Current Affairs - 28 December 2016

General Affairs 

Demonetisation broke backs of terror, human trafficking in one stroke, says PM Modi

• 

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said demonetisation has broken the backs of terrorism, drug and fake currency smuggling and human trafficking.

  "With just one move on November 8, the worlds of terrorism, drug mafia, human trafficking and fake note smuggling were destroyed," Modi said at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally ahead of the assembly elections in Uttarakhand next year. 

  Here is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said:

  1. "Most people are for honesty; it is just a handful who are trampling them. We have waged this war to empower those who are being trampled," Prime Minister Modi said.
  2. "Corruption has destroyed the country, which was known as a bird of gold. If the country is to progress, this plunder has to stop, corruption has to stop," the Prime Minister said.
  3. Modi said despite hardships, the people of the country have supported the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes.
  4. "This is a cleanliness drive and only because of the common people's support we have been able to wage this war against corruption," Narendra Modi said.
  5. "There are those who are on the lookout for an opportunity to pounce on me. But I know that so long as I have the security cover of 125 crore people, nothing will happen to me," the Prime Minister said, adding that along with black money, black hearts too have destroyed the country.
  6. Enumerating various development schemes and initiatives of his government, including implementation of 'One Rank One Pay' scheme, he called upon the state's people to vote for the BJP. The people of Uttarakhand have a substantial representation in the country's armed forces.
  7. "Uttarakhand in now lying in such a deep pit that it needs two engines to pull it out. One (engine) is in Delhi (central government), and we need another in Dehradun (state government)," Modi said.
  8. "You have already installed one engine in Delhi; now it time to do the same in Dehradun," said Modi.

Fatigue probably the reason behind Goa accident, says Jet pilot

• 

  In the wake of Goa accident in which a Jet Airways aircraft skid off runway on Tuesday, India Today spoke to a pilot with Jet who believes pilot fatigue could be the reason behind the accident.

  "My first reaction to this accident was that it's fatigue which we are facing. We are barely getting 2-3 hours of sleep," said the pilot who has been with Jet for two years and has 7000 hrs of flying experience, with 4000 hrs piloting Boeing.

  The pilot, a senior commander with Jet, highlighted the pressure pilots face and said their rest was being monitored by a software called optimiser over the last 2-3 months.

  Here's what he said:

  #1 The pilot alleged that airlines coin rules as per availability of staff and entice DGCA to approve them.

  #2 The other rule he spoke about was the breathe analyser test -- which if a pilot fails to take before flying it's assumed as per rules that he's drunk.

  #3 "Authorities are waiting for another accident to happen which risks the life of people after which an inquiry will be ordered but no action will be taken on it," said the pilot.

  A Jet Airways plane carrying 161 passengers and crew took a 360-degree spin as it skidded off the runway while taking off from Goa's Dabolim airport on Tuesday morning.

  Fifteen passengers suffered minor injuries while being evacuated, and emergency slides were used to move those on-board out of the plane.

What was demonetisation's real motive, asks Rahul; Mamata asks if Modi will resign after 50 days

• 

  Rahul Gandhi today asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell the nation why he imposed demonetisation on the nation and who is responsible for the sufferings of the poor people.

  Attending the press conference in New Delhi today with the Congress leader was West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who called demonetisation a "mega scam" and asked if Modi will resign at the end of 50 days if things do not improve.

  "PM should answer the nation what was the real motive of demonetisation and what will he do for the poor people affected by it," the Congress vice-president said.

  "Demonetisation has made no impact on black money. It is an attack on financial independence, poor people," he said.

  "December 30 is about to come and the situation is the same. The motive of demonetisation has failed completely," Rahul said at a press conference he hosted with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi today.

  "PM Narendra Modi says he is fighting corruption but not answering allegations of personal corruption against him," he said, referring to his allegations of Modi taking money from some corporates when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister.

  DEMONETISATION A MEGA SCAM: MAMATA

  Mamata called demonetisation "a mega scam, one of the biggest one after independence", and said Modi has pushed India back "by 20 years" by imposing his unilateral decision of banning the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

  "If things remain unresolved even after 50 days, will PM Modi take responsibility and resign as the Prime Minister of the country?" Mamata demanded.

  "Modi had said the good days ("achche din") will come. Is this a sample of his achche din?" she asked.

  "In the name of cashless, the Modi government has gone baselss and total faceless," she said.

  "They do whatever they feel like like. The federal structure is totally destroyed. It is not emergency, it is super emergency," the Trinamool Congress chief said.

  COMMON MINIMUM AGENDA SOON: MAMATA

  With most major Opposition parties including the Samajwadi Party, the Left, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Janata Dal (United), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) boycotting the Rahul-Mamata press conference, the Opposition attack is already blunted.

  But Mamata claimed the Opposition is still united. "All the Opposition parties will make a common minimum agenda programme," she said.

Missing tiger Jai spotted in Telangana? Video footage to verify

• 

  One of the country's beloved tigers, Jai, went missing from Maharashtra's Tadoba National Park in April this year.

  Now, reports of the missing tiger being spotted in Telangana have raised the hopes of the Maharashtra government.

  WHO IS JAI?

  In August, the Maharashtra government had said that the Central Bureau of Investigation must take up the case of missing Jai.

  Nine-foot long and weighing nearly 250 kg, Jai was named after Amitabh Bachchan's iconic character in 'Sholay'. The biggest tiger in the Tadoba National Park, Jai was a photographer's delight.

  Earlier BJP MP Nana Patole had alleged that the tiger, who was a huge draw at the park, was killed by poachers.

  A RAY OF HOPE

  The latest reports have given the Maharashtra government some reason to rejoice.  

  "Some news channels and newspapers in Telangana carried an item saying that Jai has been spotted on the banks of Penganga river," said Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.

  "I spoke to the Forest Minister of Telangana Jogu Ramanna. We have requested for video footage to ascertain the identity. We will be in a position to confirm only after checking the footage. It will be easy to identify Jai as he is tagged with a radio collar," the minister added.

I don't make false promises, I remember what I say: PM Modi in Dehradun

• 

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Uttarakhand today where he laid the foundation stone of Char Dham highway development project in state capital Dehradun. Addressing a public rally on the occasion, PM Modi said his government has only one agenda and that is development. "I don't make false promises, I remember what I say," Modi said launching the BJP's campaign for the next year's assembly polls in the hilly state. 

  HERE'S WHAT PM MODI SAID:

  • I have a complaint against you all. When I came here during 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, this ground was only half full. But today, I can see thousands of people here. This is an indication that Uttarakhand doesn't want to wait any longer for development.

  •  Char Dham project is a homage to all those who lost their lives during Kedarnath tragedy.
  • Hasty  schemes only for politics, not development. Janata hai, sabkuch janti hai(people know everything). We are launching this project with proper planning.
  • I assure you that whenever you will come for Kedarnath,Badrinath yatra, you will remember this government
  • My government is dedicated to work for poor. We will provide better transport facilities to Uttarakhand.
  • We are working to turn Uttarakhand into the land of opportunities. We'll take this state to new heights of development.
  • I don't forget my words. I don't make false promises.
  • Buying a gas cylinder was used to be massive task in this country.
  • Am I working for the rich or poor?
  • Previous governments misled people over One Rank One Pension (OROP) for over 40 years. But it was my government which implemented it.
  • Have you made me the PM only for inaugurating small projects? I wasn't made PM to cut ribbons, light candles. You have given me the responsibility of a guard and now some people are worried when I am doing my duty.
  • I have launched a war on black money and I seek your blessings in this war.
  • Black money is not the problem. Its the black hearts of some people which are a problem.
  • Our aim is clear - remove corruption, its root.
  • Corruption, looting must end if we have to make India progress.
  • We cracked down on corruption, black money, terrorism, drug mafia and human trafficking in one go with note ban.

Business Affairs 

Sensex rises 406 pts, Nifty reclaims 8,000 level post FM Arun Jaitley's signal on tax cut

• 

  The market on Tuesday reversed gear and closed in green territory weeks ahead of the Budget amid reports government could cut tax rates on February 1.

  With fears of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on the sale of shares subsiding after FM Arun Jaitley's statement, short covering helped Sensex and Nifty made a strong recovery on the second trading day of the week.

  While the Sensex closed 406 points or 1.57 percent higher to 26,213 level, Nifty made a 124 points or 1.58 percent recovery to end at 8,032 level.

  The Sensex traded in a broad range of 25803 level to 26249 level during the day.

  Except GAIL (-0.95 percent), all 29 Sensex stocks ended in green.

  Auto stocks contributed most  to Sensex gains as the auto index rose 302 points to close at 19,897 level.

  All 13 stocks on the index closed higher with Bosch (3.93 percent) and Bharat Forge (2.96 percent) logging maximum gains.

  The JSW Energy stock rose 2 percent on report that its board has given nod to raise funds up to Rs 750 crore through issuance of redeemable non-convertible debentures by way of private placement.

  The BSE metal index too rose 239 points or 2.46 percent to 9942 level. National Aluminium (7.94 percent) and Tata Steel (3.23 percent) were the top gainers.

  Market breadth was positive with 1707 stocks closing higher against 862 ending in the red.

  The BSE smallcap select index (1.78 percent) and midcap index (1.71 percent) were the top gainers among indexes based on market capitalisation.
  
  Asian stocks

  Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was nearly flat at 19,403.06 and the Kospi of South Korea rose 0.2 percent to 2,042.17. India's Sensex added 0.8 percent to 26,009.86. The Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.3 percent to 3,114.66. Shares gained in Southeast Asia. Markets in Hong Kong and Australia were closed for Boxing Day.

  US MARKETS The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 14.93 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,933.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.83 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,263.79. The Nasdaq composite rose 15.27 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,462.69. By midday Tuesday in Asia, Dow futures were down 0.05 percent and S&P futures shed 0.03 percent.

Tata Sons slaps legal notice on Cyrus Mistry for alleged confidentiality breach

• 

  Tata Sons on Tuesday accused its former chairman Cyrus Mistry of breaching confidentiality rules and said it would take legal action against him, intensifying a battle between the conglomerate and the top executive it sacked in October.

  Mistry filed a petition last week seeking the intervention of the National Companies Law Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that deals with corporate grievances in India, accusing the conglomerate of shareholder oppression and mismanagement.

  Tata Sons, in a two-page legal notice from its law firm on Tuesday seen by Reuters, alleged that Mistry had "deliberately" attached confidential information related to the company to his petition, even without "any requirement to do so." 

  The information included confidential data, business strategies and financial information pertaining to the conglomerate, and its inclusion has resulted in a "criminal breach of trust," the notice said.

  A public relations agency representing Mistry said it had no comment.

  Tata Sons, the holding firm for the $100 billion software-to-salt conglomerate, now intends to pursue all legal remedies, the notice added.

  The holding company unexpectedly ousted Mistry as chairman in late October, sparking a public war between the two sides.

  "Not only have you breached your legal duties as a director, but you have acted recklessly with the sole intent to cause harm and loss to our Client," the law firm representing Tata Sons said in its legal notice to Mistry.

  Mistry resigned from the boards of all listed Tata companies but has signalled he intends to keep waging a battle in courts against the conglomerate and against family patriarch Ratan Tata, who is back at the helm on an interim basis.

  In his petition, Mistry asked the companies law tribunal to either replace Tata Son's current board or appoint a retired Supreme Court as non-executive chairman.

  The tribunal has asked him to provide proof of his allegations that Tata Sons has violated India's Companies Act sections dealing with shareholder oppression and mismanagement.

Ordinance planned to impose penalty for holding junked notes

• 

  The government is understood to be mulling an ordinance to impose penalties on anyone possessing the junked Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes beyond December 30 when the deadline to deposit them in banks expires.

  There was no official word on the move which is likely to come up before the Cabinet on Wednesday but sources said penalties may be imposed on anyone holding more than 10 notes each of the old currency after December 30.

  The ordinance may also extinguish the liability of the government and RBI towards the promise to pay the bearer of these notes their value because of a statutory requirement.

  In 1978 a similar ordinance was issued to end the government's liability after Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000 notes were demonetised by the Janata Party government under Morarji Desai.

  The government had while announcing the demonetisation of the old currency allowed holders to either exchange them or deposit in bank and post office accounts. While the facility to exchange the old notes has since been withdrawn, depositors have time till Friday to deposit the holding in their accounts.

  For those depositing any accounted funds, or black money, it has offered them an amnesty provided they paid 50 per cent of it as tax and penalties and parked a quarter of it in a zero-interest bearing deposit for four years.

  Reports said that there could be a cap of holding no more than 10 notes of each after December 30 and violation of the rule could draw a fine of a minimum of Rs. 50,000 or 5 times the amount in question -- whichever is higher, but there was no confirmation.

  Holders of such currency have an option to deposit them in RBI by March 31 but even that period may be curtailed, they said.

  Out of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore worth of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in circulation on November 8, close to Rs. 13 lakh crore have been deposited in accounts or exchanged for valid currency.

Less tax payers, more car buyers: Agencies found 'astonishing' car sales numbers compared with tax returns

• 

  India has just 24.4 lakh tax payers who declared an annual income of over Rs 10 lakh yet 25 lakh new cars, including 35,000 luxury cars, are being bought every year for last five years, a top official said.

  A nation of over 125 crore people had only 3.65 crore individuals filing their tax returns in the assessment year 2014-15, the official said alluding to a huge number of individuals being outside the tax net.

  "Of the 3.65 crore individuals (filing returns in assessment year 2014-15), there were only 5.5 lakh people who paid income tax of more than Rs 5 lakh and accounted for 57 per cent of the total tax kitty. This essentially means that only 1.5 per cent of those filing tax returns (3.65 crore) are contributing to 57 per cent of tax kitty," the official said.

  The tax returns when compared with car sales throw astonishing numbers, he said.

  "Car sales on an average in last five years has been about 25 lakh per year. In the last three years the car sales were 25.03 lakh, 26 lakh and 27 lakh," he said adding the statistics points to a large number of people having income to buy cars are outside the tax bracket.

  A car normally has a life of seven years and a second car is purchased not before five years by a common man, the official said.

  The income tax data collated shows only 48,417 persons reporting income of more than Rs 1 crore in a year. Yet luxury brands like BMW, Jaguar, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and Maserati sell almost 35,000 cars every year.

  Of the individuals filing returns, 5.32 lakh were with income of less than Rs 2 lakh per annum, and so not within the tax bracket.

  He said 24.4 lakh filers declared their annual income of being more than Rs 10 lakh and there were 1.47 lakh tax fillers who had an income of over Rs 50 lakhs in a year.

  Also during the 2014-15 Assessment Year, there were 1.61 crore people whose tax deducted at source (TDS) were deducted but they did not file income tax return (ITR), he said.

  India's tax revenue as a percentage of its GDP was 16.7 per cent in 2016, compared with 25.4 per cent in the United States and 30.3 per cent in Japan.

  The official said the numbers point to a significant number of people who are liable to pay taxes aren't doing so.

  The government, he said, is shoring up its efforts to check tax evasion.

  The November 8 decision to junk old 500 and 1000 rupee notes are one of the steps to tackle the menace, he said adding by mandating people to deposit the old currency in banks was a way to account for the unaccounted money and tax them.

JSW Energy board approves raising up to Rs 750 cr

• 

  JSW Energy said on Tuesday its board has given nod to raise funds up to Rs 750 crore through issuance of redeemable non-convertible debentures by way of private placement.

  The issue proceeds would be used for the general corporate purposes, business operations, working capital and repayment of existing debt, the Sajjan Jindal-led company said in a BSE filing.

  The board (which met today) has approved the raising of funds up to Rs 750 crore through issuance of redeemable non-convertible debentures by way of private placement, the regulatory filing said.

  The board has also authorised the Finance Committee to decide on all matters relating to the proposed issuance of the debentures, including finalisation and approval of the detailed terms of issue, it added.

  JSW Energy has diversified businesses in carbon steel, power, mining, industrial gases, port facilities, cement and information technology sectors. It operates 4,531 mw-3140 mw thermal and 1,391 mw of hydel-of power generation capacity with the vision to achieve 10,000 mw in power generation by 2020. 

General Awareness

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR BANK EXAMS

• 1. Which of the following countries has been opened the world's first solar road made with 30,000 square feet of solar panels?

  (a) Russia

  (b) USA

  (c) France

  (d) Japan

  (e) China

  
  

  2. Name the actor, who has become the highest advance tax paying in 2016?
  

  (a) Aamir Khan

  (b) Ranbir Kapoor

  (c) Salman Khan

  (d) Akshay Kumar

  (e) Hrithik Roshan

  
  

  3. Which country has launched atmospheric CO2-monitoring Tan Sat satellite, in an effort to curb and monitor greenhouse gas emissions? 

  (a) China

  (b) Germany

  (c) India

  (d) Bhutan

  (e) UAE

  
  

  4. Which among the following Indian cities has emerged as the country's most well-read city in the fourth consecutive year with Bengaluru and Mumbai taking the second and third spot, according to Annual Reading Trends Report 2016 by Amazon? 

  (a) Hyderabad

  (b) Chandigarh

  (c) Pune

  (d) New Delhi

  (e) Chennai 

  
  

  5. Name the bollywood actor/actress, who has been ranked No. 1 on the fifth Forbes India Celebrity 100 List? 

  (a) Priyanka Chopra

  (b) Salman Khan

  (c) Akshay Kumar

  (d) Ranveer Singh

  (e) Alia Bhatt

  
  

  6. Name the country, which has won the the FIFA Team of the year 2016 title?

  (a) Italy

  (b) Canada

  (c) Germany

  (d) Argentina

  (e) Other those the given options

  
  

  7. Name the player, who has been awarded the best footballer of the year by All India Football Federation (AIFF)?

  (a) Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

  (b) Bhaichung Bhutia

  (c) Sunil Chhetri

  (d) Ishan Pandita

  (e) Jeje Lalpekhlua

  
  

  8. Which country has announced to hold its first ever joint military exercise to begin a new level of bilateral military engagement with China recently?

  (a) Nepal

  (b) India 

  (c) Pakistan

  (d) Sri Lanka

  (e) Myanmar

  
  

  9. Eminent modern Bengali poet ___________ has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for 2016, the literary organisation has announced. 

  (a) Sitakant Mahapatra

  (b) Keki N Daruwalla 

  (c) Shankha Ghosh

  (d) Shiv K Kumar

  (e) Other those the given options

  
  

  10. Odisha Chief Minister _____________ has launched “Biju Sishu Surakshya Yojana” for care and protection of HIV-positive orphan children in the state.

  (a) Raghubar Das

  (b) Naveen Patnaik

  (c) Mamata Banerjee

  (d) Sarbananda Sonowal

  (e) Nitish Kumar

  
  

  ANSWERS:

  1. c, 2. e, 3. a, 4. d, 5. b, 6. d, 7. e, 8. a, 9. c, 10. b