1) US-China trade war. 25% tariff on up to $50bn. China to reciprocate.

2) India imposes tariff worth $240mn on US on products from almounds, apples to automobile
engines with CC above 700. This is a retaliation to US tax of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium.
3) Indian govt target for FY18-19 is Fiscal deficit of 3.3%.
4) Tax in last 4 years has increased from 10% to 11.5% of GDP. 0.72% of it accounts due to increase
in non-oil tax
5) INDIAN STATS: Pop 135 CR (est 2018), 121cr (2011) ;
Density 382 ppl per sq km; life expectancy 69 years
70% live in rural areas (2011)
GDP 2.848 trillion USD; 7th biggest economy
14.5% people are undernourished; 1 in 4 children are malnourished
940 F to 1000 M (2011)
GDP growth 7.7% in Q4 of 17-18
GDP by Sector: Agri 17.32%
Industry 29.02%
Service 53.66%
Inflation CPI 4.28% WPI 4.43%
Population below poverty line : 21.2% at less than 1.90 USD/day (as of 2011)
Human Development index: 0.624
Occupation: Agri 47%
Indu 22%
Services 31%
Unemployment 8.8%
Goods: Agri E 13% I 7%
Fuel and mining E 15% I 33%
Manufacture E 38% I 47%
Main Export partners: EU, US, UAE, Hongkong, China
Import partners: China,EU,US,UAE,Saudi Arabia
Current Account: Deficit 1.8% of GDP
Debt: 68% of GDP
Road network: 56 lakh kms
Road network growth: 1.52% (2010-2015) 1.8% (2015-2018)
GST has improved Indirect tax payers by 50% and tax payment increase by 12%
Direct tax payment increases by 19%
Dependency ratio 0.6
Demographic dividend 29 years (by 2020)
6) Indian hopes to open chabahar port by 2019. This will give strategic location for indian navy
fleet as well as connect the land locked country of afghanisthan which now entirely depends on
Pakistan
7) Amazon Web Services, a clouding platform, is about to train youth in india for cloud computing,
AI, Analytics, machine learning and IOT. NITI Aayogs National Strategy for AI reports that india
will face a demand supply gap of 200000 in data analytics professional by 2020
8) The average time of environmental approvals for industry has reduced to 170 days from 600
days. Govt argues that it has standardized terms of references. But it has also exempted few
sectors from public hearing which is arguably problematic. The environmental ministry has
cleared 38% of projects in 100 days compared to 16% in the same period a year ago. Some
major projects like delhi Mumbai trade corridor and bullet train have been slowed down due to
delays in environmental nods.
9) HSBC has reported that, GST has not brought formalization but instead Cash to GDP ratio has
shot up due to remonetization effects in the informal sector.
10) PM10 in NCR recently hit 999. 500 is considered as hazardous and people are asked to indoor.
The levels came to down to 124 after the halting of nearby construction activities. Construction
and power generation sectors are one of the foremost contributors of PM10.
11) As per Article 29 of aadhar act, the biometric data can be utilized only for authentication
purposes and nothing else. It prevents use of aadhar data for criminal investigation. However
Section 33 of the act allows exception for issues involving nation security but only after pre-
authorization by an oversight committee headed by cabinet secretary.
12) UK deems indian students as high risk, removing india from tier4 visa relaxation. Move traced
back to indias decision to pull out of MoU on return of illegal migrants. India pulled out of a fear
that only 15 days might be offered to the officials to trace out antecedent of the illegal migrants.
13) Chinese investments down by 92% from last year. Notably china is the single biggest holder of
US govt debt, has a total of 1.18 tn USD in treasury holdings. This is driven by the trade deficit
the US has with china. Cash from Sales of goods are invested here. Any move to sell or halt
might hit the value of this large portfolio. China might not use this against US as it is the best
place for USD exposure. The 10 year treasury yields 2.86%. Japan the second largest holder sold
14 bn USD.
14) Trump seeks tariffs on extra $200bn in addition to the $50bn of chinese goods. US trade deficit
with china is $370bn.
15) Trumps zero tolerance policy of separating kids from illegal migrants family stopped
16) State govts transport ministry makes 10000cr on tax collection after E governance. Flagship
programs are Vahan and sarathi vahan which deal with registration, permit, taxation and fitness
while sarathi deals with learners license and other driver related activities.
17) NITI ayog releases management index CWMI to monitor water crisis in india. Bengaluru and
delhi to dryup. Currently 600 mn Indians face high to extreme water stress and 2 lakh ppl die
every year due to inadequate access to safe water. There has been a 60% decline in the countrys
water levels from 2007 to 2017.
18) Seychelles drops the agreement for india developing a navel base under SAGAR scheme.
Growing closeness of Seychelles with china adds irk
19) Govt might sell its 78% stake in coal india after the failure to sell air india inorder to reach the
divestment target of 80000cr. Coal india is worlds biggest coal miner.
20) Indias demographic dividend to be 29 yrs in 2020 while that of china, us, EU and japan to be 37,
37,45 and 48. By 2030 indias will be 31.2 yrs while chinas will be 42.5. India has a dependency
ratio (no.of dependents to working people) is at 0.6 and will continue to fall due to declining
fertility rates.
June 27, 2018

21) US eyeing on imposing a ban of acquisitions of US firms which are technology oriented, by
companies with atleast 25% chinese ownership. Chinese banks might offer incentives for such
firms to cushion the hit.
22)