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Daily Current Affairs: 29 March 2025

Current affairs of 29 March 2025: India-US Tariffs: Why India May Skip Blanket Duty Cuts; US Reciprocal Tariffs: Impact and Openings for India; 156 Light Combat Helicopters: ₹62,700 Crore HAL Contracts, and 13 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)March 2025

In this issue: 16 topics

National Affairs

Indian Ports Bill 2025 Introduced in Lok Sabha

Government Schemes

₹22,919-Crore Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme Approved
eShram Registration of Gig Workers: 70,000 Onboarded

Banking & Finance

RBI Deputy Governor’s Advice to NBFCs on Prudent Lending
NSE Replies to SEBI on IPO Readiness: Key Issues
BSE Shares Jump 17% After SEBI Caps Derivatives Expiry Days
RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan on Fair Lending by NBFCs

Economy

PAC’s 19th Report: GST Flaws and the Case for GST 2.0
India’s Fiscal Deficit April-February FY25: 85.8% of Estimate
Core Sector Growth Slows to 2.9% in February 2025

International Affairs

India-US Tariffs: Why India May Skip Blanket Duty Cuts
US Reciprocal Tariffs: Impact and Openings for India

Agriculture & Rural

NBS Rates for Kharif 2025-26: Rs 37,216 Crore Approved

Environment & Ecology

Indian Carbon Market: Offset Mechanism Procedures Approved

Defence & Security

156 Light Combat Helicopters: ₹62,700 Crore HAL Contracts

Reports & Indexes

Women’s Workforce Participation 25% in 2024: MoSPI Findings

National Affairs

Polity & Governance

1. Indian Ports Bill 2025 Introduced in Lok Sabha

Minister Sarbananda Sonowal introduced the Indian Ports Bill 2025 to replace the Indian Ports Act, 1908.
It proposes mega ports, a Maritime State Development Council and state-level dispute committees.
CPI-M's K. Radhakrishnan said it centralises power.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

2. ₹22,919-Crore Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme Approved

Union Cabinet approved a ₹22,919-crore scheme over six years for electronics component manufacturing.
Incentives rest on turnover and employment, not production-linked rewards.
Targets: ₹59,350 crore investment, ₹4,56,500 crore production, 91,600 direct jobs.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

3. eShram Registration of Gig Workers: 70,000 Onboarded

Over 70,000 gig workers in 36 states/UTs registered on eShram.
Ten major platforms onboarded their workers.
35 lakh more are expected to be eligible in FY26.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

Banking & Finance

4. RBI Deputy Governor’s Advice to NBFCs on Prudent Lending

RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan J said NBFCs must not take risks beyond their capacity to absorb them.
He called for fair, ethical lending and recovery and a strong grievance redress system.
Auditors were urged to maintain rigour, objectivity, transparency and ethics in financial reporting.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

5. NSE Replies to SEBI on IPO Readiness: Key Issues

NSE sent a 16-page response to SEBI as it seeks approval to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).
SEBI raised technology glitches, public-interest focus, the MD-KMP pay gap and clearing corporation ownership.
NSE said 67% of employee expenses go to public-interest verticals.
NSE has been awaiting IPO approval since 2016.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

6. BSE Shares Jump 17% After SEBI Caps Derivatives Expiry Days

BSE shares jumped 17% in a day, the best in six months, closing at ₹5,438.
SEBI limited index derivatives expiries to two days a week, Tuesday or Thursday, and NSE deferred its Monday shift.
BSE's market share rose from 13% to 19% in two months; options premium volume grew 30% QoQ.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

7. RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan on Fair Lending by NBFCs

Deputy Governor J Swaminathan stressed fair lending and ethical recovery by NBFCs.
NBFCs must set up strong grievance redressal systems, and risk-taking must stay within their capacity.
Lending curbs on Navi Finserv, Arohan Financial Services and DMI Finance over alleged usurious rates were lifted after corrective steps.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

Polity & Governance

8. PAC’s 19th Report: GST Flaws and the Case for GST 2.0

The PAC noted a 2% fall in indirect tax revenue between FY18 and FY20, before the pandemic.
Audit of 10,667 sample cases found ₹32,577.73 crore of inconsistencies.
The PAC suggests a GST 2.0 review; States want a 70%-80% revenue share against 50% now.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

9. India’s Fiscal Deficit April-February FY25: 85.8% of Estimate

Fiscal deficit for April-February FY25 was ₹15.70 trillion, or 85.8% of the revised estimate, against 86.5% a year earlier.
Targets: fiscal deficit of 4.8% of GDP in FY25 and 4.4% in FY26.
Tax revenue was ₹25.57 trillion (78.8% of target); non-tax revenue ₹5.31 trillion (92.9%).
Capital expenditure was ₹10.18 trillion, up 8% year-on-year.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

10. Core Sector Growth Slows to 2.9% in February 2025

Core sector growth fell to 2.9% in February 2025 from 5.1% in January and 7.1% a year earlier.
Steel grew 5.6% and cement 10.5%; fertiliser output rose 10.2%, the highest in nearly two years.
Crude oil fell 5.2% and natural gas 6.0%.
Core industries carry a 40.27% weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

11. India-US Tariffs: Why India May Skip Blanket Duty Cuts

India is unlikely to cut tariffs across the board and may ease non-tariff barriers.
Reciprocal US tariffs could lift the average tariff to 15.7% from 2.7%.
India levies an average 40% on US farm imports; the US charges 2.9% on Indian agri exports.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

12. US Reciprocal Tariffs: Impact and Openings for India

US imposed 25% duties on steel and aluminium (12 March 2025) and 25% on automobiles (effective 3 April 2025).
China, Mexico and Canada, about 50% of US imports (~$3 trillion), are affected; India may gain market share.
India's textile and apparel exports have stayed at $40 billion for six years, growing 0.8% a year versus 3.5% globally.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Agriculture & Rural

Government Schemes

13. NBS Rates for Kharif 2025-26: Rs 37,216 Crore Approved

₹37,216 crore is allocated for H1 FY26 under the Nutrient-Based Subsidy.
Per-kg phosphorus subsidy is 41% above Rabi FY25; DAP subsidy rose from ₹25,411 to ₹27,800 per tonne.
ICRA expects DAP import losses to shrink from ₹4,000 to ₹1,000 per tonne.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Environment & Ecology

14. Indian Carbon Market: Offset Mechanism Procedures Approved

The government approved detailed procedures for the offset mechanism under the Indian Carbon Market, covering eight sectors.
From December 2023 the offset mechanism has let non-obligated entities earn carbon credits by volunteering for climate projects.
It operationalises the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme notified in June 2023 and supports the 2070 Net Zero target.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Defence & Security

Defence & Security

15. 156 Light Combat Helicopters: ₹62,700 Crore HAL Contracts

Two HAL contracts cover 156 Light Combat Helicopters for over ₹62,700 crore, excluding taxes.
90 LCHs go to the Army and 66 to the IAF; deliveries start in year three over five years.
The LCH is India's first indigenously designed combat helicopter; about 65% indigenous content is expected.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Health & Social Issues

16. Women’s Workforce Participation 25% in 2024: MoSPI Findings

Women's workforce participation reached 25% in 2024, from 21.8% in 2019; men's rose to 75% from 70.9%.
92.9% of women did unpaid domestic work versus 30.4% of men, spending 305 minutes daily against 86.
Youth (15-29) female participation was only 14.9%, versus 56.3% for males.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Test yourself

15 questions from the news of 29 March 2025, with answers and explanations.