International Economy - Current Affairs for December, 2016

The White House in the fourth week of Dec 2016 permanently banned all new oil and gas drilling in the US owned waters of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.

The ban is the final effort to lock in environmental protections before Obama hands over office to president-elect Donald Trump.

To implement the ban on the two Oceans, an area that is roughly equal to the size of Thailand or Spain in Arctic and 31 sea canyons in the Arctic, Obama used a 1953 law under which a president can block the mining and sale of new offshore drilling rights.

Law makes it difficult for successors to reverse the decision. Ban was jointly announced by Obama and Justin Trudeau, Canada’s PM.

Obama who signed the Paris climate agreement in 2015 supports the ambitious plan of reducing the global warming.

Trump had a different opinion on agreements and threatened to cancel the Paris climate agreement.

Untapped energy reserves of the country is the focus of the president elect and it will exploit fossil fuels.

Obama’s decision will act as a blockade for Trump.

Action came against the backdrop of climate scientists, who urged the President to come up with regulations or executive order to protect his climate legacy.

Know More About Barack Obama

• Assumed office: January 20, 2009
• Vice President: Joe Biden
• Preceded by: George W. Bush
• United States Senator from Illinois
• Full Name: Barack Hussein Obama II
• Date of Birth: August 4, 1961 (age 55)
• Place of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
• Political party: Democratic
• Noble Peace Prize: 2009

Ukraine's biggest commercial bank, PrivatBank, has been nationalised in a move aimed at protecting 20 million customers and preserving financial stability in the country.

The nation's central bank said the problems faced by PrivatBank were mainly caused by its "imprudent lending policy" which led to capital losses.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has reassured PrivatBank depositors that their money is safe.

The bank is operating normally.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) declared PrivatBank insolvent on 18th Dec. The government subsequently backed the nationalisation.

About PrivatBank

• Part-owned by the powerful billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. He has big stakes in the media and energy industries & has frequently come into conflict with President Poroshenko.
• 20 million Ukrainians who use the bank include 3.2 million pensioners, more than 500,000 students and 1.6 million socially vulnerable households.
• Nationalisation also enables small businesses to continue trading and means 3.2 million public and private sector employees will continue to be paid.

Following reports of irregularities in Jan Dhan accounts, the government on Dec 4 announced that it has detected Rs. 1.64 crore of undisclosed income deposited in such accounts.

• Sudden surge of cash deposits in Jan Dhan accounts are being investigated because Rs. 1.64 crore deposited by persons who have never filed returns of income being below the taxable limits, into their Jan Dhan accounts have already been detected at Kolkata, Midnapore, Ara (Bihar), Kochi and Varanasi."
• INR 40 lakh has been seized from one such account in Bihar.
• Undisclosed income detected with be brought to tax as per provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961 apart from other actions depending on the investigations.

The new £5 note issued by the Bank of England has angered the vegetarians after it was revealed that it contains traces of animal fat.

The 5 pound note entered circulation in Sept 2016. But the presence of the meat substance was only confirmed on 28th Nov 2016 by a Bank of England tweet.

The new five pound notes are printed on polymer, a film which is thin and made of plastic; it is more durable and safer as compared to paper money.

Within the polymer pallets used in the creation of the film is a substance called tallow derived from animal fat.

Tallow is commonly used in candles and soap.

About the Protest

• Online petition initiated by Doug Maw has gained more than 90,000 signatures calling the notes unacceptable.
• Vegan communities such as Hindus, Sikhs and Jains have also joined in the protest.
• As per the petitioners, the presence of animal fat is a violation of vegan preference to not harm animals.
• The new note is not the only one based on polymer.

New polymer notes of the following denominations will also be out:


• £10: 2017
• £20: 2020

Decision to shift to polymer is because:


• Notes last longer
  
• They stay cleaner
• They are harder to copy.