• Economic Survey provides a detailed report of national economy for the year along with forecasts. It is presented a day before the presentation of Union Budget.
• It was first presented for 1950-51 and was initially part of Budget documents. In 1964-65, it was separated from budget.
• It is prepared by Economic Division of Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance under guidance of Chief Economic Advisor.
• The comments or policy solutions contained in the Survey are not binding on the government.

Important Highlights

1. GDP forecast -India’s GDP forecast for FY24 is in a range of 6 – 6.8%, higher than most major economies.
2. Major global shocks – Covid19 pandemic and contraction in global output; Russia-Ukraine conflict; Sustained monetary tightening (increase in policy rates to curb inflation) by central bank.
3. Capital Expenditure (Capex) – Capex for FY23 was increased by 35.4% to 7.5 lacs crore.
4. FDI inflows – Declined by 14% in first half of FY23 due to global uncertainty (Russia-Ukraine conflict) but anticipated to increase in upcoming months.
5. Gross Non-performing Advances (GNPA) – GNPA of Scheduled Commercial Banks has fallen to a seven-year low of 5.0% in 2022 while Net NPA have dropped to a ten-year low of 1.3% of total assets.
6. Social sector spending –
   21. Increases to Rs. 21.3 lakh crore in FY23 (budget estimate).
   22. Out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of total health expenditure has declined.
7. Agriculture –
   9. Private investment in agriculture increases to 9.3% in 2020-21.
   10. Institutional Credit to Agricultural Sector continued to grow to 18.6 lakh crore in 2021-22.
8. Industry –
   3. Overall GVA by Industrial Sector for first half of FY23 rose 3.7%, which is higher than average growth of 2.8% achieved in first half of last decade.
   4. Electronics exports rose nearly threefold and India became the second largest mobile phone manufacturer globally.

• The concreting work of the dam for the under-construction 66-MW Dhaulasidh Hydro Electric Project started in Hamirpur district.
• SJVN chairman and MD said, “With the completion of excavation at the dam pit and both river banks, dam concreting work began today. Now, the project has entered an advanced stage of construction.”
• He inaugurated the non-family accommodation for the project employees at Salasi, Hamirpur. The bachelor accommodation has been built at an accelerated pace for the staff posted at the project site. This will enable faster project execution by facilitating 24×7 availability of the staff at the site.

• The Hampta valley near here has been christened as the Igloo valley.
• The concept of igloo stay was introduced in 2017 to offer travellers with a chance to live like the Inuit living in the Arctic regions of Alaska and Newfoundland amid the Himalayas.
• Starting with six igloos, the valley, almost without tourist buzz, now has over 30 snow huts of different shapes and sizes for backpackers from January to February.
• Most of the igloos, owned by local youth, are in the vicinity of Sethan village, 12 km uphill from Manali, the area known for growing apples.

Conceptualised by 2 local youths

• Local entrepreneur Vikas Kumar & his friend Tashi Dorjee came up with the Eskimo village concept in the Hampta valley in 2017
• The stay inside an igloo offers an opportunity to the travellers to experience the life of Inuit people on the edge of wilderness.

• The Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs inaugurated the 5^thedition of Khelo India Youth Games in Madhya Pradesh at the Tatya Tope Nagar Stadium (Bhopal).
• Around 6000 players from across the country will try their sports skills for more than 900 medals in 27 sports events of these games. For the first time sports like kayaking, canoeing, canoe slalom and fencing will be part of the Khelo India Youth Games.
• The theme for this edition is – ‘Hindustan Ka Dil Dhadka Do’.
• The Khelo India Youth Games was started in 2018 under the name Khelo India School Games. The aim of these games is to find and groom sports talents at the local level and train them for national and international sports events.

• The wildlife and religious theme tableau of Uttarakhand has been awarded the top prize at this year’s Republic Day parade on Kartavya Path.
• The Uttarakhand tableau showcased the state’s wildlife and religious sites during the ceremonial parade on January 26.
  • In the foreground of the tableau, reindeer, deer and various birds were shown roaming in the world-famous Corbett National Park. The central part of the tableau depicted the state animal of Uttarakhand, musk deer, national bird peacock and ghoral.
  • Jageshwar Dham, a group of ancient 125 small and big temples in Manaskhand’s Almora district, and popular deodar trees were shown in rear part of the tableau.
• Meanwhile, the Indian Army’s Punjab Regiment has been adjudged the best marching contingent among the three services.
  • A total of six contingents of the Army including the Mechanized Infantry Regiment, Punjab Regiment, Maratha Light Infantry Regiment, Dogra Regiment, Bihar Regiment and Gurkha Brigade marched during the parade.
• Gujarat’s tableau emerged as the numero uno in the popular choice segment.

• India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant inaugurated India’s first Model G-20 Summit organized by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership.
• The two-day Model G-20 Summit has been organized at the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s Uttan campus in Mumbai to celebrate India’s presidency and take the idea of G-20 to the youth.
• Addressing the summit Mr. Kant informed that G-20 is an important forum because it accounts for 85 percent of the global GDP. G20 countries comprise developed and developing countries that have provided solutions to various global issues.
  • India has taken the G-20 presidency amidst global turmoil like Post COVID challenges, geopolitical crisis, debt crisis, climate crisis, and food and energy crisis.
• He added that India believes that every challenge brings an opportunity. Kant further reiterated India’s G-20 presidency seeks to advocate the oneness of all.
• A total of 150 youngsters from across the country will participate in this two-day program and get into the roles of delegates representing the G-20 countries.
• The students will get into the roles of G-20 member countries and discuss various political and social issues across the four committees or tracks, namely Leader track, Sherpa track, Civil-20, and Business-20.
• Discussions ranging from global peace to democratizing the world economic order will be on the agenda.

• The guidelines were stipulated in the new uplinking-downlinking rules prescribed by the ministry on November 9 last year.
• The fresh advisory was issued after consultations with private satellite television channels and their associations.

Key features

Content

• Channel will undertake public service broadcasting for a minimum period of 30 minutes in a day on themes of national importance and of social relevance like education, welfare of women, protection of environment and of cultural heritage etc.
• Broadcasters have the liberty to modulate their content.
• Content can be shared between the Broadcasters.

Accounting of Timing

• Channels will be required to air national interest content for 15 hours every month.
• Content need not be of 30 minutes at a stretch it can be split over smaller time slots, but can’t be done from midnight to 6 am.

Reporting

• Voluntary compliance and self-certification would be the guiding principles.
• Broadcasters shall submit a monthly report on the Broadcast Seva Portal by the 7th of the following month.
• Exemptions
  • Foreign channels, downhinking in India (in languages other than those specified in the Eighth schedule of Constitution).
  • Channels broadcasting predominantly (more than 12 hours) sports and devotional, spiritual, yoga content will be exempt from furnishing the monthly reports.

Identification

• Electronic Media Monitoring Centre under Ministry shall keep the record of the content telecast for a period of 90 days.

• iCET stands for Initiative On Critical And Emerging Technologies
• iCET is a unique initiative led by the Indian National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the U.S. National Security Council (NSC).
• It aims to expand partnership in critical and emerging technologies.
• Six areas of cooperation
  • Scientific research and development
  • Quantum and artificial intelligence
  • Defense innovation
  • Space
  • Advanced telecom include things like 6G
  • Semiconductors

Significance of iCET

• Vital for India’s growing role as a trusted supply chain partner and contributor in the global technology value chain.
• Deals directly with disruptive domains which are central to the next Industrial Revolution and future warfare.
• Open new markets for India’s deep technology players. Since most critical and emerging technologies today are dual-use, it can give a fillip to the two countries’ innovation ecosystem.
• Potentially opens the door for the US to lift existing export control restrictions.

Measures to strengthen iCET

• Introduce an advisory council/steering committee by including industry representatives, technologists, philanthropists, academics etc.
• Regular high-level meetings.
• Monitoring mechanism to ensure that impact is being recorded at every level.
• ICET fellowship and connector fund created.

• Kerala has come out with a management plan to eradicateSenna spectabilis, the exotic invasive plant that is posing a severe threat to the State’s wildlife habitat.
• The management plan stipulates thatthere should not be an attempt to kill the trees before a detailed reforestation programme and the resources for implementing it are in place.

About Senna spectabilis

• Senna spectabilis is a deciduous tree native to tropical areas of America.
• It grows up to 15 to 20 metres in a short period of time and distributes thousands of seeds after flowering.
• The thick foliage of the tree arrests the growth of other indigenous tree and grass species. Thus, it causes food shortage for the wildlife population, especially herbivores.
• It also adversely affects the germination and growth of the native species.
• It is categorised as ‘Least Concern’ under IUCN Red List.

Eradication Plan

• The plan envisageslandscape-level management of the tree.
• Once the resources and material for landscape restoration are ready, the invasive species has to be removed using a threefold approach for large trees, large saplings, and small saplings.
  • The large trees need to be debarked from breast height downwards (1.3 m above ground level), including the collar part of the tree. Once done, the trees should be visited once a month to remove the new growth across the debarked area.
  • The larger saplings can be uprooted using specially designed weed pullers.
  • The third is the removal of small plantlets which need to be removed mechanically.
• The large trees would take a minimum of 18 months to completely dry up after debarking.

Invasive Species

• An invasive species is an organism that causes ecological or economic harmin a new environment where it is not native.
• They are capable of causingextinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats.
• They can be introduced to an area by ship ballast water, accidental release, and most often, by people.
• There are many invasive species in India. For eg: Charru Mussel, Lantana bushes, Indian Bullfrog, etc.

• Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of diseases that are mainly prevalent in tropical areas. Examples: Dengue and chikungunya, lymphatic filariasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases etc.
• Report provides a consolidated, up-to-date assessment of progress towards control, elimination and eradication of 20 diseases and disease groups (NTDs) globally, regionally and nationally.
• Progress is reported in the context of NTD roadmap 2021-2030, WHO’s blueprint to drive global efforts in the fight against NTDs.

Key highlights:

• Burden of NTDs co ntinues to be unequally borne by a small number of countries: 16 countries bear 80% of this burden.
• Over the past decade, the number of people requiring interventions against NTDs decreased by 25%.
• As of December 2022, 47 countries had eliminated at least one NTD.
• Threats
  • Slower than expected progress in high burden countries,
  • Uneven progress across certain diseases,
  • Persistent underlying risk factors (poverty, climate change) and
  • Rapid population growth.
• Recommendations
  • Invest in innovative operations and financing solutions that foster integration and cross-sectoral collaboration.
  • Boost global support for countries with highest burdens,
  • Facilitate country ownership and sustainability of NTD programmes.

Some Global initiatives

• The London Declaration on NTDs.
• 30 January recognised as World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day.
• Kigali Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases- is a global health project that aims to mobilise political and financial resources for the control and eradication of infectious diseases, the so-called neglected tropical diseases due to different parasitic infections.