1.
France has slipped
into Recession !
i. Preliminary data released from
the INSEE (National Institute for Statistics and Economic
Studies) statistics agency on 14 May 2013 revealed the fact that the
French economy has entered a shallow recession after shrinking by 0.2 percent
in the first quarter of the year.
ii. The economy entered into recession
because of weak exports, investment and household spending.
iii. France is already suffering number of jobless people; the
number of unemployed people in France went up to all time high in March 2013.
iv. The country's economy shrank by the same amount in the last
quarter of 2012. France has record unemployment and low business and consumer
confidence.
v. As per the INSEE statistics, investment in France contracted
by 0.9 percent in the first quarter of the year.
vi. Similarly business investment went down by 0.8 percent and
exports went down bu 0.5 percent in the second quarter.
vii. The household consumption also recorded a fall of 0.1
percent; this is the first downfall in household consumption since second
quarter of 2012.
NOTE: i. Recession is defined as regular contraction of GDP for consecutive two quarters.
ii. In case of France, the economy shrank by 0.2 percent in last
quarter of 2012.
iii. Earlier this month, the European Commission warned France
would enter recession this year and said the euro zone would shrink by 0.4
percent.
iv. The European Commission has also offered French Economy a
time limitation of two years to bring the public deficit of the nation in line
with the European Union limit of 3percent of GDP.
2. India placed sixth in economic
confidence: Survey
i. Country is now the sixth most economically confident
country in the world after Saudi Arabia, Sweden, China, Canada and Germany.
ii.
According to a survey
by global research firm Ipsos, India’s economic confidence dropped by 2
points to 63 per cent in the month of April 2013 compared to the month of
March 2013.
iii.
Ipsos said : The drop in
economic confidence of the country was despite the fact the there has been a
continuous decline in inflation rate and upbeat investor confidence.
iv. Saudi Arabia (80 per cent) continued to lead
the world on national economic assessment, despite seeing a downward trend over
the past quarter. It is followed by Sweden (73 per cent), China (72
per cent), Canada (65 per cent), Germany (64 per cent) and India (63 per
cent).
v. India’s economic confidence dropped last month due to
plethora of corruption allegations against the Union government ministers.
vi. The online Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World survey was
conducted among 18,331 people in 24 countries.
vii. Meanwhile, four in 10 Indian citizens (41 per cent) believe
that their local economy, which impacts their personal finance, is good and has
seen a marginal rise of 2 points. About 47 per cent people expect that the
economy in their local area will be stronger in next six months.
3. R.B.I. directed Banks to follow Clean
Note Policy
i.
The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) on 14 May 2013 directed banks to follow the Clean Note Policy
strictly and issue clean currency notes to public.
ii. RBI issued a notification that also
asked the banks to do away the process of stapling the currency notes and to
secure the note packets with paper bands.
iii. In its notification to the banks, the
RBI also directed to sort notes into re-issuable and non-issuable notes and to
withdraw soiled notes from circulation in the market.
iv. Banks have also been asked to stop
writing of any kind on watermark window of bank notes as it disfigures the
watermark impression and recognition becomes difficult.
v. As per
RBI, on an average 20 percent of notes is disposed off after getting soiled
every year and in the fiscal year 2012-13 that ended on 31 March 2013 the
number of such soiled currency bills stood at over 13 billion units.
4. WPI Inflation eased to 4.89 percent in
April 2013
i.
As
per official data released on 14 May 2013, WPI Inflation eased to 4.89 percent
in April 2013.
ii. Declining price of food items, including fruits and
vegetables caused a three and a half year low.
iii. Inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at
5.96 percent in March 2013.
iv. In April, 2012, it was 7.50 percent. This is the lowest level
of inflation since November, 2009 when it was 4.78 percent.
5. Union Government decided to Advertise
Best Practices on RTI
i.
The Union Government
on 14 May 2013 decided to publicize best practices on implementation of Right
to Information (RTI) Act by public authorities all over the country.
ii.
For
the Publicity purpose, a write ups about the best practices on RTI being
adopted by public authorities all over the country, has been invited by the
citizens from the Department
of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is a nodal body for the
implementation of RTI Act.
iii. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is on their
way to publish a compendium of best practices on the RTI being adopted by a
government department or public authority.
iii. As per the DoPT, the best 20 write-ups are supposed to be
selected for inclusion in the compendium.
iv. The individuals whose write ups are selected for inclusion
in the compendium would be rewarded with amount of 25000 each.
NOTE: i. It is important here to note that the DoPT had last in month of April 2013 also started a unique facility of submitting RTI applications and fees online.
ii. It has created a portal — www.rtionline.gov.in —
which is intended to help people use their right to know through online medium.
6. India and Netherlands signed MoU in
the Field of Urban Planning
i. India
and Netherlands on 14 May 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding on
Technical Cooperation in the field of Spatial Planning, Water Management, and
Mobility Management at Hague, Netherlands during the visit of Kamal Nath,
Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs.
ii. The Memorandum of Understanding will enable greater
cooperation in the areas of - Spatial planning, urban and regional planning and
development and architecture; Water management in terms of Water supply and
sanitation and governance structures; Transport management and transport
systems and infrastructure; Energy-efficient and sustainable built forms.
iii. Under the MoU, a Joint Working Group would be set up that
would prepare annual work programmes.
iv. It was decided that the first seminar under the MoU would
take place in June 2013 at Rotterdam to be followed by another seminar in India
later in the year.
7. Puducherry Government launched Dairy
Development Scheme
i.
The Puducherry administration in Month of May 2013 launched a central
government-sponsored scheme to promote dairy activities and to enhance
socio-economic status of the farmers in the Union Territory.
ii.
Under the Rashtriya Kisan Yojana Scheme 400 beneficiaries have been
selected in the first phase of which 27 have been extended a subsidy of 50000
Rupees each running to a total of 13.5 lakh Rupees. However, the rest would be
sanctioned the amount in the next phase.
iii.
The scheme ideates distribution of 50 per cent subsidy for each farmer
starting dairy projects.
iv. As per the
scheme, each farmer is supposed to get 50000 Rupees to launch a mini-dairy
project with three milch cows.
v. This
subsidy is meant to enable the farmers to purchase milch animals and meet part
of the expenditure to raise infrastructure for cow shed.
vi. The Government has
also formulated a separate scheme to assist farmers living below poverty line
and initially 47 farmers would be extended a total subsidy of 12500 each as 50
per cent subsidy for purchasing a milch cow.
vii. The efforts were made to ensure improved milk production in
Puducherry as there is a coiling demand for milk from different sectors.
8. Mittu Chandilya
appointed chief executive of AirAsia India
i. Proposed airline AirAsia India Wednesday appointed
Singapore-based Mittu Chandilya as its chief executive.
ii. India has appointed Mittu Chandilya as CEO of AirAsia
India," tweeted Tony Fernandes, Air Asia's Indian-origin founder and chief
executive.
iii. Chandilya, 32, was earlier head of services practices at
consulting firm Egon Zehnder International based out of Singapore from October
2009.
iv. He holds a master of business administration (MBA) from the
prestigious graduate business school INSEAD in France.
v. The appointment of Chandilya fulfills a key condition for
getting permission for starting operations from the home and civil aviation
ministries.
NOTE: i. The government March 26, 2013 had approved AirAsia's proposal to set up a new airline in the Indian civil aviation sector with partners Tata Group and Arun Bhatia-promoted Telestra Tradeplace
ii. The initial investment approved for the airline stands at Rs.
80.98 crore. The approval allows the budget carrier to roll out the seventh
scheduled domestic carrier in the Indian skies.
iii. Currently, there are six scheduled domestic airlines in the
country -- Air India, Jet Airways, Jet Lite, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir. The
operating licence of Kingfisher Airlines was suspended last year.
iv. The low-cost carrier will operate from Chennai and focus on
providing connectivity to smaller cities with a small fleet initially. It plans
to start operations by the end of this year.
9. PM files nomination papers for
re-election to RS from Assam
i.
The Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh today asserted that Centre has launched a series of schemes
for the upliftment and betterment of weaker sections of society.
ii. Dr. Singh in his address to the
Congress Legislature Party said that he will continue to work for the country
and people of Assam. Thanking people of Assam Dr. Singh said he made every
possible effort to help the state to ensure its speedy development.
iii. Earlier, Prime Minister filed his
nomination papers for the re-election to the Rajya Sabha at Dispur in Guwahati.
iv.
The current term of
Prime Minister Dr Singh will expire on 14th of the next month.
10. Pak Ambassador to US
resigns after PPP's defeat in polls
i. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's envoy to the US, on
Tuesday resigned following the defeat of the Pakistan People's Party in last
week's general elections.
ii. Congratulating the new parliament
on its election, Rehman sent in her resignation to the caretaker Prime Minister
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, Pakistan Embassy spokesman Nadeem Hotiana said in a
message posted on Twitter.
iii. Another message on Twitter quoted Rehman as saying: "It
is time a new envoy comes in as quickly as possible so that there is no gap in
the relationship."
iv. Rehman, 52, a close aide of Pakistan President Asif Ali
Zardari, was appointed to the post by the PPP-led government in 2011.
11. Crucial IOC meeting
to begin process for India's Oly return
i. Armed with a concrete action plan,
India's sports administrators will hold a crucial meeting with the
International Olympic Committee in Lausanne on Wednesday to draw a roadmap for
the country's return to the Olympic fold.
ii. The meeting assumes great importance for India's sporting
future as it would be the first time that IOC and IOA sit down for discussion,
a good five months after the country was suspended for failing to adhere to the
Olympic charter.
iii. While the delegates are optimistic of a favourable outcome,
some other sports administrators are not too hopeful of any fruitful result
from the meeting, pointing out that the IOA was still not united on many
issues.
iv. The meeting will also be attended by Sports Minister Jitendra
Singh, Sports Secretary PK Deb, Beijing Olympics gold-medallist shooter Abhinav
Bindra and Olympian sailor Malav Shroff.
12. Matt Prior named England's Cricketer
of the Year for 2012-13
i. Matt Prior was named the England
cricketer-of-the-year for 2012-13, in an acknowledgement of the Sussex
wicket-keeper's consistency with both bat and gloves.
ii. Prior was presented with his award at
Lord’s on 14 May 2013.
iii. The
31-year-old is now one of the first names on the team sheet after England
captain Alastair Cook.
iv. The latest demonstration of his worth to the side came with
his match-saving unbeaten hundred in the drawn third Test against New Zealand
in Auckland in March.
13. Chennai cruise to
33-run win over Delhi
i. Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils by 33 runs in their
Indian Premier League match at their home ground on Tuesday.
ii. Mahendra
Singh Dhoni led the way with a typically aggressive half-century to power
Chennai Super Kings to a 33-run win over Delhi Daredevils and brighten their
prospects of securing a top-two finish.
iii. Batting first, Chennai rode on Dhoni's 35-ball unbeaten 58
to post a competitive 168 for four.
iv. Albie Morkel (3/32) then spearheaded a disciplined bowling
effort to restrict Delhi to 135 for nine at the MA Chidambaram Stadium