Outlook IAS

05/12/2025

12/05/2024

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02/02/2024

INTERIM BUDGET 2024: Key highlights for UPSC Prelims exam

1. HOUSING

— 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 free electricity every month.

— PM AWAS YOJANA (Grameen): 2 Cr. more houses will be taken up in the next 5 Yrs to meet the requirement arising from increase in the number of families.

2. HEALTH

— Vaccination for girls in 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.

3. AGRICULTURE AND RELATED SECTORS

— 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. Focussed oil seeds: mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower.

— A comprehensive programme for supporting dairy farmers will be formulated. The success of existing schemes such RASHTRIYA GOKUL MISSION, NATIONAL LIVESTOCK MISSION, and INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT FUNDS for dairy processing and animal husbandry will act as guiding light for such a programme.

— Implementation of PRADHAN MANTRI MATSYA SAMPADA YOJANA (PMMSY), according to the speech, will be stepped up to:

“(1) enhance aquaculture productivity from existing 3 to 5 tons per hectare,

(2) double exports to 1 lakh crore and

(3) generate 55 lakh employment opportunities in near future.”

— 5 integrated aquaparks will be setup.

4. WOMEN

— “83 lakh SHGs with 9 crore women are transforming rural socio-economic landscape with empowerment and self-reliance”, said the Finance Minister.

— The government aims to enhance the target for Lakhpati Didi from 2 crore to 3 crore.

5. YOUTH AND TECHNOLOGY

— For the tech savvy youth — 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’.

6. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

— The outlay for the NEXT YEAR is being increased by 11.1% to eleven lakh, eleven thousand, one hundred and eleven crore rupees (` 11,11,111 crore). This would be 3.4 per cent of the GDP.

— THREE MAJOR ECONOMIC RAILWAY CORRIDOR PROGRAMMES will be implemented. These are:

1. energy, mineral and cement corridors,
2. port connectivity corridors, and

3. high traffic density corridors.

— The projects have been identified under the PM GATI SHAKTI for enabling multi-modal connectivity.

— Expansion of Metro and NaMO Bharat will be supported in large cities focusing on transit-oriented development.

7. ENVIRONMENT AND GREEN ENERGY

— Viability gap funding (VGF) will be provided for harnessing offshore wind energy potential.

— Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT will 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 will be mandated.

— Electric Vehicle Ecosystem– Support to manufacturing and charging infrastructure.

— Greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through payment security mechanism.

— For promoting green growth, a new scheme of BIO-MANUFACTURING and BIO-FOUNDRY will be launched.

— BLUE ECONOMY 2.0— A scheme for restoration and adaptation measures, and coastal aquaculture and mariculture with integrated and multi-sectoral approach will be launched.

8. TOURISM

— States will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres, branding and marketing them at global scale.

— Long-term INTEREST FREE LOANS will be provided to States for financing such development on matching basis.

— For domestic tourism— projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken up on our islands. It will also include Lakshadweep.

9. FDI

— The FDI inflow during 2014-23 was USD 596 billion marking a golden era. That is twice the inflow during 2005-14.

— For encouraging sustained foreign investment– Negotiating bilateral investment treaties ( BITs) with the foreign partners, in the spirit of ‘first develop India’.

10. POPULATION GROWTH AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

— The Government will form a high-powered committee for an extensive consideration of the challenges.

24/01/2024

Recently, the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) introduced the world's first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers.

What are Nano fertilisers?

- Nano fertilizers are defined as materials of the nanometer scale, usually in the form of nanoparticles, containing macro and micronutrients that are delivered to crops in a controlled mode.

- It is a product of Nanotechnology that utilizes materials of less than 100 nm size and offers multiple benefits that are not present in large-sized products.

- Nano fertilizers are being prepared by encapsulating plant nutrients into nanomaterials, employing a thin coating of nanomaterials on plant nutrients, and delivering in the form of nanosized emulsions.

18/01/2024

**Headline: Most rural kids 14-18 can't do Class 3 math,25% can't read**

✓ Annual status of education report (ASER)

✓ 56.7% couldn't solve a simple 3-digit by 1-digit division problem

✓ 2023 report reveals that children in India continue to struggle with basic reading and arithmetic skills well into their teenage years,even after reaching class 10 and higher secondary level of education.

✓ The findings point to huge skill deficit among adolescents, many of them only a few years away from entering job market.

**Headline: Why Kashmir is within snow**

Relevant information -

Reasons:
1. Decline in western disturbance event

2. Gradual rise in temperature,which involves the role of climate change

3. The prevailing El- Nino event in the eastern Pacific Ocean might be the additional factor

*What Is Western disturbance ?

These are large eastward-moving rain bearing wind system that originate beyond Afghanistan and Iran , picking up moisture from as far as the Mediterranean sea and even the Atlantic Ocean.

*Consequence of low snowfall:

*Long term implications-

✓ less hydro electricity
✓ an increase in rate of glaciar-melting
✓ an adverse impact on drinking water supply
✓ very little recharge of ground water

*Short term implications-

✓ increase in forest fire 🔥
✓ agricultural draught
✓ drop in crop production
✓ early spring and thus early flowering which can cause a reduction in yield.

09/01/2024

09/01/24

Headline: Gujarat govt got pardon by fraud: SC orders Bilkis r**e convicts back to jail- The Indian Express

✓ SC said the Gujarat state's decision to grant remission to convicts was "an instance of usurpation of jurisdiction and of abuse of discretion" and that the Gujarat state " acted in tandem and was complicit" with the convicts.

✓ S.432(7)(b) of the CrPC which deals with the power of remission, clearly indicates that the state within which the offender is sentenced ( Here it is Maharashtra) ,is the appropriate Government to pass an order of remission and not the one where the crime took place( Here it's Gujarat)or where the convict was imprisoned.

**Relevant information:-**

✓Pardon:
means absolving the convict of all guilt and punishment

✓Commutation:
means the reduction of punishment from death sentence to life imprisonment.

✓Remission:
means Quantitative reduction of punishment without affecting the nature of punishment. E.g. 2 yrs of rigorous imprisonment becomes 1 yr of rigorous punishment.

✓Respite:
means reduction of punishment in view of special facts, for example, pregnancy or old age.

✓Reprieve:
means a stay of death sentence or life imprisonment pending an appeal for a Pardon or Commutation.

The above are the mercy powers of The President ( Art. 72) and The Governor (Art. 161)

The Governor's power is limited in comparison to that of the President on two counts:

1. He can't nullify the death sentence and restore complete innocence i.e he can't pardon the death sentence. He can do so for all other penalties.

2. Military court rulings are not within his purview.

* The decision of the Governor regarding mercy cannot be appealed against to the President. But courts can intervene - The High Courts and The Supreme Court.



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07/01/2024

**Aditya-L1 Mission*

✓ Aditya-L1, ISRO's first spacecraft to study Sun, inserted in the final orbit.

✓Aditya-L1 moved into the 'halo' orbit around the L1 point in the Earth-Sun system, from where it will make observations of the Sun for the next 5 years.

✓ L1,or Lagrange 1 point is one of the five locations in the Earth-Sun system where the gravitational effect of the Earth and the Sun ,as also the Centripetal force on any satellite placed there, roughly cancel each other out.

✓ It is relatively stable point for a spacecraft to be parked, and observes Sun.

✓ The L1 point is 1.5 million Kms from the Earth.

&tech