CURRENT AFFAIRS-MAY-2

KEYWORDS: ECONOMY, INTERNATINAL RELATION

India steps up pressure on Switzerland to share bank info

 black money - money for which tax not payed.

 Why hsbc swiss not sharing bank info....?

                     India initiated investigations on the “HSBC” accounts on the basis of information extracted from data a disgruntled HSBC employee had stolen in 2011. India had received this “stolen” data from France. 

why culprits depositing BLACK MONEY in SWISS BANK...?

--------not only in swiss!, European banks having strong banking secrecy laws which makes foreigners to deposit their black money there.

Suppose if they deposited money in indian banks, income tax of india, rbi will caught those money launderes.

Recently,...

•      Under global pressure, Switzerland has agreed to ease its banking secrecy laws in recent years.
•      India and Switzerland had signed a tax treaty in 2011 to facilitate greater flow of information about alleged black money. 
•     Mr. Chidambaram also reiterated in the letter that India would continue to take a position at the Global Forum about Switzerland lacking legal and regulatory framework for an effective exchange of tax-related information.
•     In the letter dated April 29, the Finance Minister urged Switzerland to honour its “rights and duties” agreed in the bilateral Direct Tax Avoidance Convention (DTAC) with India.  

CURRENT AFFAIRS-MAY1

KEYWORDS: international importance, Important International institutions, agencies, GEOPOLITICAL

IMF approves $17 billion bailout for Ukraine amid risks

The International Monetary Fund's board signed off on a $17 billion two-year aid program for Ukraine on Wednesday to help the former Soviet republic's economy recover after months of upheaval as it continues to face geopolitical uncertainty.

The IMF aid will allow the immediate disbursement of $3.2 billion to Kiev(CAPITAL OF UKRAINE) and unlock further credits from other donors of about $15 billion, intended to help Ukraine stabilize its economy in the middle of its worst civil turmoil since independence in 1991.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde admitted the program faced risks, including from the government's ability to carry out the politically unpopular measures necessary to get its finances in order.

"In particular, further escalation of tensions with Russia and unrest in the east of the country pose a substantial risk to the economic outlook,"

Pro-Moscow separatists seized government offices in more Ukrainian towns. The unrest in the east follows months of anti-government protests and Russia's annexation of the Crimea region, which had already pushed Ukraine's economy to the brink of bankruptcy and a likely economic contraction this year.

CURRENT AFFAIRS- MAY1

KEYWORDS: Economic Development

India became third largest economy in 2011: World Bank

2005--->10^TH LARGEST

2011----> 3^RD LARGEST ECONOMY

·         The US remained the largest economy closely followed by China, according to data released the by the International Comparison Program (ICP), hosted by the Development Data Group at the World Bank Group.

·         “The relative rankings of the three Asian economies — China, India, and Indonesia

·         The world produced goods and services worth over USD 90 trillion in 2011 and that almost half of the total output came from low and middle-income countries, it said.

·         The purchasing power parities (PPPs)-based world GDP amounted to USD 90,647 billion, compared with USD 70,294 billion measured by exchange rates, it said, adding that the share of middle-income economies in global GDP is 48 per cent when using PPPs and 32 per cent when using exchange rates.

The six largest middle-income economies — China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico — account for 32.3 per cent of world GDP, whereas the six largest high-income economies — US, Japan, Germany, France, UK and Italy — account for 32.9 per cent, the report said.