Table of Contents:
A. GS1 Related:
B. GS2 Related:
1. Norms for clinical trials eased
2. Centre to promulgate ordinance on Enemy Property Bill
3. Myanmar swears in first civilian President in five decades
C. GS3 Related:
1. Budget sets priorities for government spending
2. ADB lowers india’s growth forecast to 7.4% for 2016-17
D.GS4 Related
E.Important Editorials : A Quick Glance
The Hindu:
Others:
1. Indian Express:To our health
2. PTI News:RBI relax norms for firms to raise foreign funds for infra
3. Business Standard: India’s e-waste problem
4. Economic Times: All Central government schemes on track to be linked to DBT
F.Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn:
G.Fun with Practice Questions 🙂
H.Archives
.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Useful News Articles
A. GS1 Related
Nothing here for today folks!
B. GS2 Related
1. Norms for clinical trials eased
Topic: Social Justice
Category: Health
Location: The Hindu, Page 9
Key points:
- Ministry responsible : Health
- In the Past : the Supreme Court banned trials in various parts of the country as and the patients subjected to clinical trials included newborns, children, pregnant women and mentally challenged persons and informed consent was not taken
2. Centre to promulgate ordinance on Enemy Property Bill
Topic: Governance
Category: Government policies and interventions
Location: The Hindu, Page 12
Key points:
- The amendments to the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, passed by the Lok Sabha, intended to :
- Guard against claims of succession by or transfer of properties to descendants of those who migrated after the wars
- Deny legal heirs even if they are Indian citizens any right over such property
- Disallows any civil court or other authority from entertaining any suit or proceeding in respect of any enemy property or any action taken by the Government or the Custodian
3. Myanmar swears in first civilian President in five decades
Topic: International Relations
Category: Effect of policies of developing countries on India’s interests
Location: The Hindu, Page 14
Key points:
- Myanmar has sworn in Htin Kyaw as the country’s first civilian President in more than 50 years
- For India : “With the reforms, peace process, free elections and the new government, we can hope to see greater business interest in India free from residual baggage of the past and a fuller development of relations across the board as democracies under a popularly elected leader and government” remarked the Indian Ambassador in Myanmar
C. GS3 Related
1. Budget sets priorities for government spending
Topic: Indian Economy
Category: Government Budgeting
Location: The Hindu, Page 18
Key Points:
- Budget 2016-17 has introduced a new classification system for the Centre’s spending, according the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme the highest priority by deeming it ‘Core of the Core’
- The new system divides Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) into three categories: Core of the Core, Core, and Optional Schemes
- As per the new system, the Core of the Core schemes will retain their expenditure allocation framework
- The Core schemes will have a 60:40 formula, while the Optional schemes will have a 50:50 formula, with the states having the flexibility to decide whether to invest in these or not
- Under the new classification, eight schemes will be classified as Core of the Core
- The Core schemes, 33 in number, include schemes as far-ranging as the Krishi Unnati Yojana, the Smart Cities programme, and the modernisation of the police force
- The classification is trying to segregate the schemes by importance
- Now the Centre has said that some are important schemes and the states can take their own decisions regarding the others
2. ADB lowers india’s growth forecast to 7.4% for 2016-17
Topic: Indian Economy
Category: Growth and Development
Location: The Hindu, Page 18
Key Points:
- The Asian Development Bank has lowered India’s growth forecast to 7.4 per cent from an earlier estimate of 7.6 per cent for the financial year ending March 31, 2017
- India needs to :
- Implement necessary reforms including unifying the tax regime
- Improve labour market regulations
- Open further to foreign direct investment and trade
- Expectations in the subsequent year:
- Weak global economy will continue to weigh on exports, particularly India’s refined petroleum products, offsetting a further pickup in domestic consumption
- Public investment will remain strong as the government taps savings from lower oil costs to boost spending
- Strengthened public banks and corporate deleveraging will result in an uptick in bank credit and boost private spending
- Challenges:
- Financing the infrastructure
- Public banks’ non-performing assets
D. GS4 Related
Nothing here for today folks!
E. Important Editorials : A Quick Glance
The Hindu:
Topic: Indian Economy
Category: Investment Models
Key points:
- The Government has allowed 100 per cent FDI in e-commerce entities running online marketplaces
- As long as a business entity acts purely as a marketplace, facilitating online transactions between a seller and a buyer, 100 per cent overseas ownership is allowed in the venture
- Both delivery and quality of the product and related warranties will lie with the seller
- E-commerce firms can provide support services to sellers, including warehousing, logistics, call centres and payment collection
- Foreign-owned e-commerce enterprises can no longer sell wares sporting their own brand names online
- Prohibiting ventures from “directly or indirectly” influencing the sale price of goods. This is construed by most observers as a deterrent for discounts
Others:
1 .Indian Express:To our health
Topic: Social Justice
Category: Health
Key points:
- The government has initiated a time-bound process to bring the public health framework up to speed.
- It will refocus on containing mortality and morbidity due to cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions
- The ministries of health, family welfare and Ayush are to deliver the framework
- Oral, breast and cervical cancers can be prevented or managed better by intervention at the premalignant stage
- Yoga and other wellness regimes play a significant role in reducing the burden of disease and help in the management of existing disorders
- They should be worked into the health system, in tandem with established medical protocols
2 .PTI News:RBI relax norms for firms to raise foreign funds for infra
Topic: Indian Economy
Category: Investment Models
Key points:
- The Reserve Bank today relaxed overseas borrowings norms to help companies raise funds for infrastructure projects in the country
- Now firms in infrastructure sector, Non-Banking Financial Companies -Infrastructure Finance Companies (NBFC-IFCs), NBFCs-Asset Finance Companies (NBFC-AFCs), Holding Companies and Core Investment Companies (CICs) will also be eligible to raise External Commercial Borrowings
- Only those NBFCs which are coming under the regulatory purview of the Reserve Bank are permitted to raise ECB
3 .Business Standard: India’s e-waste problem
Topic: Environment
Category: Environmental pollution and degradation
Key points:
- Fresh rules to govern the handling of electronic waste or e-waste
- According to a 2011 Rajya Sabha secretariat study, e-waste accounts for 70 per cent of Indian landfills.
- The new rules have included things like discarded CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs which contain mercury
- The new rules have brought producers of electronic goods under “extended producer responsibility”, making them liable for collection and exchange of e-waste with targets
- The new rules require players in the e-waste life cycle to register with just the Central Pollution Control Board
- It will be the responsibility of state governments to adequately train and protect the health of workers engaged in recycling
- E-waste accounts for four per cent of global e-waste and 2.5 per cent of global GDP
4 .Economic Times: All Central government schemes on track to be linked to DBT
Topic: Indian Economy
Category: Government Policies
Key points:
- All central government schemes involving transfer of benefits in cash or kind are expected to transition to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platform from April
- All central government payments will soon be on the electronic platform
- Through this platform, the Centre will be able to monitor funds flow and track beneficiaries
- It also aims to seed all DBT accounts and 20 crore PM Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) accounts with Aadhaar
- DBT is currently used for 56 schemes in which roughly Rs 6000 cr is transferred every month to about 30 crore beneficiaries
F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn:
- FDI
- Indo-Myanmar
- DBT
- E-commerce
- E-waste
- ADB
G. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂
Question 1:Which of the following statement is true with regard to Non-Performing Assets in India?
a) An asset becomes non-performing when it ceases to generate income for the bank
b) A non-performing asset shall be a loan or an advance where Interest and/or installment of principal remain overdue for a period of more than 90 days in respect of a Term Loan
c) The credit facilities backed by guarantee of the Central Government though overdue should not be treated as NPA
d) All of the above
Question 2:Which of the following statement/s is/are true regarding External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs)?
- ECBs refer to commercial loans in the form of bank loans, securitized instruments, buyers’ credit, suppliers’ credit availed of from non-resident lenders
- ECBs can be through Automatic or Approval route
a) Both 1 and 2
b) Only 1
c) Only 2
d) None of the above
Question 3:Which of the following Indian states do not share an international border with Myanmar?
a) Nagaland
b) Mizoram
c) Meghalaya
d) Manipur
Question 4: Which of the following statement is not true with regard to Foreign Direct Investment in India?
a) FDI is allowed under the automatic route without prior approval either of the Government or the Reserve Bank of India
b) FDI in activities not covered under the automatic route requires prior approval of the Government which are considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)
c) FDI is allowed under the Government Route as well as the Automatic Route in the Atomic Energy sector
d) Both b and c
Question 5:Which of the following statement is true regarding the Asian Development Bank (ADB)?
a) India became a member of the ADB in 1966
b) ADB is headquartered in Manila, Philippines
c) The Asian Development Bank was conceived in the early 1960s as a financial institution
d) All of the above
“Proper Current Affairs preparation is the key to success in the UPSC- Civil Services Examination. We have now launched a comprehensive ‘Online Current Affairs Crash Course’.
Limited seats available. Click here to Know More.”
H. Archives:
You can check out some more recent News Analysis sections to build even more context
30th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
29th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
28th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
27th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
26th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
25th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
24th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
23rd March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
22nd March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
21st March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
20th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
19th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
18th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
17th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
16th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
15th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
14th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
13th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
12th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
11th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
10th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
09th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
08th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
07th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
06th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
05th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
04th March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
03rd March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
02nd March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
01st March 2016: Daily News & Current Affairs Analysis
Practice More: Enroll for India’s Largest All-India Test Series
Comments