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*Free trade agreement between the Maldives and China is another sign of Beijing’s

success in its outreach in South Asia.

*Hulhule island and the “Friendship” bridge connecting it to Male.

*Apart from investments of $1 billion, Chinese companies are exploring tourism prospects in the

Maldives, leases to resort islands, and reclamation projects.

*The docking of three Chinese naval warships in Male harbour in August

*China already has an FTA with Pakistan, and is exploring or negotiating FTAs with

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

*The Yameen government also said this week that it is not satisfied with the working

of the FTA with India.

*FTA was rushed through Parliament in a matter of minutes at midnight

*New Delhi’s new policy of engaging with the Maldivian opposition

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*With inflation-targeting as its main mandate the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has opted yet again to keep interest rates unchanged.

*Consumer Price Index had accelerated to a seven-month high in October

*RBI’s bimonthly policy statement also spelt out the data points and trends that informed its decision-making.

*volatile food and fuel categories

*moderation in core inflation in the first fiscal quarter has largely reversed

*HRA increases could push up housing inflation in 2018

*wide-ranging cuts to the goods and services tax rate

*The MPC is, however, more confident about the prospects for growth

*Centre’s move to recapitalise public sector banks has won a vote of confidence from monetary policymakers for its potential to revive credit flows.

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*RBI holds rates, sees inflation rise

*The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday

decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6%, for the second consecutive meeting,

while maintaining its neutral stance.

*This means banks are unlikely to revise their home or car loan rates anytime soon.

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*PSU banks: reforms with recap

*The proposed recapitalisation of public sector banks will include a package of

reforms, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel said on Wednesday, adding

that the finance ministry would release the details in the coming days.

*The Centre had announced a Rs2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation plan for PSU banks, of

which Rs1.35 lakh crore would be raised through recapitalisation bonds.

*The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday reduced the Merchant Discount Rate

(MDR) for debit card transactions and prescribed a separate cap for small and large

merchants based on their annual turnover.

*MDR is the fee that a merchant has to pay for every transaction which is split among

three entities: the bank that issued the card, the lender whose point-of-sale terminal

is being used and the payment network such as MasterCard or Visa.

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*The fee for merchants with a turnover of up to Rs20 lakh in the previous financial

year is capped at 0.4% for transactions via the Point-of-Sale terminals or online. If

the transaction is via a QR code-based card acceptance infrastructure, the fee is

capped at 0.3%. In both cases, the absolute cap is Rs200.

*For merchants with annual turnover of more than Rs20 lakh, a cap of 0.9% has been

prescribed for physical PoS and online transactions while 0.8% is the cap for QR code-

based transactions. The absolute cap in this case is Rs1,000. The new caps will come

into effect January 1.

*At present, the MDR for debit cards were capped at 0.75% of the transaction amount

for values up to Rs2,000 and 1% for value above Rs2,000.

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*The two most prestigious organs of the United Nations are the Security Council and

the International Court of Justice.

*UNSC is by far more important from the national interest point of view.

*Election to the UNSC is conducted only in the General Assembly and requires two-

thirds majority to get elected.

*Election to the ICJ is held concurrently in the UNGA and UNSC and requires absolute

majority of the total membership in each organ.

*Veto does not apply for election to the ICJ.

*The ICJ is required to represent the principal civilisations and legal systems of the world.

*India has lost elections to both these organs in the past.

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*There are other bodies in the UN that are not as well known but are important

enough to be represented on like the ACABQ (Advisory Committee on Administrative

and Budgetary Questions)

*consists of 16 members elected by the UNGA

*recommendation of the Fifth Committee of the UNGA dealing with the budget of the UN.

*Committee on Contributions

*recommends the scale of assessments to the budget and the share of each member.

*the share decided by the UNGA applies to all the specialised agencies

*There is also the Human Rights Council; we have had almost continuous

representation on it.

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*There is near unanimous support for increasing the number of non-permanent seats.

*India, along with Brazil, Germany and Japan, has proposed an increase of six

additional permanent seats, the other two being for Africa.

*The P-5 will never agree to give up their veto right, nor will they agree to accord this

right to any other country. (France supports veto for additional permanent

members.)

*The P-5 are not willing to dilute their self-acquired right.

*The P-5 will play the game among themselves but will stand by one another, as was evident recently

at the time of election to the ICJ.

*One proposal is for the creation of ‘semi-permanent’ seats, according to which

members would be elected for six-eight years and would be eligible for immediate

reelection.

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*Lack of professional standards in terms of competence and compassion.

*Three major issues are involved when we assess health care: access, quality and

cost.

*Universal Health Coverage (UHC), now enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals.

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*Higher levels of public financing, investment in training and incentivised placements

of more health personnel and improved management through the creation of a public

health management cadre.

*Cost of care is a major challenge in a system where patients and families have to

bear the burden.

*The solution lies in doubling the level of public financing to at least 2.5% of GDP by

2019, rather than 2025, as proposed in the National Health Policy

*The UHC provides the framework in which all three elements can be integrated.

*Health for all

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*Justice B.N. Srikrishna committee to craft a data protection law for India.

*A digital economy — such as India’s — that relies overwhelmingly on imported

technologies cannot be levelled overnight to make way for a uniform data protection

law.

*For instance, more than 80% of Indian smartphone users today rely on Google’s Android operating

system.

*operating system designed in Silicon Valley and a mobile phone manufactured in China’s Guangdong

Province have similar rules to protect data?

*Or better still, can they be made to comply with a single, catch-all set of data protection

standards?

*Perhaps, if the data of every citizen were to be held inside the country, the state

could probably enforce rules for its storage and sharing.

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*India’s inability to localise data means its digital economy is governed by hundreds of

“private” data protection policies, some of which even contradict each other.

*Classifications aside, the point here is that data protection rules are embedded into

technologies by software developers according to their beliefs, which may not reflect

India’s statutory considerations.

*Huawei’s End User License Agreement merely suggests it will provide “similar and adequate” levels

of protection as the country of origin.

*India can and should enact safeguards for data collected through known points of

vulnerability in its digital economy: a mobile phone’s camera software, public Wi-Fi

spots, firmware updates, QR codes, and so on.

*When the Indian digital ecosystem is mature enough, there could be more

comprehensive guidelines on the storing, sharing and collection of data.

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*In November 2017, the Central government issued an

ordinance whereby “bamboo” was deleted from the clause

that defines “trees” in the IFA.

*Since bamboo is biologically a grass, its inclusion under “trees” was

scientifically an anachronism.

*Amending the IFA does not affect these State laws and, therefore,

changes nothing on the ground.

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Jerusalem is Israel’s capital: U.S.

*U.S. President Donald Trump reversed decades of policy on Wednesday and

recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite warnings from around the

world that the gesture will further drive a wedge between Israel and the

Palestinians.

*In a speech at the White House, Mr. Trump said his administration would also begin a

process of moving the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is expected to

take years.

*Mr. Trump’s predecessors — from Bill Clinton to George Bush — made similar promises

on the campaign trail, but quickly reneged upon taking office.

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Solar Alliance comes into existence

*India’s global initiative, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) that aims at increasing

solar energy deployment in member countries, came into legal, independent

existence Wednesday.

*It is the first treaty-based international intergovernmental organisation to be based

out of India.

*The ISA, also sees itself as on a mission to mobilise more than $1000 billion in

investments needed by 2030 for “massive deployment” of solar energy, pave the way

for future technologies adapted to the needs of moving to a fossil-free future and

keep global temperatures from rising above 2C by the end of the century.

*India has committed itself to having 175,000 MW of renewed energy in the grid by

2022.

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Back India’s entry into NSG, China told

*Russia is speaking to China at “all levels” for India’s membership at the Nuclear

Suppliers Group, and hopes that India will win membership to the Wassenaar

Arrangement, another multilateral technology regime India has applied to, Russia’s

deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said here on Wednesday.

*“This is an example and reflection of Russia’s unwavering support to India’s

membership of international nuclear control regimes,” he added, speaking to

journalists after meeting Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, and Secretary (Economic

Relations) Vijay Gokhale, who is now the Sherpa for the BRICS grouping as well.

*Russia’s role is considered more important this year as it retains close ties with both

India and China, two countries who have tense ties with each other.

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Answers:

1) Nicolo de Conti, the Italian traveler visited Vijaynagar empire during the times of

a) Devaraya I

b) Devaraya II

c) Kirshnadev Raya

d) Achyuta Raya

2) Soil that owes its colour to oxides of iron is

a) Regur

b) Bangar

c) Laterite

d) Alkaline

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Questions

1. Which of the following mountains are the newest?

A. Nilgiris

B. Himalayas

C. Arravali

D. Satpura Range

2. The mass nesting of the Olive Ridley sea turtles in India occurs at

A. Sunderbans

B. Gahrimatha Marine Sanctuary

C. Mangalajodi Wetlands

D. Pulicat lake

3. Identify:

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