1.
Union Government links LPG subsidy to income
i. Union Government has
announced to link LPG subsidy to income of consumers in order to ensure that
the subsidy benefits go to the targeted group. Henceforth, the LPG subsidy will
not be available to LPG consumers if the consumer or his/her spouse has taxable
income of more than ten lakh rupees.
ii. This income would be
as per the previous financial year computed under Income Tax Act, 1961. This
decision will be given effect to initially on self-declaration basis of LPG
consumers while booking cylinders January 2016.
iii. This move will
affect at least 60 lakh LPG consumers of the total 16.5 crore LPG consumers in
the country and Government will save upto Rs. 113 crore from this decision.
iv. Earlier under the
‘Give it Up’ campaign many LPG consumers had given up their subsidy voluntarily
but Government felt that consumers in the higher income bracket should get LPG
cylinders at the market price. So far, 57.50 lakh LPG consumers have opted out
of LPG subsidy voluntarily under the campaign that aims to ensure that the
subsidy benefits go to the targeted group.
2.
Ministry of Women and Child Development launches e-office
i. Union Ministry of
Women and Child Development (WCD) has introduced e-office, an initiative which
will help provide efficient services to the people by digitizing more than
12,000 files. It was formally launched by WCD Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in
New Delhi on the lines with the spirit of Good Governance initiative of Union
Government.
ii. The e-office project
of the Ministry was initiated in July, 2015 and more than 12,000 files of the
Ministry have been digitized. Various modules of this e-office are Knowledge
Management System, File Management System, Leave Management System and Tour Management
System.
iii. Personnel
Information Management System module of this e-office is likely to start from
the 1 January, 2016. All the attached offices of the ministry are also going to
come under the e-office platform.
iv. The e-office will
result in substantial decrease of processing time which will directly affect
the delivery mechanism of the WCD Ministry. It would also result in better
accountability and transparency and will ultimately result in higher manpower
efficiency.
3.
18th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting held in New Delhi
i. The 18th Session of
the India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held on 28 December 2015 in
New Delhi. The session was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister of India
(EAM) Sushma Swaraj and Ali Tayebnia, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance
of Iran.
ii. Both the leaders
reviewed the progress in trade and economic cooperation and a number of related
matters. They also discussed the possibilities in cooperation in railways,
including by supply of rails, rolling stock and signaling.
iii. India stressed that
connectivity afforded by Indian participation in Chahbahar Port will facilitate
linking Afghanistan and Central Asia with India. The Iranian side suggested
participation of India’s public and private sectors in development of Chahbahar
Port and Chahbahar Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and in setting up industrial units in
the FTZ.
iv. India emphasized the
need for early completion of all necessary procedures for India’s participation
in Farzad-B field and pointed out India’s desire to participate in other oil
and gas explorations in Iran as well. They reviewed works related to India’s
participation in Chahbahar – Zahedan -Mashhad railway line.
v. This is the first JCM
since the conclusion of the Vienna Agreement. The agreement was reached between
P5+1 countries and Iran on 14 July 2015 and paves the way for peaceful
resolution of outstanding issues related to Iran’s nuclear programme.
4.
Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler passed away
i. Oscar-winning
cinematographer Haskell Wexler died peacefully in his sleep on 27 December 2015
in California, US. He was 93. He was one of the America’s most influential
cinematographers. He was best known for his work in films like One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest and American Graffiti.
ii. He was born on 6
February 1922 in Chicago, US. He was known for his work on films like Coming
Home and In the Heat of the Night. He had worked as director of photography on
films including The Best Man and Mulholland Falls. He also produced and directed
1969’s Medium Cool.
iii. He was also
recognised for his documentary work on the Emmy-winning Paul Jacobs and the
Nuclear Gang and Interviews with My Lai Veterans for which he won Academy
Award.
iv. He won Oscar Awards
for his films including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? (1966) and Bound for
Glory (1976). He was first cinematographer to receive star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame in 1996.
5.
Report of Vijay Kelkar Committee on Revisiting & Revitalizing PPP Model
released
i. The Union Ministry of
Finance on 28 December 2015 released the report of the Committee on Revisiting
and Revitalising Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model. The 9-member committee
was headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar and submitted its report on
19 November 2015.
ii. The committee was
constituted on 26 May 2015 to review the experience of PPP Policy and suggest
measures to improve capacity building in Government for their effective
implementation. More importantly, the committee recognized the PPP Model in
infrastructure as a valuable instrument to speed up infrastructure development
in India.
iii. Hence, it called
for PPP contracts need to focus more on service delivery instead of fiscal
benefits alone. The recommendations of the committee are of relevance to the
overall growth of the economy as PPP projects have become the preferred mode to
develop large scale infrastructure projects.
iv. At present, over
12007 PPP projects are under implementation across the country, involving about
7.2 lakh crore rupees worth of investment.
v. The committee
recommended the Government may take early action to amend the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988 which does not distinguish between genuine errors in
decision-making and acts. This is necessary to make only malafide action by
public servants punishable and not errors.
vi. The Committee
strongly endorsed setting up of the “3PI” which can, in addition to functioning
as a centre of excellence in PPPs, enable research, review and roll out
activities to build capacity, etc.
vii. The committee
advised against adopting PPP structures for very small projects, since the
benefits of delivering small PPP projects may not be commensurate with the
resulting costs and the complexity of managing such partnerships over a long
period.
6.
RBI released report of Deepak Mohanty Committee on Medium-term Path on
Financial Inclusion
i. The Reserve Bank of
India on 28 December 2015 released the Report of the Committee on Medium-term
Path on Financial Inclusion. The committee was constituted on 15 July 2015 by
the RBI with the objective of working out a medium-term (five year) measurable
action plan for financial inclusion. The 14-member committee was headed by RBI
Executive Director Deepak Mohanty.
ii. Banks have to make
special efforts to step up account opening for females, and the Government may
consider a deposit scheme for the girl child – Sukanya Shiksha - as a welfare
measure. Given the predominance of individual account holdings (94 per cent of
total credit accounts), a unique biometric identifier such as Aadhaar should be
linked to each individual credit account.
iii. Account lined
Aadhaar and the credit information should be shared with companies to enhance
the stability of the credit system and improve access. To improve ‘last mile’
service delivery and to translate financial access into enhanced convenience and
usage, a low-cost solution should be developed by utilisation of the mobile
banking facility for maximum possible G2P payments.
iv. In order to increase
formal credit supply to all agrarian segments, digitisation of land records is
the way forward. This should be backed by an Aadhaar-linked mechanism for
Credit Eligibility Certificates to facilitate credit flow to actual
cultivators.
v. A scheme of ‘Gold
KCC’ (kisan credit card) with higher flexibility for borrowers with prompt
repayment records, which could be dovetailed with a government-sponsored
personal insurance, and digitisation of KCC to track expenditure pattern.
Encourage multiple guarantee agencies to provide credit guarantees in niche
areas for micro and small enterprises (MSEs), and explore possibilities for
counter guarantee and re-insurance.
vi. State Level Bankers
Committees (SLBCs) are advised to focus more on inter-institutional issues,
livelihood models, social cash transfer, gender inclusion, Aadhaar seeding,
universal account opening, and less on credit deposit ratio which is a
by-product. As a part of second generation reforms, the government can replace
the current agricultural input subsidies on fertilisers, power and irrigation
by a direct income transfer scheme.
7.
Amitabh Kant got additional charge of CEO of NITI Aayog
i. The Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 28
December 2015 gave Amitabh Kant the additional responsibility of being Chief
Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, effective 31 December 2015.
ii. Kant will replace
the incumbent NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar whose extended tenure will end
on 31 December 2015. The IAS officer of 1980 Batch of Kerala Cadre, Kant is
currently serving as Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP). He is set to superannuate on 28 February 2016.
iii. The National
Institution for Transforming India Aayog (NITI Aayog) is a Government of India
policy think-tank. It was formed on 1 January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to replace the Planning Commission.
iv. The Aayog aims at
fostering involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process
by the State Governments of India. One of the important mandates of NITI Aayog
is to bring cooperative competitive federalism.
8.
Renowned science-fiction writer George Clayton Johnson died
i. Popular
science-fiction writer George Clayton Johnson, who penned the script for the
first Star Trek episode, The Man Trap, passed away on 25 December 2015 due to
cancer in Los Angeles, California. He was 86.
ii. Born on 10 July 1929
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Johnson debuted into the entertainment business in 1959
when he wrote the I’ll Take Care of You episode for Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
iii. The renowned writer
is also known for co-writing the novel Logan's Run with William F. Nolan, the
basis for the MGM 1976 film. Besides, his television scripts for The Twilight
Zone including Nothing in the Dark, Kick the Can, A Game of Pool, and A Penny
for Your Thoughts earned him immense fame.
iv. Johnson was also the
proprietor of Cafe Frankenstein, and co-created the comic book series Deepest
Dimension Terror Anthology with cartoonist and author Jay Allen Sanford for
Revolutionary Comics.
9.
Globe Soccer Awards 2015 conferred
i. The Globe Soccer on
27 December 2015 presented the sixth edition of Globe Soccer Awards 2015 to the
winners at a ceremony held in Dubai, UAE. Awarded for excellences in the field
of football, Globe Soccer Awards are the first and only awards for the Best
Club Director and the Best Agent of the Year.
ii. The awards conferred
were based on the performance of the players and football clubs in 2015. Globe
Soccer was created and built by BC Bendoni Consulting to facilitate
intercontinental dialogue among the main players in the football world, with
opportunities to meet and discuss for the game’s institutions, clubs, leagues
and transfer market operators.
- Best Player of the Year - Lionel Messi
- Best President of the Year - Josep Maria Bartomeu
- Best Club of the Year - F.C. Barcelona
- Best Media Attraction in Football - F.C. Barcelona
- Best Coach of the Year - Marc Wilmots
- Best Agent of the Year - Jorge Mendes
- Best Referee of the Year - Ravshan Irmatov
- Best Academy of the Year - Benfica
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