INDIAN AFFAIRS Cabinet approves SANKALP & …...2017/10/10  · SBI launches SME Assist to provide short-term loans to MSME clients On October 12, 2017, State Bank of India (SBI) launched

INDIAN AFFAIRS

Cabinet approves SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes

to boost Skill India Mission

In a bid to provide a boost to ‘Skill India Mission’, on

October 11, 2017, Union Cabinet approved two new

skill development schemes named Skills Acquisition

and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood

Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for

Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE). Both these

schemes are result oriented programmes focusing on

vocational education and training.

i. SANKALP is a centrally sponsored scheme having

financial outlay Rs 4,455 crore out of which 3300

crore will be in the form of a loan from World Bank.

ii. STRIVE is a central sector scheme having financial

outlay Rs 2200 crore out of which half the amount

will be in the form of loan assistance from World

Bank……………….Click here to view more detail

Cabinet Approvals on October 12 2017

On October 11, 2017, Union Cabinet gave its approval

for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

between Securities and Exchange Board of India

(SEBI) and Financial Services Commission (FSC),

Gibraltar for mutual co-operation and technical

assistance.

i. Cabinet approves MoU between SEBI and Capital

Markets Authority (CMA), Kuwait

ii. Union Cabinet has approved the signing of

Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India

and Japan on the Technical Intern Training Program

(TITP). iii. Cabinet approves MoC between India and Japan

on Establishing Flexible and Global LNG Market

iv. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Belarus

for Cooperation in the field of Vocational Education

and Training

v. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Morocco

on cooperation in the field of water

resources……………………….Click here to Read

more

UP government launches ‘Sankalp Seva’ bus service On 11th October 2017, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister

Yogi Aditynath flagged off 50 buses under the ‘Sankalp

Seva’ bus service in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

‘Sankalp

Seva’ Bus Service:

i. The buses launched under ‘Sankalp Seva’ bus

service will connect 6,000 villages. Uttar Pradesh

Transport Minister Swatantra Dev Singh was also

present at the event.

ii. In his address, Yogi Adityanath said that, the state

government was taking initiatives to provide better bus

services to the people, so that, everyone will have

access to all kind of facilities.

iii. He also said that, to honour the sacrifices of the

martyrs, the state government will construct

‘Gaurav Marg Path’ which will contain statues of the

martyrs.

Recent Schemes introduced by Uttar Pradesh: ♦ UP Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana – Mass

Marriage Scheme for Couples

♦ Pandit Deendayal Gramodyog Rozgar Yojana UP

♦ Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana for

Pregnant Women in Uttar Pradesh

NMCG signs agreement to set up sewage treatment

plants in Haridwar, Varanasi On 11th October 2017, the Central Government

approved setting up of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs)

at Haridwar and Varanasi under its Namami Gange

programme.

STPs at Haridwar & Varanasi:

i. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has

signed an agreement with Uttarakhand Pey Jal Nigam

and Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam and private players for

setting up first STPs in Haridwar and Varanasi under

hybrid annuity mode.

ii. The project would be done in public-private

partnership mode for a combined cost of Rs.324.69

crore. Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari

presided over the programme where the agreement was

signed.

iii. The 50 Million Litres Daily (MLD)-capacity STP

in Varanasi was awarded to a consortium (a group of

companies) led by Essel Infra Projects Limited. Its

estimated cost is Rs.153.16 crore.

iv.A total sewage treatment capacity of 82 MLD

(68MLD in Jagjeetpur and 14 MLD in Sarai) in

Haridwar was awarded to HNB Engineers Private

Limited. Its estimated cost is Rs.171.53 crore.

About Namami Gange programme:

♦ Objectives – elimination of pollution, conservation

and rejuvenation of River Ganga

♦ Budget – Rs.20,000 crore

Manohar Lal Khattar announces ration cards for

nomadic tribe in Haryana On 11th September 2017, Chief Minister Manohar Lal

Khattar announced ration cards for nomadic tribes

living in different parts of Haryana.

Ration cards

for Nomadic Tribes in Haryana: i. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar interacted with

representatives of denotified and nomadic tribes from

all over Haryana.

ii. Khattar announced that, the Food, Civil Supplies

and Consumer Affairs Department would organise

camps to issue ration cards to nomadic tribes. This

would provide identification to them as permanent

residents.

iii. Krishan Kumar, Minister of State for Welfare of

Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes said that, the

Haryana government has also opened hostels in 11

districts for students belonging to these tribes and poor

children belonging to other castes.

About Haryana: ♦ Capital – Chandigarh

♦ Chief Minister – Manohar Lal Khattar

♦ Governor – Kaptan Singh Solanki

Gujarat government announces Garments &

Apparel Policy 2017 On October 12, 2017, Gujarat State Government

under Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced its

Garments and Apparel Policy-2017.

Salient Features of Gujarat Garments and Apparel

Policy, 2017:

i. The policy has been prepared with an aim to make

Gujarat number 1 state in textiles sector. It is to be

noted that Gujarat is a major producer of cotton.

ii. Under this policy, Gujarat Government will make

efforts to make supply chain in textiles sector suitable

for farm-to-fibre, fibre-to-fabric, fabric-to-fashion

and fashion to foreign exports.

iii. To encourage women’s employment in textiles

sector, State Government will provide financial

assistance of Rs. 4,000 per month to female workers

working in the factories. This assistance will be

provided for five years.

iv. In order to encourage investments in the textile

sector, Gujarat state government will also provide

interest subsidy and relief in electric bills.

Quick Facts about Gujarat

♦ Capital – Gandhinagar

♦ Current Chief Minister – Vijay Rupani

♦ Current Governor – Om Prakash Kohli

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Global Hunger Index – India slips 3 positions to

100th among 119 nations

India has ranked at 100th position among 119

countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2017.

This year’s ranking marks a drop of three positions as

compared to 97th rank in Global Hunger Index 2016.

i. India’s GHI 2017 score of 31.4 places it at the high

end of the “serious” hunger problem category.

ii. The report outlines that more than 20% of Indian

children under the age of five have lower weight in

relation to their height and about 33% are too short in

relation to their age………………………..Click here

to view more detail

BANKING & FINANCE

SEBI fixes penalty for non-compliance of

shareholding norms On 10th October 2017, SEBI announced that, listed

companies not following the norms with regard to

Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) would be taken

action including fine (penalty) and delisting.

SEBI’s action on non-compliant Listed Companies:

i. According to MPS norms, any listed company must

have at least 25 % as public shareholders and 75 % can

be held by promoters. Companies not following these

norms should to pay a fine of Rs.5,000 a day. ii. The entire promoter holding, except for compliance

to MPS, will be frozen by depositories. The promoter

group and directors of the particular company will not

be allowed to hold any position in other companies.

iii. If the non-compliance continues for more than 1

year, the amount of fine per day will double

to Rs.10,000. Such companies might be de-listed of

their shares from stock exchanges.

About SEBI:

♦ Purpose – regulator for the securities market in India

♦ Established in – 1988

NBFC bad loans rise to 5% in 5 years: RBI

On 12th October 2017, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

said that, Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA)

ratio for NBFCs has increased to 5 % at end of

March 2017 from 2.9 % at end of March 2012.

Increase in

NBFC bad loans:

i. Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) have

faced a steady reduction in asset quality in the past 5

years. Bad loans of NBFCs amount to around Rs.74,230

crore. RBI said that, the reduction in asset quality

could be mapped to the change in NPA recognition

norms.

ii. Return on Assets (RoA) of NBFCs declined from

2013 onwards. However, compared to banks, NBFCs

reported a fairly higher RoA.

iii. The Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR)

of NBFCs has declined in recent years. Still, it was

higher than the prescribed regulatory level of 15 %.

Some Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs): ♦ Power Finance Corporation

♦ Reliance Capital

♦ Infrastructure Development Finance Company

♦ LIC Housing Finance

SBI launches SME Assist to provide short-term

loans to MSME clients

On October 12, 2017, State Bank of India (SBI)

launched a new product called ‘SME Assist’ to

provide a short-term working capital demand loan

to its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSME) clients.

More Details about SBI’s ‘SME Assist’: i. The loans shall be provided on the basis of clients’

input credit claims under Goods and Services

Tax (GST), subject to submitting of a certificate from

their chartered accountant confirming the input credit

claims.

ii. These loans will help clients to manage their working

capital requirement till the time they get input credit

and will thereby ensure stability in operations.

iii. Loans under ‘SME Assist’ will be provided at

concessional interest rates.

iv. Borrowers of loan under ‘SME Assist’ will have the

benefit of a moratorium period for the first three

months.

Quick Facts about State Bank of India ♦ Founded in – 1955

♦ Headquarters – Mumbai

♦ Current Chairman – Rajnish Kumar

Mastercard launches its first Innovation Centre in

India On October 10, 2017, American financial technology

company Mastercard launched its first innovation

lab in India in Pune, Maharashtra.

More Details

about Mastercasrd’s first Innovation Centre in

India:

i. This centre is Mastercard’s ninth lab in the world

and the second in Asia Pacific besides Singapore. ii. The centre in Pune will focus on new payment

technology ideas for the rapidly growing digital

economy in India.

iii. In India, Mastercard will collaborate with financial

institutions, merchant partners and the technology

community to identify and experiment with future

technologies in a few key areas including digital

payments, data solutions, financial inclusion, alternative

payments and safety and security.

iv. The first project to be undertaken by this centre will

be about providing Indian farmers, access to more

buyers which will enable them to run a more profitable

business and will eventually pave the way to a cashless

agricultural sector.

RBI allows interoperability of wallets in six months

On October 12, 2017, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

instructed banks and non-bank entities to make their

digital wallets/prepaid payment instruments (PPIs),

interoperable through the Unified Payments

Interface (UPI) within six months.

More Details about RBI’s instruction pertaining to

interoperability of wallets: i. As per RBI’s master directions, in the first phase, all

PPIs that are Know Your Customer (KYC)-compliant

should be made interoperable amongst themselves

through UPI.

ii. In the next phase, interoperability shall be enabled

between wallets and bank accounts through UPI.

iii. RBI has stated that PPIs will be permitted to be

loaded or reloaded by cash, by debit to a bank

account, by credit and debit cards, and other PPIs.

However, cash loading to PPIs will be limited to Rs

50,000 per month. iv. At any point of time, PPI’s should not have

outstanding amount of more than Rs 100000.

GIC Re launches India’s third largest IPO

India’s biggest reinsurer, General Insurance Corp of

India (GIC Re)’s Rs. 11,370 crore Initial Public

Offer (IPO) opened for subscription on October 11,

2017. More Details

about GIC Re’s IPO: i. GIC Re’s Rs. 11370 crore IPO is Indian primary

market’s third largest IPO after Coal India (Rs.15,200

crore in 2010) and Reliance Power (Rs. 11,600 crore

in 2008).

ii. Following this IPO, government’s stake in GIC Re

will fall by 14.22% and will fetch Rs. 9,800 which shall

help in meeting its disinvestment target.

iii. The issue price range is between Rs 855 to Rs 912

per equity share.

iv. Funds raised through this IPO will be used by GIC

Re for augmenting the capital base and support business

growth.

Quick Facts about GIC Re

♦ Founded in – 1972

♦ Headquarters – Mumbai

♦ Current Chairman & Managing Director – Alice

Vaidyan

BUSINESS

Government forms ‘think-tank’ for guidance to

achieve oil and gas targets On 10th October 2017, Minister for Petroleum and

Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan announced the

formation of an internal ‘think-tank’, consisting of

experts to advise on technology and build a successful

gas network in India.

‘Think-tank’ for Oil & Gas: i. Dharmendra Pradhan made this announcement at the

India Energy Forum by CERAWeek. He said that, the

‘think-tank’ is formed to reduce the target set by the

Prime Minister to reduce oil import dependence by 10

%.

ii. The think tank will be in an advisory role and will

look after gas infrastructure, financing model for

projects, price competitiveness etc. iii. The following people will be a part of the ‘think-

tank’:

1.Dev Sanyal – Executive Vice President of Regions

and Chief Executive of Alternative Energy at BP

2.Ashok Belani – Executive vice president Technology

at Schlumberger

3.Vijay Kelkar – Economist and Head of Government

Committee on natural gas price

4.Chanda Kochhar - Managing Director and Chief

Executive Officer of ICICI Bank

5.K V Kamath – Chief of the New Development Bank

of BRICS countries

6.Satish Pai – Managing Director of Hindalco Industries

7.Rahul Dhir – Chief Executive Officer at Delonex

Energy

About Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas: ♦ Purpose – responsible for the exploration, production,

refining, distribution, marketing, import, export, and

conservation of petroleum, natural gas, petroleum

products, and liquefied natural gas in India

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Actor Prakash Raj receives Karanth award

On 10th October 2017, Prakash Raj, actor and film-

maker, received the Kota Shivaram Karanth

Huttura Prashasti award, at the Kota Shivaram

Karanth Theme Park, in Kota, Udupi district of

Karnataka.

Prakash Raj – received Kota Shivaram Karanth

Huttura Prashasti award:

i. The Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttura Prashasti

award is instituted in the name of Jnanpith awardee

K Shivaram Karanth.

ii. It is given by the Kotatattu gram panchatyat in Kota,

the birthplace of the literary giant, K Shivaram Karanth,

in Udupi district of Karnataka.

iii. Prakash Raj received the award amidst strong

protests by members of BJP Yuva Morcha. The protests

were conducted due to Prakash Raj’s comment over

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on journalist

Gauri Lankesh’s murder. Prakash Raj is a close friend

of Gauri Lankesh.

About Prakash Raj:

♦ Age – 52

♦ Occupation – Film actor, Producer, Film director,

Television presenter

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

John Flint appointed as CEO of HSBC On 12th October 2017, HSBC announced that, it has

appointed John Flint as its next CEO, in London.

John Flint – CEO of HSBC:

i. John Flint currently runs HSBC’s retail and

wealth management business. He will take charge as

CEO on 21stFebruary, 2018.

ii. John Flint would replace current CEO Stuart

Gulliver. Gulliver is retiring after seven years in this

job.

iii. Flint has worked across most of HSBC’s business

lines. He spent the first 14 years of his career with the

bank in Asia, which gave him a great experience that is

necessary to the CEO role.

iv. Flint’s main task will be to grow revenues across

HSBC’s businesses. As HSBC plans to grow profits

again, following a period of restructuring after the

2008-9 financial crisis.

About HSBC Holdings plc:

♦ Headquarters – HSBC Tower, London, England, UK

♦ Group Chairman – Mark Tucker

Yuvraj Singh named Laureus’ first Indian

ambassador On 11th October 2017, Yuvraj Singh was announced as

the first Indian ambassador of Laureus at an event in

Mumbai. Yuvraj

Singh – Laureus’ first Indian ambassador:

i. Yuvraj Singh has become the first Indian

ambassador of Laureus. Laureus works to improve

the lives of young people through sport.

ii. Yuvraj Singh is an Indian cricketer. He is a left-

hander. Laureus consists of Indian cricket legends like

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Kapil Dev.

iii. Yuvraj Singh said that, it was an honour for him to

join the Laureus Family in India, and to find out the

great work being done to help young people overcome

challenges in their lives.

About Laureus: ♦ Vision – using the power of sport to end violence,

discrimination and disadvantage. Proving that sport can

change the world

♦ Consists of – Laureus Sport for Good, the Laureus

World Sports Academy and Ambassadors Programme

and the Laureus World Sports Awards

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Tata Teleservices to merge Consumer Mobile

Business with Bharti Airtel

On 12th October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced the

acquisition of Consumer Mobile Businesses (CMB) of

Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices

Maharastra Ltd (TTML).

Merger of Tata Teleservices with Bharti Airtel:

i. Tata Teleservices has been merged with Bharti

Airtel. After this merger, over 40 Million Tata

customers will join Bharti Airtel.

ii. The merger will be on a debt-free, cash-free basis

and all past liabilities and dues will be settled by

Tata.

iii. As a part of the Agreement, Bharti Airtel will absorb

Tata consumer mobile businesses (CMB) operations

across the country in nineteen circles (17 under TTSL

and 2 under TTML).

iv. The proposed merger will include transfer of all the

customers and assets of Tata CMB to Bharti Airtel.

About Tata Teleservices:

♦ Headquarters – Mumbai

♦ Interim Chairman – Ratan Tata

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SpaceX completes successful launch of recycled

rocket Falcon 9 On 12th October 2017, SpaceX launched its recycled

rocket Falcon 9 and landed it on a drone ship in the

Atlantic Ocean.

Launch

of Falcon 9:

i. SpaceX has launched the rocket Falcon 9, that had

already flown to space and landed it successfully on an

ocean platform. It is as part of SpaceX’s effort to

recycle costly rocket components.

ii. At 6:53 pm (2253 GMT), the tall, white Falcon 9

rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida

carrying the Echostar 105/SES-11 satellite.

iii. The satellite aims to provide television coverage and

communications capabilities to North America, Hawaii,

Mexico and the Caribbean. It is a “dual-mission”

satellite for the US-based operator EchoStar and

Luxembourg-based operator SES.

iv. About 10 minutes after launch, the tall portion of

the rocket, known as the first stage, returned to

Earth for a controlled, upright landing on a drone

ship called “Of Course I Still Love You,” stationed

in the Atlantic. v. This is the 18th successful landing of Falcon 9 rocket

first stage. The Falcon 9’s first stage had previously

flown on a cargo mission to the International Space

Station in February 2017. SpaceX flew a recycled

rocket component for the first time in March 2017.

About SpaceX: ♦ Headquarters – Hawthorne, California, U.S.

♦ CEO & CTO – Elon Musk

♦ President & COO – Gwynne Shotwell

SPORTS

Ashish Nehra announces retirement from all forms

of cricket On 12th October 2017, Ashish Nehra announced that,

he will be retiring from all forms of cricket, after the

first Twenty20 international between India and New

Zealand at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla, on

1st November 2017.

Ashish Nehra’s retirement:

i. Ashish Nehra is glad to retire at his home ground.

He wanted to retire while he was still on top.

ii. Ashish Nehra made his senior debut for India, during

the Test series against Sri Lanka in 1999 and helped the

Indian cricket team reach the 2003 World Cup final. He

is 38 years old.

iii. Ashish Nehra has collected 44 Test, 157 one-day

international and 34 Twenty20 wickets in his 18-year

international career. Nehra also played for four teams in

the Indian Premier League from 2012-16.

About Ashish Nehra: ♦ Role – Bowler

♦ Batting – Right

♦ Bowling – Left arm medium-fas

FIFA suspends the Pakistan Football Federation

The Pakistan football federation was suspended from

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football

Association) by the Bureau of FIFA council on 10th

Oct 2017.

Reason for suspension

The reason behind the suspension was the

“Interference of third party” in PFF i.e, the PFF

accounts and their offices were under the control of an

administrator appointed by court and this actually

violated the rules of FIFA that it should manage its

affairs independently and without the interference of

third parties.

Consequences

i. Due to this suspension not only PFF members but

also its officials won’t receive any benefits from the

courses, programmes or trainings conducted by FIFA as

well as Asian Football Confederation (AFC)

ii. Also, in accordance with article 16 paragraph 3 of

the FIFA statutes, when an association is suspended,

the other member associations should not entertain

sporting contact with the suspended federation and thus

PFF won’t receive any sporting contact from other

associations too.

iii. The suspension will be removed only when PFF

offices and accounts are returned to PFF from the third

party administrators.

About FIFA:

♦ Headquarters – Zurich, Switzerland

♦ It has 211 member associations

♦ President – Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino

Arjen Robben retires from International Football

Arjen robben, the 33 years old football player

announced his retirement news from the international

football. He played for Bayern Munich, a German

club. He is well known for his speed and accurate shots.

He scored two goals against Sweden on the last match

and it was not enough for his team to get qualified to

World cup 2018. That made him to end up his

international carrier.

About Arjen

Robben

i. Arjen was born in a place called Bedum, in north

eastern Netherlands.

ii. He played his debut match at the age of 19 against

Portugal.

iii. He was picked by the regional club FC Groningen

and later he also played for PSV (Philips Sport

Vereniging).

Achievements

i. Arjen was in fourth position in the Netherlands “all

time goal scorers” list. ii. He has played in three World Cup finals and three

European Championships for the Dutch.

Other Points After the resignation from the International Cricket

Arjen said: “I want to focus on my club now.”It’s a

good time to pass the torch to the next generation.”