RAS EXAM 2013

TODAY,S NEWS:- APRIL 14,2014
From- The Hindu

India to open FDI gate to Pakistan

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• India has decided in principle to allow foreign direct investment from Pakistan, as part of the road map to enhance economic engagement, a development that is expected to boost bilateral trade.
• “As part of the initiatives to promote liberal trade, India has in principle agreed to FDI from Pakistan,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Friday, after meeting Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim here.Mr. Sharma said the procedures, and the requirements, for allowing FDI were being formulated, and would soon be notified.
• Both countries have also agreed in principle to allow opening of bank branches to guarantee smooth trade. This is the upshot of several rounds of talks between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the State Bank of Pakistan.“Both the RBI and the State Bank of Pakistan are in favour of opening up branches on both sides of the border,” Mr. Sharma said.On this count, Mr. Fahim said, both sides were on the same page.
• Encouraged by the pro-active steps taken by Pakistan, India would carry out a review of 30 per cent of the ‘sensitive list' in the next four months as a confidence-building measure, Mr. Sharma said.
• Pakistani banks and businesses are keen on setting up shop in India, and the decision could pave the way for their entry into the country.
• An India-Pakistan business council would be set up soon. It would be co-chaired by both countries.
• Mr. Fahim said talks were being held for cooperation in the textiles trade.“We have also decided to begin negotiations in the hospitality, education and tourism sectors, and experts groups would be constituted to work out the modalities for talks,” he said.
• Later, Mr. Sharma and Mr. Fahim left for the Attari-Wagah border, near Amritsar, to inaugurate the second Integrated Check Post, which will facilitate a smooth flow of road traffic and give traders and people crossing the border upgraded and modern infrastructure.

US historian's visa extended by a year 

• In a reprieve for the controversial US historian Peter Heehs, who faced deportation from India, the Union Home Ministry extended his visa by one more year with effect from April 15.
• Home Ministry sources said the formal order on extension of Heehs'a visa was issued on Friday.
• Heehs, whose visa will expire on April 15, had applied for extension of his stay before the Puducherry Foreigner Regional Registration Officer (FRRO).
• But following complaints by some of the followers of Sri Aurobindo that the historian had allegedly depicted a distorted picture of the freedom fighter and spiritual leader in a biography, the FRRO decided not to extend his visa.
• When the matter was reported in the media, Home Minister P Chidambaram announced that he had asked for a suo motu review of the case and he would take an appropriate decision.

• The American historian, who is an inmate of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, had spent nearly four decades in India working on a project of digitisation and archival of works of freedom fighter and spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo.

Becoming full member, India will strengthen SCO: Krishna 

 

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• India will lend more weight to the Shanghai regional group when it joins it as a full member, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said on Friday.
• “India has something substantial to offer to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in terms of strengthening the group,” he said at a joint press conference with his Russian and Chinese counterparts after the 11th trilateral meeting in RIC format here.
• “India, with its billion-strong population, plays a very important role in the Shanghai regional group, where it has an observer status, and therefore India has expressed the desire to be involved in the organisation much more than it is today,” Mr. Krishna said.
• Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow supported granting full membership to India, as well as to Pakistan, “which has also sent in its application.”
• He said the SCO came up for discussion at the RIC meeting and it was reiterated that the group was an “open” organisation.
• Mr. Lavrov said the Shanghai group was now finalising the legal, organisational and financial aspects of admitting new members. He hoped that all formalities would be completed “in a short time and we can take the decision to admit India and Pakistan.”
• Earlier this year Russian diplomats said the SCO still lacked consensus on expansion.
• Mr. Lavrov welcomed India's participation as observer in a range of SCO activities, including the energy club, and its joining the SCO anti-terrorist structure as well as other projects in transportation, new technologies, agriculture, science and education.“There is no bar to India's greater involvement in the SCO,” he said.

Nod for Public Procurement Bill

• In yet another bid to usher in transparency and tackle corruption in state purchases, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a Bill which seeks to regulate public procurement worth more than Rs 50 lakh so as to provide fair treatment to bidders.
• Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, HRD and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said: “The Bill is exceptionally important as it is part of our commitment to deal with the issue of corruption. Part of our commitment is to ensure that in government functioning, there is both accountability and transparency.”
• The Public Procurement Bill, 2012, which would not apply to purchases below Rs. 50 lakh and is likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament, seeks to codify the fundamental principles in procurement and maximise competition.        

Shah Rukh's detention in U.S. angers India

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• India on Friday reacted sharply to actor Shah Rukh Khan's two-hour detention at a New York airport on Thursday, saying the apology the United States offered was nothing but mechanical.
• India was certainly not mollified by a U.S. Department apology letter to the Indian mission in New York, which had to intervene to get Mr. Khan released. Even as the U.S. Embassy here went to great lengths to paint the incident as an aberration, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, in discussions with his Russian and Chinese counterparts in Moscow, immediately asked Indian Ambassador in Washington Nirupama Rao to take up the issue.
• He said detention and apology had become a habit with the U.S..
• While the U.S. was generous in its apology, there was no attempt at redress. The fine print after contriteness had been expressed was to advise the actor to register on a website that takes note of inconveniences suffered by a traveller to the U.S. such as racialism or repeated detentions because of mistaken identity.
• This is the second time the actor has been detained for detailed questioning at a U.S. airport and he joins several Indian Muslims, including former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and BJP leader Shahnawaz Khan, who had been singled out for attention by the U.S. authorities because of their surnames.
• The actor was detained for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with a group that included Nita, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, to address students at Yale University.
• While the rest of the team passed through immigration, Mr. Khan was detained and questioned. The actor was finally allowed to go following intervention by the Consulate-General of India (CGI) in New York.
• While indignation expressed by TV channels' was picked up by the MEA, Mr. Khan joked about his detention on Twitter: “Whenever I start feeling arrogant about myself, I visit USA. The immigration guys kick the star out of stardom.” 

 Mata Prasad Pandey new U.P. Speaker

 

• Mata Prasad Pandey, Samajwadi Party MLA from Itwa in Sidhharthnagar district, was on Friday unanimously elected Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly:

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  Prohibition not workable in liquor cases

• The Rajasthan Government on Friday ruled out any possibility of introducing prohibition in the State. “The prohibition introduced in the State in 1980 did not work out. Apart from the revenue loss, it had also led to a spurt in liquor smuggling and increased presence of liquor mafia in the State. The prohibition was withdrawn on August 11, 1981, Excise Minister Rajendra Pareek told the Assembly. The Minister was responding to a private member's resolution seeking a ban on liquor, tobacco and paan masala in the State.

• Gujarat has total prohibition in force but the consumption of liquor there is more than that of Rajasthan and other States. Now the Gujarat Government is also worried about the activities of liquor smugglers,” Mr. Pareek said responding to the resolution of BJP MLA Chandra Kanta Meghwal. The resolution was rejected by voice vote.
• Mr. Pareek said neighbouring Haryana too had introduced prohibition some time back but there too it was withdrawn soon.It is a fact that liquor brings revenue to the State exchequer but it also damages the health of individuals and plays havoc with families. The State cannot stop its consumption by laws. It is for social groups and NGOs to campaign against the consumption of liquor and the tobacco products, he said, adding that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had imposed the maximum tax on the tobacco products in the current State Budget.
• Responding to another private member's resolution seeking steps to stop breaking up of families and growing instances of discord in marital relationships, Urban Development & Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal said the government programmes in the past had been for emancipation of women. The State never supported the break-up of joint families. He cited the recent Supreme Court order allowing divorce for a woman if her husband is sentenced for a life term.
• Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Ashok Bairwa blamed the break-up of families on the habit of watching television serials.After watching TV serials women are leaving joint families to have their own nuclear families, he said, adding that on the part of the government the effort was to keep harmony in society.
• Mr. Bairwa said there was need to create public opinion against TV serials which were creating divisions in families and society. The resolution, moved by Suryakanta Vyas of the BJP, was rejected by voice vote.
• Another private member's resolution, moved by Prabhulal Saini of the BJP, sought the Government to recommend to the Centre on the strict adherence by the media to the norms set by the Press Council of India. There should be a watchdog in the State to ensure that the media maintained neutrality in reporting, he said.
• Information & Public relations Minister Jitendra Singh said the State Government was committed to the welfare of journalists. In order to keep media persons free from the hassles of day-to-day existence and to help them carry out their responsibilities dispassionately the Government had been implementing various schemes for the welfare of journalists. In this connection Dr. Singh said the insurance cover for journalists had been raised to Rs.2 lakhs from 1 lakh. The State would be paying 90 per cent of the premium, he noted.

World trade to slow down to 3.7 % in 2012

• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has projected a further slowdown in world trade, pegging the growth at 3.7 per cent for 2012.
• World trade expanded in 2011 by 5 per cent, a sharp deceleration from the 2010 rebound of 13.8 per cent. It attributed the slowdown to the global economy losing momentum due to a number of shocks, including the European sovereign debt crisis. Multiple economic setbacks during 2011 dampened growth beyond expectations and led to a stronger than anticipated easing in the fourth quarter, according a report released by the WTO.
• “More than three years have passed since the trade collapse of 2008-09, but the world economy and trade remain fragile. The further slowing of trade expected in 2012 shows that the downside risks remain high. We are not yet out of the woods,” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said.
• “The WTO has so far deterred economic nationalism, but the sluggish pace of recovery raises concerns that a steady trickle of restrictive trade measures could gradually undermine the benefits of trade openness. It is time to do no harm. WTO members should turn their attention on revitalising the trading system,” he further said.
• The preliminary figure of 5 per cent for world merchandise trade growth in 2011 is down 0.8 points from its most recent forecast in September 2011.It said India recorded exports growth of 16 per cent in 2011, the fastest in the world in volume terms last year.
•  “India had the fastest export growth among major traders in 2011, with shipments rising 16.1 per cent. China had the second-fastest export growth of many major economies at 9.3 per cent,” the report said.India also emerged as the second-fastest importer after China growing at 6 per cent in 2011. While, Indian exports increased the fastest in the world in volume terms, in terms of dollar realisation, the growth has been slowing sharply since August 2011, according to Commerce Ministry data.
• WTO economists said the weak import demand from the Europe and the U.S. would adversely affect the emerging and developing countries such as India. The U.S. and the European Union together account for nearly 35 per cent of India's exports of $245.9 billion in 2010-11, as per India's trade data. 

Black Money

• The government has maintained that there are no reliable estimates of black money generated held within and outside the country. It says the different estimates of the quantum of black money range between $500 to $1,400 billion. A study by the Global Financial Integrity Group has estimated the illicit outflow at about $462 billion. Will the government be able to bring back black money from abroad?