Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 28 December 2016

:: National ::

PM says terrorism and drug mafia has been badly affected by demonetisation

• With the 50-day deadline for exchange of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes under demonetisation drawing near, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday said his “fight” against black money and corruption would continue unabated.
• Acknowledging that people had undergone “immense” trouble due to the invalidation of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “indebted” to the people for their support.
• Mr Modi said his government had initiated schemes for the poor, including rural electrification and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana where cooking gas cylinders have been distributed to rural women.
• “Through the note ban, in one stroke, we destroyed the world of terrorism, drug mafia, human trafficking and underworld,” Mr Modi said.

FCRA licences of more than 20000 NGO's cancelled in last two years

• Since the NDA government came to power in May 2014, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licenses of at least 20,000 NGOs were cancelled by the Home Ministry.
• Of these 20,000 NGOs, the FCRA licenses of over 9,500 NGOs were cancelled in 2015. Licenses of another 11,000 NGOs expired as they failed to apply for renewal in time.
• “Expiry” technically meant cancellation and the NGOs could no longer receive foreign funds but they have been given time till February 2017 to send in fresh applications.
• Despite the crackdown, in the past one year, the Home Ministry received applications for fresh FCRA licenses from 3,000 NGOs.
• Among the 13,000 valid NGOs, around 3,000 have submitted applications for renewal.
• In addition to this, 300 NGOs are currently under prior permission category but are not registered under the FCRA, which means they need the Ministry’s nod whenever they want to receive foreign funds.
• Since the FCRA license is given for five years, this year all the NGOs had to apply for a renewal and the last date was March 31. The last time, such exercise was done in 2011 after the FCRA Act was amended in 2010.

Tribal population lags on social indicators (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: India and World ::

Nepal is not open to India's open sky offer

• Nepal has rejected India’s ‘open sky’ offer to allow unlimited flights between the two countries.
• Nepal said it was not yet ready for the agreement. India has been keen on countering Nepal’s recent engagement with China on the road, railways and port connectivity.
• Airlines from India and Nepal are now allowed to operate 30,000 seats from each side.
• India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint technical committee to examine Nepal’s request for developing new air routes and air entry points at Janakpur, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj.
• India signed an agreement with Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland and Spain to allow airlines to operate unlimited flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
• Nepal has long been pushing for new airspaces to ease congestion on the existing routes and to save time and cost for air passengers.

:: International ::

Israel defaint after UNSC vote

• Undeterred by a defeat at the UN, Israel’s government said that it would move ahead with thousands of new homes in disputed areas and warned nations against further action, declaring that Israel does not “turn the other cheek”.
• Jerusalem’s municipal government signalled that it would not back down: The city intends to approve 600 housing units in the predominantly Palestinian eastern section of town.
• The defiant posture reflected anger among Israel’s pro-settlement political leaders, who not only blamed the United States for failing to block the council resolution.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Security Council countries by curbing diplomatic contacts, recalling envoys, cutting off aid and summoning the U.S. Ambassador for a scolding.
• He cancelled a planned visit this week by Ukraine’s Prime Minister even as he expressed concern on Monday that Mr. Obama was planning more action at the United Nations before his term ends next month.
• Mr. Netanyahu defended his retaliation. “Israel is a country with national pride, and we do not turn the other cheek,” he said.
• Palestinian leaders made clear that they would use the resolution in international bodies to press their case against Israel.
• With the imprimatur of a UN finding of illegality, they said they would campaign to require that other countries not just label products made in the settlements, but ban them.
• Mr. Trump publicly pressed for a veto of the resolution and has chosen a settlement advocate as his administration’s Ambassador to Israel.

:: Business and Economy ::

Committee on Digital Payments says Aadhaar should be used as KYC

• Union Budget 2017-18 should allow merchants as well as government departments to levy a handling charge for cash payments above a certain limit, the Committee on Digital Payments said.
• It also recommended a reduction in the mandatory threshold for quoting PAN card numbers for cash transactions from Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 2,00,000, applicable in different cases currently.
• The committee, headed by former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal, proposed that Aadhaar be used as an alternate for KYC for people who don’t have a PAN.
• The cash handling charge so collected should be exclusively used to fund new infrastructure for acceptance of digital payments.
• Centre should reduce the threshold for quoting of PAN, which is currently mandated for banking transactions above Rs. 50,000 and merchant transactions of more than Rs. 2 lakh, the panel suggested.
• To create parity between cash and digital payments, the panel proposed that eKYC requirements in digital payments should be in consonance with KYC norms for transacting in cash.
• A recommendation has also been made to make Aadhaar numbers compulsory in Income Tax returns, although the committee has stressed such an amendment must only be made after seeking the Attorney General’s opinion.
• The panel also recommended that when government acts as a merchant, it should bear the cost of electronic payments and not pass them on to consumers.
• Pushing for adoption of digital payments for all government transactions, it has also proposed that utility bills and payments to government above a certain threshold be made only in digital mode.
• Transitioning to digital payments was estimated to bring about a significant reduction in costs incurred on account of inefficiencies associated with cash and other paper based payments.

Centre approved re-designation of the DMIC Project Implementation Trust Fund (Register and Login to read Full News)

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