03.12.21 Daily [bihar] BPSC Current Affairs

The outstanding ofBiharwhich mounted to Rs 1.93 lakh crore in 2019-20 has put strains on the states finances as it has led to debt repayment burden and the shrinkage in Capital Expenditure that is otherwise made to create assets as part of the Infrastructure development, according toComptroller and Auditor General(CAG) report for the 2019-20 fiscal tabled in the state assembly.

According to the report, the outstanding public debt of the state had increased from Rs 1.16 lakh crore in 2015-16 to Rs 1.38 lakh crore in the next fiscal, followed by Rs 1.56 lakh crore in 2017-18, Rs 1.68 lakh crore in 2018-19 and Rs 1.93 lakh crore in 2019-20. The Growth rate of the outstanding public debt was in the range of 17.69% in 2015-16, 18.99% in 2016-17, 13.02% in 2017-18, 7.75% in 2018-19 and 14.48% in 2019-20, the report added.

The growth rate of the states gross state domestic product (GSDP) in the corresponding financial years was 8.35%, 13.31%, 11.33%, 13.15% and 15.36%. The growth rate of public debt is higher than the growth rate of GSDP during the year, which is not a good fiscal indicator, the report noted.

In what could increase the anxiety of the stakeholders, the volume of capital expenditure also showed decreasing trend during 2018-19 and 2019-20. The capital expenditure was Rs 23,966 crore in 2015-16, Rs 27,208 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 28,907 crore in 2017-18, and then began to show falling trend in the subsequent two fiscals Rs 21,058 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 12,304 crore in 2019-20. Implicitly, the state had been spending less on the creation of assets.

The CAG report also noted that the states debt has become unsustainable in the backdrop of the Revenue Deficit for the first time since 2008-09 and this has been compensated from public debt.

In between, the debt repayments went on increasing Rs 38,508 crore in 2015-16, Rs 50,701.29 crore in 2016-17, Rs 41,357.18 crore in 2017-18, Rs 61,666.46 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 69,732.59 crore in 2019-20. The amount spent on interest repayment has also shown a similar trend.

Indias first privately built cryogenic rocket engine called Dhawan-1 was test-fired privately by Skyroot Aerospace.

Highlights:

Skyroot Aerospace exhibited the upper stage of its Vikram-2 launch vehicle.

The cryogenic rocket engine is 3D printed and made in India.

It has been named after Satish Dhawan, the third chairman of ISRO, as he pioneered the development of advanced launch capabilities of India.

Vikram Rocket has been identified after Vikram Sarabhai, who started India’s space program and conducted advanced nuclear research.

The rocket uses a mixture of Liquid Natural Gas, more than 90 per cent methane and Liquid Oxygen.

It is called “Methalox”, in the combined state, which forms a cryogenic rocket fuel.

This provides high performance and a low cost. The fuel is environmentally friendly, which is dubbed “Fuel of the future”.

Dhawan-1

The Dhawan-1 engine includes a vacuum thrust of about 1.5kN. The engine was tested on a specially built testbed at Solar Industries in Nagpur.

The engine is the upper stage of the Vikram-2 launch vehicle that uses Environment-friendly compounds called LNG and LOX. It is entirely 3D printed.

Pixxel 1 satellite is set to be launched in 2022, the first private satellite in an Earth Observation constellation in low Earth orbit.

The UNESCO recently presented two Heritage Awards to the Nizamuddin Basti Project. The project was awarded for its conservation efforts. It was awarded with the Special Recognition for Sustainable Award and Award of Excellence.

The project restored more than 20 historic monuments located around 14^thcentury Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

The Nizamuddin area consists of and Batashewala Tomb and tomb of a 16^thcentury poet Rahim (Khan I Khanan). These regions were segregated and damaged. They were also renewed by the Nizamuddin Basti Project.

The project was started in 2007 by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Urban Heritage Foundation and the Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The Nizamuddin Basti Project is an Urban Renewal Project. It successfully unified the segregated zones of the seven-century old settlement of the Nizamuddin Basti and its surrounding 70 acres.

It integrated socio Economic Development, conservation and environmental development objectives in these areas.

Panaji, Goa will host the 7th India International Science Festival From 10 to 13 December.

Highlights

From December 10 to 13, 2021, the 7th edition of the four-day India International Science Festival (IISF) will be placed in Panaji, Goa.

“Celebrating Creativity in Science, Technology, and Innovation for a Prosperous India” is the festival theme for 2021. In 2015, the inaugural IISF was conducted in New Delhi.

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa, which is part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is the organising body for IISF 2021.

Barbados is the Worlds newest republic, 400 years after it became a British colony.

Highlights

Barbados, the Caribbean Island nation, dismissed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the state.

Dame Sandra Prunella Mason became President of Barbados and was selected to become the first president of Barbados in October 2021.

She was announced by Speaker of the House of Assembly, Arthur Holder.

The British made Barbados a slave Society when it first became an English colony in 1625. It gained its independence in 1966.