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Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 07 June 2016

:: National ::

EC wants amendment to Representation of the people act

The Election Commission of India has written to the Centre seeking amendment to the Representation of the People Act to confer specific powers on the election watchdog to postpone or countermand polls based on evidence that money power was used to influence voters.
In a letter to the Legislative Secretary in the Law Ministry, the Commission said a new clause ‘58 B’ be inserted in the Act to allow adjournment or countermanding of election in the affected polling areas on the grounds of use of money power.
The provision would also empower the Commission to re-schedule the elections in such areas.
The Commission said in Clause 58 A and the proposed provision 58 B, the expression “countermand the election” would mean ab initio rescinding of the entire electoral process in the constituency.
Clause 58 A empowers the Election Commission to cancel polls only if there is an evidence of booth-capturing or use of muscle power to influence the outcome of elections.

Switzerland supports India’s bid to NSG (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Former Maldives President jailed for 10 years

Former Maldives Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb was jailed for 10 years on on a terrorism charge, weeks after ex-leader Mohamed Nasheed was granted asylum in Britain.
With Adeeb’s sentencing, almost all of President Abdulla Yameen’s key rivals are either in jail or living in exile.
A court official said the case record will not be released to the public as it was considered a matter affecting national security.
Adeeb (34), once a close confidant of Mr. Yameen, had enjoyed a meteoric rise until he was dramatically impeached in November after being accused of trying to assassinate his boss by blowing up his speedboat.
Mr. Yameen was unhurt in the explosion last September, but his wife and two others were injured. A trial related to those allegations is yet to conclude.
He was jailed for 12 years after being tried under a controversial 1990 anti-terrorism law for allegedly inciting unrest during an anti-government rally in May 2015 on the capital island.

International Atomic Energy Agency worried about North Korea (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: India and World ::

India and Switzerland agreed to tackle the problem of black money

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President agreed to expand cooperation in tackling the problem of Indians stashing black money in Swiss banks besides resolving to step up ties in areas of trade, investment and vocational training.
Speaking after talks between the two leaders, Mr. Modi said both the sides had also agreed to support each other for their respective bids for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
Indian tax authorities are probing cases of tax evasion and black money stashed abroad.
Referring to energy security, Mr. Modi said reliance on renewable energy, rather than on fossil fuels would be India’s “guiding motto“.
“I invite the Swiss companies to avail of this great opportunity to be a key partner in India’s economic growth. Ultimately, the economic prosperity of 1.25 billion plus would also benefit the entire world,” Mr. Modi said.

PM on three day US visit (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Public sector banks will be empowered and protected from witch-hunting says FM

Public sector banks will be empowered and protected from witch-hunting so that they can close commercially prudent settlements of stressed assets and bad loans, according to Union Finance Minister.
The proposals will be fine-tuned after taking into consideration suggestions from the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
The new provisions being mooted are aimed at encouraging bankers to enter into ‘reasonable and fair settlements’ with regard to stressed accounts, “without fears of fishing expeditions of investigative agencies later on.”
This is expected to quicken the pace of recovery and cleaning up of banks’ balance sheets.
The Finance Minister also said cumulatively the state-owned banks had reported losses of Rs.18,000 crore in 2015-16.
Although the reported operating profits were “substantial” at Rs.1.40 lakh crore, losses were due to higher provisioning for bad loans made in the previous two quarters, he said.
Mr. Jaitley said the Reserve Bank of India was expected to report the cumulative level of non- performing assets (NPA) for public sector banks. It was expected to be higher than the previous year’s level.
The feedback from banks was that the steel and infrastructure sectors were slowly recovering, leading to an improvement in the NPA levels arising out of outstanding loans to companies in these industries.
Reiterating that the government had earmarked Rs.25,000 crore for recapitalisation of these banks in the Budget, he said that would commit to more funds if needed.

TRAI seeks views on in-building access for telecom operators

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a consultation paper seeking stakeholders’ views on evolving a framework for in-building facilities to enable telecom operators obtain efficient access on reasonable terms and conditions.
While many infrastructure related issues have been dealt with by the authority in the past, there are issues related to in-building access that are still faced by the telecom service providers and therefore, remain to be addressed, it added.
In-building deployment is currently done through commercial agreements between incumbent mobile operators and building owners, building developers or Resident Welfare Associations (RWA).
As such, the speed of deployment is often hindered by building owners/developers delaying the negotiations or requesting exorbitant rents.
TRAI said telecom operators are often forced to enter into agreement at the terms set by the other party, as they cannot leave places like malls uncovered from their mobile network.
Also due to restricted access to premises, the resident of the building cannot avail services of the operator of his own choice and his preference is limited to the TSP(s) who could get access to the building after entering into a commercial settlement with the builder.
It added that competition not only helps in controlling prices but also forces the service providers to offer/maintain good quality of service.