Finance/Business/Economy News
1. Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojna made it to Guinness World Records
Dhan Yojna made it to Guinness World Records
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna(PMJDY) on 20 January 2015
made it to Guinness Book of World Records. - Indian Banks opened 11.50 crore accounts under the
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana in a short span of five months. The feat was
commended by the Guinness Book of World Records. - Out of the total account opened, 5.68 crore accounts
belonged to male and 5.82 crore account belonged to females. In percentage
terms, 49.37 % accounts belonged to male while 50.63% accounts belonged to
females. - 6.84 crore accounts were opened in rural areas which is
59.49% of the total accounts opened
while in urban area 4.66 crore accounts
were opened which is 40.51%. - In August 2014, Indian Government set a target of opening
up 10 crore accounts to pass on benefits of various social security schemes to
the account holders. - Now, Government will transfer annual subsidy of around
51029 crore rupees directly to bank accounts of 15.45 crore beneficiaries,
plugging system leakages. - PMJDY was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
August 2014. The scheme was launched for opening the most bank accounts—about
1.80 crore— in one week as part of the financial inclusion campaign.
2. CII and Alibaba
signed agreement to provide global platform to Indian SMEs
signed agreement to provide global platform to Indian SMEs
- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and China’s
e-commerce giant Alibaba on 20 January 2015 signed an agreement to provide
global platform to Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). - The agreement will facilitate greater economic engagement
between Indian and Chinese SMEs. - Alibaba.com and CII will collaborate and develop various
trade opportunities and online promotions to facilitate greater economic
engagement between Indian and Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). CII
and Alibaba.com will also work jointly towards providing trainings, promoting
Industry clusters for SMEs in some key business sectors. - Alibaba will work with CII to run their e-certificates
programmes in India. The agreement is a step forward in forging greater
partnerships, engagement between Indian and global business especially among
SMEs. - India’s manufacturing and services sector will be able to
achieve the objectives of building greater India-China SME engagement by
benefiting with the expertise of Alibaba.com in the digital space.
3. ILO released report
tittled World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015
tittled World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015
- International Labour Organisation (ILO) on 20 January
2015 released a report tittled World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends
2015 (WESO). - The report warned that unemployment will continue to rise
in the coming years, as the global economy has entered a new period combining
slower growth, widening inequalities and turbulence. - By 2019, more than 212 million people will be out of
work, up from the current 201 million. - The employment situation has improved in the United States
and Japan, but remains difficult in a number of advanced economies,
particularly in Europe.
News Related to India and Indian Polity
4. India is world’s second most trusting
nation: survey
nation: survey
- Moving up
the ranks, India has emerged as the second most trusted country in the world in
terms of faith reposed on its institutions even as globally trust levels have
fallen, says a survey. - As the
world’s rich and powerful gather in the Swiss resort of Davos, a study by
public relations firm Edelman has found that general level of trust in
institutions among college-educated people around the globe are at levels not
seen since 2009 in many of the markets it surveyed. - Trust in
institutions in India has improved sharply in 2015 with the country moving up
three notches to the second place among 27 nations. - While the
number of “truster” countries are at an all-time low of six in 2015 including
UAE, India, China and Netherlands, the number of “distruster” countries has
grown significantly to 13 including Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa and
Italy. - Brazil,
Malaysia, France and the US are among the 8 “neutral” nations as per the trust
index, the survey said. - India,
which last year saw the BJP-led NDA government storming to power at the Centre,
stands tall. - According
to the report, an “alarming evaporation of trust” has happened across all
institutions, reaching the lows of the Great Recession in 2009. - Trust in
government, business, media and NGOs in the general population is below 50 per
cent in two-thirds of countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, it said.
5. Hindi Novel Farishta authored by Kapil
Isapuri
Isapuri
- Hindi
novel Farishta was in news in the fourth week of January 2015 after its author
Kapil Isapuri accused the makers of film PK of plagiarism. The book was
published in 2013. - The
novelist Isapuri approached the Delhi High Court and claimed that certain
portions of the film like characters, expression of ideas and sequences were
stolen from his novel Farishta and was used in the film. - He sought
punitive damages of 1 crore rupees from the filmmakers along with the credit of
his work.
6. Netherlands, Thailand inked MoU with
Sikkim to help in development of floriculture
Sikkim to help in development of floriculture
- State
government of Sikkim on 20 January 2015 inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with governments of the Netherlands and Thailand for development of
floriculture in the state. This deal will help the state to reach out to the
international market.
Features of the MoU
- Governments
of the Netherland and Thailand will provide expertise and technology to develop
hybrid Sikkim’s Cymbidium and other orchids and also cut flowers - They will
help the state in marketing and transportation of flowers
7. India signed an agreement on transfer of
sentenced persons with Hong Kong
sentenced persons with Hong Kong
- India on
20 January 2015 signed an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons with Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region. - Under the
agreement, the two sides will exchange sentenced prisoners in each other’s
jurisdiction. The agreement will mostly apply to Indian prisoners as there are
very few Hong Kong residents in Indian prisons. - There are
at present 93 Indians in Hong Kong jails. Only 17 of them are undergoing
sentence for serious crimes like drug dealing while most of the remaining
prisoners have been jailed for relatively minor offenses like immigration law
violation. - The two
sides have been engaged in discussions on this issue for a long time and it is
only now that an agreement has been reached. The agreement will add to the
existing framework of institutional cooperation between the two sides. - India has
similar agreements on exchange of prisoners with several other countries but
none with Mainland China.
8. NTCA released report on Status of Tigers
in India, 2014
in India, 2014
- The latest
report on Status of Tigers in India, 2014 showed 30 percent increase in tiger
population to 2226 from 1706 in 2010. India now has 70 per cent of the tiger
population in the world. The report was released by National Tiger Conservation
Authority (NTCA). - The
largest increase was recorded in the Western Ghats Landscape complex comprising
Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Tamil Nadu
with 776 tigers (up from 402 in 2006). - In 2006,
the number of tigers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka were 76, 46 and 290 respectively.
In 2014, the number of tiger increased to 229, 136 and 406 in Tamil Nadu,
Kerala and Karnataka respectively. - The
Mudumalai-Bandipur-Nagarahole-Wayanad complex holds the world’s single largest
tiger population currently estimated at over 570 tigers. - Goa now
has a persistent tiger presence with three to five animals. The tiger
population had increased in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
and Kerala. Odisha reported a fall in number. - The
Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala on 20 January 2015 won the National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award. It was awarded for encouraging
local public participation in managing the reserve.
International News
9. EU decided to lift
ban on import of mangoes from India
ban on import of mangoes from India
- European Union (EU) on 20 January 2015 decided to lift a
seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India. The proposal to lift
the ban was voted unanimously by the European Commission’s standing committee
on plant health. - India will be able to start the export again after a new
EU legislation is formally adopted and published by the European Commission. - The decision to lift the ban was made after India, the
world’s biggest producer of Mangoes made significant improvements in plant
health controls and certification system. - The Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office in India in
September 2014 carried out an audit and showed significant improvements in the
phytosanitary export certification system. - However, imports of four other products namely
aubergines, bitter gourds, snake gourds and patra leaves, remain suspended
subject to sustained improvements in plant pest control. - European Union issued a temporary ban on import of Indian
mangoes on 1 May 2014 after fruit flies and other quarantine pests were found
in 207 consignments. The consignment infested with fruit flies were found by
authorities in Brussels. The ban was supposed to be effective till December
2015.
This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 12:10 pm