CURRENT AFFAIRS

India’s fiscal deficit (for the Centre) in FY22 is expected to be 6.8% of the GDP and when considering the debts of States as well, this jumps to about 12.7% of the GDP (as of FY21).

In the Budget presented for 2022-23, the Finance Minister had announced the introduction of India’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and that the digital rupee would give a ‘big boost’ to the digital economy.

In the Union Budget 2022-23, the overall budgetary allocation towards the agricultural sector has marginally increased by 4.4% but the rate of increase is lower than the current inflation rate of 5.5%-6%.

The rapid urbanisation of peri-urban areas across India requires targeted and planned intervention to allow cities to grow in a sustainable manner.

In recent months dialogues and summits held with Central Asia like the inaugural India-Central Asia Summit, the India-Central Asia Dialogue, and the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan in New Delhi collectively indicate a renewed enthusiasm in New Delhi to engage the Central Asian region.

Recently , the body responsible for administering the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) i.e. The National Health Authority (NHA) has initiated a consultation process on the retention of health data by health-care providers in India.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently released the India State of Forest Report in which it reported that the growth of India’s forest cover has slowed to an eight-year low in 2021, with just 0.22 per cent increase over 2019.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one technology of particular importance because of its role as an accelerator, its versatility, and its wide applicability.

Recently, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and the U.K.’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced their shared ambition to finish negotiations on a comprehensive and balanced FTA by the end of 2022.

The announcement of a 30 percent tax on income from cryptos and other virtual assets is welcomed by the experts but also raises a number of concerns on its impact on the industry.