ASSAM

First draft of Assam National Register of Citizens to come out on Dec 31
At the stroke of midnight on December 31, Assam for the first time will know how many Indian citizens are living in the state, more than three decades since the end of a six-year long anti-foreigners movement that left 855 ‘martyrs.’
Several governments at the Centre and in the state have so far been unable to give an absolute number of the illegal migrants from Bangladesh because there has been no effort to carry out a scientific enumeration.

The last National Register of Citizens (NCR) was done in 1951 which registered 80 lakh Indians living in the state. The process of updating this NRC with the sole objective of filtering out the unknown number of illegal migrants from the state was notified by Registrar General of India in March, 2010. The first part of draft containing the names of the Indian citizens from among about 2.38 crore of the state’s 3.14 crore population, whose citizenship claims have been verified so far, 11 days from now.

The second draft will be prepared after further verification of the remaining 47 lakh persons whose parental linkage are doubtful and 29 lakh married women whose panchayat certificates have been validated recently by the Supreme Court. The apex court is likely to give a time frame for the second draft.

INTERNATIONAL

· UK Tops Forbes’ List of Best Countries for Business in 2018

The United Kingdomtopped Forbes’ rankings of best countries in the world for business in 2018 for the first time, up from fifth last year.
The list ranks 153 countries on 15 factors including property rights, innovation, taxes and red tape.
The UK is followed by New Zealand and the Netherlands, while India was ranked 62nd on the list.
The UK’s $2.6 trillion economy is the fifth largest in the world.
The world’s second (China) and third (Japan) biggest economies rank 66th and 21st, respectively. Chad ranks last for the third straight year.

NATIONAL

· SEBI Hikes FPI Investment Limit

The Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)raised the investment limit for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in central government securities to over 1.91 lakh crore from January 2018.

Currently, investment limit for foreign portfolio investors is 1.89 lakh crore rupees.

The move is part of an effort by SEBI to push inflow from overseas investors in the country’s capital markets.

Gk bit – FDI vs FPI

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

FDI is investment by non-resident entities like MNCs to carryout business operations in India with management of investment, production of goods or services, employing people and marketing their products. In FDI, both the ownership and control of the firm is with the investor. The foreign investor usually takes a considerable stake or shareholding in the company and exerts management influences completely or partially, depending on his shareholding.

Foreign Portfolio Investment

FPI on the other hand is investment in shares, bonds, debentures, etc. According to the IMF, portfolio investment is defined as cross-border transactions and positions involving debt or equity securities, other than those included in direct investment or reserve assets.

FDI means real investment; whereas FPI is monetary or financial investment. If FDI is certain, long term and less fluctuating, FPI is speculative, highly volatile and un-predictive. Hence, FDI is superior to FPI.

· Union Cabinet Approves Establishing India’s 1st National Rail and Transportation University

The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the Ministry of Railways’ transformative initiative to set up India’s first ever National Rail and Transport University (NRTU)in Vadodara, Gujarat to skill its human resources and build capability.
The University will be set up as a Deemed to Be University under de novo category as per the UGC [Institutions Deemed to be Universities] Regulations, 2016. Government is planning to launch the first academic program in July 2018. The funding of the new University/Institute is to entirely come from Ministry of Railways.

Skill development scheme for textile sector approved

To help create more jobs in the textile sector that has been hit by demonetisation and the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST), the Union cabinet has approved a Rs1,300 crore scheme that will impart skills to a million people.

The scheme, cleared in a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will provide demand-driven and placement-oriented skilling programme across the textile sector.

The approved outlay is for the years FY2018-FY2020.

Swarn Project to be launched in Railways
The Ministry of Railways has decided to launch “Project Swarn” with the objective of significantly improving the passenger experience across 9 dimensions which include coach interiors, toilets, onboard cleanliness, staff behavior, catering, linen, punctuality, security, on-board entertainment. real time feedback will also be taken as part of Project Swarn.

In total, 14 Rajdhani and 15 Shatabdi trains will be covered.

Railways have been allowed to spend upto 50 lakh per rake for upgradation of trains to Swarn Standard.

RBI puts Bank of India under prompt corrective action

Bank of India said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated ‘prompt corrective action’ (PCA) against the lender over high bad loans.

High net non-performing assets (NPA), insufficient common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital and negative return on assets (ROA) for two consecutive years has prompted the action, the bank said in a statement.

RBI has also put United Bank of India on corrective action plan. This is the second time in four years that UBI came under regulatory sanctions.

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