Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 7 July 2017

Daily Current Affairs for IAS Exams

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 7 July 2017

::National::

No bilateral meeting between PM Modi and President Xi at G20

With India and China asserting that no bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping had been scheduled on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Germany.
Also China stepped up its verbal assault on India, warning it of ‘serious consequences’ if it did not withdraw its troops.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the necessary information would be shared in a timely manner, when asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting of the leaders at the BRICS event.
It is unusual for either country to announce that no bilateral meeting had been scheduled as both leaders have met in several multilateral meetings in the last three years.
The MEA’s confirmation about not having a bilateral meeting came despite earlier reports that the Indian and Chinese leaders would meet on the sidelines of the summit in Hamburg.
He also warned at a daily news briefing in Beijing that India must pull back its forces to its side of the border in order “to avoid there being an even more serious situation, creating even more serious consequences.”
The ongoing tension erupted over Chinese construction in the Doklam area at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi last met in Astana on June 9 during the summit of the SCO. where Mr. Xi had described the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra as a positive aspect of ties.
However, following the Doklam row the pilgrimage on the Sikkim route was stopped as the Chinese refused to allow Indian pilgrims to use the Nathu La pass.

NABARD has cautioned of recommending to RBI to cancel licence of SDCC

NABARD has cautioned of recommending to RBI to cancel the banking licence of Shivamogga District Cooperative Central (SDCC) Bank for its failure to comply with various provisions of The Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
This includes maintenance of minimum paid-up capital, capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR), and taming non-performing assets (NPA).
A scam on issuance of gold loan at SDCC Bank was unearthed by the police in July 2014. It was alleged that loan was issued for 778 accounts by mortgaging fake gold owing to which bank suffered loss of Rs. 61.59 crore.
In March 2016, NABARD conducted an inspection on the financial position of SDCC Bank, that revealed that the real or exchangeable value of the bank was at Rs. (-)467.52 lakh.
According to the inspection report, the present figure of exchangeable value indicated that the bank had failed to maintain minimum paid-up capital and reserves as per Section 11 of the Act.
Even, CRAR was at (-)1.29%. According to the RBI directions, the minimum CRAR should be at 7%.
It was also found that the high level of NPA with SDCC Bank that is at 12% had resulted in erosion of value of other assets. NABARD blamed the loss suffered owing to the 2014 scam as the reason for high level of NPA.

Centre tells SC that they are trying everything to help farmers

The Centre told the Supreme Court that the increasing incidence of suicide by distressed farmers was a “terrible tragedy” and it was doing “all in its powers” to tide over the agrarian crisis.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal painstakingly detailed a slew of measures and schemes the government had either proposed or launched to resolve the economic distress of farmers. He submitted that the NITI Aayog was addressing the issue of farmers’ suicides.
The court agreed with Mr. Venugopal that the “issue is serious and cannot be dealt with overnight.”
It was necessary to give the government some time to implement its welfare schemes, which ranged from crop insurance to agricultural credit and rescheduling of loans in case of crop failure.
The court gave the government a six-month window to work its schemes before re-visiting the issue at the next hearing.
The court, in its orders, recorded the government’s submissions that 5.34 crore farmers, constituting 40%, had already been covered by the welfare schemes and work was on to enhance the figure to 50% by 2018-19. Thirty per cent of the crops too were secured.
Mr. Venugopal said efforts were on to bring more farmers into the institutional fold by ensuring availability of crop loans through commercial, cooperative and regional rural banks.
ATM-enabled Kisan Credit cards had been introduced to enable farmers to purchase raw materials and draw cash.
RBI had allowed banks to take a lenient view on rescheduling of loans if the crop loss was more than 33%. He said the government ultimately intended to “create a single unified market for the country.”
The government said it was drafting a Model Act called ‘State/UT Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act of 2017’ to ensure multiple market channels and prevent monopolies.
The Attorney General detailed other programmes like National Food Security Mission, National Mission for Oilseed and Oil Palm, Mission of Integrated Development for Horticulture, National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology.

Govt has decided to do away with the no-detention policy

The government has decided to do away with the no-detention policy for students from the next academic session, Union Minister said.
The decision was taken following representation from most of the States as they said the standard of education had deteriorated because of the policy.
Under the Right to Education Act, 2009, no child admitted to a school will be held back in any class or expelled till the completion of elementary education covering Classes 1 to 8.
“There has been a unanimous decision of withdrawing the no-detention policy from the Right to Education Act 2009,” the Minister of State for HRD said here.

::International::

U.S. President hopes for China’s help to deal with North Korea

U.S. President Donald Trump’s hopes for China’s help with restraining North Korea appear to have gone nowhere, with the two sides growing further apart as their approaches and concerns diverge.
China shows no sign of caving to U.S. pressure to tighten the screws on North Korea, while the North’s recent missile tests have done little to rattle Beijing, in contrast to the anxiety sparked in Washington.
China’s bottom line continues to hold fast — No to any measures that might topple Kim Jong-un’s regime.
Washington’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley warned that China’s trade with the U.S. could suffer if it didn’t help following North Korea’s successful launch of its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
The U.S. has already blacklisted one Chinese bank accused of illicit dealings with North Korea and is penalizing a Chinese shipping company and two Chinese individuals accused of facilitating illegal activities by the North.

::Business and Economy::

MRP to be sole price decider from Jan. 1

From January 1, 2018, the price of a packaged good would no longer depend on where you bought it — be it a local kirana store, a mall, a five-star hotel or an airport.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry has amended the rules that govern packaged commodities to this effect.
As per the amended Legal Metrology rules for packaged commodities, which will come into effect from the next calendar year, the Centre has clarified that the retail sale price shall be the MRP inclusive of all taxes, with the provision to round off the price to the nearest rupee or 50 paise.
Further, to curb the possibility of any vendor charging differential prices for the same product, a new legal provision has been inserted that no person shall declare different MRPs on an identical pre-packed commodity.
The new norms also require sellers to enhance the size of letters and numerals for making declarations about the packaged goods, such as their “best before date, month and year” to indicate their shelf life.
Interestingly, for e-commerce marketplaces, declaring the month and year in which a commodity is manufactured or packed is not mandatory and if they fulfill certain conditions, they will not be held liable for whether the declarations were correct or incorrect.

Asia Africa Growth Corridor will ensure sustainability through respect for sovereignty

The guiding principles of the Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), initiated by India with the backing of Japan, will be to ensure sustainability through respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
As well as it will try to boost regional economic connectivity through the use of responsible debt financing practices.
The AAGC is seen as India and Japan’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative that plans to link Asia, Europe and later even Africa by spending trillions of dollars in building infrastructure.
India and Japan were likely to soon reach out to the African governments, think tanks, NGOs and companies to ensure that the action plan of the AAGC was fine-tuned and successfully implemented.