ECONOMY
RBI keeps key rates unchanged
In it’s fifth bi-monthly monetary policy statement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 December, 2015 kept key rates-repo and CRR unchanged. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan left the benchmark interest rate, the repo rate unchanged at 6.75 per cent and the CRR at 4 per cent. RBI set to achieve its target of getting inflation down at 6 per cent by January and is aiming to reduce the number further to 5 per cent by March 2017.
World Bank launches Transformative Carbon Asset Facility
The World Bank has launched a 500 million dollars Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF) to help developing countries pay for emission reductions and combat climate change. The scheme will reward countries for reducing emissions by paying a fee for each tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced. Of the total 500 million dollars, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have jointly pledged an initial 250 million dollars investment.
United Nations Human Development Report 2015
The United Nations Human Development Report 2015 was released on 14 December 2015 with the title Work for Human Development in Ethiopia. As per the report, 2 billion people lifted out of low human development in last 25 years. In the 2015 report, India with a score of 0.609 has been ranked 130 out of 188 countries in terms of Human Development Index (HDI). In the 2014 report, India was ranked 135 out of 187 countries. With better health and education outcomes and reductions in extreme poverty, 2 billion people have moved out of low human development levels in the last 25 years. 830 million people are classified as working poor who live on under 2 US dollars a day. The report stresses the key roles that work can play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It estimates that around 45 million additional health workers will be needed to meet SDG.
World bank approves loan for swach bharat abhiyan
The World Bank has approved a loan of 1.5 billion dollars to support the Central government’s flagship cleanliness drive Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The loan disbursed over a five year period will be used for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project. Funds will also be used to develop the capacity of MDWS in programme management, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation. The World Bank will also provide a parallel 25 million dollars technical assistance to build the capacity of select state governments in implementing community led behavioural change programmes targeting social norms to help ensure wide spread usage of toilets by rural households.
NSE launches three new group indices
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has launched three separate indices on three corporate houses of India viz. Tata, Aditya Birla and Mahindra Group. The first of its kind three separate indices based on corporate houses have been designed to reflect the performance of companies belonging to the respective corporate group. Each of three indices will comprise all the companies of the respective business group. Nifty Tata Group Index: It includes 25 companies across 12 sectors with a total market capitalisation of 7.51 lakh crore rupees. It represents 7.83 per cent of the total market capitalisation of companies listed on the NSE. Nifty Aditya Birla Group Index: It consists of eight companies across seven sectors with the market capitalisation of 2.08 lakh crore rupees. It represents 2.17 per cent of the total market capitalisation of companies listed on the NSE. Nifty Mahindra Group Index: It consists of seven companies with a market capitalisation of about 1.64 lakh crore rupees. It represents 1.71 percent of the total market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE.