Current Affairs 6-7th Mar, 2015

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1. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India said that it reached a major milestone of successfully linking 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number. Such a framework of electronic benefit transfer will not only be unique but also be one of the largest in the world.

2. U.S. tech giant Apple will join the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Index later this month, replacing telecom company AT&T. Apple had become the biggest U.S. company by market capitalisation, now with a value of more than $730 billion.

3. China announced $260 billion worth of infrastructure projects, including railway construction, to spur growth. It ruled out introducing a stimulus to arrest the slowdown of the economy.

4. Government has proposed to amend the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act to take away money market regulatory powers from the central bank and bring it under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

5. Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has written to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to be allowed to raise its stake in Metropolitan Stock Exchange to 15 per cent. 15 per cent is the maximum any commodity bourse can hold in a stock exchange.

Current Affairs 6th Mar, 2015

1. Global rating agency Moody’s has said that the flexible inflation targeting framework jointly put out by the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry is “credit positive” for India. Quantitative inflation targeting will foster transparency and predictability in monetary policy. India currently has a Ba3 rating with stable outlook.

2. Export and Import Bank of India will raise foreign currency debt worth Rs. 13,000 crore in 2015-16 to fund its proposed projects. Centre has earmarked Rs. 1,300 crore to be infused into the bank as equity.

3. Centre will seek Parliament’s approval for additional expenditure on compensation to States and will table a Supplementary Demands for Grants next week to enable payment of the first instalment of Rs. 11,000 crore this fiscal year. Centre has now agreed to pay the entire amount around Rs. 34,000 crore, in three instalments.

4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the plaque of a cultural centre to be built with Indian assistance in Jaffna on March 14. On his first day in Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister will address a special sitting of the Sri Lankan Parliament in Colombo and pay homage at the memorial to Indian Peace Keeping Force personnel.

5. RBI has relaxed norms for those buying property worth less than Rs 10 lakhs. Banks have been allowed to add stamp duty, registration and other documentation charges to the cost of the house for calculating the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio in priority lending projects.