Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 1 July 2017

Daily Current Affairs for IAS Exams

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 1 July 2017

::National::

Indigenously developed molecular diagnostic test for TB

A cheaper, indigenously developed molecular diagnostic test for drug-sensitive and rifampicin-resistant TB is entering the final leg of performance validation and operational feasibility testing by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
ICMR plans to take the test to Public Health Centres, which currently use smear samples to test for TB, with a sensitivity level of only 50%, which is roughly half of what the newer method has achieved.
The diagnostic tool, Truenat MTB, which uses sputum samples for diagnosing TB is being tested in the field in 100 designated microscopy centres in 50 districts in 10 States.
The one-month study will look at nearly 18,000 samples and the results are expected next month. The diagnostic tool has already been installed in 80% of designated microscopy centres for testing.
Validation carried by ICMR at four sites in India tested nearly 5,000 samples from 2,500 patients. The samples were also tested for resistance to the drug rifampicin and the results have been encouraging.
Based on the results of a preliminary test carried out on 191 patient samples in 2013 , the sensitivity (ability of a test to correctly identify those with the disease) of Truenat MTB was found to be over 91% and the specificity was 100%.
The battery-operated, hand-held machine takes about 25 minutes for DNA extraction and another 35 minutes for diagnosing TB. It takes an additional one hour for testing rifampicin resistance.
Compared with a one ml of sample needed when GeneXpert, a molecular test developed in the U.S., is used, only about 0.5 ml is required for a test with Truenat MTB.
According to Dr. Gomathi, the main advantage of Truenat MTB over GeneXpert is that only when samples are tested positive for TB will tests for rifampicin resistance be carried out.
While GeneXpert is a closed cartilage system, Truenat MTB is an open system — the DNA is first extracted and the testing is carried out using a portion of that DNA.

R.K. Pachnanda, took over as the 29th ITBP chief

Amid ongoing tensions with the Chinese Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the main force deployed along the China border, got a new chief.
R.K. Pachnanda, a 1983-batch IPS officer of the West Bengal cadre, took over as the 29th ITBP chief.Prior to the new posting, he was Director-General, National Disaster Response Force.
Mr. Pachnanda has served in major Central paramilitary forces and organisations, including the CRPF, the CISF, the BSF, the SPG and the CBI.
The ITBP is a 90,000-strong force that primarily guards the 3,488-km India-China border located at freezing heights of up to 18,700 ft in the upper Himalayas.
In some areas such as Nathu La in Sikkim, the troops are posted a few kilometres behind the Army.

Goods and Services tax started in India

One of the key sticking points thwarting consensus in the Goods and Services Council over the course of its meetings in 2016 was the compensation the Centre would have to pay States for any losses they might incur due to the implementation of the new indirect tax regime.
The GST is a destination-based tax, and as such is viewed as being to the advantage of the consuming States and to the detriment of the producing States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, and Karnataka.
These States had raised objections to the implementation of GST, forcing the Centre to agree to a formula for compensating them in the event of a loss of revenue.
The 14th FC advised the Centre to provide 100% compensation to States for their revenue loss after implementation of GST for the first three years. The fourth year would bring 75% compensation, and the fifth year 50% compensation.
This, however, did not pacify the States who demanded full compensation for five years. The Centre agreed to this demand in December 2016, settling one of the most contentious issues delaying GST.
The next question, however, was how the Centre was going to finance this compensation package, which experts estimated could be as much as Rs. 55,000 crore.
The GST, once implemented, will subsume almost all the cesses levied at the moment, including Swachh Bharat Cess and Krishi Kalyan Cess. Other cesses like the education cess on imported goods and the cess on crude oil will remain under GST.
However, the government needs extra revenue to compensate the States, and so the GST Council decided to impose additional cesses for five years on certain goods over and above the highest tax bracket of 28%.
These goods on which cess will be levied include tobacco products, coal, motor vehicles, which include all types of cars, personal aircraft, and yachts.
Hours prior to the official launch, the GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley slashed the tax rate on fertilizers from 12% to 5% and tractor parts from 28% to 18%, in a bid to make the new tax regime more farmer-friendly.
The Council also approved additional rules for GST implementation, the Finance Minister said, while the Finance Ministry said on its Twitter handle that the GST rate on ‘exclusive parts of tractors’ has been reduced from 28% to 18%.
Meanwhile, a last-ditch attempt by Jammu and Kashmir to pass the necessary legislation to enable a simultaneous rollout of GST with the rest of the country failed, as no consensus could be reached. A special session of the J&K Assembly will be held from July 4 to discuss the issue.
Mr. Jaitley had earlier warned the State about the adverse impact on its consumers as well as businesses if they fail to roll out GST in sync with the other States.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will ease inflation, make tax avoidance difficult and boost GDP growth.
Addressing the midnight launch event of the GST in the Central Hall of Parliament, Mr. Jaitley said the implementation of the landmark unified tax should be seen as the beginning of a new journey that will expand the country’s economic horizon.
India is making history with the launch of GST, which is the biggest and most ambitious tax and economic reform in its history, the Finance Minister said.
Terming GST as an important achievement, Mr Jaitley said not only will India write a new destiny, the new tax regime would also strengthen federalism.
He appreciated the efforts of all Members of Parliament, State finance ministers and officials in making GST a reality when many had expressed doubts over its roll out from July 1.

::International::

India offers help to Sri Lanka’s Northern Province

India has expressed willingness to further partner Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial administration in development initiatives, emphasising the need for a clear economic programme identifying specific areas.
Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu called on Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in Jaffna, the former’s first visit to the Tamil-majority north after assuming charge in Colombo in January.
During the meeting, Mr. Sandhu underscored economic development for the war-affected areas and said India was willing to assist in projects, sources in Jaffna.
Mr. Sandhu reportedly told the Chief Minister that while political challenges may come from time to time, continued work on economic development was important, according to a source in Jaffna.
India has been involved in key infrastructure projects in the north in the post-war years, building 46,000 homes in the island’s north and east and helping restore the railway line from Omanthai to Pallai, with a $800 million line of credit.
These are part of India’s $2.6 billion commitment for development assistance to Sri Lanka, including $390 million as grants, for projects all over the island.
Currently, the Indian side appears keen on working with the Northern Provincial Council, on economic development, skills training and job creation.

::Business and Economy::

TRAI wants reduction in the GST rate to 5%

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has pitched for a reduction in the GST rate for telecom services to 5% from the current 18% decided by the GST Council, and recommended a cut in levies such as licence fee and spectrum usage charges.
The recommendations follow a meeting between the regulator and telcos on June 15 to discuss the financial health of the industry that is currently sitting on a debt of Rs. 4.6 lakh crore.
Ms. Sundararajan is also the chairperson of Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision-making body in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
TRAI has said that DoT “may consider actively taking” up with the Ministry of Finance the issue of reduction in GST rate from 18% to a flat 5% by declaring the telecom sector as core infrastructure industry and economy enabler in India.
TRAI had earlier recommended reducing USO levy to 3% of the adjusted gross revenue from the current 5%. With this reduction, the applicable uniform rate of licence fee would become 6% from the present 8% of the adjusted gross revenue.
TRAI also recommended a relaxation in the payout for auctioned spectrum. At present, operators pay 25% or 33% as upfront charges of total spectrum price and the remaining is paid over a ten-year period after a moratorium of two years.
For spectrum payments in the 700/800/900/2100/2300/2500 MHz bands, TRAI has suggested 10% of the bid amount as initial payment with the remaining payment spread over 18 years (18 equal instalments with interest).

Banks’ share in the flow of credit declined sharply to 38%

With banks increasingly ‘retrenching’ credit, mutual funds, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and capital markets have partly offset the corporate sector’s debt requirement.
But such alternative sources of funding cannot replace bank loans, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its biannual Financial Stability Report (FSR) released.
According to latest data, banks’ share in the flow of credit, which was about 50% in 2015-16, declined sharply to 38% in 2016-17.
RBI said the aggregate flow of resources to the commercial sector was not affected owing to a sharp increase in private placements of debt by non-financial entities and net issuance of commercial papers (CPs).
The report noted that during 2016-17, while deposit growth of scheduled commercial banks picked up, credit growth remained sluggish, putting pressure on net interest income (NII), particularly of the public sector banks (PSBs).
While profitability ratios of such banks showed a marginal increase, public sector banks continued to show a negative return on assets (RoA).
On asset quality, latest data showed that while gross NPAs of the banking sector had increased in March 2017 compared with September 2016, overall stress declined due to reduction in restructured standard advances.
Gross non-performing advances (GNPAs) ratio of all banks rose from 9.2% in September 2016 to 9.6% in March 2017. The net non-performing advances ratio of banks increased marginally from 5.4% in September 2016 to 5.5% in March 2017.
During the same period, the stressed advances ratio declined from 12.3% to 12% due to a fall in restructured standard advances.

India's infrastructure output grows at 3.6%

Infrastructure output grew 3.6% in May, higher than the 2.8% growth recorded in April on a year-on-year basis, official data released.
The growth in output of core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — was lower than 5.2% registered in May last year.
Five of the eight industries, except coal, fertilisers and steel, witnessed a sequential improvement in growth.
The output of coal and fertilisers contracted by 3.3% and 6.5% in May respectively compared to the same month last year.
Cement output grew 1.8% after witnessing a continuous spell of contraction in the previous five months reflecting green shoots in the construction sector.
Electricity output registered a robust growth of 6.4% in May compared with 5.4% in April and 6.2% in May last year. The eight core industries constitute 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).