Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 02 August, 2015

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

02 August 2015

:: International ::

Britain, France Make New Push to Block Migrants

Britain and France said Sunday it was a "top priority" for them to block the onslaught of thousands of migrants seeking passage to England via the Eurotunnel.
In a joint statement published in British and French newspapers, British Home Secretary Theresa May and her French counterpart, Bernard Cazeneuve, called on other European Union countries and the international community to help curb the flow of refugees from Africa to Europe.
The two officials said the thousands of migrants who have sought passage from Calais, France on trains or trucks into Britain in recent weeks have often made their way there after first landing in Italy and Greece via Mediterranean boat trips from Africa.
May and Cazeneuve said the crisis should not be addressed by easing immigration policies, but rather by "reducing the number of migrants who are crossing into Europe from Africa."
At least 10 migrants have died attempting the France-to-Britain passage.
Britain and France say they are bolstering security at the French entry to the Eurotunnel, adding more police and private security guards, more fencing and infra-red detectors and floodlighting.

:: Business ::

Sebi warns to Investors

Ready to regulate commodity trading, Sebi has cautioned small investors against coming for quick gains through speculation in this market, which is "risky" and requires a lot of technical expertise.
"People will come and tell you that with a small margin, you can make a lot of money. Do not fall into the trap," Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said, even as he asserted that the capital markets watchdog was fully prepared to begin regulating commodities trading and all necessary safeguards would be put in place to keep the scamsters and manipulators at bay.
Sebi, which expects the merger of commodities market regulator FMC with it to be completed by next month, will soon put in place a new set of regulations for this segment and the restrictions, including for trading lot sizes, would also be implemented to ensure safety of the small investors.
Announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget for 2015-16, FMC's merger with Sebi will help streamline regulations and curb wild speculations in commodities market, while facilitating participation of domestic and foreign institutional investors and launch of new products.
Besides, the high-profile NSEL scam has rocked this market in the recent past and the subsequent regulatory and government interventions in this case eventually led to the government announcing FMC's merger with Sebi.
At present, there are three national and six regional bourses for commodity futures in the country. Together, all the exchanges clocked a turnover of nearly Rs 60 lakh crore in 2014-15, from over Rs 101 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

India’s should worried about CAD

India’s current account deficit (CAD) is likely to widen in the June quarter to 1.8-2.0% of GDP while for the current financial year, it is likely to remain under control, says a DBS report.
According to the global financial services major, though the widening of CAD is likely to raise concerns “briefly” over wider trade imbalances, the full-year CAD is likely to remain within control. “India’s current account deficit is likely to widen anew in the June 2015 quarter, but will not emerge as a flash-point for the full-year FY15/16 (April 2015 to March 2016),” DBS said in a research note.
As per official figures, the CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange shrank to 1.3% of GDP ($27.5 billion) in 2014-15 from 1.7% ($32.4 billion) in 2013-14.
The Reserve Bank of India and the government have been maintaining that the CAD level is comfortable.
The DBS report said that on quarter-on-quarter basis imports rose 2.8% in the June quarter while exports fell 5%.

E-commerce boosting Chinese farmers incomes

Internet aided by e-commerce is boosting income ofChinese farmers and helping in turning the backwardagricultural sector into a lucrative modern industry.
For Zhang Guoqin, growing crops sometimes simply needs a few clicks of the mouse.
In northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, he monitors his rice fields on computer screens.
He uses a system of sensors and automatisation which takes a lot of the toil and inefficiency out of his business.
Such innovation is a new trend in Chinese farming, a welcome change of direction for a rural economy that has long been seeking modernisation.
Along with manufacturing, agriculture was on the top of the list.
Farming in China has been booming for over three decades.
The summer grain output reached a record high of 141.07 million tonnes in 2015 after 11 consecutive years of increases.
Though harvests were good, inefficient sales channels, a shrinking labour population and lack of access to loans have been squeezing farmers' earnings and dragging down the rural economy, the report said.
In 2014, the per capita disposable income of rural residents rose 9.2 per cent year on year to USD 1,720 less than half of that of urbanites, and 70.17 million rural Chinese earned an annual sum less than USD 385, the official poverty line.
By the end of 2014, nearly 30 per cent of China's rural population were online.
Taobao.com, China's largest online shopping platform, has launched an agricultural channel.
Its internet conglomerate, Alibaba, also ambitiously plans to invest 10 billion yuan (USD 1 billion) into 100,000 new service centres in Chinese villages in the next three to five years to help train farmers in internet use.

:: Sports ::

Rajat Chauhan wins India's first individual medal in World Archery

Rajat Chauhan created history by winning a silver medal in the World Archery Championships in Copenhagen on Saturday.
This is India's first individual medal in the World event. The 20-year-old marksman, who won the team gold medal in the Asian Games last year, went down fighting to local favourite Stephan Hansen of Denmark 147-143 in the compound individual final event.
The women's recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Laishram Bombayla Devi had won India a silver medal in the World Championship in 2011.
Chauhan started well against Hansen, matching his local rival arrow for arrow to tie the first two sets, both scoring 29 points each.
In the third set, Hansen opened up a handy three-point lead with three perfect 10s to net 30 points. Chauhan could manage only 27 in that third set.

Federer- Nadal duel to spice up IPTL-2

A Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal clash is always a treat for tennis fans. What began in 2004, during the third round of the ATP Miami Masters event in which an 18-year-old Spaniard defeated the Swiss, the then world No. 1, has become part of tennis folklore.
Now, in a little over four months, tennis fans in the country will witness two of the best players slug it out in New Delhi during the second edition of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
Their’s is the marquee match-up — slated for December 12 — that will add spice to the Indian edition of IPTL.
Nadal, who had withdrawn from the inaugural edition last year, will represent the Indian Aces, while Federer, who was part of the Indian team last year, will be a part of the UAE Royals. Meanwhile, reigning world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be turning out for the Singapore Slammers after appearing for the UAE team last year.
The switch took place during the Player Draft that was held in April this year, where Japan Warriors was unveiled as the fifth franchise in the tournament which already has defending champions Indian Aces, the UAE Royals, the Singapore Slammers and the Manila Mavericks.
Giving Nadal company at Aces will be Gael Monfils, Agnieszka Radwanska and Fabrice Santoro. This year’s French Open doubles champion Ivan Dodig and India’s doubles stars Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna complete the line-up.