Government of Andhra Pradesh has launched a scale-out plan

for transition of farm land from conventional synthetic

chemical agriculture to Zero-Budget Natural Farming

(ZBNF) by 2024

ü Core principles

o It believes in natural growth of crops without adding any fertilizers and pesticides or any

other foreign elements.

o All things required for the growth of the plant are available around the root zone of the plants.

o Eliminate use of chemical pesticides and uses biological pesticides and promote of good

agronomic practices

The Nivati-Medha break water harbour in the Konkan region of Maharashtra is being considered under “12 Champion Sectors initiative” of the Ministry of Commerce

Champion Sector refers to the sectors identified by the government which have the potential to become global champions

ü Champion sectors initiative are identified in both manufacturing and services sector.

ü Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the nodal department for ‘Make in India’,

would spearhead the initiative for the Champion Sectors in manufacturing.

ü Department of Commerce would coordinate the proposed initiative for the Champion Sectors in

Services.

ü Both departments come under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

ü Benefits

o Sufficient remuneration to the farmers

o Food grains supply to buffer stocks

o Supports the food security programme through PDS and other programmes

agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices.

ü It is the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers, whatever may be the price for

the crops

ü The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) determines the Minimum Support Prices (MSP)

of various agricultural commodities in India based on the recommendations of the Commission for

Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP).

ü It is announced in the beginning of the sowing season.

ü 26 commodities are currently covered under this policy including sugarcane

two kinds of pet coke produced

o Fuel grade pet coke (80%): used as a fuel in cement kilns and electric power plants.

o Calcined pet coke (20%): used in aluminum industry to create anode for extraction of

aluminum from bauxite, creation of graphite electrodes, steel industry etc

ü It consists mostly of carbon, with variable amounts of sulfurs and heavy metals.

ü It releases more carbon and health-damaging sulphur than coal does.

ü It is cheaper and burns hotter than coal.

ü This is used as a source of energy and carbon for various industrial applications.

ü India has DTAAs with more than eighty countries, of which comprehensive agreements include those

with Australia, Canada, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, UAE, the UK and US

ü Favourable tax treatment for capital gains under certain DTAAs such the one with Mauritius- one-third of the

total FDI flows into India

ü Double taxation means taxing the same income twice, once in the home country and again in the

host country. Such a double taxation discourages the individual/company to engage in economic

activities overseas

ü incentive for even legitimate investors to route investments through low-tax regimes to sidestep taxation. This leads to loss of tax revenue for the country.

an issue of shares or of convertible securities by listed companies to a select

group of persons which is neither a rights issue nor a public issue

ü Preferential allotment is a type of private placement.

ü The allotment is governed by Section 62 (1) of the Companies Act, 2013

ü The offer can be made to any person whether they are equity shareholders and employees of the company

or not.

ü  provision under the WTO agreement allowing the member countries to impose tariff against

injurious imports.

ü If imports in large volume are posing injuries to the domestic industry, the importing county can safeguard its industry by imposing a special safeguard duty on imports.

ü Directorate General of Trade Remedies’ recommends imposition of Special safeguard Duty after wide consultation with all stakeholders.

Why in news?

Common Services Centers Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, has entered into

agreement with HDFC Bank to enable its three lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) managing the Common Services Centers operate as Banking Correspondents of HDFC Bank.

make banking services more accessible in rural areas.

ü enables Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of various

schemes. Women, senior citizens and persons with

disability will also get benefitted through this initiative.

ü The HDFC BC (CSC) under this arrangement will also function as Business Facilitator (BF).

ü Banking Correspondents (BCs) are individuals/entities engaged by a bank in India for providing banking services in unbanked / under-banked geographical territories

Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) had evolved two codes — the Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers and the Code of Bank’s Commitment to Micro and Small Enterprises

NITI Aayog in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners, is organising ‘MOVE: Global

Mobility Summit’ in New Delhi

focus : on raising awareness about various aspects of Mobility and bringing various stakeholders involved in enhancing mobility across different platforms

 help drive Government’s goals for vehicle electrification, renewable energy

integration and job growth and also speed up India’s transition to a clean energy economy.

ü The six tracks or themes for the Summit :

o Asset Utilization and Services;

o Comprehensive Electrification ;

o Alternative Energy;

o Reinventing Public Transit;

o Logistics and Goods Transport;

o Data Analytics and Mobility.

ü MOVEMENTUM is the name of Digital exhibition of the summit

the key decision-making constitutional body that will take all important decisions regarding the GST.

ü The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act 2016 inserted

Article 279A

Functions:

ü dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due

date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.

ü to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation

ü GST Council will be a joint forum of the Centre and States. It consists of the following members:

o The Union Finance Minister (Chairperson)

o Union Minister of State in charge of Revenue or Finance

o The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government(members)

ü Decisions – a majority of three-fourth of the weighted votes.

ü Union government has one-third of the weighted votes and states have the rest. However, decisions

are mainly taken with consensus

What is in News?

Leading lenders signed an agreement among themselves to grant power to the lead lender of the consortium to draw up a resolution plan for stressed assets

ü The ICA has been executed by 24 banks presently.

ü Lenders including State Bank of India, Bank of India, and Corporation Bank have also signed the pact

recommendations of the Sunil Mehta Committee on stressed asset resolution.

ü applicable to all corporate borrowers who have availed loans for an amount of ₹50 crore or

more

ü The lender with the highest exposure to a stressed borrower will be authorised to formulate the resolution plan which will be presented to all lenders for their approval.

ü The decision making shall be by way of approval of ‘majority lenders’ (i.e. the lenders with 66% share in the aggregate exposure).

ü Once a resolution plan is approved by the majority, it shall be binding on all the lenders that are a party to the ICA.

ü Dissenting lenders can either sell their exposure to another lender at a 15% discount or buy the entire exposure of all the banks involved, at a 25% premium.

ü This agreement is part of the Sashakt plan to resolve the problem of stressed assets.

ü The term ‘Derivatives’ derives its value from some underlying i.e. it has no independent value.

ü Underlying can be securities, stock market index, commodities, bullion, currency or anything else.

ü exchange-based futures and options contracts that allow one to hedge against currency movements.

ü One can use a currency future contract to exchange one currency for another at a future date at a price decided on the day of the purchase of the contract.

ü In India, one can use such derivative contracts to hedge against currencies like dollar, euro, U.K. pound

and yen.

ü Corporates, especially those with a significant exposure to imports or exports, use these contracts

to hedge against their exposure to a certain currency.

Why in news?

The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the scheme of recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks

(RRBs) for the next three years i.e. upto 2019-20. This will enable the RRBs to maintain the minimum

prescribed Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9 per cent

 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the ICAI & SaudiOrganisation for Certified Public Accountants

ICAI is one of the founder members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), SouthAsian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), and

Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA

India.

ü a statutory body established by the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949′.

ü under control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs,

Government of India.

ü the second largest professional body of Chartered Accountants in the world.

ü The affairs of the ICAI are managed by a Council of 40 members including nominees from Comptroller

and Auditor General of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Ministry of Corporate Affairs,

Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders

Why in news?

The central government is planning to abolish the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) clause for transportation of

Indian cargo by Indian-flagged vessels

ü If the entity with the right of first refusal declines to enter into a transaction, the owner of the asset

who offered the right is free to open the bidding up to other interested parties

Benefits

ü It ensures Indian-registered ships carry Indian cargo at the lowest rate quoted by a foreign shipping

line by matching the price.

ü It does not add any extra cost to the importer or exporter and provides assured business to the

national fleet at a rate quoted by a foreign line

ICAT has completed the first BS-VI certification for a heavy duty engine model for Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicle Limited

ü established in 2006 under the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project

(NATRiP).

ü under the administrative control of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises and

is located in Manesar, Haryana.

ü act as recognized centre in following areas:

o ‘Type Approval and Homologation’ agency under Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR).

o Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO) by the Department of Scientific and

Industrial Research (DSIR).

o Tyre Testing, Safety Glasses by BIS

ü The draft e-commerce policy will be in keeping with the recommendations of the Justice Srikrishna

Committee report on data privacy

üallows for limited inventory-based B2C model for domestically produced goods.

ücreating a separate wing in the Directorate of Enforcement to handle grievances

ümakes it mandatory for e-commerce companies to store all user generated data exclusively

within the country.

ücalls for the restriction imposed on e-commerce marketplace, to not directly or indirectly

influence the price of sale of goods and service

ü It mandates e-commerce entities to make a full disclosure to the consumer regarding the purpose

and use of data collection upfront in a simplified and an easily understandable form on their websites.

ü calls for the creation of a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) –  nodal agency for intra-government coordination

and to provide a platform for e-commerce operators for complaints regarding fraudulent activities

brought under the domain of the Finance Ministry.

The objective of the amendment was to use proceeds of the road cess under CRIF to finance other

infrastructure projects (waterways, railway infrastructure and social infrastructure, including

education institutions and medical colleges).

ü The amendment prescribes that road cess is first credited to the Consolidated Fund of India and

later, after adjusting for the cost of tax collection, should go to the CRIF.

Why in News?

A week before the CBI filed charges against fugitive Mehul Choksi, he took the oath of allegiance as a citizen

of Antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean island nation. Here is how this works

ü The concept of gaining citizenships without residing in a country began in St. Kitts and Nevis.

ü The U.S. has EB-5 Investor visa programme which requires $1 million, a legitimate business in the U.S.,

and a Green Card

naturalised citizen of another country by investing in that country.

ü Many countries, including India, offer permanent residency status after a significant contribution to

the economy and proof of residency in that country for a number of years.

ü Caribbean nations, such as Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada only require a certain

sum of money.

.

Citizenship by Investment in India

ü foreign investor – to invest

a minimum of Rs 10 crore  within 18 months or

Rs 25 crore  within 36 months.

ü generating employment to at least 20 resident Indians every financial year.

üpermanent residency status will be granted for a period of 10 years initially with multiple entry

facility, which can be renewed for another 10 years.

ü The status will serve as a multiple entry visa without any stay stipulation and holders will be

exempted from the registration requirements.

ü This status holders will be allowed to purchase one residential property for dwelling purpose.

ü The spouse/ dependents will be allowed to take up employment in private sector (in relaxation to

salary stipulations for Employment Visa) and undertake studies in India.

two-day International Round Table Conference organized by Ministry of Statistics

& Programme Implementation (MoSPI) at New Delhi

the best practices followed in advanced countries.

ü Such a Conference is being organized in India for the first time.

ü The conference is expected to suggest measures paving way for initiating the reform process in the Indian Statistical System

Why in news?

The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India has urged the Centre government to introduce the ‘rules

of origin’ clause for imports from Bangladesh

Why in News?

The Ramco Cements Ltd. plans to challenge the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Supreme Court. NCLAT had earlier dismissed its plea against the CCI order in the case related

to alleged cartelization

ü The Turkish Lira has depreciated over 22% against the dollar in 4 days.

ü  impacted all the emerging economies following global flight to safety towards Japanese Yen and USD.

ü also attributed to FII outflows and higher inflation in India.

Consequences/Effects

ü The Exports sector will get a boost as it has a cheap currency (Rupee) expense and a strong currency

(US Dollar) income. This can help in

o Creation of jobs

o Strengthening of tourism – cheaper currency

ü The imports will suffer

ü The combined effect (in case of India) will be a widening trade deficit because of the fact that India is

a net importer. The rise in Crude oil prices will also contribute to this deficit.

ü Positive aspect is that barring a gradual decline in 2018, Rupee has been largely stable over 2016

and 2017. Also India’s forex reserves are healthy at $400 billion.

ü Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) set up, owned and operated by non-bank entities are called “White Label ATMs” (WLAs) as they are devoid of any bank

logo.

ü Non-bank entities that set up, own and operate ATMs are called “White Label ATM Operators” (WLAO)

ü The white label operators have the autonomy to decide on the locations and create their own brand with fixed annual targets mandated by the central

bank

ü Customers from any bank can use these ATMs, provided they pay a fee for

using the service.

ü The white label ATMs do not accept cashdeposits

ü the amount paid by one bank to the other when its customer uses the other bank’s ATM network.

ü There is a demand to raise this from 15% to 18%

Brown Label ATMs?

‘Brown label’ ATM are those Automated Teller Machines where

ü Hardware and the lease of the ATM machine is owned by a service provider,

ü But cash management and connectivity to banking networks is provided by a sponsor bank

whose brand is used on the ATM.

ü Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited (TCPSL) became the first company to be

authorized by RBI to open White Label ATMs under the brand name ‘Indicash’

ü Farming 3.0 age will be all about disruptive innovations like:

o Smart Farm Machinery

o Micro Irrigation

o Precision Farming

o Digital Platforms

o Partnering Stakeholders

increase output, lower costs and boost farm incomes.

Farming 1.0 and 2.0

ü The first phase, which is referred to as Farming 1.0, extended from 1947 to 1966 and was

characterised by radical land reforms.

ü The second phase was the Green Revolution which increased farm productivity and rid us of our

dependence on foreign food aid. Farming 2.0 was a golden age in India’s agriculture

NCDs?

ü Approval of dividend results in immediate cash outflow to the company, issue of bonus debentures defers the same.

Bonus Debentures v/s Bonus Shares

ü Issue of bonus shares does not alter the net worth of the company, whereas issue of bonus

debentures results in decrease in equity and a corresponding increase in debt.

ü Bonus shares do not involve any cash outlay. But bonus debentures involve outflows in the form

of dividend distribution tax, periodical interest and outflow towards redemption of bonus debentures

ü issued to a bank’s customer to avail short-term credit in a foreign country.

ü These transactions are not retail in nature and are mostly used by businesses for import of goods.

ü The issuance of LoUs happen in line with the foreign trade policy or FTP which govern the import of

goods and services.

How does it work?

ü LoUs for securing credit line are backed by margin money or sanctioned credit limit by the banking

entity.

The ‘Queen’ variety of Pineapple was reported rotting away due to lack of procurement in Tripura

due to exports to Dubai, Bahrain and other countries

ü spiny and golden yellow in colour and considered be the sweetest of all varieties with a unique

aroma and flavour.

ü It was GI (Geographical Indication) tagged in 2015

ü Remittances essentially represent household income from foreign economies arising mainly from the

temporary or permanent movement of workers to source economies.

ü The top sources of inward remittances to India:

o UAE (26.9%)

o United States (22.9%)

o Saudi Arabia (11.6%) and Qatar (6.5%)

ü According to the survey, 82% of the total remittances received by India originated from eight countries — UAE, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

ü Kerala has received the maximum funds sent from abroad

ü Pectinophora gossypiella (pink bollworm) is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming.

ü In 2017, Pink bollworm (PBW) attacks on cotton occurred in India, especially in Maharashtra,

Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

ü The insect pest larvae bore into cotton bolls through the lint fibre to feed on the cotton seeds.

ü India is the only Bt-cotton-growing country facing the problem of pink bollworm infestation. It’s

so due to two possible reasons according to some researchers

o All other Bt cotton-growing countries mainly grow open-pollinated cotton varieties whereas in

India hybrids are majorly grown. Hybrids lose their genetic stability when their seeds are

replanted. This also compels farmers to be dependent on seed companies to repurchase

seeds each year.

o Pink Bollworm does its most damage in the latter half of the cotton-growing season. So,

the long duration of Indian cotton crops, between 160 and 300 days, allows this pest to

thrive and evolve resistance more quickly than it can for short-duration crops

Commerce and Industry Minister launched a logo and tagline for Geographical Indications (GI) to

increase awareness about intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the

country.

ü From now on, GI-registered goods will sport logo and tagline to make them more attractive.

ü The new logo has tagline

 “Invaluable Treasures of Incredible India”

  printed below it.

CERTIFICATES

The Ministry of Power

Perform Achieve and Trade

ü Perform Achieve and Trade is a governmental scheme to improve energy efficiency in industries by

trading in energy efficiency certificates in energy-intensive sectors.

ü component of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) which is one of

the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)

Energy Saving certificates

üscheme provides the option to trade any additional certified energy savings with other

designated consumers to comply with the Specific Energy Consumption reduction targets.

ü Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is the Market Regulator and Bureau of Energy

Efficiency is Administrator for the trading of ESCerts

various sectors.

ühelp in implementing national energy efficiency initiatives in states and meet both State as well as national goals on energy security, energy access and climate change.

ü  created by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy

(AEEE).

ü The nationwide Index is a joint effort of the NITI Aayog and BEE.

ü States are categorised based on their efforts and achievements towards energy efficiency implementation

as

o Front Runner

o Achiever

o Contender

o Aspirant

ü The ‘Front Runner’ states in the inaugural edition of the Index are:

1. Andhra Pradesh

2. Kerala

3. Maharashtra

4. Punjab

5. Rajasthan

ü The Index examines states’ policies and regulations, financing mechanisms, institutional capacity,

adoption of energy efficiency measures and energy savings achieved.

ü It has 63 indicators across Building, Industry, Municipality, Transport, Agriculture and DISCOM

with 4 cross-cutting indicators.

Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE)

ü AEEE is a policy advocacy and energy efficiency market enabler with a not-for-profit motive.

ü It is the only organization in India that works on creating awareness about energy efficiency as a

resource.

Why in news?

NITI Aayog on recently launched

ü Focused on 10 themes and open to individuals from all nationalities, the hackathon will have an

online leg, followed by a Singapore leg, and the finals in New Delhi

ü The hackathon has two-pronged campaign approach:

o “Just code It”: aimed at solutions through innovations in technology/ product/ software and

data analysis.

o “Just solve It”: innovative business ideas or sustainable solutions to transform mobility

infrastructure through technology.

release by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

ü Through the portal, farmers can obtain information on location of quality indigenous germplasm in

the form of live animals, semen doses and embryos.

ücrucial role in development and conservation of indigenous breeds

ü launched under the scheme “National Mission on Bovine Productivity.”

Rashtriya Gokul Mission: Objectives of the program :

ü Development and conservation of indigenous breeds

ü Undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds

ü Enhance milk production and productivity

ü Upgrade nondescript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar,

Red Sindhi

New Features

1. Linking of overdraft account: In addition to current and savings accounts, customers can link their

overdraft account to UPI.

2. One-time mandate: UPI mandate could be used in a scenario where money is to be transferred later by

providing commitment at present.

3. Invoice in the inbox: This feature is designed for customers to check the invoice sent by merchant prior

to making payment.

4. Signed intent and QR: This feature is designed for customers to check the authenticity of merchants

while scanning QR or quick response code.

üsystem that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood

ü an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India facilitating inter-bank transactions.

ü regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.

übuilt over Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) for transferring funds.

ü Being a digital payment system it is available 24-7 and across public holidays.

ü Unlike traditional mobile wallets, which takes a specified amount of money from user and stores it in its own accounts, UPI withdraws and deposits

funds directly from the bank account whenever a transaction is requested.

ü launched on 11 April 2016

The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17 covered a sample of 1.88 lakh people from

40,327 rural households. Only 48% of these are defined as agricultural households

ü  average annual income of an agricultural household is ₹1.07 lakh which is almost equal to the

average outstanding debt of indebted farm households.

ü The survey found that only 10.5% of agricultural households were found to have a valid Kisan

Credit Card at the time of the survey.

ü The highest incidence of indebtedness came from those owning more than two hectares of land.

In that category, 60% of households are in debt.

ü Among small and marginal farmers owning less than 0.4 hectares, slightly less than 50% of the

households were in debt.

ü The southern States of

1. Telangana (79%)

2. Andhra Pradesh (77%)

3. Karnataka (74%),

Showed the highest levels of indebtedness among agricultural households.

ü While 46% of the loans were taken from commercial banks, and another 10% from self-help groups,

almost 40% were taken from non-institutional sources such as relatives, friends, moneylenders and

landlords.

ü MSME is second largest employment generating sector after agriculture sector.

ü The share of MSMEs in GDP is about 30%, with the sector accounting for about 45% of manufacturing

output and about 40% of India’s total exports

New Classification

ü The Union Cabinet earlier approved change in the basis of classifying Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs)

from ‘investment in plant & machinery/equipment’ to

‘annual turnover’.

ü encourage ease of doing business, make

the norms of classification growth oriented and align them to

the new tax regime revolving around GST (Goods & Services Tax).

ü As per the new classification, the same turnover based criteria have been applied for all type of MSMEs including those operating in the services sector

In accordance with the provision of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006

the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are classified in two Classes:

1. Manufacturing Enterprises

any industry specified in the first schedule to the industries (Development and regulation) Act, 1951) or employing plant and

machinery in the process of value addition to the final product having a distinct name or character or use.

The Manufacturing Enterprise are defined in terms of investment in Plant & Machinery.

2. Service Enterprises

The enterprises engaged in providing or rendering of services and are defined in terms of investment in

equipment.

ü the aggregate valuation of the company based on its current share price

and the total number of outstanding stocks

outstanding shares of the company.

ü Market capitalization is one of the most important characteristics that helps the investor determine

the returns and the risk in the share.

ü  helps the investors choose the stock that can meet their risk and diversification criterion

the act of storing data on any device that is physically present within the

borders of a specific country where the data was generated.

region, is restricted by some governments

Why in News?

India’s First ISTS connected Wind Power Project Commissioned.

in February 2017.

ü This was a 1000 MW bid for projects to be connected on ISTS (Inter State Transmission System).

ü also signified a major shift from the earlier regime of state-specific feed-in-Tariff (FiT) model to a Pan-India, market-driven mechanism.

ü A part capacity of 126 MW, located in Bhuj (Gujarat) was commissioned.

ü This 126 MW ISTS project marks the beginning of capacity additions in wind power based on market

discovered tariffs, in line with the Government’s plan of 175 GW RE by the year 2022.

million tons of CO2, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation

capacity.

ü This would be over 50 percent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.

ü This is one of the several steps being taken by the Government of India to meet its climate change

commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030.

ü The first-ever IBRD guarantee in India will help EESL access new markets for commercial financing

About biofuel fight

üobjective – to make air travel economical and bring some respite to the airlines reeling under high

fuel price through the use of alternate fuel.

üSpiceJet flew the Bombardier Q400 (VT-SUI) on biofuel at Dehradun.

üIndia is among the first developing nations to make such an attempt.

üfuel is made from vegetable oils, sugar, animal fats, waste biomass and can be used in existing

engines without modification.

ü developed by Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.

ü analysed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Indian Oil.

üThe first-ever flight using biofuel was flown ten years ago by the Virgin Atlantic airlines between

London and Amsterdam.

Why in News?

Global financial conglomerate Macquarie group made an upfront payment of Rs 9,681.50 crore to the

government to operate nine stretches of NHAI under a new toll collection policy for 30 years

model to monetise NHs by awarding toll collection operations to a private party on a long term

basis.

ü Under this model, the right of collection of user-fee or toll on selected national highway stretches that

have been built through public funding is proposed to be assigned for a 30-year period to developers

and investors against an upfront payment of a lump-sum amount to the government.

ü During the tenure of the contract, the operation and maintenance would be the responsibility of the

developer.

ü advantages : investors don’t have to go through any hassles of construction or delays due to land acquisition

ü The first such project approximately 681 KM of roads in two states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, was awarded in 2018.

Why in News?

The World Bank has issued the world’s first public bond created and managed using only blockchain

ü Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the sole manager of the deal.

ü The prototype deal dubbed as “Bondi” bond stands for Blockchain Operated New Debt Instrument

as well as a reference to Australia’s most famous beach.

ü The World Bank bonds carry an AAA rating, regularly uses its borrowing power to help develop new

bond markets as well as pioneering new means for selling and trading the securities

ü Russia’s MTS, a telecoms operator, and Sberbank claimed a world-first blockchain bond, was however

privately placed.

ü Kangaroo bonds are bonds issued in Australian dollars by foreign institutions

The Reserve Bank of India has tightened the banking ombudsman scheme with the objective to

strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism for customers. The banking regulator has asked all

commercial banks having 10 or more banking outlets to have an independent internal

ombudsman(IO) to review customer complaints that are either partly or fully rejected by the banks

ü a complaint redressal mechanism on certain types of banking services provided by banks and to facilitate the settlement of those complaints.

ü  introduced under the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 by RBI with effect from 1995

ü The Banking Ombudsman actually is a senior official appointed by the RBI to redress customer

complaints against pitfalls in the stipulated banking services

Areas of customer redressal available with the Ombudsman mechanism

ü The RBI has listed around 25 areas where the customers can raise complaints with the Banking

Ombudsman. Some of them are:

o Non-payment/ inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills etc.;

o Non-payment/delay in payment of inward remittances;

o Failure/delay to issue drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;

o Non-adherence to prescribed working hours;

o Refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal;

o Levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer;

o Refusal/delay in closing the accounts;

o Non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents by banks;

ü Debt Recovery Tribunals facilitates the debt recovery involving banks and other financial institutions with their customers.

ü  established under Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act

(RDBBFI), 1993.

ü Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) hears appeals against the orders passed by DRTs

Features, powers and functions

ü The Presiding Officer is appointed by the central govt

ü He shall be qualified to be a District Judge; with tenure of 5 years or the age of 62, whichever is earlier

ü Enforces provisions of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions (RDDBFI)

Act, 1993 and also Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.

ü Are fully empowered to pass comprehensive orders and can travel beyond the civil procedure Code to render complete justice.

ü A Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) can hear cross suits, counter claims and allow set offs.

ü cannot hear claims of damages or deficiency of services or breach of contract or criminal

negligence on the part of the lenders.

ü In addition, a Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) cannot express an opinion beyond its domain, or the

list pending before it.

ü Can appoint Receivers, Commissioners, pass ex-parte orders, ad-interim orders, interim orders

apart from powers to Review its own decisions and hear appeals against orders passed by the

Recovery Officers of the Tribunal.

Government recently revamped its biofuels policy by allowing a maximum ethanol blend of 20 per cent.

It also hiked the price of ethanol derived from 100% sugarcane juice and also for ethanol produced from

intermediary molasses or B-heavy molasses

ü aims at blending ethanol with petrol, thereby bringing it under the category of biofuels and saving

millions of dollars by cutting fuel imports.

ü Ministry or Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) is implementing the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme.

ü It also seeks to boost the agriculture sector and reduce the oil bill.

ümajor legislation to combat money laundering.

ücame into effect in 2005

ü defines money laundering offence and provides for the freezing, seizure and confiscation of

the proceeds of crime.

Features

ü applicable to all financial institutions, banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, and their financial intermediaries. (RBI, SEBI and IRDA have been brought under the PMLA)

ü The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) is the monitoring and coordinating agency of anti-Money

laundering activities in India

ü FIU-IND is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC)

headed by the Finance Minister.

ü Punishment for offence of money laundering: There can be punishment of imprisonment upto 3-7

years with fine upto 5 lakh rupees. But in case of offences done under Narcotic Drugs and

Psychotropic Substance Act 1985, maximum punishment is extent to 10 years rather than 7 years.

ü There are a set of Obligation for banking companies, financial Institutions and Intermediaries such as maintaining records and furnishing information.

ü Measures to enhance effectiveness of investigations

ü Measures for restoration of property of persons adversely affected by PMLA investigation even during

trial

üused to refer to rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets.

ü The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, issued a ₹1,000 crore bond to fund infrastructure projects in India.

ü listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

ü IFC then named them Masala bonds to give a local flavour by calling to mind Indian culture and cuisine.

ü issued to foreign investors and settled in US dollars.

ü Hence the currency risk lies with the investor and not the issuer, unlike external commercial borrowings (ECBs)

The government increased the import taxes (basic customs duty) on a range of items from white goods,

gold jewellery and aviation turbine fuel to footwear and certain plastic items by 2.5 to 10 percentage

points. The intervention is to curb further decaying of rupee

ü The rupee has lost around 12% in 2018 and has emerged as Asia’s worst-performing currency.

ü in response to downfall of Turkish Lira and growing oil prices among other factors like US China

trade war and out-flight of FIIs.

ü India’s Current Account Deficit is forecast to worsen to 2.5% of GDP or more due to elevated global oil prices that have inflated the country’s import bill.

ü A high CAD is bound to exert further pressure on the rupee

Both blue economy and mountain economy featured in the fourth BIMSTEC Summit Declaration,

Kathmandu, Nepal

ü an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note.

ü introduced in India in 1990 with a view to enabling highly rated corporate borrowers to diversify their sources of short-term borrowings and to provide an additional instrument to investors.

ü original tenor- between seven days to one year.

üshall be issued in minimum denomination of ₹ 5 lakh and multiples thereof.

ü issued at a discount to face value.

üOptions (call/put) are not permitted on a CP.

üOnly a scheduled bank can act as an Issuing and Paying Agents for issuance of CP

ü Corporates, primary dealers (PDs) and the All-India Financial Institutions (FIs) are eligible to issue

CP.

üissued either in the form of a promissory note or in a dematerialized form through any of

the depositories approved by and registered with SEBI.

ü Banks, FIs and PDs can hold CP only in dematerialized form

Eligibility

ü A corporate would be eligible to issue CP provided the tangible net worth of the company is not less

than Rs. 4 crore.

ü The borrowable account of the company should be classified as a Standard Asset by the financing

bank/s/ institution/s.

ü Other entities like co-operative societies/unions, government entities, trusts, limited liability

partnerships and any other body corporate having presence in India with a net worth of ₹ 100 crore

or higher subject to the ‘standard asset’ condition.

ü Any other entity specifically permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

ü All eligible participants shall obtain the credit rating for issuance of Commercial Paper

Who can invest in CP?

ü Individuals, banking companies, other corporate bodies (registered or incorporated in India) and

unincorporated bodies, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) etc.

About NAA

ü the institutional mechanism under GST law to check the unfair profit-making activities by the trading community.

ü to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in GST rates on goods and services made by GST Council and proportional change in the Input tax credit passed on to the ultimate consumers and recipient respectively by way of reduction in the prices by the suppliers.

ü The responsibility of NAA is to examine and check such profiteering activities and recommend punitive

actions including cancellation of Registration.

Organizational structure

ü headed by a senior officer of the level of Secretary to the Government of India with four

Technical Members from the Centre and/or the States.

ü A five-member committee,

headed by Cabinet Secretary, comprising Revenue Secretary, CBEC Chairman and chief secretaries from two states

ü The authority will have a sunset date of two years from the date on which the chairman assumes

charge.

ü The chairman and the four members of the authority have to be less than 62 years.

ü Affected consumers may apply for relief to the Screening Committee in the particular State.

Procedures

ü In case the complaints with ‘All India’ nature, the

application may be directly made to the Standing

Committee.

ü After forming a prima facie view that there is an

element of profiteering, the Standing Committee

shall refer the matter for detailed investigation to

the Director General of Safeguards, CBEC, which

shall report its findings to the NAA.

RBI has asked all commercial banks having 10 or more banking outlets to have an independent

internal ombudsman (IO) to review customer complaints that are either partly or fully rejected by the

banks.

Who is an Ombudsman?

ü An ombudsman is a person officially charged with investigating and addressing public complaints

or violation of rights.

ü Banks in India had an internal ombudsman but they were mostly appointed from within bank staff and

did not have statutory powers.

ü This RBI amendment gives ombudsman statutory powers under section 35 A of the Banking

Regulation Act, 1949

ü NCLAT is the Appellate Tribunal – the orders passed by NCLT(s) under the

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), with effect from 1st December, 2016

ü NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI)

ü constituted under Section 410 of the

Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal(s)

(NCLT), with effect from 1st June, 2016.

ü The NCLT has eleven benches, two at New Delhi (one being the principal bench) and one each at

Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai

ü government securities denominated in grams of gold. They are substitutes for holding physical gold.

ü Investors have to pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity.

ü The Bond is issued by Reserve Bank on behalf of Government of India

ü The Bonds will be restricted for sale to resident entities including individuals, HUFs, Trusts,

Universities and Charitable Institutions.

ü Joint holding of the account is allowed and Minors can also invest in it where the application on behalf

of the minor has to be made by his/her guardian.

ü The Bonds will be denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram.

ü The tenor of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with exit option in 5th, 6th year and 7th year

ü Minimum permissible investment will be 1 gram of gold and the maximum limit of subscribed shall

be 4 KG for individual,

ü Bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post

offices and recognised stock exchanges.

ü The interest on Gold Bonds shall be taxable

significant assets.

Legitimate Reasons for setting up a Shell Corporation

ü The number one reason for a domestic company to set up a shell company is to realize a tax haven

Abroad

ü Large corporations, move jobs and profits offshore, to take advantage of looser tax codes– a process

called “offshoring

such as to disguise business ownership from law enforcement or the public.

ü Legitimate reasons for a shell corporation include such things as a startup using the business entity

as a vehicle to raise, funds, conduct a hostile takeover or to go public.

ü Shell corporations are used by large well-known public companies, shady business dealers and

private individuals alike.

ü In addition to the legal reasons above, shell corporations act as tax avoidance vehicles for legitimate businesses.

ü The process or mechanism under which such actions are

taken is known as Prompt Corrective Action, or PCA.

ü Based on each trigger point, the banks have to follow a mandatory action plan.

ü Apart from this, the RBI has discretionary action plans too.

ü The rationale for classifying the rule-based action points into

“mandatory“ and “discretionary“ is that some of the actions are essential to restore the financial health of banks while

other actions will be taken at the discretion of RBI depending upon the profile of each bank.

The Reserve Bank of India has released the guidelines for interoperability between prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as wallets and cards through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

ü a platform to transfer money between any two bank accounts in India, by avoiding the existing complexities.

üstandardized across banks–  help you to pay

directly from your bank account to different merchant’s without the hassle of typing your net-banking password, credit card details or IFSC code.

üused as a digital payment option along with cards,

net-banking and wallets.

üallows both payment and receipt of money.

Technology development

ü developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) under the guidelines of RBI

Why in news?

Ministry of commerce and industry released the Index of eight core industries (base 2011-12)

About Index of Eight Core Industries

ü ThSe Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of

Industrial Production (IIP).

ü The Eight Core Industries include (along with their weightage)

o Coal (10.33%)

o Crude oil (8.98%)

o Natural gas (6.88%)

o Refinery products (28.04%)

o Fertilizers (2.63%)

o Steel (17.92%)

o Cement (5.37%)

o Electricity (19.85%)

ü The decreasing order of core industries weightage among them is as: Refinery Products>Electricity>

Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas>Cement> Fertilizers

sectors in the Indian economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing.

ALPHONSO MANGO

ü The king of mangoes, Alphonso, is better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra.

ü It is in demand in domestic and international markets not only for its taste but also for pleasant

fragrance and vibrant colour

ü a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.

ü given primarily for an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product

(handicrafts and industrial goods) originating

from a definite geographical territory.

ü Typically, such a name conveys an assurance

of quality and distinctiveness, which is

essentially attributable to the place of its

origin.

ü The first product to get a GI tag in India was

the Darjeeling tea in 2004.

ü Unlike a Trade Mark, Geographical Indication cannot be licensed.

ü Also when Trade Mark is assigned to the

manufactured goods, the Geographical

Indication is assigned to the agricultural

goods/products and handicrafts only.

ü valid for a period of 10 years.

ü a GI cannot be assigned or licensed to someone outside that place or not belonging to

the group of authorized producers.

Who gives GI Tag?

ü Governments of all WTO member countries had agreed to set certain basic standards for the protection of GIs in all member countries as per the WTO TRIPS Agreement.

ü Under Articles 1 (2) and 10 of the Paris Convention for the

Protection of Industrial Property, geographical

indications are covered as an element of IPRs.

ü India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO),indications in India.

ü The Cell for IPR Promotions & Management (CIPAM) under Department of Industrial Policy and

Promotion (DIPP) is the nodal agency for GIs and IPRs

ü a corporate fraud investigating agency in India.

ü a multi-disciplinary organization, consisting of experts in the field of accountancy, forensic

auditing, law, information technology, investigation, company law, capital market and taxation.

ü for detecting and prosecuting or recommending for prosecution white-collar crimes/frauds.

ü under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

ü involved in major fraud probes and is the coordinating agency with the Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

ü Vajpayee Government decided to setup SFIO in 2003 based on the recommendation of Naresh

Chandra Committee on corporate governance.

ü head office in New Delhi

CENTRE FOR FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

üaims to bring together the government and business leaders to pilot emerging technology policies.

ü NITI Aayog will coordinate the partnership on behalf of the government and the work of the Centre

among multiple ministries.

ü The Centre would be based in Maharashtra.

ü selected drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain as the first three project areas.

ü As part of the WEF’s global network, such centres are already present in San Francisco, Tokyo and

Beijing.

 WEF

ü an International Organization for Public-Private

Cooperation.

ü engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

ü established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation.

ü In 2015, the Forum was formally recognised as an international organization.

ü Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland.

ü best known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, Switzerland.

Reports published by WEF:

ü Global Competitiveness Index

ü ‘Networked Readiness Index’ in collaboration with INSEAD

ü Global Gender Gap Report

ü Global Risks Report

ü Global Travel and Tourism Report

ü Global Enabling Trade Report

ü a nationally recognized, well-established, and financially sound company.

ü generally sell high-quality, widely accepted products and services.

ü known to weather downturns and operate profitably in the face of adverse

economic conditions, which helps to contribute to their long record of stable and reliable growth.

ü  a less volatile.

ü  highly liquid since they are frequently traded in the market by individual and institutional investors alike.

ü also characterized as having little to no debt, large market capitalization,

stable debt-to-equity ratio, and high return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA).

ü The solid balance sheet fundamentals coupled with high liquidity have earned all blue chip stocks the

investment grade bond ratings.

ü Conservative investors with a low risk profile or nearing retirement will usually go for blue chip stocks.

Why in news?

The Insolvency Law Committee has recommended the adoption of the United Nations

Commission on International Trade Law Model Law of Cross Border Insolvency, 1997, as it provides

for a comprehensive framework to deal with cross border insolvency issues.

üa model law issued by the secretariat of UNCITRAL in 1997.

üto assist states in relation to the regulation of corporate insolvency and financial distress

involving companies which have assets or creditors in more than one state.

üthe core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law.

ügives precedence to domestic proceedings and adequate flexibility for seamless integration with the

domestic Insolvency Law.

ümain proceeding is determined by the concept of centre of main interest (“COMI”).

Principles

ü The model law deals with four major principles of cross-border insolvency

1. Direct access to foreign insolvency professionals and foreign creditors to participate in or commence

domestic insolvency proceedings against a defaulting debtor.

2. Recognition of foreign proceedings & provision of remedies.

3. Cooperation between domestic and foreign courts & domestic and foreign insolvency

practitioners.

4. Coordination between two or more concurrent insolvency proceedings in different countries

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) wins ‘ISSA GOOD Practice Award, Asia & the Pacific

2018’at the “Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific” held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The

award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage-SPREE (Scheme for Promoting

Registration of Employers and Employees)

Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific

ü a triennial Forum, which is the most

important social security event in the Region.

ü ISSA invites submissions for the ISSA Good Practices Award for Asia and the Pacific Regions.

ISSA

ü The ISSA (International Social Security Association) is the principal international organization for

Social Security Organizations, Governments and Departments of Social Security.

ü founded in 1927 under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO),Geneva

ü promotes excellence in social security administration through professional guidelines, expert

knowledge, services and support to enable its Members to develop dynamic social security systems

The Bombay Stock Exchange became the first stock exchange in the country to launch commodity

derivatives contract in gold and silver

Asia’s first stock exchange, established

in 1875.

ü claims to be the world’s fastest stock exchange, with a median trade speed of 6 microseconds.

ü the world’s 10th largest stock exchange with an overall market capitalization of more than

$2.3 trillion on as of April 2018

ü  first stock exchange to be recognized by the Indian Government under the Securities

Contracts Regulation Act.

ü In 1986, it developed the S&P BSE SENSEX index, giving the BSE a means to measure the overall

performance of the exchange.

ü The S&P BSE SENSEX (S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index), also called the BSE 30 or simply

the SENSEX, is a free-float market-weighted stock market index of 30 well-established and financially

sound companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange.

ü BSE established India INX on 30 December 2016 and India INX is the first international exchange of

India.

ü The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is an Indian stock exchange located at Dalal Street, Mumbai

ü the removal of a listed security from a stock exchange.

ü voluntary or involuntary.

ü usually results when a company ceases operations, declares bankruptcy, merges, does not meet listing requirements, or seeks to become private

Involuntary Delisting

ü The reasons for delisting include violating regulations and failing to meet minimum financial

standards.

ü Financial standards include the ability to maintain a minimum share price, financial ratios, and sales levels

Why in News?

The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index strengthened in September to 52.2 from 51.7

in August

ü a survey-based measures that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before.

ü purpose : to provide information about current business conditions to company decision makers, analysts and purchasing managers.

ü For India, the PMI Data is published by Japanese firm Nikkei but compiled and constructed by

Markit Economics (for the US, it is the ISM).

ü A manufacturing PMI and services PMI are prepared and published by the two.

ü A reading above 50 in Nikkei India Manufacturing PMI indicates an expansion in activity, while one

below 50 denotes a contraction.

ü The Nikkei 225 more commonly called the Nikkei, the Nikkei index, or the Nikkei Stock Average is a

stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

Why in news?

The Royal Swedish Academy awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of

Alfred Nobel 2018 to William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer.

ü It is given for “integrating innovation and climate with economic growth.”

ü They provided us with fundamental insights into the causes and consequences of technological innovation and climate change

Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF’s Research Department.

ü It will make her the first woman and second Indian to assume the prestigious post

to deposit and withdraw the rupee from the kiosk.

ü The kiosk, howerver, will not accept debit or credit cards as banks cannot be involved in the

transaction.

ü India’s first tribal employment exchange opens at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

ü The exchange would help educated youth among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make

significant achievements in the higher education sector

Floating Rate Bonds

ü the bonds having an interest rate that periodically changes with the market rate.

ü time period for resetting the interest rate can be daily, weekly, monthly, biannually, or annually.

üFor example, in India, there are floating rate bonds based on the Mumbai interbank offer rate (MIBOR)

+ 45 basis points.

ü to buy floating rate notes is when rates are low, or have fallen quickly in a short period,

and are expected to rise

ü a type of Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs).

ü IIBs refers to bonds where the principal and interest payments are usually linked to an inflation

index such as WPI or CPI.

ü At the time of redemption of the bonds, the investor will get the face value or the principal adjusted to

inflation– whichever is higher.

IIBs in India

ü In India, inflation-linked bonds were issued for the first time in 1997 in the name of Capital Indexed

Bonds (CIBs).These provided protection only to principal and not to interest payment.

ü In 2013, new bonds by the name of inflation-indexed bonds (IIBs) were issued which provided protection

to both principal and interest payments but were only linked to the WPI.

ü Now government is introducing IIBs that are linked to CPI.

Important of CPI linked Bonds

ü In India, where majority of people lock their savings in idle asset such as gold, IIBs are very attractive

financial instrument

ü  to protect investors from inflationary forces which eat away their savings

P2P or Peer to Peer lending is a platform where individuals can borrow and lend money without any

official financial institutions like banks as intermediary.

ü The online platform that matches lenders with borrowers to provide unsecured loans.

ü Unlike in a bank, where the interest rate is largely a function of the cost of funds of the lender, in a P2P

platform the interest rate may be set by the platform or mutual agreement between the borrower and lender

ü  also known as social lending or crowdlending.

RBI regulations

ü Maximum that one may borrow or lend at any point of time, across all P2Ps, shall be capped at Rs 10

lakh.

ü The exposure of a single lender to the same borrower, across all P2Ps, shall not exceed Rs 50,000

ü The maturity of the loans shall not exceed 36 months.

ü No permit for international flow of funds.

ü The platform can’t hold or lend of its own.

ü All fund transfers shall be through and from bank accounts, and cash transactions are strictly

prohibited.

ü Recently, RBI has directed all NBFCs offering P2P lending to obtain certificate of registration within 3

months.

Advantages

ü Borrowers need not have collateral or high credit score (who are not serviced by banks)

ü Borrower with high credit score can have higher loan amount at a lower rate.

ü Application process is easy

Disadvantages

ü It involves more effort and risk as this is an unsecured loan where there is no face-to-face interaction.

ü There can be steep penalties for delaying or defaulting on the payment and it may involve a long drawn litigation process.

Country-by

Country Report under Section 286(4) Income Tax Act,

1961

Multi-National Enterprises containing information

for each tax jurisdiction in which they do business as

per the template provided by the BEPS Action 13

report on Transfer Pricing

ü The threshold :

total consolidated group revenue of Rs. 5,500 crore or

more.

ü This information is to be made available to the tax

authorities in all jurisdictions in which the MNE operates

Contents of the report

ü The amount of revenue profits, income tax paid and taxes accrued,

ü Employees

ü Stated capital and retained earnings, and tangible assets

ü Identify each entity within the group doing business in a particular tax jurisdiction and to provide an

indication of the business activities each entity conducts

ü published based on the Business Expectations Survey (BES) by National Council for Applied

Economic Research (NCAER)

ü NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research) is one of the India’s oldest economic think

tanks, set up in 1956 at the behest of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to inform policy choices for both public and private sectors.

ü The composition of the BCI is based on four components having equal weights

o Present investment climate

o Overall economic conditions in the next six months

o Financial position of firms in the next six months

o Present capacity utilization.

ü Similar Business Confidence Indices are published by other organizations like Confederation of

Indian Industry (CII) and OECD too.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is commencing conduct of online Valuation examination

related to for registration of Valuers under the Companies ( Registered Valuers and Valuation) Rules, 2017

Valuation in India and to standardize the valuation in line with International standards.

ü However the valuer’s qualification, experience, manner and process was not prescribed.

ü With a notification in October, 2017 Ministry of Corporate Affairs provided that valuation must be

undertaken by a person who have necessary qualifications.

ü It also delegated its powers under Companies Act 2013 to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of

India (IBBI). It also specified that for conducting valuations under the Companies Act, 2013 and the

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, a person is to be registered with the IBBI as a registered

valuer.

ü Individuals, partnership entities as well as companies can act as valuers under the Companies Act after getting registered.

Role of valuation

ü Valuation denotes the Value of the underlying assets as on a particular date.

ü Business/Asset valuation is critical for strategic business decisions including fund raising, M&A,

Sale/Liquidation of businesses, and to comply with certain regulatory or accounting requirements.

ü Due to lack of Indian Valuation Standards and absence of any Regulatory Authority to control, guide

and develop the practice of valuation in India, different valuers have been taking different assumptions

leading to drastic differences in value conclusion.

ü The increased transparency and fairness in the valuation system would also boost stakeholders

ü the process through which the policy action of the central bank is transmitted to the ultimate

objective of stable inflation and growth.

ü The transmission mechanism hinges crucially on how monetary policy changes influence

households’ and firms’ behaviour.

ü This change can take place through several channels.

ü With the amendment of the Reserve Bank of India Act in 2016, the “primary objective of the monetary

policy is to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth”.

üMPC constituted under the amended RBI Act is mandated to determine

the policy repo rate to achieve the specified medium-term inflation target of 4 per cent, +/- 2 %

ü For the Reserve Bank to achieve its mandate effectively, it is extremely important that an economic

process referred to as “monetary transmission” works seamlessly.

ü The available empirical evidence for India suggests that monetary policy actions are felt with a lag of 2-

3 quarters on output and with a lag of 3-4 quarters on inflation, and the impact persists for 8-12

quarters.

Different factors affecting monetary transmission

ü Interest Rate: There are many monetary policy signals by the RBI; the most powerful one is the repo

rate. When the RBI wants to stimulate growth, it cuts the repo rate to reduce the cost of borrowings.

Banks get money at a cheaper rate. If this is passed on to borrowers, then monetary transmission is said

to have happened smoothly. However, Banks have almost always been tardy in passing on the benefit of

rate cuts to borrowers. This is because they source only a minuscule portion of their funds from the

RBI repo window.

ü Financial Inclusion: will also help in smooth monetary transmission.

ü Bank balance sheet: Cross-country evidence indicates that monetary transmission is greatly hindered

if bank balance sheets are weak

ü Asset prices: Higher asset prices can enhance the value of the collateral or net worth of the borrowers, enhancing the capacity to borrow more which reinforces the impulses to aggregate demand.

ü Competition: The competition that banks face from alternative instruments of financial savings – such as mutual funds and small saving schemes –

also seems to have made banks hesitant in varying the interest rates on term deposits in consonance with policy rate signals.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has listed its municipal bonds on the Bombay Stock

Exchange (BSE)

the BSE’s newly-launched bond platform.

About Municipal Bonds

ü A municipal bond (or “munis” for short) is a debt security

issued by a state, municipality or county to finance its

capital expenditures

ü Municipal bonds are there in India from 1997 onwards.

ü Bangalore Municipal Corporation was the first ULB to issue Municipal Bond in India in 1997. Ahmedabad made a notable issue in the next years.

ü In 2015, SEBI made fresh guidelines for the issue of municipal bonds for enabling the ULBs to mobilise

Money

SEBI Guidelines on municipal bonds:

As per the SEBI Regulations, 2015, a municipality or a Corporate Municipal Entity (CME) should meet

certain conditions:

o The ULB should not have negative net worth in any of three immediately preceding financial

years.

o Non-default: The municipality should not have defaulted in repayment of debt securities or loans

obtained from banks or financial institutions during the last 365 days.

o Now wilful defaulter: The corporate municipal entity, its promoter, group company or director(s),

should not have been named in the list of the wilful defaulters published by the RBI or should not

have defaulted of payment of interest or repayment of principal amount in respect of debt

instruments issued by it to the public, if any.

o SEBI instructs that municipal bonds should have mandatory ratings above investment grade for

pubic issue.

o Municipalities need to contribute at least 20% of the project cost.

o required to maintain full asset cover in case they are required to repay the

principal amount.

o a three-year maturity period

o Revenues – separate escrow account

supervised by banks and financial institutions.

Tax status of Municipal Bonds:

Municipal bonds in India has tax-free status if they conform to certain rules and their interest rates will

be market-linked.

ü The total expense ratio (TER) is a measure of the total costs associated with managing and operating an investment fund, such as a mutual fund.

fees, auditor fees and other operational expenses.

ü The total cost of the fund is divided by the fund’s total assets to arrive at a percentage amount, which

represents the TER, most often referred to as simply “expense ratio.”

ü The TER provides a way for the annual costs of running a particular fund to be covered.

ü It takes all of the known costs associated with the fund’s operation and expresses them as a single

number, generally as a percentage, drawing its basis from the assets associated with the fund- the amount provided as the TER is dependent on the success of the particular fund.

Objectives of New Urea Policy, 2015

ü Maximizing indigenous urea production

ü Promoting energy efficiency in urea production

ü Rationalizing subsidy burden on the government.

ü This led to the highest ever production of 245 LMT during 2015-16.

a part of Central Sector Scheme of Department of Fertilizers wholly financed by the Government of India.

difference between the delivered cost of fertilizers at farm gate and MRP payable by the farmer

is given as subsidy to the fertilizer manufacturer/importer by the Government of India.

ü Urea subsidy includes

o Imported Urea subsidy which is directed towards import to bridge the gap between assessed

demand and indigenous production of urea in the country.

o Freight subsidy for movement of urea across the country.

ü Urea production units use Natural Gas (using domestic gas/LNG/CBM) as well as Naphtha as

feedstock/fuel.

Benefits of Neem Coating Urea

ü 100% Neem Coated Urea was made mandatory in 2015. It lead to

ü Improvement in soil health.

ü Reduction in costs with respect to plant protection chemicals.

ü Reduction in pest and disease attack.

ü Plugging the diversion of the subsidized Urea towards non-agricultural purposes.

ü It reduces loss of Nitrogen/ammonia from urea when it remains on the soil surface for extended

periods of time during warm weather

ü Utilities that are unable to fulfil their RPO can meet their obligations by buying certificates known as

Renewable Energy Certificates (REC)

ü RECs represent 1mw-hour of power produced from a renewable energy source and are tradable at

power exchanges. It is divided into Solar REC and non-solar REC.

(PXIL).

ü REC market was launched in 2010. National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) has been designated as

the Central Agency for coordination and implementation of Renewable Energy Certificate Mechanism

ü It crashed in 2016 with more than 1 crore certificates going unsold.

Mechanism

ü a fully automated Mechanism, a unique application of its kind.

ü The REC process comprises of four stages i.e. Accreditation, Registration, Issuance and

Redemption.

ü In it the renewable energy projects are accredited by the State Agencies and granted 5 year ‘Certificate

for Registration’ by central agency.

ü Following this an eligible entity can apply for RECs within three months from the month in which

renewable energy was generated and can start trading RECs in power exchanges.

Benefits of REC

 mean to address the dispersed availability of renewable energy sources across various States in the Country.

 separates the ‘green’ component from the ‘electricity’ component and facilitates the obligated

entities in meeting of the RPO by addressing the issues of geographical Constraints and Inter-State

Transfer of Power from Renewable Energy Source

is an obligation imposed by law on some entities to either buy

electricity generated by specified ‘green’ sources, or buy, in lieu of that, ‘renewable energy certificates

(RECs)’ from the market.

ü It acts as subsidy boost to the renewable sector and generates demand for a sector in its infancy.

ü RPOs are enforced on three categories of consumers – (a) Distribution Licensees,

                    (b) Open Access Consumers &

                    (c) Captive Consumers (Self use).

RPO in India

the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERC) under the

Electricity Act-2003,

set targets for distribution companies of respective states

to purchase certain percentage of their total power requirement from renewable energy sources out of the total consumption in their area.

ü This target is referred to as ‘Renewable Portfolio Standard’ (RPS) or Renewable Purchase Specification

(RPS) or ‘Renewable Purchase Obligation’ (RPO).

and is based on five currencies:

U.S. dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), pound sterling (GBP), Japanese yen(JPY), and Swiss franc (CHF).

ü  serves seven different maturities: overnight, one week, and 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months.

ü There are a total of 35 different LIBOR rates each business day. The most commonly quoted rate is

the three-month U.S. dollar rate (usually referred to as the “current LIBOR rate”).

ü ICE LIBOR was previously known as BBA LIBOR (British Bankers Association LIBOR) until February

1, 2014 – the date on which the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) took over the Administration of

LIBOR.

in the stages before the retail level

ü Office of Economic Advisor (OEA), Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of

Commerce and Industry calculates the WPI.

ü The base year for WPI is 2011-12.

ü The index basket of the present 2011-12 series has a total of 697 items including 117 items for Primary

Articles, 16 items for Fuel & Power and 564 items for Manufactured Products.

Uses of WPI

ü To provide estimates of inflation at the wholesale transaction level for the economy as a whole.

ü used as deflator for many sectors of the economy including for estimating GDP by Central

Statistical Organisation (CSO).

ü also used for indexation by users in business contracts.

ü Global investors also track WPI as one of the key macro indicators for their investment decisions

Why in News?

In pursuance to the announcement made by the Union Minister of Finance in his Budget Speech 2018-19,

a Steering Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Economic

Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance

view to make Fintech related regulations more flexible and generate enhanced entrepreneurship

in an area where India has distinctive comparative strengths vis-à-vis other emerging economies.

ü The Steering Committee will also focus on how Fintech can be leveraged to enhance financial

inclusion of MSMEs.

About Fintech

ü Financial technology (FinTech or fintech) is the new technology and innovation that aims to

compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services.

ü The use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing services and cryptocurrency are examples of

technologies aiming to make financial services more accessible to the general public.

ü  consist of both start-ups and established financial and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services provided by existing financial

companies.

ü  emerged as a relatively new industry in India.

ü The NASSCOM report also estimated the fintech software and services market to grow 1.7 times by 2020, making it worth $8 billion.

ü India FinTech Forum represents the Indian Fintech firms as part of the Global FinTech Hubs Federation

(GFHF).

ü the act of setting prices low in an attempt to eliminate the competition.

üillegal under anti-trust laws, as it makes markets more vulnerable to a monopoly

create barriers to entry for new competitors or unethical production methods to minimize costs.

ü A sign of predatory pricing can occur when the price of a product gradually becomes lower, which

can happen during a price war.

ü A price war is when companies continuously lower prices to undercut the competition. A price war may be used to increase revenue in the short term or as a longer term strategy to gain market share.

ü In the short term, a price war can be beneficial for consumers because of the lower prices.

ü In the long term, however, it is not beneficial as the company that wins a price war, effectively putting

its competitor out of business, will have a monopoly where it can set whatever price it wants.

The Pacific island nation “Marshall Islands” became the first Country in the world to adopt a Cryptocurrency as its Official Currency

ü The official currency is named as “Sovereign,” or SOV.

ü The Marshall Islands is partnering with Israeli company Neema to launch the SOV

Facts Related to News

ü In February 2018, Venezuela became the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency when it launched

the virtual Petro, backed by crude oil reserves

The NITI Aayog launched the baseline ranking for the Aspirational Districts

ü  to quickly and effectively transform some of the

most underdeveloped districts which have been chosen from all states of the country

ü District magistrates of these districts have been made ‘prabhari’ officers, who will implement the

parameters under the programme.

ü With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify lowhanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.

ü The core areas of programme are Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources,

Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure.

ü Districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch-up with the best district within their state, and

subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country

Baseline Ranking

ü The ranking is based on 49 indicators across five developmental areas of

1. Health and Nutrition

2. Education

3. Agriculture and Water Resources

4. Financial Inclusion and Skill Development

5. Basic Infrastructure.

ü Associated Steps

o ‘Champions of Change’ Dashboard: real-time data collection and monitoring open for public viewing.

o Delta Ranking: Districts ranked on their “incremental progress”.

Why in news?

First Mega Food Park in Rajasthan as well as in Maharashtra are inaugurated

ü Infrastructure facilities are provided along the value chain from the farm to the market with a cluster

based approach based on a hub and spokes model.

ü  creation of infrastructure for primary processing and storage near the farm in the form of

Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) and Collection Centres (CCs) and common facilities and enabling

infrastructure like roads, electricity, water, ETP facilities etc. at Central Processing Centre (CPC).

ü These PPCs and CCs act as aggregation and storage points to feed raw material to the food processing

units located in the CPC.

Features

ü The financial assistance under the scheme is provided in the form of grant-in-aid @ 50% of eligible project cost in general areas and @ 75% of eligible

project cost in NE Region and difficult areas (Hilly States and ITDP areas) subject to maximum of Rs. 50 crore per project.

ü The Mega Food Park project is implemented by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)

the textile sector in the North East Region.

ü This would be done by providing the required Government support in terms of raw material, seed banks,machinery, common facility centres, skill development, design and marketing support etc

ü The primary objective of the scheme is to incentivise employers for generation of new employment

Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) for new employees/

ü The employees must have joined on or after 1st April 2016, having

          a new Universal Account Number(UAN)

          and salary up to Rs. 15,000/- per month.

ü Establishment must be registered with EPFO and have LIN allotted to them under Shram Suvidha

Portal.

ü  increases the employment as well increase the access of employees to social security benefits of the organized sector.

Present Changes

ü The Government of India will now contribute the Employer’s full admissible contribution for the first

three years from the date of registration of the new employee for all the sectors.

ü It will also include the existing beneficiaries for their remaining period of three years.

for the next three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

promote Women Empowerment and livelihood opportunities to SC/ST and other weaker

sections of the society.

ü The scheme will help to increase productive employment from 85 lakhs to 1 crore persons by 2020

ü expected to increase the silk production by end of 2019-20 The Scheme has four components

o Research & Development (R&D), Training, Transfer of Technology and IT Initiatives

o Seed Organizations and farmers extension centres

o Coordination and Market Development for seed, yarn and silk products and

o Quality Certification System (QCS) by creating amongst others a chain of Silk Testing facilities,

Farm based & post-cocoon Technology Up-gradation, and Export Brand Promotion.

unique initiative of the Office of the President of India

to recognise, respect and reward grassroots innovations and

foster a supportive ecosystem

ü organised by Rashtrapati Bhavan in association

with the Department of Science and Technology,

Government of India and the National Innovation

Foundation-India.

ü previously known as Festival of Innovation (FOIN).

ü includes an “In-Residence” Program as part of which a batch of ten innovation scholars will stay

within the President’s Estate and will be provided mentoring as well as opportunities for idea sharing

with key stakeholders.

ü Integral component of FINE will be an exhibition of innovations that will remain open for public viewing.

ü Gandhi Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Awards for 2018 was also presented in the ceremony.

ü GYTI awards are Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) initiative to foster youth-driven tech innovations. – fields of

engineering, science, technology and design who developed extremely affordable/frugal solution or the

ones pushing the technological edge.

placed Pune at the top and Bengaluru at

the bottom of the rankings

ü by the NGO Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.

ü ASICS score is based on 4 parameters

o Urban planning and design

o Capacity and resources of Urban Local Bodies

o Degree of empowerment of the civic body

o Processes for transparency and citizen participation

üa health diagnostic of cities, the better a city scores, the better it stands to provide its citizens

high quality of life in the medium to long term.

ü aims to provide a common frame of reference for political and administrative leaders, business

and academia, media and civil society

designed to restrict the import of gold and conserve foreign exchange by imposing export

obligations. The increase in gold imports had put pressure on the current account deficit in 2012-13

imported is to be used for export.

Why the controversy?

ü Initially only banks and PSUs were allowed to import gold through 80:20 scheme.

ü During the 2014 election period, the UPA government extended the scheme to private agencies

ü CAG found that imported gold by these private agencies had shot up around 320 per cent, indicating

disproportionate gains by them.

ü Therefore, in November, 2014, the NDA government scrapped the 20:80 scheme altogether.

launched by the shipping ministry in 2014 to improve operational

and financial performance of the 12 Major Ports

international ports.

ü Under Project UNNATI 116 initiatives have been identified for various major ports. Out of the 116

initiatives, 86 have been implemented so far

ü These 8 sectors constitute around 81% of the total employment of units with 10 or more workers

(Organized sector) in the Sixth Economic Census (6th EC).

ü Sixth Economic Census (6thEC) was used as the sampling frame for present QES survey

ü The aim is to measuring relative change in employment situation over successive quarters.

ü It majorly focus on Non-farm Industrial economy covering 8 major sectors viz. Manufacturing,

Construction, Trade, Transport, Education, Health, Accommodation & Restaurants and IT/BPO.

ü Establishments having 10 or more workers are covered in this survey.

Why in News?

Seeking to come up with a standardised “India size chart” for the garment industry, the NIFT, under the

aegis of the ministry of textiles, will soon begin a national survey that will sample 25,000 people using

high-tech 3D whole body scanners

ü The National Sizing Survey will cost nearly Rs 30 crore and entail studying a population, aged 15-65,

with men and women in equal numbers.

ü The NIFT is the implementing agency for the survey

AND

ACCELERATED IRRIGATION

BENEFIT PROGRAMME(AIBP)

 a centrally sponsored project launched in 1974-75

 main objectives -of improving the utilization of created irrigation potential in major and

medium irrigation schemes.

ü supposed to develop adequate delivery of the irrigation water up to the fields.

ü A Command Area Development Authority was established to maximize the productivity in the

irrigation command areas through an integrated approach.

ü It had various components:

o Construction of field channels and field drains

o Land shaping wherever necessary

o Introduction of rotational supply of water to ensure equitable and assured distribution to individual

farm holdings.

ürenamed as Command Area Development and Water Management Programme (CADWMP) since April 1, 2004.

ü being implemented side-by-side with AIBP since XII Plan.

ü Presently, it is being implemented under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) as a

component of Har Khet Ko Pani.

ü Irrigation projects through NABARD funding.

41

CROP RESIDUE SCHEME

in the States of

Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi.

and eco-friendly solution to farmers to deal with problem of stubble burning that result

in raising air pollution levels in Delhi and neighbouring states every winter.

Components of the Scheme:

i. Establish Farm Machinery Banks

· Financial assistance @80% of the project cost

ii. Financial Assistance to the farmers for Procurement of Agriculture Machinery and

Equipment for in -situ crop residue management.

· Financial assistance @50% of the machinery/ equipment

iii. Information, Education and Communication for awareness on in-situ crop residue management.

· Financial assistance will be provided to the State Government/ KVKs, ICAR Institutes,

Central Government Institutes, PSUs, etc. for the activities to be undertaken towards

information, education and communication.

Beneficiaries:

ü Respective State Governments through District Level Executive Committee (DLEC) will identify

various beneficiaries and location – specific agricultural equipment.

ü The State Nodal Department / DLEC may tie up with the Banks for credit requirements of the

beneficiaries.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

connected wind-solar PV hybrid system for efficient utilisation of transmission infrastructure and

land.

ü to promote new hybrid projects as well as hybridisation of existing wind/solar projects.

comprehensive and swift trade defence mechanism in India.

üfunction as an attached office of Department of Commerce.

ü Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) deals with anti-dumping and

Countervailing Duty cases, whereas Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) deals with safeguard

measures and DGFT deals with quantitative restriction (QR) safeguards

What New body will do?

ü The DGTR will bring DGAD, DGS and Safeguards (QR) functions of DGFT into its fold by merging them

into one single national entity.

ü DGTR will deal with Anti-dumping, CVD and Safeguard measures

ü Railways will introduce sensor-based on-board condition monitoring system (OBCMS) for timely

detection of defects related to passenger coaches and also tracks on a running train.

ü aims to strengthen the security and safety in train operation.

ü integrated CCTV and information system which will constantly update the health of the coach

— from oscillatory behaviour, coach diagnostics and heating, ventilation and air conditioning and water

management, among others.

ü According to the system, the on-board sensors constantly record vibrations and temperatures.

ü Besides condition monitoring, the system will have Internet of Things (IoT) to provide entertainment related offerings to passengers while train-related information will be constantly announced

agency of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

promoting India’s exports.

ü It was earlier known as Chief Controller of Imports & Exports (CCI&E) till 1991.

ü headed by Director General of Foreign Trade.

ü  headquartered at New Delhi.

ü  based on the idea that levying a cess on a thriving sector of the economy can help fund a lifeline to a sector which is in distress.

an Investor Facilitation Portal

launched during world Food expo 2017.

üprovide information on Central and State Governments’ investor friendly policies, agro-producing

clusters, infrastructure, and potential areas of investment in the food processing sector.

ü the technical cadre of the Petroleum & Safety

Organization (PESO).

ü The measure taken by union cabinet will enhance the capacity and efficiency of the organization and it

will also enhance career progression of its Group ‘A’ officers.

ü the department formed to control and

administers the usage of explosives, petrol stations in India.

ü The agency issues licenses for Operation of Petrol Stations, Licenses to operate Petroleum Product

Transportation vehicles, Licenses for Refineries, Petrochemical Complexes, etc.

ü headed by Chief Controller of Explosives.

ü headquartered at Nagpur.

ü a subordinate office under Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)

ü The organization has been established in 1898.

ü a statutory body which maintains and oversee the Employee’s Provident Fund.

ü comes under the aegis of Ministry of Labour and Employment.

ü  tasked to assist the Central Board of Trustees, a statutory body formed by the Employees’ Provident

Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

ü It assists the Central Board in administering a Pension Scheme and an Insurance Scheme apart from

the compulsory contributory Provident Fund Scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector

in India.

ü The Central Board of Trustees is composed of representatives of the Government of India, State

governments, Employers and Employees.

ü chaired by the Union Labour Minister of India.

ü The Chief Executive of the EPFO, the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, reports to the Union Labour Minister through the Secretary of Labour and Employment in the ministry.

ü headquarter in New Delhi.

Why in news?

The Minister of Commerce and Industry launched the Intellectual Property (IP) mascot – IP Nani – at the

conference on National Intellectual Property Rights Policy in New Delhi.

ü released at the conference on National

Intellectual Property Rights Policy.

ü  a tech-savvy grandmother

who helps the government and enforcement

agencies in combating IP crimes with the help

of her grandson “Chhotu” aka Aditya.

ü This character is also in line with the World

Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO)

campaign for the World IP Day which

celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity

and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future.

ü For this, the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) collaborated with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EU-IPO) to produce a series of animated videos on IPRs for children with IP

Nani as their central character

Why in news?

Union Cabinet Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprise (HI & PE) inaugurated the augmented

facilities at the National Automotive Testing and RND Infrastructure Project (NATRIP).

ü established to create a state of the art Testing, Validation and R&D infrastructure in the country.

ü  the largest and one of the most significant initiatives in automotive sector in India.

ü aims at creating core global competencies in automotive sector in India and facilitate

seamless integration of Indian Automotive industry with the world.

ü The NATRIP initiative will help the industry in undertaking technology development at comparatively

much lesser costs for the auto manufacturers when weighed against with the global automotive

development costs.

ü The regulator has earlier appointed CRISIL to provide consultancy on regulations for the hub.

ü The gas trading hub will function on the lines of the power exchange.

ü The most important feature would be its role in arriving at the price of the commodity by a market based

mechanism as against the existing multiple formula driven prices.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board

ü established to regulate downstream

activities in the petroleum and natural gas sector.

ü  protect the interests of consumers and entities engaged in specified activities relating to petroleum,

petroleum products and natural gas and will promote competitive markets.

ü It was established by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Bill, 2006.

ü The PNGRB will regulate the laying and expanding of (a) transmission pipelines for gas and petroleum

and (b) city/ local gas distribution networks.

Why in news?

NITI Aayog and Sushant Singh Rajput have decided to collaborate towards promoting two major initiatives

of NITI Aayog, promotion of BHIM and the Women Entrepreneurship Platform

ü unified access portal which brings together women from countrywide to meet their entrepreneurial ambitions.

ü  idea of the platform was first mooted by NITI Aayog.

ü WEP helps aspiring women entrepreneurs in three different ways.

ü Unique services such as credit evaluation of women-led start-ups by CRISIL and potential equity

investments through an INR 10 crore fund established by DICE Districts will be provided

ü It is India’s first highway to lit by solar power besides provisions of rain water harvesting on every 500 metres on both sides.

ü It would showcase 36 national monuments and 40 fountains.

Interesting facts about the technology

ü auto challans for over-speeding

ü equipped with smart and intelligent highway traffic management system (HTMS) and video incident

detection system (VIDS).

ü For the first time, entry points at an expressway have “weigh-in-motion” sensors to keep a check on

overloading in trucks.

ü In case the trucks are overloaded, entry gate will not open.

ü The truck would be directed to an exit point where parking lot has been constructed to stop them.

ü A cycle track of 2.5 metre wide has also been constructed on both the sides of this expressway, which also has provision of 1.5 metre footpath on each side for pedestrians

India’s Multidimensional Poverty (MDP)

has dropped significantly, largely as a result of the performance of five key

southern States

ü poverty levels fell from 55% to 21% in a decade and it is due to the lowered burden in the southern

States.

ü Multidimensional Poverty national average is 21%.

ü Bihar is the poorest State with 43% incidence of poverty.

ü Kerala has an MDP of 1% which is the lowest

proposal of the Ministry of Finance

Economy: Sch

ü Offences that value ₹100 crore or more fall under the purview of this law.

ü Economic offences are those that are defined under the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption

Act, the SEBI Act, the Customs Act, the Companies Act, Limited Liability Partnership Act, and the

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

ü The Bill makes provisions for a Court (‘Special Court’ under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act,

2002) to declare a person as a Fugitive Economic Offender.

Salient features of the Bill:

ü Application before the Special Court for a declaration that an individual is a fugitive economic offender;

ü Attachment of the property of a fugitive economic offender;

ü Issue of a notice by the Special Court to the individual alleged to be a fugitive economic offender;

ü Confiscation of the property of an individual declared as a fugitive economic offender resulting from

the proceeds of crime;

ü Confiscation of other property belonging to such offender in India and abroad, including benami

property;

ü Disentitlement of the fugitive economic offender from defending any civil claim; and

ü An Administrator will be appointed to manage and dispose of the confiscated property under the Act.

ü On the contrary, in the case of ordinary disinvestment, Management control of PSU will always be

retained with Government.

strategic sale can take place even if the private

sector partner gets less than 51% shares.

ü The necessary condition is that the control of the firms should be with the strategic partner.

ü Strategic sale in India is an important way of privatization.

ü usually done when a private company or corporation tries to raise investment capital by offering

its stock to the public for the first time.

ü The company which offers its shares is known as an ‘issuer’.

ü The issuer takes the help of investment banks while going for IPO.

ü After IPO, the company’s shares are traded in an open market.

ü  further sold by investors through secondary market trading.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)

ü occurs when parties to the transaction are located in different jurisdictions.

ü broadly covers three aspects:

o where foreign creditors have rights/claims over a debtor’s assets in another jurisdiction where

insolvency proceedings are underway;

o where a debtor has branches/assets in several jurisdictions, including a jurisdiction other

than where the insolvency proceedings are underway; and,

o Where a debtor entity is subject to insolvency proceedings simultaneously in one or more

jurisdictions.

Why India should be concerned about Cross Border Insolvency?

ü Creditors and corporates in India frequently transact business in more than one jurisdiction.

ü Foreign banks and creditors finance Indian companies and Indian banks have foreign exposure.

ü As part of its Ease of Doing Business and Make in India policies, India seeks to attract foreign

companies to set up manufacturing facilities in India.

ü  chance of Cross Border Insolvency cases.

the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has narrowed the definition of relatives to check

the flow of funds.

ü  a facility provided by the RBI for all resident individuals to freely remit up to a certain amount in terms of US Dollar for current and capital account purposes or a combination of both.

ü all resident individuals can freely remit $250,000 overseas every financial year for a

permissible set of current or capital account transactions.

ü Remittances are permitted for overseas education, travel, medical treatment and purchase of shares and

property, apart from maintenance of relatives living abroad, gifting and donations.

ü Individuals can also open, maintain and hold foreign currency accounts with overseas banks for

carrying out transactions.

ü The scheme was launched in 2004.

ü updated regularly with increasing or decreasing the limit for remittances as well as the purposes for

which remittances is to be made.

Prohibited Areas

ü  do not allow remittances for trading on the foreign exchange markets, margin calls to overseas exchanges and counterparties and the purchase of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds

issued by Indian companies abroad.

ü Sending money to certain countries and entities is also barred.

ü Under LRS, people can’t send money to countries identified as ‘non cooperative’ by the Financial Action

Task Force.

ü Remittances are also prohibited to entities identified as posing terrorist risks.

manage the entire IT system of the GST portal.

ü unique as it seeks, for the first time to establish a uniform interface for the tax payer and a

common and shared IT infrastructure between the centre and the states

ü portal will be used by the government to track every financial transaction and will provide tax payers

with all service – from registration to filing the taxes and maintaining the tax details.

ü Private players own 51% share in the network and the rest is owned by the government.

ü The government of India holds 24.5% share and all the states along with Puducherry and NCT of

Delhi and the Empowered committee of state Finance Ministers together hold 24.5%.

ü The authorized capital of the company is Rs.10 crore.

by the banks for obtaining funds (from deposits and while borrowing from RBI) while setting their lending

rate.

ü means that the interest rate given by a bank for deposits and the repo rate (for obtaining funds

from the RBI) are the decisive factors in the calculation of MCLR

BBB

ü an autonomous recommendatory body set up under the government’s Indradanush programme to reform public sector banks (PSBs).

ü conceived by the PJ Nayak committee and was seen as a step taken towards reforming the boards of public sector banks

appointment process of top management and board members of PSBs — a function that could be

performed by the BBB.

ü  representatives from government and RBI apart from independent banking professionals.

Functions of the Banks Board Bureau:

ü Recommending Board of Directors in PSBs and Financial Institutions (Whole-time Directors and Non-

Executive Chairman), the appointment is prerogative of government.

ü Advising the central government in matters of banking governance at the higher levels and their

training and management.

ü Building a data bank containing data relating to the performance of PSBs/FIs, its senior management

and the Board of Directors and share the same with Government;

ü To help banks in terms of developing business strategies and capital raising plan etc.

ü set up as a regional based rural lending institutions under the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976.

ü established based on the recommendations of Narsimhan Committee working group.

ü The committee was of the view that RRBs would be much better suited than the commercial banks

or Co-Operative Banks in meeting the needs of rural areas.

ü They were configured as hybrid micro banking institutions, combining the local orientation and small

scale lending culture of the cooperatives and the business culture of commercial banks

Sponsor Bank

ü Each Regional Rural Bank is sponsored by a Public Sector Bank.

ü to aid and assist the RRB sponsored by it.

Amendment act in 2015

ü to raise capital from sources other than the existing shareholders -central and state governments, and sponsor banks.

ü Here, the combined shareholding of the central government and the sponsor bank cannot be less than

51%.

ü The Act states that the central government may by notification raise or reduce the limit of shareholding

of the central government, state government or the sponsoring bank in the RRB.

ü For this, the central government may consult the state government and the sponsor bank.

ü an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the

provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement

Infrastructure in India.

ü presently ten core promoter banks

ü incorporated as a Section 25 company under Companies Act and is aimed to operate for

the benefit of all the member banks and their customers.

ü The vision of NPCI is to provide citizens of our country anytime, anywhere payment services which are simple, easy to use, safe, and secure, fast and also cost effective.

Major initiatives of NPCI

ü Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)

ü National Financial Switch (NFS)

ü Cheque Truncation System (CTS)

ü Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

ü Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

ü RuPay Credit Card

ü National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)

ü National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC)

an index that measures and tracks the changes in the price of goods in the stages before the retail level

in the index and is often expressed as a ratio or

percentage, and the change is one indicator of a

country’s level of inflation.

ü The index basket of the present 2011-12 series has a

total of 697 items including 117 items for Primary

Articles, 16 items for Fuel & Power and 564 items for

Manufactured Products.

ü Under the new series of WPI, weight of manufactured items has decreased to 64.2 per cent from 64.9

per cent in old series.

ü Similarly, the weight of fuel and power has decreased to 13.1 per cent from 14.9 per cent.

ü However weight of primary items have increased to 22.6 per cent from 20.1 per cent

Uses of WPI

ü To provide estimates of inflation at the wholesale transaction level for the economy as a whole.

ü used as deflator for many sectors of the economy including for estimating GDP by Central

Statistical Organisation (CSO).

ü Global investors also track WPI as one of the key macro indicators for their investment decisions

To provide a single-point and real-time source for financial liabilities of a person or entity, the Reserve Bank

of India has decided to set up a public credit registry (PCR) in a modular and phased manner

ü A credit repository will help banks distinguish between a bad and a good borrower

ü on the recommendations of a committee headed by Y.M. Deosthalee.

ü help improve India’s rankings in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index.

ü An Implementation Task Force (ITF) will be constituted to help design and undertake logistics for the next steps in setting up of the PCR.

ü The PCR will be structured as an independent unit within the RBI so that it may be hived off as a separate

non-profit body at an appropriate time.

India jumped 23 ranks in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index 2018 to 77 from 100 in 2017 among 190 nations.

• The World Bank has recognised India as one of the top improvers for the year- top 10 improvers for the second year in a row and only one in BRICS to feature in this list.

• India is seeking to reach the 30th position by 2020, according to an output-outcome framework document prepared by the government- help India maintain its goal of strong and sustained economic growth, attract more FDI, achieve sound living standards and moderate inflation.

• The Doing Business 2019 report bases the rankings on field surveys and interviews with corporate lawyers and company executives in Delhi and Mumbai.

Recent Government Initiatives for Promotion of Ease of Doing Business

• Ease of Doing Business Grand Challenge: to invite innovative ideas based on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, Blockchain and other cutting edge technology to reform Government processes. The platform for the Grand Challenge is the Startup India Portal.

• Companies Amendment (Ordinance), 2018

• Industrial Park Rating System: Under this Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry has undertaken the exercise to rate the industrial parks on parameter such as: internal infrastructure, external infrastructure, business services and facilities, environment, safety management and connectivity.

• Relaxation in Building Norms:

o The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a notification easing the green norms for the building and construction sector, wherein residential projects up to 1.5 lakh square metres (built-up area) will not require ‘prior environmental clearance’.

by World Bank

a theme The Changing Nature of Work.

• Technology is blurring the boundaries of the firm

• Technology reshaping the skills: There is an increasing demand for three types of skills i.e advanced cognitive skills such as complex problem-solving, socio-behavioral skills such as teamwork, and skill combinations that are predictive of adaptability such as reasoning and self-efficacy.

• Change in Nature of Employment: There is a shift in employment from manufacturing to services in high income countries while in some developing countries, it’s increasing in manufacturing sector.

• High Informality in developing countries

• Societal Crisis: Inequality of opportunity or a mismatch between available jobs and skills

• Inefficient Social Security Structure of Developing Countries:

• Tax Evasion

released by World Bank

•  part of the World Development Report (WDR). As part of this report, the World Bank has launched a Human Capital Project (HCP).

Finding

• Global Performance: Singapore topped the list while, India was placed at 115th position out of 157 countries, lower than neighboring Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

• State Of Human Capital In India

 o Human Capital Index: A child born in India today will be 44 % as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.

 o Probability of Survival to Age 5: 96 out of 100 children born in India survive to age 5.

 o Expected Years of School: In India, a child who starts school at age 4 can expect to complete 10.2 years of school by her 18th birthday.

 o Harmonized Test Scores: Students in India score 355 on a scale where 625 represents advanced attainment and 300 represents minimum attainment.

 o Learning-adjusted Years of School: Factoring in what children actually learn, expected years of school is only 5.8 years.

 o Adult Survival Rate: Across India, 83 % of 15-year olds will survive until age 60. This statistic is a proxy for the range of fatal and non-fatal health outcomes that a child born today would experience as an adult under current conditions.

 o Healthy Growth (Not Stunted Rate): 62 out of 100 children are not stunted. 38 out of 100 children are stunted, and so at risk of cognitive and physical limitations that can last a lifetime.

RBI recently allowed banks to provide partial credit enhancement (PCE) to bonds issued by systemically important non-deposit taking NBFCs registered with the RBI and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) registered with the National Housing Bank

This is done to provide an additional source of assurance or guarantee to service the bond.

.

• Systemically important NBFCs:

 NBFCs whose asset size is of ₹ 500 cr or more

Example. Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFCL), Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (RECL), IL&FS, etc.

• Difference between banks & NBFCs:

o NBFCs cannot accept demand deposits (but some can accept Time deposit and such NBFCs are called Deposit taking NBFC).

o Unlike banks, CRR does not apply on any NBFCs while a lower SLR of 15% applies only to Deposit taking NBFC.

o NBFC do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself.

o NBFCs get license under Companies Act, 1956 and Banks under Banking regulation Act.

o Deposit insurance facility is not available to depositors of NBFCs

• According to CCB norms, banks will be required to hold a buffer of 2.5% Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs) in the form of Common Equity, over and above Capital Adequacy Ratio of 9%.

• CCB currently stands at 1.875% and remaining 0.625% was to be met by March 2019.

CCB

• designed to ensure that banks build up capital buffers outside periods of stress which can be drawn down, as losses are incurred.

+designed to reduce the procyclical nature of lending by promoting the creation of countercyclical buffers as suggested Basel III norms.

in credit expansion, banks have to set aside additional capital,

in the credit contraction, capital requirements can be loosened.

• The capital buffers increase the resilience of banks to losses, reduce excessive or underestimated exposures and restrict the distribution of capital. These macro-prudential instruments limit systemic risks in the financial system.  

recent failure of ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) to spot corporates fraud, raised the demand for setting up of an independent regulator NFRA.

About the NFRA Rule 2018

 oversee the auditors of banks, insurers, electricity firms and other entities referred to it by the government.

• NFRA can investigate the auditors of:

o Listed entities, unlisted entities with paid-up capital of not less than ₹500 crore or annual turnover of over ₹1,000 crore.

o Those having aggregate loans, debentures or deposits of not less than ₹500 crore.

• enables the NFRA to debar erring auditors or audit firms and it can also refer service of an auditors to Quality Review Board under Chartered Accountants Act.

Significance of NFRA

• With the constitution of NFRA, India is now eligible to become a member of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR).

•  shows a distinct shift from self-regulation to an independent oversight of auditors which is line with international best practices.

• strengthen the working mechanism of ICAI because it will provide greater assurance that improper conduct will be punished which would further strengthen the functional credibility of ICAI.

• The rising challenges of technology require single-minded attention to skill development, now, ICAI will be able to pay more attention to educating and training current and future members.

• Apart from this, NFRA will have a positive impact on

current corporate governance regime in the country

Recently RBI eased the minimum average maturity requirement for External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) in the infrastructure space