current affairs economics

• Union Budget 2015 Highlights
  Presenting the national budget for the next fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "I am presenting the union budget in an economic environment which is far more positive than in the recent past. While major economies of the world face difficulties, India is poised for higher growth trajectory," Jaitley said as he started his budget speech in the Lok Sabha.


• Highlights of the Economic Survey for 2014-15
  Highlights of the Economic Survey for 2014-15 tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Feb 27, 2015:
  Growth rate of over eight percent expected in 2015-16
  Double-digit economic growth trajectory now a possibility


• Railway Budget Highlights 2015The following are the highlights of the Railway Budget for 2015-16 presented by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Lok Sabha on Feb 26, 2015:
  No hike in passenger fares
  Speed of trains running at 110-130 kmph to be increased to 160-200 kmph
  Over 17,00 toilets on trains already replaced, another 17,000 to be replaced
  Toilets at stations need improvement; 650 additional toilets to be created in addition to 120 last year
  New department to keep stations clean
  Railways to Work on 'Swachh Rail – Swachh Bharat'
  Defence travel system developed to eliminate system warrants


• 182- the dedicated toll free number for receiving security related complaints was announced in the Railway Budget 2015 by Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu.
• 123.1 million- the number of bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana as of January 28,2015 with a deposit mobilization of Rs.9188 crore as per Economic Survey 2014-15.
• 8.1-8.5%- India's projected GDP growth during 2015-16, an increase of 0.7 to 1.1 percentage points over the 7.4 % GDP growth rate estimated for 2014-15 as per Economic Survey 2014-15.
• 2%- the percentage of India's workforce that is formally skilled, compared to 96% and 80% in South Korea and Japan respectively as per Economic Survey 2014-15.
• 4 D model- stands for deregulation, differentiation, diversification and disinterring which has been suggested for PSU banks in the Economic Survey 2014-15.
• Corporate Tax- this will be reduced from 30% to 25% over the next 4 years as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
• GAAR- stands for General Anti Avoidance Act whose applicability was deferred to two years to investments made on or after 1st April 2017 as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
• Post Bank of India- the new bank which will be set up with vast postal netwok with nearly 1,54,000 points of presence spread across the villages of the country as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
• RK Shanmukham Chetty- the first Finance Minister to present a Budget in Independent India when he presented the Union Budget on November 26,1947.
• FMC- stands for Forward Market's Commission- India's commodity market regulator set up in 1953 which has now been merged with the Securities Exchange Board of India(SEBI) as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. 2%-the percentage of surcharge imposed on service tax to fund the flagship Swachh Bharat Mission as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
• MUDRA- stands for Micro Units Development Refinance Bank set up with a corpus of Rs.2000 crore that will give priority to lending to enterprises set up by people belonging to Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
• Rs.14,200cr- the amount allotted to housing for all by 2012 as announced the Union Budget 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.