Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS/Civil Services

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Union Budget

• Government announces world’s largest national health protection scheme for 50 crore poor people to provide 5 lakh rupees cover per family per year as it unveils Union Budget for 2018-19.
• The Finance Minister said, this will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme and the government will provide adequate funds for its implementation.
• Presenting NDA government’s last full budget in Lok Sabha before general elections next year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says all kharif crops to be paid MSP 50 per cent more than cost of production.
• Kisan credit card facility extended to fisheries and animal husbandry sectors.
• He said, it will prove an important step towards doubling the income of the farmers.
• 2,000 crore rupees provided for development of agri market.
• Presenting his fifth straight budget in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Jaitley said, the focus of the government in the coming fiscal would be agriculture and rural India.
• Target of free LPG beneficiaries raised to eight crore from five crore; free electricity connections to be provided to four crore poor households.
• Economy to grow by 7.2-7.5% in second half of current fiscal says the Finance Minister; Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.3% next year.
• Customs duty hiked on certain items, mobile phones and TV to cost more, solar panels, raw cashew to cost less.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi describes budget as development-friendly, that will strengthen new India.
• Industry bodies welcome the budget; term it as positive and promoting job creation.
• While keeping the income tax rates and slabs unchanged, the Finance Minister introduced a 40,000 rupees Standard Deduction for salaried employees and pensioners in lieu of transport and medical expenses.
• Mr Jaitley also announced 100 per cent tax deduction for farm producer firms with 100 crore rupees turnover. The standard deduction allowed will benefit 2.5 crore people.
• Presently, no tax is applicable on 19,200 rupees of transport allowance and medical expenditure of up to 15,000 rupees.
“In order to provide relief to salaried taxpayers, I propose to allow a standard deduction of forty thousand rupees in lieu of the present exemption in respect of transport allowance and reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses. However, the transport allowance at enhanced rate shall continue to be available to differently abled persons. Also other medical reimbursement benefits in case of hospitalization for all employees shall continue”.
• Senior citizens will get higher exemptions on income from interest on bank and post office deposits, health insurance premium and critical illness expense.
• Their exemption of interest of income on deposits has been increased from 10,000 rupees to 50,000.
• The Budget announced allocation of 600 crore rupees towards nutritional support of tuberculosis patients and setting up of 24 new medical colleges and hospitals by upgrading district level ones.
• The total budget for health, education and social security has been increased to 1.38 lakh crore rupees for 2018-19 from 1.22 lakh crore rupees in the current fiscal.
• The allocation for Defence sector has been increased by 5.8 per cent to 56000 crore rupees. Two new defence industrial production corridors will be developed.
• Turning to Railways, the Capital expenditure for the current budget has been pegged at 148 thousand crore rupees.
• The emoluments of the President, the Vice President and the Governors have been revised after long 12 years.
• The emoluments of the President per month will be five lakh rupees. Vice President will get four lakh rupees and the Governors 3.5 lakh rupees per month.
• The Finance Minister said, India is firmly on course to achieving over 8 per cent growth and becoming the world’s 5th largest economy.
• “Indian economy is now 2.5 trillion dollar economy – seventh largest in the world. India is
expected to become the fifth largest economy very soon. On Purchasing Power Parity basis, we
are already the third largest economy. Indian society, polity and economy have shown
remarkable resilience in adjusting with the structural reforms”.

Prime Minister

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first Khelo India School Games
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that sports should occupy a central place in the lives of the youth of the country as it is an important means of personality development.
• Mr Modi said, India does not lack sporting talent and the youthful nation an do even better.
“भारत मेंप्रततभा की कमी नही है। सवा सौ करोड का देश 35 से कम उम्र के 65 प्रततशत नौजवान क्या हहनद्सु तान ्
खेल की दतुनया मेंअपना नाम रौशन नहीीं कर सकता है।”

Prime Minister
• Mr Modi said, if India has to grow on the world stage, it has to excel not only in military and economic sphere but also in other different fields like science, arts and sports.
• Saying that he trusts the youth of the nation, Mr Modi expressed confidence that India will scale newer heights in all spheres.
• The Prime Minister said, Khelo India is not just about winning medals but it is an effort to give strength to a mass movement for playing more.
• Mr. Modi said, Government wants to focus on every aspect that will make sports more popular across the nation.

Prime Minister
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Guru Ravidas on the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.
• PM said: I bow to Guru Ravidas Ji on his Jayanti. Guru Ravidas Ji was one of the greatest Saints to have been born in our land. He stood for a society that is equal, just and compassionate. His teachings are eternal and are relevant for people of all sections of society.
• He questioned practices that were archaic and regressive, and inspired people to change with the times.
• This spirit of inquiry and emphasis on moving with the times makes extremely great.

Prime Minister
• The world witnessed the first lunar eclipse of the year today.
• This lunar eclipse was marked by different colours as a blue moon, a second full moon in a calendar month and a blood moon which was a moment during the eclipse when the moon turned red.
• Lunar eclipse today was more special because for the first time in 152 years, a supermoon was visible due to its unusual proximity to earth.
• In India, this rare phenomenon began at 5.20 this evening and star gazers witnessed it from everywhere in the country.
• Australia got the first glimpse of the full event, and then it spreaded across the world.
Lunar Eclipse of 2018
• To fulfil the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide thrust to good quality technical and higher education in the backward areas of the country, the Ministry of Human Resource

Development has recruited

• more than 1200 highly qualified and motivated graduates from including IITs and NITs to teach in Engineering Colleges in States/UTs like Andaman & Nicobar, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand etc.
• This is the first time that such a measure has been taken to improve the quality of education.
• While addressing a press conference Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar said that these bright minds will bring with them the openness to innovation, new methods of teaching and enthusiasm to serve and act as agents of change.

Ministry of Human Resource Development –

• He further said that this initiative will help meet the aspirations of youth in the backward areas and fulfil the vision of Prime Minister.
• He hoped that these teachers would contribute to the entire educational eco-system of the backward areas, apart from promoting a start-up culture among students.
• A public appeal was given to the MTech and PhD students from the premier institutions to express interest to work in these backward areas and serve the nation.
• There was an overwhelming response to the call, and more than 5000 highly qualified persons applied. The interviews were conducted in 20 NITs by constituting expert teams.

Ministry of Human Resource Development –

• Each of the new faculty will be paid Rs. 70,000 per month and the Government is planning to spend about Rs. 375 Cr in 3-year period on this initiative.
• With this measure, more than 1 lakh engineering students in the most backward areas would be benefited with better quality education.
• MHRD started the Technical Education Quality Improvement Project (TEQIP-III) for improving the quality of engineering graduates at a cost of Rs. 2,300 Cr to be implemented in 3-year period till 2020.

Ministry of Human Resource Development –

• ‘Bharat Parv’ concluded at the Red Fort (Lal Quila), Delhi today.
• “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan”
• This project plans to entrust heritage sites to the private sector companies, public sector companies and individuals for the development of tourist amenities.
• The basic and advanced amenities in the tourist destinations would be provided by them.
• Minster K.J. Alphons called upon people to actively take part in the Swachhta Abhiyan for cleanliness in our tourist destinations.