Current Affairs Current Affairs - 17 November 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 - 17 November 2016


General Affairs 

Hardship Due To Demonetisation May Continue For A Month: Rajnath Singh
  • REWARI, HARYANA:  The hardship arising out of demonetisation may continue for around a month, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today, describing the move as the first step towards achieving economic and social freedom.

    Speaking at a rally in Rewari, Mr Singh asked the people to bear with the difficulties for some time as it would usher in a bright future in the long run.

    "It wasn't a small decision. We admit that people will face hardships for at least a month but it will be beneficial in the long term. A few political parties are opposing it. But bear with it for some time. We will give you a bright future.

    "India has got political freedom but we need economic and social freedom. We want economic inequality to end. The demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes is the first step towards that. It will help bring transparency in Indian politics," he said.

    At the 'Martyrs' Rally' organised by Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing Rao Inderjit Singh, the Home Minister also hit out at Pakistan for betraying the trust India reposed in it after the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014.


    Mr Singh didn't refer to the issue of 'One Rank, One Pension' (OROP) even once in his speech at the rally that was also attended by Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar and several ministers of the Haryana government and MLAs.

    This assumed importance as Narendra Modi had promised to implement OROP from the similar venue before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, two days before he was declared BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

    He said that "terrorism is the weapon of the coward" and claimed that this government which "has a strong heart" has brought down extremism and Naxalism significantly over the last two years.

    Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was supposed to address the rally but he couldn't come as he was unwell, Mr Singh said.

Nana Patekar Urges People To Support PM Narendra Modi's Move On Currency Ban
  • JAMMU:  Asserting that demonetisation will not only hit terrorism and unrest, but also put an end to fake currency in circulation, actor Nana Patekar today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move and urged common man to bear the inconvenience for some time.

    "Demonetisation is a good step. Due to demonetisation, terrorism will get a hit," Mr Patekar told reporters.

     "As common people, we should tolerate the inconvenience for 10, 15 and 25 days, and it is a very minor difficulty caused for us (on account of demonetization), which is minor in terms of that of the nation (is going through due to parallel economy of black money and fake currency)", he added.

    Mr Patekar, who visited BSF schools and interacted with schools children and later paid tributes of BSF martyrs said "Those who used to give Rs. 500 note to engineer a stone pelting (by young children), has stopped.


    Calling the initiative a big blow to fake currency being printed and send by Pakistan into the country, the actor said,

    "The money (fake) which used to be printed (in Pakistan) and comes from across the border that constituted 30 percent of fake notes in our currency. We now got rid of it."

External Control On Press Not Good For Society, Says PM Narendra Modi
  • NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly backed press freedom but also appeared to caution the media against "unrestrained writing".

    At a function to mark the National Press Day, PM Modi also said "external control" on the press is not good for society.

    "Freedom... freedom of expression needs to be followed, but there must be limits. Like a mother who tells her children not to eat too much," said the Prime Minister.

    Mahatma Gandhi, he said, used to say that "unrestrained writing can create a huge crisis".

    "Mahatma Gandhi had said uncontrolled writing can create huge problems but he had also said that external interference would wreak havoc. Controlling it (media) externally cannot be imagined," he said.

    PM Modi said the government should not interfere in the working of the media but added that it is the responsibility of the press to change appropriately with time.

    "Government should not do any interference. It is true that self-introspection is not easy... It is the responsibility of the PCI and those associated with the press to see to it that what appropriate changes you can make with time. Things do not change from external control," he said.

    Referring to recent cases of killing of journalists, he said: "Any death is worrying, but journalists losing their lives just because they are highlighting the truth, it becomes even more serious then." His remarks came against the backdrop of murder of two journalists in Bihar.

'Now We Have Modi Antoinette,' Says Left's Sitaram Yechury In Notes Ban Debate
  • NEW DELHI: Left leader Sitaram Yechury borrowed from a meme being shared on social media to take a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he criticised the way the government has pulled Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes to combat black or untaxed money.

    "In the French revolution, they said if you don't have bread, eat cake. Now we have Modi Antoinette. If you don't have paper, pay by plastic," said Mr Yechury, while speaking in a debate in parliament on the notes ban.

    The CPM leader said the government's decision had punished the poorest like daily wagers leaving them without cash in hand for essentials. "80 per cent is cash economy, everybody is suffering," Mr Yechury said, also adding, "The bulk of black money is not a stock, it is a flow. Those you are not stopping. The small fishes are dying while the crocodiles are enjoying."

    Opposition parties are attacking the government in Parliament for what they allege was a badly planned demonetisation move, which left people stranded without cash. The process of exchanging old notes for new has been arduous with people having to queue up for hours at banks.


    The government has said it had to make a sudden announcement on demonetisation for an effective crackdown on black or untaxed money. Financial experts have said the decision holds long-term benefits for the economy after the initial teething period, for which PM Modi has sought 50 days.

    Union minister Piyush Goyal said during the debate that the decision had "taught the corrupt a strong lesson" and that the removal of the old notes has been so welcomed that "a festival of honesty is being celebrated across the country."

    Mr Yechury's party has pledged to be part of a united opposition onslaught on the government on demonetisation in Parliament, but did not join a march led by arch rival and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to petition the President against the notes ban.

Piyush Goyal vs Anand Sharma On Surgical Strikes During Debate On 500, 1000 Rupees Notes Ban
  • NEW DELHI:  As parliament debated the currency ban, union minister Piyush Goyal of the BJP thanked the opposition Congress for bringing up the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control against terror bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in September.

    "You talked about the surgical strike. We did not mention it. This is good. You have given us a certificate that we conducted precise strikes against corruption," said Mr Goyal to the Congress's Anand Sharma.

    Mr Sharma, who opened the notes ban discussion in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House this morning and had said, "If you are the government, that doesn't mean India belongs to you. You have created such an environment that we cannot ask questions," alleging that the opposition's questions on the surgical strikes had been stonewalled by the government.

    "If we ask questions, you start asking questions about our nationality...After the Uri attack and surgical strikes, we posed various questions about the army....You said we cannot ask questions about the army," Mr Sharma said.


    The Congress has said it will attack the government on the surgical strikes during the winter session of parliament that began today. The party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers of exaggerating the government's role in the military action.

    BJP president Amit Shah has advised party lawmakers to counter the opposition aggressively, saying they must be prepared to offer informed accounts of the surgical strikes and other issues that will be raised.

    The government's allies, union minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday, have "in one voice praised the leadership qualities of PM Modi with regard to the decision to have surgical strikes and with regard to this historic, bold and revolutionary decision of a war against corruption and black money."

Business Affairs 

Removal of Cyrus Mistry won't be all that easy
  • The board of Tata Global Beverages (TGB), formerly Tata Tea, has voted to remove Cyrus Mistry as the chairman on Tuesday, making it the second major Tata Group company after TCS to do so. As expected, Mistry lashed out at the decision, dubbing it as "inaccurate and illegal". Unlike in TCS, the holding company Tata Sons and other Tata group companies are not the majority stake holder in TGB - the promoter companies hold around 36 per cent stake, including the revolted Tata Chemicals (7 per cent stake). But the TGB board has taken sides with Tata and appointed Harish Bhat, who was part of Mistry's core team as group executive council (GEC) member, as its new chairman.
    The dramatic board meeting started with Bhat's proposal to appoint S.K. Santhanakrishnan, a non-independent director, as the chairman of the meeting. But it was rejected by the board, which eventually ousted Mistry at the end. Of the 10 members who voted, just two favoured Mistry - independent directors Analjit Singh (Max India founder) and Darius Pandole (New Silk Route partner). The independent directors who sided with Tata were Tafe Chairman Mallika Srinivasan (who is also on Tata Steel's board), former RBI deputy governor V. Leeladhar and ex-vigilance commissioner Ranjana Kumar.
    Tata Sons has already instructed group companies like Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals and Tata Motors to call shareholder meets to strip Mistry from directorships. The general feeling is that these boards support Mistry and that is why Tata instructed for shareholder meets, expecting support from financial institutions, including the foreign firms. Also, there is a belief that the financial institutions will be forced to back Tata's decision, as Tata Sons is the major financial source for the respective companies.
    Mistry is also the chairman of Tata Teleservices, Tata Power and Indian Hotels. At the Tata Teleservices board meeting recently, the 'vote of confidence' issue hasn't come up, while the independent directors on the board of Indian Hotels have backed Mistry. The independent directors, who met separately after September quarter results at Bombay House, included HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, Nadir Godrej, Keki Dadiseth, Irena Vittal, Gautam Banerjee and Vibha Paul Rishi. The 10-member board of Indian Hotels has six independent directors and two professional directors, in addition to Mistry and his elder brother Shapoor.
    How can Mistry be removed? If there is no board majority, Tata can remove him as a director, eventually stopping him from being chairman. For this, Tata Sons requires support of a simple majority of shareholders at the EGM.
    Mistry has retained his position at Tata Steel amidst lack of unanimity among the directors, while he got the backing of independent directors at Tata Chemicals. Mallika Srinivasan, O.P. Bhatt (former Chairman of SBI) and Andrew M. Robb (former board member of Corus plc) is believed to back Tata's decision at the Tata Steel board meeting, blocking a move by Nusli Wadia to bring a resolution supporting Mistry. But at the Tata Chemicals meeting, Wadia controlled the show. The chemicals company has four independent directors - Nasser Munjee, Y.S.P. Thorat and Vibha Paul Rishi, in addition to Wadia. All the six independent directors, including Wadia, of the 11-member Tata Motors board met separately to announce their support to Mistry.
    The situation shows that it will be tough for Tata to completely remove Mistry from Tata Group, even after the shareholder meetings. If so, there will start a legal battle. 

Demonetisation: Ahead of winter session oppn calls it 'currency scam', Modi won't budge
  • Just before the Winter Session was to begin in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the Parliament premises on Wednesday and made a last minute appeal to the Opposition for their co-operation to achieve a 'fruitful' session.
    "In the winter session, a very positive discussion will happen and on all issues with contribution of all parties.  In last session an important bill like GST was passed, it was a big step. I had thanked all parties then," Modi said.
    Leaders of the Trinamool Congress however, were seen sloganeering and protesting against demonetisation inside the premises of the Parliament.
    'Withdraw financial emergency,' said the placards held by the TMC MPs in front of the iconic Gandhi Statue in the Parliament.
    The government on Tuesday had braced itself for a stormy Winter Session of Parliament beginning Wednesday with the opposition presenting a united face in seeking to corner it over the demonetisation issue calling it a "currency scam" that needs to be probed.
    The opposition also has a string of other issues like the surgical strikes across LoC, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, OROP and the plight of farmers to rake up during the session that will last a month. A demand for constitution of a JPC to go into the demonetisation is also on the opposition agenda.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier met opposition leaders and sought their cooperation in the fight against black money and corruption for which, he said, the demonetisation exercise was undertaken.
    In his concluding remarks at an all-party meeting on the eve of the Winter Session, Modi spoke in support of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls. He pitched for state-funding of elections and asked parties to debate the issue.
    The government is willing to discuss all issues and answer the questions raised by the opposition, Modi said, hoping for a fruitful session as he recalled the passage of the GST Bill in the last session with the cooperation of all parties.
    "We have launched a crusade against corruption, black money and fake currency, which is also behind cross-border terrorism. All parties should come together on this issue of national interest," he said.
    However, an unrelenting opposition decided to step up its fight against the government during the session. Presenting a united face, arch rivals TMC and Left parties and SP and BSP, got together at a meeting convened by the main opposition Congress to formulate a joint strategy.
    There were some reservations in the opposition over TMC's proposal for a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan today to petition the President against demonetisation.
    The majority of the parties did not want to exhaust the option of going to the President on the very first day of the session and instead wanted to keep it for a later stage.
    An unfazed TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, asserted that she would go ahead with around 40 of her MPs to the President.
    Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged the decision to invalidate Rs. 1000/500 currency notes was leaked in advance to some people, including BJP leaders, and called it probably the "biggest scam". He, however, added that his party is not for a rollback of the drive.

India can no longer live with black money: Arun Jaitley
  • As debate on demonetisation rages on across the nation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has changed his facebook cover photo which states that India can no longer live with black money.
    Integrity and ethical conduct are pre-requisites for the country's development, he states.
    "India cannot afford to live with black money any longer. Honesty, integrity and ethical conduct are requirements of India's development," said Jaitley's facebook cover photo.
    With opposition ganging up over demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, the government has been maintaining that the move was needed to eliminate black money, counterfeit notes and terror financing.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 announced demonetisation of high value currency notes and asked holders of such notes to deposit them in banks by December 30.
    Since then, seemingly unending queues of people trying to deposit and exchange their scrapped currency notes are being witnesses in front of banks and post offices.
    Initiating the debate on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Anand Sharma said the "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived" move had unleashed "economic anarchy" in the country and benefited a few.

Sensex sheds gains in volatile trade, Nifty closes below its 200-day moving average
  • The market lost momentum for the third consecutive day today with Nifty closing below its 200-day moving average of 8,126 level. An index closing below its 200-day moving average signals short-term volatility and downtrend in the market. The Sensex which gained 300 points in first five minutes of trade closed marginally lower reeling under the effects of demonetisation.  
    Experts see a downtrend in market in the near term on uncertainty over effects of demonetisation and global markets.
    The Sensex closed 5.94 points lower at 26,298 level.  The Nifty rose merley 0.04 per cent or 3 points higher to 8,111.
    On the Nifty 50, 19 stocks advanced against 32 closing lower.
    The BSE Sensex could not benefit from gains in auto and IT sector stocks and saw selling pressure in the last 30 minutes of trade.
    Earlier the BSE Sensex erased two days of losses on back of rise in auto and IT sector stocks on Wednesday.
    The auto sector stocks were battered in the last two trading sessions in wake of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes announced by PM Narendra Modi on  November 8.
    The BSE auto index rose 191 points to 19,711 level.
    IT sector stocks too gained as rupee touched their 20-week low on Tuesday. IT sector firms earn a large part of their revenue in dollars. If rupee falls, every dollar earned through exports means more revenue is added to the bottomline.
    The TCS stock rose 3.21 per cent to Rs 2,190.25 level on the BSE.
    MindTree, Infosys, KPIT rose 1.69 percent, 1.66 percent and 2.25 percent, respectively on the NSE.
    Bajaj Finance and Cholamandalam Finance were the top gainers rising 10.20 per cent and 8.59 per cent, respectively on the BSE.
    PC Jeweller fell 7.81 per cent, most on BSE, extending losses from Tuesday's trade. SRF Ltd was down 6.02 percent. Gujarat Pipavav Port too fell 6.01 percent.
    Market breadth was negative with 1551 stocks falling against 1049 advancing on the BSE.
    Global markets
    Asian stock markets were mostly higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors awaited more policy details from US president-elect Donald Trump. Oil prices bounced back after a brief retreat that snapped an overnight rally.
    Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.1 percent to 17,862.21 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.6 percent to 1,979.65. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent to 22,446.94, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.1 percent lower to 3,204.38. Australia's S&P/ASX was nearly unchanged at 5,327.70, while benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and Southeast Asia gained.
    US stocks finished higher on Tuesday as a rally in the oil markets pushed energy companies higher. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.3 percent to 18,923.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.7 percent to 2,180.39 and the Nasdaq composite added 1.1 percent to 5,275.62.

SBI chief says will go after wilful defaulters, terms 'write-off' report misleading
  • SBI chief Arundharti Bhattacharya has clarified that the bank will not let off any wilful defaulters after reports suggested that the bank had written-off loans worth Rs 7,016 crores.
    Earlier on Wednesday, Daily News & Analysis reported that SBI has written off loans worth Rs 7,016 crore owed to it by more than 60 of its top 100 wilful defaulters. "SBI has moved the loan amount to an Advance Under Collection Account (AUCA) in a bid to clean-up its balance sheets," the report said.
    Speaking to First Post, Bhattacharya said: "These are not write offs. They are old entries done over time. We have fully provided for these loans so they are put into an account called Accounts Under Collection. There is a very robust process for following up all these loans for recovery including monthly review by Management and quarterly review by Board. No let off of borrowers happen and all processes are focused for full recovery. The words "write off" are technical terms and used in the layman's way of understanding these words is completely misleading."
    Sixty-three accounts in the list have been fully written off, 31 have been partially written off and six have been shown as non-performing assets (NPAs), the paper said quoting a document it had accessed.
    It also included the loan amounting  to Rs 1,201 crore given to Vijay Mallya's defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
    Apart from Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, KS Oil (Rs 596 crore), Surya Pharmaceuticals (Rs 526 crore), GET Power (Rs 400 crore) and SAI Info System (Rs 376 crore) are the other top defaulters.
    Mallya's Kingfisher airlines owes total amount of Rs 6,963 crores to 17 banks. The auction of his Kingisher villa in Goa did not see any buyers last month.

General Awareness

November 2016 moon-the biggest and brightest in 60 years

  • According to the American Space Agency NASA, November 14, 2016, moon will be the biggest and brightest it has been in the 68 years.This moon will be a rare ‘supermoon’ making an appearance early morning just before dawn. It will appear especially bright because it is the closest it has been to Earth since Jan. 26, 1948 which won’t be seen until Nov. 25, 2034.
    • November’s full moon has been given a special name: Beaver Moon. November’s moon type is commonly called a “supermoon”, or technically a “perigee full moon”
    • Perigee is a phenomenon that occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon being the closest it gets to the Earth on its orbit.
    • On November 14 at 6:15 a.m. EST, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2016 at distance of 221,524 miles (356,508 kilometers) away.
    • This distance, which is measured from the center of the Earth to the center of the moon, is within 85 miles (137 km) of the moon’s closest possible approach to Earth.
    • Two hours and 37 minutes after perigee (the moon’s closest point to Earth), the orbit will officially turn full.
    Supermoon :
    Supermooons are about 30% larger in area and 30% brighter than the smallest full moons.
    • Smallest full moons happen when the moon is at its furthest distance from Earth; that is at the “apogee”.
    • In terms of diameter – the width of the moon – it will be about 14% wider than the smallest full moons.
    • One of the easiest way to catch a glimpse of the supermoon is via the Slooh Community Observatory which is offering a live broadcast starting November 13 at 8 p.m. ET.
    • According to the scientist there will be another supermoon next month.
    What causes supermoon ?
    The moon’s orbit around the Earth is slightly elliptical, so sometimes its closer and sometimes it’s farther away.
    • When the moon is full as it passes closest to the Earth, it’s called a “supermoon.”
    • At that point, it can be as much as 14 percent closer to the Earth than at apogee, or when it’s furthest away.
    • The proximity makes the full moon appear much larger in diameter and because it is larger, it shines 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth.
    • The increase in actual size of the moon’s image from a normal supermoon is totally swamped by phenomenon known as the “moon illusion”, which affects one’s perception of the size of the moon.
    • When the moon is close to the horizon, it can appear up to 300% the size it does when it is high in the sky – which makes much more of a difference than the actual 7% boost you get from it being a bit closer to the Earth.
    • That moon illusion (as the name suggests) is a complete illusion – the image of the moon does not change significantly at all as it moves from the horizon up into the sky. But, when it is close to the horizon, observers think it looks bigger.

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...