NABARD Grade A Current Affairs — 5 October 2026

Launched on 17 September 2023, PM Vishwakarma is a Central Sector Scheme providing end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople working in 18 traditional trades. It offers recognition via PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card, skill training, a toolkit incentive of ₹15,000, collateral-free credit up to ₹3 lakh in two tranches at 5% concessional interest, and digital and marketing support. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises implements the scheme.

PM Vishwakarma addresses a structural gap in India's informal economy: traditional artisans in trades such as carpentry, blacksmithing, goldsmithing, pottery, and weaving possess generational skills but lack formal recognition, affordable credit, and market linkages. Without collateral, they are excluded from mainstream banking. The scheme's five-pillar design closes each gap systematically.

The credit architecture is particularly exam-relevant. Beneficiaries receive credit in two tranches: ₹1 lakh in the first tranche and ₹2 lakh in the second, both at a concessional rate of 5% per annum. The interest subvention is borne by the Central Government. This makes it a Direct Benefit Transfer-linked credit scheme, not a subsidy scheme, which is a critical distinction examiners probe.

The 18 eligible trades span carpentry (Suthar), boat making, armourer, blacksmith (Lohar), hammer and tool kit maker, locksmith, goldsmith (Sonar), potter (Kumhar), sculptor, cobbler (Charmakar), mason (Rajmistri), basket/mat/broom maker, doll/toy maker, barber (Naai), garland maker (Maalakar), washerman (Dhobi), tailor (Darzi), and fishing net maker. The breadth signals that the examiner can ask for the count (18) or test whether a specific trade is included.

For NABARD aspirants, the rural credit and livelihood angle is primary — the scheme targets artisans who overlap significantly with the rural poor and SHG ecosystems. For UPSC aspirants, the governance angle matters: it is a Central Sector Scheme (100% centrally funded), implemented by MoMSME, with delivery through Common Service Centres.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav launched India's first rewilding process for captive-bred Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The GIB, critically endangered with fewer than 150 individuals surviving in the wild, is India's most threatened bird. Captive breeding began at the Desert National Park breeding centre. The rewilding initiative marks a shift from ex-situ conservation to reintroducing bred individuals into their native desert habitat, aiming to stabilise the collapsing wild population.

The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is India's most critically endangered bird, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and Appendix I of CITES, offering the highest legal protection. The IUCN Red List classifies it as Critically Endangered. Its population has crashed from several thousand in the 1960s to under 150 today, with Rajasthan holding the largest share.

Two conservation strategies apply here. Ex-situ conservation means protecting species outside their natural habitat — in zoos, breeding centres, or seed banks. In-situ conservation means protecting species within their natural ecosystem. India's GIB captive breeding programme at Desert National Park (DNP), Jaisalmer, is ex-situ. Rewilding — returning captive-bred animals to the wild — is the bridge between ex-situ breeding success and in-situ population recovery.

The GIB's primary threats include high-voltage power line collisions (GIBs have poor frontal vision and cannot dodge lines), habitat loss from agriculture and renewable energy infrastructure, and hunting. The Supreme Court in 2021 ordered undergrounding of power lines in GIB habitat, though this was subsequently modified.

The nodal ministry is the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The species is protected under Project Bustard and features in India's National Wildlife Action Plan. Desert National Park, spread across Jaisalmer and Barmer districts, is the key protected area for this species. For UPSC, the examiner tests IUCN status, Schedule classification, threats, and the distinction between ex-situ and in-situ conservation.

India's Monetary Policy Committee faces a calibrated dilemma as of October 2025: headline inflation is holding within the RBI's 2–6 percent tolerance band, yet strong economic growth and festive-season demand are stoking pressure that could push prices higher. The MPC must weigh whether to hold the repo rate steady or tighten policy to pre-empt demand-driven inflation — a classic growth-versus-stability trade-off at the heart of inflation targeting.

India's monetary policy framework, formalised under the RBI Act (amended 2016), tasks the MPC with keeping CPI inflation at 4 percent (±2 percent). The primary instrument is the repo rate — the rate at which RBI lends overnight funds to commercial banks. When the MPC raises the repo rate, borrowing becomes costlier for banks, which transmit this through higher lending rates, dampening credit growth, consumption, and investment — thereby cooling demand-pull inflation.

The festive season (October–December) is structurally the highest consumer-demand quarter in India, covering Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali, and year-end purchases. This seasonal surge amplifies demand-pull pressures. If the MPC perceives inflation risk rising even when headline CPI is within the band, it may pre-emptively tighten — or signal a shift in stance from 'accommodative' or 'neutral' to 'withdrawal of accommodation.'

The LAF (Liquidity Adjustment Facility) corridor — bounded by the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate at the floor and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate at the ceiling — determines how liquidity is managed day-to-day. The repo rate sits in the middle. A rate hike lifts the entire corridor, raising the cost of funds across the banking system.

For NABARD, a repo rate change directly affects refinancing costs, since NABARD's short-term credit lines to cooperative banks and RRBs are priced relative to the policy rate. Higher rates compress agricultural credit affordability, particularly for input-financing loans during kharif and rabi seasons.

A PIB factsheet consolidates major achievements and scheme parameters across Indian agriculture and allied sectors. It covers targets and outlays for flagship programmes including PM-KISAN, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission, the Blue Revolution, and the Livestock sector. Key numbers include beneficiary counts, budgetary allocations, MSP revisions, and production records in food grains, horticulture, fisheries, and dairy — forming a single reference for competitive exam aspirants.

India's agriculture sector contributes approximately 18–20% of GDP and employs nearly 46% of the workforce, making it the backbone of rural livelihoods and a central policy priority. The PIB factsheet acts as a consolidated government scorecard, presenting scheme-level data across crop insurance, irrigation, income support, and allied sectors — exactly the kind of multi-scheme, multi-number document that NABARD and UPSC examiners mine for questions.

PM-KISAN provides ₹6,000 per year in three equal instalments of ₹2,000 directly to farmer families, with over 11 crore beneficiaries enrolled. PMFBY covers crop losses with a premium capped at 2% for kharif, 1.5% for rabi, and 5% for commercial/horticultural crops — the government bears the balance. PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana operates under the motto 'Har Khet Ko Pani, More Crop Per Drop,' targeting micro-irrigation expansion. The Blue Revolution consolidates fisheries schemes, aiming to double fish production and fishermen's incomes. The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission promotes scientific beekeeping for both pollination services and income generation.

For NABARD aspirants, the credit-linkage, cooperative outreach, and rural infrastructure financing angles within these schemes are critical. For UPSC aspirants, the governance architecture — which ministry implements what, what the inter-ministerial coordination looks like, and how welfare delivery mechanisms are designed — is the testing lens. Exact numbers, implementing ministries, and scheme objectives remain the most frequently tested elements.