Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 09 November 2016
:: National ::
Government demonetised currency with 500 and 1000 rupee notes
Five hundred and 1,000 rupee notes will cease to be legal tender, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a surprise address to the nation. He said the decision was taken to root out the menace of black money and corruption.
Notes of 100, 50, 20, 10, five, two and one rupee remain legal tender and will be unaffected by the decision, the Prime Minister said, adding that all banks and ATMs will be closed on 9th and ATMs in some places on 10th as well.
Mr. Modi announced that existing Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,000 notes can be deposited in an individual’s bank or post office accounts between November 10 and December 30.
Currency value of up to Rs. 4,000 can be exchanged from any bank or post office per day till November 24 by showing a government identity card.
However, for 72 hours, government hospitals, railway, air and government bus ticket booking counters will continue to accept the old notes.
Old notes will also be accepted till November 11 at petrol, diesel and gas stations authorised by public sector oil companies, consumer co-operative stores authorised by State or Central government, milk booths authorised by States.
The Reserve Bank of India will issue new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes starting from November 10.
The new Rs. 500 note will feature the Red Fort and the new Rs. 2,000 note will feature Mangalyaan, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said. These notes will become available from November 10.
Once the ATMs start functioning, there will be a withdrawal limit of Rs. 2,000 per debit card, which will be increased to Rs. 4,000 later, Mr. Modi said in a 40-minute televised address to the nation.
There will, however, be an overall limit on withdrawal from banks of Rs. 10,000 per day and Rs. 20,000 per week, which will be increased in the coming days.
Mr. Modi said there will be no restriction of any kind on non-cash payments by cheques, demand drafts, debit or credit cards and electronic fund transfer.
PM made a pointed reference to cross-border terror which was being funded by forged currency notes. “In the country’s history of development, there comes a moment where powerful and decisive decisions are needed,” Mr. Modi said.
Till March 2016, Rs. 14 lakh crore out of Rs. 16 lakh crore worth currency issued by RBI were in denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, as per the central bank’s official data.
Justice M.B. Shah, (retired) who heads the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team on black money, said there was no other alternative to curb black money than to scrap the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes.
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pronouncement Justice Shah, a former Supreme Court judge, said this would spell the end of circulation of unaccounted wealth inside the country.
Earlier this year, the SIT had called for a complete ban on cash transactions above Rs. three lakh as well as setting a Rs. 15-lakh cap on cash holdings by individuals to prevent holding of unaccounted wealth in cash.
It had also recommended the government to frame a new law to make transactions above this threshold illegal if the amount was not paid by cheque, bank draft, or electronic clearing system through a bank account.
The SIT recommendation had followed a Finance Ministry statement that large amounts of unaccounted wealth was stored and used in the form of cash.
SC directed BCCI to bear the expenses for India- England test series
The Supreme Court directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to bear the expenses for all the matches to be played in the India-England Test series till December 3.
Ordering BCCI to foot the bill of Rs. 58.66 lakh for the first match in Rajkot scheduled for November 9, Bench said that the payments should be made directly to the parties the board has entered into contracts with for the series.
The Bench made it clear that the BCCI should not pay a farthing to the board’s member cricket associations in the States where the series matches are going to be held, including the Rajkot/Saurashtra Cricket Association.
According to a October 21 judgment, disbursal of funds from the BCCI to the State member associations is conditional on the latter filing undertakings to implement the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee recommendations in letter and spirit.
The BCCI moved the Supreme Court saying there are no funds for the India-England Test series scheduled to start on November 9.
The board sought a judicial order to the Lodha panel to clear the funds required for the match.
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:: International ::
Obama’s legacy is sealed now
Barack Obama claimed the presidency eight years ago in Chicago’s Grant Park, declaring “a new dawn” in U.S. history and promising the enthusiastic crowd of a quarter-million people that “we as a people will get there.”
But as the nation chose Mr. Obama’s successor, the bold agenda he described that morning remained incomplete. What Mr. Obama discovered — and what his successor will learn — is that every presidency lasts for only a brief moment in time.
Mr. Obama’s health care bill gave insurance to millions, but he now faces calls for big changes to it. The economy is markedly better, but incomes and growth remain stubbornly low.
The immigration overhaul he wanted is tied up in legal limbo, as are his tough new climate rules. Fewer Americans are fighting in overseas wars, but the Islamic State (IS) has emerged as a new threat. Partisanship and racial tensions have intensified.
Mr. Obama acknowledged recently that his legacy will be an incremental one. In an article in The Economist , he described the presidency as “a relay race, requiring each of us to do our part to bring the country closer to its highest aspirations.”
For a President who won the highest office in the land by promising big, sweeping change, Tuesday’s election is a reminder that it will be up to someone else to complete the change he long envisioned.
Climate change, too, remains a work in progress. The international agreements Mr. Obama helped forge will play out over decades.
It could be years before his environmental regulations are in place, if ever. It will be up to future Presidents to navigate the politics of climate change, around the world and here at home.