Here are Top GKToday’s News Headlines for 27 March, 2020
PMGKY
- Finance Minister announced Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for the poor in view of coronavirus lockdown
- Insurance cover worth Rs 50 lakh per person for sanitation workers, ASHA workers, doctors, nurses and paramedics who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus battle
- 80 crore poor people will get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months
- Women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs 500 per month for next three months
- MNREGA wage increased to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182
- For old age pensioners and widows, an additional ex-gratia amount of Rs 1,000 for the next three months available in two instalments
- For the beneficiaries of Women Ujjwala Scheme, free cylinders will be given to 8.3 crore BPL families for three months.
- Under the Deen Dayal National Livelihood Mission, women self-help groups (SHGs) will be provided collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier.
- For the organised sector, the government will pay provident fund contribution of both the employer and the employee put together at 24% for the next three months. This is for those establishments with up to 100 employees and 90% of them earning less than Rs 15,000 per month.
- The EPFO regulation will be amended so that workers can draw up to 75% of the amount for their contingency expenditure.
- Government to front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in first week of April under existing PM Kisan Yojana
- State Governments directed to use Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to provide relief to construction workers
INDIA
- Coronavirus: NBT provides 100 books for free download during 21-day lockdown under its #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiative
- Nimmi, actress known for Hindi movies such as “Aan”, “Barsaat” and “Deedar”, dies at 88
- ECONOMY & CORPORATE
- BSE Sensex, jumps 1410.99 points or 4.94% to close at 29,946.77
- NSE Nifty rises 335.70 points or 4.04% to settle at 8,653.55.
- CRISIL cuts its growth estimate for the Indian economy for 2020-21 to 3.5% from 5.2% made earlier
WORLD
- Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit convened to discuss the challenges posed by outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic; chaired by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman