Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
S.NO. NEWS ITEM
SYLLUBUS
1.
India, Africa align a) I.R
on WTO issues
(Page 12)
2.
Support UN
a)
reforms, PM tells
Africa (Page 12)
3.
Modis UK visit a)
will boost peopleto-people ties
(Page 14)
4.
India adopting
a)
dangerous
military policies,
says Sharif (Pg 1)
5.
US-Pakistan
a)
bonhomie leaves
India at a loss
(Page 13)
6.
Islamabads
a)
promise to
combat Lashkar
marks a change in
policy, says US
(Page 13)
7.
UK and China
a)
clinch multibillion contracts
(Page 14)
A prescription for a)
the IMF (Page 10)
8.
9.
India to grow at a)
7.4 percent this
fiscal, says BoFAML (Page 16)
ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE
a) India and Africa said that the two partners are
aligned on the outstanding issues at the WTO and are in
favour of multilateral trading systems.
I.R
a) Raising the pitch for UNSC reforms, PM Modi
asked 54 African nations to join India in demanding an
overhaul of the global body to make it more democratic,
inclusive and representative of the current world.
I.R
a) UK official said that PM Modis visit to the United
Kingdom next month is not comparable to the justconcluded, highly successful and high-profile visit of the
Chinese President Xi Jinping.
I.R
a) Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif accused India of setting
off a new arms race in South Asia and not responding to
his peace overtures, while urging US to reconsider some
of its existing assumptions and analyses about the region.
I.R
a) India took exception to the American appreciation
for Pakistans anti-terror operations and the American
pledge to provide eight F-16 aircraft to the Pakistan Air
Force.
I.R
a) Hours after Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif promised
action against the outfit that is behind several terror
strikes in India (including Mumbai 2008), an US official
said that there has been a significant shift in Pakistans
policy towards terror groups in the last year and it now
recognised the threat posed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
International a) British PM David Cameron and Chinese President
Xi have signed almost £30 billion in trade deals as part
of a drive to forge closer ties between the two countries.
Economy
Economy
a) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan (known for his
forthright and plain-speaking manner) has once again
trained his guns on the International Monetary Fund where he once served as Chief Economist.
a) According to a report by Bank of America Merill
Lynch, India is set to grow at 7.4 percent this financial
year. The report also said that the Reserve Bank of India
is likely to cut rates by another 25 bps in February.
1
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
S.NO. NEWS ITEM
SYLLUBUS
1.
India, Africa
a) I.R
align on WTO
issues (Page 12)
BACKGROUND
a) India – Africa
relations
b) World Trade
Organisation (WTO)
issues
c)
Bali declaration
IMPORTANT POINTS
a) India and Africa said that
the two partners are aligned on
the outstanding issues at the
WTO and are in favour of
multilateral trading systems.
b) After the 4th India-Africa
Trade Ministers meeting,
official said the WTO
Ministerial scheduled for
December in Nairobi will be
held for the first time in Africa
where we will be looking for
outcomes that will be of interest
to both India and Africa.
c) Union Commerce & Industry
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
said that a round table was also
held to discuss the outstanding
issues at the WTO, including
Indias long–held position on the
nations food security policy,
especially the minimum support
prices-based procurement from
farmers.
d) At the Bali Ministerial in
2013 too, Africa and India had
united in seeking an interim
mechanism for safeguarding
minimum support prices to
farmers against WTO caps till a
permanent solution is found and
adopted. Indias concern is that
even though the interim
mechanism has become
available indefinitely, the WTO
has not made enough progress
in finding a solution to the issue
ahead of Nairobi Ministerial.
2
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
2.
Support UN
a)
reforms, PM tells
Africa (Page 12)
I.R
a) India – Africa
relations
a) Raising the pitch for UNSC
reforms, PM Modi asked 54
African nations to join India in
b) UNSC reforms
demanding an overhaul of the
global body to make it more
c) India-Africa Forum
democratic, inclusive and
Summit
representative of current world.
b) He said the present day
world was facing challenges
like terrorism and climate
change which did not exist
when the UN was founded 70
years ago and the global body
ran the risk of losing relevance
if it did not adapt to the new
systems in the world.
3.
Modis UK visit a)
will boost peopleto-people ties
(Page 14)
I.R
a)
b)
c) Ahead of the India-Africa
Forum Summit, he said that
India advocates reforms in
global political, economic and
security institutions.
India – UK relations a) UK official said that PM
Modis visit to UK next month
Trade ties
is not comparable to the justconcluded, highly successful
and high-profile visit of the
Chinese President Xi Jinping.
b) He said that Britain will seek
to cooperate and collaborate in
sectors that are key to PM
Modis own vision for India.
4.
India adopting
a)
I.R
a)
India – Pakistan
c) Pointing out that in 201415 India emerged as Britains
third biggest job creator, he said
business, trade and investments
in job-creation will be part of
the agenda.
a) Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif
3
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
dangerous
military policies,
says Sharif (Page
1)
relations
b)
Terrorism
accused India of setting off a
new arms race in South Asia
and not responding to his peace
overtures, while urging US to
reconsider some of its existing
assumptions and analyses about
the region.
b) According to Sharif, it was
Indias decision to call off the
dialogue with Pakistan after the
initial positivity created by his
attendance at the swearing-in
ceremony of PM Modi in May
2014. New Delhi cancelled the
Foreign Secretary-level talks on
a flimsy excuse.
5.
US-Pakistan
a)
bonhomie leaves
India at a loss
(Page 13)
I.R
c) Sharif outlined the current
situation in Pak as one in which
democracy has stabilised,
terrorism is at its lowest in
recent years and economy is on
an upswing. He said it was
relations with India that were
the most immediate and
difficult challenge before him.
a) US – Pakistan
a) India took exception to the
relations
American appreciation for
Pakistans anti-terror operations
b) India – Pak relations and the American pledge to
provide eight F-16 aircraft to
c) Kashmir issue
the Pakistan Air Force.
d) Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir (PoK)
e)
Terrorism
b) External Affairs Ministry
spokesperson Vikas Swarup
said our reservations about
providing such platforms (F-16)
to Pakistan are well known and
all countries are aware of Indias
position in such cases. He said
supply of such strategic
4
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
platforms to Pakistan could not
help South Asia, especially in
view of reports that Pakistan
had acquired tactical and
miniaturised battlefield nuclear
weapons.
c) The joint statement issued
at the end of PM Nawaz Sharifs
visit to US has been criticised
in Indian policy circles as it
entrusts Pak with maintaining
strategic stability in South Asia.
Experts have argued that the
American decision-makers have
misread Pakistani commitment
to strategic stability in South
Asia, especially since gifting
the F-16 jets will further
embolden Pakistans reckless
nuclear establishment.
d) The joint statement
repeatedly referred to Pakistans
need to deal with issues arising
out of water and energy issues
and both sides have also joined
hands for researching on water
to help Pakistan.
e) The joint statement was
dissected critically by India
which finds the Obama-Sharif
call for dialogue on Kashmir an
irritant. That apart, India has
been surprised by description of
terrorism as of mutual concern
between India and Pakistan.
f) India has reacted strongly
to US-Pakistan joint statement,
especially with reference to
5
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
6.
Islamabads
a)
promise to
combat Lashkar
marks a change in
policy, says US
(Page 13)
I.R
a) US – Pakistan
relations
b) India – Pakistan
relations
c) Line of Control
(LoC)
d)
Terrorism
e) Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT)
f)
Balochistan
g) Federally
Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA)
terrorism, nuclear cooperation
and support for hydropower
dams in PoK.
a) Hours after Pakistan PM
Nawaz Sharif promised action
against the outfit that is behind
several terror strikes in India
(including Mumbai 2008), an
US official said that there has
been a significant shift in
Pakistans policy towards terror
groups in the last year and it
now recognised the threat posed
by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
b) While the specific reference
to the LeT sought to address a
lingering Indian concern in its
relations with Pakistan, the joint
statement took on board several
issues that Pakistan harps on: it
called for sustained dialogue
between the two countries
aimed at resolving all
outstanding territorial and other
disputes, including Kashmir;
acknowledged the importance
of regional balance in South
Asia; expressed concern over
violence along the LoC; and
was effusive in its praise for
Pakistans drive against
terrorism in the region. The
statement also termed terrorism
a topic of mutual concern
between the two countries.
c) Asked whether this
formulation meant that the US
accepted Pakistans allegation
that India was fomenting
trouble in Balochistan and
6
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
7.
8.
UK and China
a)
clinch multibillion contracts
(Page 14)
A prescription for a)
the IMF (Page
10)
International
a)
b)
Economy
a)
FATA, the US official said that
Pak has raised certain concerns.
He said the best way to deal
with this is both countries start
a dialogue on this.
China – UK relations a) British PM David
Cameron and Chinese President
Trade deals
Xi have signed almost £30
billion in trade deals as part of a
drive to forge closer ties
between the two countries.
Monetary policy
b) Global economic
situation
c) International
Monetary Fund (IMF)
d)
e)
b) Deals worth more than
£12 billion, including £6.5bn
liquefied natural gas supply
contract with Chinas Huadian
power generation.
a) RBI Governor Rajan said
the worlds premier multilateral
lending institution (IMF) had
failed to fulfil its role in
ensuring that national monetary
policies did not end up hurting
the global economy as a whole.
RBI
b) He said the IMF had been
US Federal Reserve sitting on the sidelines and
applauding unconventional and
extreme policies initiated by
central banks in industrialised
countries. These policies of
quantitative easing, combined
with the exchange-rate
interventions pursued by some
emerging market economies in
the early-2000s, had created
problems for others with large
negative spill-over effects by
pushing capital from one shore
to another.
c)
According to him, with
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Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
national central banks unlikely
to consider the impact of their
policy actions beyond the
respective domestic economies,
the Fund ought to have
evaluated the implications from
a global perspective.
d) Having just cut the
benchmark interest rate by a
higher-than-expected 50 basis
points with the aim of providing
a monetary fillip to domestic
demand, Rajan is well aware
that a resurgence of inflationary
pressures amid distinct signs of
a drought across several key
States could leave RBI facing
the spectre of tepid economic
growth and accelerating price
gains. And with persisting
uncertainty over when the US
Federal Reserve would start
normalisation of interest rates,
the outlook for the global
economy remains hazy.
9.
India to grow at a)
7.4 percent this
fiscal, says
BoFA-ML (Page
16)
Economy
b)
GDP
c)
Inflation
d)
Stagflation
e) According to Rajan, the
need of the hour is a political
consensus to go beyond
domestic mandates and evolve
optimal policies that help create
global economic growth.
a) According to a report by
Bank of America Merill Lynch,
India is set to grow at 7.4
percent this financial year. The
report also said that the RBI is
likely to cut rates by another 25
bps in February.
e)
RBI
b)
a) Indias economic
growth
Other agencies tracking
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Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 24-10-15
Indias GDP are also not as
optimistic as the govt seems to
be. Moodys Investors Services
said that India was set to grow
at 7-7.5 percent this year.
c) The BoFA-ML report said
that India is a rare economy in
todays world in that it is not in
stagflation. It is poised to
overtake Brazil this year after
having overtaken Russia last
year in nominal GDP terms to
emerge as the second largest
emerging market after China.
d) The report added that
Indias slow recovery was
largely because of delayed
global revival and lending rate
cuts, saying that a turnaround in
GDP numbers next fiscal is
expected assuming better rains
and more lending rate cuts.
e) While saying that lending
rate cuts hold the key to a
cyclical recovery, the report
went on to add that it expects
the RBI to cut rates by 25 basis
points in February after it meets
its 6 percent inflation target by
January.
9