India
became 12th largest holder of US govt securities at April.
India became the 12th largest holder of the United
States government securities at the end of April. As per the official data,
India held securities worth 157.4 billion dollars.
Highlights:
·
The US Treasury
Department data stated showed that after March India marginally hiked the
holding by 0.9 billion dollars to 157.4 billion dollars the next month.
·
India's holding
touched a record high of 177.5 billion dollars in February, the same was
drastically reduced in March. It stood at 164.3 billion dollars in January.
·
As per the report, at the end of April, Japan
remained the country with the maximum exposure at 1.27 trillion dollars. It is
followed by China at 1.1 trillion dollars and the UK at 368.5 billion dollars.
·
In India, the American government securities
are held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the Central Banks invests in
foreign assets as part of its prudential liquidity management.
Top 10
countries:
1.
Japan with 1.27
trillion dollars
2.
China with 1.1
trillion dollars
3.
The UK with
368.5 billion dollars
4.
Ireland with
$300.2 billion
5.
Luxembourg with
$265.5 billion
6.
Brazil with
$259.5 billion
7.
Hong Kong with
$242.8 billion
8.
Switzerland with
$241.3 billion
9.
Belgium with
$210.2 billion
10. The Cayman Islands with $206.8 billion.
Indian
Supreme court bats for secrecy of ballot to promote free and fair elections.
Secrecy of ballot is the cornerstone of free and
fair elections. The choice of a voter should be free and the secret ballot
system in a democracy ensures it, the Supreme Court has held in a judgment.
The principle of secrecy of ballots is an important
postulate of constitutional democracy, the court said.
Justice Khanna, who wrote the judgment, referred to Section 94 of the
Representation of the People Act, which upholds the privilege of the voter to
maintain confidentiality about her choice of vote.
The judgment came on an appeal against the Allahabad
High Court decision setting aside the voting of a no-confidence motion in the
zilapanchayat of the PanchayatAdhyaksha in Uttar Pradesh in 2018.
The High Court found that some of the panchayat members had violated the rule
of secrecy of ballot. It relied on CCTV footage to conclude that they had
either displayed the ballot papers or by their conduct revealed the manner in
which they had voted.
The court ordered a re-vote of the motion within the
next two months. It ordered the Allahabad District Judge or his nominee to act
as the presiding officer.Justice Khanna ordered that the vote should be
conducted by the secret ballot system.
UNCTAD report says India most resilient country in South Asia.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) has said that India’s economy could prove the most
resilient in South Asia and its large market will continue to attract
market-seeking investments to the country even as it expects a dramatic fall in
global foreign direct investment (FDI).
However, inflows may shrink sharply. As per UNCTAD,
India jumped to ninth spot in 2019 on the list of global top FDI recipients
from the twelfth spot in 2018.
FDI inflows into India rose 13% on year in FY20 to a
record $49.97 billion compared to $44.36 billion in 2018-19. In 2019, FDI flows
to the region declined by 5%, to $474 billion, despite gains in South East
Asia, China and India, according to the Geneva-based organization.
The largest five recipients were China, Hong Kong
(China), Singapore, India and Indonesia in developing Asia.
Outflows from South Asia grew 6%, driven by
investment from India. Yet they remained small, representing only 1% of global
outflows. Companies in India are the subregion’s largest investors, with more
than 90% of outflows in 2019.
Highlighting that in order to address the adverse impact of the pandemic, several economies have recently adopted policy measures to boost investment in those industries that are crucial to containing the spread of the virus, it said India, Italy and the US have adopted measures to
Encourage manufacturers to expand or shift
production lines to medical equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE)
to increase the quantity available.
UK
seeks powers to scrutinize foreign takeovers.
Britain will seek changes to the law to allow
scrutiny of certain foreign takeovers to ensure they do not threaten the
country's ability to tackle public health emergencies such as the coronavirus
outbreak.
The government on Sunday said it would introduce changes to the Enterprise Act
on Monday to allow it to intervene if a business involved in a pandemic
response became a target of a takeover.
"These powers will send an important signal to those seeking to take
advantage of those struggling as a result of the pandemic that the UK
government is prepared to act where necessary to protect our national
security,"
Ciplas antiviral drug Cipremi to be used to treat COVID-19
infection.
Cipla Ltd has announced the launch of its generic
version of antiviral drug Remdesivir for emergency use in the treatment of the
COVID-19 patients. The new drug will be sold under the brand name Cipremi.
Cipla’s antiviral drug Cipremi will join Glenmark’s Fabiflu and Hetero’s
Covifor to treat the COVID-19 patients in India.
Highlights:
·
Cipla was
granted regulatory approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for
restricted emergency use in the country in order to accelerate the approval
process considering the urgent medical need with a surge in COVID-19 cases in
India, which have crossed the 4,00,000-mark.
· The price of the drug is yet to be announced by Cipla.
·
Cipla will provide training on the use of the
drug, inform patients for consent documents, conduct post-marketing
surveillance as well as to conduct a Phase-IV clinical trial on Indian
patients.
·
Remdesivir is the only USFDA approved
Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) treatment for adults and children
hospitalized with suspected or laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infection.
Background:
Recently, the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare included the use of antiviral drug Remdesivir as part of
“investigational therapy” in India. The drug will be used only for restricted
emergency-use in its updated Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19
patients. The Ministry of Health also approved the off-label application of
immunomodulator tocilizumab and convalescent plasma therapy for treating
coronavirus patients in a moderate stage of criticality.
UN
Public Service Day is observed.
United Nations Public Service Day is observed
on 23 June. The day marks the important role and the dedication of
public servants during the crisis. The day is to highlight the importance of
public service and the valiant people who dedicate their lives to the
nation.
Events:
The United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) & the Ministry of the
Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea are organizing an outreach and
resource platform from 15-30 June. The aim of the event is to honour and thank
the work of public servants globally and focus on the critical role frontline
public servants have been playing in fighting the COVID 19 pandemic.
History:
On 20 December 2002, the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution
57/277 and designated 23 June as Public Service Day.
The day was designated to celebrate the virtue & value of public service to
the community. The day also highlights the contribution of public service in
the development process. The day focuses to recognize the work of public
servants and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.
The United Nations established the UN Public
Service Awards (UNPSA)programme in 2003. It was reviewed in 2016 to align with
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UNPSA was initiated with an
aim to reward & promote innovation and excellence in public services by
recognizing the creative achievements and contributions of public institutions.
NITI Aayog, ITF to launch Decarbonizing Transport.
NITI Aayog in collaboration with International
Transport Forum (ITF) is to launch the “Decarbonising Transport in India”
project on 24 June. The project intends to develop a pathway towards a
low-carbon transport system for India. The project will be launched by ITF
Secretary-General Young Tae Kim and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
Decarbonizing
Transport in India:
·
The project will
inform the transport and climate stakeholders in India about planned project
activities.
·
The project will provide an opportunity to
provide inputs regarding India’s transport challenges and how it can be related
to CO2 reduction ambitions. The discussion will help to focus the project
further on India’s specific needs and circumstances.
·
Decarbonising Transport in India project will
design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India.
·
It will provide the government with a detailed
understanding of current & future transport activity and the related CO2
emissions as a basis for their decision-making.
· The project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s “Decarbonising Transport” initiative.
· This project is a part of the Decarbonising
Transport in Emerging Economies (DTEE) family of projects, which supports
transport decarbonisation across different world regions.
·
The launch ceremony will be available on
YouTube Livestream at https://youtu.be/l2G5x5RdBum.
Eight million year old stegodon fossil discovered from Uttar
Pradesh
Over decades, a number of richest fossil records in
South Asia have been found at the Dhok Pathan Formation of the Sivalik
range.
This time, the researchers found a fossil of an
extinct ancestor of Elephant that is estimated to be around between 5 to 8
million old. The fossil was discovered in the state of Uttar Pradesh’s
Saharanpur District’s BadshahiBagh area.
The fossil found during this remarkable discovery is
said to be of a Stegodon (now extinct, a type of Elephant found until the late
Pleistocene).Specimens of Stegodon were available at the Dehradun’s Wadia
Institute of Himalayan Geology, the fossil discovered was compared with the
specimen after a proper examination.
With this discovery, it can be concluded that there
was the existence of a dense forest in the Siwalik range millions of years back,
it can also be stated that a lot of river and other water sources were also
present in the area.
The fossil was embedded in sedimentary
rock-Sandstone. It was informed that the Stegodon Fossil discovered has nine
well-developed ridges on its surface.The nature of the sandstone has
characteristics of the middle Sivalik range as the lithology found embedded on
the fossil is medium grained.
Government expects surplus in current account balance in FY21.
The government expects a surplus in its current
account balance for the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal and in the final
quarter of the previous fiscal on account of curtailed imports due to a
significant drop in domestic economic activity, according to an official
report.
According to the government report, net foreign direct investment inflows rose
from $1.98 billion in February 2020 to $2.87 billion for the March. This
resulted in a cumulative net inflow of $42.7 billion during FY20, up from $30.7
billion a year ago.
India’s current account deficit (CAD) was also
supported by low levels of external debt servicing, it added.
“During COVID-19 times, the external debt and its
repayment burden is a major challenge being faced by some emerging market
economies. However, India is not vulnerable on this count as its external debt
to GDP ratio has remained low at about 20 percent during the last three years,”
the report said.
However, the country took a hit on foreign portfolio
investment as it witnessed a sharp outflow of $16.16 billion in March this year
compared to an inflow of $1.02 billion during the previous month, the report
said.
The resulting cumulative net outflow of $140 million
in FY20 was still lower compared to net outflow of $620 million of the previous
fiscal.
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