Today in History (February 03^rd,2021)

On 3rd February 2021, United States and Russia extend their New Start nuclear arms control treaty for five years, the last remaining nuclear arms deal between the two countries.

Summary of Today’s News

Understanding Budget in India-Part-3

OTHER TYPES OF BUDGETS
Zero Based Budgeting: is a method of budgeting in which all expenses are evaluated each time a Budget is made and expenses must be justified for each new period.
Outcome Budget:
• Analyses the progress of each ministry and department and what the respected ministry has done with its Budget outlay.
• It measures the development outcomes of all government programs. It was first introduced in the year 2005.
Gender Budgeting:
• It is defined as “gender-based assessment of Budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process and restructuring revenues and expenditures in order to promote gender equality”.
• Through Gender Budget, the Government declares an amount to be spent over the development, Welfare, Empowerment schemes and programmes for Females.

Theme: «Sabka Vikas» (Development for All)
Quote: ‘Desamante Matti Kaadoi, Desamante Manushuloi’ (A country is not just its soil, a country is its people) given by Gurajada Appa Rao.
Vision: Viksit Bharat
What is Viksit Bharat?

10 broad areas focusing on Garib, Youth, Annadata and Nari:

1. Spurring agricultural growth and Productivity
2. Building rural prosperity and resilience
3. Supporting MSMEs
4. Boosting manufacturing and furthering Make in India
5. Take everyone on an inclusive growth plan
6. Enabling employment led development
7. Investing in people, economy and innovation
8. Securing energy supply
9. Nurturing innovation
10. Promoting exports
Agriculture as the 1st Engine

Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana – Developing Agri Districts Programme:
• It will be convergence of existing schemes and specialized measures. the programme will cover 100 districts with low productivity, moderate crop inetensity and below-average credit parameters
The broad aims:
• Enhance agricultural productivity
• Adopt crop diversification and sustainable agriculture practices
• Augment post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block level
• Improve irrigation facilities
• Facilitate availability of long-term and short-term credit
Building Rural Prosperity and Resilience:
• A comprehensive multi-sectoral ‘Rural Prosperity and Resilience’ programme will be launched in partnership with states.
• This will address underemployment in agriculture through skilling, investment, technology, and invigorating the rural economy.
• In Phase-1, 100 developing Agri-districts will be covered.
• Quote: “Migration is an option, but not a necessity.”
The programme will focus at:
• Catalyzing enterprise development, employment and financial independence for rural women
• Accelerating creation of new employment and businesses for young farmers and rural youth
• Nurturing and modernizing agriculture for productivity improvement and warehousing, especially for marginal and small farmers
• Diversifying opportunities for landless families.
Aatmanirbharta in Pulses:
• 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 from farmers who register with these agencies and enter into agreement
The Mission will place emphasis on:
• Development and commercial availability of climate resilient seeds
• Enhancing protein content
• Increasing productivity
• Improving post-harvest storage and management
• Assuring remunerative prices to the farmers.
Makhana Board in Bihar:

• Makhana Board will be established in Bihar to improve production, processing, value addition, and marketing of makhana.
• Bihar is the largest producer of makhana in India, accounting for almost 90% of the country’s total production.
National Mission on High Yielding Seeds:

• Scheme will be aimed at:
• strengthening the research ecosystem
• targeted development and propagation of seeds with high yield, pest resistance and climate resilience
• commercial availability of more than 100 seed varieties launched since 2024.
Fisheries:

• India ranks second-largest globally in fish production and aquaculture.
• Seafood exports are valued at 60 thousand crores.
• Government will launch Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and High Seas, with a special focus on the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands.
Mission for Cotton Productivity:

• It is a 5-year mission.
• It facilitates significant improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote extra-long staple cotton varieties.
• Aligned with our integrated 5F vision for the textile sector.
Enhanced Credit through KCC:
• The loan limit under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme will be enhanced from 3 lakh to 5 lakh for loans taken through the KCC.
Urea Plant in Assam:
• Government had reopened three dormant urea plants in the Eastern region.
• A plant with annual capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tons will be set up at Namrup, Assam.
India Post as a Catalyst for the Rural Economy:

• India Post with 1.5 lakh rural post offices, will be repositioned to act as a catalyst for the rural economy.
The expanded range of services will include:
• Rural community hub colocation.
• Institutional account services.
• DBT, cash out and EMI pick-up.
• Credit services to micro enterprises.
• Insurance.
• Assisted digital services.
MSMEs as the 2nd engine
• Currently, over 1 crore registered MSMEs, employing 7.5 crore people, and generating 36 per cent of manufacturing.
• MSMEs are responsible for 45 per cent of our exports.
• The investment and turnover limits for classification of all MSMEs will be enhanced to 2.5 and 2 times respectively
Enhancement of credit availability with guarantee cover:
• To improve access to credit, the credit guarantee cover will be enhanced:
i. For Micro and Small Enterprises, from 5 crore to 10 crore, leading to additional credit of 1.5 lakh crore in the next 5 years.
ii. For Startups, from 10 crore to 20 crore, with the guarantee fee being moderated to 1 per cent for loans in 27 focus sectors important for Atmanirbhar Bharat.
iii. For well-run exporter MSMEs, for term loans up to 20 crores.
Credit Cards for Micro Enterprises:
• Government will introduce customized Credit Cards with a 5-lakh limit for micro enterprises registered on Udyam portal.
• In the first year, 10 lakh such cards will be issued.
Fund of Funds for Startups:
• The Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) for startups have received commitments of more than 91,000 crore.
• A new Fund of Funds, with expanded scope and a fresh contribution of another 10,000 crore will be set up.
Scheme for First-time Entrepreneurs:
• A new scheme will be launched for 5 lakh women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes first-time entrepreneurs.
• This will provide term loans up to 2 crores during the next 5 years.
• The scheme will incorporate lessons from the successful Stand-Up India scheme.
Focus Product Scheme for Footwear & Leather Sectors:
• To enhance the productivity, quality and competitiveness of India’s footwear and leather sector, a focus product scheme will be implemented.
• The scheme will support design capacity, component manufacturing, and machinery required for production of non-leather quality footwear, besides the support for leather footwear and products.
• The scheme is expected to facilitate employment for 22 lakh persons, generate turnover of 4 lakh crore and exports of over 1.1 lakh crore.
Measures for the Toy Sector:

• Government will implement a scheme to make India a global hub for toys.
• The scheme will focus on development of clusters, skills, and a manufacturing ecosystem that will create high-quality, unique, innovative, and sustainable toys.
Support for Food Processing:

• Government will establish a National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management in Bihar.
This will result in:
• Enhanced income for the farmers through value addition to their produce.
• Skilling, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for the youth.
Manufacturing Mission – Furthering “Make in India”:
• Government will set up a National Manufacturing Mission covering small, medium and large industries for furthering “Make in India” by providing policy support and execution roadmaps.
• The Mission will also support Clean Tech manufacturing.
• The Mission’s mandate will include 5 focus areas:
• Ease and cost of doing business
• Future ready workforce for in demand jobs
• A vibrant and dynamic MSME sector
• Availability of technology
• Quality of products