14 May 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Spam no more: Govt to soon finalise draft rules on unwanted business calls, messages
Page no- 2
GS3- Awareness in the fields of IT
- Closing in on spam calls and messages, the Centre will soon finalise its guidelines to check unsolicited business communication, it is learnt.
- The draft Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Unsolicited and Unwarranted Business Communication, 2024 are ready and were discussed “in detail” on May 10 at a meeting of a committee set up by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) earlier this year.
India extends $50 mn support to Maldives
Page no- 2
GS2- India and its Neighborhood- Relations
- India extended $50 million of budgetary support to Maldives on Monday. This was in the form of a rollover of the $50 million treasury bill for an additional year through the State Bank of India, Male.
- "I thank External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and the Indian government for extending vital budgetary support to Maldives with the rollover of $50 million Treasury Bill.
- This is a true gesture of goodwill which signifies the longstanding friendship between Maldives and India,’’ said Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer who was in India last week. This was amongst the requests made to India during the talks.
Pause and pivot
Page no-10
GS3- Issues of Buffer Stocks and Food Security
- Retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, eased marginally to 4.83 per cent in April, down from 4.85 per cent in March, as per data released by the National Statistical Office.
- The decline was driven, in part, by a softening of prices in the fuel and light segment. Core inflation remained subdued, while food inflation edged upwards to 8.7 per cent, from 8.52 per cent the month before.
- At a time when real interest rates are at levels that can be considered as “excessive”, this continuing divergence between food and core inflation presents a dilemma for the monetary policy committee.
Xenotransplantation
Page no- 13
GS3- Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life
- The first recipient of a modified pig kidney transplant passed away on Saturday (May 11), around two months after the surgery was carried out.
- The family members of 62-year-old Richard “Rick” Slayman and the Massachusetts General Hospital, where the procedure was performed, did not link the transplant operation to his death.
- “We have no indication that it (Slayman’s death) was the result of his recent transplant,” the hospital said in its statement.
- His family also thanked doctors for their work and said: “Their enormous efforts leading the xenotransplant gave our family seven more weeks with Rick…”
India’s stakes in Chabahar
Page no- 13
GS2- Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- India and Iran signed a 10-year contract on Monday for the operation of a terminal at the strategically important Chabahar port in Iran.
- Chabahar is a deep water port in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.
- It is the Iranian port that is the closest to India, and is located in the open sea, providing easy and secure access for large cargo ships.
Pain from Pak’s economic crisis: why are trades protesting in PoK?
Page no- 13
GS2- Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests
- Violent street protests in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) have left a police officer dead and more than 90 people injured since Friday (May 10), Pakistani media reported.
- The violence erupted after about 70 members of the Joint Awami Action Committee, an organisation led by traders in the region, were arrested during a strike to protest the rising costs of food, fuel, and utilities.
- Pakistan’s economic crisis and high inflation have resulted in hardships for its people, and a section of traders have been additionally hit by the stopping of trade with India.
Retail inflation eases slightly, rise in food prices continues
Page no- 15
GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development
- Retail inflation eased to an 11-month low of 4.83 per cent in April as non-food items helped curtail price rise even as food items recorded a higher inflation rate, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday showed.
- The Consumer Food Price Index-based inflation rose to 8.70 per cent in April from 8.52 per cent in March and 3.84 per cent in the year-ago period, remaining above the 8 per cent-mark for the sixth month in a row, with rural areas persistent in showing a higher increase in food inflation than urban areas.
- Rural food inflation increased to 8.75 per cent in April from 8.55 per cent in March and 3.89 per cent in the year-ago period.
- Urban food inflation increased 8.56 per cent in April from 8.41 per cent in March and 3.69 per cent in April 2023, the data showed.
