Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 21 December 2017

::National::

Number of persons filling Income tax rose sharply

The number of income tax returns filed by persons declaring a gross taxable income above Rs. 5 crore rose to 4,499 in financial year 2014-15, which is nearly 63% higher than the number seen three years previously.
The overall number of returns filed in 2014-15, at 4.07 crore, was 40.8% higher than the number in 2011-12. Within this, the number of filers reporting an income less than Rs. 5 lakh a year grew at a slower pace of 27%.
The faster pace of growth in the number of returns filed for the higher income bracket has meant that the proportion of filers declaring an income of less than Rs. 5 lakh has fallen over the years.
The number of returns for an income less than Rs. 5 lakh made up 80.7% of all returns filed by individuals in 2011-12. This proportion fell to 72.8% in 2014-15.
Looking at salary incomes, 1,648 returns were filed in 2014-15 for a salary income of more than Rs. 5 crore a year, a 109% increase over the number seen in 2011-12. Contrastingly, the number of people reporting a salary income of less than Rs. 5 lakh grew only 30.5%.
As with the trend seen with gross taxable income, the number of people declaring a salary of less than Rs. 5 lakh a year made up 86.8% of all returns in 2011-12, which fell to 80.5% in 2014-15.
The firm level data shows that the number of returns filed by companies increased 14.2%. Taking a total country-wide population of 130 crore, the data shows that only 3.13% of them filed returns at the individual level.

IAF issued the Request for Information for 83 Tejas light combat aircraft

The Indian Air Force (IAF) issued the Request for Information (RFI) for 83 Tejas light combat aircraft with specific enhancements.
“The RFI was issued for 83 aircraft, which includes 73 in Mk-1A configuration and 10 trainers in Final Operational Configuration (FOC). With this, the IAF will eventually have 123 Tejas aircraft,” an official said.
The deadline for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which is manufacturing the aircraft, to respond is March 14. The Mk-1A, which has 43 improvements over the basic variant and the production of the 1A, is expected in 2019.
HAL is also in the process of setting up another assembly line at a cost of ₹130 crore to increase the production rate from eight to 16. The second line would be ready by 2019 when Mk-1A begins production.
The IAF has so far placed orders for 40 jets in two batches of which the first 20 are in the Initial Operational Configuration (IOC) while the remaining 20 are in the Final Operational Configuration (FOC).

Opposition parties have come together to oppose UPCOCA

Opposition parties have come together to oppose the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organized Crime Act, 2017 introduced by the State’s BJP government. They say it could potentially be used as a tool to suppress rivals, settle political vendetta and target specific communities.
The proposed law was tabled in the Assembly. The UPCOCA was drafted by the BJP government after an “intensive study” of the stringent MCOCA in Maharashtra.
While the Yogi Aditynath government has described the proposed law as a remedy against organised crime, the BSP chief Mayawati demanded its rollback, claiming it could be used “as a political weapon” to “oppress” the poor, Dalits, OBCs and religious minorities.
The four-time former Chief Minister alleged that the BJP government was already targeting and picking out members of specific communities in its drive against mafias and goondas.
Incidentally, a similar law was passed by Uttar Pradesh government during Ms. Mayawati’s rule in 2007-08, but it was withdrawn after the then President Pratibha Patil refused to give it her assent.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also opposed the law, saying it was only being brought to “deceive the people” and “intimidate leaders of other political parties.”
The UPCOCA law would give special powers to the police to arrest offenders and members of the crime syndicates.
Under the Act, the State would be empowered to seize the property of such people after taking the consent of a special court constituted to hear the cases. Properties acquired through illegal activities and organised crime would also be seized.
Some of the crimes defined under the UPCOCA are: land grab, illegal mining, manufacture and sale of illegal medicines and illicit liquor, money laundering, wildlife smuggling, extortion, abduction syndicate, hafta collection, murder and conspiracy to murder and white-collar offences.
If found guilty, offenders would face a minimum jail term of three years and a maximum of life imprisonment or even death sentence. The accused will not be granted bail for six months after the arrest.
The UPCOCA has 28 provisions in addition to the Gangsters Act, the existing law against organised crime in U.P.

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::International::

Pakistan reacts to U.S.’s concerns about the terror support

Pakistan strongly responded to U.S.’s concerns about the terror groups operating from its soil as outlined in its National Security Strategy, terming them as “unfounded accusations” that belie the facts on the ground.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said the NSS 2017 has made certain unsubstantiated allegations against Pakistan.
It said Pakistan has been at the forefront in the fight against terrorism and it is because of Pakistan’s cooperation, acknowledged and appreciated by the U.S. leadership, that the al-Qaeda’s core was decimated from the region.
In an oblique reference to India, the statement said that countries emerge as regional or global powers on the basis of their constructive contributions and it does not fall upon one country to bestow such status on any state.
“Ironically, a country with a record of defiance of UNSC resolutions, introduction of nuclear weapons in South Asia and use of terrorism as a state policy is being projected as a regional leader,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said.

::Business and Economy::

RBI Governor voiced concern over rising crude oil prices and fiscal slippage

Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel voiced concern over rising crude oil prices and fiscal slippage, during the meeting of the fifth bi-monthly monetary policy review held earlier this month.
“The recent upturn in crude oil prices has emerged as a source of concern,” Dr. Patel said. “Several uncertainties, especially on the fiscal and external fronts, persist. It is, therefore, important to be vigilant,” he said, voting for a status quo.
RBI maintained status quo for the second straight meeting, which was voted by five out of six members. Only R.H. Dholakia had voted for a 25 bps rate cut. The key policy rate or the repo rate is currently at 6%.
“Fiscal slippage concerns linger on. Should this risk materialise, it would have implications for the inflation outlook,” Dr. Patel said.
While the RBI has maintained a neutral stance on interest rate, one of the members of the committee, M.D. Patra, said the time had come to be ready to go on the front foot.
“Price pressures are no more confined to vegetables alone, as in previous readings; they are getting diffused across petroleum products, services, and into underlying inflation,” Mr. Patra said.
Deputy Governor Viral Acharya, said “There seems little scope for accommodation or for change of stance at the present juncture.”

RBI has imposed certain restrictions on state-run lender Bank of India

RBI has imposed certain restrictions under its prompt corrective action framework (PCA) on state-run lender Bank of India as it reported negative return on asset for two consecutive years and insufficient common equity tier-I capital after non-performing assets zoomed in the last three years.
The action “will contribute to the overall improvement in risk management, asset quality, profitability, efficiency, etc of the Bank.” However, the bank’s stock tanked almost 4% to close the day at Rs. 174.20.
Already more than half a dozen public sector banks face similar sanctions due to their poor health.
The banking regulator has also imposed fresh restrictions on Kolkata-based State-run lender United Bank of India. In an exchange notification, the lender said the additional restrictions were imposed due to high net NPA, low leverage ratio and requirement to raise capital.
“The actions focused on profit retention, capital augmentation, provision coverage, diversification of credit portfolio, rationalisation of expansion and cost control, along with the steps already initiated earlier by the bank,” UBI said.
The bank also said normal activities would remain unaffected and would not have any material impact on the performance.

FM says public sector banksfailed in performance target

The Finance Ministry said it had not provided the entire amount towards capital infusion in public sector banks as most of them failed to meet the performance target.
As part of the Indradhanush Plan to revitalise state-owned lenders, the government had proposed to infuse Rs. 70,000 crore out of Budgetary Allocations in them.
The plan envisaged Rs. 25,000 crore each in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and Rs. 10,000 crore each in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
So far, it has infused Rs. 51,858 crore in public sector banks (PSBs). These include State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of India.