PLI Scheme for White Goods (Air Conditioners & LED Lights)

• The Government of India has selected five companies in the fourth round of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods, involving a committed investment of ₹863 crore.

PLI Scheme for White Goods :

What is the PLI Scheme for White Goods?

• The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods is a central sector scheme that provides performance-linked financial incentives to companies manufacturing key components of Air Conditioners (ACs) and LED lights in India, based on incremental sales.
• Launched in: FY 2021–22, with implementation till FY 2028–29.

Nodal organisation

• Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• Monitoring authority: Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), chaired by the Cabinet Secretary

Target segments (PLI Scheme for White Goods)

1. Air Conditioners:

• High-value intermediates: Capital- and technology-intensive core inputs like compressors, copper tubes, aluminium foils that drive value addition and reduce import dependence.
• Low-value intermediates: Supporting electronic and mechanical parts such as PCB assemblies, BLDC motors, service valves and cross-flow fans essential for AC functionality.
• Sub-assemblies (IDUs & ODUs): Integrated components for Indoor and Outdoor Units, enabling deeper domestic supply-chain integration.

       2. LED Lights:

• Core components: Critical electronic elements like LED chip packaging, ICs, resistors and fuses that determine efficiency, lifespan and performance.
• Other components: Enabling parts such as LED drivers, engines, modules, mechanicals and wire-wound inductors, supporting end-product manufacturing.

Key features:

• Financial incentive: 4%–6% incentive on incremental domestic sales encourages scale-based manufacturing growth.
• Base year (FY 2019–20): Serves as the benchmark to measure incremental investment and sales performance.
• Incentive period: 5 years + 1-year gestation allows time for capacity creation before reward linkage.
• Eligibility: Limited to greenfield or brownfield manufacturing investments to ensure real asset creation.
• Mandatory thresholds: Firms must meet both investment and sales targets to qualify, ensuring accountability.
• Priority criteria: Core component manufacturing and large investments are favoured to deepen value chains.
• Fund-limited design: Incentives are capped at Cabinet-approved outlay, ensuring fiscal discipline.

Coverage and scale:

• Total outlay: ₹6,238 crore, reflecting focused but strategic industrial support.
• Beneficiaries: 85 companies selected across four rounds, indicating strong industry response.
• Expected investment: Around ₹11,198 crore, signalling crowd-in of private capital.
• Expected production: Nearly ₹1.9 lakh crore, enhancing domestic manufacturing output.
• Employment impact: Significant direct and indirect job creation across electronics and appliance value chains.

NITI Aayog Sector-wise Green Transition Roadmaps

• NITI Aayog released three landmark reports outlining decarbonisation roadmaps for India’s cement, aluminium, and MSME sectors.

1. Green Transition in the Cement Sector

• Global Status: India is the world’s second-largest cement producer after China, contributing about 13% of global output.
• Emission Impact: In 2023, cement output was 391 million tonnes, accounting for ~7% of India’s total GHG emissions.
• Future Growth: Cement production is projected to rise sevenfold to 2,100 million tonnes by 2070 to support infrastructure expansion.
• Decarbonisation Goal: The roadmap aims to reduce carbon intensity from the current 0.63 tCO₂ to 0.09-0.13 tCO₂ per tonne by 2070.

Recommendations for the Cement Sector

• Clinker Reduction: Reduce the limestone-to-cement ratio using fly ash and slag to lower emissions.
• Fuel Switching: Replace coal in cement kilns with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) from municipal waste.
• Carbon Capture: Deploy Carbon Capture, Utilisation, & Storage (CCUS) to manage residual emissions.
• Standard Reform: Shift from input-based norms to performance-based standards to encourage low-carbon cement blends.

2. Green Transition in the Aluminium Sector

• Production Rank: India is the second-largest producer of primary aluminium, contributing 6% of global output; 40-50% of India’s primary aluminium output is exported.
• Emission Burden: Aluminium production reached 4 million tonnes in 2023, accounting for about 2.8% of national emissions.
• High Intensity: The current emission intensity is 20-21 tCO₂ per tonne, well above the global average of 15 tCO₂.

Recommendations for the Aluminium Sector

• Short-term: Shift to Renewable Energy Round-the-Clock (RE-RTC) to decarbonise the smelting process.
• Medium-term: Adopt small modular reactors or captive nuclear plants for a stable zero-carbon baseload.
• Long-Term: Integrate CCUS with existing coal-based power plants to manage deep decarbonization.
• Recycling Expansion: Promote secondary aluminium production through scrap recycling.

3. Green Transition in the MSME Sector

• Sector Size: India has nearly 69 million MSMEs, which contribute 30% of GDP & 45.7% of total exports.
• Emission Share: MSMEs emitted 135 million tonnes of carbon in 2022, accounting for about 3-4% of national emissions.

Recommendations for the MSME Sector

• Central Coordination: Establish a National Project Management Agency (NPMA) to coordinate the MSME green transition across industrial clusters.
• Cleaner Fuels: Replace coal and furnace oil with cleaner fuels such as natural gas or biomass.
• Green Power: Enable MSMEs to procure renewable electricity through the Green Open Access Rules.
• Green Finance: Allocate dedicated credit-guarantee funds to help MSMEs manage high upfront costs for green technologies.

Government launches Digital Climate Atlas, marking 15 years of NICRA

• A new digital platform, Atlas of Climate Adaptation in Indian Agriculture (ACASA-India) has been launched to help farmers plan for climate challenges.
• It has been developed by ICAR-led National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES) in collaboration with Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) –CIMMYT to support location-specific, data-driven adaptation planning for climate resilient agriculture.
• Insights from ACASA-India would help government agencies determine future investment requirements for climate risk mitigation and scaling opportunities.

National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

• Launched by: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 2011
• Objective:

1. To enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and vulnerability
2. To validate and demonstrate climate resilient technologies on farmer’s fields.

What is Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA)?

• It refers to adopting adaptation and mitigation practices in agriculture to enhance system’s ability to withstand climate shocks and recover quickly.

Need for CRA                                                            

• Preventing Yield loss: Climate change can reduce yields by 4.5 to 9.0% resulting in around 1.5% GDP loss per year.
• Protecting Livelihoods: Around 57% of rural households depend on farming for income.
• Rainfed Area Vulnerability: 51% of India’s net sown area is rainfed, producing ~40% of food, making it highly sensitive to climate variability.
• Food security: India faces increased issues of undernourishment, child malnutrition, micronutrient deficiency etc.

Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole)

• A rare Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole) has been camera-trapped for the first time in Ratapani Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, indicating improving habitat and prey conditions.

Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole):

• The Asiatic Wild Dog, commonly called the Dhole (Cuon alpinus), is a wild canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is a highly social, pack-hunting top predator that plays a key role in regulating herbivore populations.

Habitat and distribution

• Preferred habitats: Dense forests, forest-grassland mosaics, and hilly/undulating landscapes with adequate prey.
• India: Found mainly in central Indian forests and the Western/Eastern Ghats, typically within or near large protected landscapes where prey base is strong.
• Ecological requirement: Needs large, connected habitats because packs range widely and depend on continuous prey availability.
• IUCN Red List: Endangered (EN)

Key characteristics

• Pack hunter: Typically hunts in cooperative groups, relying on teamwork rather than solitary ambush.
• Prey preference: Medium-to-large ungulates such as chital, sambar, deer, etc.
• Highly social: Lives in clans/packs with cooperative care of young; strong coordination during hunts.
• Distinctive identity: Reddish coat, rounded ears, and specialised dentition adapted for meat-shearing.
• Competition: Coexists with tigers and leopards; overlaps in prey but often differentiates through hunting strategy and pack behaviour.

Significance:

• Presence suggests good prey base + habitat quality + reduced disturbance.
• Adds another apex/meso-level predator, improving trophic balance and biodiversity stability.

Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) – Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme

• India’s Advanced Chemistry Cell–Production Linked Incentive (ACC-PLI) scheme has fallen behind schedule, with only 1.4 GWh battery capacity commissioned against a target of 50 GWh by 2026, as per a recent analytical report.

What is the ACC-PLI scheme?

• The ACC-PLI scheme is a central sector incentive programme to promote domestic manufacturing of advanced battery cells (such as lithium-ion cells) used in electric vehicles (EVs) and grid-scale energy storage, reducing India’s dependence on imports.
• Announced in: October 2021
• Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Heavy Industries
• Aim and objectives:

1. Create 50 GWh of domestic ACC manufacturing capacity.
2. Build a local battery supply chain (cells, components, materials).
3. Reduce strategic dependence on imported batteries (especially from China).

Key features of ACC-PLI Scheme

• Total outlay (₹18,100 crore): Government financial commitment to scale up domestic advanced battery manufacturing.
• Performance-linked incentive: Subsidy linked to actual battery cells sold, ensuring output-based support.
• Incentive cap (~₹2,000/kWh): Sets an upper limit on per-unit support to control fiscal cost.
• Minimum investment (₹1,100 crore): Ensures only serious, large-scale manufacturers
• Domestic value addition mandate: Compels creation of a local battery supply chain.

1. 25% in 2 years: Early localisation push.
2. 60% in 5 years: Deep manufacturing ecosystem over time.

• Target technology: Focuses on Advanced Chemistry Cells (like lithium-ion) critical for EVs and energy storage, excluding conventional lead-acid batteries.

Selected beneficiaries:

• Ola Electric, Reliance New Energy, Rajesh Exports chosen via competitive bidding.
• Hyundai Global exited, reducing effective allocated capacity.

Karpoori Thakur

• Context (PIB): PM Narendra Modi paid tributes to Karpoori Thakur on his birth anniversary.
• Karpoori Thakur was born on January 24, 1924, in Karpoori Gram, Bihar.
• He was a socialist leader and former CM of Bihar, popularly known as “Jan Nayak”.
• He actively participated in India’s freedom struggle, including the Quit India Movement of 1942.
• Major Reform: He introduced the “Karpoori Thakur Formula”, a layered reservation system for government jobs and educational institutions.
• The formula allocates 26% reservation;12% for OBCs, 8% for Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), 3% for women, and 3% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
• Social Measures: He enforced a total prohibition of alcohol in Bihar, waived school fees, strengthened Panchayati Raj, and prioritised farmers’ welfare.
• National Honour: He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2024 for advancing social justice.

The President of India paid tribute to Veer Surendra Sai on birth anniversary

Veer Surendra Sai (1809-1884)

• Born in village of Rajpur-Khinda near Sambalpur town (Odisha) in Chauhan royal family.
• Prominent freedom fighter and tribal leader from Odisha

Contributions

• He began fighting against British dominance at age 18 in 1827.
• Organised a guerrilla-style rebellion involving tribal communities such as Binjhal, Gond etc.
• After death of ruler of Sambalpur, British applied Doctrine of Lapse and annexed Sambalpur in 1849, denying Surendra Sai his legitimate claim.
• During the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, Sai returned to Sambalpur and relaunched the rebellion against British.
• Many tribal Zamindars (Landlords) and Gauntias (local leaders) rallied to his cause.
• Values: Patriotism ,Courage and valour

Environmental (Protection) Fund Rules, 2026

• Government notified rules for utilisation of Environmental (Protection) Fund (EPF) to ensure penalties collected under environmental laws are used for pollution control.

About Environmental (Protection) Fund (EPF)

• Legal Backing: Enabled through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised minor environmental offences but retained monetary penalties.
• Core Idea: Converts “polluter pays” penalties into restorative environmental outcomes.
• Penalty Pool: Fund is built from penalties/compensation imposed under key environmental laws like the Air Act, Water Act, and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Administrative & Digital Architecture

• Nodal Authority: MoEFCC will administer the fund (or notify another competent body).
• PMU Model: Dedicated Project Management Units at the Centre and States for implementation.
• Online Portal: CPCB online portal enables tracking of allocation, utilisation and project outputs.
• CAG Audit: Fund to be audited periodically by CAG to prevent misuse/diversion.
• Centre–State Sharing: 75% penalty amount transferred to the Consolidated Fund of the concerned State & 25% retained by the Centre for national-level environmental initiatives.
• Permitted Activities: Rules allow fund use across 11 broad categories.

Permitted Uses of the Fund

• Pollution Control: Prevention, control and mitigation of air, water, and soil pollution.
• Site Remediation: Restoration of contaminated/degraded environmental sites.
• Monitoring Systems: Installation, operation and maintenance of monitoring equipment.
• Lab Strengthening: Building/upgrading lab infrastructure for environmental testing and compliance.
• Institutional Capacity: Capacity building of regulators & technical personnel for stronger enforcement.
• Clean-Tech Push: Research, innovation and adoption of clean/green technologies for sustainability.

Granth Kutir

• President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated Granth Kutir at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• The scripture library aims to preserve India’s literary heritage across its 11 classical languages.
• It houses about 2,300 books and 50 rare manuscripts written on palm leaf, bark, cloth, and paper.
• It explicitly replaces colonial-era texts with curated works rooted in indigenous knowledge systems.
• The initiative promotes unity in diversity and raises citizen awareness of India’s civilisational traditions.

Classical Language

• These are ancient languages with independent traditions and rich literary histories influencing later literary and philosophical works.
• The recognition of a classical language is based on criteria set by a Linguistic Experts Committee.
• India recognises 11 classical languages: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014); five more were added in 2024: Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali.

National Voters’ Day 2026

• Context (PIB): The 16th National Voters’ Day (NVD-2026) is being observed on January 25, 2026.
• The theme “My India, My Vote,” with the tagline “Citizen at the Heart of Indian Democracy,” highlights voters’ central role in democracy.
• Chief Guest: President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the national-level function in New Delhi.

About National Voters’ Day

• It is observed annually to mark the establishment of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 1950.
• The Government of India first instituted the day in 2011 to address low youth voter enrolment.
• The Day aims to facilitate and maximise voter registration, especially among newly eligible voters.
• The day includes the conferment of National Awards for Best Electoral Practices and promotes SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation), the ECI’s voter awareness programme.

Delhi Declaration 2026

• Election commission of India’s conference International Conference on Democracy and Election Management 2026 concluded with adoption of Delhi Declaration 2026.

Delhi Declaration 2026

Global Election Management Bodies (EMBs) adopted 5 key-pillars to safeguarding democratic integrity:

1. Purity of Electoral Rolls: EMBs should strive to provide Photo Identity Cards to all electors.
2. Conduct of Elections: EMBs to function as per the mandate laid down in their Constitution or in their respective laws.
3. Research and Publications: Bring out Encyclopaedia of Democracies of the World.
4. Use of Technology: India to share its experience of the digital platform ECINET, for co-development of a similar platform for any other EMB.
5. Training and Capacity Building: India to share its vast experience through training and exchange of its transparent practices.