6 January 2015 Current Affairs 1) On 5 January 2015 who was named as the first Vice-Chairman of the newly announced NITI Aayog (Policy Commission), which replaced Planning Commission? – Arvind Panagariya Explanation: Arvind Panagariya is an eminent free market economist and has been an Economics professor at Columbia University in New York. He, as vice chairman, would have a pivotal role in coordinating economic strategy and hold cabinet rank. Economist Bibek Debroy along with former secretary of defence research and development V.K. Saraswat were named as the other full-time members of the commission. NITI Aayog (the new commission) was set up to modernise economic strategy after decades of Soviet-style central planning. Panagariya’s market-friendly, pro-growth economics has helped shape Modi’s outlook and is seen by many as an attack on overbearing labour regulations and state-run companies. 2) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 January 2015 launched a scheme for distribution of LED bulbs in which city under which consumers will be able to request for LED bulbs as replacement for ordinary bulbs and CFL bulbs? – Delhi Explanation: Under the scheme, consumers in Delhi will be able to request for LED bulbs under the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) through a new website launched by Prime Minister on the same day. Consumers can register for this scheme either through the website or by sending an SMS to a designated number. Under the programme, consumers will pay Rs. 130 per LED bulb as compared to market prices, which range from Rs. 350 to Rs. 600. LED bulbs, which have longer lives, are considered to be highly energy efficient, and environmentally friendly. In general, LED bulbs are expected to have a life 50 times longer than ordinary bulbs and 8-10 times longer than CFLs. It was estimated that 7,000 units of electricity could be saved by replacing ordinary bulbs in South Block, the central govt. office in Delhi. 3) What major restrictions on willful defaulters were imposed by Indian capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 5 January 2015? - Companies in which a promoter, director or subsidiary is declared a wilful defaulter will not be allowed to issue equity, debt securities, or non-convertible redeemable preference shares - Wilful defaulters will not be allowed to make an offer to take over a listed company in India, but will be allowed to make a counter-offer in case they are the target of a hostile takeover Explanation: Under law wilful defaulters are classified as companies or individuals who deliberately thwart repayment of dues to lenders. The SEBI proposals come as part of a concerted effort by Indian policymakers to tackle the bad loans that are hurting profitability at state-run banks, where stressed loans account for 12.9% of loans compared with 4.4% at private sector lenders, according to the data issued by the RBI. The RBI last year also passed tougher rules on wilful defaulters, including making companies that guarantee loan obligations of their units responsible if the subsidiary is declared a wilful defaulter. 4) The Union Cabinet on 5 January 2015 approved the largest ever telecom spectrum auction under which under which the government will sell 380.75 megahertz of second generation (2G) spectrum in three bands. What is the total value that govt. expects to fetch from this auction? – Rs. 64,840 crore Explanation: The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a reserve price of Rs. 3646 crore pan-India per MHz in 800 MHz, Rs. 3980 crore for 900 MHz band pan India excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and J&K; Rs. 2191 crore pan India in 1800 MHz band. 2100 MHz may also be put on auction simultaneously after Defence Ministry vacates it. Proceeds from this year’s auction will help government reach its fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP. Government had garnered about Rs. 62,162 crore from the last auction in February 2014. 5) Who was appointed as the new Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court on 5 January 2015 by the President? – Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir Explanation: Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir was the senior-most judge of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court. He took place of Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar who superannuated. This appointment was done by the President in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 100 of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir. 6) Andhra Bank, which of-late was facing threat of merger in view of high non-performing assets (NPAs) from big corporate clients, especially from the infrastructure sector, almost got a new lease of life recently and there is no merger threat for the bank for now. Why this threat has evaporated? – Presently no bank is in a position to support another bank in view of the prevailing economic conditions Explanation: The issue of mergers came up for discussion in the two-day bankers meet (“Gyan Sangam”) held in Pune between 2 and 3 January 2015. It emerged that going by the prevailing situations no bank is in a position to support other by acquiring stake or by some other similar manner. This, in effect, gives a new lease of life for Andhra Bank, the only public sector bank from Andhra Pradesh. The Government is set to grant a capital of about Rs. 200- 300 crore. Andhra Bank with a 5.99% non-performing assets (NPAs) in September 2014, will continue to focus on retail and small and medium enterprises. Once the loan-waiver completes in Andhra Pradesh, it hopes to have agriculture portfolio back in the prime. 7) Pakistan cancelled this year’s first anti-polio campaign which was to start from 5 January 2015. What was the reason for this? – Security reasons and threat perceptions Explanation: The anti-polio drive was to begin on 5 January in some areas of the Rawalpindi district, the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and parts of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. However the drive was rescheduled to 19 January 2015 due to threat perceptions. Meanwhile a polio worker was attacked in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on 5 January. The year 2014 has been the toughest year for Pakistan’s anti-polio programme as the number of confirmed cases reached 297, the highest in the country since 1999. During the past six months, Pakistan recorded the highest number of polio cases followed by Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 08:03:00 +0000