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■ FM Sitharaman's push to end manual scavenging: • To prevent deaths due to manual scavenging, govt is moving entirely to mechanical desludging of sewer. • According to National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, 1,054 people have died till Dec 31, 2022 due to hazardous cleaning of sewer and septic tanks. • Manual scavenging is completely prohibited under 'Prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation Act 2013". • In this year's Budget, the Social Justice Ministry has allocated ₹97.41 crore for the NAMASTE scheme. • National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme was launched last year. It aims to achieve outcomes like zero fatalities in sanitation work in India. • NAMASTE is a central sector scheme. It is being undertaken jointly by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and aims to eradicate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices.

■ Interesting Facts about Union Budget: □ First Budget: • The Union Budget was first introduced in India on April 7, 1860 when Scottish economist and politician James Wilson from East India Company presented it to the British Crown. □ Independent India's First Budget: • India's first finance minister RK Sanmukham Chetty presented "first Budget of a free and independent India" on Nov 26, 1948. The budget covered a period of 7.5 months from Aug 15, 1947 to March 31, 1948. □ Most Budgets: • Former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Moraji Desai presented 10 budgets. This is the highest number by any individual. He is followed by P.Chidambaram, who presented 9 budgets. □ Timing of Budget: • Till 1999, Budget was presented at 5 PM on last working day of Feb, which was shifted to 11 AM by Yashwant Sinha. • In 2017, Arun Jaitley started presenting Budget on Feb 1, departing from colonial-era tradition. □ Finance Minister to Prime Minister: • Usually, Finance minister presents the Budget but there have been instances of PM taking up the role. • In 1958, Jawaharlal Lal Nehru became the 1st Indian PM to present Budget after then Finance Minister TT Krishnamachari resigned. □ Women to Present Budget: • In 1970, Indira Gandhi became the 1st woman to deliver the Budget after then FM Morarji Desai resigned. • FM Nirmala Sitharaman is only the 2nd woman to present the Budget. □ Railway Budget: • After being presented separately for 92 years, the Railway Budget was merged with Union Budget in 2017 and presented together for the 1st time by Arun Jaitley. □ Black Budget: • Union Budget 1973-74 was termed the 'Black Budget', as the fiscal deficit during that year was Rs 550 crore. • It was a time when India was going through acute financial distress. □ Language of Budget: • Until 1955, the Budget was presented only in English. • However, the Congress-led government decided to print the Budget papers in both Hindi and English. □ Printing of Budget: • Till 1950, Budget was printed at Rashtrapati Bhavan till it got leaked and was shifted to a press at Minto Road in Delhi. • In 1980, a govt press was set up in North Block - the seat of the finance ministry.

□ Which are the other states that are demanding the Special Category Status? • Aside from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar, Rajasthan had demanded SCS status. • However, they have not been granted the status as they did not fulfill the criteria to be qualified as an SCS State. □ Can special category status be granted to more states now? • In the present scenario, it is believed that no more states can be given the status of a special category state. □ How many states have Special Category status? • The NDC first accorded SCS in 1969 to Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland. • Over the years, 8 more states were added to the list — Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura and, finally, in 2010, Uttarakhand. • Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed a special status as per Article 370 and alsoSspecial category status. But now that Article 35A has been scrapped and it has become a union territory with legislature, special category status doesn't apply to J&K anymore.

■ Special Category Status (SCS): • Andhra Pradesh and a few other state governments have been demanding Special Category Status to their states. • Special Category Status are given to some states that are historically disadvantaged compared to others. • The concept of a special category state was first introduced in 1969 when the 5th Finance Commission sought to provide certain disadvantaged states with preferential treatment in the form of central assistance and tax breaks. • Considering the fact that some areas in India are historically disadvantaged as compared to others, the Centre has assisted states with funds in the past allocated by the former Planning Commission body called the National Development Council (NDC). • In the past, the NDC considered factors such as difficult and hilly terrain, low population density and/or a sizeable share of tribal population, strategic location along borders, economic and infrastructural backwardness, and non-viable nature of state finances. • The Constitution of India does not have any provision for categorisation of any state as a Special Category Status (SCS) State. □ What are the Criteria? • Hilly terrain. • Low population density. • Strategic location (along borders with neighbouring countries). • Economic and infrastructure backwardness. • Low per capita income. • Sizable share of tribal population • Non-viable nature of state finances. □ Why Andhra Pradesh wants the status? • When Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014, it sought Special Category Status on the grounds that it was at a disadvantage, since it would lose a significant amount of revenue as a result of Hyderabad going to Telangana, the new state that came into existence on June 2, 2014. □ Why Andhra Pradesh is not getting Special Category Status? • Andhra Pradesh doesn't fulfill the criteria to be qualified as an SCS State. • The NITI Aayog, which has replaced the Planning Commission, has no power to allocate funds. Therefore, the discretion that the ruling party at the Centre had to dole out special favours to states through the Plan panel, no longer exists. • The Centre says the 14th Finance Commission effectively removed the concept of Special Category Status States after its recommendations were accepted in 2015. • Following the constitution of the NITI Aayog (after the dissolution of the Planning Commission) and the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC), Central plan assistance to SCS States has been subsumed in an increased devolution of the divisible pool to all States (from 32% in the 13th FC recommendations to 42%) and do not any longer appear in plan expenditure. □ What are the benefits of being an SCS state? • Preferential treatment in getting central funds assistance. • The Centre pays 90% of the funds required in a centrally sponsored scheme to special category status category states as against 60% in case of normal category states, while the remaining funds are provided by the state governments. • These states can avail the benefit of debt swapping and debt relief schemes. • Significant concession in excise & customs duties, income tax and corporate tax • 30% of planned expenditure (central budget) goes to 'special category' states. • Centre bears 90% of the state expenditure (given as grant) while the remaining 10% is given as loan to the state. • More grants from the Centre helps in building state infrastructure and social sector projects. □ What is the difference between Special category status and Special status? • Special status empowers legislative and political rights while special category status deals only with economic, administrative and financial aspects. • The constitution provides special status through an Act that has to be passed by 2/3rds majority in both the houses of Parliament whereas the special category status is granted by the National Development Council, which is an administrative body of the government.

https://onlinebpsc.bihar.gov.in/main/home 68th BPSC ADMIT CARD👆

■ Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar-2023: • The Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has instituted an annual award known as Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar to recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster management. • The award is announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. • For the year 2023, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and Lunglei Fire Station (LFS), Mizoram, both in the Institutional category, have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Puraskar-2023 for their excellent work in Disaster Management.

■ U-WIN: • The Government of India (Gol) has launched U-WIN, a platform to digitize India's Universal Immunization Program (UIP) in a pilot mode in two districts from each State and Union Territory (UT). • The U-WIN platform is a replica of Co-WIN, which was introduced in January 2021 in 65 districts and has been the "digital backbone" for India's COVID-19 immunization programme. • The U-WIN platform will be used to register and vaccinate every pregnant woman, record the delivery outcome, register every newborn delivery, administer birth doses, and conduct all subsequent vaccination events. • The U-WIN is going to be the single source of information for immunisation services, updating vaccination status, delivery outcome, planning of RI sessions and reports like antigen-wise coverage, etc. • There will be digital registrations of all pregnant women and newborns for individualised tracking for vaccination, reminders for upcoming doses and follow-up of dropouts. • For pregnant women and children, vaccine acknowledgement and immunisation card linked to ABHA ID (Ayushman Bharat Heath Account) will be generated and all states and districts can access a common database to track and vaccinate beneficiaries. • Through the platform citizens can check nearby ongoing routine immunisation sessions, and book appointments. □ Universal Immunization Programme (UIP): • Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunization’ (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. • In 1985, the programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme’ (UIP) to be implemented in phased manner to cover all districts in the country. • Under UIP, immunization is providing free of cost against 12 vaccine preventable diseases. They are: Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, Meningitis, Pneumonia caused by Hemophilus Influenza type B, Rotavirus diarrhoea, Pneumococcal Pneumonia, and Japanese Encephalitis. • The two major milestones of UIP have been the elimination of polio in 2014 and maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination in 2015. • New vaccines that are a part of immunization drive in India are: Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), Rotavirus vaccine (RVV), Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV), Tetanus and adult diphtheria (Td) vaccine.

■ Bhar OS: • The Indian government funded project, BharOS is an AOSP (Android Open Source Project) based operating system. • The project is aimed to develop a free and open-source operating system (OS) for use in government and public systems. • Bhar OS will only be available to particular institutions, "whose users handle sensitive information that requires confidential communication over restricted apps on mobile." • Unlike Android, it does not have default Google apps or services, which implies that users will not be forced to opt for applications that they are unfamiliar with or do not trust. • It was developed by the IIT-Madras incubated non-profit JandK Operations Private Limited (JandKops) the free and open-source operating system (OS). • This was in line with the project’s aim to reduce the reliance on foreign OS in smartphones and contribute significantly to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. • The technology claims to completely change how users perceive security and privacy on mobile devices.