. Current Affairs week 40Pdf.

27 Sep 3 October 2015

Best of Current Affairs Desk

5 October

IN THIS WEEK

What's New nirdeshak.com

INS Kochi
G20 Summit 2018
Climate-Change Policy
Benchmark Repo rate
Gujarat Tourism Policy
Declaration of undisclosed
foreign assets
India Worlds No. 1 FDI
Destination
RAILTEL

Dear Readers,
Recently we have initiated Best of Nirdeshak
Current Affairs (BNCA) with weekly pdf update.
In todays competitive scenario, it has become
most crucial to read more analytical and
absorbable content, in order to get best result.
The content is developed scientifically developed
so that it becomes short, easy to remember and
only relevant part is recalled for exam
preparation. This is helpful for current affairs
preparation, developing acumen for interviews,
GD and overall remembering more get best
scores in competitive exams, for Banks, IBPS PO,
SBI, IAS, SSC and other exams.
In the week, information & technology news
remained important as PM Modi visited Silicon
Valley. It is important to know about new
development at IAF with IACCS. Further know
more about key personalities of the week,
banking news, government policies and foreign
relations with neighbours.
Happy learning,

Warm regards

Editorial Team
Nirdeshak.com

Defence
INS Kochi
Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyer, INS Kochi the
largest-ever warship built in India till now, which was
commissioned into Indian Navy.
To know: The commissioning of INS Kochi was done
by Defence Minister ManoharParrikar at an event held
at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on 30 September
2015. INS Kochi is the second of the three Kolkata-class destroyers being
built at Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL) at Mumbai for over Rs 4,000 crore
apiece. It weighs 7,500-tonne and is the largest-ever warship made in India till
data. INS Kolkata was the first warship of Kolkata-class and was
commissioned in August last year, while the third INS Chennai will be
inducted towards end-2016.
Important facts about INS Kochi:
INS Kochi is the largest-ever warship made in India
It is made indigenously at Mumbai-based Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL)
INS Kochi weighs over 7500 tonnes, spanning over 164 meters in length
and 17 meters at the bean. It is propelled by four gas turbines and
designed to achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots.
The ship is loaded with long-range BrahMos surface-to- surface missile.
It has 76 mm Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) and AK 630 Close In
Weapon System (CIWS) designed to take on air and surface targets.
JahiShatrunMahabaho is the motto of INS Kochi

International
G20 Summit 2018
India will host G20, the prestigious international summit meet
during 2018.
To Know: The G20 member nations took a decision on the
Chair for 2018 earlier in September 2015 and India was
selected for the same. The Group of 20 (G20) is an
international forum for 20 major economies of the world. It comprises
of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany,
India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, U.K., U.S. and the European Union. The
G20 operates as a forum and not as an organisation. Therefore, it
does not have any permanent secretariat or management and
administrative structure. One of the G20 countries is selected to hold
the Chair in rotation. Turkey will chair the G20 Summit of 2015,
followed by China (2016), Germany (2017) and India (2018). The host
Indian city for G20 2018 has not been declared New Delhi could host
this prestigious summit.

Election Spain
Pro-Independence parties won an absolute majority in Catalonia region.
To Know: With this win the pro-independence parties of Spains Catalonia
region announced that they would now proceed towards the creation of an
independent Catalan state. The Junts per Si (Together for Yes) and far-left
separatist CUP party are the prominent pro-independence parties of the
region that are fuelling the agenda of gaining independence from Spain
unilaterally. But the road ahead is controversial and anything but clear as the
Spanish government has consistently refused to allow a legally recognised
referendum to take place. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has argued
that because the loss of Catalonia would affect all of Spain, the democratic
approach would be for all of the country to vote in a referendum on
Catalonias future.

Environment
Climate-Change Policy
India to cut the Carbon produced by 33%
India released its climate-change policy statement on 1
October 2015. The foremost target proposed in this policy
is To cut the carbon produced per unit of GDP growth
by 33-35% by 2030 from 2005 levels
To Know: India submitted its climate-change pledges in
form of comprehensive climate-change policy to the United
Nations (UN) on 1 October 2015.
India, which is the worlds third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, promised to
make its economy more energy efficient and cut the carbon produced per unit of
GDP growth by 33-35% by 2030 from levels of 2005. This means that India is
not yet prepared to go as far as China, the worlds biggest emitter, which
pledged at the end of June to reduce its carbon intensity by 60-65% by 2030.
The policy also mentions that India would target 40% cumulative installed power
capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, though this would require U.N.
financial support.
India also stressed that coal would continue to dominate power generation for its
more than 1 billion people in the future, though stressed its commitment to clean
energy technologies.

Banking
Benchmark Repo rate
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan cut the benchmark
Repo rate by 50 basis points to a four-year low of 6.75%.
To Know: The last single-time reduction of 50 basis points in the Repo rate
was done on 4 March 2009, when the rate was reduced from the then 5.50%
to 5.00%. After that no 50 basis point reduction in Repo rate was done till 29
September 2015. The Repo rate of 6.75% is also the lowest rate since 3 May
2011. The cut is the third one during fiscal year 2015-16 and fourth one during
2015 and this means that Repo rate has been cut by 100 basis points during
2015-16. Repo (or Repurchase) rate is the rate at which the RBI lends shotterm money to the banks. When the repo rate decreases, borrowing from RBI
becomes cheaper. Repo rate is the primary reflector of interest rates in the
economy. It is worth mentioning that the corporate world as well as the Union
Finance Ministry had made impassioned calls to reduce Repo rate. The BSE
Sensex, which traded with nearly 300 points down ahead of the RBI policy
announcement, bounced back in the green with gain of 162 points by the end
of trading.
Important Highlights of the 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement

Repo rate cut by 50 bps to 6.75%

Reserve repo rate cut to 5.75%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4%
Growth estimate for 2015-16 marginally cut to 7.4% from 7.6%
FPI investment limit in Government bonds to be hiked to 5% by 2018

Banking Policy Overseas Rupee-denominated Bonds

The Reserve Bank of India, announced that Indian corporates will be allowed
to raise rupee-denominated bonds overseas for most purposes barring a few.
RBI intends to allow rupee bonds to be issued overseas as a way to reduce
the currency risk associated with foreign borrowings. What are the main end
use restrictions for usage of these rupee-denominated bonds? Companies
cannot use proceeds from overseas rupee bonds for real estate
activities, land purchase, investing in capital markets and on-lending to
other entities for such activities

To Know:
Overseas rupee-denominated bonds are also known as Masala bonds.
The RBI has allowed these bonds so as to reduce the currency risk
associated with foreign borrowings.
Companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure
investment trusts (InvITs) will be able to raise overseas rupee bonds.
These bonds must have a minimum maturity of five years.
Under the automatic route, companies can raise up to $750 million per
annum. Cases beyond this limit will require prior approval.

SBI - slashed minimum lending or base rate by 0.4%.

To Know: Just after Repo rate reduction by the RBI, the SBI
decided to reduce the base rate by 0.40% to 9.3% with effect
from 5 October 2015. With the reduction in the base rate, all
loans of SBI, including home, auto and corporate, would
become cheaper by at least 0.40%, making RBIs base rate the
lowest in the market. The SBI, thus also set the trend for benign
interest rate regime.

India States
Gujarat Tourism Policy
Gujarat accorded industry status to tourism as states Tourism Policy for
2015-20.
To Know: Gujarat Tourism Policy for 2015-20 was unveiled on 27 September
2015 by state tourism Minister Saurabh Patel. In this policy, the state
government accorded industry status to tourism for the first time. The policy
document pegs the investment potential in the tourism sector in the state at
$4 billion or around Rs 26,000 crore by 2025. The policy states that the state
will be one of the top five states in India in terms of tourist footfalls by 2025.
The tourist flow in Gujarat during the year 2014-15 was 32.7 million, which
was 13.56% higher than that of the previous year.

National
Rural Development
Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise II
To know: The process for Intensive Participatory Planning
Exercise II (IPPE-II) primarily seeks to address the various
facets of poverty of rural families by incorporating all rural
development programmes in a single participatory
planning exercise.
IPPE-II is being undertaken by the Rural Development Ministry in 2,532
poorer Backward Blocks of the country.
Under this initiative the entire planning process will be explained to all
elected members of Gram Sabha and the data recently released from the
socio-economic survey will be shared with them.
IPPE-II would include, apart from MGNREGA, the National Rural
Livelihood Mission (NRLM), the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), National Social Assistance Programme
(NSAP) and the Indira AawaasYojana (IAY).

Declaration of undisclosed foreign assets

Total declaration worth Rs. 3,770 crore from
638 declarants
To Know: The Finance Ministry on 1 October
2015 announced that a total of 638
declarations were received under the
compliance window declaring undisclosed
foreign assets amounting to Rs. 3,770 crore till 30 September 2015. These
figures are subject to final reconciliation. Tax at the rate of 30% and penalty at
the rate of 30% is to be paid by 31 December 2015. It is worth mentioning that
the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of
Tax Act, 2015 was enacted by the Union Govt. to deal with the menace of
black money stashed abroad. The compliance window was opened from 1
July to 30 September 2015 under the provisions of this act for persons who
have undisclosed foreign assets which they had not disclosed for the
purposes of Income-tax so far.

Financial
India Worlds No. 1 FDI Destination
India emerged as the worlds number one
destination for foreign direct investment (FDI)
during the first half of 2015.
To know:The Financial Times newspaper
reported that India received $31 billion in
foreign capital inflows in the first half of 2015.
China was second with $28 billion and US
third with $27 billion. This data was based on
a ranking of the top destinations for greenfield
investment (measured by estimated capital expenditure) in the first half of
2015. It is worth mentioning that India was on 5 th place during the
corresponding period of 2014. The 15-month-old NarendraModi government
has taken several initiatives to make India an attractive investment
destination.

Forward Markets Commission (FMC)

FMC merged with SEBI on 28
September 2015 to bring to surface
first major case of merger of two
regulators in India.
To
Know: Forward
Markets
Commission (FMC) was merged
into Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as Union Finance Minister
ArunJaitley rang the customary stock market bell to formalise the amalgamation at
Mumbai. With this merger, the commodities market entities would get a timeframe of
up to one year to adjust to the new regulations as they would have to follow the
same norms that are applicable to their peers in the equity segment. It is worth
mentioning that this merger was planned by the Congress Government. However,
the announcement of this merger was done in the Union Budget 2014-15. The
apparent regulatory failure of FMC in the National Spot Exchange Ltd. scam case
had precipitated this merger. The FMC has been regulating commodities markets
since 1953, but lack of powers has led to wild fluctuations and alleged irregularities
remaining untamed in this market segment.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

To Know: The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) aims to cover
automatic sharing of information on bank accounts as well as financial
products such as equities, mutual funds and insurance between India and the
US. It is primarily is aimed at fighting the menace of black money stashed
abroad. From 30 September 2015, US-based banks, mutual funds, insurance,
pension and stock-broking firms will report their Indian client details with
Indian authorities while Indian entities will do a reciprocal information sharing
about Americans. An official agreement in this regard was signed by the then
revenue secretary Shaktikanta Das and US ambassador to India Richard
Verma in July 2015 in New Delhi.

Indias ranked 55th- in the Global Competitiveness Index for 2015

To Know: The Narendra Modi government at the
Centre received a big boost as India jumped 16
places in the latest edition of the Global
Competitiveness Index (GCI). India now ranks
55th among 140 countries, against 71st in 2014-15.
Switzerland tops the latest rankings, followed by
Singapore, the US, Germany and Netherlands. But,
despite this massive jump, which follows five years of a decline on the list,
India still ranks seven notches lower than it did in 2007.
What is Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)?
The GCI is an annual assessment to gauge the factors driving productivity
and prosperity across 140 countries. It measures a countrys performance on
12 pillars -1) institutions, 2) infrastructure, 3) macroeconomic environment, 4)
health and primary education, 5) higher education and training, 6) goods
market efficiency, 7) labour market efficiency, 8) financial market
development, 9) technological readiness, 10) market size, 11) business
sophistication and 12) innovation.

RAILTEL
Google announced setting up of Wi-Fi broadband services at 400 railway
stations in India over the next few years. For this ambitious project, Google
will tie-up with RAILTEL, which comes under Indian Railways.
To Know: RailTel provides Internet services such as asRailWire through
its extensive fibre network along many of railway lines. According to the
announcement made by Google CEO SundarPichai, Google will help
Indian Railways set up Wi-Fi broadband services at 400 railway stations
in India over the next few years beginning with 100 stations in the initial
phase of the project by end-2016. This huge project will make Wi-Fi available
for more than 10 million people who pass through every day. This will rank it
as the largest public Wi-Fi project in India, and among the largest in the world,
by number of potential users. This announcement was made on the occasion
of Prime Minister NarendraModis visit to the US and in line with his Digital
India initiative to bring one billion Indians.

Paytm get Strategic investment from - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba

Group Holding and Ant Financial Services Group.
To Know: Paytm is presently Indias largest mobile payment and commerce
platform. Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, had made its initial
investment in Paytm in February 2015. On the other hand Alibaba will become
a new investor in Paytm after the completion of this proposed transaction.
Investing in Paytm is expected to enhance the ability of Alibaba and Ant
Financial to tap opportunities in Indias fast-growing mobile e-commerce
marketplace and digital finance industry. The fresh capital infusion will allow
Paytm to achieve scale and develop its mobile commerce and payment
ecosystem in India and invest in marketing, technology and talent.

Space
ASTROSAT
Indias first dedicated astronomy satellite ASTROSAT was launched
successfully in the space by ISRO on 28 September 2015.
To Know: ASTROSAT is a first-of-its-kind Indian space observatory to study
celestial objects. Unlike most other telescopes, the five instruments
(payloads) of ASTROSAT can observe a wider variety of wavelengths, from
visible light to the ultraviolet and X-ray bands. Even in the X-ray band, it can
study both low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic
spectrum. It is worth mentioning that till date, Indian astronomers had to rely
on international resources for X-ray and ultraviolet data. But this is expected
to change now with ASTROSAT in the space.
The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission:
a) Understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing
neutron stars and black holes,
b) Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars,
c) Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying
beyond our galaxy,
d) Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky and
e) Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the ultraviolet region.

Sports
West Indies were out of the top 8 teams in the ICCs ODI rankings of 30
September
West Indies cricket slumped to a new low as they will not
take part in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. This will be
the first time the West Indies have missed out on a
Champions Trophy, World Cup or T20 World Cup
tournament.
To Know: West Indies will not take part in the 2017
Champions Trophy after Pakistan pipped them to eighth
place in the International Cricket Councils one-day rankings at the 30
September cut-off. Only the top eight teams on that date are mandated to
compete in the tournament. West Indies had 88 points in ICCs ODI rankings
of 30 September and Pakistan with 90 points pipped them for the eighth spot.
Bangladesh, who were last involved in the event in 2006, made their place
sure after they beat South Africa in July to take their tally to 96. West Indies
had won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004.