Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 January 2017

:: National ::

Supreme Court allows auditing of NGO’s

The Supreme Court directed the government to audit nearly 30 lakh NGOs which received public funds but consistently failed to explain how they spent the money.
It ordered that any NGO found to have cooked its books or indulged in misappropriation should be subject to immediate criminal prosecution.
Besides, the government should initiate civil recovery proceedings against such rogue organisations.
The judicial order is unprecedented because defaulting NGOs so far have been only blacklisted by the government.
Pulling up the government for failing to put in place a regulatory mechanism to keep a watch on the financial activities of NGOs and voluntary organisations.
The manner in which these organisations should maintain their accounts and the procedure for recovery in case they fail to submit their balance sheets.
Though public funds to the tune of thousands of crores are spent on NGOs and voluntary organisations annually, the CBI submitted that only about three lakh of about 32 lakh NGOs file their balance sheets with the government.

India on the threshold of becoming the world’s largest digitised Economy says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India was on the threshold of becoming the world’s largest digitised economy offering immense opportunities to global investors.Mr. Modi was inaugurating the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
“India alone offers the opportunities that could rival that of an entire continent. It offers today the possibilities of a full century. And we want to do all this in a cleaner, greener, more sustainable way.” Said PM.
“For investment, sky is the limit and our policies are very progressive. India is going to emerge as one of the world’s largest construction markets. All this offers unprecedented opportunities for the investment community,” he added.
According to him, the government was committed to an India with better opportunities, better purchasing power, better income, better quality of life, and better living standards.
Calling ‘democracy’ India’s biggest strength, the Prime Minister said: “Some people say democracy cannot deliver effective and fast track governance, but we have seen in the last two and a half years, it is possible to deliver quick results as well.”
“India’s strength lies in 3Ds — Demography, Democracy and Demand. Ours is a nation of vibrant youth; the disciplined, dedicated and talented youth of India offers globally unmatched workforce while our middle class offers huge market.”
While seeking investments in industrial sectors, Mr. Modi mentioned his social commitments and said, by 2022, his government would provide a house to every poor family and a job to every person in the country.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus urges legislation for poor’s bank

Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus urged for changes in India’s legislation to set up banks for the poor.
Many NGOs in India, who are dependent on financial assistance, have been running large micro-credit programmes, he said.
“They require limited banking licence so that they can function as banks. The government has started giving new banking licence which is good,” he said.
The banks now are like huge ships, that can sail across oceans, but the poor too should have access to banks, which are like small ships, he said.
Speaking about poverty and unemployment, Mr. Yunus said, “Poverty is not due to the poor people. It is created by the system.”
He said that “the poor are victims” of the system, adding that, “unemployment is being thrust upon them by the present societal system.”

:: International ::

Chinese submarine has docked at a port in Malaysia for first time

For the first time, a Chinese submarine has docked at a port in Malaysia, signalling deepening military ties between the two countries, which are already partners in the development of the Beijing-led Maritime Silk Road.
The four-day stopover of the submarine from January 3 at the port of Kota Kinabalu is being seen as a trigger for elevated tensions in the South China Sea (SCS). The Malaysian port has a naval base facing the SCS.
Analysts say docking of Chinese submarine signals the emergence of special ties between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
The visit of the submarine is adding a prominent military dimension to China’s ties with Malaysia which is fast emerging as Beijing’s top partner, close to the Strait of Malacca, along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
The MSR is part of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a massive connectivity undertaking on land and sea, which covers 65 countries.
The Malacca industrial park is part of the giant Malacca Gateway Project that China and Malaysia signed last year. It also includes the establishment of the strategically vital deep water port in the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia.

:: Business and Economy ::

Real estate sector lost Rs. 22000 crore due to demonetisation

The real estate sector is estimated to have suffered notional revenue loss of Rs. 22,600 crore in the fourth quarter of 2016 due to demonetisation as home sales plunged 44%, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank India.
The drop in sales volume during Q4 of 2016 due to the demonetisation move had resulted in a “massive notional revenue loss of Rs. 22,600 crore to the real estate industry across the country, across top eight cities.
If the Centre had not taken the demonetisation move, the residential segment would not have suffered such a huge revenue loss, it said. State governments had also suffered a notional loss of Rs. 1,200 crore on account of loss on stamp duty in the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter numbers were a testament to the effect that the demonetisation move had had on the real estate market of the country that was barely recovering from its earlier sloth.
Sales volume dropped by 44% year-on-year in Q4 of 2016 and new projects fell by a massive 61% year-on-year during the same period,” it said.
The new projects number was much worse at just 24,300 units in Q4 2016, which was not even one-fifth of peak quarterly levels during 2010, the report said.
All cities in India witnessed a crash during the fourth quarter of 2016. Mumbai with notional sales revenue loss at Rs. 9,100 crore bore the maximum brunt while the impact in Chennai was Rs. 1,100 crore and for Bengaluru it was Rs. 4,800 crore.
The notional revenue loss witnessed in Hyderabad and NCR Delhi was Rs. 800 crore and Rs. 3,700 crore respectively.

Former RBI governors say RBI’s autonomy should be maintained

A day after former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy flagged ‘reputational risk’ being faced by the central bank, another former Governor, Bimal Jalan, said its autonomy was fundamental and needs to be maintained.
“The autonomy of the RBI — that is a very fundamental fact and we have to maintain it and I hope the government would give attention to that part also,” Dr. Jalan said in an interview to a private television channel.
Mr. Reddy regretted on January 9 that the institutional identity of the RBI has been damaged and stressed that for a central bank “reputational risk is worst risk.”
Dr. Jalan said one would have to wait and see how the relationship between the government and RBI develops which ultimately is a matter of coordination.
On the impact of demonetisation on growth, he said, “It is very difficult to go through the percentage points...but everybody agrees that there would be a decline in the rate of growth.
How far it is due to demonetisation and how far it is the trend from 7.6 to 7.1, you have seen last year itself...Let us wait and see.”

Rs. 25,000 cr. worth cash deals move to digital mode

Post-demonetisation, cash-based transactions worth Rs. 25,000 crore have moved to the digital mode, says a survey.
The Economic Research Department of State Bank of India carried out the survey from December 30, 2016, to January 3, 2017, to understand the nuances of demonetisation.
It showed that 15 per cent of transactions moved to electronic payments such as m–wallets and Point of Sale machines.
This means that Rs. 25,000 crore of cash-based transactions have moved to digital in the last two months. If this is so, this is a good beginning.
This number could have been higher because the behavioural shift has not happened yet.