About:

• The MPLADS is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by Government of India.
  
  
• The objective of the scheme is to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets in the areas of drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc. primarily in their Constituencies.
  
  
• The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per Member of Parliament (MP) constituency is Rs.5 crore, released in two instalments of Rs.2.5 crore each, subject to the fulfilment of conditions as per the MPLADS Guidelines.
  
  
• For managing the health and adverse impacts of covid 19 in the society, the Cabinet in its meeting held on 6th April 2020, had decided not to operate MPLADS during the FY 2020-21 and 2021-22 and place the fund at the disposal of Ministry of Finance for managing the impacts of covid 19 pandemic.
  
  
• As the country is now on the road to economic recovery, the Union Cabinet has now decided to restore MPLADS.
  
  
• The Ministry will release MPLADS fund at the rate of Rs. 2 crore per Member of Parliament for the remaining period of FY 2021-22 in one instalment and at the rate of Rs. 5.00 crore per annum per Member of Parliament during FY 2022-23 to FY 2025-26 in two instalments of Rs.2.5 crore each.

About:

• This new initiative aims to reach out to 75 villages across India through the network of All India Coordinated Research Project on Women in Agriculture (AICRP-WIA) which is in operation at 13 centres in 12 States of India besides the coordinating institute located at Bhubaneswar.
  
  
• The initiative has been undertaken in line with the Prime Minister's call to all the academicians, agricultural scientists and all the institutions to adopt and transform 75 villages.
  
  
• Under the initiative, A total of 75 villages will be adopted by AICRP centres and ICAR-CIWA, for which the AICRP centres will adopt 5 villages each with the remaining to be adopted by ICAR-CIWA with an aim to develop 75 Nutri-Smart villages.
  
  
• The objectives of the initiative are promoting nutritional awareness, education and behavioural change in rural areas involving farm women and school children, harnessing traditional knowledge through the local recipe to overcome malnutrition and implementing nutrition-sensitive agriculture through homestead agriculture and Nutri-garden.

About:

• The Mandatory packaging norms approved for Jute Year 2021-22 provide for 100% reservation of the foodgrains and 20% of sugar to be compulsorily packed in jute bags.
  
  
• The Jute industry occupies an important place in the national economy of India in general and Eastern Region in particular i.e. West Bengal, Bihar, Odisa, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
  
  
• The reservations norms under JPM Act provide for direct employment to 0.37 million workers and 4 million farmers in the Jute Sector. JPM Act, 1987 protects interest of Jute farmers, workers and persons engaged in jute goods’ production.
  
  
• 75% of the total production of the Jute Industry is Jute Sacking Bags of which 90% is supplied to the Food Corporation of India (FCl) and State Procurement Agencies (SPAs) and remaining is exported/sold directly.