Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 8th April 2025

 State News 

1. Tamil Nadu CM announces schemes for fishermen 

•  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday announced special livelihood schemes worth 216.73 crore, besides developing deep-sea fishing harbours in Thangachimadam, Pamban, and Kundikal at a cost of ₹360 crore, for the benefit of fishermen in the districts surrounding Gulf of Mannar. 
•  Making a suo motu statement under Rule 110 of the Assembly, Mr. Stalin told the House that an order had been issued to construct deep sea fishing harbours at a total cost of ₹150 crore in Thangachimadam and Kundikal, respectively, and another fishing harbour in Pamban at a cost of *60 crore. He announced new schemes that will be implemented at a cost of 216.73 crore to improve the livelihood and welfare of fishermen. 
•  Mr. Stalin said the frequent arrests of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy has become a matter of deep concern. 

Business News 

2. Indian indices plunge as trade war fears grip global markets 

• N lows of the COVID-19 crashes have global markets witnessed such drastic falls. Indian stock markets plunged on Monday anticipating uncertainties that could emerge from the trade war between the U.S. and China, two of the world's largest economies, and the fear of recession. Influenced by global cues, the markets which opened over 5% down from the previous close on Friday gradually recovered during the day with frontline indices closing with a loss of 3% led by falls across the board. 
•  Small and midcap stocks witnessed more losses compared with blue chip stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex closed with a loss of 2,227 points, or 2.95%, at 73,138 points, led by Tata Steel which fell 7.73%, and L&T 5.78%. Tata Motors fell 5.54% after news came in that its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has halted exports to the U.S. 
•  Kotak Mahindra Bank was down 4.33% and M&M fell 4.11%, while Infosys was down 3.75%. 
•  The NSE Nifty-50 index (Nifty), which recovered during the day, closed at 22,162, down 743 points or 3.24%. 
• Meanwhile, the U.S. President Donald Trump threa-tened additional tariffs on imports from China if Beijing did not withdraw its retaliation plans, adding Washington would begin negotiations with other countries if they wish to. 
•  "If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by to-morrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will im-pose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th," Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post, intensifying what appears to be the beginning of an unprecedented trade war. 
• The sombre mood on Dalal Street was also reflected among its peers in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China. 

Economy News

 3. LPG cylinder pricier by ₹50; petrol, diesel excise raised by ₹2

•   The Finance Ministry on Monday raised the price of domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by ₹50 a cylinder, in both subsidised and unsubsidised categories. While it also notified an increase in the excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹2, there will be no impact on retail prices. 
•  The excise duty is now set at 13 and 10 a litre for petrol and diesel respectively. 
•  Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that the excise duty was raised to compensate oil marketing companies (OMCs) for selling LPG cylinders at a loss, in spite of the steady increase in the gas price over the past few years internationally. 
•  "The excise increase is intended to compensate the oil marketing companies for the ₹43,000 crore that they have incurred as a loss on the gas part [of their businesses]," Mr. Puri said. 
•  The Minister categorically denied that the duty was being increased to prepare fiscally for any "head-winds" as a result of the U.S. tariffs. 

Schemes and Committees News 

4. Foreign funds must be used within four years: Centre 

•  The Union Home Ministry said on Monday that foreign funds obtained through the prior permission route would be valid only for four years. The Ministry said not adhering to the time limit would be a violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, and necessary punitive actions could be taken. 
•  In a communication to all banks, it said that for a prior permission application, "the validity period for receiving foreign contribution shall be three years from the date of approval of the application" and the period for "utilising the foreign contribution shall be four years from the date of approval". "Further, in respect of prior permission applications which have already been approved and where the remaining period of the approved project/activity in the prior permission is more than three years, the above time limit shall be reckoned from the date of issue of this order instead of the date of approval of the application," the Ministry said. 

Infrastructure and Energy News 

5. NCDs can strike early; health risks rise post-menopause, says report 

•  The "Health of the Nation 2025" report by Apollo Hospitals has indicated that non-communicable diseases (NCD) often begin early, sometimes even in childhood or adolescence. 
•  The findings also showed increased health risks for women post-menopause, with significant rise in diabetes, obesity, fatty liver, and hypertension. 
•  The fifth edition of the report was launched on Monday, World Health Day. It provided insights into the rising burden of NCDs and deficiencies in the country. 
•  To identify and recognise NCDs and their onset early on in life, Apollo SHINE Foundation, an initiative of Apollo Hospitals, screened 2.85 lakh students across primary, middle and high school aged between three and 17 as well as students in college across six States and 10 cities. 
•  The results revealed a rise in obesity with age 28% of college students were overweight, compared with 8% of primary school students. The report said 9% of students in high school and 19% of students in college are pre-hypertensive, and 2% of college students had high blood glucose levels. 
•  If not properly managed, the burden of NCDs continues to escalate throughout a person's lifetime, leading to significant health challenges in adulthood, it said. 
•  Highlighting trends in women's health and the impact of menopause, the report showed that diabetes rates spiked from 14% pre-menopause to 40% post-menopause. 
•  Obesity rose sharply from 76% to 86% and prevalence of fatty liver climbed from 54% to 70%. Hypertension rose from 15% to 40%. Concluding that clustering of metabolic and cardiovascular conditions increases post-menopause, the report emphasised the need for comprehensive health management strategies. 
•  Another concern was the rising burden of fatty liver -65% of the 2.5 lakh individuals screened had fatty liver, 85% were non-alcoholic. Fatty liver is now classified as Metabolic Dys-function-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease, mainly driven by obesity, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia not alcohol alone. 

Indian Polity News 

6. 'BJP tops list, receives *2,243.947 crore in donations in 2023-24’ 

• The total donations declared by the national parties for the financial year 2023-24 were 2,544.278 crore, out of which 2,243.947 crore was declared by the BJP, says a report by the poll watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). 
• The ADR analysis of data submitted by the parties to the Election Commission (EC) said the total donations increased by 1,693.84 crore, or 199.17%, from those of the previous financial year.
•   The BJP declared a total of ₹2,243.947 crore from 8,358 donations, followed by the Congress, which declared 281.48 crore from 1,994. The donations declared by the BJP are more than six times the aggregate by the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the National People's Party, and the CPI(M). 
•  Big increase 
•  Donations to the BJP increased from ₹719.858 crore in 2022-23 to 2,243.947 crore in 2023-24, marking a 211.72% increase. Similarly, donations to the Congress rose from ₹79.924 crore in FY 2022-23 to ₹281.48 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a 252.18% increase.