Current Affairs 01-05 Feb2024

Daily Current Capsules

1,2,3,4 and 5 February 2024

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERIM UNION BUDGET 2024-25

 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERIM UNION BUDGET 2024-25

With the ‘mantra’ of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas’ and the whole of nation approach of “Sabka Prayas”, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament, today. The key highlights of the Budget are as follows:

Part A

Social Justice

• Prime Minister to focus on upliftment of four major castes, that is, ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and  ‘Annadata’(Farmer).

‘Garib Kalyan, Desh ka Kalyan’

• Government assisted 25 crore people out of multi-dimensional poverty in last 10 years.
• DBT of Rs. 34 lakh crore using PM-Jan Dhan accounts led to savings of Rs. 2.7 lakh crore for the Government.
• PM-SVANidhi provided credit assistance to 78 lakh street vendors. 2.3 lakh have received credit for the third time.
• PM-JANMAN Yojana to aid the development of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG).
• PM-Vishwakarma Yojana provides end-to-end support to artisans and crafts people engaged in 18 trades.

Welfare of ‘Annadata’

• PM-KISAN SAMMAN Yojana provided financial assistance to 11.8 crore farmers.
• Under PM Fasal BimaYojana, crop insurance is given to 4 crore farmers
• Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) integrated 1361 mandis, providing services to 1.8 crore farmers with trading volume of Rs. 3 lakh crore.

Momentum for Nari Shakti

• 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans given to women entrepreneurs.
• Female enrolment in higher education gone up by 28%.
• In STEM courses, girls and women constitute 43% of enrolment, one of the highest in the world.
• Over 70% houses under PM Awas Yojana given to women from rural areas.

PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) 

• Despite COVID challenges, the target of three crore houses under PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) will be achieved soon.
• Two crore more houses to be taken up in the next five years.

Rooftop solarization and muft bijli

• 1 crore households to obtain 300 units free electricity every month through rooftop solarization.
• Each household is expected to save Rs.15000 to Rs.18000 annually.

Ayushman Bharat 

• Healthcare cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to be extended to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers.

Agriculture and food processing 

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefitted 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment.
• Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and 60000 individuals with credit linkages.

Research and Innovation for catalyzing growth, employment and development 

• A corpus of Rs.1 lakh crore to be established with fifty-year interest free loan to provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates.
• A new scheme to be launched for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’.

Infrastructure

• Capital expenditure outlay for Infrastructure development and employment generation to be increased by 11.1 per cent to Rs.11,11,111 crore, that will be 3.4 per cent of the GDP.

Railways

• 3 major economic railway corridor programmes identified under the PM Gati Shakti to be implemented to improve logistics efficiency and reduce cost
  • Energy, mineral and cement corridors
  • Port connectivity corridors
  • High traffic density corridors
• Forty thousand normal rail bogies to be converted to Vande Bharat standards.

Aviation Sector

• Number of airports in the country doubled to 149.
• Five hundred and seventeen new routes are carrying 1.3 crore passengers.
• Indian carriers have placed orders for over 1000 new aircrafts.

Green Energy

• Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT to be set up by 2030.
• Phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes to be mandated.

Tourism sector

• States to be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres including their branding and marketing at global scale.
• Framework for rating of the tourist centres based on quality of facilities and services to be established.
• Long-term interest free loans to be provided to States for financing such development on matching basis.

Investments

• FDI inflow during 2014-23 of USD 596 billion was twice of the inflow during 2005-14.

Reforms in the States for ‘Viksit Bharat’

• A provision of Rs.75,000 crore rupees as fifty-year interest free loan is proposed to support milestone-linked reforms by the State Governments.

Revised Estimates (RE) 2023-24

• RE of the total receipts other than borrowings is Rs.27.56 lakh crore, of which the tax receipts are Rs.23.24 lakh crore.
• RE of the total expenditure is Rs.44.90 lakh crore.
• Revenue receipts at Rs.30.03 lakh crore are expected to be higher than the Budget Estimate, reflecting strong growth momentum and formalization in the economy.
• RE of the fiscal deficit is 5.8 per cent of GDP for 2023-24.

Budget Estimates 2024-25

• Total receipts other than borrowings and the total expenditure are estimated at Rs.30.80 and Rs.47.66 lakh crore respectively.
• Tax receipts are estimated at Rs.26.02 lakh crore.
• Scheme of fifty-year interest free loan for capital expenditure to states to be continued this year with total outlay of Rs.1.3 lakh crore.
• Fiscal deficit in 2024-25 is estimated to be 5.1 per cent of GDP
• Gross and net market borrowings through dated securities during 2024-25 are estimated at Rs.14.13 and Rs.11.75 lakh crore respectively.

Part B

Direct taxes

• FM proposes to retain same tax rates for direct taxes
• Direct tax collection tripled, return filers increased to 2.4 times, in the last 10 years
• Government to improve tax payer services
  • Outstanding direct tax demands upto Rs 25000 pertaining to the period upto FY 2009-10 withdrawn
  • Outstanding direct tax demands upto Rs 10000 for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15 withdrawn
  • This will benefit one crore tax payers
• Tax benefits to Start-Ups, investments made by Sovereign wealth funds or pension funds extended to 31.03.2025
• Tax exemption on certain income of IFSC units extended by a year to 31.03.2025 from 31.03.2024

Indirect taxes

• FM proposes to retain same tax rates for indirect taxes and import duties
• GST unified the highly fragmented indirect tax regime in India
  • Average monthly gross GST collection doubled to Rs 1.66 lakh crore this year
  • GST tax base has doubled
  • State  SGST revenue buoyancy (including compensation released to states) increased to 1.22  in post-GST period(2017-18 to 2022-23) from 0.72 in the pre-GST period (2012-13 to 2015-16)
  • 94% of industry leaders view transition to GST as largely positive
  • GST led to supply chain optimization
  • GST reduced the compliance burden on trade and industry
  • Lower logistics cost and taxes  helped reduce prices of goods and services, benefiting the consumers

Tax rationalization efforts over the years

• No tax liability for income upto Rs 7 lakh, up from Rs 2.2 lakh in  FY 2013-14
• Presumptive taxation threshold for retail businesses increased to Rs 3 crore from Rs 2 crore
• Presumptive taxation threshold for professionals increased to Rs 75 lakh from Rs 50 lakh
• Corporate income tax decreased to 22% from 30% for existing domestic companies
• Corporate income tax rate at 15% for new manufacturing companies

Achievements in tax-payer services

• Average processing time of tax returns has reduced to 10 days from 93 days in 2013-14
• Faceless Assessment and Appeal introduced for greater efficiency
• Updated income tax returns, new form 26AS and prefilled tax returns for simplified return filing
• Reforms in customs leading to reduced Import release time
  • Reduction by 47% to 71 hours at Inland Container Depots
  • Reduction by 28% to 44 hours at  Air Cargo complexes
  • Reduction by 27% to 85 hours at Sea Ports

Economy-then and now

• In 2014 there was a responsibility to mend the economy and put governance systems in order. The need of the hour was to:
  • Attract investments
  • Build support to the much-needed reforms
  • Give hope to the people

C- CARES

• Union Minister of Coal, Mines launched a web portal of CMPFO namely C- CARES developed and designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), an R&D organization under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Know! about CMPFO

• Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO) is an autonomous organization under the aegis of Ministry of Coal established in the year 1948 for administering Provident Fund and Pension schemes for the purpose of providing social security to the coal sector workers.
• The Organization is presently rendering services to about 3.3 lakh Provident Fund subscribers and 6.1 lakh pensioners of coal sector.
• The portal, C-CARES, will allow CMPF subscribers and coal companies to login and perform various functions tailored to their needs.

2024 – Year of Naval Civilians

• Indian Navy has declared 2024 as ‘Year of Naval Civilians’ to improve administration, efficiency and well-being of Naval Civilians by addressing all facets of Civilian HR Management in a time bound manner.
• Major focus areas towards maximising administrative efficiency, digital initiatives, generic and specific training programmes and welfare activities have been identified for implementation in 2024.
• Naval Civilian Personnel constitute about a third of the Indian Navy’s total workforce and contribute significantly to its operational effectiveness across all domains.

COMMISSIONING OF Y-3025 (SANDHAYAK)

 

• The Indian Navy commissioned its latest Survey Vessel Sandhayak, at Naval Dockyard, Vizag
• The event marks the formal induction into the Navy of the first of four Survey Vessel (Large) ships under construction at M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
• The project has been steered by the Warship Design Bureau of the Indian Navy.

Know! about Sandhayak 

• Sandhayak was delivered to the Indian Navy on 04 Dec 2023 after completing a rigorous and comprehensive trial programme both in the harbour and at sea.
• The primary role of the ship is to carry out full scale hydrographic surveys of ports, harbours, navigational channels/ routes, coastal areas and deep seas, towards enabling safe marine navigation.
• In its secondary role, the ship will be capable of undertaking a range of naval operations.
• Sandhayak is equipped with state-of-the-art hydrographic equipment including Deep & Shallow Water Multi-Beam Echo-Sounders, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Remotely Operated Vehicle, Side Scan Sonars, Data Acquisition and Processing System, satellite-based positioning systems and terrestrial survey equipment.

Green Propulsion System successfully demonstrates in-orbit functionality

• A Green Propulsion System, developed under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of DRDO, has successfully demonstrated in-orbit functionality on a payload launched by PSLV C-58 mission.
• This project – 1N Class Green Monopropellant thruster for altitude control and orbit keeping of micro satellite – was sanctioned to a Bengaluru-based start-up Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt Ltd (Development Agency).
• The Telemetry Data from PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru has been validated with ground level solution and is found to have exceeded all performance parameters.
• This innovative technology has resulted in non-toxic and environment-friendly propulsion system for low orbit space.
• The system consists of indigenously-developed Propellant, Fill and Drain Valves, Latch Valve, Solenoid Valve, Catalyst Bed, Drive Electronics, etc. It is ideal for space mission with high thrust requirements.
• The complete project has been carried out by the Development Agency under guidance of Project Monitoring & Mentoring Group of DRDO.
• It has demonstrated pulsed mode and steady state firing in vacuum, passivation of residual propellant in outer space, propellant realisation and establishing of filling procedure under the TDF.
• The TDF is a flagship programme of Ministry of Defence executed by DRDO under the ‘Make in India’ initiative for funding innovation in defence and aerospace, especially to start-ups and MSMEs.

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)

• The Union approved the continuation of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) to be implemented under Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) with an outlay of Rs.29,610.25 crore for another three years up to 2025-26.
• The scheme will incentivize investments for Dairy processing and product diversification, Meat processing and product diversification, Animal Feed Plant, Breed multiplication farm, Animal Waste to Wealth Management (Agri-waste management) and Veterinary vaccine and drug production facilities.
• Government of India will provide 3% interest subvention for 8 years including two years of moratorium for loan up to 90% from the scheduled bank and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), NABARD and NDDB.
• The eligible entities are individuals, Private Companies, FPO, MSME, Section 8 companies.
• Now the Dairy Cooperatives will also avail benefits for modernization, strengthening of the dairy plants.
• Government of India will also provide credit guarantee to the MSME and Dairy Cooperatives up to the 25% of the credit borrowed from the Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs.750 crore.

Sixth Schedule and Ladakh Union Territory

• The Ladakh Union Territory observed a shutdown over demands for statehood and Constitutional protection under the Sixth Schedule despite the Centre announcing second round of talks.
• The Centre announced a second round of meeting of high-powered committee set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to address the demands of the people of the region since its split from the erstwhile state of J&K.

Apex Body Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), the two socio-political organizations spearheading the movement, are pursuing four main demands

• Statehood for Ladakh
• Safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,
• Reservation of jobs for the youth of Ladakh,
• The creation of separate Parliamentary constituencies for the two parts of the region — Leh and Kargil.

Know! about the Sixth Schedule

• The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to safeguard the rights of the tribal population in these states.
• This special provision is provided under Article 244(2) and Article 275(1) of the Constitution.

Know! Sonam Wangchuk

• Sonam Wangchuk was a significant contributor to the launch of the New Ladakh Movement (NLM) which is a social campaign.
• This campaign aimed to promote sustainable education, the environment, and the economy.
• He is the founding-director of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), which was founded in 1988 by a group of students who had been in his own words, the ‘victims’ of an alien education system foisted on Ladakh.
• He is also known for designing the SECMOL campus that runs on solar energy and uses no fossil fuels for cooking, lighting or heating.
• He invented the Ice Stupa technique that creates artificial glaciers, used for storing winter water in the form of a cone-shaped ice heap.
• Ice stupas work by funneling water from a high-mountain stream through a pipe raised well above the ground. The energy source is the movement of water, a combination of gravity and pressure.

S N Goenka’s 100th birth anniversary

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the concluding ceremony of the year-long celebrations of S N Goenka’s 100th birth anniversary.

Know! about Satya Narayana Goenka

• Satya Narayan Goenka (30 January 1924 – 29 September 2013), commonly known as S.N. Goenka, was a Burmese-Indian teacher of Vipassanā meditation.
• Born in Burma to a rich Indian family, he moved to India in 1969 and started teaching meditation.
• His teaching was notable for emphasizing that the Buddha’s path to liberation was non-sectarian, universal, and scientific in character.
• He became an influential teacher and established meditation centers worldwide
• In November 2008 the construction of the Global Vipassana Pagoda was completed on the outskirts of Mumbai.
• Goenka was an invited speaker at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders on 29 August 2000 at the United Nations in New York City
• He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012.
• Goenka trained about 1300 assistant teachers to conduct courses using his recordings, and about 120,000 people attended them each year.

Vyommitra

• Woman Robot Astronaut “Vyommitra” will fly into Space ahead of ISRO’s ambitious “Gaganyaan” mission, which will be India’s first human manned Space Flight carrying Indian Astronauts into Space.
• Vyommitra Mission is scheduled for the third quarter of this year while a manned mission Gaganyaan is scheduled to be launched next year, that is 2025.
• Vyommitra is a name derived from two Sanskrit words namely, “Vyoma” (meaning Space) and “Mitra” (meaning Friend).
• This Female Robot Astronaut is equipped with the capability to monitor Module Parameters, issue Alerts and execute Life Support operations.
• It can perform tasks such as operating six panels and responding to the queries, he explained.
• Vyommitra Astronaut is designed in such a manner so as to simulate human functions in the Space environment and interact with the Life Support System.

Gaganyaan project

• The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human space capabilities by  launching a crew of astronauts into an orbit of 400 Kilometres and then bringing back these human astronauts safely to earth by landing them in India’s sea waters.

CLEA – Commonwealth Attorneys and Solicitors General Conference 2024

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) – Commonwealth Attorneys and Solicitors General Conference (CASGC) 2024 at Vigyan Bhawan
• The theme of the conference is “Cross-Border Challenges in Justice Delivery” and will deliberate on important issues pertaining to law and justice like judicial transition and the ethical dimensions of legal practice; executive accountability; and revisiting modern-day legal education, among others.

Background

• This Conference witnessed the participation of Attorney Generals and Solicitors from the Commonwealth nations spanning the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Caribbean along with various international delegations.
• The conference serves as a unique platform by offering a forum for interaction among different stakeholders in the Commonwealth legal fraternity.
• It also includes an exclusive round table conference tailored for Attorneys and Solicitors general aiming to develop a comprehensive roadmap to address the challenges in legal education and transnational justice delivery.

Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs

• The 7th session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) was held from 29th January 2024 to 2nd February 2024 at Kochi.
• After the Covid-19 pandemic, CCSCH7 was the first session of this committee to be conducted physically. 109 delegates from 31 countries attended the session.
• In this session, quality standards for 5 spices, namely small cardamom, turmeric, juniper berry, allpice and star anise were finalised.
• CCSCH has forwarded these five standards to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) recommending for adoption at final Step 8 as full-fledged Codex standards.

Know! about CAC

• The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC),  jointly established by FAO and WHO, is an international, intergovernmental body with membership of over 194 countries, which is based in Rome and is tasked with formulating internationally accepted standards pertaining to human food.
• The CAC conducts its work through various Codex committees, including the CCSCH, hosted by different member countries.
• The Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) was established as one of the Commodity Committees under the  Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) in 2013.
• India  hosts this prestigious Committee since the beginning and Spices Board India serves as the Secretariat organization which organizes the Committee’s sessions.
• The standards of CAC are recognized by the WTO as  international reference points for the resolution of trade disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection.
• The standards developed by the Committees under the CAC, including the CCSCH, are voluntary in nature, which the member countries of the CAC adopt and use as reference standards to align their national standards.
• The works of CAC contribute to harmonization of food standards across the globe, facilitate fair global trade in food, and enhance food safety to safeguard the health of global consumers.

DRDO carries out successful flight trials of High-speed Expendable Aerial Target ‘ABHYAS’

• Four flight trials of High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) – ABHYAS were successfully carried out by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha during January 30 to February 02, 2024.
• The trials were conducted with four different mission objectives in a revised robust configuration using a single booster designed by Advanced Systems Laboratory, Hyderabad to provide reduced launch acceleration.

Know! about ABHYAS

• Designed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), ABHYAS offers a realistic threat scenario for practice of weapon systems.
• It is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot indigenously made by the ADE.
• It has Radar Cross Section, Visual and Infrared augmentation system required for weapon practice.
• It has a laptop-based Ground Control System with which the aircraft can be integrated and pre-flight checks, data recording during the flight, replay after the flight and post-flight analysis can be carried out.
• ABHYAS requires minimum logistics and is cost effective compared to imported equivalents.
• The systems tested recently were realised through Production Agencies – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Defence.
• With identified production agencies, ABHYAS is ready for production.
• The system has export potential and can be offered to friendly countries.

ULLAS Mela

• Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship inaugurated the two-day ULLAS Mela on 6^th February 2024
• To achieve the target of 100% literacy by 2030, the Government of India is implementing a centrally sponsored innovative scheme called Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram or New India Literacy Program for the period of FYs 2022-2027.

Know! about ULLAS

• The scheme is popularly known as ULLAS: Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society
• The scheme is targeted at all non-literates of age 15 years and above.
• The scheme, in line with NEP 2020, targets adults (aged 15 and above) who could not go to school or attain formal education.
• It focuses on imparting Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), through critical life skills, such as Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, Legal Literacy, Environmental Literacy, Health & Hygiene, etc.
• Implemented in a hybrid mode, States/UTs have flexibility in offline, online, or combined approaches.
• The scheme consists of five components: (i) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy; (ii) Critical Life Skills; (iii) Basic Education; (iv) Vocational Skills; and (v) Continuing Education.
• ULLAS is to be implemented through VOLUNTEERISM, encouraging citizen participation, emphasizing DUTY or Kartavya Bodh towards nation-building.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving

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