2 February 2025

• Budget analysis: Key Budget 2025-26 provisions analysed. Gyan Bharatam Mission budget raise from 3.5 crore to 60 crore rupees confirmed.
• Nuclear Energy Mission: 20,000 crore rupees earmarked for Small Modular Reactors. Policy framework for private nuclear power plants announced.
• Presunmptive tax for semiconductors: Section 44BBD details clarified.
• Wetlands: Four new Ramsar sites formalised. India's total: 89. Tamil Nadu leads with 20.

GS area: Science and Technology (energy), Economy

The Budget allocated 20,000 crore rupees for the Nuclear Energy Mission targeting Small Modular Reactors (SMRs):

• SMRs: Reactors with output capacity below 300 MW(e), compared to 700-1,650 MW(e) for conventional large reactors. Their smaller size allows factory manufacturing, modular deployment and faster installation.
• Policy change: The Budget proposed amending the Atomic Energy Act 1962 to allow private sector participation in nuclear power. Currently, nuclear power is exclusively a public sector domain in India.
• Existing capacity: India has 22 operational nuclear reactors with a total capacity of approximately 7,480 MW. Largest operator: Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).
• Fuel strategy: India's three-stage nuclear programme: Stage 1 (Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors using natural uranium), Stage 2 (Fast Breeder Reactors using plutonium), Stage 3 (Thorium-based reactors using U-233).
• Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) 2010: Holds operators liable for nuclear accidents up to a specified limit. The Act has been a sticking point for US and French companies wanting to supply Indian reactors.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (nuclear energy, policy).

GS area: Economy (fiscal policy)

Deeper analysis of the Budget's fiscal architecture:

• Total expenditure: 50.65 lakh crore rupees.
• Total receipts (excluding borrowings): 34.96 lakh crore rupees.
• Fiscal deficit: 4.4 per cent of GDP.
• Revenue deficit: The difference between revenue expenditure and revenue receipts. A declining revenue deficit is a measure of fiscal quality.
• Primary deficit: Fiscal deficit minus interest payments. A falling primary deficit means the government is not borrowing just to pay interest.
• Gross tax revenue growth: 10.7 per cent (April to November 2024) per Economic Survey.
• Capital expenditure as percentage of GDP: 3.1 per cent (an increase from 2.9 per cent in the revised estimate for FY25).

The quality-of-expenditure shift from revenue to capital spending is a key analytical measure. Each lakh crore in capital spending multiplies through the economy via the fiscal multiplier.

Static linkage: Indian economy (fiscal policy, budget).

GS area: Environment (wetlands, rivers)

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) restrained six infrastructure projects near Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh:

• Location: Between the Krishna and Godavari river deltas in Andhra Pradesh.
• Status: Declared a Ramsar site in 2002. One of India's largest freshwater lakes.
• Role: A major stopover for migratory waterfowl on the Central Asian Flyway.
• NGT basis: The projects (road and embankment projects) were found to encroach on the Ramsar-designated area without prior environmental clearance.

The Central Asian Flyway runs from Arctic Russia and Central Asia through South and Southeast Asia. Kolleru is one of its key Indian staging posts. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and Ramsar Convention both create obligations for protecting such sites.

Static linkage: Environment (wetlands, rivers, biodiversity).

GS area: Economy

The Economic Survey 2024-25 cautioned against excessive financialisation:

• Definition: Financialisation refers to the growing dominance of financial markets, institutions and actors in economic policy and outcomes.
• Risks cited in the Survey:
  • Rising household debt as people borrow to invest in financial assets.
  • Exacerbated inequality because financial asset gains accrue disproportionately to the wealthy.
  • Over-dependence on asset price inflation for perceived economic growth.
• Global comparison: The US provides a cautionary example where the financial sector grew from 4 per cent of GDP in 1980 to over 8 per cent by 2008 preceding the financial crisis.
• India's context: Stock market capitalisation crossed 4 trillion US dollars in 2024. The Economic Survey warns that regulatory and policy attention must keep pace.

Static linkage: Indian economy (financial markets, economic survey).

GS area: Environment, International Relations

The UNESCO-IOC Subcommission for the Caribbean launched the Ocean Coordination Mechanism:

• Funded by: Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the UNDP/GEF PROCARIBE+ Project.
• Coverage: Caribbean Sea and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem.
• Focus: Sustainable fisheries, ecosystem restoration, pollution control and blue carbon development.
• Geographic facts:
  • Caribbean Sea's deepest point: Cayman Trough at 7,686 metres.
  • Mesoamerican Barrier Reef: Second-largest reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef; runs 1,000 kilometres along the coast of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.
  • North Brazil Shelf: Extends between the mouths of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.

Static linkage: Environment (international conventions, oceans).

GS area: Science and Technology (health)

Suzetrigine (brand name Journavx) received US FDA approval:

• Mechanism: Blocks sodium channel Nav1.8, which transmits pain signals in peripheral nerves. It does this before signals reach the brain, unlike opioids which act on brain receptors.
• Dosage: Initial 100 milligrams followed by 50 milligrams every 12 hours.
• Significance: First genuinely new mechanism for pain management approved in decades. The opioid epidemic (involving fentanyl, oxycodone and hydrocodone) caused approximately 107,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2021.
• Non-addictive: Because it does not activate opioid receptors, it does not produce dependence or euphoria.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (pharmaceuticals, health).

• Kara Sea: Lies entirely within Russian territorial waters. The main rivers draining into it are Kara, Ob, Pyasina and Yenisei. Key islands: Bely, Dikson and Taymyr. The Nordenskiold Archipelago has over 90 islands. Ice-covered from September to May. Critical for the Northern Sea Route that Russia is developing as an Arctic commercial shipping lane.
• SwaRail SuperApp: Developed by CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems) under the Ministry of Railways. Single sign-on access to ticket booking, PNR enquiry, food ordering and freight services. Uses RailConnect or UTS credentials, m-PIN or biometric authentication.