Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 February 2018
Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 February 2018
::NATIONAL::
Dam on Twigem River in Mynamar
A dam being constructed by Myanmar across a river close to the boundary
with India has stoked fears of submergence and water scarcity among border
villagers in Kengjoi subdivison of Manipur’s Chandel district.
Last week, residents of Khangtung village reported to district officials
about the dam being built by Myanmar authorities barely 100 metres from the
zero line separating the two countries.
International rules warrant border countries to check activities in No
Man’s Land – a 150-metre strip on either side of the boundary line.
The dam, called Tuidimjang, is on the Twigem river flowing into Myanmar
from Manipur. Khangtung, inhabited by the Thadou tribe, is 137 km south of
Manipur capital Imphal.
Houkholen Haokip, secretary of the Chandel unit of the Thadou Students’
Association (TSA), did not rule out the possibility of China assisting
Myanmar in building the dam.
The topography of the area is such that Khangtung and other Indian
villages will be submerged if the dam comes up.
The villagers, dependent on the river, are already facing water
scarcity.
Efforts to get in touch with officials and contractors in Myanmar have
been in vain.
The TSA has written to Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren,
requesting intervention.
When the dam is completed, the entire Khangtung village will be
inundated and the villagers will face untold miseries and require relocation
and rehabilitation.
This project will have huge negative social, cultural and economic
impact on the residents of Khangtung and other Indian villages.
Manipur has had issues with internal dams too.
In June 2015, a tribal village named Chadong in Ukhrul district was
submerged by the Mapithel dam on river Thoubal.
Construction of the Mapithel dam, initially known as Thoubal
Multipurpose Project that aimed to produce 7.5MW of power, irrigate 21,862
hectares of land and provide 10 million gallons of drinking water, began in
1989 amid protests from people downstream.
Elders of Chadong village had inked an understanding with the State
government in 1996 for an alternative settlement, but the 800-odd villagers
stayed put during the submergence 19 years later as the government had
failed to provide a proper relocation site.
The Khuga dam south of Manipur’s Churachandpur town has hit turbulence
too.
Taken up in 1980, the project lay dormant until 2002 leading to cost
escalation from the initial Rs. 15 crore to Rs. 381.29 crore in 2009.
The project sanction by the Planning Commission was said to have
inherent flaws, as a result of which the power component of 1.5MW
incorporated in the initial design was scrapped despite near-completion of a
powerhouse.
Controversy has also dogged Tipaimukh, the mega hydroelectric project
proposed on river Barak in Manipur 35 years ago. Dhaka is against the
project, as Barak flows into Bangladesh from Manipur through southern Assam
and feeds the Surma and Kushiara rivers in the country.
At least three anti-dam organisations in Manipur and downstream Assam
have been protesting against the Tipaimukh project to be built by the
National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. Apart from large-scale
submergence, they fear ecological degradation, if the dam is built.
Navi Mumbai International Airport in Limbo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that projects worth Rs. 10
lakh crore were in a state of limbo when he took office in May 2014 and his
government had broken the impasse on such investments during its tenure so
far.
On a day-long tour to Mumbai, Mr. Modi unveiled the foundation plaque at
the ground breaking ceremony for the Navi Mumbai International Airport.
He dedicated the fourth container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port
Trust (JNPT) to the nation.
Inaugurated the Magnetic Maharashtra investment summit.
He also launched a new centre for artificial intelligence.
“The first promise of this airport was made in 1997, during the
government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and since then there were only promises
which remained on paper. When I took over, I went over the papers. I took a
detailed report of it and the work started. Now people will come to claim
credit saying it was our project, but you now know what has happened,” said
Mr. Modi.
The airport is likely to cost Rs. 16,704 crore and is estimated to
attract at least 10 million passengers per annum, once its first phase is
operational.
Since Independence, only 450 airplanes were in the sky including both
from government and private sectors, and now companies have ordered 900
planes in just one year, Mr. Modi said, highlighting the growth that has
taken place under his government’s watch.
42 Indian Languages at extinction: UNESCO
More than 40 languages or dialects in India are considered to be
endangered and are believed to be heading towards extinction as only a few
thousand people speak them, officials said.
According to a report of the Census Directorate, there are 22 scheduled
languages and 100 non-scheduled languages in the country, which are spoken
by a large number of people — one lakh or more.
However, there are 42 languages which are spoken by fewer than 10,000
people.
These are considered endangered and may be heading towards extinction, a
Home Ministry official said.
A list prepared by UNESCO has also mentioned about the 42 languages or
dialects in India that are endangered and they may be heading towards
extinction, the official said.
The languages or dialects which are considered endangered, include:
11 from Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Lamongse,
Luro, Muot, Onge, Pu, Sanenyo, Sentilese, Shompen and Takahanyilang),
seven from Manipur (Aimol, Aka, Koiren, Lamgang, Langrong, Purum and
Tarao),
four from Himachal Pradesh (Baghati, Handuri, Pangvali and Sirmaudi).
The other languages in the endangered category are Manda, Parji and
Pengo (Odisha), Koraga and Kuruba (Karnataka), Gadaba and Naiki (AP), Kota
and Toda (Tamil Nadu), Mra and Na (Arunachal Pradesh), Tai Nora and Tai Rong
(Assam), Bangani (Uttarakhand), Birhor (Jharkhand), Nihali (Maharashtra),
Ruga (Meghalaya) and Toto (West Bengal).
The Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, has been working for
the protection and preservation of endangered languages in the country,
under a central scheme, another official said.
Hopes still alive in nuclear deal with WH: NPCIL
India is confident of concluding the nuclear deal with reactor-maker
Westinghouse Electric very soon as it expects the company to come out of
bankruptcy very soon, said Satish Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)
of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
“The discussions are happening and they are of a very complex nature.
Any progress will happen only after bankruptcy which is likely to happen
very soon. That is why we are continuing the discussions,” Mr. Sharma said.
Some officials said they were hopeful that Toshiba, which had acquired
the U.S.-based Westinghouse in 2006, was too big to fail and would be
bankrolled either by the Japanese government or the Japanese Development
Bank.
Following the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, India has been in discussion with
Westinghouse since 2005 to build six AP1000 nuclear reactors.
After protracted negotiations and concerns on the nuclear liability,
NPCIL and Westinghouse had agreed to “work toward finalising the contractual
arrangements by June 2017.”
However, the process was stalled after Toshiba Corp declared bankruptcy
and decided to move out of reactor-building business.
Meanwhile, the second site for constructing additional Russian reactors
in Andhra Pradesh is yet to be finalised.
Stating that the process is under way, the official said that various
factors such as land type, earthquake potential, availability of water
should all be factored in.
New Weapons to fight poachers in Assam
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said for the first time in the
country, 10 wildlife fast-track courts have been set up to exclusively deal
with poaching and other related crimes against wild animals.
“We have put protection of wildlife in high priority. Accordingly, we
have today launched a new programme - modernisation of arms and equipment
for protection, rescue and rehabilitation of rhinos, tigers and other
wildlife,” he said.
According to the plan, forest guards were given 954 SLRs, 272 INSAS
rifles, 133 rifles of .12 bore, 20 of 9 MM pistols and 91 Ghatak rifles.
The Chief Minister said ever since the BJP came to power in Assam nearly
two years ago, 197 poachers have been arrested and eight have been killed by
security guards, while as many as 59 poachers have been convicted for crimes
against wildlife.
Mr. Sonowal said wildlife fast-track courts have been set up in 10
districts and such courts have been set up for the first time in the
country.
“We hope that speedy trial and conviction of poachers will go a long way
in protecting wildlife in the State,” he said.
Assam has five national parks and 19 wildlife sanctuaries.
It is home to more than 91% of Indian rhinos (2,431 rhinos as per 2015
census).
It is also home to 167 tigers, 248 leopards, 1,169 swamp deer besides a
large number of wild buffaloes, different varieties of deer and other
animals.
According to an estimate tabled in the Assembly this month, altogether
74 rhinos have been killed by poachers since 2015 and 316 poachers arrested
during 2015-17.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s much-anticipated trip to India
began amid uncertainties over his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh.
Mr. Trudeau took his family to the Taj Mahal on Sunday and is scheduled
to tour the Golden Temple in Amritsar during the week-long visit.
Asked about Mr. Trudeau’s meeting with Capt. Singh, a source familiar
with the Canadian side, said that “uncertainties prevail” on this.
The Canadian leader’s problems with the Punjab Chief Minister stems from
the latter’s criticism of alleged pro-Khalistan sentiments of Canadian
Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan.
During the April 2017 India visit of Mr. Sajjan, a prominent Sikh member
and Defence Minister of the Canadian government, the Chief Minister
described him and other Sikh Cabinet members of Canada as sympathetic to
Sikh separatist groups or the Khalistanis.
Mr. Sajjan is accompanying Mr. Trudeau on this trip along with other
Sikh Cabinet colleagues, Amarjeet Sohi and Navdeep Singh Bains.
On reaching India, in a social media message, the Canadian Defence
Minister posted a photograph of him with other Indian-origin Ministers and
said, “Looking forward to spending the next few days here to further
strengthen Canada and India’s strong cultural and economic ties.”
Problems over the meeting with the Chief Minister came while the
External Affairs Ministry indicated that “all issues of bilateral interest”
would be discussed with Mr. Trudeau.
In response to a question over the growing Khalistan-related activities
in Canada, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said, “I can tell you
that all issues that are of interest to us, which are of bilateral interest
will be up on the agenda between the two sides.”
Earlier, media reports from Canada had indicated that the Chief Minister
was expected to accompany Mr. Trudeau during his Amritsar trip, but the
programme was not firmed up.
The visit by Mr. Trudeau was anticipated since 2014 but did not
materialise even though other Cabinet colleagues had come here during the
past four years.
::ECONOMY::
RBI-PNB-Other Banks
Banks are planning to approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to break
the impasse with the fraud-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB).
The PNB is declining to pay them the dues till investigations into the
Rs. 11,500-crore LoU scam are completed, according to an official who
attended a meeting of major lenders on the issue.
The banks have decided to approach the central bank through the Indian
Banks’ Association (IBA).
The state-run lender informed the stock exchanges about the detection of
$1.77 billion (Rs. 11,500 crore)-worth unauthorised transactions where
fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) were issued from a branch in Mumbai
to secure overseas credit.
Bankers, at the meeting, pointed out that LoUs were issued by PNB for
buyers’ credit.
Since the other banks had extended loans to PNB (the amount was credited
to PNB’s NOSTRO account) which, in turn, gave the funds to firms involved in
the fraud, the state-run lender was liable to pay the other lenders.
Allahabad Bank, for example, had an exposure of $366.87 million and
State Bank of India $212 million to PNB.
If PNB did not pay them, these lenders would have to classify the loans
(given to PNB) as NPAs.
In that case, the total loan impairment arising out of this particular
case could rise to Rs. 20,000 crore, banking industry sources said.
Public sector banks, already reeling under huge non-performing assets (NPAs),
do not want to their books to be impaired further by this issue which, they
said they believed, is not of their making.
As a result, they now want the regulator to break the deadlock as soon
as possible.
“They (RBI) have already issued a guideline in 2015 for similar kinds of
cases. They have to just reiterate the guideline which covers all these
kinds of scenarios,” said another banker.
RBI had pointed out to the failure of internal control of PNB as being
the main reason for the fraud taking place.
It said it was assessing the situation and would take appropriate
supervisory action.
It may be reaclled that the banking regulator had already undertaken a
supervisory assessment of control systems in PNB.
Some of the banks that had exposure to the companies of Nirav Modi and
Mehul Choksi — the main accused in this fraud — said their loans were backed
by the assets of companies such as Gitanjali Gems.
The Enforcement Directorate had conducted searches at several properties
belonging to Mr. Modi and reportedly seized diamond and gold jewellery worth
more than Rs. 5,000 crore.
Financial Conditions Index
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)
Financial Conditions Index, a key indicator in assessing short-term
financial conditions in the Indian economy.
The ongoing fourth quarter of 2017-18 registered 53.2, an improvement of
five points year-on-year.
However, it marked a significant fall of 12.1 over the third quarter of
this fiscal.
There has been also been a major compression in two sub-indices — the
Cost of Funds Index (22.8 in Q4 FY’18 versus 55.6 in Q3 FY’18) and Funding
Liquidity Index (60.3 in Q4 versus 85.9 in Q3).
Two other sub-indices, viz. the External Financial Linkages Index (67.2
in Q4 versus 64.5 in Q3) and Economic Activity Index (62.5 in Q4 versus 55.2
in Q3) have shown an improvement in the Q4 FY2017-18 quarter vis-à -vis the
last quarter.
“Industrial activity and consequent linkages to financial sector are
contingent on intervention in fiscal, sectoral and monetary policy space,”
said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.
“There is a clear acknowledgement of actions that have been taken by the
government in fiscal and sectoral space,” the director general said.
