Inflation drops to 5-year low
i.) Slowing for the fifth consecutive month, wholesale inflation cooled to a five-year low of
ii.) Food inflation cooled to 2.7 per cent from 3.5 per cent in September, according to the official Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data released on Friday. Inflation in vegetables dropped to minus 19.6 per cent. Prices of wheat, vegetables, eggs, fish and meat fell in October, according to the official data.
iii.) Industry chambers cheered the steep fall in the WPI inflation and made renewed calls for the Reserve Bank to
slash interest rates. Economists, however, warned that the moderation in WPI inflation was in some part a statistical illusion and the trend could change post-December.India’s GDP to grow at 6.3% in 2015: Morgan Stanley
i.) India would have the fastest economic expansion among Asian countries and its gross domestic product is expected to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2015, according to Morgan Stanley forecasts of global economies.
ii.) The Indian rupee’s exchange rate to dollar would be at Rs. 62.2 by end of next year compared to Rs. 62 in the current quarter (Q4 this year), according to a presentation made at the Morgan Stanley’s Annual Asia Pacific Summit held here from November 12-14 said.
iii.) It is seen at Rs. 62.5 in the first two quarters of next year and Rs. 62.3 in the third quarter of next year.Comparative to other Asian GDP growths, India would have the fastest economic expansion, it said. India’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2015, up from 5.3 this year, it said.
GST compensation to be included in Constitutional Bill
i.) The Centre has agreed to include compensation to be paid to States for Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout as part of the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
ii.) The compensation structure would form part of the Bill. It will be paid in tranches to the States. A consensus on this crucial issue will make it easier of the Centre to introduce the GST Bill in the ensuing winter session of Parliament beginning on November 24.
iii.) The official further said that the Finance Ministry has floated a draft Cabinet note on GST for inter-ministerial consultations."The first tranche of compensation to States will be made available in the upcoming session,” the official added.
India consolidates its no.1 ranking in ICC ODI list
i.) World champions India consolidated its top rank on the ICC ODI Team Rankings after
ii.) India had started the series at third position on 113 points and finished on 117 points - two ratings points clear of South Africa, which is involved in a five-ODI series against Australia.
iii.) Sri Lanka retained their fourth position but slipped to 108 points. It now hosts England in a seven-ODI series, leading Alastair Cook’s side by one ratings point.
Modi to address NRIs in Sydney
i.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sydney on Monday on a whirlwind six-hour visit to Sydney on the second leg of his four-city tour of Australia. Mr. Modi, who arrived here from Brisbane after attending the G20 Summit, will proceed to Canberra tonight and later to Melbourne.
ii.) Mr. Modi is the first Prime Minister to visit Australia in 28 years after Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. More than 16,000 members of the Indian diaspora will pack Allphones Arena at Olympic Park here to listen to Mr. Modi at a community reception. About 5,000 more are expected to be watching the evening event on big screens outside.
Modi assures visa on arrival for Australian tourists
i.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured a visa on arrival facility for Australian tourists and announced a two-month deadline for the long-pending merger of OCI and PIO status to woo the Indian diaspora from whom he sought support for his ambitious Clean India campaign.
ii.) Addressing a frenzied crowd of around 20,000 in the packed Allphones Arena in Sydney, Modi took a dig at the previous governments saying while they were happy to make laws, he was “happier to remove” them.
“Let’s open the windows let fresh air come in,” Modi said referring to his government’s efforts to weed out obsolete laws. Touched by the grand reception, Modi said he was honoured and humbled and will never forget this day. “I know that behind this affection lies expectations.
Mudgal panel gives clean chit to Srinivasan
i.) In a major relief to BCCI president N. Srinivasan (who has stepped down), the Justice
ii.) In its report, copies of which were released on Monday, the panel said “this individual (Mr. Srinivasan) is not involved with match fixing activity. He was not found to be involved in scuttling the investigations into match fixing.”
iii.) The panel, however, held that Mr. Srinivasan along with four other BCCI officials was aware of the violation of the Players Code of Conduct of Individual three (whose name was not revealed) but no action was taken against that Individual three by any of the officials.
CBI files second chargesheet in Saradha case
i.) The Special Crime Branch of CBI filed the second chargesheet in the Saradha ponzi scam case at Alipur court on Monday.
ii.) The first chargesheet was filed at City Sessions Court on October 22 against four Saradha group companies and one owned by suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh and contained the names of accused persons Saradha group chief Sudipto Sen, his associate Debjani Mukherjee and Mr. Ghosh.
iii.) The official said that six names were named in the chargesheet including Sudipto Sen, Debjani Mukherjee, former West Bengal DGP Rajat Majumdar, businessman Sandhir Agarwal, East Bengal club official Debabrata Sarkar, Assamese singer Sadanand Gogoi, who were all arrested by the agency. The chargesheet also contained the name of Sajjan Agarwal, father of Sandhir Agarwal, who had been interrogated but not arrested by CBI.
Klaus Werner Iohannis won Romanian presidential elections 2014
i.) The mayor of Sibiu Klaus Werner Iohannis on 16 November 2014 won the 2014 presidential elections in Romania by defeating Prime Minister Victor Ponta of Social Democratic Party (PSD).
ii.) Klaus Iohannis belongs to Christian Liberal Alliance of Romania. Iohannis got 54.81 percent of the votes compared to only 45.18 percent of the votes for Victor Ponta.
iii.) Iohannis will replace the incumbent Traian Basescu who cannot stand for re-election after serving as President for two terms.
Over 71 m rural bank accounts opened: Modi
i.) Over 71 million bank accounts have been opened through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
ii.) Addressing the euphoric crowd of around 16,000 Indian diaspora, Mr. Modi said that this was done by the same government infrastructure, the same government servants and with the same habits, “but the work has got done”.
iii.) He said when he asked the Reserve Bank of India, he was told by the officers it would take three years to open bank accounts in the villages. He said he then approached the finance ministry which said it would take two years, while his own Prime Minister’s Office said one year.
iv.) “I heard everyone, and announced Aug 15 that I want the work in 150 days,” he said. “I said that Jan 26 is the final date, and all bank employees are on overdrive to get rural families access to the banking system.”
RBI in talks with govt to curb gold imports
i.) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said it is in discussions with the government to curb gold imports which have seen a sharp surge in the recent months putting pressure on the current account deficit (CAD).
ii.) Gold import surged almost four times to USD 4.17 billion in October from USD 1.09 billion same month a year ago.
iii.) “With the surge in gold import, which has been witnessed, it warranted a relook. Discussions are still going on between the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India. Once we know what the discussions are, further view will be taken,” RBI Deputy Governor S.S. Mundra said.
RBI to release Payments Banks guidelines by November-end: Mundra
i.) The Reserve Bank today said final guidelines on Payments Banks are expected to be issued by this month-end, while norms for Small Banks may be out next month.
ii.) "RBI has prepared the final documents. It has been referred to Government of India and presently it is there. We expect, may be, Payments Banks (guidelines) by month end. In the coming month, we would be able to release final guidelines on small banks," RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra said here.
iii.) The proposed Small Banks will provide a whole suite of basic banking products such as deposits and supply of credit, but in a limited area of operation.
China to host G20 Summit of the emerging economies in 2016
i.) China will play host to the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit of the emerging economies in 2016. The decision was announced by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on 16 November 2014 in Brisbane.
ii.) In 2014, G20 Summit was hosted by Australia. Turkey took over the presidency from Australia and will host the event in Antalya in 2015. With China being selected for the 2016 presidency, the G20 troika would now consist of Turkey, Australia and China.
iii.) The leaders of the Group of 20 also announced a plan to boost global growth by more than 2 trillion US dollars over five years.
Raghuram Rajan on shortlist for BRICS bank chief post
i.) Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, a Union Cabinet Minister and a well-known
ii.) This short list is not final; the Modi government is scouting for more names before it takes a decision on the nomination, a Finance Ministry source told The Hindu.
iii.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening statement at the BRICS leaders’ meet in Brisbane on Saturday, proposed that 2016 be set as the target for the inauguration of the BRICS Bank. “We hope to ratify the agreement by the end of the year.
iv.) We would soon nominate our candidate for the post of the presidency,” Mr. Modi said. The BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — had agreed at their sixth Summit in Fortaleza that India will nominate the first president of the bank and that its headquarters will be located in China.
G20 backs Modi’s strong pitch for repatriation of black money
i.) In a victory for India, the G20 on Sunday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong pitch for repatriation of black money at its summit in Brisbane, echoing the government’s line on the need for transparency and disclosure of tax information.
ii.) Mr. Modi while voicing India’s support for a new global standard on automatic exchange of tax information urged every jurisdiction, especially tax havens, to provide information for tax purposes in accordance with treaty obligations.
iii.) The new global standard will be instrumental in getting information relating to unaccounted money hoarded abroad and enable its eventual repatriation, Mr. Modi said, utilising the forum of G20, which accounts for 85 per cent of world’s GDP.
iv.) The Prime Minister while flagging his concern over cross border tax avoidance and evasion also noted that increased mobility of capital and technology have created new opportunities for avoiding tax and profit sharing. The three-page communiqué was released at the end of the two-day summit of Group of 20 industrialised and leading emerging economies hosted by Australia.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic won ATP World Tour Finals
i.) World number one Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was crowned champion of ATP World Tour finals at O2 Arena in London, UK on 16 November 2014. He was crowned after world number two Swiss Roger Federer withdrew from the title clash due to a back injury.
ii.) This was Djokovic's fourth season ending title. With this win, he also became the first tennis player to win three World Tour Finals titles consecutively since Ivan Lendl of US who won it from 1985 to 1987. The only other player to win three straight year-end titles was Ilie Nastase of Romania from 1971-73.
iii.) This was the third time that Federer had pulled out of the final and in his career. He pulled out of the Paris Masters before playing American James Blake in 2008 and before playing French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2012 in Doha.
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