Current Affairs - December 18, 2013

Current Affairs

December 18 2013

International Affairs

 1. International Migrants Day observed across the world on 18 December 

i.International Migrants Day was observed across the world on 18 December 2013.

ii. The number if international migrant worldwide has reached 232 million in 2013.

iii. The Secretary General of UN put forward an ambitious eight point agenda in his report to the General Assembly to “make migration work” for all: for all: migrants, societies of origin and societies of destination alike.

iv. The UN General Assembly on 4 December 2000 took into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world and proclaimed 18 December as the International Migrants Day.

v. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families was adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 1990.

2. Minorities Rights Day was observed today (18^th December) across the world to create awareness on rights of minorities. The day is celebrated very year on 18^th December to protect rights of the minority communities as well as bringing the better understanding among religious minorities in India.

In order to strengthen the cause of the minorities, the United Nations spread the “Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities” on 18th December 1992 stating “States shall protect the existence of the National or Ethnic, Cultural, Religious and Linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.” The National Commission for Minorities has been observing the 18th December as a Minorities Rights Day every year.

3. Internet Company Yahoo acquired content delivery network provider PeerCDN to resolve its mail issues. PeerCDN’s technology delivers site resources like images, videos and downloads via a peer-to-peer network of people currently visiting a website using WebRTC, real-time communication technology, instead of using an additional software, TechCrunch reports. This reduces some of the bandwidth costs of the website provider by letting visitors share the burden.

4. Social networking giant Facebook acquired SportStream, a start-up firm that analyses social media mentions of sport. SportStream enables users to aggregate, filter and display “real-time” data and this acquisition is expected to make it easier for Facebook’s media partners to find posts about sport on its website and use them in their content.

5. India, Macedonia sign new double taxation avoidance pact

i. India and Macedonia have signed a new double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) that provides for among other things exchange of banking information for tax administration purposes.

ii. This DTAA was signed by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki here on Tuesday.

iii. As per the new agreement, dividend, interest and royalty will be taxed in the source country and the rate of taxation will not exceed 10 percent.

iv. Capital gains on securities will be taxed in the source country.

v. Business income will be also taxed in the source country if the taxpayer has a permanent establishment there.

vi. The DTAA also has a ‘limitation of benefit’ clause to prevent any misuse of treaty benefits.

National affairs

1. RBI Policy review: All rates remain unchanged

i. Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan surprised the markets, today, byleaving all key policy rates unchanged.

ii. The Reserve Bank, in its Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review, kept its short-term lending rate unchanged at 7.75 per cent, and the Cash Reserve Ratio steady at 4 per cent. The RBI governor said the apex bank will take calibrated action in the future, based on inflationary trends and action by the US Federal Reserve.

iii. Sounding a note of caution, the RBI governor said the policy decision is a close one, and current inflation is too high. But given the wide bands of uncertainty surrounding the short-term path of inflation, and given the weak state of the economy, there is merit in waiting for more data to reduce uncertainty.
iv. Commenting on the RBI policy, the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, C. Rangarajan called it a difficult balancing act.

About Policy Rates
1. Basis points: It is the increase in interest rates in percentage terms. For instance, if the interest rate increases by 50 basis points (bsp), then it means that interest rate has been increase by 50%. One percentage point is broken down into 100 basis points. Therefore, an increase from 2% to 3% is an increase of one percentage point or 100 basis points.

2. Repo rate: Repo rate is the policy rate and is part of RBI’s Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF). It is the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the RBI by selling their securities or financial assets to the RBI for a short-period of time. It comes with an agreement that the sold securities will be repurchased by the commercial banks from the RBI at a future date at predetermined price. The repo rate is used by the central bank to increase liquidity in the system.
3. Reverse repo rate: Reverse Repo Rate is also a part of LAF. It is the rate of interest at which the central bank borrows funds from other banks for a short duration. The banks deposit their short term excess funds with the central bank and earn interest on it. This rate is used by the central bank to absorb liquidity from the economy. Generally it is one percentage less than the Repo rate.
4. Bank rate: The only way the bank rate is different from the repo rate is that the bank rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from the central bank without any sale of securities. It is generally for a longer period of time.
5. Cash reserve ratio: CRR is the minimum percentage of cash deposits that banks must keep with the central bank. The current rate is 4%, which means for a cash deposit of Rs. 100, the bank has to park 4 rupee with the central bank.
6. Marginal Standing Facility: The Reserve Bank of India in its monetary policy for 2011-12 introduced the marginal standing facility under which banks could borrow funds from RBI when there is a considerable shortfall of liquidity. This measure has been introduced by RBI to regulate short-term asset liability mismatches more effectively. Under this facility, banks can borrow up to 1% of their net demand.
7. Liquidity Adjustment Facility: Under this facility, banks borrow from the central bank by pledging government securities.
8. Statutory Liquidity Ratio: This is the percentage of deposits that banks must mandatorily hold in the form of government bonds. SLR bonds are liquid assets that can be sold at a short notice to meet any unexpected demand from depositors.

2. Nation celebrates, Lokpal Bill clears in Lok Sabha; Anna Hazare ends fast

i. People have to be vigilant. Only then will they benefit from this law,” says Anna Hazare minutes before ending his fast. Anna also suggests creating a watchdog to check corruption.

ii. Parliament on Wednesday passed the Lokpal bill with the Lok Sabha adopting the measure as amended by the Rajya Sabha after a short discussion, amid the din created by members for and against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

iii. Members from Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena, opposed the bill and staged a walkout in protest, as their counterparts from other parties, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, supported the measure.

iv. Eight new central laws have been brought…We should complete the unfinished work of fighting corruption…Six anti-corruption bills are pending. If necessary, can we not extend this session of Parliament,” Mr Gandhi said as the debate began on the key bill to create an anti-graft ombudsman.

v. The Lok Sabha had passed it in December 2011 and urged the House to adopt the Bill returned by the Rajya Sabha along with the amendments.
vi. The Bill aimed at dealing with the menace of corruption and brings under its purview the Prime Minister with certain safeguards and other public servants.

vii. RTI was UPA’s most important assault on corruption. Lokpal Bill alone is not enough to fight corruption, we need a comprehensive Anti-Corruption Code,” he said.
viii. “This is about the anti-corruption framework and the framework of justice that we want to deliver to the country,” he added.

Social Activist Anna Hazare broke his 9-day long fast today after hearing the news. He has been fighting for last 2 years to get Lokpal bill passed in the Parliament.

3. More than a year after allowing FDI in multi-brand retail segment, the government received the first application yesterday from UK based retail giant Tesco Plc in the sector. The UK-based retailer asked for approval to open retail stores in India with an investment of USD 110 million in joint venture with the Tata Group. Tesco has proposed an equal joint venture with its existing partner, Trent, a Tata group company, to open stores, initially in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

4. Eminent historian Bipan Chandra  was awarded Itihas Ratna from Asiatic Society Bihar on his 86th birthday. He was honoured by O.P. Jaiswal, the Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bihar in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus, New Delhi. Bipan Chandra is the fourth historian to be honoured with the Itihas Ratna by the society.

5. Award for Poovar Island Resort

i. The Union Ministry of Power has selected the Poovar Island Resort for the National Energy Conservation Award 2013.

ii. M.R. Narayanan, Managing Director, received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee at a function in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Kabeer Khader, Chairman, was also present.

iii. More than 800 industrial units and establishments were in the fray for the award, Narayanan said. The resort lists a solar powered boat; a ‘thermic fluid heating system’ using waste; and a biogas plant as major initiatives aimed at saving energy.

iv. The resort targets to achieve ‘energy-neutral’ status by conserving energy and tapping into non-conventional sources for generation, he added.

6. India’s first World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev will be awarded with the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award for the year 2013. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI said that the award’s committee, which includes BCCI President N. Srinivasan and Secretary Sanjay Patel, met in Chennai today to nominate a winner and unanimously selected the legendary all-rounder’s name. He will receive the award at the BCCI Awards Ceremony for the year 2012-13. Sunil Gavaskar won the award last year. Other cricketers to have bagged the coveted award include, Lala Amarnath, his son Mohinder Amarnath, Ajit Wadekar, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Syed Mushtaq Ali and Capt. Vijay Hazare.

7. Kerala Governor Nikhil Kumar inaugurated south India’s first high altitude cricket stadium at Krishnagiri in Wynad district yesterday evening. The picturesque stadium, spread over 4.4 hectares, is situated at about 2800 feet above sea level and it was constructed by the Kerala Cricket Association.

8. India and the Arab League inked MoU to elevate political, trade and cultural relations

i. India and Arab League on 17 December 2013 inked an MoU to elevate the political, trade and cultural relations.

ii. The MoU was signed by Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister of India and Nabil Elaraby, Secretary General of the League of Arab States during his visit to India.

9. Bipan Chandra awarded Itihas Ratna

i. Eminent historian Bipan Chandra on 17 December 2013 was awarded Itihas Ratna from Asiatic Society Bihar. The award was given to Bipan Chandra on his 86th birthday. He was honoured by O.P. Jaiswal, the Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bihar in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus, New Delhi.

ii. Bipan Chandra is the fourth historian to be honoured with the Itihas Ratna by the society.

About Bipan Chandra

• The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism, is one of his known and one of the earliest books
• He served the Indian History Congress as its Sectional President and then as the General President in 1985
• He has been a Chairperson of the centre for historical studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

9. Rann Utsav 2013 Began in Kutch, Gujarat

i. The Rann Utsav, a cultural festival of Gujarat state was inaugurated by Gujarat Tourism Minister Saurabh Patel on 17 December 2013 at Kutch, Gujarat.

ii. The two-month long cultural festival that attracts huge number of domestic and international tourists is celebrated from 17 December to 14 February 2014.

About Rann of Kutch
i.The Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat.

ii. Kutch is one of the Gujarat largest districts. It is surrounded by the Arabian Sea and the salt encrusted desert.

Vasundhara Raje took oath as the chief minister of Rajasthan, five days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power crushing the Congress.

10. The world's largest retailer Walmart named Krish Iyer as the chief executive of its India unit. He will replace interim CEO Ramnik Narsey late next month.

11. Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who heads Eastern Command, was today designated as the Vice-Chief of Army Staff.

12. India clinched the women's Kabaddi World Cup championship for the third time in a row, defeating debutant New Zealand 49-21 in the summit clash played at Guru Gobind Singh sports complex .

13. Rising Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has bagged the 'Emerging Cricketer of the Year' trophy at the ICC Annual awards announced in Dubai.