Daily Current Affairs – 21-01-2025

Tamil Nadu

Coal India eyes lithium in Argentina

® Coal India Ltd plans to diversify into critical minerals, focusing on lithium brine assets in Argentina . ® It has invited expressions of interest (EoI) from consultants for conducting technical due diligence on these assets. ® Lithium brine is a concentrated salt solution containing lithium, a key component of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs). ® The Indian government has listed 30 minerals, including lithium, as critical minerals.

Delhi Metro expansion

® PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2.8 km Janakpuri-Krishna Park stretch of the Delhi Metro Phase-IV , built at a cost of ₹1,200 crore. ® The Delhi Metro network now has 289 stations across 394.5 km. ® He also laid the foundation stone for the 26.5 km Rithala-Kundli section of the Delhi Metro Phase-IV, to be built at ₹6,230 crore. ® India has the third largest metro network in the world after China and the USA.

Minimum Support Price

® The Government fixes MSPs of 22 mandated crops including wheat, pulses and oilseeds on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), after considering the views of State Governments and Central Ministries/Departments concerned & other relevant factors. ® While recommending MSP, CACP considers various factors viz. ® cost of production, ® overall demand-supply situations of various crops in domestic and world markets, domestic and international prices, ® inter-crop price parity, ® terms of trade between agriculture and non-agricultural sector, ® effect of price policy on rest of economy, ® rational utilization of land, water and other production resources and ® a minimum of 50 percent as the margin over the cost of production ® The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) headed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan had recommended that the MSP should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production.

Wheat procurement target set

® The central government has set a wheat procurement target of 30 million tonnes for the 2025-26 Rabi marketing season (starting April). ® The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is fixed at ₹2,425 per quintal. ® In 2024-25, the government procured 26.6 million tonnes of wheat against a target of 30-32 million tonnes.