National Housing Bank (NHB),regulator of Housing finance companies(HFC’s) has proposed to increase the capital adequacy ratio of housing finance companies (HFCs) HFC’s to 15% in a phased manner.The proposed norms are being issued in the wake of liquidity problem being faced by HFCs after IL&FS crisis. As per the proposed roadmap,HFCs have to increase minimum… Continue reading Higher capital adequacy for HFC’s muted
Author: ForumIAS
Tariff hike to hit exports to U.S.
The US has announced its decision to terminate India’s designation as a beneficiary of its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). This decision comes in the backdrop of US having concerns over a range of issues like (a) India’s new rules on e-commerce that affected firms such as Amazon and Walmart (b) Data localisation rules which… Continue reading Tariff hike to hit exports to U.S.
China targets 6 to 6.5% in shadow of trade war with U.S
China lowered its economic growth target for the year 2019 to between 6 to 6.5% of Gross Domestic product(GDP). The cuts to the GDP growth target comes in the backdrop of (a)Chinese economy facing pressure from a persistent slowdown (b)Rising trade tensions between US and China and (c)slowing global economy. Chinese Government have announced various… Continue reading China targets 6 to 6.5% in shadow of trade war with U.S
No bank guarantees meant a more expensive new Rafale deal
Indian government in 2016 inked a direct deal with the French government to purchase 36 new Rafale fighter jets.The Opposition parties have alleged that the government bought 36 Rafale fighter aircraft at a much higher price than the one that was being negotiated for 126 aircraft by the previous government. Rafale is a twin-engine medium… Continue reading No bank guarantees meant a more expensive new Rafale deal
Bid to privatise ground handling delayed
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) have delayed the announcement of the outcome of the bidding process due to higher royalties quoted by bidders for ground handling services.Earlier,AAI had invited bids to privatise ground handling services at airports in India. Ground handling activities include (a)passenger services such as check-in and baggage handling (b)aircraft handling (c)servicing… Continue reading Bid to privatise ground handling delayed
CURTAIN RAISER: AL NAGAH 2019
Exercise Al Nagah III,third in the series of bilateral joint military exercise between India and Oman will be held at Jabel Al Akhdar Mountains in Oman.In this exercise,both will exchange expertise and experience in tactics, weapon handling and firing. The exercise aims at enhancing interoperability in counter terrorist operations in semi-urban mountainous terrain. The first… Continue reading CURTAIN RAISER: AL NAGAH 2019
NSA surveillance programme to be shut
United States National Security Agency(NSA) is planning to end the highly controversial, once-secret, surveillance program for counter terrorism.It used to annually collect hundreds of millions of telephone call records to analyze the data for clues. The program was disclosed by Edward Snowden. It then became a focus of debate about maintaining balance between privacy and… Continue reading NSA surveillance programme to be shut
Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on immigrants
The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre on a plea which has challenged the amendments made through the Passport (entry into India) Amendment Rules, 2015; the Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 and the order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 26, 2016 under the Citizenship Act. These subordinate laws provide… Continue reading Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on immigrants
London patient may be second in the world to be cured of HIV
An HIV-positive man in Britain has become the second known adult worldwide to be cleared of the HIV virus. He had received a bone marrow transplant from an HIV resistant donor. The donor had a genetic mutation known as ‘CCR5 delta 32’, which confers resistance to HIV. The first person to be cleared of HIV… Continue reading London patient may be second in the world to be cured of HIV
Can estranged couples be forced to cohabit, asks PIL
The Supreme Court has decided to hear a petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), 1955, and Section 22 of the Special Marriage Act. These provisions deal with restitution of conjugal rights. Under these provisions, a spouse, living separately, is entitled to a decree directing the other spouse to… Continue reading Can estranged couples be forced to cohabit, asks PIL
