Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 9th February 2025

 

Budget 2025-26: At a Glance 

Budget 2025: Government to introduce Jan Vishwas 2.0 for greater ease of doing business 

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, that the government would introduce the Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to decriminalise over 100 outdated legal provisions to achieve greater ease of doing business in the country. 
• The existing Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 has decriminalised 183 Central Acts administered across a spectrum of 19 Ministries or Departments. 
• The key objective of the Jan Vishwas Act 2023 was to remove archaic provisions that did not serve the evolving technological and business environment. 
• The Jan Vishwas 2.0 intends to further usher in comprehensive reforms aimed to unburden the judiciary and reduce litigation time and costs. It would introduce civil penalties and administrative actions for minor technical and procedural lapses. 
• The 2023 Act covers amendments in statutes across a span of over 100 years. These include the Press and Registration of Books Act of 1867, the Indian Post Office Act of 1898, the Boilers Act of 1923, the Indian Forest Act 1927 to the more recent laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) of 2016. 

Budget 2025: Government proposes Rationalization of Customs Tariff Structure 

• The Union Budget 2025-26 introduces major exemptions under Basic Customs Duty (BCD) to rationalize tariff structure and address duty inversion.
• The proposals are set to support domestic manufacturing and value addition while promoting exports, facilitating trade, and providing relief to common people. 
• Delivering on the promise to review the customs rate structure announced in July 2024, the Budget proposes removing seven customs tariff rates for industrial goods over and above those removed in Budget 2023-24. This will leave only eight tariff rates, including the ‘zero’ rate. 

Budget 2025: FM Sitharaman exempts parts for open cells in LCD/LED TVs from customs duty to boost manufacturing

•  Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to increase the basic customs duty (BCD) on interactive flat panel display (IFPD) or touch sensitive display to 20% from the current 10% and simultaneously reducing the duty to 5% on open cell and other components. 
• The proposed changes might increase the bill of materials (BOM) for the laptops that ship with touch sensitive displays and other flat touch screens used for advertising. 
• In 2023 -24 Budget, for the manufacture of Open Cells of LCD/LED TVs, I had reduced the BCD on parts of Open Cells from 5% to 2.5%. To further boost the manufacture of such Open Cells, the BCD on these parts will now stand exempted.
• She also proposed to add 35 additional capital goods for EV battery manufacturing, and 28 additional capital goods for mobile phone battery manufacturing. 

National News 

Zomato renamed ‘Eternal’, food delivery company unveils new logo 

• Food and grocery delivery platform Zomato will rename the company to “Eternal” and unveil a new logo. 
• The change of name is subject to the approval of shareholders, the corporate affairs ministry, and other statutory authorities. After the approval, the company’s corporate website will transition from zomato.com to eternal.com 
• Eternal will comprise the company’s four major businesses – food delivery platform Zomato, quick commerce arm Blinkit, going-out business District, and business-to-business supplies vertical Hyperpure. The development comes over two years after the company began using the new name internally. 

International News 

India ranks third globally for LEED green building certification in 2024 

• India ranks third in USGBC’s LEED green building certification globally during 2024, according to a report.
• India retained its third spot on US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual list of top 10 countries and regions for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in 2024. 
• LEED certifications in India are managed by the Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), which works to accelerate the adoption of green buildings nationwide.
• The annual ranking by USGBC highlights the significant progress made by countries and regions outside the United States in adopting healthy, sustainable and resilient building design, construction and operations. 
• China topped the top 10 rankings for 2024 with over 25 million GSM certified followed by Canada with 10 million GSM. In India, as many as 370 projects, across both buildings and spaces, were certified for LEED, covering 8.50 million gross square meters (GSM) (91.5 million square feet). 

Rwandan, Congolese leaders meet over eastern DRC conflict, call for ceasefire 

• Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi joined a summit in Tanzania on Saturday where regional leaders called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
•  The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has rapidly seized swathes of territory in the mineral rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in an offensive that has left thousands dead and displaced vast numbers. 
• The group took the strategic city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, last week and is pushing into neighbouring South Kivu in the latest episode of decades-long turmoil in the region. 
• Mr. Kagame took part in person at the summit in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam that brought together the eight countries. of the East African Community (EAC) and 16-member South African Development Community (SADC). Mr. Tshisekedi appeared via video call. 
• "We call on all parties to actualise the ceasefire, and specifically on the M23 to halt further advancement and the armed forces of DRC to cease all retaliatory measures," said Kenyan President William Ruto. current chair of the EAC. The Presidents of Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. were among those present when the summit began. 

State news 

BJP regained power in Delhi after more than 26 years in the Assembly polls. 

• A significant victory has been secured by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi Assembly elections, bringing it back to power in the national capital after a more than 26-year hiatus
• BJP leader Pravesh Verma defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in a tough contest.
•  48 out of 70 seats were won by the BJP party and surpassed the majority threshold of 35 seats.
•  22 seats were secured by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had governed Delhi for the past decade, and the Congress drew a blank for a third straight time. 
• BJP's vote percentage was 45.56%, while AAP got 43.57% votes and Congress' vote percentage was 6.34. 
• The Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 voting was concluded on February 5 with an overall voter turnout of 60.39%. 
• The highest voter turnout was recorded in Mustafabad at 69%, while the lowest was recorded in Karol Bagh at 47.40%. 

Sports 

FIFA suspends Pakistan Football Federation after failure to amend constitution 

• The International Football Federation (FIFA) has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after it failed to amend its constitution as required for the smooth and fair governance of the sport in the country. 
• FIFA stated that Pakistan will remain suspended until the PFF Congress makes the necessary amendments. This is the Pakistan Football Federation’s third suspension since 2017. 
• Since June 2019, Pakistan’s football has been managed by a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, which was tasked with organizing elections and addressing parallel factions within the football setup. 

Tarundeep Rai Wins Bronze in Men’s Recurve Archery at 38th National Games 

• At the ongoing 38th National Games in Uttarakhand, four-time Olympian archer Tarundeep Rai from Sikkim won the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Recurve event. 
• Juel Sarkar from West Bengal clinched the Gold while Indira Chand from Services Sports Control Boar clinched the Silver medal. 

Scheme and committees news 

Mohan Majhi govt. announces unified pension scheme 

• The Mohan Majhi government has announced implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government em-ployees in Odisha, aligning it with the Centre's policy. The Cabinet, chaired by Mr. Majhi on Friday, gave approval for the implementation of the UPS for those employees considered eligible for pension under the National Pension Scheme. 
• "As you all know, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the UPS on August 24, 2024. Keeping in view the requests of various service organisations to determine appropriate pensions and factoring in compulsory pension, family pension and inflation, the Union government has further improved the existing NPS and implemented this Unified Pension Scheme. It is targeted to be implemented from April 1, 2025. Accordingly, the Odisha government has also decided to implement the UPS for its employees," the CM said. 
• As per the Cabinet decision, there will be an assured pension for employees who complete 25 years of services. "Pension will be available at the rate of 50% of the average basic pay or basic pay earned in the 12 months preceding retirement. 
• Pension will be paid proportionately for the pe-riod of service starting from a minimum period of 10 years to 25 years," it said. Similarly, family pension will be paid at the rate of 60% of the pension that the employee was drawing before death. 
• In UPS, there will be guaranteed family pension in case of death of a government employee after retirement, unlike in NPS.