Finance/Business/Economy News
1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna made it to Guinness World Records
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna(PMJDY) on 20 January 2015 made it to Guinness Book of World Records.
Indian Banks opened 11.50 crore accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana in a short span of five months. The feat was commended by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Out of the total account opened, 5.68 crore accounts belonged to male and 5.82 crore account belonged to females. In percentage terms, 49.37 % accounts belonged to male while 50.63% accounts belonged to females.
6.84 crore accounts were opened in rural areas which is 59.49% of the total accounts opened while in urban area 4.66 crore accounts were opened which is 40.51%.
In August 2014, Indian Government set a target of opening up 10 crore accounts to pass on benefits of various social security schemes to the account holders.
Now, Government will transfer annual subsidy of around 51029 crore rupees directly to bank accounts of 15.45 crore beneficiaries, plugging system leakages.
PMJDY was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2014. The scheme was launched for opening the most bank accounts—about 1.80 crore— in one week as part of the financial inclusion campaign.
2. CII and Alibaba signed agreement to provide global platform to Indian SMEs
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and China's e-commerce giant Alibaba on 20 January 2015 signed an agreement to provide global platform to Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The agreement will facilitate greater economic engagement between Indian and Chinese SMEs.
Alibaba.com and CII will collaborate and develop various trade opportunities and online promotions to facilitate greater economic engagement between Indian and Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). CII and Alibaba.com will also work jointly towards providing trainings, promoting Industry clusters for SMEs in some key business sectors.
Alibaba will work with CII to run their e-certificates programmes in India. The agreement is a step forward in forging greater partnerships, engagement between Indian and global business especially among SMEs.
India's manufacturing and services sector will be able to achieve the objectives of building greater India-China SME engagement by benefiting with the expertise of Alibaba.com in the digital space.
3. ILO released report tittled World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015
International Labour Organisation (ILO) on 20 January 2015 released a report tittled World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015 (WESO).
The report warned that unemployment will continue to rise in the coming years, as the global economy has entered a new period combining slower growth, widening inequalities and turbulence.
By 2019, more than 212 million people will be out of work, up from the current 201 million.
The employment situation has improved in the United States and Japan, but remains difficult in a number of advanced economies, particularly in Europe.
News Related to India and Indian Polity
4. India is world’s second most trusting nation: survey
Moving up the ranks, India has emerged as the second most trusted country in the world in terms of faith reposed on its institutions even as globally trust levels have fallen, says a survey.
As the world’s rich and powerful gather in the Swiss resort of Davos, a study by public relations firm Edelman has found that general level of trust in institutions among college-educated people around the globe are at levels not seen since 2009 in many of the markets it surveyed.
Trust in institutions in India has improved sharply in 2015 with the country moving up three notches to the second place among 27 nations.
While the number of “truster” countries are at an all-time low of six in 2015 including UAE, India, China and Netherlands, the number of “distruster” countries has grown significantly to 13 including Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Italy.
Brazil, Malaysia, France and the US are among the 8 “neutral” nations as per the trust index, the survey said.
India, which last year saw the BJP-led NDA government storming to power at the Centre, stands tall.
According to the report, an “alarming evaporation of trust” has happened across all institutions, reaching the lows of the Great Recession in 2009.
Trust in government, business, media and NGOs in the general population is below 50 per cent in two-thirds of countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, it said.
5. Hindi Novel Farishta authored by Kapil Isapuri
Hindi novel Farishta was in news in the fourth week of January 2015 after its author Kapil Isapuri accused the makers of film PK of plagiarism. The book was published in 2013.
The novelist Isapuri approached the Delhi High Court and claimed that certain portions of the film like characters, expression of ideas and sequences were stolen from his novel Farishta and was used in the film.
He sought punitive damages of 1 crore rupees from the filmmakers along with the credit of his work.
6. Netherlands, Thailand inked MoU with Sikkim to help in development of floriculture
State government of Sikkim on 20 January 2015 inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with governments of the Netherlands and Thailand for development of floriculture in the state. This deal will help the state to reach out to the international market.
Features of the MoU
Governments of the Netherland and Thailand will provide expertise and technology to develop hybrid Sikkim’s Cymbidium and other orchids and also cut flowers
They will help the state in marketing and transportation of flowers
7. India signed an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons with Hong Kong
India on 20 January 2015 signed an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons with Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Under the agreement, the two sides will exchange sentenced prisoners in each other's jurisdiction. The agreement will mostly apply to Indian prisoners as there are very few Hong Kong residents in Indian prisons.
There are at present 93 Indians in Hong Kong jails. Only 17 of them are undergoing sentence for serious crimes like drug dealing while most of the remaining prisoners have been jailed for relatively minor offenses like immigration law violation.
The two sides have been engaged in discussions on this issue for a long time and it is only now that an agreement has been reached. The agreement will add to the existing framework of institutional cooperation between the two sides.
India has similar agreements on exchange of prisoners with several other countries but none with Mainland China.
8. NTCA released report on Status of Tigers in India, 2014
The latest report on Status of Tigers in India, 2014 showed 30 percent increase in tiger population to 2226 from 1706 in 2010. India now has 70 per cent of the tiger population in the world. The report was released by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The largest increase was recorded in the Western Ghats Landscape complex comprising Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Tamil Nadu with 776 tigers (up from 402 in 2006).
In 2006, the number of tigers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka were 76, 46 and 290 respectively. In 2014, the number of tiger increased to 229, 136 and 406 in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka respectively.
The Mudumalai-Bandipur-Nagarahole-Wayanad complex holds the world’s single largest tiger population currently estimated at over 570 tigers.
Goa now has a persistent tiger presence with three to five animals. The tiger population had increased in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Odisha reported a fall in number.
The Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala on 20 January 2015 won the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award. It was awarded for encouraging local public participation in managing the reserve.
International News
9. EU decided to lift ban on import of mangoes from India
European Union (EU) on 20 January 2015 decided to lift a seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India. The proposal to lift the ban was voted unanimously by the European Commission’s standing committee on plant health.
India will be able to start the export again after a new EU legislation is formally adopted and published by the European Commission.
The decision to lift the ban was made after India, the world’s biggest producer of Mangoes made significant improvements in plant health controls and certification system.
The Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office in India in September 2014 carried out an audit and showed significant improvements in the phytosanitary export certification system.
However, imports of four other products namely aubergines, bitter gourds, snake gourds and patra leaves, remain suspended subject to sustained improvements in plant pest control.
European Union issued a temporary ban on import of Indian mangoes on 1 May 2014 after fruit flies and other quarantine pests were found in 207 consignments. The consignment infested with fruit flies were found by authorities in Brussels. The ban was supposed to be effective till December 2015.