Rajasthan

Appearance

I. Five-Year Plans (Historical Economic Policy)

  • First Five-Year Plan (1951-1956):
    • Start: April 1, 1951.
    • Model: Harrod-Domar.
    • Drafted by: K.N. Raj.
    • Focus: Agriculture.
    • Growth Target: 2.1%; Achieved: 3.6%.
  • Second Five-Year Plan (1956-1961):
    • Model: P.C. Mahalanobis.
    • Focus: Heavy Industries.
    • Key Establishments: Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Rourkela (Odisha), Durgapur (West Bengal) Iron & Steel Plants.
    • Growth Target: 4.5%; Achieved: 4.27%.
  • Third Five-Year Plan (1961-1966):
    • Model: Sukhmoy Chakravarty.
    • Focus: Agriculture and Industry (both).
    • Events: India-China War (1962), India-Pakistan War (1965).
    • Outcome: Unsuccessful due to wars.
    • Slogan: Jai Jawan Jai Kisan (Lal Bahadur Shastri).
    • Establishment: Food Corporation of India (1965).
  • Plan Holiday (1966-1969):
    • Reason: Poor economic conditions after wars, leading to one-year plans.
    • Initiative: Green Revolution for food self-sufficiency.
  • Fourth Five-Year Plan (1969-1974):
    • Model: Ashok Rudra / D.R. Gadgil (drafted).
    • Objective: Economic development with stability and self-reliance.
    • Growth Target: 5.5-5.7%; Achieved: 3.3%.
    • Events: India-Pakistan War (1971), First Nuclear Test - Operation Smiling Buddha (Pokhran, 1974), Nationalization of 14 banks (1969).
  • Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974-1978):
    • Duration: Four years (prematurely ended).
    • Model: D.P. Dhar.
    • Objective: Poverty Eradication ("Garibi Hatao").
    • Growth Target: 4.4%; Achieved: 4.8%.
  • Rolling Plan (1978-1980):
    • Initiated by: Janata Party government.
    • Global originator: Gunnar Myrdal.
    • Implemented in India by: Lakdawala.
  • Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980-1985):
    • Model: Input-Output Model.
    • Objectives: Employment creation, poverty eradication.
    • Establishments: NABARD (1982), Nationalization of 6 more banks (1980).
    • Events: Operation Blue Star (1984), Operation Meghdoot (Siachen, 1984).
  • Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-1990):
    • Objective: Social Justice with Modernization.
    • Slogan: Roti, Rozgar aur Utpadakta (Food, Work, Productivity).
    • Establishment: SEBI (1988).
  • Plan Holiday (1990-1992):
    • Reason: Foreign exchange crisis.
    • Policy: New Economic Policy (NEP) - LPG Reforms (Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization) in 1991 under PM P.V. Narasimha Rao and FM Dr. Manmohan Singh.
  • Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992-1997):
    • Model: John W. Miller.
    • Focus: Human Resource Development (influenced by Human Development Index concept).
    • Events: 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (Panchayati Raj & Urban Local Bodies, 1992), WTO established (Jan 1, 1995).
  • Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002):
    • Objective: Social Justice and Equality with Economic Growth.
    • Initiative: Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (December 25, 2000).
    • Event: Kargil War.
  • Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-2007):
    • Model: Input-Output Model.
    • Objective: Social Justice and Equality with Economic Growth.
    • Growth Achieved: 7.6% (highest till then).
    • Initiative: NREGA (Act 2005, implemented February 2, 2006).
  • Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012):
    • Objective: Rapid and Inclusive Growth.
    • Growth Achieved: 8% (highest ever).
    • Initiative: Right to Education Act 2009 (implemented April 1, 2010).
  • Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-2017):
    • Objective: Rapid, Sustainable, and Inclusive Growth.
    • Last Five-Year Plan.
    • Agricultural Growth Target: 4%.
    • Total Fertility Rate (Replacement Rate) Target: 2.1%.

II. Current Affairs

  • GST Council 56th Meeting:
    • Approved a new GST 2.0 rate structure effective September 22, 2025.
    • New rates: 18% (standard), 5% (qualifying), and 40% (special disqualification rate for tobacco, super-luxury goods).
    • Eliminated rates: 12% and 28%.
    • Items at 12% move to 5%; items at 28% move to 18%.
    • 0% GST for milk, paneer, ready-to-eat parathas, stationery, and 33 life-saving medicines (including 3 cancer drugs).
    • GST Background: Implemented July 1, 2017, via 101st Constitutional Amendment Act (2016). It is an indirect tax on the concurrent list.
  • Spyware "Garnet":
    • US immigration agency and Israel's ICE signed an agreement for "Garnet," a powerful hacking spyware.
    • Developed by Israel-based Paragon Solutions.
    • Capabilities: Accessing mobile photos, reading messages (including WhatsApp), and tracking locations.
    • Originally developed for monitoring journalists in Europe.
  • Arundhati Roy's Memoir:
    • New Memoir: "Mother Mary Comes To Me."
    • Author: Arundhati Roy.
    • Roy is known for "The God of Small Things" (Booker Prize, 1997, first Indian woman winner).
  • India's First Vulture Conservation Portal:
    • Launched by: V Foundation India (Assam).
    • Objective: Conservation of beak-billed vultures, whose population declined due to the drug Diclofenac.
    • Note: The world's first conservation and breeding center for Asian King Vultures (red-headed vultures) is in Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh.
  • NIRF India Ranking 2025:
    • Released by: Ministry of Education (Dharmendra Pradhan) in New Delhi.
    • Overall Top Institute: IIT Madras.
    • Top Management Institute: IIM Ahmedabad.
    • Top Agricultural Institute: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Delhi.
  • National Teachers' Day 2025:
    • Celebrated: September 5th, marking the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
    • Dr. Radhakrishnan: First Vice President and Second President of India, Bharat Ratna recipient (1954).
    • First celebrated: September 5, 1962.
    • World Teachers' Day: October 5th.
  • Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025:
    • Award for: Architecture.
    • Established: 1977.
    • India did not feature in the list of winners or top 15 countries.
    • Pritzker Prize (Architecture's Nobel): Only Indian recipient is Balkrishna Doshi.
  • Indigenous AI Tool (VL2G):
    • Tool Name: VL2G (Vision and Learning Group).
    • Developer: IIT Jodhpur.
    • Function: AI-enabled tool to recognize and translate visual text across 13 Indian languages, connecting vision and language.
    • Part of: Government's "Bhashini" initiative.
    • Classical Languages: The lecture mentioned 6 existing (Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia) and 5 new additions (Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Bengali, Assamese), totaling 11.
  • British Museum Lending Vrindavan Textile:
    • Item: 16th-century Vrindavan textile, a silken garment.
    • Creator: Vaishnav Saint Srimanta Sankardev (Assam).
    • Current location: London Museum (acquired 1904).
    • Lent to: Assam for an exhibition in 2027.
    • Significance: Depicts the "Kaliya Daman" play, also written by Sankardev, who founded Ankia Naat and Sattrita dance (8th classical dance of India).
  • Northeast Aviation Summit 2025:
    • Location: Arunachal Pradesh (2024 summit was in Meghalaya).
    • Objective: Develop the aviation sector in Northeast India, enhance airport connectivity.
    • Organizers: Ministry of Civil Aviation (Minister: Rammohan Naidu) and FICCI.
  • India-Japan Joint Credit Agreement:
    • Purpose: Promote carbon trading, green investment, and sustainable innovation under the Paris Agreement (COP 15, 2021).

III. Other Noteworthy Current Affairs

  • Trojan 155 system: Developed with France.
  • Kavacham disaster warning system: Kerala.
  • Global Fire Power Index: India's rank 4th.
  • Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2025: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
  • FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Host: India.
  • First Air Taxi Operator (Zero Launch): Sarala Aviation (Bengaluru).
  • National Commercial Agriculture Research Institute: Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh (formerly Tobacco Research Center).
  • Ireland PM: Michael Martin.
  • 27th International Glass Congress: West Bengal, India.
  • World Pickleball League first edition: Mumbai.
  • NITI Aayog's first Fiscal Health Index top spot: Odisha.
  • Cartey (living drug for blood cancer): Recognized by CDSCO.
  • Wetland Cities list (first Indian cities): Udaipur and Indore.
  • BSF's Operation Sard Hawa: Rajasthan.
  • ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year: Jasprit Bumrah.
  • T20 World Record (318 runs, not out): Tilak Varma.
  • Assam's second capital announcement: Dibrugarh.
  • MeerKAT telescope location: South Africa (discovered "Incath" galaxy 32 times larger than Milky Way).
  • Mahakumbh stampede investigation committee: Justice Harsh Kumar.
  • First private company for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft (DGCA certified): E-Plane Company.
  • National Table Tennis Championship 2025 (women's singles): Dia Chitale.
  • ISRO's 100th mission NVS-02 launch vehicle: GSLV F15.
  • GSLV F16 launch vehicle: NISAR.
  • Republic Day Parade 2025 Best Tableau (Defense Ministry): Uttar Pradesh (Mahakumbh tableau).
  • First state to start Rural Cricket League: Bihar.
  • Budget 2025 Fiscal Deficit (GDP % estimate): 4.4%.
  • Budget 2025 Tax-exempt individual income: ₹12 lakh.
  • Indian Railways' seamless travel super app: Swarail.