CURRENT AFFAIRS 3-4th Dec., 2014

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th Dec., 2014

1. India ranks 85 among 175 countries with a score of 36 on the global Corruption Perception Index 2014. It shares its position with countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burkina Faso. India has marginally improved its ranking this year by two points.

2. According to The Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings 2015, China is on top with 27 universities in the top 100. China’s Peking University and Tsinghua University occupy the first and second positions. India has four universities in the top 40 positions - IISc, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Roorkee and Punjab University, Chandigarh.

3. Government has relaxed the FDI policy for construction sector by easing exit norms. Presently India allows 100 per cent FDI in the sector. The new policy allows the investor to exit on completion of the project or after development of trunk infrastructure without any lock in period. The move is expected to increase foreign inflows and help in the development of smart cities.

4. Government proposed a subsidy regime for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with a turnover of up to Rs.5 crore in its draft policy for the MSME sector. The three components of the policy framework include an enabling framework; a supporting framework; and a subsidy framework for very small businesses.

5. India signed a multilateral agreement admitting India’s participation in the development of the world’s largest telescope named Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii.

6. Reserve Bank of India doubled the card limit to Rs.1 lakh for Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPIs) . It would help in achieving the objective of limiting cash transactions in the system. The RBI also allowed issue of multiple PPIs by banks from fully-KYC compliant bank accounts for dependent or family members.

CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd Dec., 2014

1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in discussion with the government on several issues including the new monetary policy framework. The government has indicated that it is comfortable in setting a 4 per cent plus/minus two per cent as suggested by a number of committees, including the Urjit Patel Committee for inflation beyond 2016.

2. The 14 proposed amendments to Companies Act were approved by the Union Cabinet. The changes include provision to ensure that frauds beyond a certain threshold would need to be mandatorily reported by the auditors to the government. Also, resolutions passed by the companies’ boards would not be subjected to public inspection.

3. Appointments Committee of Cabinet approved the appointment of Anil Sinha as the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief. He succeeds Ranjit Sinha who relinquished office on superannuation.

4. Government has set up a high level panel to look into trade-based money laundering activities which particularly involve manipulation of invoices. This is part of the government's efforts to curb black money generation by Indian entities both within and outside the country.

5. Government is planning to have a regulator for the direct selling sector to safeguard interests of consumers by distinguishing between genuine and fraudulent players. An inter-ministerial committee has been formed comprising secretaries to look into this aspect.