24 – 03 December

Economic News - 2

24 – 03 December

1.     The Food security Bill that proposes to cover 75 per cent population in rural areas and 50 per cent in urban areas for providing food grain on subsidised price (rice - 3 Rs/Kg, wheat - 2 Rs/Kg, Millet - 1 Rs/Kg) will be implemented from next fiscal year.

2.    A Sister-State agreement between Maryland (USA), and Andhra Pradesh was signed by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Maryland Governor Martin Joseph O' Malley.

3.    Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) launched operations on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) platform, becoming the only stock exchange in India to offer facility to trade on three trading platforms — Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Stock Exchange (NSE) and CSE — with a single membership.

4.     Delayed forest clearance for captive mines could adversely impact development and financing of a large number of power projects, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said India risks missing the 1,00,000-MW capacity addition target for the 12th Plan.

5.     Angry over the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) attack on its border post near Afghanistan, Pakistan decided to boycott next week's Bonn Conference to decide on the future of Afghanistan.

6.     Conference on global warming will begin in Durban (South Africa). The outcome of the U.N. climate conference will be decided by the interplay of forces between the Basic (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) group formed two years ago, the EU, and the umbrella group of developed countries, led by the U.S. and comprising Russia, Japan, Canada and Australia.

7.     Economic growth slipped to a disappointing 6.9 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal year (2011-12), the lowest in the last nine quarters. This prompted the government to lower its full-year growth projection to 7.3 per cent against 8.5 last fiscal. The latest projection by Mr. Mukherjee to 7.3 per cent is significantly lower than his Budget estimate of 9 per cent growth. The RBI has already lowered its growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.6 per cent from an estimated 8 per cent. 

8.     The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed Agni-I to bridge the gap between Prithvi, which has a range of 250 km, and Agni-II, which can strike targets 2,500 km away. Defence specialists say Agni-I, with a range of 700 km, is Pakistan-specific, capable of covering the entire western range.

9.     Aamir Khan was appointed UNICEF Ambassador for promoting child rights and nutrition.

10. Following its ground-shaking downgrade of the United States' sovereign debt rating from AAA to AA+ on August 5, top credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded several major U.S. and European banks this week and concurrently upgraded several Chinese financial institutions.

11.  Major central banks around the globe took coordinated action to ease the strains on the world's financial system, saying they would make it easier for banks to get dollars if they need them. The European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland are all taking part. The central banks agreed to reduce the cost of temporary dollar loans they offer to banks called liquidity swaps by a half percentage point.

12.  The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the armed forces successfully test-fired an Agni-I missile from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast, to test its readiness to launch ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads. The Agni-I, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is already in the Army's arsenal. The missile, with a range of 700 km, is Pakistan-specific would fill the gap between Prithvi-II, which has a range of 250 km and the Agni-II, which can take out places 2,500 km away. The Agni-V has a range of 5,000 km.

13.  A year down the line public sector bank ATMs may start accepting cash directly through cash acceptors, have solar powered back-up, and 24x7 surveillance. These are some of the recommendations of a committee on ATMs headed by Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala.

14.  Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) came out with guidelines allowing life insurance companies, which have been in business for over ten years, to raise funds from the public through initial public offerings (IPOs).

15.  The much-delayed guidelines on credit default swaps (CDS)-derivative instruments that allow lenders to pass on the credit risk to others-became effective from December 1. CDS are contracts where an investor in bonds or a lender (the user or protection buyer) gets a cover against default from another party (the protection provider).

16.   During the first four years of the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2007-08 to 2010-11), the average annual growth rate of foodgrains production in the country has been 2.90 per cent. Production of food grains increased from 234.47 million tonnes in 2008-09 to 241.56 million tonnes in 2010-11.

17.  India to see highest foreign remittances in 2011 (USD 58 billion): World Bank

18.  After hovering above the 9 per cent mark for most of 2011, the United States' unemployment rate finally dropped to 8.6 per cent for November.

19.  The current volatility in the stock market and withdrawal of FIIs has a direct correlation with the euro zone crisis. It will have some impact, particularly on FII flows. Mr. Mukherjee said Up to now, the indication is that FDI inflow is much better compared to last year, but FII outflow is an area of concern

20.  The Reserve Bank said it will shortly issue Rs 1,000 and Rs 10 notes incorporating therupee symbol, which was approved last year.

21. The United Nations has warned that the world is at the cusp of another recession, pointing to the slowdown in economic growth in all countries including the growth engines- India and China. In a report 'World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012',UN has downgraded its global economic growth forecast by one percentage point for 2012 to 2.6% and 3.2% for 2013.