Current Affairs 11th December 2018

Current Affairs 11th December 2018 - Important Points

• Urjit Patel resigns as RBI Governor
• UK court orders extradition of Vijay Mallya
• Union Cabinet approves implementation of Shahpurkandi Dam on river Ravi in Punjab
• Kerala becomes first state to have 4 international airports with inauguration of Airport at Kannur
• INDRA NAVY maritime exercise between India and Russia initiated Visakhapatnam Coast
• Exercise AVIAINDRA between Indian and Russian air forces organised at Jodhpur

Current Affairs 11th December 2018 - Details

Urjit Patel resigns as RBI Governor

 Urjit Patel on December 10th, 2018 resigned as the Governor of the RBI with immediate effect, quoting personal reasons.

With his resignation, Urjit Patel became the 1st Reserve Bank of India governor since 1990 to resign before the completion of the term period. Patel’s 3-year term was to finish in September 2019.

Urjit Patel accomplished 2 years as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September 2018. During these 2 years, Patel dealt with the aftermath of demonetisation, supervised a turn in the monetary policy cycle and supervised various major initiatives to enhance the Indian economy.

When Patel took in charge as Reserve Bank of India Governor in September 2016, the Indian rupee was approximately the 67-mark against the US dollar and started to strengthen, touching a high of 63.38 on January 5th, 2018.

However, the Indian rupee started to fall from March 2018 onwards in the wake of increase in crude prices, crossing 71-mark value on August 31st, 2018. Latest on December 10th, 2018 morning, rupee was traded at amount 71.41 against a US dollar.

About Urjit Patel

• Urjit R Patel was nominated as the 24th Governor of RBI on August 20th, 2016 and took charge on September 4th, 2016 for tenure of 3 years. He succeeded Raghuram Rajan.
• He was beforehand working as the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India. He mainly looked after monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics & information management, deposit insurance, communication and RTI.
• He started serving initially with the Reserve Bank of India as an advisor, after which he was designated as a consultant in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.
• He led a panel that suggested landmark deviations to monetary policy in India, which included a switch to inflation-targeting and the creation of a panel to form interest rates.
• He has formerly been a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution since 2009.
• He worked at IMF India desk during the 1991–94 time period. He was posted to IMF country mission in India between 1992-95.
• Urjit Patel finished his Bachelor's in Economics from the London School of Economics and received his doctorate in Economics from Yale University in 1990.

UK court orders extradition of Vijay Mallya

The United Kingdom court on December 10th, 2018 instructed the deportation of Indian business tycoon and liquor baron Vijay Mallya from Britain to India to face offence of fraud filed against him. The decision follows a 9-months long trial on an arrest warrant, which started with Mallya’s arrest in April 2017 and ended in September.

India has been pursuing the businessman’s arrest on charges of fraud & money laundering amounting to almost Rupees 9,000 crore. He has been on bail since his arrest.

Important Highlights 

• The trial, which started at the Magistrates' Court on December 4th, 2017, has gone through a series of hearings beyond the initial 7 days earmarked for it.
• Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot finalised there was a prima facie case against Mallya, who shifted to Britain in March 2016 and his human rights would not be infringed if he was deported. 
• Judge Emma Arbuthnot governed that Mallya can be extradited to India to stand trial on the offences brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation and ED, as there is nothing to indicate that the Mallya case was pursued because of his political sentiments.
• The Judge instructed the extradition of Mallya to India, calling him “bejewelled” bodyguarded billionaire playboy. The case has now been stated to the Secretary of State who must also approve it.
• The CBI has welcomed the decision of the Chief Magistrate. United Kingdom Home Secretary Sajid Javid will now pass an order based on the verdict.

Vijay Mallya now has 14-day to appeal in a higher court. The individual to be repatriated is entitled to make an application for permission to appeal to the High Court within 14-day of the date of the Magistrate’s ruling.

The interior minister’s verdict can also be appealed to the High Court and eventually the Supreme Court.

Union Cabinet approves implementation of Shahpurkandi Dam on river Ravi in Punjab

Union Cabinet has sanctioned execution of Shahpurkandi Dam Project on river Ravi in Punjab. It also has sanctioned central funding of Rupees 485.38 crore for irrigation component, over 5 years period from 2019-2023. The project will be executed by Punjab Government with central assistance. It will be accomplished by June 2022.

Funding

The total cost of this project is Rupees 1973.53 crore (where Irrigation component is 564.63 cr and Power component is 1408.90 cr. Out of this, Rupees 485.38 crores would be issued as Central Assistance. Funding for central assistance will be accomplished through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development under current system for funding of 99 Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana- Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program projects under Long Term Irrigation Fund.

Importance

This project will benefit minimising some of water of River Ravi which currently is going waste through Madhopur Headworks downstream to Pakistan. It will produce irrigation potential of 5,000 hectares in Punjab and 32,173 hectares in J&K on completion. Besides, Punjab will be able to generate 206 megawatts of hydro-power.

Kerala becomes first state to have 4 international airports with inauguration of Airport at Kannur

Kerala has become 1st state in the nation to have 6 international airports with the inauguration of Kannur airport. The 1st commercial flight from this airport Air India Express flight IX 715 with 180 travellers on board to Abu Dhabi was flagged off recently. The other 3 international airports are Trivandrum International Airport, Cochin International Airport and Calicut International Airport.

Kannur International Airport

It is constructed on a public-private partnership model. It is spread over 2,000 acres of area It will support non-resident Keralites, especially in the Gulf region, besides improving tourism and exports, which will result in several job opportunities. Its appointing is expected to pave way for state’s overall development, especially northern region. It will progress tourism in the region like Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargode. It may also upsurge inter-trade in sectors such as spices and handloom.

INDRA NAVY maritime exercise between India and Russia initiated Visakhapatnam Coast

The 10th edition of INDRA NAVY maritime exercise between India and Russia will be initiated off Visakhapatnam coast, Andhra Pradesh from December 9th-16th, 2018. The goal of this exercise is to upsurge interoperability amongst the 2 navies, develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.

INDRA NAVY 2018

It will be organised in 2 phases including Harbour Phase and Sea Phase. Harbour Phase will be organised at Visakhapatnam and encompass planning conferences, expert interactions, cultural visits, sports fixtures and official calls between Flag Officers and senior officers of the participating navies. Sea Phase will be accomplished in the Bay of Bengal. Its thrust will be on Anti-Submarine Warfare, air defence drills, surface firings, Visit Board Search and Seizure operations and tactical processes.

For this edition of exercise, Indian Navy will be represented by Guided missile destroyer INS Ranvir, indigenous frigate INS Satpura, indigenous anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kadmatt, indigenous missile corvettes INS Kuthar and Khanjar and fleet tanker INS Jyoti. In addition to this, 1 Sindhughosh-class submarine, Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk fighter aircraft and other integral rotary wing helicopters will be also included in the exercise. Russian Navy will be represented by ships off from its submarine forces, pacific fleet based at Vladivostok. These ships are Varyag, Admiral Panteleyev and Boris Butoma.

Exercise AVIAINDRA between Indian and Russian air forces organised at Jodhpur

The 2nd edition of service specific exercise AVIAINDRA between Indian Air Force and Russian Federation Aerospace Force was organised at Air Force Station Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The opening IAF-RFSAF Ex AVIAINDRA was planned in 2014 and since then it is conducted twice a year in both nations.

AVIAINDRA 2018

The aim of this exercise is intensive towards anti-terrorist operations in bi-lateral scenario. It also pursues to further enhance cooperation and understanding among Air forces of both nations in each other’s Concept of Operations. This edition of exercise is organised in 2 phases.

The exercise is unique wherein foreign participant does not bring its Air assets. In Russia, IAF pilots flew alongside their Russian opponents in Russian Federation Aerospace Force aircraft at Lipetsk in September 2018. Similarly, in India Russian Federation Aerospace Force pilots will flying alongside their Indian opponents in the Indian Air Force aircraft, which are common to both Air Forces.