Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 1 June 2017

::National::

India lost its fastest-growing major economy tag

• India lost its fastest-growing major economy tag in the fourth quarter of 2016-17, with GDP growth coming in at 6.1% compared with China’s 6.9% in the same period.

• Data from the Ministry of Statistics showed GDP grew 7.1% in the financial year 2016-17, slower than the 8% registered in 2015-16.

• The GDP numbers were based on the new 2011-12 base year recently adopted for data including the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

• Gross value added (GVA) growth was 6.6% for 2016-17 and 5.6% in the fourth quarter, compared with 7.9% in 2015-16 and 8.7% in Q4 of that year.

• The “numbers show a clear slowdown in GVA,” DK Srivastava, Chief Economic Adviser at EY India, said.

• “That is, post-demonetisation there has been a slowdown,” he said. “The GDP growth rate is slightly higher (than GVA growth) because of a more than proportionate increase in indirect tax net of subsidies.”

Nandini K.R. from Bangalore topped the Civil Services Examination

• Nandini K.R. from Bangalore topped the Civil Services Examination 2016, the final results of which were declared by the Union Public Service Commission.

• An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Ms Nandini, who hails from Kolar in Karnataka, cracked the exam in her fourth attempt.

• Anmol Sher Singh Bedi, who graduated with a B.E. degree in Computer Science from BITS, Pilani, secured the second rank.

• “It is like a dream come true. I always wanted to be an IAS officer,” Ms Nandini told PTI from the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics in Faridabad, where she is undergoing probation.

• “I put in a lot of effort. After getting selected in the IRS in 2014, I had taken the exam again in 2015 but could not crack it. I took the test again and topped it. It is a wonderful experience,” she said.

• The top 10 candidates included Bilal Mohiuddin Bhat from the remote border district of Handwara in North Kashmir.

• Currently a Indian Forest Service officer based in Lucknow, Mr Bhat would have crossed 32 years, the cutoff age for appearing for the examination, in November this year. He had appeared for the examination four times.

Strategic Partnership policy came into effect

• The much-awaited and long-delayed Strategic Partnership (SP) policy, intended to promote Indian private sector participation in defence manufacturing, formally came into effect.

• The Defence Ministry notified the policy as the final chapter under the Defence Procurement Procedure. Various selection and evaluation criteria have been stipulated for short-listing the SP.

• The policy acknowledges that the Indian private sector currently has “limited experience in defence manufacturing and even lesser in respect of final integration” of complex defence systems and sub-systems.

• In view of this, the policy states, “besides any experience in defence manufacturing, potential SPs will be identified primarily based on their experience and competence in integration of multi-disciplinary functional system of systems, engineering and manufacturing.”

• In a bid to avoid cancellation of deals in case of a single vendor situation, the policy states that “even if only one Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) submits a proposal in any given segment, the process of technical evaluation will be completed”.

• Of the four segments under SP, two are for the Navy: submarines and utility helicopters. The others are single-engine fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force and armoured vehicles for the Army.

• Both the Navy deals have been held up from some time due to delay in finalising the SP policy.

India and Spain stressed that there should be “zero tolerance” on terrorism

• India and Spain stressed that there should be “zero tolerance” to terrorism and called on the international community to end “selective or partial” approaches in combating the menace which posed the gravest threat to international peace and stability.

• PM Modi, the first Indian PM to visit Spain since 1992, met the European country’s top leaders and they stressed that states and entities which encourage, support, finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and glorify terrorism should be subjected to international laws, including restrictive measures.

• Mr. Modi held wide-ranging talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace and invited Spanish firms to invest in India which offered “many opportunities” for them in various fields.

• After the talks, the two sides signed seven agreements, including pacts on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports.

• Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cybersecurity, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India’s Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain.

• Spain is the 12th largest investor in India and the seventh largest trading partner in the EU. There are more than 200 Spanish companies in India that are actively involved in road construction, railways, wind power, defence and smart cities.

New centres of influence and new engines of growth are emerging says PM

• Enhancing bilateral trade, nuclear and technology cooperation will be at the top of the agenda, but multilateral issues will hold centre stage during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at St. Petersburg.

• “New centres of influence and new engines of growth are emerging,” he said adding that India and Russia were “natural partners” in fighting terrorism, and promoting a multipolar international system.

• The PM’s words are significant as they come amid a visible strain in India-Russia ties that have further strained since his last meeting with President Putin in Goa, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in October 2016, and rising discomfort over Russia’s growing alliance with China and ties with Pakistan.

• The BRICS meeting came against the backdrop of the Uri attacks, as well as Russia’s decision to go ahead with military exercises with Pakistan despite the Modi government’s publicly stated policy of “isolating” Pakistan.

• At the BRICS meet, as well as in December 2016 at the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan, MEA officials conceded, Russia was not as forthcoming in support of their formulations on “cross-border” terror as India expected.

• India’s other worry has been over Russia folding into Chinese President Xi’s prestige project, the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) on the back of the Chinese investment in the $400 billion Russia-China Power of Siberia gas pipeline that is expected to be operational by 2019-2020.

• India’s strident objections to the B&RI and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor on sovereignty issues led to it boycotting the B&R Forum in Beijing in May, whereas President Putin met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Xi Jinping in the first such meeting of its kind instead.

• The grouping is particularly problematic for India, given that it will enter the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with Pakistan next week, when Mr. Modi travels to Kazakhstan.

• During the summit on June 1, PM Modi and President Putin are expected to spell out a “joint vision statement” aimed at re-energising the relationship on the bilateral, and also the multilateral sphere.

• In an editorial this week, Mr. Putin called the two countries “equal partners in international affairs”, suggesting that a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and India, as well as developing the International North South Transport Corridor would be a part of it.

Rajasthan High Court asked the State to get the cow declared a national animal

• Rajasthan High Court asked the State to get the cow declared a national animal and wanted the penalty for cow slaughter raised from the 10-year prison term to life term.

• The 139-page judgment, delivered by Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma on the day of his retirement, listed 11 benefits of cow urine and seven advantages of consumption of cow ghee and panchagavya.

::International::

Russians warships fired cruise missiles in IS

• Russians warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired four cruise missiles at the Islamic State group’s positions in Syria, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

• The announcement came as Syrian government troops pushed ahead in their offensive against IS and militants in central and northern Syria.

• Moscow said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient town of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched.

• Syrian troops have been on the offensive for weeks in northern, central and southern part of the country against IS and U.S.-backed rebels under the cover of Russian airstrikes, gaining an area almost half the size of neighbouring Lebanon.

• Most recently, Syrian troops and their allies have been marching toward the IS stronghold of Sukhna, about 60 km northeast of Palmyra.

• The strategic juncture in the Syrian desert aids government plans to go after IS in Deir el-Zour, one of the militants’ last major strongholds in Syria. The oil-rich province straddles the border with Iraq and is the extremist group’s last gateway to the outside world.

• The fighting came days after the U.S. told Syrian government forces and their allies to move away from an area near the Jordanian border where the coalition is training allied rebels.

• The warning comes less than two weeks after the Americans bombed Iranian-backed troops there after they failed to heed similar warnings.

::Business and Economy::

India's plan to setup SEZ in Bangladesh hit a road block

• The plan to step up India’s investments in Bangladesh by setting up three mega Special Economic Zones (SEZ) exclusively for Indian companies in the latter’s territory, has hit a major hurdle.

• Citing “constraints, including inadequate infrastructure and lack of uninterrupted power supply” at Mongla, Bheramara and Mirsarai – the sites in Bangladesh for the proposed Indian SEZs, representatives of India Inc. told the Centre.

• For better connectivity and business prospects, they sought alternative sites close to the Chittagong Port and the capital city of Dhaka — similar to those been allocated by Bangladesh for Chinese SEZs.

• To lure investments into its SEZs, Bangladesh had offered incentives, including exemption from income tax, VAT, customs duty and stamp duty, removal of ceiling on FDI, full repatriation of capital and dividend.

• No curbs on issuance of work permits as well as resident visas and citizenship for investments over a certain limit.

• India Inc. wanted greater clarity on some of the incentives as well as an assurance that they will be continued even if there was a regime change in Bangladesh.

• India and Bangladesh had inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June 2015 — during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh — for cooperation on establishing Indian SEZs in Bangladesh.

• The plan was to develop Indian SEZs at Mirsarai (1,005 acres), Bheramara (about 480 acres) and Mongla (200 acres).

• The construction of these SEZs and Indian investment in the zones were to be facilitated through concessional Line of Credit extended by India to Bangladesh.

• The Centre had promised to address the concerns of India Inc. by taking them up with the Bangladesh Government in June-end or early July and asked Indian companies not to reject Bangladesh’s offer of land and other incentives to build Indian SEZs there.

Non-cash payments is on track to contract for the second consecutive month

• The value of non-cash payments is on track to contract for the second consecutive month in May following the contraction seen in April, according to representative data released by the Reserve Bank of India.

• The RBI data, collected from a sample of banks and the National Payments Corporation of India, shows that the value of non-cash transactions up to May 28 is only marginally higher than the amount transacted in November.

• The representative data shows that November saw Rs. 95,249.1 billion worth of non-cash transactions, while the first 28 days of May saw a marginally higher Rs. 95,601.5 billion worth of transactions.

• This is far lower than the Rs. 1,05,421.2 billion seen in December and still lower than the Rs. 1,51,089 billion in March, the highest it has been since demonetisation.

• Since March, however, the value of non-cash transactions has contracted across almost every channel. The value of non-cash transactions in April stood at Rs. 1,11,046 billion, down 26.5%, while the May figure so far has contracted 13.9%.

• The data shows that RTGS transactions contracted 13.5% in the first 28 days of May compared with the figure for April, while NEFT transactions contracted 14.4% over the same period.

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