22 February 2025

• RBI: 10-billion-dollar USD/INR swap auction injected approximately 86,000 crore rupees of liquidity into the banking system.
• Economy: India's Composite Flash PMI rose to 60.6 in February. First increase after three consecutive quarters of decline.
• Biotech: Department of Biotechnology allocates 10 per cent of its budget to the Northeast. 126 Biotech Hubs established in universities.
• Finance oversight: Lokpal's powers and selection mechanism reviewed. Covers PM, ministers, MPs and government employees.

GS area: Economy (monetary policy, liquidity)

The RBI announced a 10-billion-dollar USD/INR swap auction:

• Liquidity injected: Approximately 86,000 crore rupees.
• Liquidity shortfall being addressed: 1.7 lakh crore rupees in the banking system.
• Mechanism: Under a swap auction, banks sell US dollars to the RBI (receiving rupees) in the first leg. In a pre-determined reverse leg (after the swap tenor ends), they buy back the dollars at a specified rate.
• Tenor: 3 years in this case.
• Purpose: To inject durable rupee liquidity without permanently affecting the exchange rate.

This tool is used when the RBI wants to manage liquidity without open market operations (OMO, which involve buying/selling government securities) or the standard repo window.

Static linkage: Indian economy (monetary policy, RBI tools).

GS area: Economy

India's Composite Flash PMI rose to 60.6 in February 2025:

• Published by: S&P Global (formerly IHS Markit).
• Sample: Survey of 500 manufacturing companies.
• Threshold: Above 50 indicates expansion; below 50 indicates contraction.
• Significance: The February reading was the first increase after three consecutive quarters of decline and suggests economic momentum picking up.
• PMI types: Manufacturing PMI and Services PMI are combined into the Composite PMI. India's Services PMI has been above 55 consistently, indicating robust services sector activity.

Static linkage: Indian economy (economic indicators).

GS area: Polity (governance, anti-corruption)

Lokpal coverage in connection with a case brought before it:

• Established: Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013.
• Composition: Chairperson plus up to 8 members, of whom at least 50 per cent must be judicial members.
• Jurisdiction: Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, Group A to D government employees and officers of central government undertakings.
• Extension: Can investigate NGOs receiving foreign contributions above 10 lakh rupees annually.
• Selection committee: Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India, and an eminent jurist nominated by the first four.

The Lokpal is distinct from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which investigates corruption at the level of Group A officials; and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is the investigation agency.

Static linkage: Polity (accountability institutions).

GS area: Science and Technology, Regional Development

The Department of Biotechnology's (DBT) regional policy for Northeast:

• Budget allocation: 10 per cent of DBT's total budget allocated to Northeast India.
• Biotech Twinning R&D Collaborations: 65-plus partnerships benefiting 450-plus researchers.
• Biotech Hubs: 126 established in universities across the eight northeastern states.
• BLiSS initiative: Biotech Labs in Schools (introduced since 2014). Builds biotechnology awareness at the school level.
• Pig Disease Diagnosis Expert System (PDDES): A mobile app launched for farmers in the Northeast to diagnose pig diseases, relevant because pig farming is economically significant in the region.
• Biodiversity potential: The Northeast region contains over 8,000 plant species including more than 850 medicinal plants.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (regional development, biotechnology).

GS area: Economy (fiscal policy)

An RBI study on the quality of state government expenditure highlighted:

• Capital outlay to GDP: Increased from 1.5 per cent in 2000 to 2.5 per cent in 2023. More productive, longer-lasting spending.
• Revenue-to-Capital expenditure ratio: Improved from 8:1 in 2000 to 5:1 in 2023. States are spending proportionally more on capital formation.
• Development expenditure to GDP: Rose from 6 per cent in 2000 to 8 per cent in 2023.
• Interest payments share: Fell from 25 per cent of expenditure in 2000 to 20 per cent in 2023 as debt management improved.
• FRBM Act 2003: The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act established deficit targets and borrowing ceilings. States with their own FRBMs show better performance.

Static linkage: Indian economy (fiscal policy, state finances).

GS area: Environment (climate change)

New data on global glacier retreat:

• Total ice lost since 2000: 7 trillion tonnes globally.
• 2023 record: 604 billion tonnes lost in a single year.
• Rate of loss by period:
  • 2000 to 2011: 255 billion tonnes per year.
  • 2011 to 2023: 346 billion tonnes per year. The rate of loss is accelerating.
• Alaska: Losing 67 billion tonnes annually.
• Central European glaciers: Shrunk by 39 per cent since 2000.

In India, the ISRO Glacier Inventory records approximately 75,000 glaciers in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush. The Gangotri Glacier (source of the Ganga at Gomukh) is retreating at about 22 metres per year.

Static linkage: Environment (climate change, water resources).

• Pir Panjal Range: Part of the Lesser Himalayas, spanning Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Separates rivers of the Beas-Ravi system from the Chenab. Key peak: Indrasan (6,221 metres). Gulmarg hill resort is located here.
• Bharat Tech Triumph Programme: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting initiative. Awards Indian talent in gaming, animation, AR, VR and Metaverse. Winners showcased at GDC 2025 in San Francisco and the WAVES Summit.
• Mount Etna, Sicily: Europe's highest active stratovolcano at 3,350 metres. Bocca Nuova crater was erupting in February 2025. Mount Dukono in Indonesia's Halmahera island: emitted a 2,000-metre ash column with an orange-level aviation warning (VONA).