April 6, India s is the world s 7th largest tourism economy in terms of GDP, says WTTC. Product (GDP).

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1 April 6, 2017 India s is the world s 7th largest tourism economy in terms of GDP, says WTTC According to a new report released by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), India s travel and tourism sector ranks 7th in the world in terms of its total contribution to the country s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Important Data about India s Travel and Tourism Sector revealed by WTTC Report: Contribution to GDP: This sector generated Rs 14.1 trillion in 2016 which is equivalent to 6% of India s GDP. In absolute terms, it is 7th largest in the world. Job Creation: 3 million jobs were created in travel and tourism sector of India in On account of this remarkable figure, India ranked 2nd in the world in terms of total employment generated. Overall, the sector accounts for 9.3% of total jobs in India. Composition: As mentioned in WTTC report, the major chunk of total figure came from domestic travel which accounts for 88% of the sector s contribution to GDP in 2016.Visitor exports i.e. money spent by foreign travelers in India, was only 12% of tourism revenues in 2016, culminating into 5.4% of the country s total exports. This is lower than global average of 6.6%. Supplementing this information is the data from the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) which ranked India at 40th position in the world in terms of receiving international travelers. As per UNWTO data, India received only 9 million international arrivals in 2016, which was tenth of that received by topranking France. 1

2 Growth Rate: For the year 2016, India s Travel and Tourism sector registered a growth of 5% the fastest amongst G20 countries. India ranks 3rd in WADA doping charts India was ranked third for the third year in a row in a doping violation report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for In 2015, 117 Indian athletes were punished after testing positive for banned substances. India followed the Russian Federation (176) and Italy (129), the same position as in the reports of 2013 and Background The chart was prepared by WADA after compiling information of analytical findings and sanctions rendered till January 31, 2017 by various accredited anti-doping bodies. It was the first set of Anti-Doping Rule Violation statistics under the revised WADA Code and third such report in its history since Key Facts: ADRV is a doping offence committed by an athlete or athlete support person, resulting in certain consequences or sanctions. It is derived from adverse analytical findings (AAFs) (known as positive results). A total of 229,412 samples were received and analysed in 2015 by WADA-accredited laboratories worldwide. Out of these, 2,522 samples were reported as AAFs. The dope offenders belong to 80 sports and 121 nationalities. There were a total of 1,929 ADRVs (1,901 from athletes and 28 from athlete support personnel) out of which 1,649 are analytical findings and 280 from evidence based intelligence non analytical findings. Out of 1649 are Analytical ADRVs, 1304 cases (79%) were of male and 345 female (21%); 390 (24%) were from out of competition tests and 1259 in competition (76%); 1644 urine and five blood. Among sports disciplines worldwide, bodybuilding has overtaken athletics in contributing the highest number of dope cheats with 270 such cases. Athletics is second at 242, followed by weightlifting (239), cycling (200), power lifting (110), football (108), rugby union (80), boxing (66), wrestling (57) and basketball (39). 2

3 India related facts: The number of dope offenders from India has been increasing in the last three years. India had 91 and 96 Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Of the 117 Indian offenders of 2015, two were non-analytical ADRVs case. Out of the remaining 115 analytical ADRVs, 78 are committed by male athletes and 37 were female. Among individual sports, weightlifting has reported highest positive doping tests with a whopping 56 Indian lifters (32 male and 24 female) punished for doping. Athletics contributed second highest number of dope offenders with 21 (14 male and 7 female), followed by boxing (8), wrestling (8), cycling (4), kabaddi (4), aquatics (3), power lifting (3), Judo (2), wushu (2), rowing, hockey (1), football (1), bodybuilding (1) and street and ball hockey (1). About World Anti-Doping Agency WADA is global Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that aims at harmonizing anti-doping regulations in all sports and countries. It is collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee. It was established in 1999 in Lausanne Switzerland under so called Declaration of Lausanne to coordinate, promote and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. Its headquarters is in Montreal, Canada. Union Cabinet approves setting up of an independent Rail Development Authority - Regulatory Mechanism in New Delhi. Union Cabinet has approved setting up of an independent Rail Development Authority (RDA) - Regulatory Mechanism in New Delhi. The RDA will have broad function of tariff determination, ensuring fair play and level playing field for all stakeholders investments. It will also work for the setting efficiency and performance standards and dissemination of information. The initial corpus of the Authority will be fifty crore rupees. The RDA will have a chairman and three members besides experts from relevant areas. 3

4 Government announces first ever expressway project in northeast to be developed at cost of around 40 thousand crore rupees. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced expressway project in the northeast. Announcing the first express highway project in the region to be developed along the Brahmaputra river in Assam Mr. Gadkari said in Guwahati yesterday that northeast is Government's priority. He said the 1,300 km-long express highway is likely to incur an investment of 40,000 crore rupees. Making the announcement at the closing ceremony of the 'Namami Brahmaputra' festival, the minister requested the Assam Chief Minister to carry out land acquisition work for the modern road. Aditya Birla Group gets RBI licence to start payments bank Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd. has become the seventh entity to receive a final licence from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for carrying out the business of payments bank in India. Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd. is a 51:49 joint venture (JV) between Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. (ABNL) and telecom operator Idea Cellular. Rajat Mukarji, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Idea Cellular had earlier mentioned that Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd. will be launched in the first half of year

5 Japan officially recognises Bitcoin as currency Japan has officially recognized bitcoin and digital currencies as legal money along the lines of other fiat currencies with effect from April 1, The recognition comes after implementation of a new law amending Banking Act in Japan for legalizing these currencies. It will help in integration of digital currency into legal banking system through regulatory scrutiny. Key Facts The recognition means regulations governing banks and financial institutions will be applicable to crypto-currency and digital currencies exchange platforms They will be also required to comply with strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, along with annual audits. Other requirements include meeting the stated capital and cyber security requirements to ensure consumer protection. It also makes these digital currencies as property of value, meaning that they can be used for payment in the broader marketplace and that it may be bought or sold. RBI Board clears proposal to introduce Rs 200 notes The board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cleared a proposal to introduce banknotes of Rs200 denomination. The decision was taken at the RBI board meeting held in Mumbai in March The process of printing the new Rs 200 notes is likely to begin after June 2017 once the government officially approves the new denomination. Earlier in November 2016, RBI had 5

6 announced the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, amounting to around 86% of currency in circulation of Rs 17.9 trillion. Since then, it has replaced these denominations with the new Rs 2,000 and redesigned Rs 500 bank notes. RBI board: It has 14 members including governor and four deputy governors. The board also has economic affairs secretary and financial services secretary as its members. ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold Rs 1800 crore of loans of Ballarpur to Edelweiss Asset Re-Company i. Market leaders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold Rs 1800 crore worth loans of paper maker Ballarpur Industries to Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company. ii. This is the first time, a potential bad loan being sold off to an Asset Reconstruction Company at book value. iii. Axis Bank sold loans of Rs.1200 crore and ICICI Bank sold loans of Rs.600 crore. iv. The loan sold is under 15:85 structure where 15 per cent is paid in cash and the balance 85% is paid in securities receipts. v. The bond is prepared as the amount will be repaid over five to seven years depending on the rate of recovery. vi. In February, 2017, India s credit rating agency downgraded Ballarpur Industries debt by assigning it a D-rating, which led to the selling of loan to Edelweiss. 6

7 Mahesh Kumar Jain named as IDBI bank MD and CEO i. The Former MD and CEO of Indian Bank, Mahesh Kumar Jain took charge as the MD and CEO of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) Bank on April 4, ii. The former MD and CEO of IDBI Bank, K Kharat has been transferred to Indian bank. iii. The move was focused mainly on retail lending and resolution of bad assets if IDBI bank which were the key priorities. iv. On his first address to the employees, Jain said, maximum efforts should be put on the resolution and recovery from stressed assets of the bank. v. IDBI bank booked a net loss of Rs 1958 crore in April-December The losses were Rs 3665 crore in the year vi. Jain was also a member of the steering committee on Risk Management of Indian Banking Association (IBA) and was also the secretary and coordinator to Basant Seth Committee. Indian Cricketer MS Dhoni named CEO of Gulf Oil for 1 day i. The former Indian cricket team skipper MS Dhoni became an acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gulf Oil India just for a day on April 3, ii. He took charge of Gulf Oil India at the Mumbai head office. He was named CEO of the day by the company. iii. The news was announced by Arun Pandey, Dhoni s close friend and commercial interest manager iv. As a CEO of the company for the day, Dhoni has attended all the special meetings of the 7

8 company. v. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also named as the brand ambassador for Gulf Oil in the year Brayan Jimenez banned for life-time by FIFA i. Brayan Jimenez, a former member of the FIFA Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility was banned for lifetime by Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) from April 3, ii. He has been banned for offences which include bribery and corruption. The information was shared by FIFA ethics committee. iii. It has been stated that, Brayan Jimenez was involved in the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the global soccer body. iv. Brayan was also a Former Guatemalan football club chief. He headed the Guatemala FA from 2009 to v. The Guatemala FA has been found to have violated six articles of FIFA own code of ethics. vi. The total bribe collected by Jimenez was hundreds of thousands of dollars as per the statement given by U.S. district attorney. 8

9 DGP Geetha Johri Gujarat s first woman police chief i. Director General of Police (DGP) Geetha Johri was appointed as Police Chief (in-charge) of Gujarat on April 4, By this, Johari has become the 1st woman IPS officer to be appointed as the Police Chief in Gujarat. ii. The minister of state for home Pradeepsinh Jadeja officially announced the appointment of Johri. iii. Johri had replaced PP Pandey, who resigned as the DGP after his appointment was challenged by former Police Julio Riberio in the Supreme Court. iv. Johri, a 1982 batch IPS officer, is slated to retire on November 30 this year, giving her a short tenure of less than eight months. v. She was posted as managing director, Gujarat Police Housing Corporation, Gandhinagar before this appointment. vi. In 1990, Johri raided the den of slain underworld don Abdul Latif in the highly sensitive Dariyapur area of Ahmadabad and managed to arrest one his key aides. 9