Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Cold wave rages in N. India

News

• The cold wave sweeping large parts of north India continued unabated, with Srinagar witnessing its coldest night in 11 years at minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, resulting in partial freezing of the Dal Lake, and Amritsar reeling at 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Beyond News

• Srinagar recorded its coldest night in 11 years as the mercury plunged to minus 6.8 degrees C on Monday, a Met official said.
• The cold wave resulted in freezing of some waterbodies, including the fringes of the famous Dal Lake, and residential water supply pipes. The all-time low recorded in Srinagar in the month of December is minus 12.8 deg C on December 13, 1934.
• Qazigund in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5 deg C, while the nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 3.9 on Sunday night.
• Neighbouring Punjab and Haryana witnessed below normal minimum temperatures, with Amritsar and Halwara reeling at 1.1 deg C, the official said.
• The cold wave is likely to continue in Haryana and Punjab over the next few days.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Chabahar port: India, Afghanistan, Iran agree on routes for trade and transit corridors

News

• A crucial trilateral meeting of officials from India, Afghanistan and Iran on the strategically-important Chabahar port was held during which they agreed on the routes for trade and transit corridors between the three countries.

Beyond News

• The first meeting of the follow-up committee for implementation of the trilateral Chabahar agreement between India, Afghanistan and Iran at the level of Joint Secretary or Director General was held in the Iranian port city of Chabahar.
• On the occasion, India Ports Global Limited company opened its office and took over operations at the Shaheed Behesti port at Chabahar.
• Positive and constructive discussions were held between the three sides on full operationalisation of the Trilateral Transit Agreement for international transit and transport through the Chabahar Port. They agreed on the routes for the trade and transit corridors between the three countries.
• It was agreed to finalise at the earliest, the protocol to harmonise transit, roads, customs, and consular matters.
• During the meeting, it was agreed to allow cargo movement at Chabahar using Transports Internationaux Routiers Convention provisions.
• It was decided to hold an event to promote and popularise the potential of Chabahar on February 26, 2019.
• A study would also be initiated for determining measures to make the route attractive, decrease logistic costs and pave the way for smooth operationalisation of the Chabahar Agreement.
• The next Follow-up Committee meeting, followed by the second Coordination Council Meeting at the level of secretaries or deputy ministers, will held in India.
• The port in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich nation’s southern coast is easily accessible from India’s western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, which is being developed with Chinese investment and is located at distance of around 80 km from Chabahar.
• The Chabahar Port is considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries besides ramping up trade among the three countries after Pakistan denied transit access to India.

Cabinet clears projects worth ₹16,000 crore

 News

• In an attempt to attract investments ahead of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) next month, Tamil Nadu State cabinet cleared proposals of 13 companies worth ₹16,000 crore.

Beyond News

• The cabinet discussed the proposals of the companies, including those of South Korea-based Mando and Hahn.
• The investment proposals cleared at the cabinet meeting will help create over 34,000 jobs.
• To attract investments, Tamil Nadu has been divided into three zones; Zone A will include Greater Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur; Zone B will include Coimbatore and Salem; and Zone C will be comprised of 10 southern districts including Madurai, Dindugul, Thoothukudi and Theni.
• For the mega projects in Zone A, the minimum investment has to be ₹500 crore, with a provision for 300 jobs.
• In Zone B, the minimum investment will need to be ₹350 crore, with a provision for 300 jobs, and in Zone C, it is ₹200 crore with 200 jobs.
• The cabinet also cleared the Aerospace and Defence Policy that will be presented at GIM 2019, to be held on January 23 and 24, sources said.
• Here again, the thrust will be on creating employment opportunities for nearly one lakh people, most of them high-end specialized jobs.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

RBI to release new ₹ 20 note

News

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon introduce a new ₹ 20 currency note with additional features, according to a document of the central bank.

Beyond News

• The central bank has already issued new-look currency notes in the denominations of ₹ 10, ₹ 50, ₹ 100, and ₹ 500, besides introducing ₹ 200 and ₹ 2,000 bank notes.
• The new look notes are being introduced since November 2016 under Mahatma Gandhi (New) series. These are different in size and design compared to the notes issued previously.
• The currency notes, except for banned ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000, issued under old series continue to remain legal tender.
• According to the RBI data bank, there were 4.92 billion pieces of ₹ 20 note in circulation as on March 31, 2016. The number more than doubled to about 10 billion pieces by March 2018.
• The ₹ 20 notes accounted for 9.8 per cent of the total number of currency notes in circulation at the end of March 2018.

Foreign fund outflows highest since 2008

News

• For the Indian equity markets, year 2018 will end as the worst in terms of foreign money outflows since 2008 when markets across the globe were reeling under the sub-prime crisis and Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in history.

Beyond News

• In the Indian context, 2018 would also be only the third such year in the last decade when foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) would end a calendar year as net sellers of Indian shares.
• Foreign investors, who have always been looked upon as the prime drivers of any bull run in the Indian equity market, have been net sellers at almost $4.8 billion or ₹33,344 crore during the current calendar year, till date.
• Further, the year also saw overseas investors selling shares worth almost $4 billion or ₹28,921 crore in just one month October making it the worst-ever month in terms of FPI outflows. The previous high was seen in November 2016, when FPIs sold Indian shares worth ₹18,244 crore.
• Market participants are of the view that such significant outflows were primarily on account of the weakness in the rupee and the volatility of the stock markets that saw the benchmark Sensex touching an all-time high of 38,989 in August only to lose more than 9% or more than 3,500 points since then.
• The one big factor that spooked everyone, especially foreign investors, was the fall in the rupee that moved from around 64 level to 74 against the dollar during the year.
• There was also heightened volatility globally due to the concerns related to the trade war between U.S. and China that made investors stay away from the emerging market pack, including India. The bubble kind of situation in the mid-cap and small-cap segments at the start of the year also led to profit booking from such investors.
• Strong buying by domestic investors also helped the Indian stock markets overtake Germany for the first time ever in terms of market capitalisation. According to data from the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the market capitalisation of India was pegged at $2.06 trillion in December, slightly higher than Germany’s $1.9 trillion.

Pollution: 3-day ban on construction in Delhi-NCR

News

• The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority imposed a three-day ban on industrial activity in pollution hotspots and construction work across Delhi-NCR in view of the national capital’s ‘severe’ air quality.
• Delhi’s air quality index was recorded at 449, which falls in the ‘severe’ category.
• Delhi is facing its highest pollution level since Diwali.

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