Union Cabinet approved introduction of Gold Monetization Schemes
i. The Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 approved introduction of Gold Monetization Schemes that were announced by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his 2015-16 budget speech.
ii. Under this initiative, revamped Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) and the Gold Metal Loan (GML) Scheme will be implemented.These revamped schemes are in addition to the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme as approved by the Cabinet.
Revamped Gold Deposit Scheme
Objectives
- To mobilize the gold held by households and institutions in the country.
- To provide a fillip to the gems and jewellery sector in the country by making gold available as raw material on loan from banks.
- To reduce reliance on import of gold to meet the domestic demand.
Union Cabinet approved Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme to reduce dependence on physical gold
i. The Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme.
ii. The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds.
Comment
- The cabinet approval to the scheme is in tune with the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s 2015-16 budget speech.
- Jaitley, on 28 Februay 2015, announced three major initiatives viz., Gold Monetisation Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Indian Gold Coin to curb demand for physical gold.
- Since most of the domestic demand for gold is met through imports, this scheme will, ultimately help in maintaining the country's Current Account Deficit (CAD) within sustainable limits.
- Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) is intended to replace both the gold deposit and gold metal loan scheme and to allow depositors to earn interest on their gold metal accounts jewelers to obtain loans.
- Indian Gold Coin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, would help reduce the demand for gold coins and also help recycle the gold available in the country.
Union Cabinet approved constitution of 21st Law Commission of India
i. The Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 gave its approval for the Constitution of the 21st Law Commission of India.
ii. The formation of the commission was necessitated as the term of the 20th law commission ended on 31 August 2015. It was headed by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah.
iii. The 21st law commission will be functional for a period of three years between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2018 and will consist of:
- A full-time Chairperson;
- Four full-time Members (including a Member-Secretary)
- Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs as ex-officio member
- Secretary, Legislative Department as ex-officio member
- Not more than five part-time Members.
Haryana Government sets minimum qualification for candidates in Panchayati Raj polls
i. Haryana Assembly has passed Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to fix matriculation as minimum educational qualification for elections to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs).
ii. With this Haryana became second state in India after Rajasthan to fix educational and other qualifications for the candidates contesting Panchayat elections.
India, Belarus set trade target of 1 billion dollar by 2018
i. India and Belarus have set the bilateral trade target of one billion dollar by 2018. The decision was taken at the Seventh Session of the India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission held in Minsk, Belarus.
ii. The meeting was co-chaired by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman co-chaired and her Belarusian counterpart Minister for Industry Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk.
Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain’s longest-reigning Monarch
i. Queen Elizabeth II on 9th September 2015 became the longest-reigning Monarch of Britain and the longest-reigning female monarch in history.
ii. She surpassed the previous record held by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria who had reigned thousand-year-old dynastical institution of Britain for more than 63 years and 7 months.
It should be noted that, presently Queen Elizabeth II (88 years old) is world’s oldest living monarch.
About Queen Elizabeth II
- Queen Elizabeth II was born as Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on 21 April 1926.
- She acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952 at the age of 25 after her father, King George VI died.
- She was crowned as queen of Britain and other realms, including Canada and Australia on 2 June, 1953.
- Presently, she is Queen of 16 member states in the Commonwealth of Nations which overall consists of overall 53 member states including India. She is also Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
- In 1945, she had actively joined World War II as a driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service (WATS).
Pakistan SC ordered adoption of Urdu as official language
i. Supreme Court of Pakistan on 8 September 2015 ordered immediate adoption of Urdu as official language of the country. With this order, Urdu will be used as an official language at the government offices of Pakistan.
ii. The order was passed by a three member bench headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja while delivering judgment in a case. The petitioner Advocate Kokab Iqbal through his petition wanted promotion and implementation of the national language.
iii. The Court also ruled that under the 1973 Constitution it is must to adopt Urdu as official language.
iv. It also ordered that there should be no delay in implementation of Article 251 in line with Article 5 of the Constitution. It also issued nine guidelines for making Urdu the official language.
BSE has highest number of listed companies in the world: WFE
i. The World Federation of Exchanges (WEF), in the first week of September 2015, announced that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has the highest number of listed companies in the world.
ii. By the end of June 2015, a total number of 5689 companies were listed with the BSE. However, out of 5689, only one company was a foreign company.
iii. The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) had 1750 listed companies by the end of June 2015.
Though BSE leads the world in terms of listed companies, Shanghai stock exchange of China (having 1070 companies) was at the top in terms of value of share trading with 30 trillion US dollars worth transactions in June 2015.
iv. The total value of transactions in the BSE was 94 billion US dollars during the same period.
BSE was established in 1855 and is considered as the oldest exchange in Asia.
Weightlifter Deepak Lather won Gold in 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games
i. Indian weightlifters Deepak Lather on 8 September 2015 won a gold medal in the 62 kg category of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) being held in Apia, Samoa.
ii. This was India’s second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru (17-year-old) who won a gold medal in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event.
iii. Deepak (15-year-old) finished with a total of 258 kg with 120 kg in snatch, a new CYG record, and 138 kg in clean and jerk. India is being represented by 25 athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine being competed in the CYG.
Anirban Lahiri becomes 1st Indian golfer to qualify for President’s Cup
i. Ace Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri has become the first Indian to qualify for the prestigious President’s Cup of Golf.
ii. World No.40, Lahiri qualified to this prestigious cup through automatic qualifications as team member of the International Team.
iii. The International team is set to take on United States team in the biennial Presidents Cup 2015 to be held at Incheon, South Korea.
iv. In season 2015, he has won 2 European Tour, 7 Asian Tour including the Hero Indian Open in 2015 and Malaysian Open. So far, he has won 11 National titles in India including Ahmedabad Masters and Haryana Open. Union Government has bestowed Arjuna Award on him in 2014.