Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 June 2016

:: National ::

After reforms PM says India is most open economy in the world

The Modi government announced radical liberalisation of the FDI regime by easing norms for a host of important sectors, including defence, civil aviation and pharmaceuticals, opening them up for complete foreign ownership.
The move assumes significance as it comes soon after Raghuram Rajan’s announcement that he would not seek another term as the Reserve Bank of India Governor.
The governor’s announcement, days before Britain decides whether to stay in the European Union, had triggered fears that India’s growth narrative could unravel.
Commerce and Industry Minister stressed that the announcement had nothing to do with the RBI governor's decision. “We have been working on this for quite some time. We could not have done all this in one or two days,” she said.
The decision on FDI reforms was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In November last, the government announced FDI reforms across several sectors, two days after the BJP-led NDA suffered a resounding defeat in the Assembly elections in Bihar.

ASI has unearthed structures resembling a Buddhist monastery in Gujarat

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed structures resembling a Buddhist monastery in Vadnagar city of Gujarat.
The latest excavation revealed structures resembling monastic cells. However, only further excavation at the site would help establish whether the structures were part of a monastery or were secular in nature.
To establish Vadnagar’s claim as a thriving Buddhist centre, this could be an important discovery, but for that govt need to get land so it can carry out further excavation.
The ASI carried out excavation at Vadnagar in two phases between January, 2015, and May, 2016.

Outgoing RBI Governor reiterates need to guard inflation

Outgoing RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan warned policymakers against lowering the guard on inflation, amid expectations his successor will make sharp interest rate cuts.
He said “We had got used to decades of moderate to high inflation, with industrialists and governments paying negative real interest rates and the burden of hidden inflation tax falling on the middle class and the poor,”.
Delivering a lecture at TIFR, he said a central bank serves the economy and cause of growth best by keeping inflation low and stable around the target given by govt.

:: International ::

British PM says rise of India is one of the reason to go against Brexit

British Prime Minister David Cameron invoked increasing trade with India as part of his plea to the public to vote to remain in the European Union (EU), saying cutting off from the main EU market would be “economic madness”.
Mr. Cameron said, “The rise of countries like India and China... [means we have] big economies that we need to trade with more.”.
He said Britain could “do more with India” but not by cutting itself off from the EU.
Mr. Cameron also said that about 80 per cent of Britain’s economy consists of services like insurance and banking and architecture and sales and advertising.
About 45 per cent of the U.K.’s exports go to the EU at £227 billion, while imports accounts for £288 billion, according to 2014 data.
The debate for Britain’s future with the 28-member economic bloc has entered its final stage with just three days to go before the crucial referendum.
With opinion polls reflecting a very close contest between the ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ camps, some of the U.K.’s senior-most entrepreneurs and professionals spoke out in favour of the country remaining in the Union.
Virgin Group boss Richard Branson, one of the country’s most respected business tycoons, also warned that a British exit from the EU would be “devastating” for the U.K.’s long-term prosperity.

Virginia Raggi was elected as Rome’s first woman Mayor

Virginia Raggi waselected Rome’s first woman Mayor, sweeping into city hall on the ticket of the populist Five Star movement (M5S) with the backing of over two-thirds of voters.
Ms. Raggi (37), a Rome-born lawyer, started the campaign as a political novice.
However, she won over voters with her programme for cleaning up the administration, presenting her ideas in the crisp and sober manner of a patient academic.

:: India and World ::

China cools down India's NSG entry talks

India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is not yet on the agenda of the Seoul Plenary this week, China said.
“We understand that non-NPT countriesare very concerned about their entry into the NSG but since the NSG is still divided on this issue it is still not mature to talk about it at the annual conference in Seoul,” China said.
The statement from Beijing came a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India hoped to convince China to support its application.
China and a few other NSG countries have called for a criteria-based process for entry of countries like India and Pakistan, who are not signatories to the NPT, into the 48-member nuclear club.

:: Science and Technology ::

Study shows Cretaceous period asteroid wiped out 90% mammals

The same asteroid that killed the dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago also wiped out over 90 per cent of mammal species, significantly more than previously thought, new research has found.
Following the asteroid hit, most of the plants and animals would have died, so the survivors probably fed on insects eating dead plants and animals.
With so little food, only small species survived. The biggest animals to survive on land would have been no larger than a cat, the study said.
For the study, the researchers reviewed all mammal species known from the end of the Cretaceous period in North America.

:: Business and Economy ::

PM discusses rupee management

PM held meetings with his key officials to assess the possible impact on the rupee and macro-economic stability following the announcement by RBI Governor that he would not seek another term.
In the immediate term, the most effective strategy will be for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to signal that it intends to defend the rupee.
The RBI has accumulated foreign currency reserves in excess of $350 billion, which will be used.
The government wants to make sure that the bond and currency markets remain calm after Mr. Rajan’s departure, especially when a foreign currency non-resident deposit scheme’s redemptions begin, starting September. T
here could be outflows of about $20 billion due to the imminent maturity of the scheme, which the RBI unveiled in October 2013, weeks after Mr. Rajan joined, to tide over the worst rupee crisis in decades.
India had mobilised $26 billion through foreign currency non-resident bank account (FCNR-B) deposits by offering a special swap window for banks after the U.S. Federal Reserve ‘taper tantrums’ in the summer of 2013.
Several alternatives are on the table for mitigating the impact of the redemptions, including the option of rolling over the bonds, the source said.
One option is to mobilise funds from NRI's through a fresh dollar-denominated instrument along the lines of the ‘India Millennium Deposit’, the State Bank of India’s foreign currency denominated deposits (IMD) issued in 2010.
The handling of the situation has become more important because India is up for a ratings upgrade this year.
Last October, global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s affirmed its ‘BBB-’ long-term and ‘A-3’ short-term sovereign credit ratings for India, with a stable outlook.

The World Bank expects India’s economy to expand 7.6 per cent in 2016-2017

The World Bank expects India’s economy to expand 7.6 per cent in 2016-2017, followed by a modest acceleration in the rate of growth to 7.7 per cent in 2017-2018 and 7.8 per cent in 2018-2019.
GDP accelerated to 7.6 per cent in 2015-16 from an average of 6.5 per cent during the three-year period 2012-13 — 2014-15, the World Bank’s India Development Update released said.
India’s economy expanded at a faster pace even as several growth engines stalled.
Agriculture faced a second consecutive year of drought, rural households were under stress, private investments remained flat and exports plummeted, the report said.
Despite these drags, the working engines — demand from urban households and public investments — propelled the economy to a higher growth path.
To remain on this growth path and sustain the 7.6 per cent growth rate in 2016-17, India will need to re-start dormant growth drivers while ensuring that the working engines do not run out of fuel, according to the report.
The bi-annual report on the economy and its prospects said that India’s sources of growth had been few, with many segments of the economy facing challenges.
External demand has been tepid and GDP growth has relied exclusively on domestic demand, which itself has been running on just a few engines. Private investment stagnated and likely contracted in the January-March quarter.
Private consumption, which accelerated to 7.4 per cent in 2015-16 from 6.2 per cent in 2014-15, is puzzling, given that over two-thirds of Indian households are in rural areas, which suffered a second year of sub-par monsoons in 2015-16.
Growth in agriculture output remained muted at 1.2 per cent. Urban households appear to have been the main drivers of growth in 2015-2016.
The manufacturing and services sectors, which expanded 7.4 and 8.9 per cent respectively, are likely to have created urban jobs. Inflation abated, primarily because of lower food prices.

The Centre has kept interest rates unchanged for various small savings schemes

The Centre has kept interest rates unchanged for various small savings schemes for the July-October period of the 2016-17 fiscal.
The Finance Ministry in a statement on Monday said that the interest rate on one-year deposits for the July-October period of this fiscal had been kept unchanged at 7.1 per cent.
The interest rate on two-year, three-year and five-year time deposits were kept at 7.2 per cent, 7.4 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively. The interest rate on Public Provident Fund remained at 8.1 per cent, the Ministry said.

:: Sports ::

Ranchi to host 2017 Asian meet

The 22nd Asian athletics championship will be held in India after a gap of four years. The Birsa Munda Stadium at Ranchi will host the event from July 1 to 4, 2017.
Recently, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) officials visited the venue before finalising it.
The Jharkhand government has come forward to support the event which will be staged in India for the third time, the early editions in New Delhi (1989) and Pune (2013).
Nearly 800 athletes from 45 countries are expected to take part. The winners of the Asian meet will get a direct berth for the World championship in London from August 4 to 13.