MOU with ITA

The Union Cabinet on 14 October 2015 approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the India-Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei and Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in India. The memorandum was signed for the cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

The memorandum provides a structured framework and enabling environment to the MSME sector of the two parties to understand each other's strengths, markets, technologies, policies etc.
The MoU also includes an agreement between the two parties to enable their respective MSMEs to participate in each other's trade fairs/exhibitions and to exchange business delegations with the other party. The agreement will eventually help the parties understand the policy and explore markets so that joint ventures, tie-ups, technology transfer etc. could take place.
However, the memorandum does not involve any financial, legal or political commitment on the part of either party.

India GDP at 7.5 according UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on 6 October 2015 (UNCTAD) projected that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015.
It was revealed by the UNCTAD in its Trade and Development Report 2015 entitled Making the international financial architecture work for development.
As per the report, the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.
Highlights of the report with respect to India
• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015 compared to China’s 6.9 as China rebalances the structure of its demand by concentrating more on exports.
• India’s upward growth will be possible because of lowering oil prices in the international market that will ease pressure on current account deficit.
• India’s export growth (by volume) slowed down from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent in 2014.
• Public banks, which account for 62 per cent of Indian bank loans, will find it difficult to meet the Basel III capital requirements between 2015 and 2019.
• India has emerged as an important player in extending development assistance to developing and under developed countries as part of south-south cooperation that takes the form of credit, concessional loans and grants.
• India is one of the few countries where the Public Private Partnership investment is high. Almost 60 per cent of the total private participation in projects recorded in developing countries was in China, Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, Mexico and Turkey.
• It identified potential financial role of south-led multilateral banks including New Development Bank of BRICS and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in both of which India has membership.
Comment
The growth projection for India is in line with recent projections of the World Bank (7.5 %), Fitch (7.5 %) and the RBI (7.4 %).
Also, suggestions of the report for greater structural reforms in the global financial architecture including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in consistent with India’s argument in favour of reforms in the multilateral institutions.

Laszlo Krasznahorkai won Man Booker Prize The Melancholy of Resistanc

Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai has won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for 2015. He was chosen from a list of 10 contenders from around the world.

About Laszlo Krasznahorkai

* Laszlo Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 Gyula, Hungary.

* He had gained recognition in 1985 after he had published his debut novel Satantango, which he adapted for the big screen in 1994.

* Krasznahorkai’s other famous novels are The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), War and War (1999), Seiobo There Below (2008).

* Awards and Honours: In 1993, he was awarded Bestenliste-Prize of Germany for his novel The Melancholy of Resistanc.

* In 2004, he was awarded with most prestigious cultural award in Hungary- The Kossuth Prize.

About Man Booker International Prize

* The prize, worth £60,000, recognizes an authors’s achievement in fiction.

* It is a biennial award, bestowed upon a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is available in translation in the English language.

* The prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

* Unlike the UK Man Booker Prize for Fiction, publishers cannot submit authors’ works for consideration.

* The Prize is significantly different in that it highlights one writer’s overall contribution to fiction on the world stage.

* The judges, who solely decide the winner, consider a writer’s body of work rather than a single novel.

Union Cabinet approved amendments to Payment of Bonus Act 1965

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 October 2015 approved amendment in the Payment of Bonus Act 1965 for the Industrial workers.

According to the decision
• The bonus ceiling under the legislation was increased from 3500 rupees to 7000 rupees per month.
• The wage ceiling for getting bonus has also been increased from existing 10000 rupees per month to 21000 rupees per month.

The decision will make workers eligible for the reward. The amendment bill concerning this will be tabled in the winter session of Parliament likely to start in November 2015.

The amendment in the Act to increase wage ceiling and maximum amount of bonus was one of assurances given by the Union Government after 10 Central Trade Unions went on one-day strike.

Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 is the principal act for the payment of bonus to the employees which was formed with an objective for rewarding employees for their good work for the organization. It is a step forward to share the prosperity of the establishment reflected by the profits earned by the contributions made by capital, management and labour with the employees.

16th AIFA Awards

16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) informally known as the “Bollywood Oscars,” was held in Malaysia. The award ceremony was held in Putra Indoor Stadium Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The 2015 IIFA Awards honoured the best films of 2014 and the ceremony took place from June 05 to 07, 2015. Haider was awarded the most awards (09).

Winners Popular Awards

* Best Film:Queen.

* Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani – PK.

* Best Actor In A Leading Role: Shahid Kapoor –Haider as Haider Meer.

* Best Actress In A Leading Role: Kangana Ranaut – Queen as Rani Mehra.

* Best Actor In A Supporting Role: Riteish Deshmukh – Ek Villain as Rakesh Mahadkar. * Best Actress In A Supporting Role: Tabu – Haider as Ghazala Meer.

* Male Debutant Star: Tiger Shroff – Heropanti as Bablu.

* Female Debutant Star: Kriti Sanon – Heropanti as Dimpy.

* Best Performance In A Comic Role: Varun Dhawan– Main Tera Hero as Seenu.

* Best Performance In A Negative Role: Kay Kay Menon– Haider as Khurram Meer.

* Best Story: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Shaikh- Queen. Special Awards

* IIFA Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema: Subhash Ghai.

* IIFA Award for Entertainer of the Year: Deepika Padukone Musical awards

* Best Music Direction: 2 States – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

* Best Lyrics: Galliyan from Ek Villain – Manoj Muntashir.

* Best Male Playback Singer: Ankit Tiwari for Galliyan – Ek Villain.

* Best Female Playback Singer: Kanika Kapoor for Baby Doll – Ragini MMS 2.

* Best Sound Design: Shajith Koyeri – Haider.

* Best Background Score: Vishal Bhardwaj – Haider. Technical awards

* Best Action: Parvez Shaikh & Andy Armstrong – Bang Bang.

* Best Special Effects: Reupal Rawal (Prime Focus) – Kick.

* Best Choreography: Ahmed Khan – Kick.

* Best Cinematography: Binod Pradhan – 2 States.

*Best Costume Design: Dolly Ahluwalia – Haider.

* Best Dialogue: Abhijat Joshi & Rajkumar Hirani – PK.

* Best Editing: Anurag Kashyap & Abhijit Kokate – Queen.

* Best Makeup: Preetisheel Singh & Clover Wootton – Haider.

* Best Production Design: Subrata Chakraborty & Amit Ray – Haider.

* Best Screenplay: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar & Parveez Shaikh – Queen.

* Best Sound Mixing: Debajit Changmai – Haider.

* Best Sound Recording: Eric Pillai for Galliyan – Ek Villain.

M S Dhoni ranked 23rd in World Highest Paid Athelete

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only Indian to find place in the Forbes magazine’s list of 100 World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015. He was placed at 23rd on the Forbes list with total earnings of 31 million dollars including amount from salary at 4 million dollars and endorsements worth 27 million dollars. This edition of list was again topped by US boxer Floyd Mayweather for third time. It should be noted that the earnings figures include sum of salaries, bonuses and prize money paid between June 2014 and June 2015.

Top ten World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015 are

* Floyd Mayweather (Boxing) from US: $ 300 million.

* Manny Pacquiao (Boxing) from Philippines: $ 160 million.

* Cristiano Ronaldo (Football) from Portugal: $ 79.6 million.

* Lionel Messi (Football) from Argentina: $73.8 million.

* Roger Federer (Tennis) from Switzerland: $67 million.

* LeBron James (Basketball) from US: $64.8 million.

* Kevin Durant (Basketball) from US: $54.1 million.

* Phil Mickelson (Golf) from US: $50.8 million.

* Tiger Woods (Golf) from US: $50.6 million.

* Kobe Bryant (Basketball) from US: $49.5 million.

In this edition of list only two women athletes made to the list they are

* Maria Sharapova (Tennis) from Russia: She was placed at 26th rank with total earnings of $ 31 million.

* Serena Williams (Tennis) from US: She was placed at 47th rank with total earnings of $ 6 million. The 100 highest-paid athletes of this edition of list have made 3.2 billion dollars in total in last one year which is 17 percent more compared to previous year.

RBI issued direction for Gold Monetization Scheme

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 October 2015 issued a Direction to all Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) on implementation of the Gold Monetisation Scheme, 2015 notified by the Union Government.
The RBI issued the direction to banks in exercise of powers conferred on it under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The GMS 2015 will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999.

Directions on implementation of GMS 2015
• The deposits outstanding under the Gold Deposit Scheme will be allowed to run till maturity unless the depositors prematurely withdraw them.
• Resident Indians (Individuals, HUF, Trusts including Mutual Funds/Exchange Traded Funds registered under SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations and Companies) can make deposits under the scheme.
• The minimum deposit at any one time shall be raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fineness.
• There is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme.
• The gold will be accepted at the Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTC) certified by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and notified by the Central Government under the Scheme.
• The deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness of gold.
• The principal and interest of the deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold.
• The designated banks will accept gold deposits under the Short Term (1-3 years) Bank Deposit (STBD) as well as Medium (5-7 years) and Long (12-15 years) Term Government Deposit Schemes. While, STBD will be accepted by banks on their own account, but the latter will be on behalf of Union Government.
• There will be provision for premature withdrawal subject to a minimum lock-in period and penalty to be determined by individual banks.
• Interest on deposits will start accruing from the date of conversion of gold deposited into tradable gold bars after refinement or 30 days after the receipt of gold at the CPTC or the bank’s designated branch.
• During the period from the date of receipt of gold by the CPTC or the designated branch to the date on which interest starts accruing, the gold accepted shall be treated as an item in safe custody held by the designated bank.
• The short term bank deposits will attract applicable cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR). However, the stock of gold held by the banks will count towards the general SLR requirement.
• The opening of gold deposit accounts will be subject to the same rules with regard to customer identification as are applicable to any other deposit account.

Utilisation of Gold mobilised under GMS
The designated banks may sell or lend the gold accepted under STBD to MMTC for minting India Gold Coins (IGC) and to jewellers, or sell it to other designated banks participating in GMS. The gold deposited will be auctioned by MMTC or any other agency authorised by the Central Government and the sale proceeds will be credited to the Union Government’s account with the Reserve Bank.

The entities participating in the auction may include the Reserve Bank, MMTC, banks and any other entities notified by the Union Government. Banks may utilise the gold purchased in the auction for purposes indicated above.

Risk Management under GMS
Designated banks should put in place a suitable risk management mechanism, including appropriate limits, to manage the risk arising from gold price movements in respect of their net exposure to gold.

For this purpose, banks have been allowed to access the international exchanges, London Bullion Market Association or make use of over-the-counter contracts to hedge exposures to bullion prices subject to the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank.

Grievance Redress Process under GMS
Complaints against designated banks regarding any discrepancy in issuance of receipts and deposit certificates, redemption of deposits, payment of interest will be handled first by the bank’s grievance redress process and then by the Reserve Bank’s Banking Ombudsman.

Definition of Income Per Capita

A measure of the amount of money that is being earned per person in a certain area. Income per capita can apply to the average per-person income for a city, region or country and is used as a means of evaluating the living conditions and quality of life in different areas. It can be calculated for a country by dividing the country's national income by its population.

Full Forms Usefull in RBI Grade B Exam

Full Forms:

(A) Cost of Living Index (COLI) 

(B) Consumer Price Index (CPI)

(C) Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

(D) Wholesale Price Index (WPI)