Daily Current Affairs: 1st-3rd January 2015 1) GDP growth expected to be “much better” in 2015/16 The economy is expected to grow “much better” in 2015/16 as per the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The Indian economy grew by 5.3 percent in the September quarter from a year earlier, and is expected to grow 5.5 percent in the current financial year that ends on March 31. It is for the first time after two successive years the economic growth will be over 5 percent. ________________________________________ 2) IFCI to become Government Company The government will infuse Rs. 60 crore in IFCI Ltd. to make it a Government Company. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, approved the infusion of RS. 60 crore by way of acquisition of preference shares from existing share holder(s) in Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) Ltd. to make it a Government company. Background Industrial Finance Corporation of India was set up in 1948 as a Statutory Corporation under the Industrial Finance Corporation Act, 1948. IFCI Ltd was registered under the Companies Act, 1956 on 31.03.1993. The current shareholding of Government of India in IFCI is 47.93 percent. Therefore, IFCI is not a Government Company as its shareholding is less than 51 as per section 2(45) of the Companies Act, 2013. A contribution of Rs. 60 crore to the capital of the company would raise the shareholding of the Government to 51 percent. ________________________________________ 3) Reform in Land Acquisition Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act- 2013, Amended. The Government eased the land-acquisition rules in sectors like power, housing and defence to kick-start stalled projects. Restrictions on buying land, as per the law made by the last Congress government, are among barriers holding up projects worth almost $300 billion. Several states Revenue Ministers had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the law enacted in January. Two major amendments are that the projects in defence, rural electrification, rural housing and industrial corridors would not need to seek the consent of 80 percent of the affected landowners as mandated and secondly such projects will also be exempted from holding a social impact study. However the compensation to landholders will stay at four times the market price.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:02:21 +0000
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