DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: March 11, 2022

BJP poised to form government in 4 states and AAP sweeps Punjab polls

Tags: National Popular

Bharatiya Janata Party is set to form governments in Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa while the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) swept away Punjab.

The general election to constitute a new legislative Assembly in the states of Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab  was held by the Election Commission of India  from 14 February 2022 to March 7 ,2022.

• Uttar Pradesh voted in 7 phases from February 10 to March 7 to elect 403 vidhan sabha members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly

•  The 40-member assembly of Goa went to polls in a single phase on February 14.

• The 70 member assembly of Uttarakhand went to polls in a single phase on February 14. 

• The 117 member assembly of  Punjab went to polls in a single phase on February 20. 

• The 60 member assembly of  Manipur  went to polls in  two phases on 28 February and  5 March 2022.

In Uttar  Pradesh,the alliance partners of BJP were Apna Dal(Sonelal) and NISHAD Party(Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal") .The alliance partner Apna Dal won 12 seats and the NISHAD party won 6. The total seats won by BJP and its alliances are 273.

Notable winners of the Poll

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of BJP  won from Gorakhpur Urban seat by defeating Samajwadi Party’s Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla. This was the first time he contested an Assembly poll. 

• Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav  won the Karhal seat  by defeating the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Satya Pal Singh Baghel.

• Manipur Chief Minister N.Biren Singh of BJP defeated Congress's P Sharatchandra from Heingang seat.

• Goa Chief Minister Pramod  Sawant  won the  Sanquelim assembly constituency seat  as he defeated Congress leader Dharmesh Saglani. 

Notable losers

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister and BJP leader, Pushkar Singh Dhamilost the election from Khatima to the Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri.
• Punjab Chief Ministerand Congress Party (I) candidate  Charanjit Singh Channi contested from two constituencies and lost both . He was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) candidate Labh Singh Ugoke in the Bahadaur assembly seat. He also lost his traditional Chamkaur singh sahib seat to  his name sake ,Chanranjit singh Channi  of Aam Aadmi Party.
• Former Chief Minister of Punjab ,Captain Amrinder Singh who formed a new party, Punjab Lok Congress lost his Patiala Urban constituency to AAP's Ajit Pal Singh Kohli.
• Congress Party Punjab chief , Navjot Singh Sidhu lost the Amritsar East seat to AAP candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur
• Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya  was defeated by Pallavi Patel of Samajwadi Party in Sirathu constituency .

Pushkar Singh Dhami and Charanjit Singh Channi have resigned from their post .

Chief Election Commissioner of India : Sushil Chandra .

Government of India has extended Interest Equalisation System

Tags: Economics/Business

To boost the export from the country ,the government of India has extended the “Interest Equalisation Scheme for Pre and Post Shipment Rupee Export Credit (‘Scheme’)” up to March 31, 2024 or till further review, whichever is earlier. The extension takes effect from October 1, 2021 and ends on March 31, 2024.

• The scheme was announced by the government of India in April 2015 and has been extended from time to time.

• Under the scheme the interest equalisation rates for the large Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) manufacturers and exporters under any Harmonized System (HS) will be 3% and two per cent for manufacturer exporters and merchant exporters exporting under 410 HS lines (after excluding 6 HS lines of the telecom sector).

What is the Interest Equalisation scheme

The scheme includes  both Interest subsidy  and reimbursement.

How it works 

• Banks in India have the power to decide  the interest rates on loans .

• Suppose SBI loan rate is 9% and it provides loans to the eligible  exporters at  9 %  interest rates . Suppose the exporters come under a 3% interest equalisation scheme. Then the banks will provide the loan at 9% and later will credit the subsidy amount of 3% in the exporter accounts.

• Effectively the exporter gets the loan at 6%. Here the interest subsidy is 3%.

• Then the SBI will approach the Government of India with proper documents and claim the interest subsidy of  3% from the government . The government will reimburse the SBI . Thus the bank will get its money with no loss and the exporter will get a loan at a cheaper rate which will help in boosting exports from India . 

• The export target for merchandise export for 2021-22 is $400 billion.

Post and Pre shipment Credit 

• Loan Or credit  provided to the exporter can be divided into Pre-shipment and Post- Shipment.

Pre shipment credit 

• As the name suggests it is given to the exporter for meeting its export requirement before shipping the exported goods . 

• Suppose ABC company gets a Rs 1000 order to export chairs to a United States company . The ABC company will need money to buy the raw materials to make the chair which is to be exported . It will approach a bank with the export order and ask for a loan for this purpose . The bank, after being satisfied, can provide it a loan so that it is able to fulfil its export order . 

• This loan is called Pre -shipment credit .

Post -Shipment Credit 

•  The ABC company ships the chairs and after that it will receive the money from the American importer. It will take time. But the ABC company needs money for its business now. Here the ABC company will approach the bank and show it a receipt from the customs that it has shipped $100 worth of chairs to an American and ask for a loan from the bank. 

• The bank, after being satisfied, can give a loan to ABC Company so that it can continue its business and the company will return the loan after it receives the money from the American.

• This is called Post-Shipment credit .

Axis bank is the IFR Asia’s Asian bank of the Year 2021

Tags: Awards

The third largest private bank of India ,Axis bank was chosen as the IFR Asia’s Asian Bank of the Year .

• The  International Financing Review (IFR) awards are regarded as one of the most coveted recognitions in the banking and capital markets industry.

• The Asian Bank of the year award went to Morgan Stanley of the United States of America .

Important for Exam 

• Axis Bank : It started its business as  UTI bank in 1993. It’s name was changed to Axis bank in 2007.

• Headquarters of Axis Bank : Mumbai, Maharashtra 

• Managing Director  and Chief Executive Officer : Amitabh Chaudhary. 

OECD suspends Russia and Belarus

Tags: International News

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Economic development (OECD) has suspended Russia and Belarus from participating in any activities of the OECD due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• Neither Russia nor Belarus is a member of the OECD. 

• Russia's application to join the OECD was postponed after the country annexed Crimea in 2014 and was cancelled in February 2022 as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

• Belarus has been punished for its role in supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine 

• The exclusion of Russia and Belarus will mean they're barred from participating in negotiations on issues including taxation, international business regulation and trade.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Economic development (OECD) 

• It is a group of the world’s most developed  and rich countries.  It discusses  a wide range of global issues like trade, taxation, money laundering,international business regulation  etc and sets the agenda for the world .

• It was founded in 1961. 

• Headquarters : Paris, France 

• Total member countries  38 

• Costa Rica was the 38th country to join the OECD.

• Russia, China, and India  are not members of OECD .

Full Form for exam 

OECD:  Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Economic development 

Belarus 

• Belarus or also called Byelorussia  is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.

• It was once part of the Soviet Union and became independent after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.

• Capital : Minsk

• Currency : Belarusian ruble  

• President : Alexander Lukashenko 

India ranks second in global investment in digital shopping

Tags: Economics/Business

India is the second-largest global venture capital  investment  destination for digital shopping companies. It grew by 175 per cent from USD 8 billion in 2020 to USD 22 billion in 2021, according to the London & Partners analysis of Dealroom.co investment data.

•  India was second to the United States of America. In 2021 America attracted USD 51 billion in investment, followed by China at third with USD 14 billion and the UK at fourth with USD 7 billion.

•  In the world ,Bengaluru was the top city in the world which attracted an investment worth USD 14 billion  and Gurugram came at no 7 with an investment worth USD 4 billion and Mumbai at No. 10 with USD 3 billion in 2021.  

• In the world  New York City  of the United States came second after Bengaluru and San Francisco also of the United States came third.

9th edition of SLINEX held at Visakhapatnam

Tags: Defence Summits

The 9th edition of the India - Sri Lanka Bilateral Maritime Exercise SLINEX (Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise) concluded on 10 March 2022 at Visakhapatnam, in Bay of Bengal. It was held from 07 Mar to 10 Mar 2022.

• Sri Lanka Navy was represented by SLNS Sayurala, an advanced offshore patrol vessel and the Indian Navy by INS Kirch, a guided missile corvette. 

• Other participants from the Indian Navy include INS Jyoti, a Fleet support tanker, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), SeaKing and Chetak Helicopters and Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

•  The previous edition of SLINEX was conducted off Trincomalee  in Sri Lanka in the month of  October 2020.