December, 2017: India ranks 5th in list of countries with highest NPA levels

India ranks fifth out of 39 major economies with a pile of bad loans, according to a recent report. At 9.9 per cent, the ratio of non-performing assets (NPA) to the total loans collected by Indian lenders is far higher than that of banks of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. In fact, the NPAs of these economies were less than 2 per cent.

December, 2017: Himachal Politics- A Generational Shift!

After its chief ministerial nominee Prem Kumar Dhumal suffered a shocking defeat in the Himachal Pradesh assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the name of Jai Ram Thakur as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

The name of Thakur, a five-time member of legislative assembly (MLA) from the Seraj constituency in Mandi district, was announced after a meeting between the party’s central observers—Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narinder Singh Tomar—and newly elected members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) and other party leaders in Shimla.

November, 2017: Telangana leads state-wise ease of doing business ranking

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana jointly topped the 2016 all-India State/Union Territory-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings, while last year's topper Gujarat slipped to the third spot. The rankings, announced by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, are on the basis of a 340-point business reform action plan and their implementation by the States. This covers the period from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016.The 340 reform areas are broadly under categories including construction permits, environmental and labor registration, obtaining electricity connection, online tax-return filing, inspection reform, access to information and transparency, single window, land availability and commercial dispute resolution.

November, 2017: Cabinet approves schemes for women empowerment / welfare

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for expansion of the schemes of Ministry of Women and Child Development under Umbrella Scheme "Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women" for a period 2017-18 to 2019-20. CCEA also approved a new scheme called ‘Mahila Shakti Kendra', which will empower rural women through community participation to create an environment in which they realize their full potential. Expansion under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was also approved based on the successful implementation in 161 districts.

November, 2017: Government constitutes 15th Finance Commission under chairmanship NK Singh

The government announced that former revenue secretary NK Singh will be the chairman of the 15th Finance Commission (FC) that will recommend distribution of taxes between the Centre and the states. Other members of the Commission are former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri, NitiAayog member Ramesh Chand and Georgetown University Adjunct Professor Anoop Singh.

October, 2017: Singapore passport world's 'most powerful', India ranks 75

Singapore has the world's "most powerful" passport, according to a global ranking topped for the first time by an Asian country with India figuring at 75th position, three notches better than its previous ranking.

October, 2017: India Ranks 100th On Global Hunger Index, Trails North Korea, Bangladesh

India has a “serious” hunger problem and ranks 100th out of 119 countries on the global hunger index — behind North Korea, Bangladesh, and Iraq, according to a report. It has the third highest score in all of Asia — only Afghanistan and Pakistan are ranked worse.

October, 2017: Prime Minister launches Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat. Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunization programme. The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018. The achievement of full immunization under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was to be achieved by 2020 earlier. With the launch of IMI, achievement of the target has now been advanced.

September, 2017: India Ranked 40th On World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index

India was ranked as the 40th most competitive economy - slipping one place from last year's ranking - on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) global competitiveness index, which is topped by Switzerland. On the list of 137 economies, Switzerland is followed by the US and Singapore in second and third places, respectively. Other countries in the top 10 are the Netherlands (4th), Germany (5th), Hong Kong SAR (6th), Sweden (7th), United Kingdom (8th), Japan (9th) and Finland (10th).

September, 2017: Rohingya Issue

The influx of nearly one million Rohingya refugees from the northern portion of Myanmar’s Rakhine province due to severe persecution affected the political environment in Bangladesh. The impact was particularly acute in the south-eastern district of Cox`s Bazaar as well as to a lesser extent in adjoining Bandarban district and the nearby estuary areas.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina floated a five-point proposal at the United Nations to find a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis.

August, 2017: Cabinet approves framework for merger of public sector banks

The Union Cabinet gave its in-principle approval for Public Sector Banks to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM). The decision would facilitate consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive banks.

Salient Features

The salient features of the approval Framework for Consolidation of Public Sector Banks are as follows:·

August, 2017: Supreme Court strikes down triple talaq

A five-judge constitutional bench by a 3:2 majority judgment said there is no constitutional protection for triple talaq as it is arbitrary and "whimsical" as it leaves no scope for conciliation and violates Muslim women's rights.

Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman, and Uday Umesh Lalit held that triple talaq is not integral to Islam, is bad in law and lacks approval of the Shariat. Chief Justice J S Khehar and justice S Abdul Nazeer held triple talaq to be part of fundamental right to religion of Muslims and said it was not unconstitutional.

August, 2017: Supreme Court Declares Right To Privacy Is Fundamental Right Under Constitution

The Supreme Court pronounced that individual privacy is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty” and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution.

July, 2017: India ranks third in terms of terror attacks world over

India has witnessed the third highest number of terrorist attacks in 2016, more than Pakistan that has slipped to the fourth position, according to the latest data compiled by the US State Department.

Iraq with 2,965 terrorist attacks and Afghanistan with 1,340 terrorist attacks, were ranked first and second position respectively, followed by India that recorded 927 attacks and Pakistan at 734 attacks, the department said in its Country Report on Terrorism. The department said more than half of the terrorist attacks in India in 2016 took place in four states: Jammu and Kashmir at 19%, Chhattisgarh at 18%, Manipur at 12%, and Jharkhand at 10%.

July, 2017: IMF retains India’s GDP growth rate at 7.2%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) retained India's economic growth projections at 7.2 per cent in 2017-18, up slightly from 7.1 per cent in the previous year. However, the growth would accelerate to 7.7 per cent in 2018-19, IMF said while also maintaining the growth rate level projected in April.

June, 2017: Trump announces US withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement

President Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, an extraordinary move that dismayed America’s allies and set back the global effort to address the warming planet.

Trump’s decision set off alarms worldwide, drawing swift and sharp condemnation from foreign leaders as well as top environmentalists and corporate titans, who decried the U.S. exit from the Paris accord as an irresponsible abdication of American leadership in the face of irrefutable scientific evidence.

Trump, who has labeled climate change a “hoax,” made good on a campaign promise to “cancel” the Paris agreement and Obama-era regulations that he said were decimating industries and killing jobs. The president cast his decision as a “reassertion of America’s sovereignty,” arguing that the climate pact as negotiated under President Barack Obama was grossly unfair to the U.S. workers he had vowed to protect with his populist “America First” platform.

May, 2017: GST Council fixes rates for services

The GST Council fixed the rate of tax for goods and services under the new indirect tax regime. With regard to the GST on services, the council broadly agreed on 4 tax brackets having 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% of tax instead of the current uniform rate.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that all services have been fitted into four different rates, which are 5%, 12%, the standard 18% and the luxury rate of 28%, Transport services (Railways, air transport) will be under the 5% category since the main input used for such services are petroleum which is outside the GST Net. Hotels and lodges charging rent below Rs. 1000 are exempted under the GST.

May, 2017: Big B, Anushka to lead Modi govt’s ‘Darwaza Band’ campaign to discourage open defecation

The centre launched an aggressive new campaign titled 'Darwaza Band' to promote toilet use and freedom from open defecation across the country's villages. Darwaza Band stands for shutting the door on open defecation. The campaign produced by the MDWS (Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation) under Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in the presence of iconic actor Amitabh Bachchan and Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar.

April, 2017: Nita Ambani made member of IOC's Olympic Channel

India’s first woman International Olympic Committee member Nita Ambani made it to two important commissions of the global sports governing body, including the prestigious Olympic channel.

Besides the Olympic Channel, the 53-year-old Ms. Ambani has also been made a member of Olympic education Commission as IOC announced the composition of 26 commissions for 2017. She is one of the 16 members of the Olympic Channel Commission headed by United States Olympic Committee Chairman Lawrence Francis Probst.

Ms. Ambani has replaced International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven, who was a member of the commission till last year.

April, 2017: India bans red beacon lights from top of VIP cars

The government decided to ban red beacons atop cars of all ministers, politicians and bureaucrats, ending a privilege that was seen as the ultimate status symbol.

The ban, effective from May 1, doesn’t exempt even vehicles of the country’s top dignitaries such as the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India. But ambulances and vehicles of the fire service, police, and army will be allowed to use blue flashing beacons to cut through traffic. About six categories of beacons — primarily red, blue and yellow — are in use in India. But the red, or the coveted “lalbatti”, has been drawing maximum attention as an elitist VIP symbol since the British rulers introduced it.

March, 2017: Union Cabinet approved four GST related bills

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the following four GST related bills:

1.         The Central Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 (The CGST Bill)

2.         The Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 (The IGST Bill)

3.         The Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 (The UTGST Bill)

4.         The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to the States) Bill 2017 (The Compensation Bill)

The above four Bills were earlier approved by the GST Council after thorough, clause by clause, discussion over 12 meetings of the Council held in the last six months.

January, 2017 : Economic Survey 2016-17

The Indian Economy has sustained a macroeconomic environment of relatively lower inflation, fiscal discipline and moderate current account deficit coupled with a broadly stable rupee-dollar exchange rate. The Economic Survey 2016-17 presented to the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley states that such a sustenance is despite continuing global sluggishness. It says :

As per the advance estimates released by the Central Statistics Office, the growth rate of GDP at constant market prices for the year 2016-17 is placed at 7.1 per cent, as against 7.6 per cent in 2015-16.This estimate is based mainly on information for the first seven to eight months of the financial year. Government final consumption expenditure is the major driver of GDP growth in the current year.

Fixed investment (gross fixed capital formation) to GDP ratio (at current prices) is estimated to be 26.6 per cent in 2016-17, vis-à-vis 29.3 per cent in 2015-16.