Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE1. / India, Africa align on WTO issues (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India and Africa said that the two partners are aligned on the outstanding issues at the WTO and are in favour of multilateral trading systems.
2. / Support UN reforms, PM tells Africa (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) Raising the pitch for UNSC reforms, PMModi asked 54 African nations to join India in demanding an overhaul of the global body to make it more democratic, inclusive and representative of the current world.
3. / Modis UK visit will boost people-to-people ties (Page 14) / a) I.R / a) UK official said that PMModis visit to the United Kingdom next month is not comparable to the just-concluded, highly successful and high-profile visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
4. / India adopting dangerous military policies, says Sharif (Pg 1) / a) I.R / a) Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif accused India of setting off a new arms race in South Asia and not responding to his peace overtures, while urging US to reconsider some of its existing assumptions and analyses about the region.
5. / US-Pakistan bonhomie leaves India at a loss (Page 13) / a) I.R / a) India took exception to the American appreciation for Pakistans anti-terror operations and the American pledge to provide eight F-16 aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force.
6. / Islamabads promise to combat Lashkar marks a change in policy, says US(Page 13) / a) I.R / a) Hours after Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif promised action against the outfit that is behind several terror strikes in India (including Mumbai 2008), an US official said that there has been a significant shift in Pakistans policy towards terror groups in the last year and it now recognised the threat posed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
7. / UK and China clinch multi-billion contracts (Page 14) / a) International / a) British PM David Cameron and Chinese President Xi have signed almost £30 billion in trade deals as part of a drive to forge closer ties between the two countries.
8. / A prescription for the IMF (Page 10) / a) Economy / a) RBI Governor RaghuramRajan(known for his forthright and plain-speaking manner) has once again trained his guns on the International Monetary Fund - where he once served as Chief Economist.
9. / India to grow at 7.4 percent this fiscal, says BoFA-ML (Page 16) / a) Economy / a) According to a report by Bank of America Merill Lynch, India is set to grow at 7.4 percent this financial year. The report also said that the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut rates by another 25 bps in February.
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / BACKGROUND / IMPORTANT POINTS
1. / India, Africa align on WTO issues (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India – Africa relations
b) World Trade Organisation (WTO) issues
c) Bali declaration / a) India and Africa said that the two partners are aligned on the outstanding issues at the WTO and are in favour of multilateral trading systems.
b) After the 4th India-Africa Trade Ministers meeting, official saidthe WTO Ministerial scheduled for December in Nairobi will be held for the first time in Africa where we will be looking for outcomes that will be of interest to both India and Africa.
c) Union Commerce & Industry Minister NirmalaSitharaman said that a round table was also held to discuss the outstanding issues at the WTO, including Indias long–held position on the nations food security policy, especially the minimum support prices-based procurement from farmers.
d) At the Bali Ministerial in 2013 too, Africa and India had united in seeking an interim mechanism for safeguarding minimum support prices to farmers against WTO caps till a permanent solution is found and adopted. Indias concern is that even though the interim mechanism has become available indefinitely, the WTO has not made enough progress in finding a solution to the issue ahead of Nairobi Ministerial.
2. / Support UN reforms, PM tells Africa (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India – Africa relations
b) UNSC reforms
c) India-Africa Forum Summit / a) Raising the pitch for UNSC reforms, PMModi asked 54 African nations to join India in demanding an overhaul of the global body to make it more democratic, inclusive and representative of current world.
b) He said the present day world was facing challenges like terrorism and climate change which did not exist when the UN was founded 70 years ago and the global body ran the risk of losing relevance if it did not adapt to the new systems in the world.
c) Ahead of the India-Africa Forum Summit,he said thatIndia advocates reforms in global political, economic and security institutions.
3. / Modis UK visit will boost people-to-people ties (Page 14) / a) I.R / a) India – UK relations
b) Trade ties / a) UK official said that PMModis visit to UK next month is not comparable to the just-concluded, highly successful and high-profile visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
b) He said that Britain will seek to cooperate and collaborate in sectors that are key to PM Modis own vision for India.
c) Pointing out that in 2014-15 India emerged as Britains third biggest job creator, he said business, trade and investments in job-creation will be part of the agenda.
4. / India adopting dangerous military policies, says Sharif (Page 1) / a) I.R / a) India – Pakistan relations
b) Terrorism / a) Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif accused India of setting off a new arms race in South Asia and not responding to his peace overtures, while urging US to reconsider some of its existing assumptions and analyses about the region.
b) According to Sharif, it was Indias decision to call off the dialogue with Pakistan after the initial positivity created by his attendance at the swearing-in ceremony of PMModi in May 2014. New Delhi cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks on a flimsy excuse.
c) Sharif outlined the current situation in Pak as one in which democracy has stabilised, terrorism is at its lowest in recent years and economy is on an upswing. He said it was relations with India that were the most immediate and difficult challenge before him.
5. / US-Pakistan bonhomie leaves India at a loss (Page 13) / a) I.R / a) US – Pakistan relations
b) India – Pak relations
c) Kashmir issue
d) Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)
e) Terrorism / a) India took exception to the American appreciation for Pakistans anti-terror operations and the American pledge to provide eight F-16 aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force.
b) External Affairs Ministry spokesperson VikasSwarup said our reservations about providing such platforms (F-16) to Pakistan are well known and all countries are aware of Indias position in such cases. He said supply of such strategic platforms to Pakistan could not help South Asia, especially in view of reports that Pakistan had acquired tactical and miniaturised battlefield nuclear weapons.
c) The joint statement issued at the end of PM Nawaz Sharifs visit to US has been criticised in Indian policy circles as it entrusts Pak with maintaining strategic stability in South Asia. Experts have argued that the American decision-makers have misread Pakistani commitment to strategic stability in South Asia, especially since gifting the F-16 jets will further embolden Pakistans reckless nuclear establishment.
d) The joint statement repeatedly referred to Pakistans need to deal with issues arising out of water and energy issues and both sides have also joined hands for researching on water to help Pakistan.
e) The joint statement was dissected critically by India which finds the Obama-Sharif call for dialogue on Kashmir an irritant. That apart, India has been surprised by description of terrorism as of mutual concern between India and Pakistan.
f) India has reacted strongly to US-Pakistan joint statement, especially with reference to terrorism, nuclear cooperation and support for hydropower dams in PoK.
6. / Islamabads promise to combat Lashkar marks a change in policy, says US(Page 13) / a) I.R / a) US – Pakistan relations
b) India – Pakistan relations
c) Line of Control (LoC)
d) Terrorism
e) Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
f) Balochistan
g) Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) / a) Hours after Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif promised action against the outfit that is behind several terror strikes in India (including Mumbai 2008), an US official said that there has been a significant shift in Pakistans policy towards terror groups in the last year and it now recognised the threat posed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
b) While the specific reference to the LeT sought to address a lingering Indian concern in its relations with Pakistan, the joint statement took on board several issues that Pakistan harps on: it called for sustained dialogue between the two countries aimed at resolving all outstanding territorial and other disputes, including Kashmir; acknowledged the importance of regional balance in South Asia; expressed concern over violence along the LoC; and was effusive in its praise for Pakistans drive against terrorism in the region. The statement also termed terrorism a topic of mutual concern between the two countries.
c) Asked whether this formulation meant that the US accepted Pakistans allegation that India was fomenting trouble in Balochistan and FATA, the US official said that Pak has raised certain concerns. He said the best way to deal with this is both countries start a dialogue on this.
7. / UK and China clinch multi-billion contracts (Page 14) / a) International / a) China – UK relations
b) Trade deals / a) British PM David Cameron and Chinese President Xi have signed almost £30 billion in trade deals as part of a drive to forge closer ties between the two countries.
b) Deals worth more than £12 billion, including £6.5bn liquefied natural gas supply contract with Chinas Huadian power generation.
8. / A prescription for the IMF (Page 10) / a) Economy / a) Monetary policy
b) Global economic situation
c) International Monetary Fund (IMF)
d) RBI
e) US Federal Reserve / a) RBI Governor Rajansaid the worlds premier multilateral lending institution (IMF) had failed to fulfil its role in ensuring that national monetary policies did not end up hurting the global economy as a whole.
b) He said the IMF had been sitting on the sidelines and applauding unconventional and extreme policies initiated by central banks in industrialised countries. These policies of quantitative easing, combined with the exchange-rate interventions pursued by some emerging market economies in the early-2000s, had created problems for others with large negative spill-over effects by pushing capital from one shore to another.
c) According to him, with national central banks unlikely to consider the impact of their policy actions beyond the respective domestic economies, the Fund ought to have evaluated the implications from a global perspective.
d) Having just cut the benchmark interest rate by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points with the aim of providing a monetary fillip to domestic demand, Rajan is well aware that a resurgence of inflationary pressures amid distinct signs of a drought across several key States could leave RBI facing the spectre of tepid economic growth and accelerating price gains. And with persisting uncertainty over when the US Federal Reserve would start normalisation of interest rates, the outlook for the global economy remains hazy.
e) According to Rajan, the need of the hour is a political consensus to go beyond domestic mandates and evolve optimal policies that help create global economic growth.
9. / India to grow at 7.4 percent this fiscal, says BoFA-ML (Page 16) / a) Economy / a) Indias economic growth
b) GDP
c) Inflation
d) Stagflation
e) RBI / a) According to a report by Bank of America Merill Lynch, India is set to grow at 7.4 percent this financial year. The report also said that the RBI is likely to cut rates by another 25 bps in February.
b) Other agencies tracking Indias GDP are also not as optimistic as the govt seems to be. Moodys Investors Services said that India was set to grow at 7-7.5 percent this year.
c) The BoFA-ML report said thatIndia is a rare economy in todays world in that it is not in stagflation. It is poised to overtake Brazil this year after having overtaken Russia last year in nominal GDP terms to emerge as the second largest emerging market after China.
d) The report added that Indias slow recovery was largely because of delayed global revival and lending rate cuts, saying that a turnaround in GDP numbers next fiscal is expected assuming better rains and more lending rate cuts.
e) While saying that lending rate cuts hold the key to a cyclical recovery, the report went on to add that it expects the RBI to cut rates by 25 basis points in February after it meets its 6 percent inflation target by January.
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