Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 14 November 2016

:: National ::

Confusion over India and Japan Nuclear deal

Indian and Japanese officials continued to wrangle over the legality of a document signed as part of the nuclear deal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tokyo.
The document indicates a link between nuclear testing and the cancellation of the deal.
While government say the document is “not legally binding,” a Japanese official insisted the document had been signed by the nuclear negotiators in the presence of Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi, and hence “legally binding.”
The ‘Note on Views and Understanding’ contains contentious clauses that effectively allow Japan to invoke an “emergency” suspension of supplies if India were to test a nuclear weapon, and to contest any compensation claims from India in court.
India has traditionally refused to link its nuclear trade with pre-conditions on testing, holding it is a matter of nuclear sovereignty, and instead giving a voluntary moratorium on tests.
In response to questions about the differences, government sources said the note is simply a “record by the negotiators of respective views on certain issues,” given “Japan’s special sensitivities as the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack.”

PM Modi made an emotional appeal to the people

Four days after he announced the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an emotional appeal to Indians to give him 50 days to rid the country of black money.
He also promised more measures against the menace and asked the people to take the inconvenience in their stride.
The Prime Minister returned from Japan and attended three public functions in Goa, Belgavi in Karnataka and in Pune respectively, where he appealed for support in his drive against black money and corruption.
Reflecting the amount of political capital he had invested in the move, Mr. Modi almost broke down when he recalled his political journey:
“I am not here to just occupy a chair, I left my home, I left my family to do something for the country.”
Mr. Modi spoke in Goa first, after he digitally laid the foundation stone for a new greenfield airport at the Mopa plateau.
“I know what kind of forces and what kind of people are against me now. I am looting what they had accumulated over 70 years,” he said, adding that he apprehended a threat to his life due to his strong stance against corruption.
“They will not leave me alive. They will destroy me. Let them do what they want. The nation should just help me for 50 days,” he said.
He further assured the nation that the demonetisation drive was not the end of his campaign against corruption and black money.

UN asks for patience from India regarding Masood Azhar (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

Trump’s victory puts doubts over Paris Agreement

As Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential polls was confirmed, delegations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference (COP 22) in Marrakech considered the prospect American pull out of the Paris Agreement.
Mr. Trump’s presidency could freeze progress on the climate pact that entered into force on November 4. The U.S. could also ignore its voluntary climate action commitments under the Paris Agreement and cut funding for climate finance.
U.S. special envoy for climate change, denied the likelihood of his country withdrawing from the Paris Agreement at a pre-COP22 briefing session.
He said because of domestic advantages in staying in the agreement, the U.S. may not exercise the provisions for withdrawal in Article 28 of the Agreement.
Mr. Pershing also said investment opportunities opened up by the Agreement in renewables were significant.
Domestic circumstances such as flooding in Florida, superstorm Sandy and drought were real consequences, and required the U.S. to continue with its promise.
On a Kyoto Protocol-like situation, he said unlike that Protocol, the Paris Agreement was not a top-down international treaty.

Trump vows to deport 3 million undocumented immigrants (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: India and World ::

India gets strong support from U.K. And France for UNSC

India’s bid for a permanent seat in a reformed U.N. Security Council has received a strong support from many U.N. member-states, including the U.K. and France.
More than 50 speakers shared their suggestions and concerns over reform of the 15-nation UNSC during a General Assembly session.
Among the large number of nations supporting a permanent seat for India and other emerging powers like Brazil and Germany were two veto-wielding permanent members of the Council, the United Kingdom and France.
German Ambassador to the U.N. Harald Braun said the Council reform was an urgent matter.
India’s Ambassador to the U.N. Syed Akbaruddin lamented the “never-ending carousel of discussions” on UNSC reforms saying “it is time to break the impasse” to urgently reform the U.N. body that is “unresponsive” to the current global situation.

:: Business and Economy ::

In the wake of demonetisation Unions have called off strike

Trade unions have postponed their strike plans to help Centre’s demonetisation process proceed without any hindrance.
Representatives of the All India Grameen Bank Workers Organisation and the All India Grameen Bank Officers Organisation on Sunday met officials of the Department of Financial Services to discuss the strike.
The Grameen Bank workers were threatening to go on strike due to issues with the Government on payment parity, lack of pension, and gratuity and overtime issues.
The Grameen unions had earlier on October 29 called for a nation-wide dharna on November 21 and December 5-7. All such agitations have been deferred to the first week of January 2017.
Additionally, the Federation of LPG Distributors of India wrote to Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stating that they too would be deferring their agitation in light of the demonetisation move.
The LPG distributors were set to launch a nation-wide strike on December 1 and an indefinite strike starting December 15 if Mr Pradhan’s office failed to hold talks regarding safety concerns they had raised about the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

Micro finance sector worst hit by the demonetisation

The country’s micro finance sector (MFI), which essentially extends small loans to the poor and weaker section of the society, is one of the worst hit by the demonetisation move of the Centre.
The micro finance sector extends loans and well as accepts repayments in cash. With Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes being demonetised, both business and recovery of loans have been impacted badly.
Repayments have fallen to below 10 per cent since the demonetisation drive, which is typically 100 per cent for micro lenders. Loans worth Rs.650 crore has become over due and the numbers will go up.
Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) — the self regulatory body of micro lenders — has written to both the Finance Ministry as well as the banking regulator for allowing them to accept Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 bank notes.
The micro finance institutions which are a part of MFIN, has 3.5 crore customers from low income households across India, of which ‘99.9 per cent is women’, Ms. Viswanathan said.
Centre’s demonetisation move has led to a spike in the usage of debit and credit cards, especially in the small ticket size segment as currency notes are increasingly becoming scarce in banks and ATMs.
The usage of cards for transactions less than Rs.500 has more than doubled since November 8, when the government announced that Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes would no longer be accepted as legal tender.
Consumers have been mostly using cards to pay for everyday essential things like grocery and medicines apart from categories like entertainment and restaurants.
A further analysis of the data shows that the number of online transactions of less than Rs.250 increased by 177 per cent post demonetisation. Further, transactions in the range of Rs.250-500 rose 135 per cent.
The surge in the Rs.500-750 bracket has been only 75 per cent while there has been no notable spike in transactions worth over Rs.750.
Industry participants agree that the Centre’s move would lead to an increase in the usage of credit and debit cards leading to the twin objectives of financial inclusion and making India a cashless society.
Interestingly, overall increase in transactions is more skewed towards debit cards with over 70 per cent surge when compared to the 40 per cent rise in credit card usage.
Categories like entertainment, restaurant and liquor saw a jump in the range of 160-190 per cent suggesting that consumers are not postponing their spending but just migrating from cash to cards.