CURRENT AFFAIRS: (09-01-2017)

SOURCE: ALL INDIA RADIO & P.I.B

1. Vijayawada to host 1st Digi Dhan Mela in Andhra Pradesh today:

· In Andhra Pradesh Vijayawada will be host to the first Digi Dhan Mela in the State this afternoon.

· Digi Dhan Melas are being organised across the country to promote cashless transactions.

· People will be taught to make payments through various digital modes like Internet, e-Wallet, Credit and Debit Cards and other modes to undertake cashless transactions that are available currently.

· They will be informed of the advantages in less cash economy and the methods to switch to the digital mode of transactions.

· A lucky draw will be held for deciding the winners who made payments through digital modes. 15,000 winners will get incentives and the amount will be transferred in their accounts digitally.

· Local residents will have the opportunity to interact with banks and other stakeholders, get required apps for digital transactions downloaded and would learn how to do cashless transactions.

2. Piyush Goyal to unveil world's largest street light replacement programme in SDMC today:

· Power Minister Piyush Goyal will unveil world's largest street light replacement programme in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) area today. Mr Goyal will also launch a mobile app called Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) Complaint App for SDMC, wherein users can now lodge complaints about faulty street lights.

· The street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), currently running in the SDMC area is the World’s Largest Street Light Replacement Programme where two lakh LED lights will replace inefficient lamps.

· Additionally in Delhi, under Phase II of the street lighting programme, EESL has signed a tripartite agreement with BSES and SDMC to install 75,000 more street lights with more focus on installation in parks.

· The SLNP programme is presently running in more than 14 states.

· A total of 15.36 lakh street lights have already been replaced in the country with LED bulbs.

· This programme save energy of over 20 crore kWh, avoiding capacity of nearly 51 MW and reducing around 1.7 lakh tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum.

3. General Anti-Avoidance Tax Rule to kick in from April 2017:

· The General Anti-Avoidance Rule,GAAR, will kick in from April 1, 2017 said the Central Board for Direct Taxes today.

· GAAR was part of the 2012-13 Budget speech of the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to check tax evasion and avoidance.

· During the 2015 Budget presentation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that its implementation will be delayed by 2 years.

· Its implementation was repeatedly postponed because of the apprehensions expressed by foreign investors as GAAR contains provision allowing the government to retrospectively tax overseas deals involving local assets.

4. FPIs net outflow at $ 3bn in 2016; worst in 8 years:

· Foreign funds pulled out more than 3 billion dollars, from the Indian capital markets in 2016, making it the worst period in last eight years in terms of foreign investments. Surprisingly, it is the debt instruments that have taken the biggest hit, after remaining a preferred investment avenue for foreign funds in recent years, while equities continued to attract net inflows but not enough to compensate the huge outflows from the bond market.

· Foreign Portfolio Investors have purchased stocks worth about 20,566 crore rupees, in 2016, but sold bonds to the tune of more than 43,646 crore rupees, resulting in net outflows of 23,080 crore rupees, according to depositories data.

· The overall net outflow has made 2016 the worst year for Indian capital markets in terms of overseas investment since 2008, when Foreign Portfolio Investors had pulled out a massive 41,215 crore rupees in the wake of the global financial crisis.

5. China forex reserves fall by USD 320 billion in 2016:

· China's Central Bank says, the country's foreign currency reserves shrank last year, marking large annual losses for the 2nd year in a row.

· Officials at the People's Bank of China said today that foreign reserves stood at over three trillion dollars as of the end of December.

· For the year as a whole, China's foreign exchange reserve fell nearly 320 billion dollars from a year earlier, following a drop of more than 512 billion dollars in 2015.

· Chinese firms and individuals concerned about the country's economic outlook have positive expectations for US President-elect Donald Trump's economic policies.

· They have been selling the yuan against the dollar to purchase businesses and properties overseas.The Chinese currency fell about 7 percent against the dollar in 2016.

6.Jal Manthan –III to be held on January 13, 2017

· With a view to have wider consultations among various stakeholders to brain-storm new ideas for solutions to various issues of water sector the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has organized the third National conference called “Jal Manthan-III” on January 13, 2017 in New Delhi.

· The daylong event will have consultations and discussions on Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, River Basin Management, River Rejuvenation and Ecology, Flood management, Water use efficiency and Participatory irrigation management.

· The focus will be on refining policies of the Ministry to make them more people friendly and responsive to the needs of the states.

· About 700 participants comprising Union Ministers of related Ministries/Departments, Chief Ministers of some States/Union Territories, Irrigation/ Water Resources Ministers of States/UTs, eminent experts in water sector, representatives of NGOs and senior officers of the Central and State Governments will be attending the event.

· Jal Manthan programmes are being held to achieve this purpose. The earlier Jal Manthan Programmes held in November, 2014 and February, 2016 were hugely successful.

7. PM delighted over 10 million downloads of BHIM App in 10 days

· The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has expressed delight over 10 million downloads of BHIM App in a span of 10 days.

· " Delighted to know that in a span of 10 days there have been over 10 million downloads of the BHIM App.

· BHIM App has made transactions faster & easier, thus making it popular among the youth. The App is also beneficial for traders.

· The BHIM App is a fine example of Make in India & how technology is being effectively used to end the menace of corruption & black money", the Prime Minister said.

8. India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians

· India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI) is a not-for-profit Trust set-up by the Government of India to facilitate philanthropic contributions by Overseas Indians to social and development projects in India. IDF-OI is chaired by External Affairs Minister, Smt. Sushma Swaraj yesterday.

· Presently, IDF-OI is promoting flagship programmes of Government of India- Swachh Bharat Mission and National Mission for Clean Ganga; and projects identified by the State Govts, for funding by Overseas Indians.

· Working with State Governments in areas such as sanitation; education; drinking water; women’s empowerment et/c, IDF-OI is offering projects for funding by Overseas Indians.

· Overseas Indians can contribute as an individual, or a group of individuals or even through their respective Indian Associations.

· IDF-OI does not recover any administrative cost from contributions received from Overseas Indians.

· At the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2017 the Plenary Session I focused on The Indian Diaspora- Catalyst for Realising India’s Development on 08 January 2017, chaired by Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri M.J Akbar.

· The session discussed how IDF-OI can effectively enable Overseas Indians to reconnect and contribute to India’s social and development efforts.

· They expressed interest in working with IDF-OI and highlighted the need for credibility i.e. accountability, efficiency, and transparency in project implementation and fund utilisation.

· At the conclusion of the session IDF-OI also received contributions from Overseas Indians.