Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 February 2017

:: National ::

University curriculum to be revised in every three years

• In order to ensure that students are equipped with skills relevant to the sector that they will specialise in, UGC has directed all universities to ensure that the curriculum is reviewed at least once every three years.

• The UGC has said that the decision was taken during a meeting that was chaired by the Prime Minister, with secretaries of education and social development.

• UGC stated that the review and the revision of the academic curricula should “focus on the existing and potential demand and supply of skill sets to make University/college students employable”.

• This instruction needs to be adopted by individual universities and colleges affiliated to it.

• The circular also noted that interdisciplinary programmes offered by the university can be complemented through a “robust” mechanism of revisiting and revising the curricula at regular intervals.

• Student organisations have welcomed the move, but point out that there is a need to ensure that teacher training is on a par with this.

Krishna River Management Board order to be implemented

• The stalemate in release of water to the standing crop in Prakasam and Guntur districts from the right main canal of Nagarjunasagar which had led to agitations in the command area was resolved.

• The Telangana government agreeing to implement the water release order issued by the Krishna River Management Board earlier.

• As the meeting was in progress, 5 tmcft water which was ordered for release from January 18 was discharged from Nagarjunasagar project.

• The Andhra Pradesh government restrained from raising penal provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and the consequential punishment for non-implementation of the order as the issue was sorted out.

• The meeting also decided to release another six tmcft for Krishna delta from left Nagarjunasagar left canal which had also been ordered earlier by KRMB.

• It was decided to work out various methods to assess the usage.

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:: India and World ::

As an effort to diversify defence cooperation, India to give training to Indonesia

• India has agreed to impart submarine training to Indonesia as part of a bilateral effort to diversify defence cooperation.

• India already trains Vietnamese sailors in operating Kilo class submarines and its pilots on Su-30 fighter aircraft, both Russian built platforms India operates in large numbers.

• This move also fits into India’s larger engagement with the region as part of its ‘Act East’ policy.

• Indonesian defence industry had strengths in some areas and, like in India, is largely dominated by Public Sector Undertakings.

• Indonesian President Joko Widodo was in India in December last year and both sides had agreed to “conclude a substantive bilateral Defence Cooperation Agreement” and “explore collaboration between defence industries for joint production of equipment with technology transfer.”

China hopes of good relationship with India despite stand on Masood Azhar (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: Business and Economy ::

RBI kept the rates unchanged

• The Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the key policy rate, the repo rate, unchanged at 6.25% citing uncertainties caused by demonetisation, which it said had ‘discoloured’ an objective assessment of inflation pressures.

• RBI, in its last bimonthly review of the current financial year, changed the policy stance – dispensing with its accommodative position and switching to neutral – meaning interest rates could hereafter move in either direction.

• “It [Monetary Policy Committee] decided to shift the stance from accommodative to neutral to give us sufficient flexibility to move in either direction,” Dr. Patel said. All six members of the MPC voted to hold interest rates.

• The move surprised debt market participants, with most expecting a 25 basis points (bps) rate cut. The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond shot up by 32 bps to close the day at 6.75%.

• “On the inflation front, transient factors including anecdotal evidence on fire sales of perishables have discoloured an objective assessment on inflation pressures,” Dr. Patel said.

• Many economists had anticipated a further reduction in the repo rate as retail inflation had slowed well below the RBI’s March end goal of 5%.

• The central bank projected retail inflation in the first half of the next financial year would be in the range of 4% to 4.5% and accelerate to a 4.5% to 5% pace in the second half.

• The RBI said while favourable base effects and lagged effects of demand compression would possibly mute headline inflation in the first quarter of 2017-18, price gains were expected to pick up momentum.

• Especially as growth strengthened and the output gap narrowed. Moreover, base effects would reverse and turn adverse during the third and fourth quarters of the next fiscal, it said.

• "However, banks still have room to lower interest rates further. There is still scope for lending rates to come down because our policy rates came down by 175 bps and the weighted average lending rate has come down at most by 85-90 bps,” Dr. Patel said.

• Banks had cut their marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 45-90 bps after their cost of funds declined due to higher savings and current account deposits following demonetisation.

• The RBI also cited ‘risks’ to its inflation outlook: hardening global crude prices, exchange rate volatility, and fuller effects of house rent allowances under the seventh pay commission.

India to put issues before WTO director general

• India will make a presentation to World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevedo and India Inc. on New Delhi’s proposal for a global pact to boost services trade.

• The proposed Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement at the WTO-level aims to ease norms including those relating to movement of foreign skilled workers/professionals across borders for short-term work.

• Among the objectives of the proposed pact is ensuring portability of social security contributions, as well as making sure fees or charges for immigration or visas are reasonable, transparent, and non-restrictive in nature.

• It also aims to pave the way for a single window mechanism for foreign investment approvals.

• Besides, the proposal is to ensure cross-border insurance coverage to boost medical tourism, publication of measures impacting services trade and timely availability of relevant information in all the WTO official languages as well as free flow of data/information for cross-border supply of services.

• TFS Agreement will be “meaningful only if it has comprehensive scope and covers measures across all modes of supply (for services delivery in cross-border trade), relating to entry into the market as well as those applied post-entry.”

• The proposed TFS pact is also about ‘facilitation’ – that is “making market access ‘effective’ and commercially meaningful and not about ‘new’ (or greater) market access.”

• World Bank data shows the growing share of services in the world economy, adding, however, that global trade flows in services remain subject to numerous border and behind-the-border barriers.

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