FROM THE Content MD’S DESK... 1. Dear Aspirants, BANKING & FINANCE This is the information Page-02 age and knowledge has no limit. Gone are the 2. days when people used STATE AFFAIRS to depend solely on Page-03 libraries and books to gain knowledge. The means of procuring 3. knowledge and NATIONAL NEWS accessing information Anshuman Nayak Page-04 has undergone a sea B.E. (NIST, change with the advent Berhampur) 4. of computers, internet MBA (HR) (UBS, GLOBAL NEWS and smart phones. The Chandigarh) Page-07 internet is the biggest library ever created in human history and 5. seemingly presents itself as an unlimited and ever PEOPLE IN NEWS growing store of knowledge and information. So when my team approached me with the idea Page-09 of a current affairs magazine of ARIFIN the first question I asked myself was why? What 6. difference can we make? SPORTS There are the news papers, a plethora of similar Page-12 national level magazines and of course the internet which serve the purpose already. 7. The reason I gave my nod was simple. AWARDS (1)With so much of information around, Page-14 there is the problem of overload; I believe there is still a gap to be bridged when it 8. comes to providing precise, succinct and relevant information. Know more about MAHARASHTRA (2)It need not be a mere current affairs Page-17 magazine but rather it can be a holistic support system for competitive Exam 9. preparation with question banks, tips and GK/CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ tricks , concepts and practice exercises, Page-19 general awareness, traditional GK and more such similar features. 10. Hence, the result is this magazine whose editorial FUN TIME LESSON team is a blend of youth, energy, knowledge Page-32 and experience. As explained earlier, I promise my readers two things: (1)This is not going to be just another magazine. This will be a magazine with a difference. (2) With each new issue, the magazine will get better and better with new and innovative features,. So, watch out, enjoy and benefit!! Current Affairs Magazine JANUARY 2020 BANKING & FINANCE RBI keeps the repo rate unchanged at 5.15% Edelweiss aims to raise an initial amount of Rs in 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy 3,000 crore through this bond from institutional In its 5th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee players with a greenshoe option of Rs 2,000 crore meeting, the Reserve Bank of India has decided in the 3-year maturity period (2023) and Rs 4,000 to keep the policy repo rate unchanged to 5.15%. crore with a greenshoe option of Rs 6,000 crore The MPC has also decided to maintain the in the 10-year maturity bucket (2030). accommodative stance of monetary policy to Small retail investors will have to invest at least revive growth, while ensuring that inflation Rs 1,000 in this fund. remains within the target. After this, there is a facility for multiple The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility investments. Here they can invest up to 2 lakhs. (LAF) left unchanged to 5.15%. At the same time, the minimum amount for The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands anchor investors has been fixed at Rs 10 crore. same i.e. 4.90%. RBI waives NEFT, RTGS transfer charges for The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and savings account holders the Bank Rate also remains same i.e. 5.40%. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has waived 1st time India’s forex reserves cross $450 NEFT, RTGS transfer charges for savings billion account holders. The country’s foreign exchange reserves crossed In an order, RBI instructed banks to make all the $450-billion mark for the first time ever on online payments done through RTGS and NEFT the back of strong inflows which enabled the free of cost for savings account holders. central bank to buy dollars from the market, thus The new rule will be effective from January 1, checking any sharp appreciation of the rupee. 2020. India’s foreign exchange reserves were at $451.7 GST Council fixes 28% uniform tax rate for billion on December 3, 2019, an increase of $38.8 lottery billion over end-March 2019. The Goods and Services Tax or GST Council The Reserve Bank has always maintained that has fixed a uniform tax rate of 28% on both state- it intervenes in the foreign exchange market to run and private lottery. curb volatility and does not target a particular It also decided to rationalise the GST rate on level of the exchange rate. woven and non-woven bags to 18%. ADB lowers India’s GDP growth forecast to It was for the first time that the GST Council 5.1% in FY20 resorted to voting to decide on an issue as it fixed The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has a uniform tax rate on both state and private lowered its forecast for India’s economic growth lotteries. in fiscal year 2019-20 to 5.1%. The GST Council also decided to exempt upfront ADB has stated that the consumption was amount payable for long term lease of industrial affected by slow job growth and rural distress and financial infrastructure plots by an entity was aggravated by poor harvest. having 20% or more ownership of Central or State Edelweiss AMC launches India’s 1st corporate Government. bond ‘Bharat Bond ETF’ HDFC Bank crosses $100 billion market Edelweiss Asset Management Company (AMC), capitalisation a subsidiary of Edelweiss Capital Limited (ECL) HDFC Bank has become the 3rd Indian firm to has launched India’s 1st Corporate Bond ETF cross $100 billion mark in market capitalisation. (exchange trade fund) called the Bharat Bond HDFC Bank has joined the league of Reliance ETF. Industries Ltd, which has a market cap of $140.74 The ETF is a government initiative and Edelweiss billion, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) that AMC was given the mandate to design and has a market cap of $114.60 billion. manage the product. With this achievement, HDFC Bank is now 2 www.arifin.in Current Affairs Magazine JANUARY 2020 ranked 110th in the list of world’s most valued RBI launches new PPI for small digital companies. transactions RBI to buy and sell govt bonds worth Rs 10,000 The Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new crore semi-closed prepaid payment instrument (PPI) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will which can be used for the transaction of goods simultaneously purchase and sell government and services up to a limit of Rs 10,000. securities worth Rs 10,000 crore under a special The loading facility of the instrument will be linked Open Market Operation (OMO). only from a bank account. This direction has On a review of the current liquidity and market made under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) situation and an assessment of the evolving of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. financial conditions, the Reserve Bank has PPIs are instruments that facilitate the purchase decided to conduct simultaneous purchase and of goods and services, including financial sale of government securities on December 23, services, remittance facilities, etc., against the 2019. value stored on such instruments. There are The purchase will be for government securities currently three kinds of PPIs allowed by RBI: worth Rs 10,000 crore for the instrument ‘6.45 closed system, semi-closed and open PPIs. per cent GS 2029’. The PPIs may be issued as cards, wallets, and The Reserve Bank reserves the right to decide any such form/instrument which can be used to on the quantum of purchase/sale of individual access the PPI and to use the amount therein. securities and to accept bids/offers for less than PPIs in the form of paper vouchers shall no longer the aggregate amount. be issued. STATE AFFAIRS Odisha launches ‘Madhu’ app to help school Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approves Disha Bill students 2019 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approves the A.P. launched ‘Madhu’ app. It is an e-learning mobile Disha Bill, 2019 (A.P. Criminal Law phone application which will help school students (Amendment) Bill, 2019) paving the way for to understand their subjects in a better and most awarding the death penalty for the offences of efficient way. rape and gang-rape and expediting the verdict in The app is named after ‘Utkal Gourab’ trials of such cases to 21 days. Madhusudan Das. The app is developed by Haryana Police became the first to introduce Ganjam district administration for school students. ‘Trakea’ software in FSL Through this app, the students will be able access Haryana police have introduced a unique the video explanation of the topics they were barcoding software “Trakea” to enable foolproof taught in their classroom. security of the samples collected in Forensic Odisha to set up 45 new fast track courts reports. 45 new fast track courts will be set up in Odisha. Haryana became the first state in the country to The 21 courts would be dedicated to cases of introduce this unique barcoding system. rape and sexual harassment of women. Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister (CM) of The remaining 24 fast track courts will specifically Haryana inaugurated the TRAKEA barcoding deal with Protection of Children from Sexual system of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Offences (POCSO) cases. Madhuban, Haryana. The State government’s action comes after Odisha Govt. launches ‘Jalsathi’ programme Centre’s decision to formulate a scheme for Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has setting up 1,023 fast track special courts for launched the ‘Jalsathi’ programme to ensure expeditious trial and disposal of rape cases.