News highlights : 30 September 2016

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Jim yong kim

CURRENT AFFAIRS SEP 30, 2016

01. DGAD & Allied Duties recommends provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of wire rods :

Directorate General of Anti Dumping (DGAD) & Allied Duties has recommended provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of wire rods following an investigation into alleged dumping of the product originating in or exported from China. The DGAD has recommended the duty should be the difference between landed price of imports and a reference price of $499 for some Chinese companies, while for others it has suggested the duty should be the difference between landed price and $538 per tonne. The duty was recommended on 'wire rod of alloy or non-alloy steel', which is used in a variety of applications like, automotive components, welding electrodes, fasteners, nuts and bolts, nails, railway sleepers, general engineering, binding wires for construction industry and armoured cables. Earlier Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), Usha Martin Limited and JSW Steel Limited had jointly filed an application for initiation of anti-dumping investigation on imports of "Wire Rod of Alloy or Non-Alloy steel'' originating in or exported from China, alleging dumping and consequent injury and requested for levy of anti-dumping duty on its imports.

02. Mundra flags possible leadership vacuum in public sector banks:

Flagging the possibility of a leadership vacuum at the top in public sector banks due to loss of experienced hands on account of retirements, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor SS Mundra emphasised on the need to build capacity as banks cannot be ‘leaderless’. Speaking at State Bank of India’s third banking and economic conclave, Mundra observed: “We are able to talk about driverless cars but I think we are far away to talk about a leaderless bank. I think that is not going to happen tomorrow.” Public sector banks are staring at a retirement decade. While recruitments are happening at the junior levels, there would be a virtual vacuum at the middle and senior level for some time to come. The problem for PSBs will get accentuated once the banks that have been new licences start hiring. Mundra said out of the 20 public sector bank chiefs, eight of them will retire in 2017, 10 in 2018 and there would be only one who would be retiring beyond the next two years. When it comes to the second rung leadership, the RBI Deputy Governor said five are retiring in 2016, seven in 2017, 10 in 2018, 12 in 2019 and the remaining three will retire in 2020. Nearly 73 per cent of the deputy general managers and general managers put together at PSBs are above 55 years of age. And another 23 per cent are in the age group of 50-55. This leaves them with little chance of getting promotions before retirement.

03. Education loans top list of complaints received by banking ombudsman:

A total of 78 per cent of issues pertaining to educational loans provided by banks to individuals were the major complaints received by the Regional Banking Ombudsman. The overall complaints received by the Banking Ombudsman increased to 8,645 during the period 2015-16 from 8,285 registered during same period last year, a PIB release said. “The total complaints received under Loans and Advances during the period 2015-16 was 1,382 of which 78 per cent were related to educational loans alone,” it said. Nationalised banks, including the country’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India, topped the list receiving 67 per cent of complaints on services provided to customers. The Regional Ombudsman Office which covers Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands received a total of 8,539, 89 and 17 complaints, respectively from these regions. About 400 complaints were processed through the first resort complaints module in which the Ombudsman receives the complaints directly and directs the banks to address the them from their end. About 50 per cent of grievances were received online whereas 90.4 per cent of them were from individual customers

04. Jim Yong Kim re-appointed as World Bank President :

Jim Yong Kim has been re-appointed for a second five-year term as World Bank president, beginning July 1, next year, the bank announced. "Humbled to have the honour of serving a second term as the head of this great institution. I would focus on building a more inclusive world free of poverty," Kim said in a statement. He said the starting point for his work when he joined the Bank in 2012 was the setting of two ambitious new goals for the institution: to end extreme poverty by 2030, and to promote shared prosperity by boosting the income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in every developing country. "In order to deliver these goals, the Bank had to accelerate, become bolder and more agile, and reposition itself. We did this so that we could increase support for countries and deliver better results more quickly. "I believe we are well on the way to achieve these important aims," he said. "The challenges going forward remain large, with climate change, forced displacement and pandemics threatening the gains we have made to improve the lives of billions.

05. I-T department collects Rs 6,750 cr:

The government's Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) has seen a revenue of Rs 6,750 crore for the Income Tax department, as unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore has been disclosed as on September 28, said an official. The government had opened a four-month window for declaring unaccounted money, which would attract 45 per cent tax, penalty and cess. The tax department is expecting the number to touch between Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore in the next two days. The four-month window for disclosing domestic black money deposits will close on September 30. The informal target for the scheme was a tax collection of Rs 40,000-50,000 crore on black money declaration of Rs 1 lakh crore. On 28th Sept 2016 , Mumbai topped the 18 income-tax circles in the country with disclosures in the range of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore. New Delhi and Gujarat circles followed at second and third positions, respectively, said the source.

06. World’s first three-parent baby born :

The world’s first three-parent baby has been born in Mexico with the help a controversial new fertility technique that incorporates DNA from three people, and is reported to be healthy at five months of age. The ‘three-parent’ technique allows parents with rare genetic mutations to have healthy babies. The boy’s mother carries genes for Leigh syndrome, a fatal disorder that affects the brain, muscles and nerves of developing infants. Genes for the disease reside in DNA in the mitochondria, which provide energy for our cells. The parents of the baby, a Jordanian couple, had been trying to start a family for almost 20 years.In 2005, the couple gave birth to a baby girl. Their daughter was born with Leigh syndrome, and died aged six. The couple’s second child had the same disorder, and lived for 8 months, the ‘New Scientist’ reported. The couple sought out the help of John Zhang and his team at the New Hope Fertility Centre in New York City. Zhang used an approach called spindle nuclear transfer. He removed the nucleus from one of the mother’s eggs and inserted it into a donor egg that had its own nucleus removed. The resulting egg - with nuclear DNA from the mother and mitochondrial DNA from a donor - was then fertilised with the father’s sperm.

07. Chabahar Port project to take off soon: Nitin Gadkari

Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadakri has said the work on Chabahar Port will begin soon once the tender process is over and hoped the project will open a new gateway for development of India, Iran and Afghanistan by boosting regional connectivity and trade. All the three nations are keen on expediting tripartite transit agreement on Chabahar port, Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari told PTI after holding a meeting with delegations from Iran and Afghanistan. “We are keen on expanding scope of cooperation to cover development of entire Chabahar Port…This port is going to open a new gateway not only for the development of India but at the same time development of Afghanistan and Iran. This is a win-win situation,” Gadkari said. Gadkari along with Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi and Afghan’s Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Mohamadullah Batash held discussions on expediting trilateral agreement on establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor i.e. Chabahar Agreement signed on May this year in Tehran in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Presidents of Iran and Afghanistan. Gadkari said India is committed to developing the Chabahar Port in Iran and the work would commence soon after the completion of the tender process.

08. Infrastructure IWAI inks 3 MoUs with DCI and MPT for inland water transport:

The Inland Waterways Authority of India has signed three separate MoUs with Dredging Corporation of India and Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to accelerate the development of inland water transport sector as an alternative mode of transport. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. “Development of Inland Water Transport is a priority of the Ministry of Shipping. After the declaration of 106 new National Waterways, in addition to the existing five National Waterways, under the National Waterways Act, 2016, the responsibilities of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) have increased manifold,” a spokesman from the Shipping Ministry said in a press release here. “These MoUs are meant to make use of the synergies, strengths and expertise of the Ports and Dredging sectors to enable IWAI to accelerate the development of Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector as an alternative, viable and environment friendly mode of transport,” the spokesman said. While the MoU with DCI will enable IWAI to maintain navigable depth in National Waterways, the MoUs will help IWAI to develop National Waterway in Odisha and various National Waterways in Goa, he added.

09. Unemployment paints grim picture, highest in 5 years in 2015-16:

The unemployment rate in India has shot up to a five-year high of five per cent in 2015-16, with the figure significantly higher at 8.7 per cent for women as compared to 4.3 per cent for men, says a report by Labour Bureau. The figures should worry the Centre, which has taken a series of steps such as ‘Make in India’ to create jobs for inclusive growth in the country. According to the fifth annual employment-unemployment survey at all-India level, about 77 per cent of the households were reported to be having no regular wage/salaried person. It said the unemployment rate was estimated to be five per cent at all-India level under the UPS (Usual Principal Status) approach. Unemployment rate was 4.9 per cent in 2013-14, 4.7 per cent (2012-13), 3.8 per cent (2011-12) and 9.3 per cent (2009-10). The Labour Bureau did not bring out a report for 2014-15. “In the rural sector, the unemployment rate was 5.1 per cent whereas in the urban sector, the rate was 4.9 per cent under the UPS approach,” the report said. The figure was significantly higher among females. Female unemployment rate was estimated to be 8.7 per cent, whereas for males it was 4.3 per cent. In urban areas, female unemployment rate was estimated to be 12.1 per cent at the pan-India level compared to 3.3 per cent for males and 10.3 per cent for transgenders.

10. JN Port to harness solar energy to cut electricity costs:

India’s largest container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) will now harness solar energy and reduce its dependency on conventional electricity from the grid. JNPT is installing solar power plant on several rooftops in its township and commercial premises, said a release. Rooftop solar plants allows the use of roof of buildings, an area which is otherwise not usable, for sustainable energy generation also ensuring financial savings. With this new initiative, JNPT expects to get a payback on its investment on rooftop solar within 2.5 years. At present, it pays a high cost of grid electricity of around Rs. 14 per unit. This 822 KW peak of solar rooftop capacity is being installed at an expense of Rs. 4.5 crore, supported by a 15 per cent subsidy from Solar Energy Corporation of India (part of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy). The project, which will generate 822 kilowatt power at peak performance, once commissioned, will generate around 9.9 lakh units of electricity. This will result in saving of about Rs.1.08 crore of electricity expense for JNPT in the first year. Out of this, 411 KW peak power is commissioned at rooftop solar installation at JNPT premises -- in hospital, schools and port user building.