Current Affairs 15 February 2018 1. Bank of Baroda to exit South Africa by March-end ● State-owned Bank of Baroda has decided to exit by March-end its South Africa operations after 21 years amid a probe into alleged compliance lapses by the bank there. ● The bank in a regulatory filing stated that it is exiting operations in South Africa as part of its strategic plan for rationalisation of overseas branches. ●
The business of the bank in South Africa is not very significant and the exit will not have any major impact on its financials.
2. RBI rolls out new stressed assets framework to tackle bad loan problem ● The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scrapped numerous loan restructuring programmes, asking banks to immediately identify defaults and make disclosures every Friday to the RBI credit registry, starting from February 23. ● The apex bank has also warned banks of monetary penalties and higher provisions if they are found to have violated the stringent new norms. ●
The central bank has withdrawn the existing resolution frameworks and the Joint Lenders’ Forum (JLF) with immediate effect.
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The extant instructions on resolution of stressed assets such as Framework for Revitalising Distressed Assets, Corporate Debt Restructuring Scheme, Flexible Structuring of Existing Long Term Project Loans, Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme (SDR), Change in Ownership outside SDR, and Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) stand withdrawn with immediate effect.
3. Government of India makes Amendments in Small Savings Act ● In order to remove existing ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for Small Saving Schemes and further strengthen the objective of “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance”, Government of India has proposed the merger of Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and Public
Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873. ●
With a single act, relevant provisions of the Government Savings Certificates (NSC) Act, 1959 and the Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 would stand subsumed in the new amended Act without compromising on any of the functional provision of the existing Act.
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All existing protections have been retained while consolidating PPF Act under the proposed Government Savings Promotion Act.
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The main objective in proposing a common Act is to make implementation easier for the depositors as they need not go through different rules and Acts for understanding the provision of various small saving schemes, and also to introduce certain flexibilities for the investors.
4. Jacob Zuma resigns as South Africa’s President ● South Africa’s embattled President Jacob Zuma has resigned after intense pressure from his own party. ● He was quitting with immediate effect but he disagreed with his ANC party’s decision. ● The ANC had told him to step down or face a vote of no confidence in parliament. ● The 75-year-old has been facing calls to give way to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. ●
Mr Zuma, who has been in power since 2009, faces numerous allegations of corruption.
Important points: South Africa ➢ Capitals: Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein ➢ Currency: South African Rand
5. West Bengal Becomes First State to Opt Out of Modicare ● Claiming that the Bengal government had already enrolled 50 lakh people under its own Swasthya Sathi programme, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced the decision to opt out of Centre’s ‘Modicare’ scheme. ● This makes West Bengal the first state to withdraw from the ambitious programme.
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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) on February 1, making it the biggest global plan to provide quality health cover to a population larger than the combined citizenry of the US, UK, Germany and France.
Important points: West Bengal ➢ Capital: Kolkata ➢ Chief minister: Mamata Banerjee ➢ Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi
6. Government extends anti-narcotics scheme for 3 more years ● The Government has extended for three more years a scheme which combats illicit trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substance. ● The purpose of the scheme is to assist state governments and Union Territories which are contributing in controlling the inter-state and cross border drug trafficking. ● The scheme was first launched on October 24, 2004 for a period of five and later extended twice in subsequent years.
7. Tamil Nadu wins Senior Women’s National Football Championship ● Tamil Nadu has won the Senior Women’s National Football Championship for the first time. ● Tamil Nadu, which was playing its first-ever final, defeated Manipur, 2-1 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. ● Skipper Indumathi and Indrani found the net for Tamil Nadu, while Ratanbala scored Manipur’s only goal. ●
Indumathi has also adjudged the player of the final as well as the tournament for her superlative performances.
8. India to host 8th Theatre Olympics
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In an effort to put India firmly among the top nations in the world theatre map, the country will play host to the 8th Theatre Olympics, the greatest carnival of thespianism.
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The 51-day theatre extravaganza which will be inaugurated at Red Fort, will see 450 shows including 65 shows by international artistes, 600 ambient performances and 250 youth forum shows.
Key point: The Theatre Olympics was established in 1993 in Delphi, Greece