Top GKToday’s News Headlines-18 May 2020

May 18, 2020 May 18, 2020

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) extends the ongoing countrywide lockdown to combat the COVID-19 spread till May 31
Prohibition on all public gatherings, closure of schools, malls and restaurants, and suspension of flights and Metro services will remain in force till May 31

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces fifth and final tranche of economic package to combat impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
MGNERGS
Rs 40,000 crore increase in allocation for MGNREGS to provide employment boost

Public Expenditure on Health will be increased by investing in grass root health institutions and ramping up Health and Wellness Centres
Setting up of Infectious Diseases Hospital Blocks in all districts

PM eVIDYA, a programme for multi-mode access to digital/online education to be launched
Manodarpan, an initiative for psycho-social support for students, teachers and families for mental health and emotional well-being to be launched

Minimum threshold to initiate insolvency proceedings under the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) has been raised to Rs. 1 crore (from Rs. 1 lakh) which will insulate a large number of MSMEs
Suspension of fresh initiation of insolvency proceedings up to one year, depending upon the pandemic situation
Centre empowered to exclude COVID 19 related debt from the definition of “default” under IBC for the purpose of triggering insolvency proceedings.

Decriminalisation of Companies Act violations involving minor technical and procedural defaults such as shortcomings in CSR reporting, inadequacies in Board report, filing defaults, delay in holding of AGM.

Direct listing of securities by Indian public companies in permissible foreign jurisdictions.
Power to create additional/ specialized benches for NCLAT
Lower penalties for all defaults for Small Companies, One-person Companies, Producer Companies & Start Ups.

List of strategic sectors requiring presence of PSEs in public interest will be notified
In strategic sectors, at least one enterprise will remain in the public sector but private sector will also be allowed

Centre raises borrowing limit of states from 3% of gross state domestic product (GSDP) to 5% in 2020-21
Part of the borrowing will be linked to specific reforms
Reform linkage will be in four areas: universalisation of ‘One Nation One Ration card’, Ease of Doing Business, Power distribution and Urban Local Body revenues

Israel: New unity government led by PM Netanyahu and his former rival Benny Gantz approved by Knesset (Parliament) in 73-49 vote
Afghanistan: President Ashraf Ghani and political rival Abdullah Abdullah strike power sharing deal; Ghani to remain President and Abdullah to lead National Reconciliation High Council
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day celebrated on May 17; theme: ‘Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’