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Posted 01 Feb 2024

Updated 16 Mar 2024

8 min read

Interim Budget 2024-25

An interim budget is not like regular yearly budget presented by government, instead it presented in an election year.

Like Union budget, interim budget too is debated in Lok Sabha before passage and is valid for entire year though it is merely a transition arrangement (usually 2-4 months).
An interim Budget conventionally is also called a ‘vote-on-account’ because it serves as an authorisation to incur specific expenditures which is necessary till a new government comes to power.
Under Article 116, a vote-on-account is an upfront allocation of grant from ‘Consolidated Fund of India’ to government to address immediate expenditure needs.

Minister of Cooperation launched computerization scheme for offices of Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCSs) and Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) of the states.

Computerization Project of ARDBs
- Aims at computerizing 1851 units of ARDBs located in 13 States/UTs and link them with NABARD through a Common National Software.
- Will benefit small and marginal farmers, connected with ARDBs for credit and related services through Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACSs).

Computerization of offices of RCSs
- For better efficiency, accountability and transparency in RCS offices, and ensuring linkage with national database.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is conducting events under its ODOP Sampark initiative to create awareness about ODOP.
- DPI IT is a department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
ODOP is aimed at fostering balanced regional development across all districts of the country.
It aims to select, brand, and promote at least One Product from each District (One District - One Product) of the country across all regions.
The States/UT would identify the food product for a district.

It refers to offering of food grains (wheat & rice) in open market at prices, fixed by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution through e-auction.
It is a tool to control the price in market by providing food grains at reduced prices with the aim to curb inflation.
Under the Scheme, Govt. of India through Food Corporation of India (FCI), offers wheat to Processors / Atta Chalki / Flour Millers of Wheat Products (Traders / Bulk Buyers are not allowed) only through e-auction.

Recently, NASA unlocked a canister of dust from asteroid Bennu.
- Earlier NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brought the sample from asteroid Bennu back to Earth.

About Asteroid Bennu
- Type: A small, near earth carbon-rich asteroid.
- Age: Around 4.5 billion years old.
- Composition: Established within 10 million years of the formation of our solar system.
- Close encounters: Comes very close to Earth, every 6 years.

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun, they are much smaller than planets.
- Main Asteroid Belt is found between Mars and Jupiter.

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are two global crude oil benchmarks for crude oil pricing.
- Brent Crude is the benchmark used for the oil market in Europe, Africa, and Middle East, originating from oil fields in the North Sea.
  - It is the international benchmark used by the OPEC and also India.
- WTI is the benchmark for the US oil market and is sourced from US oil fields.

NSIL signs Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with French company for long-term partnership to support satellite launch missions.
- The MoU aims to meet the global commercial satellite launch service market needs.

About NSIL
- It is a Government of India company under the Department of Space.
- It was set up by the Department of Space in March 2019 to handle ISRO's commercial activities.
- Its primary responsibility is to enable Indian industries to take up high-technology space-related activities.

The World Health Organization announces the HTAP as the successor to the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
- C-TAP was launched in May 2020 to facilitate equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 health products for people in all countries.
HTAP aims to increase equitable access to a broad range of health products through the sharing of intellectual property, knowledge and scientific innovation.
WHO will publish further details on how HTAP will operate and the technologies it will target later.