Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 April 2015 announced two major reliefs for farmers hit by the recent unseasonal rains and hail-storms. Following are the two reliefs announced by the Prime Minister:
- The eligibility criteria for claiming compensation has been reduced to 33% (for crop damage)
- The amount of compensation has been increased to 1.5 times
What was the earlier eligibility criteria for claiming compensation?: 50% (for crop damage)
Explanation: This year the unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged Rabi (winter-sown) crops in 113 lakh hectares of area across 14 states. Therefore, Government had also set up an informal group of ministers, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to look into the issue of raising the cap for financial assistance given to farmers whose crops have been affected. Hence, after assessment reports about the damage from cabinet Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 April 2015 announced that the criteria of compensation to affected farmers should be reduced to 33% from 50%. Thus helping the farmers to get more compensation for their crop loss. Along this, the amount of compensation has been increased to 1.5 times, which means that if earlier he was getting Rs.1000 as compensation, now he will get Rs.1500.
India's aviation safety ranking was 8 April 2015 upgraded to Category-1 by which Aviation authority, a move that could pave the way for domestic airlines to expand their services to that country?: US aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)
Explanation: The upgradation, which saw restoration of the safety ranking, came more than 14 months after it was downgraded to Category-2 following the failure of aviation regulator DGCA to meet the international safety norms during two safety audits by FAA. Earlier, FAA had downgraded India's aviation safety ranking, bringing it below Pakistan and on par with countries like Ghana, Barbados and Bangladesh in January last year after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation failed to meet the safety standards set by the UN body International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
To boost infrastructure investment, the Reserve Bank of India on 7 April 2015 allowed banks to invest in which kind/type infrastructure bonds issued by other banks.?: Long-term infrastructure bonds
Explanation: In July 2014, RBI had allowed banks to issue long-term bonds (LTBs) for lending to long-term projects in infrastructure sub-sectors, and affordable housing. However, cross-holding of such bonds amongst banks was not permitted. Its aggregate holding of such bonds will also be subject to certain limits in relation to its own assets. LTBs held for trading will reduce the bank's priority sector and liquidity benefits obtained from its own issuance of LTBs. In another move, the RBI also proposed to allow NBFC infrastructure debt fund (NBFC-IDF) to provide take-out finance for infrastructure projects that have completed one year of operation in the PPP segment without a tripartite agreement and to the non-PPP segment.
The government on 7 April 2015 approved three highway projects worth Rs 9,500 crore in which 2 States, including those connecting Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.?: Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh
Explanation: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the four-laning of the Sultanpur-Varanasi section of National Highway 56 in Uttar Pradesh with a total cost of around Rs 3,800 crore thus in total the CCEA today approved the strengthening and widening of 455 kms of National Highways with a total capital cost of about Rs 9,500 crore. Key highlights of Highway projects:
-The four-laning of the Sultanpur-Varanasi section of National Highway 56 in Uttar Pradesh
-The second project relates to four-laning of the Varanasi to Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and further to Nepal section of National Highway 29 in UP.
-The third project relates to four laning/two laning of the Madurai-Ramanathapuram section of National Highway 49 in Tamil Nadu
The project is likely to be completed in two and half years from the date of award.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 April 2015 allowed Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) to lend up to how much to small borrowers.?: Rs 1 lakh
Explanation: The increase in the limit was suggested by Nachiket Mor committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households. The borrowing limit, excluding educational or medical expenses, has been doubled to Rs 1 lakh from the existing Rs 50,000, RBI said in its first bi-monthly monetary policy statement in the new fiscal, which began on April 1. However, disbursement of the loan amount should not exceed Rs 60,000 -- up from Rs 35,000 in the first cycle, and Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000 in subsequent cycles.
With its disinvestment taking place on 8 April 2015, which entity becomes the first public sector undertaking (PSU) to launch in the market in 2015-16 fiscal year?: Rural Electrification Corporation (REC)
Explanation: Union Govt. is selling 5% of its stake in REC on 8 April at Rs.315 per share to sumup over Rs. 1,550 crore, marking the first PSU disinvestment of the current fiscal. The price for the offer for sale (OFS) of 4.93 crore REC shares was decided on 7 April at a meeting headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The disinvestment department has a pipeline of companies including BHEL, Dredging Corporation, NALCO, IOC and NMDC.and others to sell minority stake to avoid bunching up of disinvestment towards the end of end of the fiscal.
The government on 6 April 2015 withdrew duty benefits extended to operation and maintenance of power plants set up by developers within which zones?: Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Explanation: The directive issued in March 2012 was being withdrawn and the position of February 2009 was being restored. As in February 2009, the ministry had allowed SEZ developers to avail duty benefits only at the initial stage of setting up of a power plant in a non-processing areas and not for operational and maintenance of the plants. But in 2012, it had extended duty benefits for operation and maintenance of power plants in SEZs also. The notification will impact developers of SEZs and not the units which are engaged in generation and trading of power in these zones.
On 6 April 2015, The Oil Ministry has allowed national oil companies Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) to sell any new natural gas supplies from their small and isolated fields through which process?: Open Tender (Bidding)
Explanation: The Oil Ministry on April 1 issued amendment to the guidelines for pricing of gas from small and isolated fields by allowing producers to sell gas at market rates by inviting competitive bids from prospective consumers. Companies will fix minimum price for their gas, which would be the prevailing government-determined rate, and ask interested buyers to offer more through bidding. While the government had approved an international gas hub-based formula for all of the domestically produced natural gas in November last year, small and isolated fields were exempt.
Seeking to improve its image as a customer friendly organisation, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has decided to set up a dedicated wing to have a better connect with taxpayers. Thus CBEC is celebrating year 2015 as what?: Year of Taxpayer Services in "recognition of the need to have 'customer focus' in our day-to-day functioning"
Explanation: CBEC is responsible for collection of indirect taxes -- Customs duty, excise and service tax. The Board has decided to set up a "Directorate of Taxpayer Services" in pursuance of the recommendations of the Tax Administration Reforms Commission (TARC), headed by Parthasarathi Shome. TARC, in its first report submitted to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had stressed on 'customer focus' and recommended creation of the Directorate for Taxpayers. The target for Customs duty and excise collection for the current fiscal is Rs 2.08 lakh crore and Rs 2.29 lakh crore, respectively, while the corresponding figure for service tax stands at Rs 2.09 lakh crore. The collection of indirect taxes in 2014-15 had surpassed the target of Rs 5.46 lakh crore by Rs 4,000 crore.
Markets regulator Sebi has proposed on 5 April 2015 including 'systematically important' NBFCs and some registered family trusts in the which category, a move that will put such entities at par with institutional investors like banks and mutual funds.?: Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB)
Explanation: QIBs are defined under Sebi regulations as those institutional investors, who are generally perceived to possess expertise and the financial muscle to evaluate and invest in capital markets. The proposals on QIB would be applicable to all issuers irrespective of the listing on main board or the institutional platform. Sebi has said that the definition of QIBs "may be extended to include systematically important NBFCs as per RBI guidelines and family offices/ trusts, subject to such family offices/trust registering itself as Alternate Investment Funds (AIF).
