• India
  • Mar 23

Daily Briefing & Quiz / March 23, 2019

Prez administers oath of office to Lokpal chief

President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office on March 23 to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the country’s first Lokpal. Justice Ghose, a former Supreme Court judge, was on March 19 named the first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman. Former Chief Justices of different high courts - Justices Dilip Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari - besides sitting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi were appointed as judicial members in the Lokpal. Former Sashastra Seema Bal chief Archana Ramasundaram, former Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and former IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam are the non-judicial members.

Forex kitty swells by $3.6 bn to $405.6 bn

India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by a whopping $3.602 billion to $405.638 billion in the week to March 15, driven by rise in foreign currency assets, the RBI said. Forex reserves had increased by $258.8 million to $402.035 billion in the previous week. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets increased by a healthy $3.546 billion to $377.773 billion as foreign funds pumped in billions of dollars into domestic equities in a pre-election buying spree. The reserves had touched a life-time high of $426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, it has been on a slide and is now down by over $20 billion. Gold reserves rose by $38.9 million to $23.408 billion in the reporting week.

8.96 lakh jobs created in Jan: EPFO data

Net employment generation in the formal sector touched a 17-month high of 8.96 lakh in January, according to the latest Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation payroll data. The EPFO has been releasing payroll data from April 2018, covering the period starting September 2017. The addition in January was 131 per cent higher as compared with 3.87 lakh EPFO subscribers added in the year-ago month. In September 2017, a net of 2,75,609 jobs were created. Around 76.48 lakh new subscribers were added to social security schemes of the EPFO from September 2017 to January 2019, the data showed. This indicates that these many jobs were created in the formal sector over the past 17 months. The net EPFO enrolment in January stood at 8,96,516, which is the highest since September 2017.

RBI defers Ind AS implementation again

The RBI on March 22 again deferred the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by banks as the requisite legislative amendments are still under consideration. In April 2018, the central bank had postponed the implementation of Ind AS by the banks by one year. “The legislative amendments recommended by the Reserve Bank are under consideration of the government of India. Accordingly, it has been decided to defer the implementation of Ind AS till further notice,” the RBI said in a notification. In February 2016, the RBI had proposed implementation of new accounting standards for banks for both standalone financial statements and consolidated financial statements with effect from April 1, 2018.

After Jamaat, Union govt bans JKLF

The Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was banned on March 22 for a series of violent acts and being at the forefront of separatist activities in the militancy-hit state since 1988, said Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba. Listing out its subversive and violent activities, Gauba said the JKLF spearheaded the separatist ideology in Kashmir Valley and the action was taken following the “zero tolerance” policy of the Central government against terrorism. This is the second outfit in J&K that has been banned this month. Earlier, the Centre had banned the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu & Kashmir. The government also withdrew security of several separatist leaders after a review recently.

Big boost for China as Italy joins BRI

Italy and China want to revive the spirit of the ancient Silk Road by deepening their trade and investment ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a trip to Rome that has raised eyebrows in Washington. Xi is set to sign a deal that will see Italy become the first member of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations to join China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project (BRI). Despite criticisms, Beijing has been steadily gathering support for its BRI project, which aims to weave a network of ports, bridges and power plants linking China with Africa, Europe and beyond. Italy’s involvement would give China a crucial inroad into western Europe and a symbolic boost in its economic tug-of-war with the US.

T. rex found in Canada is world’s biggest

The towering Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in Canada in 1991 is the world’s biggest, a team of paleontologists said on March 22, following a decades-long process of reconstructing its skeleton. Nicknamed Scotty for a celebratory bottle of scotch consumed the night it was discovered, the T. rex was 13 m long and probably weighed more than 8,800 kg, making it bigger than all other carnivorous dinosaurs, the team from the University of Alberta said. While the giant’s skeleton was discovered in 1991, paleontologists spent more than a decade just removing the hard sandstone that covered its bones. Only now have they been able to study it and realise its uniqueness, which is not limited to its size. An exhibit featuring the dinosaur’s bones is to open in May at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

Govt exceeds FY19 disinvestment target

The Union government has exceeded its disinvestment target for the current fiscal by Rs 5,000 crore, taking the total proceeds to Rs 85,000 crore, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on March 22. This is the second highest disinvestment proceeds in a financial year after the Centre mopped up a little more than Rs 1 lakh crore in 2017-18, helped by ONGC acquiring the government’s entire 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore. In the current fiscal, the government is eyeing Rs 14,500 crore by way of selling its 52.63 per cent stake in REC to state-owned PFC. Besides, the fifth tranche of the CPSE ETF, which ended on March 22, has garnered Rs 10,000 crore to the exchequer. Through the issuance of two tranches of the CPSE ETF in the current fiscal, the government has raised Rs 27,000 crore.

EC to examine study on VVPAT count

The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) has submitted a report to the Election Commission on the number of paper trail machine slips that should be matched with EVM results to enhance voters’ confidence. In view of the varying demands for enhanced percentage of VVPAT slip count during elections, the EC had engaged the ISI to analyse and scientifically examine the issue of VVPAT slip verification with electronic count of the electronic voting machines (EVMs). Refusing to divulge much, sources in the poll panel claimed the ISI was of the view that “5 per cent” match would be sufficient to enhance voters’ faith in the EVMs. But senior functionaries dealing with the issue refused to confirm the figure, indicating that the matter would come up in the Supreme Court on March 25 where the EC would place its views. The apex court is hearing petitions on the use of VVPATs.

AIIMS launches mobile methadone vans

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has launched mobile methadone vans to provide treatment to opioid addicts in New Delhi. As a pilot project, the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of AIIMS has initiated the service of delivering methadone through a mobile van in East Delhi. Opioid addiction is a significant problem in India, NDDTC professor Dr Atul Ambekar said, adding these people require medicines such as methadone or buprenorphine for getting rid of the addiction. Methadone is a prescription drug given in a syrup form to patients as it helps in controlling the craving and withdrawals due to opioid addiction.

Mueller submits report on Russia probe

Special counsel Robert Mueller has submitted a report on his nearly two-year inquiry into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and the Trump campaign’s collusion with them, following which the Democrats demanded that its content be made public. US Attorney General William Barr, to whom the report was delivered on March 22, told the Congress that he may submit its summary “as soon as this weekend”. During his 22 months of probe, former FBI director Mueller criminally charged three companies and 34 individuals, of which seven pleaded guilty and one was convicted. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he was a victim of “witch hunt”, while asserting that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.

Newsmakers

Vice-Admiral Karambir Singh has been appointed as the next Navy chief. Singh will succeed Admiral Sunil Lanba, who retires on May 31. At present, Singh is serving as the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.

Karnataka Municipal Administration Minister C.S. Shivalli died of a heart attack in Hubballi on March 22. He was 58. Shivalli was a three-time MLA from Kundagol constituency in Dharwad district. He won his first election as an independent candidate in 1999.

Notes