RAJASTHAN

• Solar pumps may help cut subsidized power in Rajasthan

• The Budget proposals provided a fillip to the vibrant solar sector in Rajasthan. As per the proposals, the import of solar tempered glass for manufacture of solar cells will be exempted from customs duty. The decision will reduce the cost of manufacturing and eventually the cost of solar modules and power systems. Earlier, the duty was 5%.

• Power for agricultural sector was adding stress to the Discoms as they were subsidized. If solar pumps can be encouraged, then the burden on the Discoms would reduce.
  The idea is good but it needs infrastructure to connect the solar systems in the fields to the distribution network

INTERNATIONAL

·        India Slips to 42nd Place On EIU Democracy Index, Norway Tops

• India slipped to 42nd place on an annual Global Democracy Index according to the data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). India has moved down from 32nd place last year.
• The top 5 Countries in the list are

  Norway,

  Iceland,

  Sweden,

  New Zealand and

  Denmark

• The index ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

• The list has been divided into four broad categories- full democracy, flawed democracy, the hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

• North Korea is ranked the lowest at 167th, while Syria is a notch better at 166th place.

·        India Joins Ashgabat agreement

• India joined Ashgabat Agreement on the establishment of an International Transport and Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
• The agreement was signed in 2011, which envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
• According to the External Affairs Ministry, the accession to the Agreement would diversify India’s connectivity options with Central Asia and have a positive influence on its trade and commercial ties with the region.

NATIONAL

• Union Budget 2018: Key takeaways and sector-wise highlights

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered the current government’s fifth and last full financial budget (Budget 2018 for the fiscal year 2018-19) amid subdued economic growth, challenging fiscal situation and farm distress.

Here are the key highlights from the Union Budget 2018:

Economic Health

• Economy firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8%
• GDP growth at 6.3% in the second quarter of 2017-18 signals turnaround of the economy
• Growth in the second half likely to remain between 7.2% to 7.5%

Agriculture and Rural Economy

• MSP for all unannounced Kharif crops increased to 150%
• Institutional credit for agri-sector increased to Rs.10 lakh crore in 2017-18
• Fisheries, aquaculture and animal husbandry corpus at Rs.10,000 crore
• New scheme Operation Greens with an outlay of Rs 500 Crore
• Govt to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats
• Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs.2000 crore
• Allocation for Ministry of Food Processing doubled to Rs.1400 crore
• Loans to Self Help Groups (SHG) of women to increase to Rs.75,000 crore by March 2019.
• Increased allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to Rs 5750 crore
• Under Ujjwala Scheme distribution of free LPG connections will be given to 8 crore poor women
• Housing for All by 2022 – more than one crore houses to be built by 2019 in rural areas

Education, Health, and Social Protection

• Estimated budgetary expenditure on health, education and social protection at Rs.1.38 lakh crore
• Ekalavya Model Residential School to be set up for tribal children
• Investments for research & infra in premier educational institutions at Rs.1 lakh crore in next 4 years
• Allocation on National Social Assistance Programme at Rs. 9975 crore
• NHPS to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries)
• NHPS to provide coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for hospitalisation
• Rs 1200 crore for the National Health Policy, 2017 – additional Rs.600 crore for TB patients
• 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals

Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and Employment

• Major thrust for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) – allocation at Rs. 3794 crore
• Target of Rs.3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA Yojana
• 70 lakh formal jobs to be created this year
• Govt to make 12% contribution of new employees in the EPF for all the sectors for 3 years
• Outlay of Rs.7148 crore for the textile sector
• Increase budgetary allocation on infrastructure for at Rs.5.97 lakh crore
• To develop 10 prominent tourist sites into Iconic Tourism destinations
• 35000 kms road construction in Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore

Railways

• Railways Capital Expenditure pegged at Rs.1,48,528 crore
• 4000 kilometers of electrified railway network slated for commissioning
• Work on Eastern and Western, dedicated freight corridors
• Over 3600 km of track renewal targeted in current fiscal
• Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations
• Mumbai’s local train network to have 90 kilometers of double line tracks at Rs.11,000 crore cost
• 150 km of additional suburban network planned for Mumbai
• Suburban network of 160 km at for Bengaluru metropolis

Air Transport

• To expand airport capacity more than five times to handle a billion trips a year
• Regional connectivity – 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads to be connected
• To establish unified authority for regulating all financial services

Digital Economy

• NITI Aayog to initiate a national program to direct efforts in artificial intelligence
• Department of Science & Technology to launch Mission on Cyber-Physical Systems
• Allocation doubled on Digital India programme to Rs 3073 crore
• To set up 5 lakh wifi hotspots to provide net-connectivity to five crore rural citizens
• Rs. 10000 crore for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure

Defence

• Development of two defence industrial production corridors.
• Allocation of Rs 2.95 lakh crore to defence sector.

Emoluments

• To revise emoluments to Rs.5 lakh for the President
• Rs 4 lakhs for the Vice President
• Rs.3.5 lakh per month to Governor
• Pay for Members of Parliament – law for automatic revision of emoluments every 5 years
• 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi- Rs.150 crore for commemoration programme

Fiscal Management

• Budget Revised Estimates for Expenditure at Rs.21.57 lakh crore
• Revised Fiscal Deficit estimates at 3.5% of GDP
• To bring down Central Government’s Debt to GDP ratio to 40%

Jaitley announces ‘world’s largest healthcare programme’

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced two new initiatives under the Ayushman Bharat Programme in the Union Budget 2018.

• Under the programme, Mr. Jaitley announced a new flagship National Health Protection Scheme, providing a health insurance cover of ₹5 lakh a family per annum.
• The scheme will cover 10 crore vulnerable families, with approximately 50 crore beneficiaries.
• Mr. Jaitley also announced the creation of health and wellness centres, which will “bring healthcare closer to home”.
• These centres, 1.5 lakh in number, will provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. A sum of Rs. 1200 crore had been allocated for this.

·         Thirty Second Surajkund International Crafts Mela Begins

• The 32nd Surajkund International CraftsMela begun in Faridabad, Haryana.

  The Mela is organized by the Surajkund Mela Authority and Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

  The 17-day cultural extravaganza will see a spectacular showcase of regional and international crafts, handlooms, traditions along with some mouth-watering multi-cuisine food for the visitors.

  This year Uttar Pradesh is the theme state and Kyrgyzstan is the Partner Nation.