Current Affairs Current Affairs - 29 June 2016 - Vikalp Education

Online Vikalp, Current Affairs, Current Awareness, General Awareness, Aptitude Classes, Daily News, General Knowledge, General Awareness For All Competitive Exam, current affairs quiz,current affairs in india, current affairs about sports, current affairs and gk, current affairs about india, current affairs daily quiz, current affairs dairy, current affairs education, Top News, Breaking News, Latest News

Current Affairs - 29 June 2016


General Affairs 

PM Modi Lacking Comprehensive Policy Towards Pakistan: Opposition
  • NEW DELHI:  Opposition parties today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not having a comprehensive policy towards Pakistan, saying diplomacy requires seriousness, gravitas and not "threatrics".

    The government's foreign policy lacks coherence, clarity and consistency, they said.

    The remarks by Congress and CPI(M) came a day after PM Modi said that India's efforts for engagement with Pakistan is on with peace as the supreme objective but the forces have "full freedom to answer back" in whatever manner they have to.

    "Nobody is against engaging with Pakistan but what we have questioned him (Modi) is about not taking the opposition into confidence," Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.

    He said diplomacy does not require theatrics and needs seriousness, gravitas.

    CPM leader Brinda Karat targeted the Centre, saying it does not have a comprehensive policy towards Pakistan.

    She said it is really a "show-based" policy rather than a serious diplomatic initiative to deal with a neighbour which undoubtedly has been encouraging terrorists groups against India.

    "One day you say you are going to bomb Pakistan. The other day your Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) said you are not going to count the bullets that are going to be used against Pakistan," Ms Karat said, adding that the Prime Minister had gone to Pakistan to meet Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.

    Congress leader PL Punia accused the government of having a "dual strategy" on the issue of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan saying on the one hand it appreciated his work, but agreed with what Subramanian Swamy said and bid goodbye to him.

    "Today our economy is passing through such a time that requires stability. There was a need for (his) continuity," he said.

From A Cell In Kota Jail, This Young Man Made It To IIT
  • KOTA: For the last two years, Piyush Goyal had been studying hard like any other engineering college aspirant. The difference is, he was doing it at the Open Jail in Kota, where his father is a convict.

    The conditions were bad - a room barely 8X8 feet, where the lights went out at 11 in the night. There wasn't much money to spend on books either. A convict in a murder case, his father Phool Chand Goyal's resources were slim -- which is also why Piyush could not afford to stay in a hostel in the city and study.

    But 18-year-old, who ranked 453 in the engineering entrance exams, laughed off the hardships.

    "The jail is not so bad," he said. "People think the atmosphere is very bad here, but that is not so... Today I have fulfilled my father's dream. He showed great courage by keeping me here and funding my studies."

    Phool Chand is close to finishing his 14-year jail sentence and has been allowed to live in an open jail, a correctional facility where he can go out of the campus for work, but has to be back in his cell by evening. The boy has been living with him for the last two years.

    So far he funded Piyush's studies from the Rs. 12,000 salary he got from working at a shop in the city. Though he could not afford a hostel, he managed to send his son to "Vibrant" -- a coaching institute in Kota.

    "It was difficult to study here," said Phool Chand. "But I have to say the jail administration co-operated. The guards who are here on duty, especially the younger ones, would encourage my son."

    Buoyed by Piyush's success, the administration said it hoped to increase facilities for inmates, especially those in open jails. "We are happy that he has made a success, despite such adverse circumstances," said Jail Superintendent Shankar Singh.

BJP, National Conference Members Clash In Jammu And Kashmir Assembly
  • SRINAGAR:  Members of National Conference and ruling BJP clashed in Jammu andKashmir Assembly today over the security situation in the wake of attack on CRPF convoy, with the opposition party demanding to know what steps were being taken to deal with the growing violence.

    NC members later staged a walkout as their demand went unheeded.

    As soon as the House assembled for the day, NC legislators wanted to speak on the security situation, which according to them was "deteriorating".

    The opposition members referred to the recent incidents of violence in the state including the deadly Pampore attack on last Saturday that left eight CRPF personnel dead.

    "We are in the session (of the Assembly) and the government must come out with a statement," NC member Devender Rana said.

    He also took on BJP, which shares power with PDP in the state, for demanding "attack" on terrorist training camps across the border in Pakistan.

    Accusing BJP of creating "war hysteria", he said the ruling party was indulging in "jingoism" and "playing to the gallery instead of spelling out measures to combat violence.

    Asserting that war is not a solution, Mr Rana said the state, especially the areas adjoining the Line of Control and International Border, braved the brunt of shelling from across the border two years ago.

    "Bullets are fired here, not in Nagpur," Mr Rana said in an apparent reference to the RSS headquarters.
         
    Mr Rana's comments infuriated BJP legislators who shouted him down and created din.

    Speaker Kavinder Gupta intervened, saying the central government was capable of defeating the Pakistani designs in Jammu and Kashmir.
        
    "For a moment, BJP is forgetting that it is in government, both in the state and at the Centre," Mr Rana said.

    The NC legislator also took a jibe at PDP and wanted to know its response over the alliance partners "war yells and talk of air strikes" in the neighbouring country.

    "What is the response of the party that believed in 'Goli Se Nahi Boli Se (not bullet but by dialogue issues can be resolved)," he said and asked whether the PDP had "surrendered its basic principles for lust of power".

Kerala Backs Out Of Goods And Services Tax Bill Commitment, Says Amit Mitra
  • KOLKATA:  Kerala has backed out of its commitment to support the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers Amit Mitra said today.

    "Finance Minister of Kerala Thomas Issac had supported the bill in the recent meeting held in the city, but now they said they were trying to arrive at a consensus," Mr Mitra, who is also the West Bengal's finance minister told the State Assembly.

    Speaking to reporters outside the House, he said that looking for consensus meant things were in 'doldrums'.

    He alleged that there was a state of complete contradiction and confusion in the Left Front on the issue.

    In the June 14 meeting of the empowered committee of the state finance ministers, all states except Tamil Nadu had agreed to support the GST Bill.

    The BJP government was confident of clearing the bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament and the draft GST Bill had also been circulated for public comments.

SmartCity Kochi To Be Fully Operational By 2021, Says Pinarayi Vijayan
  • THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Under-construction IT Special Economic Zone SmartCity Kochi will be fully operational by 2021, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said.

    The apprehensions with regard to SmartCity Kochi's first phase will be resolved as early as possible, he said during the Question Hour in the Assembly.

    "The government will ensure that land allotted for IT is not used for other purposes. This will not be allowed and strong action would be taken against those who flout the norms," he said.

    The project is being developed by Smart City (Kochi) Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, a joint venture formed to develop the project. Kerala government and TECOM Investments, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, are the main investors in the company.

    The project envisions minimum 8.8 million sq ft of built-up space, out of which at least 6.21 million sq ft will be specifically marked for IT, ITeS or allied services.

Business Affairs 

Black money window: I-T dept creates special tab on website
  • The Income Tax department has created a special zone on its official website to showcase country-wide activities being done by it to popularise the one-time black money compliance window that will complete its first month in operation soon.
    A 'dashboard' has been hosted on the official web portal of the department -http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in- and it chronicles all activities initiated by the department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Finance Ministry to make the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) successful.
    The four-month IDS got operational on June 1 and will be in force till September 30. The declarant will have to pay a total of 45 per cent in tax and penalty by November this year and the government has ensured that such entities will have immunity from prosecution.
    Under the new tab on the website, the department has also put messages and speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other senior officials in connection with the IDS, even as it goes on to chronicle news stories and tally of sessions being held by taxmen across the country to popularise the scheme.
    IDS was announced by the government with an aim to flush out black money from the domestic economy.
    The IDS will apply to undisclosed income whether in the form of investment in assets or otherwise, pertaining to financial year 2015-16 or earlier.
    Declarations under IDS can either be made online on the official e-filing website of the tax department or before various regional Principal Commissioners of I-T department.

    Raghuram Rajan went with majority view on policy rate on Jun 7
    • Reserve Bank head Raghuram Rajan went with the recommendations of majority of the external members of the monetary policy panel and did not slash the key interest rate early this month.
      As per the summary of electronic consultation with the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) released by RBI on Tuesday, three of the five external members recommended no change in policy rates.
      Before contemplating any easing of policy rate, these members wanted to see substantially lower inflation relative to the 2016-17 target of 5 per cent on a durable basis and assess the effect of the monsoon in the next couple of months.
      They also wanted further clarity on the US Fed's take on the rates.
      Meanwhile, in a sweeping change, the government on Monday enforced a law for setting up a broad-based, six-member committee that is likely to decide on interest rate at the next monetary policy in August, with RBI Governor having a casting vote in case of a tie.
      The review will be the last monetary policy of Rajan, who completes his three-year term on September 4.
      The summary further said that the other two members recommended a policy repo rate reduction of 25 basis points.
      According to them, the shortfall of demand in the economy calls for some stimulus and the effect of the predicted good monsoon would keep food prices under check. They also opined that there is a window of opportunity before a possible the Fed rate hike in mid-June.
      One of these two members was of the view that, given the fragmentation and incompleteness of India's financial markets, the repo rate has proved to be a much less effective instrument of monetary policy than in well developed markets like in the US, the summary said.
      Consultation with external members of the TAC was held electronically during May 24-30, in the run up to the Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review of the fiscal 2016-17.
      On June 7, Rajan kept the key policy rate unchanged citing higher upside risks to 'inflation trajectory' but said the central bank will remain accommodative provided data are supportive.
      All the five external members-Shankar Acharya, Arvind Virmani, Errol D'Souza, Ashima Goyal, and Chetan Ghate-sent their feedback through e-mail.
      Members noted that global economy recovery is struggling to gain momentum.
      On domestic economic growth, the sustained weakness of industrial production continues to be a source of concern, and a drag on overall activity. Low capacity utilization numbers suggest that some sectors of the economy are operating below potential.
      Most of the members expressed concern on inflation outlook since food inflation rose by 100 basis points, headline inflation moved up by 60 basis points, and even excluding food, fuel, petrol and diesel, inflation edged up marginally and remained sticky in April.

      India's growth may dip by 60 bps on Brexit: Morgan Stanley
      • Brexit is likely to have an adverse impact on India's growth with domestic GDP expected to decline by up to 60 basis points in a high-stress scenario within the next two years, Morgan Stanley said in a report.
        According to the global financial services major, with the UK's referendum to leave the European Union, the impact on Indian economy would be through trade and financial channels.
        However, it noted that owing to lower direct exposure in terms of exports to the UK, the Brexit impact would be "less" as compared to other more open economies in the region.
        "In a medium-stress scenario, we expect downside of 10-20 bps to GDP growth in the next two years, while in a high-stress scenario, we expect downside of 30-60 bps to GDP growth," Morgan Stanley said.
        In terms of policy response to the situation, Morgan Stanley said it expects the monetary policy to be more focused on mitigating liquidity tightness through open market operations (purchase of government securities) in the eventuality of capital outflows.
        "Given that overall fiscal policy stance remains slightly expansionary, we do not expect any major change in fiscal policy by the government," it added.
        On the upside, the report noted that several indicators have pointed towards broadening of the country's economic recovery on account of pickup in discretionary consumption following the improvement in public capital expenditure and foreign direct investment flows, which remain strong.
        "The pick-up in consumption is of particular significance given that discretionary consumption has been on a weak trend since mid-2012," the report said.
        "Retail loan growth, petrol consumption, air passengers flown and consumer durables production have shown an improving trend over the last four months, indicating a pick-up in discretionary consumption," it added.
        Moreover, there has been a pick up in two-wheeler sales as well as improvement in steel and cement demand reflecting a rise in infrastructure related activity, among others.
        On private capex, the report said there would be an initial period wherein capacity utilisation levels would rise as consumption demand picks up as well as an improvement in corporate profitability.
        "This will create the base for private corporate capex to kick in, which we think will take 12-18 months to recover on a full-fledged," it added.

      7th Pay Commission: Cabinet may clear higher increase today
      • The Cabinet tomorrow is likely to approve higher increase in basic pay than the nearly 15 per cent recommended by the 7th Pay Commission for over 1 crore government employees and pensioners.
        The pay panel had in November last year recommended 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay at junior levels, the lowest in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.
        After considering the increase proposed in allowances, the hike in remunerations comes to 23.55 per cent.
        "Considering the tight fiscal position this year, the government may improve upon the Pay Commission recommendation for basic pay to 18 per cent or at best 20 per cent," a senior official said.
        The 7th Pay Commission report will be effective from January 1, he said, adding that the Cabinet will decide if the arrears for the six months have to be paid in one go or in installments.
        A secretaries' panel, headed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, has already vetted the 7th Pay Commission recommendation and its report is being translated into a note for Cabinet.
        "It in most likelihood will come up before the Cabinet tomorrow," the official said.
        The government had in January set up the high-powered panel to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.
        The Commission had recommended 23.55 per cent overall hike in salaries, allowances and pension involving an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore or nearly 0.7 per cent of the GDP.
        The entry level pay has been recommended to be raised to Rs 18,000 per month from current Rs 7,000 while the maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet Secretary, has been fixed at Rs 2.5 lakh per month from current Rs 90,000.
        The secretaries' panel may have recommended raising minimum entry level pay at Rs 23,500 a month and maximum salary of Rs 3.25 lakh.
        While the Budget for 2016-17 fiscal did not provide an explicit provision for implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, the government had said the once-in-a-decade pay hike for government employees has been built in as interim allocation for different ministries.
        Around Rs 70,000 crore has been provisioned for it, the official said.

        Govt appoints NS Vishwanathan as new RBI deputy governor
        • A government-appointed panel has selected NS Vishwanathan as a Reserve Bank of India deputy governor, replacing incumbent HR Khan, NDTV Profit TV and ANI television news agency reported on Tuesday without citing sources.
          Vishwanathan is currently an executive director at the RBI, overseeing the banking regulation and non-banking department. He would succeed Khan, who will retire on July 3, ANI tweeted.
          The key departments under Khan are financial markets, external investments and operations, payment and settlements, information technology, foreign exchange and internal debt management.
          The RBI currently has four deputy governors.

        General Awareness

        Sweden inaugurates world’s first electric road

          • Sweden inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road in Sandviken to conduct tests with electric power for hybrid heavy transports on public roads. With this, Sweden becomes first country in the world to have electric road. The tests will be conducted on parts of road E16. Key Facts The tests will continue up through 2018 and will provide knowledge of how electric roads work in practice. The road E16 tests will involve a current collector on the roof of the hybrid heavy truck’s cab that will feed the current down to a hybrid electric motor in the truck. It will also check feasibility of whether the technology can be used in the future. These experimental tests are based on the Sweden’s goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030. The project is being partially funded by Sweden’s three government agencies viz. Swedish Transport Administration, Swedish Energy Agency, and the country’s innovation agency Vinnova. The rest funding is provided by the private participants. Future Potentials: Bring one step closer to fossil fuel-free transport systems. It has the potential to achieve zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Provides a simple way for developing environmentally smart transport systems in the existing road networks.

        No comments:

        Featured post

        Current Affairs - 16 December 2018

        General Affairs   Cyclone Phethai Gathers Over Bay Of Bengal, May Hit Andhra On Monday ...

        Copyright © 2016. Vikalp Education
        loading...