Prelims Focus 8th June 2026

08/06/2026

35 2 minutes read

Surha Tal

In News: Surha Tal (Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary) in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh has become India’s 100th Ramsar Site.

The sanctuary was created in 1991 with its core area around Surha Tal, a natural oxbow lake, a flowing bend in the Ganga River, that has been created because the river has shifted its course.
It is situated in the Indo Gangetic Plain near the confluence of river Ganga and Ghaghara.
It is the home of several migrating birds from Siberia and Central Asia, such as Greylag Goose, Pintail, Common Teal and Bar-headed Goose.
Sarus crane, Heron and Cormorant are locally found.

Isobutanol

In News: With the expansion of India’s biofuel policy to include isobutanol in the fuel supply, the government is considering the possibility of diesel being used as a base for fuel blends containing up to 15% isobutanol as a means to reduce reliance on crude oil imports.

Isobutanol is a biofuel –an alcohol which can be used in place of diesel.
It contains more energy and has properties more similar to traditional hydrocarbon fuels, which means it’s more efficient than ethanol and reduces the environmental impact on vehicle miles traveled.
It absorbs less moisture from the atmosphere, which decreases problems in storage and in the fuel systems.
Less corrosive to fuel system parts, pipelines and storage facilities.
It can be retrofitted in existing engines and fuel infrastructure with comparatively less modifications.

Jan Samarth Portal

In News: It has been four years since the Jan Samarth Portal has been helping to drive digital financial inclusion and a seamless delivery of credit.

Jan Samarth is a single window digital platform introduced in 2022, through which the benefits of 16 government schemes linked to credit can be availed.
It helps to ease access to institutional finance for livelihoods, agriculture, business, housing and renewable energy sectors.
The portal is provided in 8 languages and has enrolled 269 lending institutions such as banks, NBFCs and cooperative banks.
It helps to process loans digitally from end-to-end with real-time verification in the databases like UIDAI, UDYAM, AgriStack, GST, and Central Board of Direct Taxes.

District Domestic Product (DDP) Estimates with Base Year 2022-23

In News: The National Statistics Office (NSO) and Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) have released a Draft Guideline for Compilation of District Domestic Product (DDP) Estimates (2022-23 Base Year).

The guideline offers a comprehensive and standardized approach for preparing the District Domestic Product estimates for States and Union Territories.
Objective: To ensure consistency, comparability and methodological standardization in district level economic estimates in the revised base year framework.
A district’s own Gross Domestic Product (DDP)
The DDP estimates are statistical estimates that are used to determine the total value of goods and services produced in a district over a given time period.
They are disaggregated and act as a mirror image of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the State and national level respectively to provide granular insight into the local economic structure and performance of districts.
They can be used to compare the economic performance of the districts and to highlight districts that are performing backwards and to develop local development programs.