Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 January 2017

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 January 2017

:: National ::

Urjit Patel told more than 9 lakh crore came back to circulation

  • Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that about Rs. 9.2 lakh crore had been put back in circulation since the demonetisation on November 8.

  • Prime Minister’s announcement that Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes would cease to be legal tender from the midnight of November 8 had sucked out 86% — amounting to Rs. 15.44 lakh crore — of currency notes in circulation till then.

  • Dr. Patel, however, did not offer any answer to questions on how much of the demonetised currency had been deposited back in banks, saying calculations were still on.

  • He maintained that counting of the notes was continuing, a panel member said, making it appear that this itself was a mammoth task.

  • A member said that when Dr. Patel was asked the date on which the RBI would withdraw the Rs. 24,000 cap on weekly withdrawals, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the central bank governor need not go into that.

  • The central bank’s argument is that “figures would need to be reconciled with the physical cash balances to eliminate accounting errors/possible double counts, etc,” without which estimates may not indicate actual numbers.

  • The figures pertaining to money deposited back are crucial as the Opposition is reading the reported return of almost all the money as a sign that black money has been converted into white.

  • The government, however, claims that once the money has passed through the system, it will be scrutinised in order to catch the wrongdoers.

Pro-Jallikattu protests turned into mass movement

  • With the pro-jallikattu (bull-taming sport) protests turning into a mass movement in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam held talks with representatives of the protesters in Chennai and flew to New Delhi.

  • Separately, AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala backed the demand to ban the global NGO, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), originally raised by DMK leader M.K. Stalin two days ago.

  • However, the representatives refused to call off their agitation, which spawned overnight at the Marina in Chennai, Alanganallur in Madurai, VOC Grounds in Coimbatore and other districts.

  • Initiated on social media platforms, the protests which were initially confined to the college student community and rural folk, overnight turned into a mass movement of sorts. They also sought a ban on PETA.

Tamil Nadu has maximum centrally approved houses for urban poor (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

New United States Ambassador to UN criticises UN

  • Nikki Haley, tapped by Donald Trump to be the UN Ambassador and the highest-ranking Indian-American to have been nominated in any presidential administration, believes that the world body is doing “more harm than good”.

  • Ms. Haley was expected to rap the UN for its treatment of Israel and question whether the U.S.’s 22 per cent contribution to the world body’s annual budget is worth it, in her opening testimony at her Senate confirmation hearing.

  • She describes the UN “an institution that is often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers”.

  • “Nowhere has the UN’s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel,” she adds.

:: India and World ::

India says CPEC passes through its territory

  • Asserting its territorial sovereignty, India said on Wednesday that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through its territory.

  • Addressing the Raisina Dialogue, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said China was yet to respond to India’s territorial concerns on CPEC.

  • “China is very sensitive on matters concerning its sovereignty.We expect they will respect other peoples sovereignty. CPEC passes through a territory that we see as ours. Surely people will understand India’s reaction,” said Mr. Jaishankar

  • Prime Minister Modi too had drawn attention to the territorial sovereignty of India. “Respect for sovereignty is important for regional connectivity to improve,” Mr. Modi said in his inaugural speech.

  • China and Pakistan have fast-tracked the construction work of the CPEC, a large part of which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Once completed, CPEC will provide an all-weather energy route for China from the Gulf.

  • India’s concerns have also increased in recent weeks with reports of China-Pakistan naval cooperation in Gwadar port of Balochistan, which will serve as the entry point to CPEC.

  • The Foreign Secretary said that China’s rise was a major “dynamic” factor in the Asian affairs and reminded the audience that differences with China had not gone away.

  • The Foreign Secretary’s comments about CPEC and the “political issues” are significant as both India and China have dealt with the differences over the last several months.

  • China’s territorial assertion over Asia, however, received a jolt in July 2016 when the Permanent Court of Arbitration gave an adverse verdict on the South China Sea issue.

  • Mr. Jaishankar said that India’s position on South China Sea was in sync with the international position.

Sri Lanka is in talks to offer the port of Trincomalee to India (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: Business and Economy ::

Govt says PMGKY only for cash or deposits in banks

  • The government clarified that its income declaration scheme, the Pradhan MantriGarib Kalyan Yojana, will apply only to cash or deposits in bank accounts and will not be available for income in the form of jewellery, stock or immovable property.

  • In its FAQs section, the Income Tax Department also said that the scheme would not apply to income stored in foreign accounts.

  • Those under search and seizure notices can also apply under the scheme.

Cabinet gave approval for package supporting small and medium enterprises

  • The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for a larger package supporting small and medium enterprises — a promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his New Year’s eve address to the nation.

  • The Corpus of Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises will increase from Rs. 2,500 crore to Rs. 7,500 crore.

  • The Centre has increased the coverage of loans covered under the credit guarantee scheme to Rs. 2 crore from Rs. 1 crore.

  • The government will put another Rs. 5,000 crore to make it Rs. 7,500 crore and the intent is to extend the credit guarantee scheme, just as the Prime Minister had announced, to allow guarantees up to Rs. 2 crore instead of the present Rs. 1 crore.

Regional connectivity plan nets proposals to revive 65 airports (Register and Login to read Full News)

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