Newspaper Must Read Articles of The Day– 17 November 2015

The Hindu

Next generation missile to be test-fired: The Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM), which can intercept incoming targets at a range of 80 km, is all set to be test-fired from a naval warship this month. LR-SAM, also known as Barak NG (next generation), is being co-developed by the DRDO from India and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel. The missile has been successfully test-fired against a flying target in Israel in November 2014. (Science and Tech- GS Paper III)

G20 nations narrow differences on climate change:
Thecommunique also reflected India’s concerns on the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The G20 agreed, as sought by India, to increase efforts to implement all elements of the Bali Package, including those on agriculture, development, public stockholding as well as the prompt ratification and implementation of the Trade Facilitation agreements.(International Organisations – GS Paper II)

WPI inflation at -3.8 per cent, 12th straight month in negative territor:One of the statistical reasons for WPI inflation remaining negative for so long is the high-base effect. That is, the index numbers in the year-earlier period were higher. (Indian Economy – GS Paper III)

Let’s be realistic on FDI : One of the reasons the government gives for enhancing sectoral caps is that of ‘fragmented ownership issues’. For India, the servicing burden of FDI in terms of repatriations, dividend payments and payments for use of intellectual property is now showing up prominently. (Indian Economy – GS Paper III)

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Making the transition to a cashless economy: India has one of the highest cash-to-gross-domestic product ratios. Many developed countries such as Sweden are already moving towards a cashless economy on the back on new payments technology. Even developing countries such as Kenya have made immense strides in mobile payments.(Economic Development – GS Paper III)

Cleaning up the cess: Getting the general investment environment right is more important. For example, an end to the uncertainty caused by retrospective taxation and a re-examination of the issues caused by the new legislation on black money would also have been useful pro-investment signals. One area could have been about accepting the full gamut of recommendations of the P.J. Nayak Committee on banking reforms and announcing a timeframe for their implementation.(Economic Development – GS Paper III)

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