1. India ranks 130 in terms of ease of doing business

(i) As per the World Bank’s annual report ‘Doing Business 2016’, India ranks 130 in terms of

ease of doing business and has moved up 12 places from its previous ranking.

(ii) World

Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Kaushik Basu said that it is a

remarkable achievement for an economy of the size of India.

(iii) The report highlighted that India has effected several reforms to ease the process of

doing business, the efforts of which are more perceptible in Mumbai and Delhi. For

instance: India reduced the number of days taken to start a business by eliminating the

requirements for a paid-in minimum capital and the need to get a certificate to start

operations.

(iv) While India has improved in aspects like enforcing contracts, protecting minority

shareholders, etc, it has fallen back in aspects like registering property and getting credit,

dealing with construction permits, among others.

2. Sylvie Lucas is the new chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) in the UNSC

(i) Sylvie Lucas, Luxembourg’s envoy to the UN, has been appointed as the next chair of

the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on the UN Security Council (UNSC).  

(ii)

Post her appointment, General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft urged member states to take forward the process of text-based negotiations on the long-pending reforms before the next round of negotiations begin in November 2015. 

(iii)  Lucas replaces Ambassador Courtenay Rattray of Jamaica, who accomplished a

breakthrough in the UNSC reform process by introducing a negotiating text that included

the proposals and positions of various members on the expansion of UNSC.

3. Global Finance magazine names ICICI Bank as India’s best private bank

(i) ICICI Bank, was recently named India’s best private sector bank by the Global

Finance magazine.

(ii) At the global level it is JP Morgan Private Banking which

has been nominated as the best private bank.

(iii) In the Asia Pacific region DBS Private

Bank takes the top spot.

4. United Nations Day celebrated on October 24

(i) The United Nations (UN) commemorated its 70th anniversary on October 24, 2015.

(ii) Over

200 landmarks in 60 countries-from the Pyramids in Egypt and the Eiffel Tower in Paris

to the Empire State Building in New York-were lit up in blue lights as it is the official

colour of the global organisation.

(iii) The UN charter came into force on October 24, 1945, which since then has been

celebrated as the UN Day.

(iv) On the occasion, the General Assembly unanimously approved a declaration reaffirming

the faith of the 193 member states in the UN and its determination “to save succeeding

generations from the scourge of war.”

5. Government institutes panel to simplify I-T laws

(i) The government has set up a high-level panel headed by the former Delhi High Court

Justice R V Easwar in order to simplify the Income Tax Act and do away with ambiguity.

(ii) The ten-member committee is expected to submit its preliminary report by January 31,

2016, so that suggestions requiring legislative approval can be incorporated in the

Budget for 2016-17.

6. Citibank appoints Samiran Chakraborty as chief economist for India

(i) Citibank appointed Samiran Chakraborty as chief economist for India. 

(ii)

Earlier, Chakraborty served as the MD and head of macro research for South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank.

(iii) He has also served in ICICI Bank as chief economist and was a

professor of mathematical economics and open-economy macro-economics in the Delhi

School of Economics.

7. Arun Jaitley launches 2 taxpayer friendly initiatives

(i) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the e-Sahyog pilot project to simplify

the taxation procedure.

(ii) An initiative of the Income-Tax Department, it is aimed at

reducing compliance cost, especially for small taxpayers and provide an online platform

to resolve mismatches in income tax returns of taxpayers whose returns have not been

selected for inspection.

(iii) e-Sahyog supports the Central Board of Direct Taxes’ (CBDT) vision to diminish the need for the taxpayer to physically meet tax

authorities by providing an end to end e-service using SMS and

e-mails.

(iv) With this the FM also launched a drive to

expand the coverage of the permanent account number (PAN), including enabling paperless PAN applications and setting up camps in rural areas.

8. Govt. to reduce stake in IDBI bank

(i) The government recently announced its intention of lowering its stake in the IDBI Bank, a

move similar to what it did to Axis Bank as it feels there are opportunities to be gained as

a result of the divestment.

(ii) Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said, “We’ll consider transforming IDBI bank in the similar way as the Axis Bank was done.” 

(iii) The government sold its remaining 9 percent

stake in Axis Bank last year for Rs.5,500 crore.

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