Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 22 May, 2015

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

21 May 2015

Union Govt. amends FDI policy for NRI, PIO and OCI

The Union Cabinet, has given its approval to review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy on investments by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). Following are the amendments approved by the Cabinet to incorporated in FDI policy:

By amending relevant para, definition of NRI will be as under:‘Non-Resident Indian' (NRI) means an individual resident outside India who is citizen of India or is an ‘Overseas Citizen of India’ cardholder within the meaning of section 7 (A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. ‘Persons of Indian Origin’ cardholders registered as such under Notification No. 26011/4/98 F.I. dated 19.8.2002 issued by the Central Government are deemed to be “Overseas Citizen of India’ cardholders”.
To provide that investment by NRIs on non-repatriable basis is domestic. Following new para is approved to be added: Investment by NRIs under Schedule 4 of FEMA (Transfer or Issue of Security by Persons Resident Outside India) Regulations will be deemed to be domestic investment at par with the investment made by residents.

The decision that NRI includes OCI cardholders as well as PIO cardholders is meant to align the FDI policy with the stated policy of the Government to provide PIOs and OCIs parity with Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in respect of economic, financial and educational fields. Further the decision that NRIs investment under Schedule 4 of FEMA (Transfer or Issue of Security by Persons Resident Outside India) Regulations will be deemed to be domestic investment made by residents, is meant to provide clarity in the FDI policy as such investment is not included in the category of foreign investment. The measure is expected to result in increased investments across sectors and greater inflow of foreign exchange remittance leading to economic growth of the country.

Approval for revival of the Sindri unit of the Fertilizer Corporation India

The Union Cabinet chaired gave its approval for the revival of closed urea unit of Fertilizer Corporation India Limited (FCIL) at Sindri (Jharkhand) with an investment of Rs 6000 crore.
This unit was lying defunct and was not in operation since 2002. Therefore, the unit and other associated facilities were lying unutilized. It is important to mention here that there is no functional urea unit in the Eastern part of the country except two small units at Namrup (Assam).
The annual consumption of urea in the country is approx. 310 LMT, out of which 230 LMT is produced indigenously and rest is imported. To enhance the production of urea indigenously, Govt. has earlier approved the revival of Talcher (Odisha) & Ramagundam (Telangana) units of FCIL by PSUs through ‘nomination route’ and Barauni unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL) & Gorakhpur unit of FCIL through ‘Bidding route’. Now Sindri unit is approved for revival through ‘Bidding route’. Earlier, its revival was to be done through PSUs (SAIL & NFL).
The setting up of a new unit at Sindri will meet the growing demand of urea in the States of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. It will also ease the pressure on railway and road infrastructure due to long distance transportation of urea from Western and Central Regions and thereby saving in govt. subsidy on freight. It will also accelerate the economic development of the region. Apart from growth of regional economy, this unit will create opportunities for 500 direct and 3000 indirect employments.
The CCEA earlier had approved gas pooling for urea sector which will enable the unit to get gas at pooled price on its revival which will make the urea units globally competitive.

India’s economic growth to superpass China’s in 2015-16: UN report

United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects report released on 19th May said that India will grow 7.6 per cent in 2015 and 7.7 per cent in 2016 and will superpass the growth rate of China which is pegged at 7 per cent 2015 and 6.8 per cent in 2016.
The report further said that the world economy continues to grow at a modest pace, with a gradual improvement projected for the second half of 2015 and 2016.
Growth of world gross product is projected to improve slightly from 2.6 per cent in 2014 to 2.8 per cent in 2015 a downward revision by 0.3 percentage points from the forecast presented in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 (WESP) in January. The downward revision reflects mainly deterioration in the prospects of the economies in transition and several large developing countries, especially in South America. In 2016, global growth is forecast to improve to 3.1 per cent, which is still well below the precrisis pace.
The report notes that the growth divergence between the various regions will likely widen this year. WESP attributes this in part to the differing impacts from the recent drop in the prices of oil and other commodities. The short-term growth prospects of most commodity-exporting economies have been downgraded; by contrast, commodity-importers tend to benefit from the lower prices in the form of reduced inflationary, fiscal and balance-of-payment pressures.
The report warns of still significant downside risks to the forecast related to the impact of the upcoming monetary policy normalization in the United States, ongoing uncertainties in the euro area, potential spillovers from geopolitical conflicts and persistent vulnerabilities in emerging economies. These individual risk factors are interconnected and could be mutually reinforcing, potentially leading to a weaker-than expected expansion of the global economy.

India ranked 24 in Environment Democracy Index

India has ranked 24th out of 70 countries in the first Environmental Democracy Index that is topped by Lithuania and evaluates nations' progress in enacting laws to promote transparency, accountability and citizen engagement in environmental decision making.
Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, the US, South Africa, the UK, Hungary, Bulgaria, Panama and Colombia are the top 10 nations in the list launched by Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI) and Access Initiative.
The index evaluates environmental democracy in 70 countries, including 75 legal and 24 practice indicators, based on recognised international standards.
According to the report, 93 per cent of the assessed countries have established the right to environmental information.
However, almost half of these countries (45 per cent) do not have strong protections to ensure that access to information is affordable and timely, it said.

Union Home Minister administers pledge to mark Anti-Terrorism Day

Anti-Terrorism Day is being observed on 21st May every year, it is observed throughout the country on 21st May. The day is marked by a pledge taking ceremony among other activities. Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh administered the pledge to the Officers and Staff of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions at Jalebi Chowk, North Block. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh and the Minister of State for Home, Shri Kiren Rijiju were present on the occasion.
The objective behind the observance of Anti-Terrorism Day is to wean away the people from terrorism and violence. On the occasion, debates, discussions, symposia, seminars, lectures, etc. are held in schools, colleges and universities on the dangers of terrorism and violence.
The Day is observed to generate awareness in the country among all sections of people about the danger of terrorism and violence and its effect on the people, society and the country as a whole.
Many NGOs, social and cultural organizations also organize their own programmes to highlight the ill effects of violence and terrorism. Anti-terrorism/anti-violence pledge is taken in all Government offices, public sector undertakings and other public institutions.