Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 23 Jan 2023

Statehood Day of Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya

Recently, on 21 January, the states of Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya observed their 51^st statehood day. The three states gained their statehood in 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971.

A few days before India’s Independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian govt. on the assurance that the internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.

Tripura accepted merger with the Indian Union on 15^th November, 1949. Queen Kanchan Prabha, the then regent of Tripura (after the demise of King Bir Bikram) was instrumental in this merger.

Meghalaya came into existence as an autonomous state within the state of Assam in April 1970 comprising the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the Garo Hills districts.

Additional Tier-1 Bonds

The Bombay HC recently quashed the write-off of Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds worth Rs 8,400 crore issued by Yes Bank Ltd, bringing relief to investors.

A SEBI probe found that Yes bank facilitated the selling of AT1 bonds from institutional investors to individual investors and during the process of selling the AT1 bonds, the latter were not informed about all the risks involved in the subscription of these bonds.

AT1 bonds are unsecured bonds that have perpetual tenor; no maturity date. These bonds are typically used by banks to bolster their core or tier-1 capital. AT1 bonds are subordinate to all other debt and only senior to common equity.

Read More - Additional Tier 1 Bonds

Leopard 2 Tank

Amid the ongoing talks among NATO allies regarding supplying defence equipment to Ukraine, Germany is sceptical about allowing its Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine.

The Leopard 2 is one of the world’s leading battle tanks, used by the German Army for decades and by the militaries of Canada, Indonesia and many other European nations. It has served in conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Syria. Germany believes re-exporting German-made tanks without its permission would be illegal.

Leopard 2, powered by a diesel engine, features night-vision equipment and a laser range finder enabling it to better aim at a moving target while travelling over rough terrain.

Until now, both Ukraine and Russia have used Soviet-era tanks in battle. Supplies of the Leopard 2 would help Ukraine offset Russia’s superiority in artillery firepower.

Read More - Russia-Ukraine Conflict

PM-KISAN handout may rise to Rs. 8000

In a move to provide a modicum of consumption booster, the Centre may enhance the income support to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme to Rs. 8,000 from Rs. 6,000/year, in the upcoming Budget.

Under PM-KISAN, an amount of Rs. 6000 is annually transferred to each farmer’s direct benefit transfer (DBT)-linked bank account in three equal instalments, irrespective of their land holdings. The number of beneficiaries has crossed 110 million from 31 million at the beginning of the scheme (in 2019).

PM-KISAN is a Central Sector (CS) Scheme; however, the entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with the State / UT Govts.