RBI's bimonthly monitory policy
review
1. Reduced
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 50 basis point to 21.50 percent
Ø The SLR is
the portion of deposits banks are required to hold in the form of gold or
government securities before providing credit to customers.
2. This move
is likely to pump in around Rs. 45000 crore to the system, which is likely to
push the banks to cut their lending rates.
3. The RBI
kept the short-term policy rate (repo rate) unchanged at 7.75 per cent
Ø The repo
rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to banks.
4. It also
maintained status quo in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 4 per cent
Ø CRR is the
portion of total deposits of customers, which commercial banks have to hold as
reserves either in cash or as deposits with the central bank.
5. RBI expects
inflation at 6 % by January, 2016
6. RBI's
projection for growth using the old GDP base has been retained at 5.5 per cent
for 2014-15. The estimate for real GDP growth in 2015-16 is expected to rise to
6.5 per cent.
7. the current
account deficit is projected at a very comfortable 1.3 per cent of GDP for
2014-15
8. RBI raise
forex limit :-
a) The central
bank doubled the amount of foreign exchange that an individual can remit in a
year under a scheme that allows asset purchase outside India.
b) An individual
can now remit up to $250,000 a year under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which was started in 2004
c) This is the
second time the limit has been raised since a drastic 62.5 per cent cut in the limit
to $75,000 in August 2013
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Digital Indian Army -
modernisation of Indian Army's communication channels
1) the Army is
making progress in fielding its own mobile network in a couple of years under
the Mobile Cellular Communications System (MCCS) and also contemplating a cloud
network for its rank and file
2) the MCCS
will enable transfer of large volumes of data including pictures and real-time
updates
3) However,
the basic concerns still persist with continued reliance on imports for
hardware and software. While several of the Army’s communication systems are
built by BEL, some of the larger servers and other basic components are
imported. This creates vulnerability of malware or bugging of these critical
network systems
4) the Army is
also envisaging setting up a private virtual drive for its personnel to access
information anywhere and reduce dependency on open platforms
5) the Army is
equipping many of its formations with the army mobile network based on Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology being built by Bharat Electronics Limited
(BEL)
6) The Army
also has a separate network called the Army Wide Areas Network which is
presently connected from the Army Headquarters to the battalion level with
optic fibre network. This is separate from the Internet which prevents snooping
7) At the
operational level, a unit will be equipped with data radios which are special
handsets being built by BEL with indigenous software.
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Land Acquisition Ordinance - A
critical analysis
1) Criticism
of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR), 2013 :-
i.
Farmers and social movements have argued that LARR failed
to adequately compensate land losers, contained large loopholes such as
exempting irrigation projects, and continued to allow land acquisition for
private companies
ii.
Industrialists, developers and State governments have
complained that the Act would delay projects, increase the costs of land
acquisition and impede economic growth
2) The Central
govt. diluted many of LARR’s key provisions through an ordinance issued on
December 31. The ordinance effectively eliminates the main features of LARR
that gave rural people some protection from arbitrary dispossession
3) it removes the requirement that the government
must obtain the consent of 80 per cent of affected people before taking their
land for a private project and 70 per cent of affected people for public-private
partnership project
Ø The
ordinance thus restores the ability of the government to acquire land for any
private purpose it likes, with no need to win the support of the affected
4) the
ordinance eliminates the Social Impact Assessments (SIA) that LARR had mandated
as a precondition for proceeding with land acquisition
Ø This
restores the ability of the government to dispossess land from people without
even assessing its negative consequences
5) the
ordinance increases the amount of time that a government or company can keep
unutilised land
6) it removes
LARR’s strong penalties for non-complying officials
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