UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 2nd February 2024 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-II

Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023

Subject: Polity

Why in News?

Recently, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 has been released.

About Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023:-

• Published by: Transparency International.
  • It is an international non -governmental organisation founded in 1993 based in Berlin, Germany
• The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is an annual assessment that ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.
• The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a score of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
• Factors Considered:-
  • Public Sector Corruption.
  • Judicial and Law Enforcement Transparency.
• India ranked 93 among 180 nations.
• India’s overall score in 2023 was 39, a minor decrease from 40 in 2022.
• The index scores countries on a scale of 0 to 100, where a higher score indicates lower perceived corruption and a cleaner public sector.
• Top Three Countries: Denmark, Finland and New Zealand.
• Bottom Spots: Somalia, Venezuela, Syria, South Sudan and Yemen.

Source: Indian Express

Ayush Diksha

Subject: Polity and Governance

Why in News?

Recently, the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the construction of ‘Ayush Diksha’ will be held on 20th January 2024.

Background:-

• The Ceremony will be held at Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), Bharatpur, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

About Ayush Diksha:-

• Ministry: Ministry of Ayush. 
• Ayush Diksha is a Human Resource Development Centre of the Government of India’, of Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences.
• The Ayush Diksha project with an approved budget of Rs.30 crore will promote state-of-the-art facilities.
• The construction will consist of two Auditoriums with a capacity of 30-40 trainees each, 40 Central Air Conditioned Rooms with attached bathrooms for apprentice accommodation, and VIP and VIP suites.
• An area dedicated to a natural library and discussion room, adequate parking space, Modular pantry, dining lounges and other necessary facilities are included.
• The Institute will provide a teaching training programme to all the stakeholders of Ayush in general and Ayurveda in particular at the national level.
• It will also help in collaborating with other national institutions for capacity development, strengthening human resources in Ayurveda, facilitating research and development, maintaining high-quality standards and generating revenue besides achieving self-sufficiency.

Source: PIB

Budgetary increase for Lakhpati Didi Scheme

Subject: Governance

Why in News?

The interim budget for 2024-25 has introduced an expansion of the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme, designed to empower women’s self-help groups.

About ‘Lakhpati Didi’ Scheme

• Launch: The ‘Lakhpati Didi’ Scheme was inaugurated on August 15, 2023.
• Objective: The government aims to create two crore prosperous sisters in rural villages, aligning with the broader mission of poverty alleviation and economic empowerment.
• Skill Training: Women participants receive skill training to enable them to earn an income exceeding Rs 1 lakh annually.
• Technology Integration: Women’s self-help groups (SHGs) will have access to drones for agricultural activities, harnessing technology to transform rural agriculture while empowering women.

Leveraging Drone Technology

• Drone Training: Approximately 15,000 women’s SHGs will undergo training in operating and repairing drones.
• Income Generation: This initiative not only opens new avenues for income generation but also equips women with cutting-edge skills.
• Agricultural Revolution: Drones hold the potential to revolutionize agriculture, facilitating precision farming, crop monitoring, and pest control.

Skill Diversification

• Skill Development: Women under this scheme receive training in diverse skills such as LED bulb making, plumbing, and more.
• Eligibility Criteria: Participants must be active members of self-help groups.

Application Process

• Self-Help Groups: To apply for the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ Scheme, women should be part of self-help groups.
• Local Anganwadi Centres: Additional information and application forms are available at local Anganwadi centres.

Source: Mint

GS-III

Highlights of Interim Budget 2024-25

Subject: Economics

Why in News?

Recently, Interim Budget 2024-25 was presented.

About Highlights of Interim Budget 2024-25:-

• Government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class “living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorized colonies” to buy or build their own houses.
• Rooftop solarization — one crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units of free electricity every month.
• PM Awas Yojana (Grameen)– Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from an increase in the number of families.
• Vaccination for girls in the age group of 9 to 14 years for prevention of cervical cancer.
• Upgradation of Anganwadi centres under “Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0” will be expedited.
• U-WIN platform for managing immunization and intensified efforts of Mission Indradhanush will be rolled out expeditiously.
• Extension of healthcare cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers.
• Application of Nano DAP on various crops will be expanded in all agro-climatic zones.
• A strategy will be formulated to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds.
• A comprehensive programme for supporting dairy farmers will be formulated.
• Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
• The government aims to enhance the target for Lakhpati Didi from 2 crore to 3 crore.
• A corpus of rupees one lakh crore will be established with fifty-year interest free loan.
• A new scheme will be launched for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’.
• Three major economic railway corridor programmes will be implemented.
• Expansion of Metro and NaMO Bharat will be supported in large cities focusing on transit-oriented development.
• Viability gap funding will be provided for harnessing offshore wind energy potential.
• Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT will be set up by 2030.
• A scheme for restoration and adaptation measures, and coastal aquaculture and mariculture with integrated and multi-sectoral approach will be launched.
• States will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres, branding and marketing them at global scale.
• Under the new tax scheme, there is now no tax liability for tax payers with income up to Rs. 7 lakh, up from Rs. 2.2 lakh in the financial year 2013-14.
• Corporate tax rate was decreased from 30 per cent to 22 per cent for existing domestic companies and to 15 per cent for certain new manufacturing companies

Source: PIB

Tax buoyancy helps Centre Align with its Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap

Subject: Economics

Why in News?

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 presented the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament.

• Here we will try to analyse different aspects of the interim union budget 2024-25.

Tax buoyancy helps Centre Align with its Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap:

• The government’s aim:To restrict the fiscal deficit to 5.8% of the GDP as against 5.9% budgeted earlier for the financial year and to restrict the fiscal deficit target to below 4.5% by 2025-26.
• How? By riding on the back of a strong buoyancy in tax revenues. Tax buoyancy is defined as the ratio of change in taxes to GDP. Higher tax buoyancy suggests that tax revenue would increase at a quicker rate than income growth.
• Direct tax revenue:
  • Direct tax revenues are estimated to grow 17.2% year-on-year to Rs 19.45 lakh crore in the current financial year 2023-24.
  • For the next financial year, direct tax collections, which include income tax and corporate tax, are estimated to rise 13.1% to Rs 21.99 lakh crore.
• On the indirect taxes side:
  • Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) collections are estimated to grow 13% to Rs 9.18 lakh crore in 2024-25.
  • Overall, the indirect tax collections, which include customs, excise duties and GST (including compensation cess), are expected to yield Rs 16.22 lakh crore to the government in 2024-25.
• What does this indicate?
  • The growth rate for tax revenues estimated for 2024-25 at nearly 12% (net) is much higher than the 10.5% nominal GDP growth assumed for Budget arithmetic for 2024-25.
  • The strong growth in tax revenues reflects the high tax buoyancy, which works out to be 1.2 for FY 2023-24 as against 1.0 in FY23. For 2024-25, the tax buoyancy is seen at 1.1.
  • These revenue estimates can take care of any unforeseen expenditure or slippage in disinvestments in FY25.

Tax Resolution Scheme to Benefit over One Crore:

• In a relief to tax-payers grappling with outstanding tax demands, the Finance Minister announced a resolution for “disputed direct tax demand” dating back to 1962, the year of enactment of the Income-Tax Act.
• Under this, the government has decided to withdraw outstanding direct tax demands up to Rs 25,000 for the period up to financial year 2009-10 and up to Rs 10,000 for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Centre to Follow a ‘Calibrated’ Approach to Divestments in FY25:

• The calibrated approach: The government has estimated it will get Rs 50,000 crore in 2024-25 in the form of ‘miscellaneous capital receipts’ without mentioning the word disinvestment.
• Need for a calibrated approach:
  • The government is taking care of the (governance, development and performance) with respect to CPSEs.
  • If we look at CPSEs’ performance - whether it comes to capex of Rs 3.2 lakh crore, their growth story, their investments in green energy, their performance on return on capital employed and equity - they are big market players.
  • They will continue to improve and reward shareholders including the government.
• Future plans: Strategic sale of CPSEslike BEML, SCI, HLL Life Care, NMDC Steel, and IDBI Bank is expected to be completed in the current financial year, although analysts believe it could come to fruition only after the General Elections later this year.

Rooftop Solar Scheme - Households to get 300 Units Free Power:

• The Pradhan-mantri Suryodaya Yojana (announced by the PM on January 22):
  • People availing the newly-announced rooftop solar scheme will be entitled to 300 units of free electricity every month.
    • This will help them save up to Rs 18,000 annually by getting free solar electricity and by selling the surplus power to the distribution companies.
  • The PM announced that rooftop solar systems would be installed in “one crore houses”, without specifying a timeframe for the target to be achieved.
  • The Finance Minister said the scheme would also help the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by providing charging stations at home.
  • The scheme was also expected to result in entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in supplies, installation and maintenance.
• Need for the new scheme:
  • The new scheme adds on to an ongoing rooftop solarisation programme running for at least a decade now.
  • About 40% or 40 gigawatts (GW) of the government’s initial target of setting up 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022 was meant to be through rooftop systems.
  • However, by 2023 end, the country’s total solar capacity stood at 73.3 GW, of which grid-connected rooftop systems comprised only about 11 GW or 15%.

Rs 1 Lakh Crore Corpus to Incentivise R&D in Private Sector:

• In a significant initiative to incentivise R&D in the private sector, the Finance Minister announced the establishment of a financial corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore that will provide low-cost or zero-interest loans for research and innovation.
• The private companies could avail of interest-free loans for up to 50 years (long-term financing or refinancing facility) through this new mechanism.
• This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains.
• The new fund is in sync with the government efforts to encourage private sector involvement in research activities.
  • Last year, it had set up a National Research Foundation (NRF) whose main objective is to significantly improve, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, the country’s research output.
  • The NRF earmarks a spending of Rs 50,000 crore on research activities over the next five years.
  • More than 70% of this money is envisaged to come from the private sector.

Source: The Hindu

Five more Wetlands added to Ramsar List

Subject: Environment and Ecology

Why in News?

Five more Indian wetlands have been added to the global list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, taking the total number of such highly recognised waterlogged ecosystems in the country to 80.

• India is now the fourth-largest nation on the Ramsar map, trailing only behind the UK (175), Mexico (144), and China (82).
• Tamil Nadu continues to have the maximum number of Ramsar sites (16) followed by Uttar Pradesh (10).

List of newly designated Ramsar Sites:

[1] Ankasamudra Bird Conservation Reserve (Karnataka):

• Spread over 98.76 hectares adjoining Ankasamudra village.
• A biodiversity hotspot with over 210 plant species, 8 mammals, 25 reptiles, and 240 bird species.
• Vital nesting and roosting ground for over 30,000 waterbirds, including the Painted Stork and Black-headed Ibis.

[2] Aghanashini Estuary (Karnataka):

• Covers 4,801 hectares at the confluence of Aghanashini River with the Arabian Sea.
• Offers flood and erosion risk mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood support.
• Sustains 6,000-7,500 families through fishing, agriculture, and traditional fish farming.
• Acts as a natural barrier against storms and cyclones.

[3] Magadi Kere Conservation Reserve (Karnataka):

• A human-made wetland spanning nearly 50 hectares, originally designed for rainwater storage.
• Home to 166 bird species, including 130 migratory birds.
• Sanctuary for vulnerable and near-threatened species like the Common Pochard, River Tern, and Oriental Darter.
• A crucial wintering ground for the Bar-headed Goose.

[4] Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu):

• Encompassing 453.72 hectares, it’s one of Tamil Nadu’s largest inland wetlands.
• Facilitates groundwater recharge and supports agricultural activities.
• Hosts around 198 bird species, including the Bar-headed Goose and Common Teal.

[5] Longwood Shola Reserve Forest (Tamil Nadu):

• Named after “Solai,” meaning tropical rainforest in Tamil.
• Integral to the Western Ghats’ unique biodiversity.
• Provides sanctuary to globally endangered and vulnerable bird species like the Nilgiri Laughing Thrush, Nilgiri Blue Robin, and Nilgiri Wood-pigeon.
• Home to 14 of the 26 endemic bird species of the Western Ghats.

Source: Hindustan Times

Nano DAP: Revolutionizing Fertilizers in Indian Agriculture

Subject: Agriculture

Why in News?

The interim budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduces the expansion of Nano DAP application in agriculture.

Understanding Nano DAP

• DAP: DAP, or di-ammonium phosphate, is a widely used fertilizer in India, rich in phosphorus for plant root development.
• Nano DAPL: Introduced by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), it is a liquid form of DAP with particle sizes less than 100 nanometers, enhancing its efficiency.

Advantages of Nano DAP

• Efficiency: Nano DAP’s small particle size allows it to penetrate seeds and plant openings more effectively, leading to higher seed vigor, increased chlorophyll, better photosynthetic efficiency, improved crop quality, and higher yields.
• Affordability: Nano DAP is cost-effective compared to conventional DAP, with a 500 ml bottle equivalent to a 50 kg bag of DAP, priced at only Rs 600.
• Convenience: The liquid form is easier to transport, store, and apply, making it farmer-friendly.
• Reduced Imports: Adoption of domestically-produced Nano DAP from Kalol, Gujarat, reduces the need for importing fertilizers, enhancing self-reliance and benefiting Indian agriculture.

Government’s Perspective

• Subsidy Relief: Nano DAP’s cost-effectiveness alleviates the government’s subsidy burden on fertilizers, offering fiscal relief.
• Self-Reliance: Producing Nano DAP domestically aligns with the goal of self-sufficiency in fertilizer production, reducing dependency on imports.
• Agricultural Advancement: Wider Nano DAP adoption supports agricultural growth, increasing food grain production and benefiting farmers.

Source: Indian Express