Events during UPA Government:
2005 - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) introduced. It aims to guarantee the "Right to Work".
2005 - Right To Information (RTI) act introduced.
U.S. - India Civil Nuclear Agreement: (also known as 123 Agreement):
- Signed in 2008. It strengthened the ties between the two countries.
- The U.S. offered India civil nuclear technology, access to Uranium, and the fuel needed for the nuclear power reactors since nuclear energy is clean energy (low carbon emission).
Aadhaar:
It was introduced in 2009, later established by the Aadhaar act, 2016.
Telangana formation:
On 2nd June 2014, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were divided by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014.
The advent of NDA Government:
2014 - Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India. Then he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the 13th year.
Events during NDA Government:
Neighbourhood First Policy:
- This policy focuses on the ties between India and the immediate neighbours - the SAARC countries.
- On 26th May 2014, during the Oath taking ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the heads of the governments of the SAARC countries, the first initiative of this policy.
- It aims to maintain peace with the immediate neighbours so that India can focus on developing within the country.
- PM's 1st foreign visit - "Bharat to Bhutan".
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):
- Launched on 28th August 2014.
- It aims to provide access to various financial services - Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension, Banking Savings & Deposit Accounts in an affordable manner.
NITI Aayog (National Institute for Transforming India):
- On 1st January 2015, NITI Aayog came into force.
- Replaced Planning commission (since 1950) which followed Top-Down Approach.
- NITI Aayog follows the Bottom-Up Approach that benefits both rural and urban areas.
- It works as an advisory "Think Tank" 24/7.
- It provides an index (ranking) to states in different categories that influence other states to improve.
Demonetization:
- On 8th November 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetization.
- It is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender. It occurs whenever there is a change of national currency and the current form of money is pulled from circulation and retired, replaced with new notes or coins.
Objectives of Demonetisation:
- To discourage the use of high-denomination notes for illegal transactions and thus curb the widespread use of black money.
- To encourage digitisation of commercial transactions, formalise the economy and so, boost government tax revenues.
Impact of Demonetisation:
- Currency with the public stood at Rs. 17.97 lakh crore on 4th November 2016 and declined to Rs 7.8 lakh crore in January 2017 after Demonetisation.
- Demands fell, businesses faced a crisis, gross domestic product (GDP) growth declined nearly 1.5%, with many small units and shops shut down, created a liquidity shortage.
URI attack and the Surgical strike:
- The Uri attack refers to the grenade attacks carried out by terrorists near Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on 18th September 2016.
- In the wake of the attack, India cancelled its participation in the 19th SAARC summit to be held in November in Islamabad, Pakistan.
- On 28 September, eleven days after the attack, the Indian Army conducted retaliatory surgical strikes on launch-pads used by terrorists in Pakistan administered Kashmir.
GST (Goods and Services Tax):
- Introduced in 2017.
- It is a value-added tax levied on most goods and services sold for domestic consumption.
- Article 279A - GST Council is formed by the President to administer & govern GST. Its Chairman is the Union Finance Minister of India with ministers nominated by the state governments as its members.
- Initially, GST was levied at four rates: 5%, 12%, 16% and 28%. The schedule or list of items that would fall under these multiple slabs is worked out by the GST council.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO):
- SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation comprising 8 countries - China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
- It was created in 2001. Its official languages are Russian and Chinese.
- India and Pakistan joined the SCO in 2011.
- Unlike SAARC, SCO will not be broken down due to the issues between India and Pakistan. Those issues will be addressed by Russia and China.
