Weekly Updated Current Affairs for Week 31/52 & 32/52
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WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 31/52 & 32/52 WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEKS 31/52 & 32/52 (30 JULY – 12 AUG 2017) 1. RBI released 3rd Bi-Monthly Policy Statements – Reduced Key Policy Rates by 25 bps (a) On 02 Aug 2017, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chaired by RBI Governor Urjit Patel released 3rd Bi- Monthly Policy Statements for the FY 2017-18 to be effective for the periods between 01 August and 30 Sept 2017. (b) The Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) was reduced by 25 bps from 6.25 % to 6 % and accordingly Reverse Repo Rate under LAF adjusted at 5.75 % from 6.00 % by reducing 25 bps. (c) The current Repo Rate is the lowest in 7 years since November 2010 and the RBI had last cut the key policy rates in October 2016. (d) Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate, the Rate at which Banks borrows Overnight Funds from RBI against Approved Government Securities has been reduced by 25 bps and adjusted to 6.25 %. (e) In lines with the Rate cut, Bank Rate, the Long Tern Borrowing Rate of RBI has also been adjusted to 6.25 % by reducing 25 bps from 6.50 %. (f) CRR as Reserve Requirement for Scheduled Banks remained unchanged at 4 % of the Net Demand and Time Liability (NDTL) since 09 Feb 2013. (g) Other Reserve Requirement for Commercial Banks including Regional Rural Banks, Payment Bank and Small Finance Bank i. e. SLR has been retained (no change) at 20 %. The SLR was last reduced by 0.50 % (50 bps) to 20.00 % effecting from the fortnight commencing 24 June 2017. (h) It is to note that, according to Section 24 and Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, all Commercial Banks, Cooperative Banks (Primary Urban, State and Central Cooperative Banks) including Payment Banks and Small Finance Banks are required to maintain SLR Holdings of Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL). 2. RBI to form Panel for Setting up of Public Credit Registry (a) On 02 Aug 2017, the RBI has announced to set up a Task Force to provide a Roadmap for Development of a Database of Credit Information for India known as “Public Credit Registry” that is accessible to all Stakeholders. (b) The Taskforce will evaluate the existing Public and Private Infrastructure for Credit Information, Assess any Data Gaps, Study the best International Practices and provide any roadmap for Development of near Real time Public Credit Registry of India. (c) Main aim of setting up of the Public Credit Registry is to improve transparency in Credit Markets and to facilitate better early Intervention as well as Risk-Based Counter Cyclical Provisioning. (d) The Public Credit Registry will also improve Credit Assessment by Financial Lenders to make Credit Market more efficient. (e) Presently, there are four Credit Bureaus or Credit Information Companies namely CIBIL, Equifax, Experian and CRIF Highmark in India, which are regulated by RBI under Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 (CICRA 2005). (f) It is to note that, the RBI has created Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) to cater to the supervisory needs by tracking large exposures under which it maintains a Database through a comprehensive Basic Statistical Return (BSR-1) with Current Account level information on Large Credits. 3. Union Finance Ministry extended the deadline for Linking Aadhaar with PAN to 31 August (a) On 31 July 2017, the Union Finance Ministry has extended the deadline for Tax Payers for linking Aadhaar Number with the PAN Card till 31 August 2017. Earlier, the deadline was till 31 July 2017. (b) The Union Ministry also extended the deadline for Filling of Income Tax Return till 5 August 2017 instead the standard procedure of 31 July 2017. (c) Further, it has said that the Returns will not be processed until these two numbers are linked. (d) As per earlier guidelines, the linking of Aadhaar Number with the Permanent Account Number of a taxpayer was made mandatory for the filing of an ITR beginning 01 July 2017. 4. RBI constituted Internal Study Group to study various aspects of MCLR System (a) On 02 July 2017, the RBI constituted an Internal Study Group to study various aspects of the MCLR system from the perspective of improving the Monetary Transmission and exploring linking of the Bank Lending Rates directly to Market Determined Benchmarks. (b) The Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR) system introduced in April 2016 for improving the Monetary Transmission and an advance over the Base Rate system. (c) The MCLR is applicable to all Scheduled Commercial Banks only for a short term borrowing of tenor less than one year and Bank calculates all operating cost as a percentage of Marginal Cost of Funds for computing MCLR. (d) The Group will submit the report by 31 September 2017. Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC B – 61 A & B, Saheed Nagar & 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 31/52 & 32/52 5. Lok Sabha passed Bill to Raise NABARD’s Capital to Rs. 30,000 crore (a) On 3 Aug 2017, the Lok Sabha passed the NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017 to enable exit of RBI from NABARD’s Shareholdings and increase its Authorised Capital six times to Rs. 30,000 crore. (b) The Bill is considered as a major step towards Doubling Farmers Income by 2022. (c) The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is a premier Organisation established in 1982 following the recommendation of Shivaraman Committee. 6. Venkaiah Naidu elected as 13th Vice-President of India (a) On 4 Aug 2017, NDA Nominee and former Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu elected as the 13th Vice-President of India defeating UPA candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. (b) He will replace the incumbent Hamid Ansari, who was in his second term since 7 August 2012 and was re- elected during the 2012 Vice-Presidential Poll against NDA Nominee Jaswant Singh. (c) The Vice-President of India is the second highest Constitutional Office Bearer after President. (d) Article 63 of the Constitution of India provides that “there shall be a Vice-President of India”. (e) The Vice-President of India is also the ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. (f) Further, the Vice-Presidential election lie with the Election Commission of India as per the Article 324 of the Constitution of India read in-conjunction with the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974 i.e. the Responsibility of the Superintendence, Direction and Control given to the Election Commission of India. 7. Economist Rajiv Kumar appointed as new Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog (a) On 5 Aug 2017, the Union Government appointed Economist Rajiv Kumar as the new Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog. (b) Rajiv Kumar will replace Arvind Panagariya who had resigned from his post on 01 August. He was appointed to the post in January 2015 when NITI Aayog was formed. (c) Dr. Vinod Paul of AIIMS has also been appointed as a full time member in the NITI Aayog. 8. Mandatory of Aadhaar Card for Registration of Death (a) On 4 Aug 2017, the Union Government made Aadhaar Number or Enrolment Id Number mandatory for issuance of Death Certificates. (b) The new rule will come into effect from 01 October 2017 and will be applicable for the residents of all states except J & K, Assam and Meghalaya. (c) The use of Aadhaar Number for the applicants of Death Certificate will result in ensuring Accuracy of the details provided by the Relatives, Dependents, and Acquaintances of the Deceased and will also provide an effective method to prevent Identity Fraud. 9. Nepal to host BIMSTEC Meeting in August 2017 (a) On 11 May 2017, the Kathmandu City in Nepal hosted 4th edition of BIMSTEC Summit, 2017 attended by seven member countries to review the progress made by the group and to recommend future course of action to strengthen Regional Cooperation among the group. (b) BIMSTEC stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. (c) The BIMSTEC is the Sub-Regional Group of seven countries in South Asia and South East Asia located in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal. (d) It was constituted on 6 June 1997 and its headquarters is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (e) Member Countries of BIMSTEC are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka (South Asian Countries) and South East Asian Countries are Myanmar and Thailand. 10. WPI Base Year revised from 2004-05 to 2011-12 (a) On 4 Aug 2017, the Union Government announced the revision of the Base Year to calculate the All India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 2004-05 to 2011-12. (b) The new series of WPI will take effective from April 2017. (c) The revision of Base Year has been aligned with the Base Year of other Macro-Economic Indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Index of Industrial Production (IIP). (d) Further, the number of items in the basket has been increased from 676 to 697. (e) The WPI is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods and is a measure of Inflation. Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC B – 61 A & B, Saheed Nagar & 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar 2 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 31/52 & 32/52 11. Mohammad Mustafa appointed as new CMD of SIDBI (a) On 4 Aug 2017, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Mohammad Mustafa as new Chairman and Managing Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for a period of three years.