Current Affairs Assam – July 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of July 2018 )
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July 24
Assam Govt launches Rs 460 crore Muga Mission
The State government has launched a Rs 460 crore ‘Muga Mission’ to raise the muga production by ten times more than what it is now. The mission will be operative for a period of ten years from the financial year of 2017-18. The preliminary work under the mission has already started with the State government releasing an amount of Rs 100 crore.
The Sericulture Directorate informed that in the 2017-18 financial year, the State produced 156.96 metric tons of raw muga, while in the preceding financial year, it could produce 139 metric tons of raw yearn of this golden silk.
Meanwhile, the World Bank-sponsored APART (Assam’s Agri-business and Rural Transformation Project) has taken up the districts of undivided Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Jorhat and Sivasagar for plantation of muga and eri host plants, setting up rearing houses and providing equipment support to the sericulture farmers.
The directorate has already completed the process of awareness programmes for selecting the beneficiaries of the APART programmes in the five districts. Committees headed by deputy commissioners of the districts would select the beneficiaries.
In Darrang district, ventures for development and expansion of mulberry silk sector are undertaken under the Rs 29.54-crore Northeastern Regional Textile Policy Development Scheme (NERTPS) of the Union Ministry of Textiles. The initiatives undertaken under this scheme started in the financial year of 2015-16 and its initial period of three years has been extended by one year to the financial year of 2019-20.
Banks ink faster bad-loan resolution pact
Lenders are likely to ask Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to give them more time to resolve certain accounts, particularly in the thermal power segment, after they signed an inter-creditor agreement to speed up bad loan resolutions.
- Bankers said the 180-day deadline as envisaged by RBI to come up with a resolution plan may be too short, especially for power plants where the assets are impaired by external factors.
- About 24 banks signed the inter-creditor agreement, which is expected to speed up the resolution of bank loans of Rs 50 crore and above under consortium lending.
- The nature of the resolution plans approved under the inter-creditor agreements would be similar to those under consideration as part of the insolvency process. However, in this case, promoters would continue to be in charge.
- Under this pact which is part of the project Sashakt, the resolution plan will be submitted by the lead lender to an overseeing committee.
- The lead lender, the one with the highest exposure, will have the rights to formulate the resolution plan for a fee which other banks will have to pay.
FACTFILE – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
- RBI is India’s central banking institution, which controls the monetary policy of the Indian rupee.
- It commenced its operations on 1 April 1935 in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
- Following India’s independence on 15 August 1947, the RBI was nationalised on 1 January 1949.
- The RBI plays an important part in the Development Strategy of the Government of India. It is a member bank of the Asian Clearing Union.
- The general superintendence and direction of the RBI is entrusted with the 21-member central board of directors: the governor; 4 deputy governors; 2 finance ministry representatives (usually the Economic Affairs Secretary and the Financial Services Secretary); 10 government-nominated directors to represent important elements of India’s economy; and 4 directors to represent local boards headquartered at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi.
Iran becomes India's No. 2 oil supplier
Iran was the second-biggest oil supplier to Indian state refiners between April and June of 2018, replacing Saudi Arabia, as companies took advantage of steeper discounts offered by Tehran.
India, Iran’s top oil client after China, shipped in 5.67 million tonnes or about 457,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the country in the first three months of this fiscal year.
Data compiled by Reuters shows that India imported about 3.46 million tonnes, or about 279,000 bpd, from Iran between April and June last year.
State refiners, accounting for about 60% of India’s 5 million bpd refining capacity, had curbed imports from Iran last year in protest against Tehran’s move to grant development rights for the giant Farzad B gas field to other parties.
The refiners – Indian Oil Corporation, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and its unit Bharat Oman Refineries, Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals – shipped in 9.8 million tonnes of Iranian oil in 2017-18.
Iraq continued to be the top oil supplier to India in the April-June period. New Delhi shipped in 7.27 million tonnes of oil from Iraq, while shipments from Saudi Arabia totalled 5.22 million tonnes, making it the third largest supplier.
NPCI bans UPI payments within same account
In a bid to curb fake and artificial payments made to receive cashbacks, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has decided to ban all payments within the same account from its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, from August 1, 2018.
The NPCI imposed the ban after observing three types of rather fake transactions. Namely, these include transactions between the same UPI accounts, payments made from a UPI ID to a bank account registered to the same UPI ID, and transactions between different UPI IDs connected to the same bank account.
The primary reason for banning such transactions is the rising number of fake or artificial transactions being made by customers greedy for cashbacks. With several apps within the UPI ecosystem offering myriad cashback offers, consumers are reportedly resorting to multiple and unnecessary transactions in a bid to avail such offers.
FACTFILE – National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
- NPCI an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
- It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit” Company under the provisions of Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act 2013), with an intention to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.
FACTFILE – Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
- UPI is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.
- It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience. Each Bank provides its own UPI App for Android, Windows and iOS mobile platform(s).
July 25
RBI may go for status quo in key policy rates, SBI research predict
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will go for status quo in key policy rates in its August policy review, the economic research department of country’s largest lender SBI said. The call is contrary to the expectations of a majority of analysts predicting for another hike given the rise in inflation lately, including domestic ratings agency Icra which came out with its expectation of a hike.
The only reason why the RBI may go for a hike will be “to satiate the self fulfilling prophecy of market expectations” of a rate hike to stem the rupee depreciation.
The note said risks to inflation, which rose to 5% for June, are “evenly balanced”, and hike in minimum support prices (MSP) for agri commodities would only “statistically push up” consumer price inflation by 0.73%.
It said the impact from MSP can also be negated by the decline in oil prices which have given a breather to the economy.
With concerns being raised on the surge in core inflation or the price rise excluding energy and food, it said the rise is not broad based and expected the number to come down to 4.5% by March from the 6.5% for the June quarter.
FACTFILE – Monetary Policy Committee of India
- RBI’s monetary policy committee will start its rate review meeting from July 30 and is expected to announce its call on August 1. It had voted unanimously for a rate hike of 0.25% at the last review in June.
- The Monetary Policy Committee of India is a committee of the Reserve Bank of India that is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India.
- The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least 4 times a year and it publishes its decisions after each such meeting.
- The committee comprises six members – three officials of the Reserve Bank of India and three external members nominated by the Government of India. They need to observe a “silent period” seven days before and after the rate decision for “utmost confidentiality”.
- The Governor of Reserve Bank of India is the chairperson ex officio of the committee. Decisions are taken by majority with the Governor having the casting vote in case of a tie.
- The current mandate of the committee is to maintain 4% annual inflation until March 31, 2021 with an upper tolerance of 6% and a lower tolerance of 2%.
- The committee was created in 2016 to bring transparency and accountability in fixing India’s Monetary Policy. Minutes are published after every meeting with each member explaining his opinions.
- The committee is answerable to the Government of India if the inflation exceeds the range prescribed for three consecutive months.
FDI into from Cayman Islands jumps 1,600%
The Cayman Islands, one of the most notorious tax havens in the world, has flooded 1,600% more money as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity into Indian market during the financial year 2017-18. Cayman Island recorded as the biggest growth in FDI equity inflow among the top ten FDI source countries including Mauritius and Singapore.
FDI from Cayman Islands shot up to $1.23 billion in fiscal 2017-18 from just $71.03 million in fiscal 2016-17. Parliament data revealed that Cayman Islands not only tops in terms of growth, but also is ahead in the absolute FDI terms from Germany, Hong Kong and UAE which are among the top 10 sources of India’s FDI.
Inflows from Germany were $1.14 billion in India followed by Hong Kong ($1.05 billion) and UAE ($1.04 billion) in 2017-18.
According to the report, Mauritius is India’s top FDI source with $15.94 billion, followed by Singapore with $12.18 billion.
FACTFILE – Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
- FDI is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country.
- The origin of the investment does not impact the definition, as an FDI: the investment may be made either “inorganically” by buying a company in the target country or “organically” by expanding the operations of an existing business in that country.
FACTFILE – The Cayman Islands
- The Cayman Islands is an autonomous British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea.
- The 264-square-kilometre (102-square-mile) territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located south of Cuba, northeast of Costa Rica, north of Panama, east of Mexico and northwest of Jamaica.
- The total population of the three islands is approximately 60,765. The capital city is George Town, situated on Grand Cayman.
- The Cayman Islands is considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles.
- The territory is often considered a major world offshore financial haven for international businesses and many wealthy individuals.
Assam Manohari gold tea sold at record Rs 39,001/ kg
The Manohari gold tea was sold at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre for whooping Rs 39,001 per kg which is highest ever record price of any Indian tea. The lot of orthodox tea was bought by Saurav Tea Traders in 24th July auction at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre.
It has fetched price of gold and will be helpful in reviving the tea industry in the long run. This tea is known for its variant characteristics of several health benefits, leaving a bright gold like liquor and shooting after taste.
The Manohari Tea Estate is situated at Dibrugarh and made by tea expert CK Parashar under the guidance of estate owner Rajan Lohia.
According to the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre, this is the highest price any tea has fetched in any auction centre all over the world.
Crimes against women up in 2016
Number of crimes recorded against women went up in 2016 to more than 3.3 lakh (338,954) from 3.2 lakh (329,243) in 2015, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
The data showed that crimes against Scheduled Castes also went up from over 38,000 (38,670) in 2015 to more than 40,000 (40,801) cases in 2016.
Several steps have been taken by the ministry to increase safety for women such as the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 24 hours helpline service, deployment of Special Mahila Police Volunteers, safe-city projects in sight cities, separate portal for Cyber-Crime against women and children and other schemes.
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been amended in 2015 to make it more effective.
The amendments include new offences, re-phrased existing sections, expanded scope of presumptions and institutional strengthening.
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