Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 07 June 2016

:: National ::

EC wants amendment to Representation of the people act

The Election Commission of India has written to the Centre seeking amendment to the Representation of the People Act to confer specific powers on the election watchdog to postpone or countermand polls based on evidence that money power was used to influence voters.
In a letter to the Legislative Secretary in the Law Ministry, the Commission said a new clause ‘58 B’ be inserted in the Act to allow adjournment or countermanding of election in the affected polling areas on the grounds of use of money power.
The provision would also empower the Commission to re-schedule the elections in such areas.
The Commission said in Clause 58 A and the proposed provision 58 B, the expression “countermand the election” would mean ab initio rescinding of the entire electoral process in the constituency.
Clause 58 A empowers the Election Commission to cancel polls only if there is an evidence of booth-capturing or use of muscle power to influence the outcome of elections.

Switzerland supports India’s bid to NSG

In a major boost to its diplomatic push for Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership, Indiamanaged to win crucial support from Switzerland ahead of a key meeting of the 48-nation bloc.
Two countries also agreed to step up cooperation in unearthing black money stashed by Indians in banks in that country.
Swiss President announced his country’s support for India’s membership to the elite NSG after holding comprehensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of bilateral and global issues.
Switzerland is a key member of the NSG and its support for India’s bid for membership is seen as crucial in the backdrop of China harping on the need for consensus as India was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In his remarks, the Prime Minister thanked the Swiss President for Switzerland’s “understanding and support” for India’s membership of the NSG.
The U.S. and many other NSG member countries have supported India’s inclusion, based on its non-proliferation track record.
The NSG works under the principle of unanimity and even one country’s vote against India will scuttle its bid.

:: International ::

Former Maldives President jailed for 10 years

Former Maldives Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb was jailed for 10 years on on a terrorism charge, weeks after ex-leader Mohamed Nasheed was granted asylum in Britain.
With Adeeb’s sentencing, almost all of President Abdulla Yameen’s key rivals are either in jail or living in exile.
A court official said the case record will not be released to the public as it was considered a matter affecting national security.
Adeeb (34), once a close confidant of Mr. Yameen, had enjoyed a meteoric rise until he was dramatically impeached in November after being accused of trying to assassinate his boss by blowing up his speedboat.
Mr. Yameen was unhurt in the explosion last September, but his wife and two others were injured. A trial related to those allegations is yet to conclude.
He was jailed for 12 years after being tried under a controversial 1990 anti-terrorism law for allegedly inciting unrest during an anti-government rally in May 2015 on the capital island.

International Atomic Energy Agency worried about North Korea

North Korea may have reactivated a plant for reprocessing plutonium for use in nuclear weapons, the UN atomic watchdog said, citing satellite imagery.
North Korea mothballed the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it after its third nuclear test in 2013.
The director of U.S. National Intelligence, James Clapper, warned in February that the North could begin recovering plutonium from the reactor’s spent fuel “within a matter of weeks to months”.

:: India and World ::

India and Switzerland agreed to tackle the problem of black money

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President agreed to expand cooperation in tackling the problem of Indians stashing black money in Swiss banks besides resolving to step up ties in areas of trade, investment and vocational training.
Speaking after talks between the two leaders, Mr. Modi said both the sides had also agreed to support each other for their respective bids for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
Indian tax authorities are probing cases of tax evasion and black money stashed abroad.
Referring to energy security, Mr. Modi said reliance on renewable energy, rather than on fossil fuels would be India’s “guiding motto“.
“I invite the Swiss companies to avail of this great opportunity to be a key partner in India’s economic growth. Ultimately, the economic prosperity of 1.25 billion plus would also benefit the entire world,” Mr. Modi said.

PM on three day US visit

“Advancing the ambitious climate change and clean energy agenda” and “further enhancing our security and diplomatic cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region,” would be focus of the discussions between India and the U.S.
PM is scheduled to arrive in Washington for a three-day tour. Mr. Modi will have a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama, to be followed by a lunch, at the White House.
Mr. Modi will address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, which will be a demonstration of the bipartisan support that the India-U.S. relationship has acquired.
Mr. Modi will interact with U.S. CEOs and investors at the annual meeting of the U.S-India Business Council. Mr. Modi is visiting the U.S — the fourth time since he took over as Prime Minister in 2014 — at Mr. Obama’s behest.
USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said the USIBC event would have CEOs of 25 Fortune 500 companies attending it.
The event would also honour Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and Founder and Managing Director of Sun Pharmaceuticals Dilip Shanghvi with the Global Leadership Awards.
The USIBC is also lobbying with the U.S and Indian governments to restart the negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty.
Mr. Modi is facing protests from groups in India on the intellectual property rights policy that his government announced recently.
The government has claimed the new policy does not compromise the country’s ability to ensure affordable drugs, but several campaign groups believe the Modi government is coming under U.S. pressure on the issue.

:: Business and Economy ::

Public sector banks will be empowered and protected from witch-hunting says FM

Public sector banks will be empowered and protected from witch-hunting so that they can close commercially prudent settlements of stressed assets and bad loans, according to Union Finance Minister.
The proposals will be fine-tuned after taking into consideration suggestions from the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
The new provisions being mooted are aimed at encouraging bankers to enter into ‘reasonable and fair settlements’ with regard to stressed accounts, “without fears of fishing expeditions of investigative agencies later on.”
This is expected to quicken the pace of recovery and cleaning up of banks’ balance sheets.
The Finance Minister also said cumulatively the state-owned banks had reported losses of Rs.18,000 crore in 2015-16.
Although the reported operating profits were “substantial” at Rs.1.40 lakh crore, losses were due to higher provisioning for bad loans made in the previous two quarters, he said.
Mr. Jaitley said the Reserve Bank of India was expected to report the cumulative level of non- performing assets (NPA) for public sector banks. It was expected to be higher than the previous year’s level.
The feedback from banks was that the steel and infrastructure sectors were slowly recovering, leading to an improvement in the NPA levels arising out of outstanding loans to companies in these industries.
Reiterating that the government had earmarked Rs.25,000 crore for recapitalisation of these banks in the Budget, he said that would commit to more funds if needed.

TRAI seeks views on in-building access for telecom operators

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a consultation paper seeking stakeholders’ views on evolving a framework for in-building facilities to enable telecom operators obtain efficient access on reasonable terms and conditions.
While many infrastructure related issues have been dealt with by the authority in the past, there are issues related to in-building access that are still faced by the telecom service providers and therefore, remain to be addressed, it added.
In-building deployment is currently done through commercial agreements between incumbent mobile operators and building owners, building developers or Resident Welfare Associations (RWA).
As such, the speed of deployment is often hindered by building owners/developers delaying the negotiations or requesting exorbitant rents.
TRAI said telecom operators are often forced to enter into agreement at the terms set by the other party, as they cannot leave places like malls uncovered from their mobile network.
Also due to restricted access to premises, the resident of the building cannot avail services of the operator of his own choice and his preference is limited to the TSP(s) who could get access to the building after entering into a commercial settlement with the builder.
It added that competition not only helps in controlling prices but also forces the service providers to offer/maintain good quality of service.

Foreign investment banks are fast losing turf to their Indian counterparts

Foreign investment banks are fast losing turf to their Indian counterparts, in managing initial public offers (IPOs) in the domestic market given - the latter’s consistent performance and efficient handling of pre and post-listing functions.
This is in sharp contrast to the trend visible earlier when global banking entities were the preferred choice for Indian companies looking to list.
It was perceived that foreign bankers were better place to rope in foreign investors to subscribe to a public issue.
ICICI Securities, Edelweiss, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Capital and IIFL Securities, rank at the top among investment banks winning IPO mandates so far in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The list of top 10 investment banks includes only one foreign entity — HSBC — which was one of the investment bank that managed the IPO of Equitas Holdings.
Companies mulling an IPO need to appoint investment bankers to do the mandatory due diligence process as laid down by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
For the current calendar year, IDFC Bank, State Bank of India, JM Financial and Elara Capital also feature in the top 10 list.
Many foreign investment banking entities such as Standard Chartered, RBS, Barclays, UBS and Citi have either shut or downsized their India equity operations in the last couple of years.
In most cases, the business decision has been in line with their respective global strategy of either moving out of or reducing operations in certain geographies to rationalise costs.