How is the BUDGET prepared by the Government?

The presentation of Union Budget by Finance Minister has been shifted from last week of February to 1st of February every year.

From 2017-18 onwards, Railway Budget (since 1924) has also been merged with the Union General Budget.

Budget division of the Department of Economics Affairs, Ministry of Finance, is the nodal agency for preparation of General budget. It is based on the data provided by each Ministry.

The data provided by Ministries are of three types:

1. Budget Estimates (BE): of receipts and expenditures for the coming financial year or budget year.
2. Revised Estimates (RE): of receipts and expenditures for the current financial year.
3. Provisional Actuals (PA): of receipts and expenditures of the previous financial year.

Based on the above data, the Annual Financial Statement is prepared and placed before the Parliament.

👉Procedure of laying Budget

1. President's recommendation is taken for introduction and consideration of Budget in the Lok Sabha.
2. Budget is then laid before the Lok Sabha along with the Budget Speech by the Union Finance Minister followed by the presentation of Finance Bill.
3. Discussion on Budget in Lok Sabha is conducted in two stages:
1. General Discussion (NO Voting).
2. Detailed Discussion.
4. After Detailed Discussion, voting for Demand for Grants takes place.
5. After voting, Appropriation Bill is introduced and voted upon, thereby legally authorising Central Government to spend money from Consolidated Fund of India.
6. Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill is then sent to Rajya Sabha for discussion. Unlike Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha does NOT have power to vote on Demands for Grants and has to return them within 14 days with or without recommendations. However, Lok Sabha may not accept the recommendations.
7. Finance Bill is then sent to President of India for his assent. The President does NOT have power to reject it.

The Governor (Article 153 to 167).

Article 153 to 167:

deals with State Executives.

State Executives consist of, The Governor, the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers and the Advocate General of the State.

👉The Governor is:

1. chief executive head of the state.
2. nominal executive head (constitutional head).
3. acts as the agent of the central government.

The Governor can be for ✌two or more states. (by 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956)

👉Appointment of Governor:

Governor is appointed by the President. But office of Governor is NOT an employment under the Central government. (This is Canadian model)

👉Qualifications of a Governor:

1. Citizen of India.
2. Completed the age of 35 years.

Additionally,

• Governor should NOT belong to the state where he is appointed, so that he is free from local politics.
• President is required to consult the Chief Minister while appointing the Governor of a state.

👉Term of Governor's Office:

• Holds office for a term of 5 years from the date he enters upon his office.
• His term is subject to the Pleasure of the President, means he may be removed by the President at any time {Surya Narayan v Union of India (1982)}. The Constitution does NOT provides any grounds upon which a Governor can be removed.
• The President may transfer a Governor from one state to another state.
• A Governor whose term has expired can be reappointed in the same state or the other.
• In case death of a Governor, chief justice of the concerned state high court can be appointed temporarily to discharge the functions of the Governor.

👉Powers and Functions of Governor:

1. Executive powers.
2. Legislative powers.
3. Financial powers.
4. Judicial powers.

Executive Powers:

• He appoints Chief Minister and other ministers. They hold office during his pleasure.
• There should be Tribal Welfare minister in the states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha appointed by the Governor.
• He appoints Advocate General of a state. They holds office during the pleasure of the Governor.
• He appoints State Election Commissioner.
• He appoints the Chairman and members of State Public Service Commission. However, they can be removed only by the President NOT by Governor.
• He acts as the chancellor of Universities in the state. He also appoints vice-chancellors of the universities.

Legislative Powers:

• He can summon the state legislature and dissolve the state legislative assembly.
• He can appoint any member of state legislative assembly, when the office of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker fall vacant.
• He nominates 1/6th of the members of state legislative council from amongst person having practical experience in literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.
• He nominates one member to the state legislative assembly from Anglo-Indian Community.
• When a bill is sent to the Governor after it is passed by the state legislature, he can:
• Give his assent.
• Withhold his assent.
• Return the bill (if its NOT a money bill).
• Reserve the bill of the following nature:
• Ultra-vires, i.e., against the provisions of the Constitution.
• Opposed to the Directive Principles of State Policy.
• Against the larger interest of the country.
• Of grave national importance.
• Dealing with compulsory acquisition of property under Article 31A of the Constitution.
• He can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is NOT in session. These ordinances must be approved by the state legislature within six weeks from its reassembly. He can also withdraw an ordinance anytime. This is the most important legislative power of the Governor.
• He lays the reports of the State Finance Commission, the State Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor-General, before the state legislature.

Financial Powers:

• Money bills are introduced only with his prior permission in the state legislature.
• No demand of grant without his recommendation.
• He can make advances out of the Contingency Fund of the state to meet any unforeseen expenditure.

Judicial Powers:

• He is consulted by the President while appointing the judges of the concerned state high court.
• He make appointments, posting and promotions of the District Judges in consultation with the state high court.
• He can grant pardons, reprives, respites and remissions of punishment or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.

👉Constitutional Position of Governor:

Article 154, 163 and 164.

1. Article 154 => The executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.
2. Article 163 => There shall be a council of ministers with the Chief minister as the head to aid and advice the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions in his discretion.
3. Article 164 => The council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the state. This provision is the foundation of the Parliamentary system of government in the state.

Hence, the Constitution has assigned a dual role to the office of a Governor in the Indian federal system. He is the constitutional head of the state as well as the representative of the Centre (i.e. President).

English Grammer - Present Perfect.

They HAVE GONE out. (= they are not at home NOW)

He HAS CLEANED his shoes. (= his shoes are clean now).

👉has cleaned / have gone etc. is the Present Perfect (has / have + past participle):

👉We use the present perfect for an action in the past with the result now.

• We have bought a new car. (we have a new car now)
• 'Where's Udit?'   'He has gone to bed.' (he is in bed now)
• It's Udit's brithday tomorrow and I have not bought him a present.
• I have lost my passport. (I can't find my passport now)
• 'Udit is on holiday.'   'Oh, where has he gone?'
• Can i take this newspaper? Have you finished with it?

 👉I have just... (JUST = a short time ago)

• A: Are Udit and Dipika here?
  B: Yes, they have just arrived.
• A: Are you hungry?
  B: No, I have just had dinner.
• A: Is Udit here?
  B: No, I'm afraid he has just gone.

👉I have already... (ALREADY = before you expected/before I expected)

• A: What time are Udit and Dipika coming?
  B: They have already arrived. (before you expected)
• It's only nine o'clock and Udit has already gone to bed. (before I expected)
• A: Udit, this is Dipika.
  B: Yes, I know. We have already met.

👉I have not ... yet / Have you ... yet? (YET = until now)

You can use yet in negative sentences and questions. Yet is usually at the end.

yet in negative sentences:

• A: Are Udit and Dipika here?
  B: No, they have not arrived yet.
• A: Does Dipika know that you're going away?
  B: No, I have not told her yet.
• Dipika has bought a new dress but she has not worn it yet.
• The film has not started yet.

yet in questions:

• Have Udit and Dipika arrived yet?
• Has Dipika started her new job yet?
• A: This is my new dress.
  B: Oh, it's nice. Have you worn it yet?

👉HAVE YOU EVER ... ?

We use the present perfect (have been / have had/ have played etc.) when we talk about a time from the past until now - for example, a person's life.

• 'Have you been to Australia?' (in your life)  'No, I have not.'
• I have been to India but I have not been to the Nepal.
• I have seen that woman before but I can't remember where.
• How many times has India won the World Cup?
• 'Have you read this book?'  'Yes, I have read it twice.'

👉Present Perfect + ever (in questions) and never:

• 'Has Udit ever been to Australia?'   'No, never.'
• 'Have you ever played golf?'   'Yes, I often play golf.'
• My grandmother has never travelled by air.
• I have never ridden a horse.
• 'Who is that man?'   'I don't know. I have never seen him before.'

👉Gone and Been:

• A: 'Where is Udit?'
  B: 'He is away. He has gone to NCR.' (=he is in NCR now.)

↓↓Two weeks later.↓↓

• A: 'Hello Udit.'
  B: 'Hello. I have been on holiday. I have been to NCR.' (=he went to NCR but now he is back.)

More examples:

• I can't find Dipika. Where has she gone? (=Where is she now?)
• Oh, hello Dipika! I was looking for you. Where have you been?

👉HOW LONG HAVE YOU...? (FOR / SINCE):

👉Present Perfect (I have done) AND Past Simple (I did);

With a FINISHED TIME (yesterday / last week etc.), we use the past (saw / arrived / was etc.)

past simple + finished time
We arrived	in 1987.
	last week.
	yesterday.
	four months ago.
	at 5 o'clock.

Do ㄨNOT use the present perfect (has / have etc.) with a FINISHED TIME.

• I saw Dipika yesterday. (not 'I have seen')
• 'What did you do last night?'   'I stayed at home.'
• We did not have a holiday last year. (not 'We have not had')
• William Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616. He was a writer. He wrote many plays and poems.
• Where were you on Sunday afternoon? (not 'Where have you been')
• When did they arrive? (not 'When have they arrived')

Summary => Present Perfect is Time UNTIL Now; Past Simple is Finished Time BEFORE Now.

More examples:

• I have lost my key. (Present Perfect)
  I lost my key last week. (Past Simple)
• Udit has gone home. (Present P.)
  Udit went home fifteen minutes ago. (Past S.)
  
• Have you seen Dipika? (Present P.)
  Did you see Dipika on Saturday? (Past S.)
• Have you ever been to Australia? (Present P.)
  Did you go to Australia last year? (Past S.)
• The letter has not arrived yet. (Present P.)
  The letter did not arrive yesterday. (Past S.)

Biological Diversity Act, 2002

 

The act provides these authorities with special funds & separate budget.

 

 Recent orders of National Green Tribunal (NGT):

 

1. Constitute Biodiversity Managament Committee (BMC) and prepare People's Biodiversity Register (PBR), and record in 'Panchayat Karawahi Register'. Also inform Panchayat members/members of BMC.

2. At Block level, Panchayat Secretary will be the Secretary of BMC. He is also the co-signatory and Chairperson of the BMC for opening of bank account.

3. At Panchayat level, Gram Sachiv will be the Secretary to the BMC. He is also the co-signatory and Chairperson of BMC.

4. Ensure Chairperson of BMC signs document for opening of Bank account of BMC.

 

Tenure of Chairperson of BMC is 3 years.

 

NGT also deals with ↑these Acts.

 

❓Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC)?

According to Section 41 of the act:

"Every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee within its area for the purpose of promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity."

Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-section,-

(a) "cultivar" means a variety of plant that has originated and persisted under cultivation or was specifically bred for the purpose of cultivation;
(b) "folk variety" means a cultivated variety of plant that was developed, grown and exchanged informally among farmers;
(c) “landrace” means primitive cultivar that was grown by ancient farmers and their successors.

PLI SCHEME For Manufacturing of Mobile Phones

 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (MeitY) notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme on April 1, 2020 for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing of mobile phones in India. With the launch of this PLI Scheme, the government looked forward to attract large investments in manufacturing mobile phones including the Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units. The PLI Scheme resonates with the ambitious Aatma Nirbhar Bharat campaign and Make in India initiative to make India a self-reliant nation.

1. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme provides 4% to 6% incentive on ↓incremental sales (over base year, 2019-20) to eligible companies for manufacturing goods for 5 years period.

2. Companies that are registered in India and are involved in the manufacturing of goods covered under the Target Segments of the scheme can apply under the Scheme.

3. With an aim to make India self-reliant in manufacturing of goods and commodities, the Government plans to includes eight to ten more sectors under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme. These sectors could be food processing sector, textiles sector, etc.

Recently, The Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has written letters to the NITI Aayog to consider declaring 2020-21 as ↓ZERO YEAR for production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing of mobile phones.

❓What is Incremental Sale?

In simple words - If I sell ten products every day at full price, then I run a promo and sell eleven products, then that one extra product is an incremental sale.

❓What is ZERO YEAR?

<Comment your answer>

Indian Beamline Project?

 
❓What is Indian Beamline Project?

It is a facility for materials research set up under India-Japan Scientific and Technological Cooperation, with special focus on industrial application research.

This India-Japan Scientific and Technological Cooperation project was initiated between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization(KEK) on 24 July 2007.

1. In the first phase (2009-2015) of this project, an X-ray beamline (BL18B) was constructed by Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) in Japanese synchrotron light source Photon Factory (PF).

X-Ray Beam line

2. In the second phase (2016-2021), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and SINP jointly developed the beamline further to cater to the need of various users from India.

JNCASR

3. The initiation of the third phase took place with the signing of MoU between:

Ambassador of India in Japan Mr. Sanjay Kumar Verma with ⟶ Director, Institute of Material Structure Science, Dr. KOSUGI Nobuhiro.

The phase would increase the number of young researchers from India to be trained in advanced X-ray techniques of material research. Besides, steps will be taken to allocate more beamtime so that more researchers can get access to it. At present, only 50 % of Indian researchers who apply receive beamtime.

❓What is BEAMTIME?

Its the time allocated to a researcher for use of a beam of particles from a particular source.

Aarthias/Aarthiyas System?

“If the aarthiya system is finished, private financiers will step in, and take away our land entirely,” said a farmer.

What is Aarthias System?

Arhtiyas, who have operations in Punjab and Haryana mainly, provide services to the farmers after they bring their produce to the APMC market yard. The farmer brings his produce to arthias. Arthias labour unloads the produce and cleans it. Following this, auctions happen. Arthias help the farmer with the auctions in the mandi. Auctions happen for both private and government buyers separately. Then the farmers are free and Arthias give them the receipt.

Aarthias provide farmers with the services and pay them within a month. But they believes that private market yards won’t be able to finish the entire process for all the farmers and all the crops in less than three months.

This is why farmers have been outrightly supporting arhtiyas in their opposition to the Bills.

Seeds, pesticides, insecticides and fertilisers are all the needs of farmers, arthiyas have deep networks with their suppliers and because of the credit that is extended to them, farmers are forced to tap into those networks, thereby binding them very closely with the arhtiyas.

Arhatiyas are also moneylenders who fund farmers’ requirements of cash for both cropping operations and personal and social requirements. For many farmers, borrowing from the arhatiya, whom they know personally, is easier and more convenient than approaching a bank with its unfamiliar procedures, impersonal service, and unfamiliar officials.

Counter Argument:

↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

Aarhtiyas are looked at as ‘evil middlemen’ by most people. He said that historically and culturally, aarhtiyas have had a bad reputation because they lend money to farmers at high interest rates.
Arhtiyas are not middlemen. They take a commission (2.5%) for the work they do and the services they provide to the farmer. There’s hatred towards arhtiyas because they are money lenders also.
In the absence of institutional credit for many farmers, they depend on arhtiyas for money.
Unfortunately, banks also don’t give loans to farmers easily now, if the government or banks will not give credit to farmers then they are helpless to loan money from arhtiyas.
There is need to make the arhtiyas lending process transparent because the clutches of non-institutional loan are also one of the main factors behind farmer suicides.

Sixth Schedule and Constitutional (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019?

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha that “presently, there is NO proposal to implement panchayat system in Sixth Schedule areas of Assam”.

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution protects tribal populations and provides autonomy to the communities through creation of autonomous development councils that can frame laws on land, public health, agriculture and others.

Further, the Governor may divide an autonomous district into autonomous regions, each consisting of a Regional Council. The administration of autonomous districts and regions will be carried out by District and Regional Councils, respectively.

❓What are Autonomous Development Council?

Most of these autonomous district councils are located in North East India but two are in Ladakh, a region administered by India as a union territory. Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule.

❓What is Constitutional (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019?

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in Rajya Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs, on February 6, 2019.

The Bill amends this to provide for Village and Municipal Councils in addition to the District and Regional Councils. Village Councils will be established for villages or groups of villages in rural areas, and Municipal Councils will be established in urban areas of each district. Further, the District Councils may make laws on various issues, including:

(i) number of Village and Municipal Councils to be formed, and their composition,

(ii) delimitation of constituencies for election to the Village and Municipal Councils,

(iii) powers and functions of Village and Municipal Councils.

Further, the Bill states that the Governor may make rules for devolution of powers and responsibilities to the Village and Municipal Councils. Such rules may be framed in relation to: 

(i) preparation of plans for economic development,

(ii) implementation of land reforms,

(iii) urban and town planning, and

(iv) regulation of land-use, among other functions.

❓What are the Schedules of the Indian Constitution?

There are 12 Schedules in the Constitution of India. One of the first mentions of Schedules was made in the Government of India Act, 1935 where it included 10 Schedules. Later, when the Indian Constitution was adopted in 1949, it consisted of 8 Schedules. Today, with the amendments in the Indian Constitution, there are a total of 12 Schedules.