Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 13 June 2017

::National::

Finance Minister says states giving loan waiver have to finance it on their own

•  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated that the States going in for farm loan waivers will have to generate funds from their own resources.
• He was speaking to reporters after a meeting with public sector bank chiefs, where among other things, the situation on bad loans was discussed.
• The remark comes in the backdrop of farmers’ agitations over the demand and some States, such as Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh — both Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled — announcing waivers.
• There are also demands for waivers in States such as Madhya Pradesh and Haryana (both BJP-ruled), Punjab (Congress-ruled), and Tamil Nadu ( under AIADMK government).
• In March, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, he had said: “This issue of loan waiver has cropped up in several States. The Centre has its policies for the agriculture sector, under which we provide interest subvention and other support. 
• We will continue to give all that. If a State has its own resources and wants to go ahead in that direction, it will have to find its resources. The situation where the Centre will help one State and not the others will not arise.”
• On bad loans, Mr. Jaitley said the Reserve Bank of India is at an advanced stage of preparing a list of debtors whose cases will be considered for speedy resolution through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the U.S. on June 26

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the U.S. to meet President Donald Trump on June 26, the government announced.
• This first interaction is being described as a “no-frills,” business-only visit, aimed at breaking the ice, and building a relationship between the two leaders.
• The Prime Minister’s trip has been the subject of speculation for several months since President Trump first invited him over the telephone in January.
• Announcing the dates, the Ministry of External Affairs said the discussions will “provide a new direction for deeper bilateral engagement on issues of mutual interest and consolidation of [the] multi-dimensional strategic partnership.”

British election has done little to remove the uncertainty

• The British general election has done little to remove the uncertainty facing the business community and Britain’s international partners as it delivered a shock hung Parliament.
• The government will in all likelihood be able to get its now to-be-delayed Queen’s Speech through the House of Commons, with the backing of the DUP, with which it is in the midst of agreeing a “confidence and supply” agreement.
• This would essentially mean the DUP will support it in any votes of confidence, and on matters relating to government spending and budgets. 
• However, the business sector remained spooked, with a snap poll of business leaders conducted by the Institute of Directors in the U.K. finding a drop in confidence following the election.
• Perhaps the most significant of all for businesses, including the 800-odd Indian firms in Britain, will be the government’s stance on Brexit.
• Whether the result will force the government to revisit its plans to deliver on a so-called “hard Brexit”, moving out of the customs union and single market.

::International::

French voters have put President Emmanuel Macron's party on course of majority

• French voters have put President Emmanuel Macron's party on course for a crushing parliamentary majority, though a record low turnout in the first round of voting raised concerns over the strength of his future mandate.
• Projections showed Macron continuing his centrist revolution, with his Republique en Marche party and its ally MoDem tipped to win between 400 and 445 seats in the 577-member National Assembly in next Sunday's second round.
• Such a share would give Mr. Macron — who founded his party just a year ago — one of the biggest parliamentary majorities the modern French state has seen.
• But government spokesman Christophe Castaner admitted the 49% turnout — the lowest for six decades in such a vote — was “a failure of this election” and that Mr. Macron’s team would need to reach out to those who stayed away.
• Former Prime Minister Alain Juppe of the rightwing Republicans said the mass stayaway by voters was a sign of “deep malaise” in the electorate and that a clean sweep by Mr. Macron would be bad for democracy.
• Mr. Macron's camp is expected to significantly boost its score in Sunday’s second round with voters fed up with mainstream politics keen to try out his team, half of which is composed of rookie politicians.

::Business and Economy::

Retail inflation lowest since 2012

• Retail inflation in May, at 2.18%, eased to its lowest level since the Centre began measuring it on a nationwide basis in 2012, driven in large part by cooling food prices, according to a latest government release. 
• Separate data showed industrial output expanded by 3.1% in April.
• Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was even slower than the 2.99% seen in April, the previous record low. 
• Within the index, food and beverages category witnessed a contraction of 0.2% in May, compared with a growth of 1.3% in April.
• Growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was spurred by the manufacturing sector within which the tobacco and the pharmaceuticals sectors grew the fastest.
• Inflation in the fuel and light segment in May stood at 5.5%, compared with 6.1% in April.
• Inflation in the clothing and footwear segment eased marginally to 4.4% from 4.6% over the same period. The housing segment saw inflation remaining at the same rate of 4.8%.
• The RBI is expected to maintain status quo until September 2017 as the inflation for next couple of months is dependent upon turnaround of monsoon, increase in the house rent allowances, implementation of GST and farm loan waivers
• The manufacturing sector grew 2.6% in April compared with 2.7% in March, while growth in the mining sector slowed drastically to 4.2%. Electricity output grew 5.4% in April, slower than March’s 6.2%.
• The consumer durables segment saw a drastic contraction of 6% in April, from a growth of 13.8% in the same month of the previous year. 
• The capital goods segment also witnessed a contraction of 1.3%, compared with a growth of 8.1% in April 2016.

Union government wants to defer GST e-way bill

• With just a few days left for Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout, the Union government is in favour of postponing by a few months the implementation of the e-way bill, which requires movement of goods above Rs. 50,000 to be pre—registered online.
• However, with states unwilling to defer the provision, the GST Council agreed to rope in the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to work along with the GST-Network to assess if an all India e-way bill system can be created in a short timeframe.

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