Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 30 December 2016

:: National ::

FM thinks demonetisation will improve growth

Finance Minister cited an upward trend in revenue collections and green shoots in several sectors, such as life insurance, mutual funds, aviation, petroleum and agriculture, since then.
“Of course, there would be areas which would be adversely impacted, but what was predicted by the critics has to have a rationale with the revenue collection. Assessment can be unreal but revenue is real,” Mr. Jaitley said.
“Already a large part of benefits of this historic move are visible. A lot more money has come into the banking system. the ability of the banks to lend has now increased,” the Finance Minister said.
“The indirect tax figures are also available and notwithstanding what the critics had predicted in all the categories till November 30 there is a significant increase in indirect taxation,” he said, citing a 26.2 per cent rise in central indirect taxes collection till November 30.
As per official data on tax collections released on December 9, net direct taxes grew 15.12 per cent between April and November this year, compared with the same period last year.
The growth of indirect tax collections between April and October was 26.7 per cent. Overall crop sowing in the rabi season was up 6.3 per cent compared with last year, he said.
Many of these indicators, when taken together with the fact that the critical part of remonetisation was “already behind us,” suggested that things “should certainly be much better in the weeks and months to come than it was in the last six weeks.”

High-level committee to draw a road map to make India a global arbitration hub

The Centre has constituted a high-level committee, led by the former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna, to draw a road map to make India a global arbitration hub.
The committee would comprise another former SC judge, R.V. Raveendran, Delhi High Court judge S. Ravindra Bhat, senior advocates K.K. Venugopal and Indu Malhotra along with others.
The terms of reference included analysing the effectiveness of the arbitration mechanism, identification of amendments in other laws.
They are needed to encourage International Commercial Arbitration and devise an action plan for implementation of the law to ensure speedier arbitrations.

Payment of Wages (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016 approved by President

President has approved the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, to enable industries to pay wages by cheque or credit into the bank accounts of workers earning up to Rs. 18,000 a month without their permission.
However, the ordinance, promulgated on December 28, doesn’t make wage payments mandatory through the banking system. Employers can still pay in cash.
The Payment of Wages Act of 1936 required employers to take the permission of employees before paying salaries through cheque or bank credit.
The ordinance empowers the Centre and State governments to specify industries or establishments where wage payments can be made mandatory through banks.
Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya introduced the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the Lok Sabha on December 15, but it couldn’t be cleared because of the impasse in Parliament.
The Centre decided to take the ordinance route because its decision to scrap the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 banknotes in November led to a cash crunch, and employers were finding it tough to pay workers in cash.

:: International ::

A nationwide ceasefire deal came into effect across Syria

Russia President Vladimir Putin announced a nationwide ceasefire deal to come into effect across Syria from midnight and that the warring parties had agreed to sit down for peace talks.
The deal brokered by Russia and Turkey could represent a major breakthrough in nearly six years of war in Syria and comes a week after rebel resistance was crushed in the second city of Aleppo.
Although on opposing sides in the conflict, Turkey and Russia have been working intensively to find a ceasefire after the fall of Aleppo, in a process that conspicuously does not include the United States.
Syria’s Army said it would halt all military operations from midnight, and the opposition National Coalition also said it backed the truce.
Mr. Putin also said he would reduce Moscow’s military contingent in Syria, which has been flying a bombing campaign in support of President Bashar Al-Assad since last year.
Mr. Putin, however, said that Russia would continue to fight “terrorism” in the war-torn country and maintain its support for the government in Damascus.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the seven opposition groups, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham, that have signed up to the agreements after months of talks comprise some 62,000 fighters and control a large portion of territory in central and northern Syria.
Syria’s political opposition and rebels confirmed their backing for the truce, saying it applied to all parts of the country.
The United States called the ceasefire deal a “positive development”, saying it hoped it would lead to fresh talks on the country’s political future.

:: Business and Economy ::

Statutory body to standarise data from all financial sector regulators

A committee has recommended the creation of a statutory body that will standardise data from all financial sector regulators in a single database and provide analytical insights based on the data.
The report of the committee to study the financial data management legal framework in India, suggests the passage of a Bill in Parliament — the Financial Data Management Centre Bill 2016.
Data Centre to take measures to standardise data from regulators in consultation with the regulators, enable financial service providers to submit data in a standardised electronic format, analyse the data and maintain a financial system database.
The powers of the Financial Data Management Centre (FDMC) will include the establishment, operation and maintenance of the financial system database along with collecting financial regulatory data and providing access to it.
The body will also provide analytical support to the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on issues relating to financial stability.
In 2015, when the FSDC first suggested the creation of such a body, the Reserve Bank had objected to sharing company-specific data with the body as it was not statutory in nature, and sharing such data would be a breach of confidentiality.
Even the Department of Legal Affairs said that the “majority of the financial sector regulators being statutory in nature, it is not clear from the proposal how the non-statutory FDMC will collect data from such regulators.”
Department of Economic Affairs re-examined the issue and obtained the Finance Minister’s approval to establish a statutory FDMC, following which a committee was formed to recommend the way forward.

The government said that it had met the 1.5-crore target for LPG

The government said that it had met the 1.5-crore target for LPG connections to be added in this financial year under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana therefore increased LPG coverage across the country to 70 % as of December 1.
“Target of 1.5 crore connections fixed for the current financial year for PMUY has been achieved within a span of less than eight months and the scheme is being implemented now across 35 States/UTs.
It is also noteworthy that with the implementation of PMUY, the national LPG coverage has increased from 61 per cent (as on January 1, 2016) to 70 per cent (as on December 1, 2016).
The top five States with the highest number of connections are Uttar Pradesh (46 lakh), West Bengal (19 lakh), Bihar (19 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (17 lakh) and Rajasthan (14 lakh).
“The households belonging to SC/ST constitute the large chunk of beneficiaries with 35 per cent of the connections being released to them.”
The statement also said 14 States/UTs with LPG coverage less than the national average, such as J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and all North-East States, have been identified as priority States for implementing PMUY.