(7th
CURRENT AFFAIRS
– 13th September) of 2015
GNXX CALC X37A EN15
THE NATION
PETROLEUM AND EXPLOSIVES SAFETY ORGANISATION … WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?
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It regulates and monitors the trade of explosives in the country.
It is under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Under DIPP).
Headquarters is at Nagpur with 5 circle offices.
This was established in 1898.
It is responsible for administration of several laws pertaining to regulation of explosives, which include
 Explosives Act, 1884.
 PESO came into picture in view of the Petlawad blasts in
 Petroleum Act, 1934 and rules framed under these acts
M.P.
 It regulates 2,56,000 premises all over India.
 It stated that it has not given any licence to Rajendra
Is it equipped to under take such mammoth task?
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PM MEETS INDUSTRY BIGWIGS
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Kasawa.
Major blast in residential area killed around 90 people in
Petlawad, in Jhabua dist. of Madhya Pradesh.
PM met top industrialists, who include Mukesh Ambani, Cyrus Mistry, Y.C. Deveshwar, K.M. Birla.
He urged them to seize the opportunities thrown up by global turmoil & invest more within the country.
Advised private sector to substantially increase the investments.
 Dismal corporate performance
The discussion centered around:
 Bank credit offtake has fallen to less than 10%
 How to push investments?
 Gross NPAs are very high
 How to boost infrastructure?
 All is not well with the corporate sector !
 How to promote start-ups?
 How to lower the cost of capital?
CABINET CLEARS SPECTRUM TRADING NORMS … FEWER CALL DROPS!
 Previously, on August 12, Govt. allowed companies to
 Union Cabinet approved spectrum trading guidelines.
share airwaves in the same band i.e., spectrum sharing so
 This will allow telecom companies to buy and sell spectrum.
as to reduce call drops.
 This will lead to
 Now, the right of use of spectrum can be traded between
 Optimum utilization of spectrum
two service providers i.e., spectrum trading.
 Better quality of service to mobile phone users
 Idle spectrum with one service provider gets transferred to the other service provider, who faces spectrum crunch
 However, the ownership of spectrum lies with the Govt. of India.
 It will give exit opportunity to small players.
GOVT. APPROVES SETTING UP OF 21st LAW COMMISSION
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Government approved the setting up of 21st Law Commission.
It will be for a period of 3 years starting from 1st September 2015.
It will have full-time chairperson and four full-time members (Including member secretary)
Its main purpose is
 It is advisory body to the Ministry of Law & Justice.
 To undertake studies & research for bringing reforms in judiciary so as to
 It is non-statutory body.
o Eliminate delays
 Originally constituted in 1955.
o Speedy disposal of cases
o Reduction in cost of litigation
ECONOMY & BANKING
GOLD BOND SCHEME & GOLD MONETISATION SCHEME CLEARED BY THE CABINET
SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SCHEME (SGBS)
TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
 Instead of buying “Physical Gold,” people will be given “Gold Bonds”.
 Term is 5 years to 7 years.
 Interest rate will be decided from time to time.
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 Bonds will be issued in denominations of 5 gm, 10 gm,
50 gm & 100 gm (tentative).
 A person can buy a maximum of 500 gm of gold per year.
GOLD MONETISATION SCHEME (GMS)
TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
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 Gold purity will be tested at a BIS certified Hallmarking Center.
Gold in any form can be deposited with banks.
 Customer is to give consent form / KYC.
Minimum period is 1 year and maximum period is 15 years.
 Once the gold is melted, testing center will give certificate
Interest rate will be decided by the banks.
indicating quantity & quality of gold.
It is exempted from IT & Capital Gains tax.
After the agreed period, you will have option of redemption either in cash or in gold.
Can deposit minimum of 30 gm either in bullion(at least 99.5% pure in the form of bars or ingots) or in jewellery form.
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PLEASE NOTE:
Indian households are holding gold anywhere between 20,000 t to 40,000 t.
We are consuming around 800 to 1000 tonnes of gold every year.
Almost the entire quantity is imported, due to which India got CAD problem in 2013.
LET US LOOK AT THE CONSTRAINTS
THE PROBLEM AREAS
1. Indians culturally / traditionally attached with gold jewellery. Parting with it may be
difficult.
2. Melting gold jewellery may be against the sentiment of Indian women.
3. Lot of wastage involved in gold monetization scheme, due to making charges / wastage
etc., when the person wants to make jewellery after sometime.
4. Interest rates may not be attractive.
5. Why people invest in gold bonds, when other financial instruments give better returns!
6. Wearing jewellery for “social status” is generally considered to be the norm in India.
ADVANTAGES
1. No fear of theft or loss.
2. No locker charges.
3. Stay at home with mental peace.
(These are other than reducing imports)
ACROSS THE STATES
ANNAPURNA BHANDARS … INNOVATIVE CONCEPT IN DISTRIBUTION OF SUBSIDIES
AS STATED BY THE RAJASTHAN GOVT.
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Govt. will rebrand 5,000 of 25,542 ration shops.
Will be done under PPP model
 At present ration shops in Rajasthan stock only
Designated as “Annapurna Bhandars”
wheat, sugar & kerosene.
Will be open throughout the month
 They open only for a week in a month.
150 products will be sold at regulated prices set by the Govt.
Home delivery & online platform.
Bhamashah card holders can decide whether to go for cash subsidies or non-cash goods.
CAN RAJASTHAN WALK THE TALK?
AROUND THE WORLD
SWEEPING VICTORY FOR RULING PARTY IN SINGAPORE
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Ruling People’s Action Party recorded sweeping victory in Singapore elections.
The party won 83 out of 89 seats.
It won every general election held since the formation of Singapore in 1965.
It received 69.86% of the total votes cast.
Under its rule, the city state transformed into a bustling economic hub.
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It was founded in 1954 by Lee Kuan Yew
Party is in power since 1959.
JEREMY CORBYN … NEW LABOUR PARTY LEADER IN UK
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He is the most left-wing leader of any major UK party in recent times.
By getting 59.5% of first preference votes, he got elected the leader of the Labour Party.
Key differentiation is his policy stance on foreign and defence policy issues.
 In 2015 elections in UK, Conservative Party
His policies include
retained power.
 Against UK military intervention overseas
 Subsequently, Labour Party leader Ed Miliband
 Unilateral nuclear disarmament
resigned.
 British withdrawal from NATO
 He is also a critic of US foreign policy.
 He has to wait till 2020, to become the Prime Minister, if gets elected, but he will be 70 years by then.
PALESTINIAN FLAG TO BE RAISED ON UN BUILDINGS
 UN General Assembly voted in favour of “non-member observer states” flags being flown over UN buildings.
 There are two non-member observer states in UN. They are Vatican & Palestine.
 It is symbolic, at the same time, it reflects the division existing in the world as a whole as evident from the voting pattern.
 Previously, country should be a member state
in UN to fly the flag at HQ in New York.
 Palestine is the non-member observer state.
 119 votes in favour
 8 Nations voted against, which include Israel & USA
 45 countries abstained
SPORTS & GAMES
SANIA & LEANDER PAES MADE INDIA PROUD
Sania Mirza
Leander Paes
 Sania Mirza won the US Open doubles
with Martina Hingis of Switzerland.
 This is her second consecutive Grand Slam
victory.
 So far, she has won five Grand Slam titles.
 At the age of 42, Leander Paes partnered
with Martina Hingis to win the Mixed
Doubles in US Open.
 This is his third title this year.
 Overall, he won 17 Grand Slam titles.
For both these players, it is time to look at Olympic medals at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
MEN’S SINGLES
 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (Serbia)
 ROGER FEDERER (Switzerland)
Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer by 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 in the final
WOMEN’S SINGLES
 FLAVIA PENNETTA (Italy)
 ROBERTA VINCI (Italy)
Flavia Pennetta defeated Roberta Vinci by 7–6(7–4), 6–2 in the final
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
 SANIA MIRZA (India) / MARTINA HINGIS (Switzerland) bt
Casey Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6–3, 6–3
MEN’S DOUBLES
PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT (France) / NICOLAS MAHUT (France) bt
Jamie Murray (Great Britain) and John Peers (Australia) 6–4, 6–4
MIXED DOUBLES
MARTINA HINGIS (Switzerland) / LEANDER PAES (India) bt
Sam Querrey (United States) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States) 6–4, 3–6, 10–7
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MISCELLANEOUS
QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS … TWO INDIAN INSTITUTIONS IN TOP 200
 Two Indian Institutions made it to the top 200 rankings for the first time.
 IISC, Bangalore stood at 147 and IIT, Delhi stood at 179.
TOP 5 IN THE WORLD
 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings are
released every year.
 It has recently released rankings for 2015-16.
TOP 5 RANKINGS IN INDIA
1. MIT (USA)
2. Harvard University (USA)
3. University of Cambridge (UK)
4. Stanford University (USA)
5. California Institute of Technology (USA)
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147. IISc, Bangalore
179. IIT, Delhi
202. IIT, Bombay
254. IIT, Madras
271. IIT, Kanpur