Current Affairs 19 December, 2024

Daily Current Affairs

19 December, 2024

International Affairs

1. OPEC+

Context:

OPEC+ is wary of a renewed rise in U.S. oil output when Donald Trump returns to the White House, delegates from the group said, because more U.S. oil would further erode OPEC+ market share and hamper the producer group’s efforts to support prices.

Key Highlights:

• OPEC+, currently pumping about half of the world’s oil, has planned the increase production for April.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+)

OPEC+, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus, is a group of oil-exporting countries that work together to regulate the supply of oil and stabilize global oil prices

• A group of 22 oil-exporting countries which aims to adjust crude oil production for market stability.
• Originated in 2016 to establish cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries.
• Core members
  • 12 OPEC countries, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Oman.
• Established
  • 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
• Membership
  • 12 members, including Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, and the UAE.
• Angola withdrew its membership effective 1 January 2024.
• Headquarters
  • Vienna, Austria.

2. Poland adopts Bill to limit asylum rights

Context:

Poland adopts a bill to temporarily limit asylum rights. The government makes such a move that is intended to prevent any irregular migrant from entering through Belarus.

Who are Asylum?

Asylum is a refugee status in Poland, seekers in Poland come from a variety of countries, including Georgia, Belarus, The former Soviet Union, Syria and Russia.

3. H-1B Visa Rules to Hire Foreign Workers

The outgoing Biden administration has relaxed rules for H-1B visas that will make it easier for American companies to hire foreign workers with special skills and facilitate a smoother transition from F-1 student visas to H-1Bvisas, a move that is likely to benefit thousands of Indian tech professionals.

What is H1B Visa?

H-1B non immigrant visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, defined by statute as occupations that require highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty, or its equivalent.

National Affairs

1. India-China talks

Context:

India and China “positively affirmed” the outcome of their disengagement agreement on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday for the first boundary talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) since 2019.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC)

The LAC is the actual line of control separating the part of Indian territory from that of China. The line is drawn with the 1962 Sino-Indian war.

Some remarks about the LAC:

• No accord formally exists between the two nations on the LAC.
• No map or physical demarcation denotes the LAC.
• The difference between the LAC and the borders claimed by each country is as per Sino-Indian border dispute.
• India believes it has 3,488 km long LAC, and to China, the distance is only about 2,000 km in length.
• The LAC has generally been segregated into three sectors: western, middle, and eastern.
  

Read more about LAC?

2. Ganges River Dolphin

Context:

GUWAHATI A team of wildlife conservationists tagged the almost-blind Ganges river dolphin for the first time in India.

Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica)

According to the IUCN, the Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) is listed as endangered. The Ganges River dolphin are almost blind and uses echolocation to navigate, find prey, and sense its environment. Also known as the Susu.

• Habitat
  • The Ganges River dolphin lives in the shallow, murky rivers of the Indian subcontinent, including India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. 
• Threats
  • The Ganges River dolphin is threatened by habitat loss, dams, pollution, and poaching. A part from that threats include entanglement in fishing gear, targeted hunting, and the effects of climate change. 

3. HLVM3 for Gaganyaan’s Flight

Context:

The Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday commenced the assembly of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (HLVM3) for the Gaganyaan mission’s maiden uncrewed flight.

What is Gaganyaan Mission?

4. INS Nirdeshak

Context:
INS Nirdeshak, the second ship of the Survey Vessel project, was commissioned into the Indian Navy.

Key Features:

• It is a hydrographic survey ship designed for navigation aid and maritime operations support.
• Survey Vessels are crucial for ocean charting, data collection, and maritime diplomacy.
• The new survey ships will boost the Indian Navy’s strength in hydrographic cooperation with foreign fleets.

5. Manage Sacred Groves: SC tells Govt.

Context:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to create a comprehensive policy for the management of sacred groves across the country.

Key Highlights:

• Sacred grove is small patches of the tree maintained by local communities for sacred and cultural purposes.
• These small forests are found chiefly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
• This is recommended out of the petition presented on the vanishing of groves in Rajasthan.
• The direct motivation with such rights in communities regarding direct enhancement of these forest patches was provided by the National Forest Policy of 1988.

Banking/Finance

1. Net Direct Tax Collections Rises

Context:

India’s net direct tax collections were up 16.5%, crossing ₹15.82 lakh crore by December 17, with non-corporate taxes leading the growth.

What is Direct tax and Indirect Tax?

Direct Taxes are imposed on one’s income and earnings and are paid directly to the government. On the other hand, indirect taxes are just opposite and are paid to the government whenever any goods or services are purchased.

2. Fiscal Deficit at 4.4% of GDP FY26

Context:

The government is expected to set the fiscal deficit target at 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for FY26 in the upcoming Budget.

What is Fiscal Deficit?

Also Read: Fiscal Deficit Hits 46.5% of FY25BE

3. India on 10th spot in US trade deficit rankings

Context:

India was not among the top 10 countries with the largest trade deficits with the US in CY 2023, but ranked 10th according to data for CY 2024, as electronics exports recorded an increase.

Key Highlights:

Countries where the US records a trade deficit:

• China: $279 billion
• Mexico: $152 billion

India’s trade deficit statistics:

• CY 2023: $43.7 billion, Ranked 11th
• CY 2024: $38 billion, which promoted India to the 10th position

What is Trade Deficit?

Also Read: Merchandise Export Falls

4. GST Exemption on Term Life Insurance

Context:

A Group of Ministers (GoM), led by Bihar´s Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, has recommended full goods and services tax (GST) exemption on pure term life insurance policies by reducing it to 5 percent from 18 percent.

What is Goods and Services Tax(GST)?

• The GST or Goods and Services Tax is a consumption-based value addition for most goods and services available for domestic consumption. This tax paid by consumers is remitted to the government by the business selling the goods and services.

Main Features of GST

• Applicable On supply:
  • The meaning of the current GST has been that it is applicable on “supply” of goods or services rather than the old manufacture-at-sold-sum concept or sale of good precious metals or provision of services.
• Destination Based Taxation:
  • This is opposed to the current principle of origin-based taxation, that is, destination-based consumption taxation.
• Dual GST:
  • It is a dual GST with the Centre and the States simultaneously levying tax on a common base. GST should be levied by the Centre called Central GST (CGST) and the levy by the States is known as State GST (SGST).

Read more>>

5. Non Deliverable Forwards (NDFs) Book

The Reserve Bank of India has begun to rein in its ballooning non deliverable forwards book (NDFs), as sources say it has turned away from one of its primary tools to push back against the strong dollar.

Non Deliverable Forwards (NDFs) Book

A non-deliverable forward (NDF) book is a financial market that allows it’s participants to speculate and hedge in currencies that are not freely convertible. NDFs are basically a type of financial derivative contract that allows parties to lock in a future exchange rate for a specific currency pair. 

Key Features:

• Settlement: 
  • NDFs are settled in cash, typically in US dollars, based on the difference between the agreed-upon rate and the actual market rate at maturity. 
• No physical delivery:
  • Unlike standard forward contracts, NDFs do not require physical delivery of currencies. 
• Short-term contracts:
  • They are basically short-term contracts between two parties.

6. SEBI has introduced Specialised Investment Funds (SIF)

Context:

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has launched “Specialised Investment Funds” – SIF as a distinct asset class. The SIF provides an alternative between portfolio management schemes (PMS) and so-called vanilla mutual funds (MFs).

Key Highlights:

• SIF bridges the gap between traditional mutual funds and Portfolio Management Services (PMS), with an investment offering that can be tailored to their needs.
• SIF will allow an investment of Rs 10 lakh or more in different investment strategies, thereby giving a flexible platform for high-net-worth individuals and sophisticated investors.
• SIFs can invest in units of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), but cannot own more than 20% of the units issued by a single issuer.

Portfolio Management Service (PMS)

A Portfolio Management Service (PMS) is a service that provides investors with personalised investment management. It is not like mutual funds which cater to a large pool of investors with the same investment objective, a PMS account is aimed to meet your specific financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment preferences.

A vanilla strategy on mutual funds is a simple, straightforward, and effective approach to investing or business decisions. In investing, vanilla strategies can include

7. What measures has Sebi introduced?

• Introduced six new measures on 1 October to reduce market volatility.
• Measures include doubling and trebling index contract sizes to ₹15-20 lakh.
• Additional extreme 200-basis-point loss margin of 14 percent on selling contracts on expiration days.
• Only weekly expiries allowed for Nifty 50 and Sensex contracts from 20 November.
• Such rules aim at curtailing the trading options of the retail players with no experience regarding futures and options.

Read more>>

Agri Business

1. Carbon Markets in Indian Agriculture

Context:

Carbon markets hold the potential to transform Indian agriculture, turning sustainable farming practices into a lucrative opportunity for farmers while combating climate change. In this, carbon pricing is a critical tool for mitigating climate change.

Carbon Markets and Climate Change

• Carbon pricing is one of the strongest instruments for lowering the effects of climate change.
• From governments and international organizations, such markets enforce caps on company emissions.
• If there exists no regulation, then this is a voluntary carbon market through which organizations can trade carbon credits among themselves.

How Carbon Market Works

• India has launched its own compliance and voluntary carbon markets.
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development had five agriculture carbon credit projects listed in Verra.
• The functioning of carbon markets lies in only two principles which are additionality and permanence.

Read more>>

2. RBI Raises Cap on Loans against Agriculture

Context:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has amplified a limit beyond collateral-free agricultural loans so as to relieve tension in banks’ farm loan portfolios.

Key Highlights:

• RBI issued a notification to banks waiving collateral security and margin requirements for agriculture loans, including allied activity loans, up to ₹2 lakh per borrower, from ₹1.6 lakh earlier.
• This would release some collateral kept with banks in order to have the farmers and small borrowers borrow more money to repay them well.

3. Wadhwani Ai: AI-Based Pest Detection Solution for Cotton

Highlights:

Founded in the year 2018, the institution named Wadhwani AI integrates research itself with market-focused applications for agriculture, education, and health applications.

Key Highlights:

• This was Cotton Ace:
  • an AI-based pest detection solution using computer vision technology programmed to identify infestation due to Pink Bollworm and American Bollworm that has Wadhwani AI’s long list of AI applications in agriculture.
• It gives farmers information specific to pesticide spraying based on the extent of the infestation.
• Chatbot attached to the PM Kisan grievance redressal system in order to streamline the resolution of farmer complaints.
• It is an integrated agricultural news monitoring system that pulls out information from multilingual news articles about changes in the weather, pest infestations, and water quality issues.

Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence

• Headquarter
  • Mumbai
• Established
  • 2018

4. Importing Rock Phosphate

Context:

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) is looking into the possibility of importing rock phosphate from Mauritania.

Rock Phosphate Organic Fertilizer

Rock Phosphate Fertilizer Components

• Calcium Phosphate
  • Main component of rock phosphate, a type of apatite group. Its formula is Ca10(PO4)6(X)2.
• Environmentally friendly and natural source of phosphorus.
• Fluorapatite
  • Common type, containing impurities like CO3, Na, and Mg.
• Effective fertilizer requires soil pH of 5.5 or higher and organic matter.
• Environmentally friendly and natural source of phosphorus.

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.

• Chairman
  • S. C. Mudgerikar
• Established
  • 1978
• Headquarter
  • Mumbai
• Indian public sector undertaking.
• Administratively controlled by Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• Fourth largest government-owned fertilizer producer in India.

Economy

1. Indian economy may grow 6.6% in FY26: Ind-Ra

Context

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) projected the Indian economy to grow at 6.6% in 2025-26, up from 6.4% in the current financial year. 

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra)

• Provides accurate, timely, and prospective credit opinions in India’s credit markets.
• Covers corporate issuers, financial institutions, finance and leasing companies, managed funds, urban local bodies, and structured finance companies.
• Headquartered
  • Mumbai
• Recognized by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and Reserve Bank of India.

Comparing GVA and GDP

Also read: Idea of National Income

2. World Bank Remittance Report 2024

• India’s Remittance Status:
  • India is expected to be the top recipient of remittances in 2024, with $129 billion in remittance inflows.
• Global Remittance Growth:
  • The global remittance growth is projected at 5.8% in 2024, a significant increase compared to just 1.2% in 2023.
  • The growth has been mainly driven by the recovery of jobs in high-income OECD countries after the pandemic.
• Total Remittances to LMICs:
  • Remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are expected to reach $685 billion in 2024.
• Gap Between Remittances and FDI:
  • The gap between remittances and foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to widen significantly in 2024.

World Bank

• International bank providing loans and grants to developing and middle-income nations.
• Consists of the IBRD and the IDA.
• Was established in 7 July 1944.
• President
  • Ajay Banga
• Headquarter
  • Washington D.C. U.S

Facts to Remember

1. Rama Mohan Rao Amara appointed SBI MD 

Rama Mohan Rao Amara was holding the position of deputy managing director & chief risk officer of SBI until his appointment as MD.