Eminent Economist Arvind Panagariya appointed as NITI Aayog vice-chairman

Eminent free-market economist Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as Vice-chairman of NationalInstitution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.

NITI Aayog is established by government to function as both a think tank and a policy forum and replaces decades year old Planning Commission.

As a vice chairman, he will play a pivotal role in coordinating economic strategy and hold position similar to cabinet rank minister.

About Arvind Panagariya

He is an Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from prestigious Princeton University.
He was an ex-Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
He has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.
He has written around 10 books and the latest was India: The Emerging Giant published in 2008.

Other Appointments of NITI Aayog

Full-Time Members:

Bibek Debroy- Economist.
V.K. Saraswat- Former Secretary Defence R&D.

Ex-officio members:

Rajnath Singh- Union Home Minister.
Arun Jaitley- Union Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Minister.
Suresh Prabhu- Union Minister of Railways.
Radha Mohan Singh- Union Minister of Agriculture.

Special Invitees:

Nitin Gadkari- Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping.
Thawar Chand Gehlot-Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Smriti Zubin Irani- Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD).

Union Sports Ministry recommends Saina Nehwal’s name for Padma Bhushan award

Union Sports Ministry has recommendedbadminton player Saina Nehwal’s name for Padma Bhushan award. As per Sports ministry, recommending her name is a special case.

Earlier, she had expressed anger for not being nominated for this year’s award.

However, Sports ministry earlier did not nominate her citing reason that Badminton Association ofIndia (BAI) did not apply for Saina’s name for award on time. Later on 3^rd January 2015, BAI had acknowledged Saina’s name to Sports ministry paving way for her nomination.

About Saina Nehwal

She was born 17 March 1990 in Hisar, Haryana.
She is the first Indian to win Olympics medal in Badminton and had achieved this feat by winning the Bronze medal at the London Olympics 2012.
She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships and was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by winningIndonesia Open in 2009.
She also has won the China Open Super Series Premier-2014.
She is only Indian badminton player who attained a career best ranking of number 2 in December 2010 by Badminton World Federation.
Awards: Government has awarded her with Arjuna Award (2009), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009–2010) and Padma Shri (2010).

About Padma Bhushan award

It is the third highest civilian award in India, after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan. It was established on 2 January 1954 by President and is awarded to recognized person for their distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field

Every year it is announced on the occasion of Republic Day. It is conferred to recipient by the President at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

ICICI Bank Launches Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat

Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation ofIndia (ICICI) Bank has launched its own version ofDigital Village Project by adopting entire Akodara Village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat.

It was launched presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar to mark 60-year-celebration of the ICICI group’s existence.

Key facts about ICICI Bank’s Digital Village Project

It is launched in lines with Governments flagship programme of Digital India.
It seeks to provide entire village with services ranging from cashlessbanking to digitised school teaching.
As part of this project, banking platform at rural part will be digitized by covering all aspects of banking like opening an account to sale of goods to purchase of products including milk from the vendors or local kirana stores.
In case of school teaching, it will digitized all school records alongwith the Gujarat syllabus and even teaching methods and tools.
It will also provide necessary infrastructure needed for digisiting entire village in order to provide villager with the access required to data and information in a digital format.
Besides basic banking facilities like ATMs and other digital banking services, other services like e-health, e-milk producer group, Wi-Fi connectivity and schools with digital black boards in the village, along with a host of other digital facilities will be provided under this project.

About ICICI Bank

It was established in 1955 as ICICI Ltd.

Originally it was set up as an Indian financial institution as the initiative of theWorld Bank, the Government of India and representatives of Indian industry to provide project financing to Indian businesses.

Later in 1994, it got merged to form ICICI Bank.

RBI relaxes KYC norms for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC’s)

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Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed Know-Your-Customers (KYC) norms for Non-BankingFinancial Companies (NBFCs).

In this regard, RBI has amended the KYC norms in order to remove the practical difficulties and constraints being faced by NBFC’s in getting KYC documents at frequent intervals.

Previously, as per the norms it was necessary for NBFC’s to undertake KYC once in every 5 years for low risk category customers and once in two years for both high and medium risk categories.

But as per new norms, full KYC exercise will be required to be done at least every 10 years for low risk and at least every 8 years for medium risk individuals and entities.

While for the high-risk individuals and entities, it should be done in at least every 2 years.

This full KYC exercise will be done by taking into account whether and when client due diligence measures have previously been undertaken and the adequacy of data obtained.

However, the new norm does not mention physical presence of clients for such periodic updations.

PM inaugurates 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015 at Mumbai Universitie

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Indian Science Congress 2015 at the MumbaiUniversity. It is the 102nd edition of this congress and Mumbai is hosting it again after the gap of 45 yThe theme of 102^nd Congress is Science and Technology for Human Development.

The Congress sessions aims to bring together eminent scientists, research scholars to popularize science and foster a scientific temperament.

Key facts

It is 5 day event and will witness deliberations and presentation of papers by the scientific fraternity from across the globe. More than 12 thousand delegates are going to participate in the session.
In this congress several symposia on relevant themes such as Women’s Science Congress, Children Science Congress and Science Exhibition etc will be also organized.
This edition will cover a wide variety of topics like: Agriculture and forestry, veterinary science, earth science, environment, engineering, information & communication, computer sciences, mathematics, medicine, biology, physics and plant sciences among others.
Other themes of interest include science & technology in SAARC countries, biodiversity conservation, space application, GM crops and the use of modern biotechnology in agriculture, clean energy systems for the future.

Government splits Chairman & MD post in PSU banks and names chiefs for 4 PSU banks

Government has decided to separate the post of Chairman and Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in public sector banks.

With this decision government is breaking the tradition of having the heads of state-run banks act as both chairman and managing director.

As per the Finance Ministry, the Chairman in public sector banks other than State Bank of India (SBI) will be a part- time board member. He will preside over the board meetings and will not be an Executive Chairman.

This means that for the first time, PSU banks will have a non-Executive Chairman, giving operational responsibility to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

In pursuance of the decision, the government has appointed four Managing Directors and CEOs of following 4 PSU banks

Koteeswaran was named as MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank.
Srinivas was named as MD and CEO of United Bank of India.
Animesh Chauhan was named MD and CEO of Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Kishore Sansi was named MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank.

Above 4 MD’s and CEO’s will have tenure of 3 years or till the date of superannuation, whichever is earlier. These appointments were made based on the recommendations of Appointments Board chaired by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor.

Government also has decided to go for a fresh selection procedure for the post of Chairman and MD and CEO in Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank andCanara Bank, which are ‘A’ category large banks.

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni announces his retirement from Test cricket

Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect.

His decision came after the third Test match ofIndia against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which ended in a draw.

Now on 6th January for the Fourth and Final Test against Australia, Indian team will be led by Virat Kohli. It should be noted that India has already lost the series.

After his retiring from Test career, he is going to focus on ODI and T20 cricket.

Some facts about Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Cricket career

He was captain for 60 test matches out of total 90 he had played.
He also holds best record of most Test matches wins as India captain i.e. 27 wins, beating Sourav Ganguly’s earlier 21 test matches wins record.
He had started his Test career in 2005 as wicket-keeper against Sri Lankaand for the first time he became captain of Indian Test Cricket team in 2008.
He also hold record for stumping around 134 players in all the three match formats of cricket by surpassing Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
In his Test career, he has scored 4876 runs in 144 innings and his highest Test score is 224 runs.
He also is first Indian batsman to complete 10,000 runs or more as captain in international cricket, joining Ricky Ponting (15440), Graeme Smith (14878), Stephen Fleming (11561) and Allan Border (11062).
He also had led India in two unprecedented ICC World Cup titles (2007-Twenty20 World Championships and the 2011-ODI World Cup).

AirAsia flight QZ8501 Incident

AirAsia flight QZ8501 had disappeared from air traffic control (ATC) screens over the Java Sea coast off Indonesia on 28 December, as it flew from theIndonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.

This flight lost its contact with ATC after the pilot of plane had requested a change of flight plan due to bad weather, but were not allowed to alter course by authorities.

The debris of the missing plane along with floating bodies of some passengers were spotted on 30th December in the Java Sea off Indonesia, close to the area where contact was lost with the aircraft.

About AirAsia flight QZ8501 Incident

Airbus A320-200 took off from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.
It was carrying 155 passengers- 1 British, 1 Malaysian, 1 Singaporean, 3 South Koreans, 149 Indonesians and 7 crew members- 6 Indonesians and a French co-pilot.
The pilot’s last contact was a request to divert around bad weather.
The debris of plane along with dead bodies were discover three days after the multinational search and rescue operation involving Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in the Java Sea.
The AirAsia plane was delivered in 2008, has flown 13,600 times, completing 23,000 hours, and underwent its last maintenance in November.
AirAsia also has an excellent safety record and there were no fatal accidentsinvolving its aircraft.

It is the third aviation disaster of 2014 involving South Asian country Malaysia

First incident was the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014 which is consider as worst Aviation Disaster killing 239 people on board and still remains unsolved.
Second incident was attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 by pro-Russian rebels over Ukraine in July 2014.

Government meets target of opening 10-crore accounts under PM Jan Dhan Yojana

Government has met its target of opening 10 crore bank accounts under its flagship scheme of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). This target was met a month before its revised deadline of 26 January 2015.

Key facts

As of 24 December 2014, 10 crore accounts have been opened under the PMJDY scheme with a collective deposit amounting to Rs 7,690.89 crore.
In this regard, a total of 7.74 crore RuPay debit cards have also been issued by banks to beneficiaries.
States likes Goa, Kerala, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh and union territories (UT’s) of Chandigarh, Puducherry and Lakshadweep have opened at least one bank account in every targeted household i.e. they have attained 100 per cent financial inclusion under PMJDY .
However, nearly two-thirds of all opened bank accounts continue to have zero balance and 7.35 crore bank accounts are currently dormant.

About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

It was launched on 28th August 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the goal of eradicating financial untouchability of the poor by opening at least one bank account for every family in the country in less than six months. It seeks to financially empower the poor by providing them access to formalbanking system.

Initially, after its launch the scheme had a target of opening 7.5 crore bank accounts by 26 January, 2015, but later it was revised and raised to 10 crore bank accounts.

Raghubar Das sworn in as 10th CM of Jharkhand

Raghubar Das was sworn-in as 10^th Chief Minister ofJharkhand and becoming first non-tribal to hold this post.

Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed administered the oath of office and secrecy to him at oath taking ceremony held at Birsa Munda Football Stadium, Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Along with Raghubar Das, following 4 cabinet ministers were sworn in

Nilkanth Singh Munda, Chandreswar Prasad Singh, Louis Marandi (all BJP).
Chandraprakash Choudhary (AJSU party).

Raghubar Das became 10^th CM and 6^th person as state CM after Babulal Marandi (once), Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice), Madhu Koda (once) and Hemant Soren (once) since state was granted statehood status after bifurcating from Bihar on 15 November 2000.

Background

In 2014 Jharkhand State Assembly election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had emerged victorious by winning 37 out of total 81 seats in state.

BJP along with its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) which has won 5 seats in total has 42 seats, thus formed ruling government in state.

About Raghubar Das

He was recently elected to state legislative assembly from Jamshedpur (East) constituency.
He started his career as a labourer in Tata Steel. He did his schooling and college in Jamshedpur and later joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
Political career: He had joined BJP in 1980 and was elected as the state BJP chief twice.
He is five-time MLA from Jamshedpur East constituency. Earlier he became a minister in the Jharkhand government for the first time in 2000 and since then he has held portfolios of finance, labour and urban development during his stint as cabinet minister.
He also has served as the Deputy CM in the Shibu Soren government from 2009-10.

Russia and four ex-Soviet Nations Finalise New Alliance EEU

Russia and four ex-Soviet nations have finalized the formation of a new economic alliance- Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Four ex-Soviet nations are Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia andKyrgyzstan.

It was finalized in EEU summit held in Moscow, Russia.

EEU will come into existence on 1 January 2015. It seeks to bolster integration of member nations which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan primarily located in northern Eurasia.

Key facts about Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)

It aims to provide free trade among member countries without any barriers.
In addition, it will co-ordinate the financial systems and regulates industrial and agricultural policies along with labour markets and transportation networks of member nations.
EEU will bring together around 170 million people from 5 member nations and will have a combined economic output of $4.5 trillion.

Background: The idea of formation was first suggested in 1994 by then President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev during his speech at Moscow State University. He had suggested the idea to create a regional trading bloc.

Signatories: A treaty aiming for the establishment of the EEU was signed on 29 May 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. Armenia’s and Kyrgyzstan’s signed this treaty later on 9 October 2014 and 23 December respectively.

Operation of EEU: The union will operate through supranational and intergovernmental institutions. The supranational institutions are Eurasian Commission (the executive body), the Court of the EEU (the judicial body) and the Eurasian Development Bank.National governments will be represented by the Eurasian Commission’s Council.

Ukraine’s opposition: Earlier Russia had tried to encourage Ukraine to join EEU. But after Crimean crisis of February 2014 i.e. after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine decided to stay away from EEU and moved closer towards NATO and EU.

Bharat Ratna: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya.

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Ending of 2014, the time of celebrations, to welcome the new year and the time to award the best performances by people in different sectors, whether it is the movies or office or even politics. Adding to the list, this year the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India is announced and it will be awarded to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya.

Bharat Ratna is the recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order for the achievements in the field of arts, literature, science and public services and also to any field of human endeavour.

Here are the most important achievements by the two Bharat Ratna winners

ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE

One of the finest Prime Minister of india and the first prime minister from outside the Indian National Congress party to serve a full five-year term. Vajpayee made us all proud with his Hindi speech at the United Nations General assembly. Whoever say the speech was sure to have held up their heads in pride. He held prestigious positions in Indian politics, hence serving Indian Parliment for almost 5 decades.

Here is a little more to learn about our Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA

Call him an educationist or a politician, he served justice to both the roles he played. Madan Mohan Malaviya was the founder of one of the largest residential universities in Asia and as well as the world. The University, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was founded at Varanasi in 1916. Today the university constitutes over 20,000 students. He worked to promote the equality of men and women. He worked for the eradication of untouchability and also for the development of communal amity. His aim was to see communities live in mutual goodwill and harmony.

Here are a few achievements of Bharat Ratna Madan Mohan Malaviya we should know.

TS plea on Krishna water disputes

The Supreme Court, recently, observed that it cannot “close its doors” on newly-formed Telangana’s plea for a fresh look at the inter-State sharing of Krishna river water, even as Karnataka, one of the beneficiary States, strongly objected to the re-opening of the five-decade-old dispute.

What is the issue now?

Telangana has filed a fresh petition in the Supreme Court, contending that its interests were not represented before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal – II.
It sought total re-consideration of the Tribunal’s final award in December 2010 as it concerned only Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Telangana petition says that it faced the grim prospect of hardly any water reaching its borders from any one of the three arms of the river, namely Bhima, Tungabhadra or the main Krishna.
It is said that Telangana, which came into existence only on June 2 this year, did not get an opportunity to raise its “independent grievances”.

In August this year, the Supreme Court had prima facie recognised Telangana’s status as an “affected” State with a voice of its own.

Opposition to Telangana’s Plea:

It is being said that “Telangana was never heard before the Krishna Tribunals” was factually wrong. The territories, which later became Telangana after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, were earlier represented by the undivided State. Hence it is being said that the award of the Tribunal, binding on the erstwhile State, is now binding on the successor State.
The Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956 says the award of the Tribunal is final. Now, re-opening the Tribunal award would require statutory amendment.
It is also being said that the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act already provided for the bifurcation and has extended the tenure of the Krishna Water Tribunal – II to look into the problems of Telangana. So, when the tribunal is already considering the issue there was no need for Telangana to come before the court.

As per the final award passed on December 2010, Andhra Pradesh is entitled to get 1,001 tmcft of water, Karnataka will get 907 tmcft and Maharashtra’s share is 666 tmcft. This award is binding till 2050.

About Krishna river water dispute:

The dispute is between the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh over sharing of Krishna river water.
Central government had set up a tribunal in 1969 under the state water disputes act 1956 to resolve the dispute. The tribunal was headed by Justice R.S. Bachawat.
The tribunal gave its award in 1973. While the Tribunal had in its earlier report detailed two schemes, Scheme A and Scheme B, the final award only included Scheme A and Scheme B was left out. Scheme A pertained to the division of the available waters based on 75% dependability, while Scheme B recommended ways to share the surplus waters.

The KWDT in its award outlined the exact share of each state. The award contended based on 75% dependability that the total quantum of water available for distribution was 2060TMC. This was divided between the three states in the following manner.


Maharashtra	560 TMC
Karnataka	700 TMC
Andhra Pradesh	800 TMC

Review of the Award:

The KWDT-1 provided for a review of its award after 31 May 2000. However no such review was taken up for more than 3 years after that.
In April 2004, the second KWDT, was constituted by the Government of India following requests by all three states.
The second Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal gave its draft verdict on 31 December 2010. The allocation of available water was done according to 65% dependability, considering the records of flow of water for past 47 years. According to KWDT II, Andhra Pradesh got 1001 TMC of water, Karnataka 907 TMC and Maharashtra 666 TMC. Next review of water allocations will be after the year 2050.

The Krishna River is the second biggest river in peninsular India. It originates near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra from the statue of a cow in a temple. It then runs for a distance of 303 km in Maharashtra, 480 km through the breadth of North Karnataka and the rest of its 1300 km journey in Andhra Pradesh before it empties into the Bay of Bengal.

The river basin is 257,000 km², and the States of Maharastra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh contributes 68,800 km² (26.8%), 112,600 sq.k.m. (43.8%) and 75,600 km² (29.4%) respectively.

Amendments to Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, recently approved the amendments in the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976.

Why the amendments are necessary?

to enhance authorized and issued capital to strengthen their capital base and to bring flexibility in the shareholding between Central Government, State Government and Sponsor Bank.
The amendments will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play a greater role in financial inclusion and meeting credit requirements of rural areas and the Board of RRBs will be strengthened.

The term of the non-official directors appointed by the Central Government will be fixed not exceeding three years.

RRBs:

Regional Rural Banks were established under Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (the RRB Act).

Aim: to create an alternative channel to the cooperative credit structure and to ensure sufficient institutional credit for the rural and agriculture sector.

Ownership: RRBs are jointly owned by Government of India, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks with the issued capital shared in the proportion of 50 %, 15% and 35 % respectively.

As per provisions of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976, presently, the authorized capital of each RRB is Rs5 crore and the issued capital is maximum Rs 1 crore.

H1N1:

H1N1 is a flu virus. When it was first detected in 2009, it was called “swine flu” because the virus was similar to those found in pigs.

Transmission from Pigs to Humans: The H1N1 virus is currently a seasonal flu virus found in humans. Although it also circulates in pigs, one cannot get it by eating properly handled and cooked pork or pork products.

In 2009, H1N1 was spreading fast around the world, so the World Health Organization called it a pandemic.

Spread:

Swine flu is contagious, and it spreads in the same way as the seasonal flu.
When people who have it cough or sneeze, they spray tiny drops of the virus into the air. If a person comes in contact with these drops or touch a surface that an infected person has recently touched, the person can catch H1N1 swine flu.
Pregnant women who contract the H1N1 infection are at a greater risk of developing complications because of hormonal changes, physical changes and changes to their immune system to accommodate the growing foetus.

Symptoms:

Most symptoms are the same as seasonal flu. They can include:

cough
fever
sore throat
stuffy or runny nose
body aches
headache
chills
fatigue
If not controlled it can lead to more serious complications like pneumonia and respiratory failure.

The antiviral drugs are sometimes prescribed to reduce the severity of symptoms.

The President of India, recently, inaugurated the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Rama Devi College in Orissa.

Who is Rama Devi?

She was one of the most committed workers in India’s national movement and a devoted disciple of Mahatma Gandhi.

Her contributions to the Indian National Movement:

At the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1931, mass public meetings were organised by Smt. Rama Devi, Gopabandhu Choudhury and Acharya Harihar Das in Odisha.
When the Dandi March took place on the West Coast of India, Inchudi on the Balasore Coast and Kujanga in Cuttack were selected by the Utkal Provincial Congress Committee to break the Salt Law. This was led by Smt. Rama Devi and other leaders in Odisha.
She was an organiser, speaker, campaigner and inspirer of ordinary men and women.
She worked hard to root out untouchability and communalism.
She organised a pada yatra to support Vinobha Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement and gave utmost emphasis to education, emancipation and empowerment of women.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project

China and Pakistan have kicked off their multi-billion dollar ‘Economic Corridor’ project.

About the Project:

It is a project to connect Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang with Pakistan’s Gwadar Port in Balochistan province via highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas.
The corridor is expected to serve as a terminal for China to pump oil procurement from Persian Gulf.
It is also being seen as a project to strengthen China’s connectivity with neighbouring countries and an initiative set to aid strategic framework for pragmatic cooperation between the two nations.

Opposition by India:

India has expressed its reservations to China over the project as it is laid through the PoK. But, China defended the project saying it will help regional development.

Sceptics in both Pak and China, however, point to the rising tide of extremism in Pakistan which makes its construction extremely difficult.

Universal Account Number

The Universal Account Number (UAN) has been designed to be an umbrella number of a member for all his employment with different establishments inorganized sector.

Why was it introduced?

To provide one number to the Employees’ Provident Fund member for all his employments with different employers.

How will this help?

Earlier, whenever Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) member changed his job, he had to transfer his Provident Fund accumulations to his new Provident Fund number. With the introduction of UAN number, now, member has to give his UAN number to his present employer for linking his previous Provident Fund accounts with his present Provident Fund membership.

This would benefit the members initially in the following ways:

The member can get this updated Provident Fund balance through Universal Account Number (UAN) based member portal.
The system would enable portability of Provident Fund accumulations when the details of bank account, Aadhar and PAN seeded in UAN database of member are verified by employer on change of job.
The member would get message on his mobile number about the receipt of his PF contribution if he has registered his mobile number on Universal Account Number (UAN) based member portal.

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Insights Daily Current Events, 02 December 2014

Hornbill festival

It is the biggest indigenous festival and the annual tourism promotional event of the Nagaland government. It is organized by the Government of Nagaland. It is celebrated every year in the first week of December.

Why?

To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland.

More details:

The Festival is named after the hornbill, the globally respected bird and which is displayed in folklore in most of the state’s tribes.
The program unites all the people of Nagaland and showcases different traditional arts which include paintings, sculptures and wood carvings.
It is the coming together of all the elements that make up the total Nagaland. The Hornbill festival is a collaborative celebration of all Naga tribes at one venue and has been coined as “Festival of Festivals”.
The Festival is a tribute to the great “Hornbill” which is the most admired and revered bird for the Nagas, for its qualities of alertness and grandeur. The Majestic bird is closely identified with the social and cultural life of the Nagas, as reflected in various tribal folklores, dances and songs. The awe and admiration for the bird is symbolically displayed on almost all tribal traditional headgears worn during the festival and is indicative of the commonness of the Nagas.
The Hornbill Festival of Nagaland is a cultural extravaganza to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage, while for the visitors to this event, it is a means for comprehensive understanding of the Naga People, their land and culture.
Since 2007, International cultural troupes have been taking part in it and it is slowly turning out to be an international event.

Sources: PIB, Wiki, hornbillfestival.com.

Universal Account Number

The Universal Account Number (UAN) has been designed to be an umbrella number of a member for all his employment with different establishments inorganized sector.

Why was it introduced?

To provide one number to the Employees’ Provident Fund member for all his employments with different employers.

How will this help?

Earlier, whenever Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) member changed his job, he had to transfer his Provident Fund accumulations to his new Provident Fund number. With the introduction of UAN number, now, member has to give his UAN number to his present employer for linking his previous Provident Fund accounts with his present Provident Fund membership.

This would benefit the members initially in the following ways:

The member can get this updated Provident Fund balance through Universal Account Number (UAN) based member portal.
The system would enable portability of Provident Fund accumulations when the details of bank account, Aadhar and PAN seeded in UAN database of member are verified by employer on change of job.
The member would get message on his mobile number about the receipt of his PF contribution if he has registered his mobile number on Universal Account Number (UAN) based member portal.

Sources: PIB.

Bill sought to ratify boundary pact

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs has tabled its report, recommending a Constitution amendment Bill to enable the swapping of enclaves and end a 67-year-old dispute between the two countries.

Why the swapping is being done?

Land swapping will be done for a permanent solution to the problem of infiltration.

About the land swap deal:

The swap will involve handing over 17,000 acres of land to Bangladesh in return for 7,000 acres in 111 enclaves in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, and was first decided under the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh, but never ratified by Parliament.
It will require an amendment to the Constitution (the 119th amendment) ratified by both Houses of Parliament with a two-thirds majority.
The deal relates to demarcation of boundary under the Land Boundary Agreement between the two countries. India and Bangladesh have been negotiating the land swap for years to resolve a long-running border conflict.

How will affect the existing citizens:

The number of people to be involved in the whole swap is approximately 52,000, of which about 15,000 are on the Indian side of the border.
Under this intended agreement, the enclave residents could continue to reside at their present location or move to the country of their choice.
A number of Indian nationals living in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh territory are going to be adversely affected as they would lose their claim to Indian citizenship.

Now, it becomes the responsibilities of the governments of India and Bangladesh to ensure that there is no “discrimination” against them.

Opposition:

Some people have been opposing the deal on the ground that Assam will stand to lose more territory as compared to Bangladesh in the exchange of enclaves.

TS plea on Krishna water disputes

What is the issue now?

Telangana has filed a fresh petition in the Supreme Court, contending that its interests were not represented before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal – II.
It sought total re-consideration of the Tribunal’s final award in December 2010 as it concerned only Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Telangana petition says that it faced the grim prospect of hardly any water reaching its borders from any one of the three arms of the river, namely Bhima, Tungabhadra or the main Krishna.
It is said that Telangana, which came into existence only on June 2 this year, did not get an opportunity to raise its “independent grievances”.

In August this year, the Supreme Court had prima facie recognised Telangana’s status as an “affected” State with a voice of its own.

Opposition to Telangana’s Plea:

It is being said that “Telangana was never heard before the Krishna Tribunals” was factually wrong. The territories, which later became Telangana after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, were earlier represented by the undivided State. Hence it is being said that the award of the Tribunal, binding on the erstwhile State, is now binding on the successor State.
The Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956 says the award of the Tribunal is final. Now, re-opening the Tribunal award would require statutory amendment.
It is also being said that the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act already provided for the bifurcation and has extended the tenure of the Krishna Water Tribunal – II to look into the problems of Telangana. So, when the tribunal is already considering the issue there was no need for Telangana to come before the court.

About Krishna river water dispute:

The dispute is between the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh over sharing of Krishna river water.
Central government had set up a tribunal in 1969 under the state water disputes act 1956 to resolve the dispute. The tribunal was headed by Justice R.S. Bachawat.
The tribunal gave its award in 1973. While the Tribunal had in its earlier report detailed two schemes, Scheme A and Scheme B, the final award only included Scheme A and Scheme B was left out. Scheme A pertained to the division of the available waters based on 75% dependability, while Scheme B recommended ways to share the surplus waters.


Maharashtra	560 TMC
Karnataka	700 TMC
Andhra Pradesh	800 TMC

Review of the Award:

The KWDT-1 provided for a review of its award after 31 May 2000. However no such review was taken up for more than 3 years after that.
In April 2004, the second KWDT, was constituted by the Government of India following requests by all three states.
The second Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal gave its draft verdict on 31 December 2010. The allocation of available water was done according to 65% dependability, considering the records of flow of water for past 47 years. According to KWDT II, Andhra Pradesh got 1001 TMC of water, Karnataka 907 TMC and Maharashtra 666 TMC. Next review of water allocations will be after the year 2050.

The river basin is 257,000 km², and the States of Maharastra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh contributes 68,800 km² (26.8%), 112,600 sq.k.m. (43.8%) and 75,600 km² (29.4%) respectively.

Amendments to Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, recently approved the amendments in the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976.

Why the amendments are necessary?

to enhance authorized and issued capital to strengthen their capital base and to bring flexibility in the shareholding between Central Government, State Government and Sponsor Bank.
The amendments will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play a greater role in financial inclusion and meeting credit requirements of rural areas and the Board of RRBs will be strengthened.

The term of the non-official directors appointed by the Central Government will be fixed not exceeding three years.

RRBs:

Regional Rural Banks were established under Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (the RRB Act).

Aim: to create an alternative channel to the cooperative credit structure and to ensure sufficient institutional credit for the rural and agriculture sector.

Ownership: RRBs are jointly owned by Government of India, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks with the issued capital shared in the proportion of 50 %, 15% and 35 % respectively.

As per provisions of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976, presently, the authorized capital of each RRB is Rs5 crore and the issued capital is maximum Rs 1 crore.

Introduction of comprehensive Anti-hijacking Bill 2014

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has given its approval for introduction of the comprehensive Anti-Hijacking Bill 2014.

The current law, the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982, was last amended in 1994.

Why is it required?

After the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 in December, 1999, it was felt necessary for providing the award of death penalty to perpetrators of the act of hijacking.
The incident of 9/11, where aircrafts were used as weapons, also created the need to further amend the existing Act.

About the Bill:

The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August, 2010.
The Bill seeks to amend the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982.
The Act states that any person who unlawfully, by force or intimidation seizes an aircraft commits the offence of hijacking. The Bill adds that any person (whether alone or in a group) who attempts to commit hijacking is guilty of the offence. Any person who abets such an offence is also guilty.
The Act stipulates a penalty of life imprisonment and fine for the offence of hijacking. The Bill enhances the penalty for hijacking to death or life imprisonment and fine.

Man tests positive for H1N1 virus

A 47-year-old man was tested positive for the H1N1 virus in Dharmapuri, TN. It is suspected that the patient, a businessman, must have contracted it in Andhra Pradesh, where he had toured recently.

H1N1:

H1N1 is a flu virus. When it was first detected in 2009, it was called “swine flu” because the virus was similar to those found in pigs.

In 2009, H1N1 was spreading fast around the world, so the World Health Organization called it a pandemic.

Spread:

Swine flu is contagious, and it spreads in the same way as the seasonal flu.
When people who have it cough or sneeze, they spray tiny drops of the virus into the air. If a person comes in contact with these drops or touch a surface that an infected person has recently touched, the person can catch H1N1 swine flu.
Pregnant women who contract the H1N1 infection are at a greater risk of developing complications because of hormonal changes, physical changes and changes to their immune system to accommodate the growing foetus.

Symptoms:

Most symptoms are the same as seasonal flu. They can include:

cough
fever
sore throat
stuffy or runny nose
body aches
headache
chills
fatigue
If not controlled it can lead to more serious complications like pneumonia and respiratory failure.

The antiviral drugs are sometimes prescribed to reduce the severity of symptoms.

India, Pakistan reject call to give up nuclear weapons

India, backed by the United States, opposed a U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling on New Delhi to voluntarily abandon its nuclear weapons. The resolution also targeted Israel and Pakistan.

The U.S. joined India to vote against a key part of the resolution on achieving a nuclear weapons-free world that called on India, Israel and Pakistan to immediately and unconditionally accede to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and put all their nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
This clause would require the three countries to give up such weapons and the ability to manufacture them. Israel and Pakistan also voted against the provision, while France, Britain and Bhutan abstained from voting. It was passed with 165 votes in the 193-member UNGA.

NPT:

The NPT is a landmark international treaty.

Objective: to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
A total of 190 parties have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States (United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China (also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council). Though North Korea acceded to the NPT in 1985 but never came into compliance, announced its withdrawal in 2003.
Four other states are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons, while Israel has had a policy of opacity regarding its own nuclear weapons program.
The 3 pillars of NPT are: non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology.
To further the goal of non-proliferation and as a confidence-building measure between States parties, the Treaty establishes a safeguards system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Safeguards are used to verify compliance with the Treaty through inspections conducted by the IAEA.
The Treaty promotes cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear technology and equal access to this technology for all States parties, while safeguards prevent the diversion of fissile material for weapons use.

India’s rank improves marginally

India has marginally improved its ranking on the global Corruption Perception Index this year.

India’s two-point improvement (on a total possible score of 100) did not count as a “significant change” unlike that in countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Afghanistan.

More details:

With a score of 36, India now ranks 85 among 175
countries, with countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burkina Faso for company.
Denmark ranks first, as it did in 2013, while Somalia and North Korea share the bottom spot. India ranks better than all its South Asian neighbours, except Bhutan.
The composite index is made up of a combination of surveys and assessments of public sector corruption by international agencies including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Of the nine surveys and assessments used for India, most relied on expert opinion on the extent of corruption and the rule of law and only one polled the general public.
Economic growth did not necessarily reduce corruption pointing to countries such as China whose corruption perception had worsened during a high growth period.

After Maldives appeal, India dispatches water relief

India has dispatched “water aid” to the Maldivian capital, Male, after a major fire destroyed the generator of the Male Water and Sewerage Company, the biggest water treatment plant.

India has dispatched aid through Aircrafts and Naval warship.
Naval warship, INS Sukanya, which was pressed into action, is an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) with two Reverse Osmosis plants onboard with a capacity to produce 20 tonnes of fresh water a day. It will remain berthed off Male harbour until the desalination treatment plant in Male has been repaired.
Close to 1,50,000 Male residents were left without water after the generator unit caught fire on December 4, causing extensive damage to the distillation plants.

While the Maldivian government put out similar calls to the U.S., China and Sri Lanka also, India was the first and best placed to respond.

Important Note:

Maldives has no natural water source and consumes only treated sea water.

Banking Reforms for Housing Sector

‘Affordable Housing for All’ has been a stated national policy of the Government of India. Many of the programmes of the Government are designed to provide affordable housing to lower-income households through the subsidy-cum-loan schemes.

Addressing the problem of housing shortage in the country requires other multiple interventions besides financial intervention. In order to further expand the market to the lower-income segment of the populace, the availability of mortgage guarantee products like Credit Risk Guarantee Fund for Low Income Housing has been launched by the Central Government.

Measures taken by the Government:

The corpus of Rural Housing Fund and Urban housing Fund have been augmented to Rs. 8000 crore and Rs. 4000 crore respectively to refinance banks, Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and other Financial Institutions.
To encourage development of Smart Cities, which will also provide habitation for the neo-middle class, requirement of the built up area and capital conditions for FDI has been reduced from 50,000 square metres to 20,000 square metres and from USD 10 million to USD 5 million respectively with a three year post completion lock-in.
To further encourage this, projects which commit at least 30 per cent of the total project cost for low cost affordable housing have exempted from minimum built up area and capitalization requirements, with the condition of three year lock-in.
In order to encourage affordable housing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted Bank to raise long-term bonds to lend to housing segment.
In terms of extant RBI instructions, banks have been advised to allow finance to facilitate the growth of house sector through finance provided to individuals or groups of individuals including cooperative societies.
Finance provided for construction of residential houses to be constructed by public housing agencies like HUDCO, Housing Boards, local bodies, individuals, co-operative societies, employers, priority being accorded for financing construction of houses meant for economically weaker sections, low income group and middle income group.
Finance for construction meant for improving the conditions in slum areas for which credit may be extended directly to the slum-dwellers on the guarantee of the Government, or indirectly to them through the State Governments.
RBI has carved out a separate sub sector out of ‘Commercial Real Estate (CRE)’ as ‘Commercial Real Estate Residential Housing (CRE-RH) with the intention of providing regulatory support to lending towards residential housing projects by allowing lower provisioning and risk-weights.

Sources: PIB.

Shadow Banking Implementation Group (SBIG)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted Shadow Banking Implementation Group (SBIG).

Why?

To undertake micro mapping of shadow banks to assess the risks posed by such entities to the formal financial sector.

Composition:

SBIG is chaired by RBI and constitutes of members from Ministry of Finance, Stock Exchange Board of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, National Housing Bank, National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Registrar of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

Terms of Reference of SBIG are as follows:

As a first step, the Group will undertake an assessment of the position of compliance of the regulatory framework in the country vis-à-vis the Financial Stability Board policy guidelines;
The Group will then carry out gap, analysis to identify the reform measures that can be implemented and those where implementation may not be desirable given the specific domestic conditions;
Where it may not be desirable to initiate the reform measures, the Group will document the same setting out the reasons within an overall ‘comply of explain’ framework;
The Group will set out a roadmap indicating the timelines for implementation of the reform area concerned together with the regulatory/agency which will implement the reforms and the framework for monitoring;
The Group will also recommend whether publishing of a formal approach to implementation of reform measures, as being done by several jurisdictions for some of the reform areas, would be appropriate in the Indian context; and
Setting up a data repository for the shadow banking sector.

Shadow banking:

The shadow banking system is a term for the collection of non-bank financial intermediaries that provide services similar to traditional commercial banks.

In the context of developing economies, shadow banks play a gainful role in credit delivery and financial inclusion as they can facilitate credit availability to certain sectors that might otherwise have difficulty in access to credit.

Regulation:

Shadow banking operates outside the regular banking system and financial intermediation activities are undertaken with less transparency and regulation than the conventional banking.

Risks posed by them:

As shadow banks do not take deposits, they are subject to less regulation than traditional banks. They can therefore increase the rewards they get from investments by leveraging up much more than their mainstream counterparts, and this can lead to risks mounting in the financial system.
Unregulated shadow institutions can be used to circumvent the strictly regulated mainstream banking system and therefore avoid rules designed to prevent financial crises.
Shadow banks can also cause a buildup of systemic risk indirectly because they are interrelated with the traditional banking system via credit intermediation chains, meaning that problems in this unregulated system can easily spread to the traditional banking system.
As shadow banks use a lot of short-term deposit-like funding but do not have deposit insurance like mainstream banks, a loss of confidence can lead to “runs” on these unregulated institutions.

Pro IS Tweeter arrested

A pro IS Tweeter was arrested in Bangalore. It was a coordinated effort of British and Indian Intelligence agencies along with Bangalore City Police.

However the arrested person has said that he hasn’t waged war against any allies of India and do not possess any sort of weapons. And hence, his arrest is not justified.
The roots of IS in the State were unmasked when a bid to recruit youths in Hyderabad for IS was foiled. Four students, on their way to Iraq, were detained in Kolkata in September.

Charges against him:

The police have booked cases against him under:

Section 125, IPC (waging war against Asiatic power ally of India)
Section 39, unlawful activities prevention Act 2004
Section 66, IT Act (computer related offences)

LIMA Conference

U.N. climate negotiations wrapped up in Lima with a modest agreement about the building blocks of a deal due to be agreed on in Paris in a year’s time.

Details of the conference:

Greenhouse gas plans

All nations will be asked to submit plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, known as “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions,” or INDCs, to the United Nations by an informal deadline of March 31, 2015, as the core of a Paris deal.

The conference also invited actions by all nations to combat warming, blurring a distinction in a 1992 climate convention that split the world into two camps of rich and poor – under which the rich had to lead the way.
Many emerging economies, such as India, insisted on that continued split. But the United States and other rich nations said the world had changed and that developing countries also had to curb their rising emissions.
The diplomatic formula encompassing the rival demands ended up in the text as: “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances.”
Lima reiterated a goal for developed nations to mobilize $100 billion a year, in public and private funds, in climate aid for developing nations by 2020.
The talks agreed on a document of “elements” that will form the basis of a negotiating text for Paris next year.
Developing countries vulnerable to extreme weather successfully won a mention of “loss and damage”.

Developing countries have been opposing the mitigation-centric approach of the developed countries which are not ready to commit to financial targets or technology transfer. There is no reference to loss and damage, the financing portion is weaker than the earlier draft and there is no equity.

President signs coal, insurance ordinances

President has signed two key ordinances to raise the cap on foreign direct investment in the insurance sector and facilitate e-auction of coal blocks, amid protest from the opposition parties.

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014, was passed by the Lok Sabha, but could not be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha, pushing the government to recommend a re-promulgation of the coal ordinance.
In the Insurance Amendment Bill, the government recommended promulgation of a fresh ordinance, for an FDI hike from 26 per cent to 49 per cent in the sector.
The decision on taking the ordinance route was taken by the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister.

Ordinance:

Ordinances are temporary laws which can be issued by the Presidentwhen Parliament is not in session.

Ordinances are issued by the President based on the advice of the Union Cabinet. The President has been empowered to promulgate Ordinances based on the advice of the central government under Article 123 of the Constitution. This legislative power is available to the President only when either of the two Houses of Parliament is not in session to enact laws. Additionally, the President cannot promulgate an Ordinance unless he ‘is satisfied’ that there are circumstances that require taking ‘immediate action’.
The purpose of Ordinances is to allow governments to take immediate legislative action if circumstances make it necessary to do so at a time when Parliament is not in session.

Approval by the Parliament:

Ordinances must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of reassembling or they shall cease to operate. They also cease to operate in case resolutions disapproving the Ordinance are passed by both Houses.

Why are they issued?

Often, ordinances are used by governments to pass legislation which is currently pending in Parliament.
Governments also take the Ordinance route to address matters of public concern as was the case with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013, which was issued in response to the protests surrounding the Delhi gang rape incident.

Repromulgation:

Repromulgation of Ordinances raises questions about the legislative authority of the Parliament as the highest law making body.

In the 1986 Supreme Court judgment of D.C. Wadhwa vs. State of Bihar, the SC observed:

“The power to promulgate an Ordinance is essentially a power to be used to meet an extraordinary situation and it cannot be allowed to be “perverted to serve political ends”. It is contrary to all democratic norms that the Executive should have the power to make a law, but in order to meet an emergent situation, this power is conferred on the Governor and an Ordinance issued by the Governor in exercise of this power must, therefore, of necessity be limited in point of time.”

History of Ordinances:

Ordinances were incorporated into the Constitution from Section 42 and 43 of the Government of India Act, 1935, which authorised the then Governor General to promulgate Ordinances ‘if circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action’.
Most democracies including Britain, the United States of America, Australia and Canada do not have provisions similar to that of Ordinances in the Indian Constitution. The reason for an absence of such a provision is because legislatures in these countries meet year long.

Some Members of the Constituent Assembly emphasised that the Ordinance making power of the President was extraordinary and issuing of Ordinances could be interpreted as against constitutional morality.

SEBI moots new norms for issue of municipal bonds

To help in the Government’s ‘smart cities’ programme, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed a new set of norms for listing and trading of municipal bonds on stock exchanges, while channelising household investments for urban infrastructure development.

New norm:

Issuing authorities would need to contribute at least 20 per cent of the total project cost for which they wish to raise funds. These municipal authorities would need to have a strong financial track record and such bonds should have a minimum tenure of three years.
The municipal bonds would add to instruments where provident funds, pension funds and insurance companies can put in their money.
Municipal authorities having negative net worth and those which have defaulted on payments to financial institutions would be barred from issuing the bonds. Corporate municipal entity or its directors restrained or prohibited by SEBI would also be ineligible.
The minimum subscription limit should not be less than 75 per cent of the issue size. In the event of non-receipt of minimum subscription, all application money received in the public issue should be refunded to the applicants, within 12 days from the date of the closure of the issue.
When there is a delay by the issuer in making the refund, then it has to give back the subscription amount along with interest at 10 per cent rate per annum for the delayed period.
The issuer’s contribution for each project should be at least 20 per cent of the project costs, which shall be contributed from their internal resources or grants. An issuer, proposing to issue debt securities shall maintain 100 per cent asset cover sufficient to discharge the principal amount at all times for the debt securities issued.

How these bonds will help?

Conservative Indian investor mainly invests in fixed deposits, small saving schemes or gold. Bonds issued by municipalities having good financial track record would be an good alternative investment opportunity for such conservative investors, as it provides reasonable return with less risk, which in turn may accelerate the capital markets.

About Municipal Bonds:

A municipal bond is a bond issued by a local government, or their agencies.

‘Muni bonds’ are very popular among investors in many developed nations, especially in the U.S., where these have attracted investments totalling over $500 billion and are among preferred avenues for household savings.
The Bangalore Municipal Corporation was the first municipal corporation to issue a municipal bond of Rs.125 crore with a State guarantee in 1997. However, the access to capital market commenced in January 1998, when the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) issued the first municipal bonds in the country without State government guarantee for financing infrastructure projects in the city. AMC raised Rs.100 crore through its public issue.
Among others, Hyderabad, Nashik, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Nagpur municipal authorities have issued such bonds, however, there is no provision as yet for listing and subsequent trading of muni bonds on stock exchanges in India.

As per guidelines of the Urban Development Ministry, only bonds carrying interest rate up to maximum 8 per cent per annum shall be eligible for being notified as tax-free bonds.

There is massive capital investment need in municipal infrastructure and funds from programmes such as Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) can only partly meet the requirement. Therefore, to meet their financing needs, the municipalities have to seek recourse to other means including issuance of municipal bonds.

New mechanism to allow one-time registration for DPs

Making procedural requirements simpler for brokers, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has put in place a new mechanism to allow one-time single registration for the depository participants (DPs).

Current situation:

So far, DPs had to apply for separate registration certificate to operate on the two depositories — Central Depository Services India Ltd. (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL).

SEBI has said that:

The existing requirement of obtaining certificate of initial registration to act as a participant and subsequently permanent registration to continue to act as a participant for each depository has been done away with.
Henceforth, one certificate of initial registration and subsequently permanent registration through any depository shall be required after commencement of the SEBI (Depositories and Participants) (Amendment) Regulations, 2014.
As per the new guidelines, DPs would have to apply to SEBI for “permanent registration” through any of the depositories in which it is acting as a participant.
A new entity seeking to act as a participant would have to apply for “initial registration” with SEBI through the concerned depository.

The new norms would help ensure cost efficiency, avoidance of multiple due-diligence process and prevent duplication of registration process.

Depository participants: A Depository Participant (DP) is described as an agent of the depository. They are the intermediaries between the depository and the investors. The relationship between the DPs and the depository is governed by an agreement made between the two under the Depositories Act. In a strictly legal sense, a DP is an entity who is registered as such with SEBI. A DP can offer depository-related services only after obtaining a certificate of registration from SEBI.

Centre plans common clearing house for commodity bourses

The Finance Ministry has sought public comments on a proposal to set up a common ‘Clearing Corporation’ for national commodity bourses.

Why? In order to reduce transaction cost of market participants as well as strengthen risk management systems.

At present:

National commodity exchanges have integrated online facilities for trading, clearing and settlement of futures contracts.
Only one exchange — NCDEX— has set up a Clearing Corporation, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the exchange, for clearing and settlement of trades executed on the exchange.
All other national bourses have clearing and settlement functions as a division of the exchanges. The contracts are cash settled or settled by physical delivery at expiration.

The report, submitted to the Finance Ministry by working group, suggests that:

An independent CC with a minimum net worth of Rs.100 crore to begin with should be set up, which should be reassessed after one year.
The clearing and settlement of trades within the CC should be across commodity exchanges, for benefits of reduced collateral, cross margining, multilateral netting etc to flow to the participants.
Since the commodity bourses have expressed apprehensions of the impact on their profitability if the clearing functions are performed by another entity, the CC may allow the exchanges to retain their contribution to the ‘Settlement Guarantee Fund’ with them, for a pre-defined period, after creating a suitable exposure mitigation vehicle.
Since warehousing is an integral part of the settlement process of commodity futures contracts, the CC should coordinate with the Warehousing Development Regulatory Authority and state governments.

NITI Aayog

The Government has replaced Planning Commission with a new institution named NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). The institution will serve as ‘Think Tank’ of the Government-a directional and policy dynamo.

This comes after extensive consultation across the spectrum of stakeholders, including state governments, domain experts and relevant institutions.

Its role:

The centre-to-state one-way flow of policy, that was the hallmark of the Planning Commission era, is now sought to be replaced by a genuine and continuing partnership of states.
NITI Aayog will seek to provide a critical directional and strategic input into the development process.
NITI Aayog will emerge as a “think-tank” that will provide Governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy.
The NITI Aayog will also seek to put an end to slow and tardy implementation of policy, by fostering better Inter-Ministry coordination and better Centre-State coordination. It will help evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, and fostercooperative federalism, recognizing that strong states make a strong nation.
The NITI Aayog will develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans to the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. It will ensure special attention to the sections of society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress.
The NITI Aayog will create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and partners. It will offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.
In addition, the NITI Aayog will monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes, and focus on technology upgradation and capacity building.

NITI Aayog will aim to accomplish the following objectives and opportunities:

An administration paradigm in which the Government is an “enabler” rather than a “provider of first and last resort.”
Progress from “food security” to focus on a mix of agricultural production, as well as actual returns that farmers get from their produce.
Ensure that India is an active player in the debates and deliberations on the global commons.
Ensure that the economically vibrant middle-class remains engaged, and its potential is fully realized.
Leverage India`s pool of entrepreneurial, scientific and intellectual human capital.
Incorporate the significant geo-economic and geo-political strength of the Non-Resident Indian Community.
Use urbanization as an opportunity to create a wholesome and secure habitat through the use of modern technology.
Use technology to reduce opacity and potential for misadventures in governance.

The NITI Aayog will comprise the following:

Prime Minister of India as the Chairperson
Governing Council comprising the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories
Regional Councils will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region. These will be formed for a specified tenure. The Regional Councils will be convened by the Prime Minister and will comprise of the Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in the region. These will be chaired by the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog or his nominee.
Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister
The full-time organizational framework will comprise of, in addition to the Prime Minister as the Chairperson:
Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by the Prime Minister
Members: Full-time
Part-time members: Maximum of 2 from leading universities research organizations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity. Part time members will be on a rotational basis.
Ex Officio members: Maximum of 4 members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
Chief Executive Officer : To be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
Secretariat as deemed necessary.

RBI relaxes ECB norms
The Reserve Bank of India has introduced changes in external commercial borrowings (ECB) norms under which authorised money changing banks have been allowed to create a charge on securities.
Present situation:
At present, the choice of security to be provided to the overseas lender or the supplier for securing ECB is left to the borrower.
Why this decision:
It was taken with a view to liberalising, expanding the options of securities and consolidating various provisions related to creation of charge over securities for ECB at one place.
Details:

It has been decided that Authorised Dealer Category-I banks may allow creation of charge on immovable assets, movable assets, financial securities and issue of corporate and/or personal guarantees in favour of overseas lender/security trustee, to secure the ECB to be raised/raised by the borrower. However, the new rules are subject to certain conditions.
The underlying ECB must be in compliance with extant ECB guidelines, there should be a security clause in the loan agreement, requiring the ECB borrower to create charge, and a no objection certificate will have to be obtained from an existing domestic lender.
Additionally, Authorised Dealer Category-I bank may permit creation of charge on immovable assets, movable assets, financial securities and issue of corporate and/or personal guarantees.

Authorised Category banks are Authorised Money Changers (AMCs) which are entities, authorised by the Reserve Bank under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. An AMC is a Full Fledged Money Changer (FFMC) authorised by the Reserve Bank to deal in foreign exchange for specified purposes.

ICICI Digital Village

ICICI Bank has announced the creation of the “ICICI Digital Village” at Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat.

Salient features of Digital village:

It enables villagers to use technology in banking, payments, education, health care and other services.
It aspires to include cashless transactions, paperless textbooks, with children reading books on LED screens and tablets, telemedicine and Wi-Fi connectivity.
The digital village initiative had three dimensions — access to banking and seamless banking services; leveraging technology in social sectors for improvement in the lives of the villagers and creating enabling infrastructure to make technology available and access and disseminate information.
The digital village is not limited to providing cashless banking through digital platforms, but was focussed on use of technology in all aspects of every resident there.

Banks can be agents of social transformation, and cashless transactions will bring down black money significantly in the system.

(This village, named Akodara, in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat incidentally happens to be the same place where Modi started Gujarat’s first animal hostel in 2011 when he was the Chief Minister of the state.)

The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) was originally set up as an Indian financial institution at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of Indian industry to provide project financing to Indian businesses. It later got merged with ICICI Bank, which was set up in 1994.

RBI eases KYC norms for NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India has Amended rules for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with regard to their Know-Your-Customer (KYC) exercise. It has relaxed the time limit during which such due diligence is required.

Why? The rules have been eased due to practical difficulties and constraints in getting KYC documents at frequent intervals.

Norms include:

Full KYC exercise will be required to be done at least every two years for high risk individuals and entities, at least every 10 years for low risk and at least every 8 years for medium risk individuals and entities, taking into account whether and when client due diligence measures have previously been undertaken and the adequacy of data obtained.
However, physical presence of clients may not be insisted at such periodic updations.

KYC means “Know Your Customer”. It is a process by which banks obtain information about the identity and address of the customers. This process helps to ensure that banks’ services are not misused. The KYC procedure is to be completed by the banks while opening accounts and also periodically update the same.

Govt. urged to reject Kasturirangan report

People from Udupi, Karnataka have urged the Union and State governments to reject the recommendations of the K. Kasturirangan Panel’s report on conservation of the Western Ghats.

Why?

35 villages in Udupi district in the Western Ghats come under the ambit of the report and the report also proposed a buffer zone of 10 km from the boundary of Western Ghats, which would include another 38 villages. The people are against the report as it would hamper development in the villages.

Kasturirangan Report:

The Kasturirangan panel was set up to study the Gadgil committee report on the Western Ghats. The Gadgil panel report had faced unanimous opposition from state governments for recommending that almost three-fourth of the hills, including plantations, cultivated lands and large habitations, be turned into a restricted development zone with an over-arching authority to regulate the region superseding the elected authorities’ role.

Recommendations made:

Around 60,000 sq km of Western Ghats, spread across six states, should be turned into a no-go area for commercial activities like mining, thermal power plants, polluting industries and large housing plans.
It has suggested that 90% of the natural forests left in the Western Ghats complex – adding upto 60,000 sq km and constituting 37% of the entire hilly belt — be conserved under the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) provisions of the green law. The forest area falling within the ESA would also cover 4,156 villages across the six states. The panel has said, “The villages falling under ESA will be involved in decision making on the future projects. All projects will require prior-informed consent and no-objection from the gram sabha (village council) of the village.”
The panel has recommended that there should be a complete ban on mining activity in this zone and current mining activities should be phased out within five years, or at the time of expiry of the mining lease. It has banned development of any township or construction over the size of 20,000 sq m in the ESA zone. It has not recommended a ban on hydroelectric projects in the zone, but put a regime of stricter clearances for dams and other projects.
The report suggests doing away with the complete moratorium on industrial and mining activity in the two Maharashtra districts of Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri. It has suggested persisting with the ban only on the area of the two districts falling within the ESA and a strict regulation in the rest.
The report has steered clear from demanding a strict ecological control over the Western Ghat complex requiring changes and regulations on agricultural practices the way Gadgil committee report had suggested.

Operation Smile

It is an initiative to trace missing children reported in Madurai district police limits in Tamil Nadu in the last 10 years.

GDR route for bringing back black money under scanner

Regulatory and other agencies suspect that Global Depository Receipt (GDR) route is being used for bringing back suspected illicit funds stashed abroad.

SEBI has come across quite a few cases where GDR (Global Depository Receipt) route could have been used for round-tripping of funds in the name of capital-raising activities of listed companies from abroad. The issue has also been flagged by other agencies. GDR is a popular financial instrument used by listed companies in India, and in many other countries, to raise funds denominated mostly in U.S. dollars or Euros.

GDR:

A global depository receipt (GDR), also known as international depository receipt (IDR), is a certificate issued by a depository bank, which purchases shares of foreign companies and deposits it on the account.

They are the global equivalent of the original American depository receipts (ADR) on which they are based.
GDRs represent ownership of an underlying number of shares of a foreign company and are commonly used to invest in companies from developing or emerging markets by investors in developed markets.

Characteristics:

It is an unsecured security
It may be converted into number of shares
Interest and redemption price is public in foreign agency
It is listed and traded in the stock exchange

Their regulation in India:

Indian companies are allowed to raise capital in the international market through the issue of ADRs/GDR. They can issue ADRs/GDRs without obtaining prior approval from RBI, if it is eligible to issue ADRs/GDRs in terms of the scheme for issue of foreign currency Convertible Bonds and Ordinary Shares (Through Depository Receipt Mechanism) Scheme, 1993 and subsequent guidelines issued by Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
After the issue of ADRs/GDRs, the company has to file a return to the RBI. The company is also required to file a quarterly return.
There are no end-use restrictions on GDR/ADR issue proceeds, except for an express ban on investment in real estate .

Smart cards soon for unorganised sector workers

Every worker in the unorganised sector may soon be issued a smart card with a unique identification number.
The portable benefits card will be issued under the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008.

Why?

For accessing social schemes and benefits.

Such project was launched in Gujarat on pilot basis.
“U-WIN” card was launched in Gujarat and it was announced that benefits under various social security schemes would be routed to registered workers through this card.

Other Details:

The proposal is all workers must get three things — health insurance, pension and disability assistance. This card will allow workers to self-certify that they are unorganised sector workers, and get these benefits through a portable card.
National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector Report, 2005,had said that over 394 million workers, 87 per cent of the country’s working population, are in the unorganised sector.
The report said 79 per cent of these workers lived on less than Rs. 20 a day In Gujarat, the government announced that benefits under 20 schemes, including education aid, maternity benefits, funeral benefits, accident group insurance scheme and housing, would be routed through the cards.
The Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008, passed after the setting up of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector in 2004 provides for constitution of the National Social Security Advisory Board at the Central level, which is to recommend social security schemes, health and maternity benefits and pension schemes for unorganised workers. It said that every adult worker could self-certify that he or she worked in the unorganised sector and shall be issued a smart card and a unique identification number.

GSLV-3: India’s Heaviest Launch Vehicle

What a proud news for India’s this morning. We are progressing swiftly in all streams. When we are still rejoicing the first Mars mission from India- The cheapest interplanetary mission ever to be undertaken, here comes one more news of celebration. ISRO launches India’s heaviest rocket GSLV-3 from Sriharikota today.

For the ones who think Indian scientists are doing excellent job with their brilliance let me highlight the point that the development for the GSLV-3 began in the early 2000s, with the first launch planned for 2009-2010. No doubt in the fact that our scientists are brilliant but it took them a lot of efforts, hard work, failures and learning to make GSLV-3 a success launch. And thus once again proving us that patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GSLV-3

GSLV-3 is India’s largest rocket

GSLV-3 is ISRO’s most advanced launch vehicle capable of injecting heavy satellites.

GSLV- 3 is intended to launch satellites into geostationary orbit (35,786 kilometers above the Earth’s equator)

GSLV-3 weighs 630-tonne becoming the heaviest rocket till date.

GSLV-3 is a CARE mission, meaning Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment. This is a space capsule that will be taken above earth’s atmosphere by the rocket and then will be sent back.

GSLV-3 is an experiment to check the compatibility for manned missions which is about 5 years from now.

Government’s DBTL becomes world’s largest direct benefit transfer scheme

Governments ambitious Direct Benefit Transfer on LPG (DBTL) has become the world’s largest direct benefit transfer scheme after 2.5 crore households received about 550 crore rupees since 15th November 2014.

It has surpassed number of beneficiaries in direct benefit transfer programmes in countries like China and Brazil.

Background

Earlier, government had launched DBTL scheme in 54 districts from 15th November 2014 and planning to launch it all over the country from 1st January 2015.

Key facts about Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme

This scheme gives cash subsidy on cooking gas directly to consumers so that they can buy cooking gas at market price.
It aims to curb leakages, preventing black-marketing in cash subsidy on cooking gas.
As primary option, LPG consumers who join the DBTL scheme receive the LPG cash subsidy either by linking their Aadhaar number to the LPG and bank database.
In case of secondary option, consumers may get the subsidy directly into their accounts without linking it with Aadhaar.

Thus, DBTL scheme is will help government to save upto Rs 14,000 crores in subsidies.

Sachin Tendulkar : Adopts A Village In Andhra

Is this the start of Sachin’s second innings? Absolutely. What a news from India’s favourite cricketer. Sachin, an inspiration for millions of people has given another opportunity for us to be inspired.

Sachin adopted a village Puttamraju Kandriga, a Nellore village in South Andhra. He is aspiring it to make it into a model village. The village development is estimated at Rs. 5.79 crore, of which Sachin is contributing Rs. 2.79 crore. Adopting a village for Sachin was a way of thanking people and giving back to them. As per the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, Sachin adopted Puttamraju Kandriga of south Andhra with a population of over 5,000 people.

Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is a rural development and cleanliness programme for social and cultural development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set this project. He stated, “If we have to build the nation we have to start from the villages” and he believes “If every MP transforms villages in his/her constituency into model villages, large number of villages in the country would have seen holistic development.”

As per the agenda of this project Sachin laid a foundation stone for the development of this village. He interacted with the people of this village and made them take an oath on the development of their village. He spread the awareness of a well-furnished community centre, underground drainage, playground, cleanliness and stressed on the equality of gender. He asked people to treat their sons and daughters alike and insisted people to educate their children.

National Good Governance Day observed on Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 90th birthday

Former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna recipient Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 90th birthday was observed as National Good Governance Day on 25^th December 2014.

In order to mark the occasion of this day, several programmes were organized nationwide and new initiatives were announced.

Events and new initiatives

Ministry of Petroleum expanded the 5 kg LPG cylinder scheme in Delhi.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated e-office in his office and e-clearance.
Ministry of Communication and IT made its Good Governance initiatives public and launched a number of new projects.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) launched an SMS service to forecast weather related information. It will provide real time cyclone alerts and warnings to general public.
Tourism and Culture Ministry launched e-ticketing facility at National monuments like Taj Mahal and Humayun Tomb.

It should be noted that this day is also being observed as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana( PMGSY) Divas.

Background

Earlier in December 2014, Union Government had announced that National ‘Good Governance Day’ will be observed on the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee i.e. 25th December each year.

It was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting held New Delhi.

GHAR WAPSI MEANING:

I was wondering what the meaning of Ghar Wapsi could be? I realize there have been a few searches which have led to this post with the tag word – ‘Ghar Wapsi meaning’. Well to my understanding, the literal translation comes to – Home coming.

In other words, I guess these fundamentalists believe the nation to be of their caste/clan and think that whoever has followed a different path is considered an alien or a foreigner who has lost touch with the ways of the land. As a result of which they have to be brought back home and these fundamentalists are assuming that they are doing it by doing a forced mass conversion.

Ghar Wapsi: Forced Mass Conversion To Hinduism

The purpose of a religion is to realize self actualization of a man! In other words, the true purpose of a religion is to ensure that each person reaches his true potential, goes beyond the temptations toward one honest truth – upliftment of himself.

With the recent trend of events, religion seems to be taking a completely different trend. For a long time I was very proud to know that Hinduism was one of the very few religions which did not have a format for conversion of people. It looks like I have been visibly proved wrong with the recent turn of events – In Agra where about 57 Muslim families have been mass converted into hindus with a promise to provide them ration cards, BPL facilities and more. The event was proudly hosted by Dharma Jagaran Manch and the Bajrang Dal.

Kailash Satyarthi: Much More Than A Nobel

Kailash Satyarthi along with Malala Yousafzai receives Nobel Peace Prize of 2014 today at Oslo. We have been hearing about Kailash Satyarthi ever since his name was announced on the Nobel peace Prize 2014. Just a few people were aware of this great Man’s contribution to society and now he has risen to become the nation’s pride, it feels as if everyone is singing his praise.

Adding a little more to his praise, here are a few points which we probably didn’t know and a must know about Kailash Satyarthi

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WHO IS KAILASH SATYARTHI?

The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his works as an activist against child labour. The answer is much more than that.

Kailash Satyarthi is a children’s rights activist who saved the rights and lives of more than 80,000 children in more than 140 countries and whose work inspired the International Labour Organization of United Nations to adopt a convention on worst forms of child labour.

WHAT WAS HE BEFORE?

Kailash Satyarthi was an electrical engineer by qualification, who worked for a few years as a lecturer in the same stream. At the age of 26, he gave up his promising career to start something new a career but not a vision.

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

Satyarthi began working for the liberation of bonded labourers with an NGO and later started his own organization by the name Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Mission)

Bhopal Gas Tragedy: After 30 years, Who’s To Blame?

The worst industrial disaster India has ever seen, some even go to the extent of comparing it to the three mile island, but for today, we shall stick to what happened about 30 years ago claiming lives of hundreds in silence and creating a wound that remains a scar to even this day. The toll was over 500,000 people who were exposed to the deadly Methyl Isocyanate gas with a confirmed death of 3,787 with the cause related to the gas release. The estimate gets as high as 8,000 people who died over the two weeks and about 8000 more with time and undoubtedly it was the worst disaster the Indian industry has ever seen.

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Bhopal Gas Tragedy- 30 Years Later, Who To Blame

THE ISSUE

The gas tragedy is a long standing issue that stands tall even today and the issue is the fixation of responsibility. The company which owned the major stakes later sold it off to another which sold it off to another and finally it is the DOW chemicals that owns the major stake and the question is about the responsibility of the disaster that happened 30 years ago and the effects are still seen to the next generation as well. Although it sounds as simple as a gas leak from one of the chambers, the effect has been catastrophic with the number of death tolls and the issue transcending to the further generations.

THE EARLY SIGNS

An issue was caused by the phosgene gas released by the company in 1976 which later resulted in a death and the Indian authorities had warned the company in 1979 but unfortunately nothing much was done about it. The issue resurfaced in 1982 when the phosgene gas release exposed to 24 workers resulted in them being hospitalized and surprisingly none of the workers were advised to wear preventive masks. And there were a couple more such complaints that were made internally during this year and looks like all of them fell on deaf years only to result in a deadly tragedy two years later.

LEGAL ACTION

It was quite a neat little thing to take advantage of a legal construct. As per the rules back then, the maximum allocated amount that could be given as a compensation was $2000 which according to many critics is way less than the amount of damage that has been created and also been given to only a few people. The effects have been long standing and people are suffering to this day, the effects of this tragedy. The government of India had claimed $3.3 billion as a compensation for the tragedy but the company reached an out of court settlement at $470 million which is just about 15% of what the government claimed.

Phillip Hughes: May His Soul Rest In Peace

The most shocking news for cricket lovers. To know that one fine player of Australia, Phillip Hughes was hit on his head while playing a domestic match two days ago and was in coma for days. The worst news is to know that he is no more. Never could we imagine death coming in this way for a young man of 25yrs. A terrible news.

Image Courtesy: The Guardian

CAUSE OF DEATH

Cricket specialists have guessed that the helmet he used that day was the cause of serious injury. Hughes used an old model unlike the new model, which has the grilled protection on the back of it. Hughes sustained serious head injuries and had emergency surgery before being placed into an induced coma. And he is declared dead now.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF PHILLIP HUGHES

Phillip Hughes became the first Australian batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a century on debut in 2003.

Phillip Hughes was the youngest cricketer ever to score back-to-back centuries in a test match.
Phillip Hughes represented Australia at the Under-19s World Cup in 2007.

Black Money: Swiss Bank Agrees To Help India

WHY DO PEOPLE PREFER THE SWISS BANKS?

Swiss banks are famous for their security and stability. It is also quite popular for secrecy that it does not leak out the information about the clients or their assets to general public or governments. At one end it is a highly commendable system but at the other it does offer a challenge for certain countries like India. There have been reports which mention billions of dollars being placed in the Swiss accounts and most of this being a great way to save the black money accumulated through illegal modes.

WHY IS THE ISSUE SO IMPORTANT?

India has been trying for a long time to gain access to information about the accounts, esp the ones which have a huge amount saved. But this was working against the secrecy policy of swiss banks which made it difficult for India to gain information about the same. However with the recent move, India will be in a position to gain access to information about the ones who have huge amounts saved in the swiss bank and they will be open for investigation provided they have huge disproportionate assets.

HOW IS IT GOING TO BE OF HELP?

Well, with this change, the swiss bank is no longer going to be a safe haven for saving the black money, which means the affluent people here or the ones who are hoarding black money will either have to rely on the local banks or use different modes for saving. If they use the local banks, their incomes are liable for scrutiny and if they have disproportionate assets, they can be further questioned. No wonder information is the key to set things in order.

WHAT IF WE ARE ABLE TO TRACK ALL THE BLACK MONEY?

Well, if there is no safe haven for black money, it acts as a very strong deterrent against corruption. For even if these people in top positions take bribe and are corrupt, they don’t have a safe place to store it – which means they have to spend it or save it. If they spend it, it attracts attention from people and they can be prosecuted or at least it helps in circulation of money within the country which certainly helps the local economy.

Well things sure look optimistic and I hope this opens up for a few more inspiring changes for the country.

Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir State Assembly 2014 elections results

Jharkhand

In Jharkhand State Assembly election 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged victorious by winning 37 out of total 81 seats.

BJP’s along with its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) which has won 5 seats will form government.

While the earlier ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has won 19 seats.

In this election BJP had contested for 72 seats while its alliance partner AJSU contested on 8 seats.

Key facts

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): Won 37 seats with vote share of 31.3 percent.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM): Won 19 seats with vote share of 20.4 percent.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik): Won 8 seats with vote share of 10 percent.
Indian National Congress (INC): Won 6 seats with vote share of 10.5 percent.
All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU): Won 5 seats with vote share of 3.7 percent.
Others: Won 6 seats with vote share of 6.3 percent.

Jammu & Kashmir

In Jammu & Kashmir State Assembly election 2014, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has emerged largest party by winning 28 seats out of total 87 seats.

While, BJP has emerged second largest party winning 25 seats. It should be noted that BJP has won maximum from the Jammu region. Earlier, ruling National Conference has won 15 seats.

In J&K no party has emerged victorious, thus hung assembly situation has arisen.

Key facts

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Won 28 seats with vote share of 22.7 percent.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - Won 25 seats with vote share of 23 percent.
National Conference (NC) – Won 15 seats with vote share of 20.8 percent.
Indian National Congress (INC) – Won 12 seats with vote share of 18 percent.
Others- Won 7 seats with vote share of 3.5 percent.

Background

The elections in both states were held in 5 phases. It started on 25^th November and ended on 20^th December 2014.

RBI extends deadline for withdrawal of pre-2005 currency notes till 30 June 2015

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the deadline for withdrawal of pre-2005 of various denominations including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 by six months till 30^th June 2015.

RBI also has clarified that all such notes will continue to remain a legal tender and can be exchanged for their full value.

Pre-2005 currency notes: They do not have the year of printing on the reverse side of note. While the currency notes issued after 2005, have year of printing is visible at the bottom of the reverse side.

Background

Previously in March 2014, RBI had notified that all currency notes issued prior to 2005 will be withdrawn from circulation and had set a deadline of July 1 for exchanging the notes.
In this regard, all banks were told to exchange any number of notes for both customers and non-customers.
After the deadline, banks were notified to exchange the notes only for their customers and non-customers after they furnish proof of identity and residence.
But this July deadline was extended to 1st January 2015.

Thus by withdrawing all pre-2005 notes, RBI is seeking to curb the menace of fake currency in the country as post-2005 notes have added additional security features.

Eminent South Indian filmmaker K. Balachander passes away

Eminent South Indian filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Kailasam Balachander passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was 84.

About K. Balachander

He was a multi-lingual filmmaker and has directed many films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
His film career spanned over 45 years and made his debut in 1965 with the Tamil film ‘Neerkumizhi’.
He has written, directed and produced more than 100 films.
He is considered as guru and mentor of south Indian film legend Rajinikanth. He had introduced Rajinikanth in his film Apporva Raagangal in the year 1975. He was also mentor of Kamal Haasan.
Awards: He has won 9 national film awards, several Filmfare awards and Kalaimamani award given by Tamil Nadu government. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2010.
His Critically acclaimed and well-known films: Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, Sindhu Bhairavi, Manmadha Leelai, Anthuleni Katha and Moondru Mudichu.

Lok Sabha passes Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Lok Sabha has passed the Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014. It was passed by voice vote.

This bill amends Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 and aims to strengthen the Regional Rural Banks and deepen their financial inclusion.

Key facts

Authorised capital: This amendment bill increases the authorised capital of each Regional Rural Bank (RRB) from Rs 5 crore to Rs 2000 crore divided into Rs 200 crore of fully paid share of Rs 10 each. As per the parent Act the Rs 5 crore share capital of RRBs is split into 5 lakh shares of Rs 100 each.
Issued capital: It also provides that the authorised capital issued by any RRB’s shall not be reduced below Rs 1 crore and shares in all cases to be fully paid up shares of Rs 10 each.
Shareholding: The Bill allows RRBs to raise capital from sources other than the central and state governments, and sponsor banks.
Board of directors: The Bill adds provision that any person who is a director of an RRB is not eligible to be on the Board of Directors of another RRB. It also mentions that directors will be elected by shareholders based on the total amount of equity share capital issued to such shareholders.
Tenure of directors: The bill raises the tenure of directors to 3 years from existing 2 years. The Bill also states that no director can hold office for a total period exceeding six years.
Closure and balancing of books: The parent Act had provision which mentioned that the balance books of RRBs should be closed and balanced by 31st December every year. However this amendment bill changes this date to 31st March in order to bring RRB’s balancing of books in uniformity with the financial year.

Lok Sabha passes Payment & Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Lok Sabha has passed Payment & Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014. It will amendPayment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. It aims to bring India’s banking payment system in synchronization with international practices.

Key facts

It seeks improve the payment and settlement systems by increasing transparency and stability of Indian financial market.

It has provision to protect funds collected from the customers by the payment system providers and to extend the Act to cover trade repository and legal entity identifier issuer. A Legal Entity Identifier will be a unique ID associated with a single corporate entity.

It mentions that the decision of the court, tribunal or any authority will not impact the settlement which had become final prior to the issuance of the order.

It will ensure that if a system participant becomes insolvent, the dues of people whose money is with it would be cleared first. Norms of banking as well as companies laws would not be applicable till such dues are cleared.

India third on black money list: GIF report

As per recently released Global Financial Integrity’s (GFI’s) 2014 Annual Global Update on Illicit Financial Flows report has placed India on third rank on black money list.

Key facts of report

This report estimated that nearly $94.76 billion (nearly Rs 6 lakh crore) illicit wealth outflowed in 2012 from India.
In this report, Russia is on the top with USD 122.86 billion, followed by Chinaat the second position (USD 249.57 billion) in terms of the quantum of black money moving out of a country for 2012.
Cumulative illicit outflows from developing economies for ten years between 2003 and 2012 stands at USD 6.6 trillion.
Above three countries are followed by Mexico at the fourth place (USD 59.66 billion) and Malaysia at fifth (USD 48.93 billion).

Government Bans ISIS

Government of India has banned terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria(ISIS). It was announced by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha.

Government has banned ISIS under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. As per Home Ministry this terrorist group is already banned by UN under the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism(Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007 made under section two of the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947 and amended from time to time.

This announcement comes after Bangalore techie was allegedly found running the pro-Islamic State Twitter account and tweeting in support of the terrorist organisation.

Day set for India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ‘Mangalyan’

As per the announcement by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),India’s first mission to Mars -Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will be launched on November 5, 2013 from Sriharikota space station.

About India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ‘Mangalyan':

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has been named ‘Mangalyan‘
To be launched onboard PSLV C25 on November 5, 2013 at 14:36 hours from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
India’s first interplanetary mission to planet Mars with an orbiter craft designed to orbit Mars in an elliptical orbit.
It will reach Martian transfer trajectory in September 2014. Subsequently, it is planned to enter into a 372 km by 80000 km elliptical orbit around Mars.

Objectives of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ‘Mangalyan’:

The main objectives of the Mars mission are to showcase India’s technological prowess to send a satellite to orbit around Mars and conduct important experiments such as looking for signs of life, take pictures of the red planet and study Martian environment.
To develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.
Design and realisation of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion or capture.
Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.
Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.

Wednesday, 7 January 2015

Eminent Economist Arvind Panagariya appointed as NITI Aayog vice-chairman

Other Appointments of NITI Aayog

Union Sports Ministry recommends Saina Nehwal’s name for Padma Bhushan award

About Padma Bhushan award

ICICI Bank Launches Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat

Key facts about ICICI Bank’s Digital Village Project

RBI relaxes KYC norms for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC’s)

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PM inaugurates 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015 at Mumbai Universitie

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Indian Science Congress 2015 at the MumbaiUniversity. It is the 102nd edition of this congress and Mumbai is hosting it again after the gap of 45 yThe theme of 102nd Congress is Science and Technology for Human Development.

Government splits Chairman & MD post in PSU banks and names chiefs for 4 PSU banks

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni announces his retirement from Test cricket

AirAsia flight QZ8501 Incident

Government meets target of opening 10-crore accounts under PM Jan Dhan Yojana

About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

Raghubar Das sworn in as 10th CM of Jharkhand

Russia and four ex-Soviet Nations Finalise New Alliance EEU

Key facts about Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)

Bharat Ratna: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya.

ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE

MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA

GSLV-3: India’s Heaviest Launch Vehicle

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GSLV-3

Government’s DBTL becomes world’s largest direct benefit transfer scheme

Sachin Tendulkar : Adopts A Village In Andhra

National Good Governance Day observed on Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 90th birthday

GHAR WAPSI MEANING:

Ghar Wapsi: Forced Mass Conversion To Hinduism

Kailash Satyarthi: Much More Than A Nobel

Kailash Satyarthi: Much More Than A Nobel

WHO IS KAILASH SATYARTHI?

WHAT WAS HE BEFORE?

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

Bhopal Gas Tragedy: After 30 years, Who’s To Blame?

THE ISSUE

THE EARLY SIGNS

LEGAL ACTION

Phillip Hughes: May His Soul Rest In Peace

Phillip Hughes: May His Soul Rest In Peace

CAUSE OF DEATH

ACHIEVEMENTS OF PHILLIP HUGHES

Black Money: Swiss Bank Agrees To Help India

WHY DO PEOPLE PREFER THE SWISS BANKS?

WHY IS THE ISSUE SO IMPORTANT?

HOW IS IT GOING TO BE OF HELP?

WHAT IF WE ARE ABLE TO TRACK ALL THE BLACK MONEY?

Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir State Assembly 2014 elections results

Jharkhand

Jammu & Kashmir

RBI extends deadline for withdrawal of pre-2005 currency notes till 30 June 2015

Eminent South Indian filmmaker K. Balachander passes away

Lok Sabha passes Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Lok Sabha passes Payment & Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Key facts

Government Bans ISIS

Day set for India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ‘Mangalyan’

About India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ‘Mangalyan':

Objectives of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) ‘Mangalyan’:

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Indian Science Congress 2015 at the MumbaiUniversity. It is the 102nd edition of this congress and Mumbai is hosting it again after the gap of 45 yThe theme of 102^nd Congress is Science and Technology for Human Development.