- UNION BUDGET 2025-2026
- Economic & Fiscal Policies
- GDP Growth Projection:6.4% for 2025-26.
- Fiscal Deficit Target:4.4% of GDP (down from 4.8% in FY25).
- Capital Expenditure:Record allocation of ₹11.2 lakh crore to boost infrastructure.
- States’ Support:₹1.5 lakh crore interest-free loans for states to enhance infra development.
- Tax Reforms: Income up to ₹12 lakh made tax-free.
- ₹1 lakh crore in direct tax relief.
- Reduction in TDS & TCS rates for ease of compliance.
- Industrial & Trade Policies
- Customs Duty Rationalization: Removal of seven tariff rates; now only eight remain.
- Exemption for key minerals like cobalt, lithium-ion battery waste, lead, zinc.
- FDI in Insurance:Raised from 74% to 100%, conditional on reinvestment in India.
- MSME Sector: Investment & turnover limits revised.
- Credit guarantee cover increased from ₹5 crore to ₹10 crore.
- New credit cards with ₹5 lakh limit for micro-units
- Infrastructure & Energy UDAN Scheme:Extended for another 10 years to enhance air connectivity.
- Electric Mobility:Import duty exemption for battery manufacturing materials.
- Nuclear Energy:₹20,000 crore for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
- Green Initiatives:National Critical Minerals Mission allocated ₹410 crore.
- Agriculture & Rural Development
- PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana:To boost crop production in 100 low-yield districts.
- Self-Reliance in Pulses:Six-year mission focusing on tur, urad, and masoor dal.
- Fertilizer Subsidy Cut:Allocation reduced by ₹26,500 crore.
- Fisheries Support:Import duty on frozen fish paste & fish hydrolysate reduced.
- Defence & Security
- Total Defence Budget:₹6.81 lakh crore (13.4% of total expenditure).
- Capital Expenditure:₹1.8 lakh crore for modernization.
- Coast Guard & Border Roads:Significant budget hikes.
- Indigenization Drive:75% of capital procurement reserved for domestic firms.
- International Trade & Digital Economy
- Export Promotion Mission:₹2,250 crore to support MSME exports.
- Bharat-TradeNet (BTN):A digital platform for trade documentation.
- Maritime Development Fund:₹25,000 crore for shipping industry.
- Startups:Additional ₹10,000 crore for Fund of Funds via SIDBI.
2. MISSION FOR MANUSCRIPT CONSERVATION LAUNCHED
SUBJECT: ART AND CULTURE
- Gyan Bharatam Mission: • Special initiative announced in Budget 2025–26 for survey, documentation, and conservation of over one crore manuscripts.
- Focus: India’s manuscript heritage held by libraries, museums, private collectors, etc.
- Budgetary Support: National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)allocation raised from ₹3.5 crore to ₹60 crore.
- Total Culture Ministry allocation rose by ~₹100 crore to ₹3,360.96 crore.
- Significance: Aims to digitise rare manuscripts, improve accessibility, and preserve India’s ancient knowledge systems.
3. DRDO SUCCESSFULLY FLIGHT TESTS VSHORADS MISSILE SYSTEM
SUBJECT: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORADS)tested off Odisha coast.
- Capabilities:
- Targets high-speed, low-altitude threats.
- Reduces thermal signature for stealth.
- Final deployment trials conducted successfully.
- Significance: Strengthens India’s close-range air defence against UAVs and enemy aircraft.
4. RISING SALINITY LEVELS THREATEN PUNCHA PADDY CULTIVATION IN ALAPPUZHA DISTRICT
SUBJECT: AGRICULTURE
- Kuttanad region (Alappuzha district, Kerala), known for ‘puncha’ paddy cultivation.
- Problem: Salinity levels exceeding 2 ppt (permissible limit) in waterbodies; threatens 25,000 ha under paddy.
- Causes & Impact: Saline water entering canals and streams due to unsealed orumuttus (temporary embankments).
- High salinity leads to stunted crop growth.
- Government Action: Ministerial directive to seal orumuttus, release fresh water from dams.
- Farmers demand urgent steps to curb salinity.
5. HAS CHINA ACHIEVED A BREAKTHROUGH IN AI
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL
- Lower cost, faster performance Large Language Models (LLMs) than OpenAI’s GPT.
- Uses a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture for efficiency.
- Previous Chinese chatbot “Ernie bot” less successful.
- DeepSeek’s R1 model garnered attention for outperforming early versions of GPT in some metrics.
- Concerns over censorship and real-world performance remain
- Mixture-of-Experts Model(MoE) reduces computing cost.
- Trained on 14.8 trillion tokens, rivaling OpenAI’s GPT models.
- Cheaper and more efficient alternative to Western AI
- Global Impact: Raises competition in AI, especially for cost-effective, large-scale usage.
- China’s push in LLM technology could challenge U.S. AI dominance.
