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KD IAS FORUM, KOLKATA (2026)

03/06/2019

UPSC IAS 2020 Exam Date

02/06/2019

# # # The History of the Indian Currency Notes and its Evolution # # #

The origin of the word “Rupee” is from Sanskrit word ‘Rupya’ which means shaped, stamped, impressed or coin and also from the Sanskrit word “raupya” which means silver. The rupee which we keep in our pocket has a strange or perplexing past. There was a long history of struggle, exploration and wealth which can be traced back to the ancient India of the 6th Century BC. In 19th century the Britishers introduced paper money into the subcontinent. The Paper Currency Act of 1861 gave the Government the monopoly of note issued throughout the vast expanse of British India.

Below are the interesting facts about how Indian currency notes have evolved over the ages into the rupee of today.

The earliest issuers of coins in the world are the Ancient Indians along with Chinese and Lydians from the Middle East. The first Indian coins were minted in the 6th Century BC by the Mahajanpadas (the Republic Kingdoms of ancient India) known as Puranas, Karshapanas or Panas.

These coins have irregular shapes, standard weight and are made up of silver with different markings like Saurashtra had a hu**ed bull, Dakshin Panchala had a Sw****ka and Magadha had several symbols.

Then Mauryas came up with the Punch Marked Coins minting of silver, gold, copper or lead and Indo-Greek Kushan kings introduced the Greek custom of engraving portraits on the coins.

The Turkish Sultans of Delhi had replaced the royal designs of Indian kings with Islamic calligraphy by the 12th Century AD. The currency was made up of Gold, silver and copper known as Tanka and lower valued coin known as Jittals.

The Mughal Empire from 1526 AD consolidated the monetary system for the entire empire. In this era evolution of rupee occurred when Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun and issued a silver coin of 178 gms known as rupiya and was divided into 40 copper pieces or paisa and during the whole Mughal period silver coin remained in use.

During the British East India Company i.e. 1600, The Mughal currency remained popular but in 1717 AD, Farrukh Siyar the Mughal Emperor gave permission to the Britishers or the English to coin Mughal money at the Bombay mint. Then British gold coins were termed as Carolina, the silver coins as Angelina, the copper coins as cupperoon and the tin coins as tinny.

In the 18th Century, the Bank of Hindostan General Bank in Bengal and the Bengal Bank became the first banks in India to issue paper currency i.e. during this time paper money was first issued in British India.

This is the first note issued by the Bank of Bengal of Two Hundred and Fifty Sicca Rupees note, September 3, 1812.

With the Coinage Act of 1835, uniform coinage throughout the country comes. And in 1858, Mughal empire subsequently ended and British crown gained control over one hundred princely states and so, the images on the coins were replaced by portraits of the Monarch of Great Britain Supremacy.

The king George VI replaced the native designs on banknotes and coins but after the revolt of 1857, he made the Rupee as the official currency of colonial India.

In the honour of Queen Victoria in 1862, series of bank notes and coins were issued with the Victoria portrait.

Finally, the Reserve Bank of India was set up in 1935 and empowered to issue Government of India notes. It had also printed 10,000 rupee notes and was later demonetised after Independence. And the first paper currency issued by RBI was a 5 rupee note bearing King George VI’s portrait, in January 1938.

After gaining Independence in 1947 and in 1950s when India become Republic, India’s modern Rupee reverted back to the design of signature Rupee coin. The symbol chosen for the paper currency was the Lion capital at Sarnath which replaced the George VI series of bank notes. So, the first banknote printed by the Independent India was a 1 rupee note.

Do you know the history of 1 rupee note: One rupee note was issued on 30 November,1917 under the British Raj. During the first world war British domination was there. At that time one rupee coin was a silver coin. But because of the war, condition became worse and one rupee coin of silver was not able to generate. And due to this first time in front of people one rupee note issued and the image of George V was inbuilt in the note. Printed in England this one rupee note value was very less as compared to others.

In 1969 Reserve Bank of India issued the Mahatma Gandhi Birth Centenary Commemorative design series on Rs 5 and Rs 10 notes.

And amazing thing is that the vignette of the Sailing Boat or Dhow remained on the reverse of the Ten Rupees for over 40 years.

In 1959 a special issue of rupees ten and Rupees One Hundred were issued for the Indian Haj Pilgrims so, that they can exchange it with local currency in Saudi Arabia.

Even in 1917-1918 the Nizam of Hyderabad had given the privilege to print and issue their own currency.

In World War I, due to shortage of metal the princely states of Morvi and Dhrangadhra issued currency notes of limited liability known as Harvala.

During World War II also because of shortage of metal, 36 Princely States mainly Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sind, Baluchistan and Central provinces issued paper tokens instead of coins.

Finally, in 1996 The Mahatma Gandhi series of paper notes were introduced.

Always we see the picture of smiling Mahatma Gandhi on our notes which remains same on currency notes. Some says that Picture of Mahatma Gandhi is a drawn caricature but this is not true. Actually in reality this picture was taken by an unknown photographer in 1946 and from there it is cropped and used everywhere.

Mahatma Gandhi was standing with next to Lord Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence. He was a great politician and a leader of the woman suffrage movement in Great Britain. This picture was taken at the former Viceroy House, which is at present known as Rashtrapati Bhavan. And this image is used on the Mahatma Gandhi series of bank notes which was introduced by RBI in 1996.

In November 2001, Rs 5 denomination was issued with Mahatma Gandhi image in front and back side of it shows farm mechanization process i.e. the progress through agriculture.

In June 1996, Rs 10 was issued with front image of Gandhi and at reverse it represents the fauna of India which symbolises the biodiversity.

Earlier in 1981, Rs 10 consists of the lion capital our emblem at front of it and at reverse it represents our Indian Art of peacock which is our national bird.

In August 2001, Rs 20 was issued with same front image of Gandhi and at reverse was the image of Palm trees from the Mount Harriet and Port Blair lighthouse as viewed from Megapode Resort, PortBlair.

Earlier in 1983-84, Rs 20 bank note was issued in which at reverse of it consists of the Buddhist wheel.

In March 1997, Rs 50 was issued consisting of Mahatma Gandhi image at front of it and at reverse Indian Parliament.

In June 1996, Rs 100 was issued with front image of Mahatma Gandhi and at reverse of it represents Himalaya Mountains.

In October 1997, Rs 500 was issued at which front image is of Mahatma Gandhi and at reverse of it was the image which represents the Dandi March i.e. Salt Satyagraha which was considered as the wider Civil Disobedience Movement launched by Gandhi Ji on 12 March, 1930 against the British salt domination in India. In which Gandhi Ji and his followers will marched from his Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad to the Dandi, a coastal village in Navsari dist Gujarat and prepared salt without paying tax to the British Government. In this way Salt law was broken by Gandhi on 5th April 1930.

In November 2000, Rs 1000 was issued with the front image of Gandhi and at reverse of it represents the economy of India which has Grain Harvesting i.e. agricultural sector, oil rig; manufacturing sector, Space Satellite dish; Science & research, Metallurgy; Mines & Minerals and a Girl working on a computer; Inclusive Technology.

Source : Jagran Josh

02/06/2019

# # # What are the main functions of Reserve Bank of India ? # # #

The Reserve Bank was established in 1935 by the Banking Regulation Act, 1934 with a capital of Rs. 5 cr. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of the country. RBI is a statutory body.

Initially the ownership of almost all the share capital was in the hands of non-government share holders. So in order to prevent the centralisation of the shares in few hands, the RBI was nationalised on January 1, 1949.

*** Functions of Reserve Bank ***

1. Issue of Notes —The Reserve Bank has the monopoly for printing the currency notes in the country. It has the sole right to issue currency notes of various denominations except one rupee note (which is issued by the Ministry of Finance). The Reserve Bank has adopted the Minimum Reserve System for issuing/printing the currency notes. Since 1957, it maintains gold and foreign exchange reserves of Rs. 200 Cr. of which at least Rs. 115 cr. should be in gold and remaining in the foreign currencies.

2. Banker to the Government–The second important function of the Reserve Bank is to act as the Banker, Agent and Adviser to the Government of India and states. It performs all the banking functions of the State and Central Government and it also tenders useful advice to the government on matters related to economic and monetary policy. It also manages the public debt of the government.

3. Banker’s Bank:- The Reserve Bank performs the same functions for the other commercial banks as the other banks ordinarily perform for their customers. RBI lends money to all the commercial banks of the country.

4. Controller of the Credit:- The RBI undertakes the responsibility of controlling credit created by the commercial banks. RBI uses two methods to control the extra flow of money in the economy. These methods are quantitative and qualitative techniques to control and regulate the credit flow in the country. When RBI observes that the economy has sufficient money supply and it may cause inflationary situation in the country then it squeezes the money supply through its tight monetary policy and vice versa.

5. Custodian of Foreign Reserves:-For the purpose of keeping the foreign exchange rates stable, the Reserve Bank buys and sells the foreign currencies and also protects the country's foreign exchange funds. RBI sells the foreign currency in the foreign exchange market when its supply decreases in the economy and vice-versa. Currently India has Foreign Exchange Reserve of around US$ 360bn.

6. Other Functions:-The Reserve Bank performs a number of other developmental works. These works include the function of clearing house arranging credit for agriculture (which has been transferred to NABARD) collecting and publishing the economic data, buying and selling of Government securities (gilt edge, treasury bills etc)and trade bills, giving loans to the Government buying and selling of valuable commodities etc. It also acts as the representative of Government in International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) and represents the membership of India.

New department constituted in RBI:- On July 6, 2005 a new department, named financial market department in reserve bank of India was constituted for surveillance on financial markets.

This newly constituted dept. will separate the activities of debt management and monetary operations in future. This department will also perform the duties of developing and monitoring the instruments of the money market and also monitoring the government securities and foreign money markets.

So it can be concluded that as soon as the our country is growing the role of RBI is going to be very crucial in the upcoming years.

Source : Jagran Josh

02/06/2019

# # # Structure of Banking Sector in India # # #

Indian Banks are classified into commercial banks and Co-operative banks. Commercial banks comprise: (1) Schedule Commercial Banks (SCBs) and non-scheduled commercial banks. SCBs are further classified into private, public, foreign banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs); and (2) Co-operative banks which include urban and rural Co-operative banks.

The Indian banking industry has its foundations in the 18th century, and has had a varied evolutionary experience since then. The initial banks in India were primarily traders’ banks engaged only in financing activities. Banking industry in the pre-independence era developed with the Presidency Banks, which were transformed into the Imperial Bank of India and subsequently into the State Bank of India.

The initial days of the industry saw a majority private ownership and a highly volatile work environment. Major strides towards public ownership and accountability were made with Nationalisation in 1969 and 1980 which transformed the face of banking in India. The industry in recent times has recognised the importance of private and foreign players in a competitive scenario and has moved towards greater liberalisation.

*** Structure of Indian Banking System is as Follows: ***

In the evolution of this strategic industry spanning over two centuries, immense developments have been made in terms of the regulations governing it, the ownership structure, products and services offered and the technology deployed. The entire evolution can be classified into four distinct phases.

1. Phase I- Pre-Nationalisation Phase (prior to 1955)

2. Phase II- Era of Nationalisation and Consolidation (1955-1990)

3. Phase III- Introduction of Indian Financial & Banking Sector Reforms and Partial Liberalisation (1990-2004)

4. Phase IV- Period of Increased Liberalisation (2004 onwards)

*** Organisational Structure ***

*** 1. Reserve Bank of India: ***

Reserve Bank of India is the Central Bank of our country. It was established on 1st April 1935 accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. It holds the apex position in the banking structure. RBI performs various developmental and promotional functions.

It has given wide powers to supervise and control the banking structure. It occupies the pivotal position in the monetary and banking structure of the country. In many countries central bank is known by different names.

For example, Federal Reserve Bank of U.S.A, Bank of England in U.K. and Reserve Bank of India in India. Central bank is known as a banker’s bank. They have the authority to formulate and implement monetary and credit policies. It is owned by the government of a country and has the monopoly power of issuing notes.

*** 2. Commercial Banks: ***

Commercial bank is an institution that accepts deposit, makes business loans and offer related services to various like accepting deposits and lending loans and advances to general customers and business man.

These institutions run to make profit. They cater to the financial requirements of industries and various sectors like agriculture, rural development, etc. it is a profit making institution owned by government or private of both.

Commercial bank includes public sector, private sector, foreign banks and regional rural banks:

*** 3. Public Sector Banks: ***

Currently there are 21 Nationalised banks in India. The public sector accounts for 75 percent of total banking business in India and State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in terms of volume of all commercial banks.

Now from April 1, 2017 all the 5 associate banks of SBI and Bhartiya Mahila Bank are merged with State Bank of India. After this merger now SBI is counted among the top 50 largest banks of the world.

*** Nationalised Banks in India are ***

1. Allahabad Bank
2. Andhra Bank
3. Bank of India
4. Bank of Baroda
5. Bank of Maharashtra
6. Canara Bank
7. Central Bank of India
8. Corporation Bank
9. Dena Bank
10. Indian Bank
11. Indian Overseas Bank
12. Oriental Bank of Commerce
13. Punjab & Sindh Bank
14. Punjab National Bank
15. State Bank of India
16. Syndicate Bank
17. UCO Bank
18. Union Bank of India
19. United Bank of India
20. Vijaya Bank

*** 4. Private Sector Banks: ***

The private-sector banks in India represent part of the Indian banking sector that is made up of both private and public sector banks. The "private-sector banks" are banks where greater parts of stake or equity are held by the private shareholders and not by government.

*** List of Private Sector Banks with its year of establishmentis are : ***

1. Axis Bank (earlier UTI Bank)
1993(as UTI Bank)

2. Bank of Punjab (actually an old generation private bank since it was not founded under post-1993 new bank licensing regime)

3. Centurion Bank Ltd. (Merged in Bank of Punjab in late 2005 to become Centurion Bank of Punjab, acquired by HDFC Bank Ltd. in 2008)
Estb : 1994

4. Development Credit Bank (Converted from Co-operative Bank, now DCB Bank Ltd.)
Estb : 1995

5. ICICI Bank (previously ICICI and then both merged;total merger SCICI+ICICI+ICICI Bank Ltd)
Estb :1996

6. IndusInd Bank
Estb :1994

7. Kotak Mahindra Bank
Estb : 2003

8. Yes Bank
Estb : 2005

9. Balaji Corporation Bank Limited
Estb : 2010

10. HDFC bank
Estb : 1994

11. Bandhan bank
Estb : 2015

12. IDFC Bank
Estb : 2015

*** 5. Foreign Banks: ***

A foreign bank with the obligation of following the regulations of both its home and its host countries. Loan limits for these banks are based on the capital of the parent bank, thus allowing foreign banks to provide more loans than other subsidiary banks.

Foreign banks are those banks, which have their head offices abroad. CITI bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered etc. are the examples of foreign bank in India. Currently India has 36 foreign banks.

*** 6. Regional Rural Bank (RRB): ***

The government of India set up Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) on October 2, 1975. The banks provide credit to the weaker sections of the rural areas, particularly the small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, and small entrepreneurs. There are 82 RRBs in the country. NABARD holds the apex position in the agricultural and rural development. List of some RRBs is given below:

*** 7. Co-operative Bank: ***

Co-operative bank was set up by passing a co-operative act in 1904. They are organised and managed on the principal of co-operation and mutual help. The main objective of co-operative bank is to provide rural credit.

The cooperative banks in India play an important role even today in rural co-operative financing. The enactment of Co-operative Credit Societies Act, 1904, however, gave the real impetus to the movement. The Cooperative Credit Societies Act, 1904 was amended in 1912, with a view to broad basing it to enable organisation of non-credit societies.

*** Name of some co-operative banks India are: ***

1. Andhra Pradesh State Co-operative Bank Ltd

2. The Bihar State Co- operative Bank Ltd.

3. Chhatisgarh Rajya Sahakari Bank Maryadit

4. The Gujarat State Co-operative Bank Ltd.

5. Haryana Rajya Sahakari Bank Ltd.

*** Three tier structures exist in the cooperative banking: ***

i. State cooperative bank at the apex level.

ii. Central cooperative banks at the district level.

iii. Primary cooperative banks and the base or local level.

*** Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Banks: ***

The scheduled banks are those which are enshrined in the second schedule of the RBI Act, 1934. These banks have a paid-up capital and reserves of an aggregate value of not less than Rs. 5 lakhs, they have to satisfy the RBI that their affairs are carried out in the interest of their depositors.

All commercial banks (Indian and foreign), regional rural banks, and state cooperative banks are scheduled banks. Non- scheduled banks are those which are not included in the second schedule of the RBI Act, 1934. At present these are only three such banks in the country.

Source : Jagran Josh

17/05/2019

# # # Vande Bharat Express completes 1 lakh running kilometers # # #

India's first engineless train, 'Vande Bharat Express', also known as ‘Train 18’, completed 1 lakh running kilometres without missing a single trip on May 16, 2019 in just three months time span.

The Train was flagged off on February 15, 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during its run from New Delhi to Varanasi.

With this, the Vande Bharat Express will now soon replace Shatabdi Express trains as the fastest train of India.

The high speed has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in the period of 18 months under the 'Make in India' initiative of PM Narendra Modi.

Vande Bharat Express is the next major leap for Indian Railways in terms of speed and convenience. It is India's first semi-high speed train equipped with world class passenger amenities.

The Train was officially rolled out on October 29, 2018 by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani at the Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

*** Vande Bharat Express : Successor to Shatabdi Express ***

Train 18 or the Vande Bharat Express is regarded as a successor to the 30-year-old Shatabdi Express. Shatabdi was introduced in 1988 and is presently running on over 20 routes connecting metros with other important cities.

*** Vande Bharat Express reduces journey time ***

The Vande Bharat Express runs between Delhi and Varanasi at speed of 160 kmph. The scheduled commute between New Delhi and Varanasi takes approximately 8 hours, making it 40-50 percent faster than the fastest train currently connecting these two cities.

It reduces the journey time by 25 percent to 45 percent. It high speed of 160 kmph is achieved due to faster acceleration and deceleration.

*** Features of Vande Bharat Express ***

• Touted as the Next Generation Shatabdi Express, Vande Bharat Express is the first long-distance train without separate locomotive (engine) and is driven by a self-propulsion module.

• It is capable of running at a speed of up to 160 kmph. It will cut travel time by 15 percent compared to the Shatabdi Express.

• The train has been developed by the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at an investment of nearly Rs 100 crore.

• It is fully air-conditioned train and is equipped with CCTV cameras.

• It has 16 coaches with Chair Car type configuration with 2 Executive Class Chair Cars and 14 Chair Cars.

• It has two executive compartments in the middle with 52 seats each and the trailer coaches would have 78 seats each.

• It has soft lighting, automatic doors, footsteps and GPS-based Passenger Information System.

• It has intelligent braking system with power regeneration for better energy efficiency thereby making it cost, energy and environment efficient.

• The footstep in a coach’s doorway slides outward when the train stops at a station enabling passengers to board or deboard safely with comfort.

• The train offers some features to enhance passenger comfort which include inter-connected fully sealed gangways, automatic doors with retractable footsteps, onboard Wi-Fi and infotainment, and modular toilets with bio-vacuum systems.

• It also has provision of Divyang-friendly facilities.

• It also features rotational seats which can be aligned in the direction of travel (executive class), roller blinds and diffused LED lighting, and disabled-friendly toilets.

Source : Jagran Josh

11/02/2019

# # # Abu Dhabi adds Hindi as third official court language # # #

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has added Hindi as the third official language to be used in the city's courts, alongside Arabic and English.

The move is aimed at helping foreigners to learn about litigation procedures, their rights and duties without a language barrier, in addition to facilitating registration procedures through unified forms available through the judicial department’s website.

*** Key Highlights ***

• The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department has extended the adoption of interactive forms of statement of claims filed before courts by including the Hindi language alongside Arabic and English in labour cases.

• The adoption of multilingual interactive forms for claim sheets, grievances and requests, aims to promote judicial services and increase the transparency of litigation procedures. The move is designed to improve access to justice.

• It is in addition to facilitating registration procedures to the public through simplified and easy forms and raising litigants' legal awareness through interactive forms of the statements of claims, to ensure access to the legal materials related to the subject of the dispute.

• The adoption of new languages comes as part of the bilingual litigation system, the first phase of which was launched in November 2018, through the adoption of procedures requiring the plaintiffs to translate case documents in civil and commercial lawsuits into English, if the defendant is a foreigner.

• The foreign investor receives the case files translated, thus contributing to the provision of a global judicial service that meets the requirements of residents in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

*** Background ***

The extension of the adoption of interactive forms in several languages comes under the directives of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and ADJD Chairman.

According to official figures, the UAE population is estimated to be around nine million, of which 88.5 per cent are expatriate workers from foreign countries.

The Indian community in the UAE, numbering 2.6 million, constitutes 30 per cent of the total population and is the largest expatriate community in the country.

11/02/2019

# # # PM Narendra Modi inaugurates PETROTECH-2019 # # #

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 11, 2019 inaugurated the 13th International Oil and Gas Conference - PETROTECH-2019 at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The Prime Minister also addressed the inaugural session of the event.

Welcoming the delegates, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, India is the third largest consumer of crude oil and petroleum products and the government has taken several measures to provide energy for all.

** PETROTECH – 2019: Key Highlights **

• The three-day mega event, which will be held from February 10-12, 2019, is considered to be India’s flagship hydrocarbon conference.

• It will showcase the recent market and investor-friendly developments in India’s oil and gas sector.

• It is expected to witness participation from over 95 Energy Ministers from partner countries and 7000 delegates from around 70 countries.

• The 13th International Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition is being organised under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

• Along with the Conference, the event will have a concurrent exhibition spread over 20,000 square meters at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida.

• The exhibition will have over 13 country pavilions and around 750 exhibitors from over 40 countries, with exclusive areas on the Make in India and Renewable Energy theme.

** Background **

Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously inaugurated the 12th edition of PETROTECH-2016 on December 5, 2016.

The Prime Minister had said then that his vision for India’s energy future includes four pillars: energy access, energy efficiency, energy sustainability and energy security.

He had also invited the global hydrocarbon companies to come and Make in India and assured them that India’s motto is to replace Red Tape with Red Carpet.

01/02/2019

# # # Union Budget 2019 : Major Highlights # # #

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the Interim Budget 2019-20 on February 1, 2019. It was the last Budget of the Modi Government before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

This year, the government presented the Interim Budget, also known as ‘Vote on Account’ as it is close to the end of its term. An interim budget is usually passed by the Lok Sabha without discussion.

As per the Interim Budget or Vote on Account, the government seeks the approval of Parliament to meet its expenditure for the first four months (January-April) of the fiscal year with no changes in the taxation structure, until a new government takes over and presents a full Budget of the year in July 2019.

*** Interim Budget 2019 proposed a 10-point vision for 2030 ***

1.Next-gen infrastructure

2.Digital India

3.Pollution free India that drives on electric vehicles

4.Expanding rural industrialisation

5.Clean Rivers with safe drinking water

6.Developing the coastline and harnessing the blue economy

7.Placing an Indian astronaut in space

8.Making India self-sufficient in food, exporting food and organic farming

9.Healthy India, a distress-free healthcare and comprehensive wellness system

10.Maximum Governance

Note: India looks forward to become a USD 5 trillion economy in the next five years and a USD 10 trillion economy in next eight years.

*** India has become fastest growing Economy ***

• By 2024, India will have housing for all, free from corruption, communalism and nepotism.
• India has now become the 6th largest economy in the world.
• Inflation has been brought down to 4.1 percent; average inflation stands at 4.6 percent
• The fiscal deficit has been brought down to 3.1 percent.
• The Current Account Deficit has also been brought down.
• India attracted maximum Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2018-19, amounting to USD 239 million. This has been possible through rapid liberalisation of FDI policy.
• In last 5 years (2014-2018), India witnessed structural reforms by introducing Goods & Services Tax (GST) and other taxation reforms.

*** Clean Banking ***

• A number of measures have been undertaken for clean banking in recent years such as through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)
• Re-capitalisation of PSU banks was done.
• Recently, the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) restrictuion was removed from three banks, namely - Bank of India, Maharashtra Bank, and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

*** Steps against corruption ***

• India saw a corruption-free government in recent years through measures such as transparency in operations.
• Transparency was achieved through Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
• The government conducted the transparent auction of natural resources such as coal.

*** Swacch Bharat Mission ***

• The NDA Government launched a holistic programme ‘Swacch Bharat Mission’ in 2014 which succeeded in changing the mindset of people. The programme has been converted into a movement.
• Under the mission, 98 percent rural sanitation coverage has been achieved.
• Most of the villages have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).
• India will be celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in October 2019.

*** Rural Development ***

• Rs 60000 crore allocated for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA)
• 10 percent reservation granted to the economically backward among the general category.
• Rs 19000 crore allocated for Gram Sadak Yojana for construction of more rural roads.
• Over one crore fifty three lakh houses were constructed in the last five years under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) .
• By March 2019, every household will have electricity under the Saubhagya yojana.

*** Health Sector ***

• India launched the world's largest healthcare programme, Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to provide medical treatment for 50 crore people. As many as 10 lakh people have been benefitted so far under the scheme.
• Many poor people are able to get affordable medicines through the Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
• There are 21 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) functioning currently in India. Of these 21, 14 AIIMS were set up under the present government.
• The 22nd AIIMS will come up in Haryana.

*** Agriculture ***

• Government undertook various initiatives to boost farmers’ income. It ensured that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is at least 50 percent percent of the produce and introduced pro-farmers policy.
• Rs 750 crore was allocated for the Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
• It announced to set up the ‘Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog’ for production and productivity of cows.
• A separate ‘Department of Fisheries’ will be created to boost the fisheries sector.
• 2 percent interest subversion will be given for farmers pursuing animal husbandry and an additional 3 percent interest subversion will be given for those who repay the loan in time.
• For farmers affected by severe natural calamities, interest subversion for the entire period of three percent of loans would be given. An additional three percent subversion will be given, if the loan is paid on time.

*** Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi ***

Considering that the declining prices of agricultural commodities and food inflation led to reduced returns for farmers, the Government felt the need for structured income support for farmers to procure seeds and labour and introduced a new scheme was for farmers’ welfare.

The Scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi’ will provide assured income to small and marginal farmers. Vulnerable farmers with 2 hectares of land will be given Rs 6000 per year. The amount will be transferred directly into their account in 3 equal installments.

The complete expenditure of Rs 75000 crore for the scheme will borne by the Union Government. Over 12 crore farmer families will be benefitted under the scheme. It will implemented with effect from December 2018.

The budget allocated Rs 100000 crore for the agriculture sector (Rs 75000 for scheme + 25000 crore as per revised estimate of current year).

*** Wages, salaries and pensions ***

• The membership of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has gone up by 2 crore in five years.
• In last five years, all classes of workers saw a 42 percent increase in wages.
• The Seventh Pay Commission recommendations were implemented swiftly.
• The Employee's State Insurance (ESI) cover limit was increased to Rs 21000.
• The minimum pension was also increased to Rs 1000.

*** Pradhan Mantri Shramyogi Maan Dhan Yojana: Mega pension scheme for unorganised sector ***

Considering that half of the GDP comes from the unorganised sector, Finance Minister announced the launch of the mega pension scheme for the unorganised sector workers with income of less than Rs 15,000.

Under the scheme, the workers will be able to earn Rs 3000 after attaining the age of 60 years.

The budget allocates the expenditure of Rs 500 crore for the scheme.

*** Women development ***

• The government stood up to into manifesto and provided the promised clean fuel for cooking under the Ujwala Yojana. The government has already given 6 crore free LPG connection.
• More than 70 percent of beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana are women.

*** Youth Development ***

• Various scheme of the government have led to the youth development in the country. These schemes are Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Startup India, and Stand Up India.
• The 16.53 crore loans have been disbursed under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and Rs 7.23 lakh crore have been disbursed through the scheme.

*** MSME SECTOR ***

• A two percent interest subvention for MSMEs with loans upto Rs 1 crore is announced.
• Job seeker has become job giver.
• 25 percent of sourcing for government projects will be now from the MSME sector, of which three percent will be from women entrepreneurs.
• MSMEs can now sell their products on the Government eMarketplace (GeM), a one-stop-shop to facilitate online procurement of common use goods.

*** Other announcements ***

• A Welfare Development Board will be created for nomadic and semi-nomadic community. A Committee under NITI Aayog will be formed to identify these committees
• National artificial intelligence portal will be developed soon

*** Defence Sector ***

• The government has already disbursed Rs. 35000 crore under One Rank One Pension (OROP).
• Military Service Pay has also been hiked substantially.
• The Defence Budget crossed Rs 3 lakh crore for the first time.

*** Infrastructure Sector ***

• India's aviation industry has seen a high in the past. India now has more than 100 operational airports with the inauguration of the Pakyong airport in Sikkim.
• Due to 'UDAAN Scheme', ordinary citizens are also travelling by air now.
• India has become the fastest highway developer in the whole world with almost 27 km of highway built everyday.
• Projects stuck for decades like the Eastern Peripheral Highway around Delhi or the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have been completed.
• The construction of rural roads has also tripled. Around 15.8 lakh out of a total 17.84 lakh habitations have been connected with pucca roads under PMGSY. PMGSY allocated Rs 19,000 crore in 2019-20
• The flagship programme of Sagarmala along the coastal areas of the country will develop ports for faster handling of import and export cargo.
• For the first time, container freight movement has started on inland waterways from Kolkata to Varanasi.
• The Indian Railways has experienced the safest year in its history. All unmanned level crossings on broad gauge network have been completely eliminated.
• The introduction of the first indigenously developed "Vande Bharat Express" will give the Indian passengers world class experience with speed, service and safety.
• The capital support from the budget for railways is proposed at Rs 64,587 crore in 2019-20 (BE).
• The railways’ overall capital expenditure programme is of Rs 1,58, 658 crore.
• The people of North East have also received significant benefits of infrastructure development. Arunachal Pradesh came on the air map recently and Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram have come on India’s rail map for the first time.
• The allocation for the North Eastern Areas is being proposed to be increased by 21 percent to Rs 58,166 crore in 2019-20 over 2018-19.

*** Digital India ***

• India is now leading the world in consumption of mobile data.
• The monthly consumption of mobile data increased by 50 percent in the last five years.
• The cost of data and calling in India is possibly the lowest in the world.
• More than 3 lakh service centres employ over 12 lakh people today under the Digital India push.
• The government now aims for 1,00,000 digital villages in the next five years.
• The number of mobile manufacturing companies increased from 2 to 268 in past five years, thereby generating more jobs in India.

*** Entertainment ***

• Single window clearance for film shootings is being extended to Indian film makers. Earlier, it was available only for foreign film makers only.
• Goyal also mentioned Hindi movie ‘Uri’ in the speech.

*** Financial Reforms ***

• Around 45 crore Jan Dhan accounts were opened during 2014-18.
• The Budget speech also mentioned the government's big financial decision of demonetisation. The move succeeded in eliminating the black money. Demonetisation and other moves were able to bring back Rs 1,36,000 crores of cash to banks.
• More than one crore people filed income tax returns post demonetisation.
• Over 338000 shell companies were detected and their directors were disqualified.
• The Interim Budget pegs the Fiscal Deficit at 3.4 percent.
• The Capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 3.36,292 lakh crore. This expenditure is expected to increase by 13 percent from 2018-19 to budget estimate of 2019-20.

*** Taxation Reforms ***

• The direct tax collection has been increased substantially. More than 99.5 percent of the Income Tax Returns were accepted in the last fiscal.
• From now on, all returns will be processed in 24 hours and refund will be initiated at the earliest.
• The entire process will be done in the back-end so that a tax payer need not interact with an official, thus, reducing time.
• With the efforts of the GST Council, the Goods & Services Tax (GST) resulted in increased tax base and increased collection.
• Over 90 percent of GST filers will now be allowed to file the returns on a quarterly basis.
• The GST collection for January 2019 is estimated at Rs 1.03 lakh crore.
• The government abolished the duties on 36 capital goods. Indian Customs is introducing full digitization.

*** Tax proposals ***

Individual tax payers with taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh will get full tax rebate from now on.

Those earning Rs 6.5 lakh will not have to pay tax, if they invested in specified savings such as PF, PPF, etc.

However, the tax slabs will remain unchanged.

This move will benefit around 3 crore middle class tax payers.

The Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on fixed deposits and postal deposits will be exempted for interest earned up to Rs 40,000 from Rs 10,000 currently.

The rent up to Rs 2.4 lakh will be exempted from TDS.

The benefit of capital gains of up to Rs 2 crore will be increased to investment on two residential houses. This benefit can be availed only once in a lifetime.

The benefit of the section 80IBA of Income Tax Act will be extended for one more year for availing of the affordable housing.

Section 80IBA of Income Tax Act, 1961: Section 80IBA deals with 100 percent deductions for the builders promoting affordable housing schemes subject to fulfilment of a few conditions.

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