Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 April 2017

:: National ::

TRAI asked Reliance jio to withdraw summer surprise offer

• Reliance Jio decided to withdraw its ‘Jio Summer Surprise’ offer after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) advised the Mukesh Ambani-led firm to withdraw the three-month ‘complimentary’ offer.

• On March 31, Reliance Jio, which was expected to charge for its services from April 1, 2017, extended the deadline for buying Jio’s Rs. 303 plan until April 15, 2017.

• Subscribers who bought the Rs. 99 Prime membership till April 15, 2017, with a plan of Rs. 303 or higher, were eligible for the ‘Jio Summer Surprise’ offer and its subscribers were entitled to get free services for three months, starting April 15.

• Customers who have subscribed to the offer prior to its discontinuation will remain eligible for the offer.

• Jio, through its free offers since September 5, 2016, has notched up more than 100 million subscribers, of which 72 million were willing to pay for Jio services as of March 31, as they become ‘Prime’ customers.

• After the extension, existing players such as Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular moved the telecom tribunal against TRAI for letting Jio continue the free promotional offer beyond the stipulated 90 days.

• The arrival of Reliance Jio was followed by a consolidation in the industry, even as it spurred a fall in profits for incumbent operators.

• In March, Idea Cellular merged with the Indian unit of Vodafone Plc, making the entity India’s largest mobile telephony and data service provider.

• Earlier, in February, Bharti Airtel bought the assets of Telenor ASA’s India unit while in September last year Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications decided to merge with Aircel.

• The Cellular Operators Association of India had said the current tariff war in the market may not be “sustainable for long.”

West Bengal government is not yet on board on sharing of Teesta waters

• The West Bengal government is not yet fully on board on sharing of Teesta waters with Bangladesh.

• India remained committed to dialogue on Teesta with Bangladesh, but indicated that the high point of the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from April 7 to 10 is likely to be defence and security agreements.

• Sheikh Hasina was likely to hold talks with West Bengal CM during a special reception to be hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee at which the Chief Ministers of other States bordering Bangladesh have also been invited.

• The visit, which is expected to see 20 government-level agreements, is likely to be dominated by the bilateral defence pacts, which will address Bangladesh’s needs.

• A second agreement for $500 million will also be concluded to assist Bangladesh to source some of its military-grade equipment from India. A special MOU on training of Bangladesh military personnel is also included on the agenda.

• India’s support for the Ruppur nuclear power project of Bangladesh and joint efforts to counter radicalism in Bangladesh would be other key areas during the bilateral talks.

• India will also conclude a framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Bangladesh.

About 6.4 million deaths worldwide was caused by smoking in 2015

• A study has found that smoking caused one in ten deaths worldwide in 2015, half of them in just four countries: China, India, the United States and Russia.

• About 6.4 million deaths worldwide was caused by smoking in 2015 and 52.2% of them took place in China, India, U.S. and Russia, according to the latest estimates in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report.

• China, India, and Indonesia, the three leading countries with male smokers, accounted for 51·4% of the world’s male smokers in 2015. India has 11·2% of the world’s total smokers.

• Deaths attributable to smoking increased by 4.7% in 2015 from the figures in 1990 and smoking was rated as a bigger burden on health — moving from the third to the second highest cause of disability, the study said.

• The estimates are based on smoking habits in 195 countries and territories between 1990 and 2015.

• While Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines did not have significant reductions in the numbers of men smoking daily compared to 1990 figures, the Philippines, Germany, and India had no significant decreases in smoking among women for the same period.

• Worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, smoking prevalence decreased by almost a third — from 29.4% to 15.3%. But one in four men worldwide continue to smoke, as do one in 20 women.

• Population growth has led to an increase in the overall number of smokers from 870.4 million in 1990 to 933.1 million in 2015, the study said.

• The study said Pakistan, Panama and India stand out as three countries that have implemented a large number of tobacco control policies over the past decade and recorded marked declines in the prevalence of daily smoking.

• The study said the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), is necessary and vital for creating policy environment for more effective tobacco control worldwide but is not enough to fully address each country’s tobacco-control needs.

• The nations will need to both implement FCTC-stipulated measures and supplement such policies and programmes.

Department of Science and Technology initiated Cyber Physical Systems programme (Register and Login to read Full News)

Four Bills essential for the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax paased (Register and Login to read Full News)

Kirti Chakra posthumously conferred on Lance Havildar Prem Bahadur (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

North Korea says it is ready to fight with US

• North Korea is ready to deliver the “most ruthless blow” if provoked by the United States, its ambassador to Moscow said, after President Donald Trump pledged to keep building up defences against Pyongyang.

• “Our Army has already said that if there will be even the smallest provocation from the United States during exercises, we are ready to deliver the most ruthless blow,” Interfax quoted ambassador Kim Hyong-Jun as saying.

• Mr. Trumppledged to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the U.S. would “continue to strengthen its ability to deter and defend itself and its allies with the full range of its military capabilities,” a day after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan.

• North Korea’s Foreign Ministry assailed Washington for its tough talk and for an ongoing joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan.

:: Business and Economy ::

New H-1B guidelines could lead to more litigations

• The U.S. government’s new guidance for issuing H-1B visa, which allows technology firms to hire skilled overseas workers, may lead to increased litigation.

• USCIS, which oversees immigration into the U.S. and processes the applications, issued guidelines which said computer programmers need to prove that it is a specialised skill to be eligible.

• In a separate note, the agency said there would be increased scrutiny to detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse. The U.S. Department of Justice also cautioned employers seeking H-1B visas not to discriminate against U.S. workers, warning strict action.

• Indian IT firms have been one of the biggest users of the H-1B visa programme.

RBI kept the key policy rate, the repo rate, unchanged

• The Reserve Bank of India kept the key policy rate, the repo rate, unchanged in the first bimonthly policy review of 2017-18 but narrowed the policy corridor by 25 bps by raising the reverse repo rate to 6%, from 5.75%.

• All six members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) — which decides interest rates — voted in favour of the decision.

• The central bank said the policy decision was consistent with the neutral policy stance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for retail inflation, which is 4%.

• The central bank said the future course of monetary policy would largely depend on incoming data on how macroeconomic conditions are evolving.

• While the repo rate action was in line with market expectations, the Governor’s ‘hawkish’ tone disappointed bond traders who were expecting a softer tone.

• Yield on the 10-year benchmark bond hardened to 6.77% as compared with its previous close of 6.65%.

• RBI said the path to achieving 4% inflation would be challenging.

• The central bank has set its inflation projection to an average of 4.5% in the first half of 2017-18 and 5% in the second half, while keeping its GVA growth projection unchanged at 7.4% for FY18 as compared with 6.7% in FY17.

• The central bank said surplus liquidity in the banking system had fallen from close to Rs. 8 lakh crore in January to Rs. 4.8 lakh crore in March.

• It also said it had proposed a standing deposit facility to the government in November 2015, approval for which was still awaited.

• SDF is a mechanism to drain surplus cash at a rate lower than the repo rate without the need for any collateral.

• Analysts said there were upside risks to the 4% target and there was a possibility of an increase in the cash reserve ratio, going forward.

• Though RBI has not reduced the repo rate, banks still have scope to cut lending rates, the central bank said.

• It added that the small savings rates should also be lowered as it noted that these rates are 61-95 bps higher compared with the ‘what-if’ formula.

Centre to secure legislative backing for the Rail Development Authority (Register and Login to read Full News)

Centre survey shows more than 60% faces call drop (Register and Login to read Full News)

Click Here for Archive

Half Yearly Current Affairs for UPSC IAS (Pre.) Exam

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for IAS Exam

Buy Printed Study Material for IAS Pre General Studies (Paper-1)

Join Online Test Series for IAS (Pre.) Exam