all about Geographical indicator

• GI status is an indication that identifies goods as produced from a particular area, which has special quality or reputation attributable to its geographical origin and GI branded goods possess a recall value amongst consumers. Also GIs are covered as an element of IPRs under Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property.
• GI tags are granted for produce or products originating from and having unique qualities corresponding to a geographical area.
• The tag gives exclusive right to its holders over the uniqueness of the product.
• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act,1999 provides registration and also protection of GI goods in India.
• The act is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and trademarks under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• This also ensures that none other than the right holders to claim or use the product name attributing to its geographical origin.

International
RIMPAC 2020
Relevance IN - Prelims (about RIMPAC 2020)

What's the NEWS

• U.S. Pacific Fleet will host its major biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise this year amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, opting to limit the exercise to just two weeks of at-sea-only events rather than cancel the event altogether
• The event typically spans from June into August and includes at-sea events as well as in-port cultural events and military exchanges, and amphibious landings and ashore training for Marines and other ground forces.
• This year's 27th iteration of the exercise will run from Aug. 17 to 31 and will have a minimal footprint at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Know! all about RIMPAC

• RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise.
• RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii.
• It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command, headquartered at Pearl Harbor
• The US invites military forces from the Pacific Rim and beyond to participate.
• As an observer state the Indian Navy had participated in the exercise in 2006, 2010 and 2012. Since 2014 India has been participating as a member country.
• With RIMPAC the United States Indo-Pacific Command seeks to enhance interoperability among Pacific Rim armed forces, as a means of promoting stability in the region to the benefit of all participating nations.

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