News Highlights : 16 september 2016

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M. Venkaiah Naidu

CURRENT AFFAIRS SEP 16, 2016

01. Green masala bonds, others can fetch Rs 2L crore: Nitin Gadkari

An amount of up to Rs 2 lakh crore could be raised through a host of options, including masala bonds at much cheaper rates than bank lending, which could be utilised in building highways, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said. “We raised Rs 5,000 crore at an interest of 7.6 per cent from EPFO. Earlier also, we raised Rs 5,000 crore below 8 per cent,” said Gadkari, who holds road transport and highways portfolio. He spoke of offers for masala bonds where “we can get 5.5-6 per cent” and in total “we can easily raise up to Rs 2 lakh crore”. LIC is willing to give Rs 1 lakh crore. He feels that banks are conservative in lending for highway projects due to their past experiences as Rs 3.8 lakh-crore projects are stuck. Now, a majority of their issues have been addressed and bankers should come forward to fund the highways sector, the minister suggested. As many as 21 Cabinet decisions, he added, were taken to streamline policy issues, besides steps like mandatory 80 per cent land acquisition before award of projects.

02. Services exports fall 4.6 pc to USD 12.78 billion in July:

Services exports fell by 4.6 per cent to USD 12.78 billion in July this year, Reserve Bank data showed. The exports were at USD 13.39 billion in July, 2015. Import of services also declined by 1.2 per cent to USD 7.41 billion in July 2016, compared to USD 7.5 billion in the same month a year ago. The data is based on RBI’s compilation on International Trade in Services. On cumulative basis, total services exports were of the order of USD 52.47 billion during April-July. Services sector contributes about 55 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product. RBI releases the provisional aggregate monthly data on India’s international trade in services with a lag of 45 days. Monthly data on services are provisional and undergoes revision when the Balance of Payments (BoP) data are released on a quarterly basis.

03. CBDT to honour lakhs of honest taxpayers :

In a novel initiative revived after decades, the CBDT will soon honour lakhs of “honest and compliant” taxpayers from across the country who have paid their Income Tax dues diligently over the years. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has created four broad categories of taxpayers for the purpose – large, regular, compliant, and diligent taxpayers. Such people will be issued commendation certificates by the policy-making body of the I-T department under the signature of the CBDT Chairperson. Officials said the policy to honour “honest and compliant” taxpayers has been revived after decades with the Union Finance Ministry clearing the proposal after obtaining approvals from the top. As per the scheme, to honour such diligent taxpayers it is expected that while a chosen few will be honoured by physically awarding certificates by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the rest will be sent these commendations by the CBDT over email. The certificates, apart from saying a thank you, will commend the taxpayers for honestly making their contributions towards the progress of the country. Officials said the plan was in the making for quiet sometime now “because it was felt that there are many enforcement measures to detect and haul up tax evaders, but none to honour the compliant taxpayers”, who have been paying their taxes honestly for years all together.

04. Rupee swings on devaluation buzz:

The rupee pared losses after a day of high drama that saw the finance ministry denying reports that the government may discuss a plan to devalue the currency. The rupee had risen to as high as 67.07 per dollar earlier in the day after a television channel reported that the finance and commerce ministries would discuss a calibrated devaluation of the rupee on September 20 to boost exports. Later, a wire agency quoted Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman confirming this. The finance ministry, however, was quick in its response. "The value of rupee is determined by the market and there is no plan to change policy," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters. "Reports that the government wants to devalue the rupee are false."Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tweeted that she had not said that the government was discussing a devaluation. But her comments stopped short of denying the commerce ministry was weighing such a proposal. After the denials, the rupee started recovering and ended the day at 67.02 per dollar - a two-week low.

05. India, Russia to put in place a 'Green Corridor' to enhance bilateral trade :

India and Russia are trying to put in place a 'Green Corridor' between the two countries for smooth facilitation of goods to enhance bilateral trade that has performed far below potential despite the strong political ties. The issue figured -- ahead of the October annual Summit -- during the meeting between Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin and Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj. The idea of Green Corridor was mooted by Russia's Federal Customs Service. It has proposed that the two countries create a list of entrepreneurs or companies whose goods, on a reciprocal basis, will not have to pass customs inspection during border crossings, according to sources familiar with the subject. Russia is already implementing the Green Corridor project with Finland and Turkey. Moscow has also signed such agreements with China and Italy. The Russian government considers Green corridors as one of the most important levers for increasing mutual trade. It has been learnt that India has shown interest in the project.

06. Government to launch 3 e-way projects at cost of Rs 1.3L cr: Nitin Gadkari

The Government will soon launch three expressway projects — Delhi-Amritsar-Katra, Delhi-Jaipur and Vadodara-Mumbai — soon at a cost of about Rs 1,32,000 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said. “We will soon start three important expressway projects that would reduce travel time significantly between Delhi-Katra, Delhi-Jaipur and Vadodara-Mumbai. These would entail a total project cost of Rs 1,32,000 crore,” road transport and highways minister Gadkari said. He hoped that the travel distance to these destinations will reduce significantly once the projects are operationalised. As per the plan, Amritsar could be reached via Delhi in up to 3 hours after completion of the Rs 60,000-crore Amritsar-Delhi expressway, which will reduce travel duration by over two hours. Also on the anvil is a project connecting Jalandhar to Ajmer that will bring down the travel time to 5 hours.

07. India likely to sign $8.84-billion Rafale deal with France for 36 fighter jets on Sept 23 :

India is close to finalising a long-delayed deal to buy 36 fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation, a defence ministry official said on 15th Sept 2016, with the cabinet set to meet next week to agree a price. Indian television channel NDTV reported that India had agreed to pay 7.87 billion euros ($8.84 billion) for the jets and would sign the deal on Sept. 23. There have been several leaks to the Indian press this year that a deal had been reached that proved to be premature, as the two sides haggled over price and other terms of the deal. A senior defence ministry official in New Delhi, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak with the media, said India’s cabinet committee on security would meet to discuss the deal. “We expect to sign the deal once the cabinet approves,” the official said.

08. Next set of smart cities to be announced next week: M. Venkaiah Naidu

The Centre will announce the next set of 27 cities for financing under the Modi-government flagship Smart City Mission next week, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said. “I am happy to tell you that 20 cities were announced in the first and another 13 in the supplementary round. Now, I am going to announce another 27 cities in the next week,” Naidu said while addressing the 12th Indo-US Economic Summit. So far, the government has announced 33 cities that will be developed as ‘smart cities’ which would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. The Modi-government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years. Meanwhile, Naidu said the challenges before the government is to overcome the “deficits” that it has “inherited” from the UPA dispensation in “quickest possible time”.

09. Aadhaar campaign to attarct from 7 to 70 years old :

The Unique Identification Authority of India is prepping to launch catchy slogans to encourage people to enrol the very young and the very old in the scheme. "The sooner you secure Aadhaar for your toddler, the better", "In your youth, they opened a world of benefits for you; in their old age, open a world of benefits for them" are some of the slogans planned. The campaign follows data analysis that shows adults are pro-active in getting an Aadhaar for themselves but ignore it for their aged parents or young children. UIDAI will try to impress upon citizens that Aadhaar has benefits for these two sections too. UIDAI is now writing to states and central ministries asking them to notify schemes for which Aadhaar will be made mandatory, highlighting the need for all age-groups to get Aadhaar. "Till about six months ago, when we used to do enrolment, only 2-3 per cent of the enrolled were children below 5 years of age. But today, if we do six lakh enrolments in a day, roughly 25 per cent of them are toddlers while 35-40 per cent are children between 5-18 years of age. We want to push this further," UIDAI CEO AB Pandey said. With UIDAI aiming at 100 per cent Aadhaar saturation among adults by this month-end, the focus is now shifting to covering all children by March 2017 — among whom saturation stands at 55 per cent.

10. Agencies cannot use Aadhaar details other than stated purpose :

Agencies using data from Aadhaar will now have to inform the holder of the card the manner in which the details will be used to ensure the information is not misused. According to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial, and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, core biometric information collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Act "shall not be shared with anyone for any reason whatsoever". Any individual, agency or entity, which collects Aadhaar number or any document having the figure, will have to now get consent of the holder for collecting, storing and using the same for specified purposes only. "Any individual, agency or entity which collects Aadhaar number or any document containing it, shall obtain consent of the holder for collection, storage and use of his Aadhaar number for specified purposes. Such individual, agency or entity shall not use the Aadhaar number for any purpose other than those specified to the holder at the time of obtaining his consent," the notification clearly said. They will also have to inform the citizen whether submission of Aadhaar number or proof of Aadhaar for such purpose is mandatory or voluntary and if alternative documents can be submitted. The new rules also prevent the agencies from publicly posting the information.