Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 12 July, 2015

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

12 July 2015

:: National ::

India stands second on trust in national government, says survey

India has secured second position amongst 40 countries in a survey of trust in national governments for 2014 conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Switzerland has emerged at the top with Norway coming in third.
An impressive 73 per cent of Indians polled in the survey answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘Do you have confidence in the national government?’
For the purpose of the survey, trust represents the confidence of citizens and businesses in government to do what is right and perceived as fair, according to the OECD ‘Government at a Glance 2015’ report.
However, the survey findings could also be an indicator of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – as also reflected in his decisive electoral victory during 2014 – relative to the leaders in other countries as the report mentions that there is preliminary evidence to suggest that citizens’ trust in government reflects primarily their approval of their country’s leadership.
The report goes on to say that evidence also shows that trust in government is negatively correlated with the perceived levels of corruption in Government.
This is the only survey that collects data on the issue of trust in governments. It is a sampling survey of 1,000 citizens in each country conducted by World Poll, which has been doing it since 2005.
Between the two selected survey years of 2007 — the year before the financial and economic crisis started — and 2014, trust levels in India dropped by 9 percentage points.
The average confidence in national governments across OECD countries between the two years declined by 3.3 percentage points. It was 41.8 per cent in 2014 compared with 45.2 per cent in 2007.
The steepest declines took place in Slovenia (30 percentage points), Finland (29 percentage points) and Spain (27 percentage points).
Changes in trust levels could be affected by many factors, including the economic outlook, political changes such as elections or other major events such as disasters or major scandals including corruption cases. Moreover, expectations of citizens could grow at a faster pace than government responses.
However, India scored less than the OECD average and came 24th out of 35 countries in the comparison on protection of fundamental rights.

India’s population crosses 127-crore mark

On the World Population Day on Saturday, India recorded a population of 127,42,39,769, which is growing at a rate of 1.6 per cent a year, and could make the country the most populous in the world by 2050.
At 5 p.m. on Saturday, the number of Indians hit 127,42,39,769, and is 17.25 per cent of the global population, as per Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh or National Population Stabilisation Fund (NPSF), an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry which has raised concerns about over-population related problems, if the rate persists.
Noting that India’s population was growing at a faster rate than China, which is now the world’s most populous country at around 1.39 billion, an official of the Fund said that the country could become the most populated one by 2050.
At a function on Saturday, Health Minister J.P. Nadda stressed on the involvement of development partners and NGOs in assisting government to achieve population stabilisation goals.

Decline in fertility rate

According to data from NPSF, the total fertility rate (TFR) in India has seen a decline and stood at 2.3 in 2013 although the decline is not consistent.
The data suggests that a high percentage of female (21-26 per cent) are married below 18 years of age in States like Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Bihar.
The population of India, at 1.21 billion as per the 2011 Census, is almost equal to the combined population of the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put together.
The population of several States match, and in some cases, exceed that of several large countries. For example, the population of U.P. is almost that of Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world.

Indian women’s team for Volvo International

After an impressive outing with the senior side during the recent Hockey World League semifinals, prolific striker Rani Rampal will lead the Indian junior women’s team at the Volvo International six-nation tournament at Breda, the Netherlands.
The squad for the under-21 tournament, to be played from July 18 to 26, was named by Hockey India on Saturday. Besides Rani, six other players in the 18-member squad were also part of the senior side that finished fifth at Antwerp.

:: Business ::

SBI to provide all info of distressed asset under auction

State Bank of India, which has received muted response for online auction of distressed commercial assets in the past, is compiling all legal and basic infrastructure related information of such properties to help bidders take an informed decision.
At the past two online auctions conducted in March and June, which was an industry first, the bank was successful in selling distressed residential properties, but failed to sell commercial properties in sizable numbers.
At both the online auctions the bank had sold around 280 properties which were largely residential properties.
"A major issue is that people don't want any problem, when it comes to commercial properties, from the exiting owner, which he can very easily do by going to a court. So, we have to find a solution to it and we are very close to that."

:: India & world ::

Modi pushes for TAPI project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for early implementation of the $10-billion TAPI gas pipeline project during his talks with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov as the two countries inked seven pacts to ramp up engagement in key areas such as defence.
During their comprehensive talks, both leaders resolved to step up efforts against the cross-border threats of terrorism, organised crime and illegal drug-trafficking as they reaffirmed their commitment for a stable Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister identified terrorism as a major threat facing the region, and said, “We have shared interest in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and Central Asia. We have also common purpose in combating terrorism and extremism in our region.”
Terming the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) project a significant initiative in the relationship between the two countries, Mr. Modi said he conveyed to Mr. Berdimukhamedov that multiple options such as the possibility of a land-sea route through Iran for the pipeline should be explored.
The TAPI gas project is an over 1,800-km pipeline with a design capacity to supply 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The pipeline is expected to be operational by 2018 and will carry gas from the Galkynysh field of Turkmenistan that holds gas reserves of 16 trillion cubic feet.

Better connectivity

Mr. Modi emphasised the need for enhancing connectivity, calling it a key aspect of the relationship. He proposed that Turkmenistan become part of the International North-South Transport Corridor.