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Daily Current Affairs 4th February 2025 Daily GK Update
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Budget 2025-26: At a Glance
Budget 2025-26: Fiscal Deficit for FY26 estimated at 4.4% of GDP
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pegged fiscal deficit, the difference between expenditure and income, to 4.4 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) for fiscal year 2025-26.
- The fiscal deficit target has been set at 4.4 per cent of GDP, down from 4.8 per cent in the previous year’s revised estimates, as the government moves forward with fiscal consolidation plans.
- Under the revised Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2003, the government is mandated to reduce the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent by FY26.
- To finance the fiscal deficit, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at ₹54 lakh crore.
- India’s Union Budget for FY26 has set total government expenditure at ₹65 trillion, marking an increase from ₹47.16 trillion in the revised estimates for 2024-25.
Union Budget 2025-26: Rs 600 crore allocated for Samudrayaan
- In a big boost for India’s ambitious Deep Ocean Mission, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 600 crore for the Samudrayaan project, under which scientists will be sent to the depths of the ocean in a specially-designed submersible to explore the ocean floor, including the country’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zones.
- The earth sciences ministry, which is spearheading the mission, received an allocation of Rs 3,649.8 crore in the budget, as against Rs 3,064.8 crore in the ongoing fiscal year.
- India plans to send a manned-submersible, developed by the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), up to a depth of 500 metres in the ocean later this year, and gradually explore the seabed at the depth of 6,000 metres next year.
- The Deep Ocean Mission aims to explore deep-oceanic resources and develop technologies for their sustainable use. The mission consists of six major themes, namely development of technologies for deep sea mining, manned submersible, and underwater robotics; development of ocean climate change advisory services; technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deepsea biodiversity; deep ocean survey and exploration; energy and freshwater from the ocean; and advanced marine station for ocean biology.
Budget 2025-26: ₹8,900 crore additional allocation for residential rooftop solar
- The Budget 2025-26 makes an allocation of ₹20,000 crore, under ‘revenue expenditure’ for the PM Surya Garh Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) — a scheme that provides incentives for setting up small-scale rooftop solar plants on residential roofs.
- This is a huge jump from the ₹6,250 crore allocation made in the Budget for 2024-25, which stood increased to ₹11,100 crore in the revised estimates for the year. The near doubling of revised estimates over the budgeted amount for 2024-25 indicates the scheme took off quite well.
- As such, the government has once again increased the allocations to the scheme this year, by 80 per cent over the revised estimates for last year.
- The PMSGMBY was launched in February 2024 with a 4-year outlay of ₹75,021 crore, with a view to engendering 10 million small-size residential rooftop installations. As of December 2024, about 700,000 installations have been completed.
- If the money allocated for 2025-26 is fully spent, it would mean that as much as ₹31,100 crore, or 41 per cent of the scheme outlay would have been spent in the first two years.
Budget 2025-26: Nirmala Sitharaman announces PM Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana for farmers
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana, or the developing agri-districts programme, in her record 8th Union Budget presentation.
- The Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana will be implemented in collaboration with the states and will integrate current programs. It will include 100 districts with below-average characteristics, moderate crop intensity, and low productivity.
- This programme is likely to help 1.7 crore farmers.
- The scheme focuses on five key areas including:
- Enhance agricultural productivity
- Improve irrigation facilities
- Improve credit availability
- To adopt crop diversification and sustainable agriculture practices
- To augment post-harvest storage at Panchayat and block levels.
Budget 2025-26: New Makhana Board and Food Institute to be opened in Bihar
- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced, a special Makhana Board will be established in Bihar to enhance the production, marketing, and value addition of Makhana.
- Farmers engaged in Makhana cultivation will be categorized as Follow-On Public Offers (FPOs) and receive training and support.
- The Board will ensure that Makhana farmers benefit from government schemes and receive necessary assistance.
- A National Institute of Food Technology, Processing, and Innovation will also be established in Bihar to promote the food sector.
- This initiative aims to increase farmers’ income, promote value addition, and create skilling and employment opportunities in eastern India.
Budget 2025-26: Cotton Mission gets a boost to improve productivity
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an ambitious Rs 500 crore five-year plan to boost cotton production and promote extra-long staple cotton varieties, at a time when India has no surplus in cotton and its yield at 450-kilogram per hectare is one of the lowest, against a global average of 800- kilogram plus.
- The Cotton Mission will focus on the production of extra-long staple cotton varieties, aiming to enhance quality cotton and rejuvenate India’s traditional textile sector.
- The Cotton Productivity Mission is a vital initiative to improve cotton yield in India from the current 450-500 kg per hectare to 1,000 kg per hectare. This five-year, time-bound mission, driven by advanced technology and scientific support, aims to boost farmer income and ensure raw material security for the Indian textile and apparel sector.
Budget 2025-26: Kisan credit card limit raised to ₹5 lakh to boost farmer credit access
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has annouced, the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) interest subsidy program has been heightened, with the loan limit increased from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh.
- The move is aimed at providing support to the 7.7 crore farmers, fishers, and dairy producers who are beneficiaries of this program.
What is a Kisan Credit Card?
- The Kisan Credit Card-KCC- is a government scheme introduced in 1998 for smooth disbursement of loans to farmers. Available at around 4% interest, it is a short-term, reasonably-priced loan for the purposes of agriculture. This program allows farmers easy access to financing while attaining financial independence.
Key features of the Kisan Credit Card scheme
- Loan limits and terms: Under the new interest subsidy program, farmers can now borrow money of up to ₹5 lakh. An earlier scheme had specified a maximum term of 5 years with the ceiling amount being 3 lakh.
- Eligibility: The applicants have to be tenant farmers, owner-cultivators, sharecroppers, or members of joint liability or self-help organizations engaged in farming or other producer activities like fishing or animal husbandry.
- Collateral-free loan: Loans amounting to ₹2 lakh or less will in future not require collateral. The RBI has taken one of those steps in favor of making credit easy for farmers.
Budget 2025: Govt Launches ‘Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses’ to Increase Production and Farmers’ Income
- The Union budget 2025-26 has proposed Aatmanirbharta or self-sufficiency in pulses and the farmers of Rajasthan are seeing a silver lining in this as special attention would be given to the production of Tur, Urad and Masoor.
- The government will now launch a 6-year ‘Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses’ with a special focus on Tur, Urad and Masoor. Central agencies (NAFED and NCCF) will be ready to procure these 3 pulses, as much as offered during the next 4 years from farmers who register with these agencies and enter into agreements.
- The pulse-producing farmers of Rajasthan will be directly benefited by this scheme. Lentils are produced in large quantities in Western Rajasthan and Kota. It is cultivated in about 38 lakh hectares in the entire state, which makes this region prominent in pulse yield.
- The mission will emphasize the development and commercial availability of climate-resilient seeds, enhancing protein content, increasing productivity, improving post-harvest storage and management and assuring remunerative prices to the farmers.
National News
Maharashtra to establish country’s first Artificial Intelligence university
- Maharashtra will establish the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) university in the country and a task force has been formed for the planning and implementation of the project.
- The task force includes experts from the academia, industry and government. The task force will be chaired by the Information Technology department’s principal secretary.
- The university will promote research and development in AI and related fields and will be a centre of excellence, encouraging collaboration between the industry, academia and government.
- It includes directors of the IIT Mumbai and IIM Mumbai, representatives from organisations like Google India, Mahindra Group, and L&T, and officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
- Experts from the Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Commission and the Data Security Council of India are also part of the task force.
DGCA imposes Rs 30 lakh penalty on Air India for regulatory norms violation
- Aviation safety regulator DGCA has imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Tata Group-owned Air India for allegedly allowing one of its pilots to operate a flight without complying with certain regulatory requirements.
- The order to slap penalty came after the response of a show-cause notice to Air India’s head of operations and head of rostering, among other executives, on December 13, 2024 was found “unsatisfactory.”
Banking and Financial
UPI volume scales new peak of 16.99 billion in January: NPCI data
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions saw a marginal 6 per cent month-on-month increase in volume to 16.99 billion in January, up from 16.73 billion in December 2024. This was a new record in terms of volume, since the digital system became operational in April 2016.
- In November, the volume was seen at 15.48 billion. On the other hand, the value also increased by 1 per cent to Rs 23.48 trillion, up from Rs 23.25 trillion in December. This was seen at Rs 21.55 trillion in November, and Rs 23.5 trillion in October, the highest so far in terms of value, said data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- January saw a 39 per cent rise in volume, and 28 per cent value, compared to the same month last financial year. The average daily transactions during the month were 548 million, translating to around Rs 75,743 crore.
GST collections in January at Rs 1.96 lakh crore
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections for the month of January touched Rs 1.96 lakh crore, an increase of 12.3% year-on-year basis.
- For the previous month, India’s GST collections rose 7.3% to Rs 1.77 lakh crore in December compared to the previous year. This growth slowed from an 8.5% increase in November.
- Central GST collections stood at Rs 36,100 crore while states were at Rs 44,900 crore. Additionally, for this month, integrated GST collections remained at Rs 1.01 lakh crore. Furthermore, GST cess collections was reported at Rs 13,400 crores
GST Collection of Previous Months
- August 2024 – 1.75 lakh crore
- September 2024 – 1.73 lakh crore
- October 2024 – 1.87 lakh crore
- November 2024 – 1.82 lakh crore
- December 2024 – 1.77 lakh crore
- January 2025 – 1.96 lakh crore
Defence
India-Maldives Joint Military Exercise ‘Ekuverin’ Begins
- The 13th edition of joint military exercise ‘Ekuverin’ between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force has commenced in the archipelago nation.
- In 2023, it was conducted at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand from June 11 to 24.
- Ekuverin meaning ‘Friends’ in Dhivehi language.
Recent Exercise
- Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conducted a major military exercise, Exercise Devil Strike
- 18th edition of Exercise Surya Kiran between India and Nepal Military – Saljhandi, Nepal
- Naval Exercise SLINEX 2024 between Sri Lanka and India- Visakhapatnam
- Joint Military Exercise Harimau Shakti 2024 between India and Malaysia – Bentong camp, Pahang district, Malaysia.
- 1st edition of Joint Tabletop Exercise, CINBAX between India and Cambodia – Foreign Training Node, Pune, Maharashtra.
- ICG conducted 11th National Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX-2024) off the Kochi coast.
Sports
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers win men’s Hockey India League 2024-25 Title
- Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers won the 6th Men’s Hockey India League 2024-25 title, beating Hyderabad Toofans 4-3 in a tense final at a packed Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.Odisha.
- This was the first title win for the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, winning them a prize of Rs 3 crore. The runners-up Hyderabad Toofan won Rs 2 crore as prize money.
- Earlier, the Odisha Warriors won the first edition of the Women’s Hockey India League 2024-25 title by defeating Soorma Hockey Club 2-1 in the final.
Important day
2 February – World Wetlands Day
- World Wetlands Day is observed annually on February 2 to raise awareness about the vital role of wetlands in sustaining biodiversity and supporting human well-being.
- Theme 2025 – Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future
- The day marks the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971, a key international treaty aimed at conserving wetlands globally.
Obituary
Former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla passed away
- Former chief election commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla, whose removal from the poll panel was recommended in 2009 over allegations of bias, passed away at 79.
- A former bureaucrat, Chawla was the election commissioner (EC) between 2005 and 2009, and then chief election commissioner from April 2009 to July 2010. Chawla had a controversial tenure in the poll body, with the then opposition BJP accusing him of being partisan.
- Chawla was also known as the biographer of Mother Teresa. The biography titled “Mother Teresa” was first published in the UK in 1992, and has seen many translations and editions since then.
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