Current affairs of national and international economy 2015-16

Current affairs- Indian economy (2016)

 Indian railways partnered with Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) for Mumbai
Ahmadabad high speed railway.

 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7th Dec 2016 kept its key lending - the repo rate -
unchanged at 6.25 percent.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed a move to establish a separate entity to
regulate payments and settlements as recommended by Ratan Watal Committee for
Digital Payments.

 The Union Government has launched Lucky Grahak Yojana to encourage consumers
and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana to encourage merchants for transition to digital payments.
These award based schemes were launched by the NITI (National Institution for
Transforming India) Aayog, government’s policy think-tank.These schemes aim to give
cash awards to consumers and merchants who utilize digital payment instruments for
personal consumption expenditures.

 According to the recently released 2016 IHS Jane’s Defence Budgets report, India has
become the world’s fourth largest defence spender. In this edition of report published by
US research firm IHS Inc, India has surpassed Russia, France, Japan and Saudi Arabia
to become the world’s fourth largest defence spendert . United States, China, and the UK
remain the top three defence spender in the world. In 2016, the total global defence
spending increased to $1.57 trillion.
 The Union Government has announced package of incentives and measures for
promotion of digital and cashless economy in the country. It was announced to
supplement the surge in the digital transactions aftermath demonetisation of old Rs.500
and Rs.1,000 notes for promotion of digital cashless economy and cutting out cash
transactions.

 Policy Rates

Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF): Unchanged at 6.25 percent.
Reverse repo rate under the LAF: Unchanged at 5.75 per cent.
Marginal standing facility (MSF) and Bank Rate: Unchanged at 6.75 per cent.
Reserve Ratios Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks: Unchanged at 4.0 per
cent of net demand and time liability (NDTL).
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Unchanged 20.75 per cent.

 Recently released Global Wage Report 2016-17 released by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) has found that India suffers from huge gender pay gap. It shows that
India has among the worst levels of gender wage disparity (men earning more than women
in similar jobs) with the gap exceeding 30%.

 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a complete ban on burning of waste in open
places across the country and announced a fine of Rs. 25,000 on each incident of bulk
waste burning. The green panel’s judgement was given on the petition seeking directions to
local bodies in states and Centre for improving solid waste management methods.
Important website:
http://www.gktoday.in/
 Current affairs- International economy (2016)

 China successfully launched TanSat, a global carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring satellite to
understand the effects of climate change.

 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet approved approved 5.13 trillion yen ($43.6 billion) in
defence spending for the fiscal year starting in April 2017. It is Japan’s highest annual
defence budget announced so far.

 Hong Kong, a China-administered special territory has decided to withdraw visa-free

facility for Indians from January 23, 2017. This decision was taken on the ground to prevent
illegal immigration as number of Indian asylum seekers was on the rise. Over half a million
Indians visit Hong Kong for business, trade and holidays.

 According to recent World Health Organization (WHO) survey of 33 countries has shown
that African nations developing lifestyle diseases. It is mainly due city life and its modern
trappings which have brought bad habits to developing African nations such as smoking,
harmful use of alcohol, a poor diet and low levels of physical activity.

What are lifestyle diseases?

Lifestyle diseases are defined as diseases linked unhealthy lifestyle of people. These
diseases appear in countries which are on path of becoming more industrialized and
people live longer life. These diseased are commonly caused by alcohol, drug and
smoking abuse as well as lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating. Some of the
diseases that impact lifestyle are heart disease, stroke, obesity and type II diabetes

 China has launched its first fully-owned overseas satellite ground station near the North
Pole enabling it to collect satellite data anywhere on the Earth at fastest speed in the world.

 The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has officially added word ‘Brexit’ in it. It is among
1,500 new words added to the OED. The OED has defined word ‘Brexit’ as “the (proposed)
withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and the political process
associated with it”.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi was placed at 9th position among 74 of the world’s most
powerful people list released by the Forbes Magazine. The list gives the annual ranking of
the World’s Most Powerful People on the basis of their financial resources, scope and use of
power and the number of people they impact.
 10 most powerful people in the world

Rank Name Designation

1 Vladimir Putin
2 Donald Trump
3 Angela Merkel
4 Xi Jinping
5 Pope Francis
6 Janet Yellen
7 Bill Gates
8 Larry Page
9 Narendra Modi
10 Mark Zuckerberg
President of Russia
Presidents of US
Chancellor of Germany
President of China
Pope of Roman Catholic Church, Vatican City
Chairpersons of US Federal Reserve
Chairman of Bill & Melinda Foundation
Founder of Google
Prime Minister of India
Cofounder of Facebook

Indian’s in the list

38 Mukesh Ambani Chairmen of Reliance Industries
51 Satya Nadella MicrosoftCEO

 The famed Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) has started regular commercial rail service in
Switzerland. The first regular train to use GBT ferried passenger from Zurich to Lugano. The
twin-bore GBT is world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel with length of 57-kilometer. It
had overtaken Japan’s Seikan tunnel (53.9 kilometers) as the longest rail tunnel in world after
it was opened in June 2016 for its maiden ride.

 The Human Rights Day is observed annually on 10th December to commemorate the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Observance of the day seeks to encourage, support
and amplify measures to be taken by everyone to defend human rights. 2016 Theme or
campaign: “Stand up for someone’s rights today”. It aims to re-emphasise how important it is
to live in peace and harmony, compassion and concern for each other’s rights with respect
towards the idea of mutual co-existence.

 English has been ranked first in the top 10 most powerful languages in the world according
to the 2016 World Power Language Index (PLI). The index was published by World
Economic Forum (WEF). Indian language Hindi was ranked 10th in the 2016 PLI.
 The World Power Language Index (PLI) compares or ranks
languages on their efficacy in the various domains. It uses 20 indicators to measure the
influence on language. It measures the usefulness of a language to a representative human
being

 The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries have agreed to share
tax information automatically as per their commitment to ensure the fairness of the
international tax system. Decion in this regard was taken at the meeting of Heads of
Revenue of BRICS Countries in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 Scientists from Russia have developed a new unique, low-cost method for producing high-
quality nuclear fuel using electricity.

 The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW) is
observed every year across the world on 25 November. Observance of this day seeks to
raise awareness about violence against women and girls, end the violence against the
women. It also seeks to show that prevention is possible against violence of women. 2016
Theme: “Orange the World – raise funds to end violence against women”. The orange colour
in the theme symbolizes a better future to women and girls all over the globe without the
pervasive human rights violation which affects 1 in 3 women and girls all over the globe.

Important website:
http://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/category/international-current-affairs/
List of Important National and International days
and dates
Important Dates of January
January 9: NRI Day
January 10: World Laughter Day
January 12: National Youth Day
January 15: Army day
January 25: National Voters day
January 26: India’s Republic Day, International Customs Day
January 30: Martyrs’ Day; World Leprosy Eradication Day
Important Dates of February
February 14: Valentine Day
February 24: Central Excise Day
February 28: National Science Day
Important Dates of March
March 8: international Women’s Day; Intl. literacy Day
March 15: World Disabled Day; World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Ordnance Factories Day (India)
March 21: World Forestry Day
March 22: World Day for Water
March 23: World Meteorological Day
March 24: World TB Day
Important Dates of April
April 5: International Day for Mine Awareness; National Maritime Day
April 7: World Health Day
April 17: World Haemophilia Day
April 18: World Heritage Day
April 21: Secretaries’ Day
April 22: Earth Day
April 23: World Book and Copyright Day
Important Dates of May
May 1: Workers’ Day (International Labour Day)
May 3: Press Freedom Day; World Asthma Day
May 2nd Sunday: Mother’s Day
May 4: Coal Miners’ Day
May 8: World Red Cross Day
May 9: World Thalassaemia Day
May 11: National Technology Day
May 12: World Hypertension Day; International Nurses Day
May 15: International Day of the Family
May 17: World Telecommunication Day
May 24: Commonwealth Day
May 31: Anti-tobacco Day
Important Dates of June
June 4: International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
June 5: World Environment Day
June 3rd Sunday: Father’s Day
June 14: World Blood Donor Day
June 26: International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
July 1: Doctor’s Day
July 6: World Zoonoses Day
July 11: World Population Day
Important Dates of August
August 1st Sunday: International Friendship Day
August 6: Hiroshima Day
August 8: World Senior Citizen’s Day
August 9: Quit India Day, Nagasaki Day
August 15: Indian Independence Day
August 18: IntI. Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
August 19: Photography Day
August 29: National Sports Day
Important Dates of September
September 2: Coconut Day
September 5: Teachers’ Day ; Sanskrit Day
September 8: World Literacy Day (UNESCO)
September 15: Engineers’ Day
September 16: World Ozone Day
September 21: Alzheimer’s Day; Day for Peace & Non-violence (UN)
September 22: Rose Day (Welfare of cancer patients)
September 26: Day of the Deaf
September 27: World Tourism Day
Important Dates of October
October 1: International Day for the Elderly
October 2: Gandhi Jayanthi
October 3: World Habitat Day
October 4: World Animal Welfare Day
October 8: Indian Air Force Day
October 9: World Post Office Day
October 10: National Post Day
October 2nd Thursday: World Sight Day
October 13: UN International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
October 14: World Standards Day
October 15: World White Cane Day (guiding the blind)
October 16: World Food Day
October 24: UN Day; World Development Information Day
October 30: World Thrift Day
Important Dates of November
November 9: Legal Services Day
November 14: Children’s Day; Diabetes Day
November 17: National Epilepsy Day
November 20: Africa Industrialization Day
November 29: International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People
Important Dates of December
December 1: World AIDS Day
December 3: World Day of the Handicapped
December 4: Indian Navy Day
December 7: Indian Armed Forces Flag Day
December 10: Human Rights Day; IntI. Children’s Day of Broadcasting
December 18: Minorities Rights Day (India)
December 22: National Mathemetics Day
December 23: Kisan Divas (Farmer’s Day) (India)
December 25: Christmas Day