UPSC Key | Union Budget, Agriculture, Neighbourhood First Policy and more

Preliminary Examination: current events of national importance, economic development

Mains Examination: GS-II, GS-III: Indian economy and Government budgeting.

What’s the ongoing story- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has provided a roadmap for the pursuit of Viksit Bharat @2047. She has identified nine key priority areas — productivity and resilience in agriculture, employment and skilling, inclusive human-resource development and social justice, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation, research and development and next-generation reforms. 

Prerequisites: 

— What are the constitutional provisions regarding the budget?

— What are the components of the budget?

Key takeaways: 

From Union Budget 2024-25: MACRO (Page-6)

Budget 2024: Shifting focus from fiscal deficit to debt-GDP ratio

— Even as the government announced schemes to boost employment and assistance to some states in Union Budget 2024-25, it reiterated its intent to stick to the fiscal consolidation roadmap and announced a lower fiscal deficit target.

— In what could be a signal to rating agencies, the government cut the fiscal deficit target to 4.9 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for financial year 2024-25 from 5.1 per cent in the interim Budget, while underlining that the central government debt will be on a declining path as a percentage of the GDP.

— The government had pegged the fiscal deficit target at 5.9 per cent of the GDP in Budget 2023-24, which it was able to lower to 5.8 per cent in the revised estimates. The Budget 2024-25 documents presented on Tuesday showed that as per the ‘provisional actuals’ data, fiscal deficit for FY24 stands at 5.6 per cent of the GDP.

Centre’s subsidy bill to fall to five-year-low in 2024-25

— The Centre’s outgo on subsidies is budgeted to decline to a five-year-low in 2024-25, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). This is despite no increases in the prices of fertilisers for farmers or that of foodgrains sold through the public distribution system (PDS).

— The subsidy bill peaked at Rs 758,165 crore (3.8 per cent of GDP) in 2020-21, which is expected to fall to Rs 428,423 crore (1.3 per cent) in the current year. The lower spend is on account of two factors.

— The first is the discontinuation of the free, additional 5-kg grain allocation to the 80 acre-plus PDS beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. 

— The second major driver for the Centre’s lower overall subsidy provision is fertiliser. At Rs 164,000 crore, the budgeted fertiliser subsidy for 2024-25 is down from the record Rs 251,339 crore of 2022-23, which resulted from high global prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

From divestment to kickstarting private investment, the many silences

— The Union Budget speech for 2024-25 is silent on why private sector investments haven’t quite commenced despite the corporate tax breaks in 2019, the significant ramping up of government’s capex over the last few years, the improving profitability of India Inc, and healthy bank balance sheets.

— On Monday, the Economic Survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, sought to answer if “the corporate sector had responded” to the cut in taxes in September 2019 to facilitate capital formation.

— Delving deeper into the issue, the Survey had found that in the four years till FY23, the private sector was investing more in ‘dwellings, other buildings and structures’ and not in ‘machinery and equipment and intellectual property’. “This is not a healthy mix,” it said.

— The issue of pushing through long pending second generation reforms was also acknowledged in the Budget. In essence, these reforms relate to various factors of production such as land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship, and technology. Reforms in these factors are expected to make them more efficient and improve productivity.

In the Budget, the Finance Minister announced that the government will formulate an economic policy framework that will initiate and incentivise reforms for improving productivity of factors of production. And while the Budget did announce some proposals, these fall short of a full set of factor market reforms as have been envisioned in the past.

From Union Budget 2024-25: YOUR MONEY (Page-7)

Govt hikes long-term capital gains tax to 12.5% from 10%; clamps down on F&O trading, raises STT

— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday raised taxation on income on short-term and long-term capital gains and also doubled the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures & options (F&O) of securities.

— In the Union Budget 2024-25, Sitharaman announced an increase in the long-term capital gains (LTCG) on all financial and non-financial assets to 12.5 per cent, from 10 per cent. However, the exemption limit of Rs 1 lakh for LTCG on these assets has also increased to Rs 1.25 lakh.

— The rate on short-term capital gains (STCG) has been hiked to 20 per cent from 15 per cent. The new rates on LTCG and STCG are applicable from July 23.

Government  withdraws 2% Equalisation Levy

— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to withdraw the 2 % equalisation levy on the e-commerce supply of goods or services with effect from August 1, 2024. 

Rental earnings to be classified as property income

— Rental income of taxpayers from residential properties will now be charged under the head ‘income from house property’ and not as income from business or profession, according to the Union Budget 2024. 

— The Budget has recommended an amendment to Section 28 of the Income Tax Act to clarify that any income from letting out of a residential house or a part of the house by the owner shall be chargeable under the head “Income from house property”.

Higher deduction for employers on NPS Contribution 

The Union Budget 2024 has raised the deduction on employers’ National Pension System (NPS) contribution to employees’ basic salary from the current 10 per cent to 14 percent. The change will apply to both public and private sector companies under the new tax regime.

From Union Budget 2024-25: INFRA (Page-9)

To bolster grid, push for thermal & energy storage 

— In an attempt to counterbalance the variability of renewable energy and strengthen India’s baseload power capacity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to set up the country’s first 800 MW advanced ultra supercritical (AUSC) thermal plant based on indigenous technology.

— Sitharaman also unveiled plans to formulate a policy for energy storage focusing on promoting pumped storage projects (a type of hydroelectric energy storage) and underscored the need for developing nuclear energy capacities through private sector collaboration.

Govt looks to boost e-commerce exports, will set up PPP hubs along lines of Southeast Asian countries

— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday announced the setting up of e-commerce export hubs across the country in public private partnership (PPP) mode along the lines of several Southeast Asian countries that are benefiting from the rapid growth of e-commerce exports.

1 crore houses for poor & middle class under Ph-2 of urban housing scheme 

— Highlighting urban development as one of the nine priorities of Budget 2024-2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0, with Rs 2.2 lakh crore central assistance over five years, to construct one crore additional houses.

From Union Budget 2024-25: Social (Page-12)

In govt outreach to tribals, a new scheme for development of 63,000 villages

— With a saturation approach for achieving social justice, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday announced a new scheme for socio-economic development of 63,000 tribal villages that will aim to cover 5 crore people from tribal communities.

— In the Budget for Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, the government has also increased allocations for skilling of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the National Overseas Scholarship Scheme for SCs and mechanised sanitation.

— In her Budget speech, Sitharaman said the government will launch the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan by “adopting saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts”.

Loan support for higher education, UGC sees big cut

— For youth who are not eligible for any benefit under government schemes and policies, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget speech Tuesday announced financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions.

— “E-vouchers for this purpose will be given directly to 1 lakh students every year for annual interest subvention of 3% of the loan amount,” Sitharaman said.

— With the Budget emphasising on employment and skilling, Sitharaman announced that a provision of Rs 1.48 lakh crore has been made in the Budget for education, employment, and skilling.

— In higher education, allocation for the University Grants Commission (UGC), as was indicated in the interim budget, has been slashed by Rs 2,860 crore in the Budget.

Customs duty cut on 3 cancer drugs: Hope for patients

— In her Budget speech Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “To provide relief to cancer patients, I propose to fully exempt three more medicines from customs duties,” she said, referring to trastuzumab deruxtecan, osimertinib and durvalumab, three targeted therapy drugs with effective treatment outcomes that work by precisely identifying and inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.

— At present, these patented drugs, which are imported, are prohibitively expensive, costing around Rs 5 lakh a month, keeping it out of reach for most patients. Which is why, Sitharaman’s announcement – of slashing customs duty on the three drugs from 10% to zero – holds out hope for cancer patients, bringing the cost of a vial to under a lakh.

From Union Budget 2024-25: MSMEs (Page-16)

New credit rating mechanism for smaller units; Mudra loan limit hiked

— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech Tuesday, proposed a new assessment model for credit to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that requires public sector banks (PSBs) to assess credit eligibility themselves instead of relying on external assessment.

— She also proposed to increase the limit of Mudra loans from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and introduce a credit guarantee scheme for purchase of machinery and equipment without collateral or third party guarantee.

— The credit guarantee scheme for purchase of machinery and equipment without collateral will operate on pooling of credit risks of MSMEs seeking to benefit from the scheme, Sitharaman said.

— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a new mechanism for facilitating continuation of bank credit to MSMEs with stressed loan accounts under the special mention account category. The proposed mechanism is likely to bring relief to stressed MSMEs that have faced difficulty in utilising existing credit lines to pay dues.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is a fiscal deficit?

— How does a Union Budget influence the economy?

— Which sector and scheme got the highest budget allocation?

— What are the issues and challenges faced by various sectors of Indian Economy?

— What measures needs to be taken to address the challenges pertaining to the various sectors of indian economy ?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(1) Which of the following are the methods of Parliamentary control over public finance in India? (UPSC CSE 2012)

1. Placing Annual Financial Statement before the Parliament

2. Withdrawal of moneys from Consolidated Fund of India only after passing the Appropriation Bill

3. Provisions of supplementary grants and vote-on account

4. A periodic or at least a mid-year review of programme of the Government against macroeconomic forecasts and expenditure by a Parliamentary Budget Office

5. Introducing Finance Bill in the Parliament

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only

(b) 1, 2 and 4 only 

(c) 3, 4 and 5 only 

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Mains

The public expenditure management is a challenge to the Government of India in the context of budget-making during the post-liberalization period. (UPSC CSE 2019)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Union Budget 2024 : Key highlights for UPSC Prelims and Mains exam

Neighbourhood first in External Affairs’ allocation for aid to countries

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: International Relations, Budget

What’s the ongoing story- A major chunk of the Ministry of External Affairs’ outlay, Rs 4,883 crore, has been earmarked for “aid to countries”, of which countries from the neighbourhood – Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan and Myanmar – get the lion’s share.

Prerequisites: 

— What is the neighbourhood first policy?

— Map work: India and its neighbouring countries and Bordering States.

Key takeaways: 

— Bhutan has emerged as the top recipient of Indian government aid to foreign countries, according to the Union Budget documents… It gets the highest aid at an estimated Rs 2,068.56 crore, which is slightly less than Rs 2,400 crore last year.

— The provision is for India’s multilateral and bilateral aid and assistance programmes to neighbouring and other developing countries. This assistance is provided to immediate neighbouring countries and also to the countries of Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Latin America.

— Maldives will get Rs 400 crore in the new Budget, the same as last year.

— Nepal stands out as a significant beneficiary with an allocation of Rs 700 crore, marking a substantial increase of Rs 150 crore from the previous year’s budget of Rs 550 crore, later revised to Rs 650 crore. 

— Besides Nepal, there have been increased allocations for Sri Lanka and Seychelles as well, at Rs 245 crore (up by Rs 95 crore from last year’s allocation of Rs 150 crore) and Rs 40 crore (up from Rs 10 crore), respectively.

— The Chabahar port project in Iran continues to receive a steady allocation of Rs 100 crore, unchanged for the past three years.

— The total Budget estimate for the MEA for 2024-25 is Rs 22,155 crore, which exceeds the Rs 18,050 crore allocated in 2023-24. However, it falls short of the revised estimate of Rs 29,121 crore for the same fiscal.

For Your Information: 

— In 2024, it is the heads of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and interestingly, three island states, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles, who were invited to the swearing-in ceremony of PM Modi on June 9.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the significance and challenges of India’s neighnourhood first policy?

— What initiatives have been taken by the government to promote the neighbourhood first policy?

Post Read Question:

“China is using its economic relations and positive trade surplus as tools to develop potential military power status in Asia”. In the light of this statement, discuss its impact on India as her neighbour. (UPSC CSE 2017)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony: Signals to India’s neighbourhood and Indian Ocean region

The Editorial Page

Prudence and plumbing

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-III: Government Budget

What’s the ongoing story– Sajid Z Chinoy writes: “Thus far, the heavy lifting on investment in India has been undertaken by the public sector. However, given the aforementioned fiscal and debt constraints, the investment baton will eventually have to be handed over to the private sector. The good news is that corporate balance sheets are the healthiest in years. The challenge is that firms need more demand visibility to invest with conviction.”

Prerequisites: 

— What is the  discretionary expenditure?

Key takeaways: 

— On fiscal prudence and budgetary math, policymakers have checked all the boxes. First, this year’s deficit is pegged at 4.9 per cent of GDP, even lower than the interim budget.

— Second, assumptions on the revenue side are very conservative. After a realised tax buoyancy of 1.4 last year (gross taxes growing at 13.5 per cent on nominal GDP growth of 9.6 per cent) the assumed buoyancy is just 1 this year (taxes are budgeted to grow at 10.8 per cent on nominal GDP growth of 10.5 per cent). 

— Third, the extra resources the government had (around 0.4 per cent of GDP) vis-à-vis the interim budget were used in a balanced manner, with half being assigned for more consolidation and the other half to increase revenue expenditures.

— Fourth, the quality of discretionary expenditure (measured as the ratio of capital to revenue expenditures, ex-interest) has doubled from 0.2 in 2020 to 0.4 in 2024. 

— Fifth, one potential concern of reducing the deficit too quickly is the contractionary impact on aggregate demand.

— Fiscal and financial prudence apart, the real contribution of this year’s budget is in starting a much-needed conversation on the plumbing of different parts of the economy.

— The fate of private consumption is inextricably linked to quality employment… The key to boosting quality employment, apart from higher growth rates, is therefore to redress the balance between capital and labour in the production process.

— The budget signalled important first steps in this regard by announcing several “Employment-Linked Incentives” that will provide incentives to both employees and employers to increase formal sector employment.

— Similarly, on the exports front, it was refreshing to see customs duties across several sectors reduced or done away with. A foundational theorem in trade theory is that an import tariff is equivalent to an export tax.

— Finally, the budget spoke about the need to undertake factor-market reforms encompassing land, labour and capital in conjunction with the states.

For Your Information: 

Union Budget 2024-25: Employment

— In a bid to push employment in manufacturing and job creation in formal sectors of the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday announced three employment-linked incentive (ELI) schemes for two years and an internship programme in partnership with India Inc for five years in the Union Budget for 2024-25.

—  The government will launch a scheme for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies for one crore youth in five years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. 

— An internship “allowance” of `5,000 per month along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000 will be provided. Companies will be expected to bear the training cost and 10 per cent of the internship cost from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.

— As part of a job creation scheme in the manufacturing sector, Sitharam announced new ‘employment linked incentives’ for companies hiring first-time employees. Under the scheme, an incentive will be provided at a “specified scale” to both the employee and the employer directly with respect to their EPFO contribution in the first four years of employment. “The scheme is expected to benefit 30 lakh youth entering employment, and their employers,” Sitharaman said. 

— Expecting higher manufacturing output and employment in sunrise sectors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget 2024 presentation on Tuesday substantially hiked allocation for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for automobiles, auto components, smartphones, laptops, IT hardware and the food processing industry.

Points to Ponder: 

— How is PLI linked to the employment generation?

— What are the major causes of unemployment in India?

— What are the initiatives of the government to provide employment?

Post Read Question:

 “Demographic Dividend in India will remain only theoretical unless our manpower becomes more educated, aware, skilled and creative.” What measures have been taken by the government to enhance the capacity of our population to be more productive and employable? (UPSC CSE 2016)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Budget 2024: Internship for 1 crore youth, industry seeks clarity

A setback for the farm

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Government policies and interventions, Economy

What’s the ongoing story- Ashok Gulati  and Purvi Thangaraj write: In 2023-24, the Indian economy registered an overall GDP growth rate of 8.2 per cent, and it is likely to remain above 7 per cent in FY25 according to most projections. However, growth in the agriculture sector declined from 4.7 per cent in FY23 to 1.4 per cent in FY24.

Prerequisites: 

— What is the status of R&D in agriculture?

— What is the Agriculture Research Intensity (ARI)?

— What is the PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana?

Key takeaways: 

— It’s well known that the marginal returns of investing in agri-R&D are over 10 times – in other words, an extra investment of 1,000 crore will mean Rs 10,000 crore in terms of agri-GDP. — Such an investment could have pushed agriculture towards a higher growth trajectory. But, the budget expenditure numbers don’t give such an assurance.

— Our research shows that agriculture R&D Expenditure touched Rs 160 billion in 2020-21, with 89 per cent coming from the public sector and 11 per cent from the private sector.

— The Agriculture Research Intensity (ARI) peaked at 0.75 per cent in 2008-09 and stands at 0.43 per cent in 2022-23. This will fall further in FY25, as the allocation to this segment has gone down in real terms. This is not good news for the country’s food security as well as for arresting food inflation.

— The budget has allocated Rs 1.52 trillion for the agriculture and allied sectors. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare received a budget of Rs 1.22 trillion (BE), an increase of just 5 per cent from Rs 1.16 trillion (RE) in FY24 – this barely compensates for inflation.

— The food subsidy is budgeted at Rs 2.05 trillion, down from INR 2.12 trillion in FY24. Despite this decrease, the subsidy still predominantly benefits consumers rather than farmers.

— Providing free rations to more than 800 million people through the PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana is perhaps correct from a political perspective. However, questions remain about the necessity of continuing this support for such a large population.

For Your Information: 

Union Budget 2024-25: Agri & Rural

— Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the implementation of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture, with farmers across the country and their lands to be covered in three years. 

— Sitharaman also allocated Rs 500 crore for Namo Drone Didi scheme, an initiative aimed at providing drones to 15,000 selected women’s self-help groups.

— On natural farming, Sitharaman said, “In the next two years, 1 crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding. Implementation will be through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats. 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.”

— She also announced that new 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation by farmers.

— In the Budget speech, Sitharaman said provisions of Rs 1.52 lakh crore were made for agriculture and allied sectors this year.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the problems faced by the agricultural sector in India?

— What is the significance of R&D in agriculture?

— What is the significance of DPI in agriculture?

Post Read Question:

(2) Which one of the following best describes the concept of ‘Small Farmer Large Field’? (UPSC CSE 2023)

(a) Resettlement of a large number of people, uprooted from their countries due to war, by giving them a large cultivable land which they cultivate collectively and share the produce

(b) Many marginal farmers in an area organize themselves into groups and synchronize and harmonize selected agricultural operations

(c) Many marginal farmers in an area together make a contract with a corporate body and surrender their land to the corporate body for a fixed term for which the corporate body makes a payment of agreed amount to the farmers

(d) A company extends loans, technical knowledge and material inputs to a number of small farmers in an area so that they produce the agricultural commodity required by the company for its manufacturing process and commercial production

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Rs 500 crore for Namo Drone Didi scheme, Rs 365 crore for natural farming mission

 

The Ideas Page

Responsible and inclusive

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance 

Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy

What’s the ongoing story-  Prachi Mishra, Shohan Mukherjee, and Ankita Nair write: The FY25 budget continues the commitment to being responsible. The fiscal deficit is projected at 4.9 per cent of GDP in FY25 and seeks a large 0.9 pp correction relative to FY24 (and a 0.2 pp lower deficit even compared to the interim budget) — a decline of 1.8 pp over the last four years. This would be the largest annual reduction in deficit since 2013, excluding the post-Covid normalisation.

Prerequisites: 

— What is tax buoyancy?

— What is nominal GDP growth?

— What is the primary deficit?

— What is an Inverted duty structure?

Key takeaways: 

— The Finance Minister also pointed to the plan to bring down the deficit further to 4.5 per cent in FY26, and emphasised the goal to bring sovereign debt on a declining path as a percentage of GDP. A modest nominal GDP growth and tax buoyancy also suggest prudence, giving room for upside surprises, and flexibility to deal with unknowns.

— The budget aims for restraint on borrowings of Central Public Sector Enterprises (flat at 1.1 per cent of GDP).

— The consolidated deficit is running at 8.8 per cent of GDP, and debt/GDP at 82 per cent. In FY24, the Centre is estimated to have spent close to 40 per cent of its revenues on servicing its debt burden.

— Notably, interest payments are budgeted at three-quarters of the fiscal deficit, while the primary deficit (deficit excluding interest payments) is projected at only 1.4 per cent of GDP in FY25.

— The encouragement through Rs 1.5 lakh crore for capital spending as a 50-year interest-free loan is effectively a grant to states and should enable them to utilise these resources in critical areas like health and education.

— The Economic Survey 2023-24 indicated increases in demand and approval of credit guarantees under the CGTMSE scheme, which features credit pooling for MSMEs… 

— Digitisation also extends to land, a necessary area of reform for the China+1 goal. Unique identification of rural and urban land records is being introduced via the unique land parcel identification number (ULPIN), in addition to better map digitisation. This will allow for the quicker flow of agricultural credit.

— Despite some encouraging steps, the overall budget allocation for both health and education remains minimal, and low by global standards.

— Finally, the budget takes a step towards reducing inter-state disparities by allocating resources for “Viksit Bihar”, the state with the lowest per capita income… Overall, the budget strikes the right balance between responsible, inclusive, and sustainable growth.

For Your Information: 

Union Budget 2024-25: Taxation

— The Union Budget has proposed a number of tax simplification measures including a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, decriminalisation of late payment of tax deducted at source (TDS) and the Vivaad Se Vishwas Scheme 2024 for settling direct tax disputes.

— The government proposed to remove the indexation benefit available for calculation of any long-term capital gains presently available for property, gold and other unlisted assets. The government also proposed to rationalise capital gains tax on these assets at 12.5 per cent as against 20 per cent earlier that came with indexation benefit.

— To rectify the inverted duty structure hurting manufacturing in various sectors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the reduction in custom duty on a range of input materials from critical minerals, electronics, chemicals, to precious metals such as gold, and silver among others.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the need for greater budget allocation for the health and education sector?

— What is the significance of macroeconomic stability?

— How the government has maintained a robust fiscal prudence? 

Post Read Question:

(3) Which one of the following is likely to be the most inflationary in its effects? (UPSC CSE 2021)

(a) Repayment of public debt

(b) Borrowing from the public to finance a budget deficit

(c) Borrowing from the banks to finance a budget deficit

(d) Creation of new money to finance a budget deficit

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Customs duty slashed on range of input materials including gold and silver

Express Network

Environmental release of GM Mustard: Supreme Court gives split verdict

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-III: Agriculture, Science, and Technology

What’s the ongoing story- The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict on a petition challenging the conditional approval granted by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) to the Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), for the environmental release of transgenic mustard, DMH-11, and its subsequent approval by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), with one of the judges striking it down and the other upholding it.

Prerequisites: 

— What are GM crops?

— What is the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)?

— What is the role of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)?

Key takeaways: 

— Both the judges, however, asked the centre to formulate a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops and organisms and to ensure compliance with labelling of GM foods, in accordance with the Food Safety and Security Act, 2006.

For Your Information: 

— The transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11 has been developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) at Delhi University.

— Hybridisation involves crossing two genetically dissimilar plant varieties that can even be from the same species. The first-generation (F1) offspring from such crosses tend to have higher yields than what either parent can individually give.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the status of GMOs in India?

— What is the regulatory framework for genetically modified (GM) crops and organisms in India?

— What are the concerns associated with GMOs?

Post Read Question:

(4) With reference to the Genetically Modified mustard (GM mustard) developed in India, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2018)

1. GM mustard has the genes of a soil bacterium that give the plant the property of pest-resistance to a wide variety of pests.

2. GM mustard has the genes that allow the plant cross-pollination and hybridization.

3. GM mustard has been developed jointly by the IARI and Punjab Agricultural University.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

How GM mustard was developed, why the question of its approval has now reached Supreme Court

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