Current Affairs 22nd March 2019

Current Affairs 22nd March 2019 - Important Points

• Kazakhstan renames Capital Astana after  - Ex-President
• International Day of Happiness 2019 celebrated on - 20th March 2019
• Initiative to restrict Masood Azhar initiated  by - Germany
• IBBI, SEBI sign agreement for better execution of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code on - 19th March 2019
• Transition plan for new tax rates for real estate sector approved by - GST Council
• Reserve Bank of India Governor bats for Enduring Status to - Finance Commission
• SpiceJet joins international airlines grouping IATA on - 19th March 2019

Current Affairs 22nd March 2019 - Details

Kazakhstan renames Capital Astana after  - Ex-President

Kazakhstan has retitled its capital Astana to Nursultan to honour leaving leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. The declaration regarding same was done by the new president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and was passed by the parliament of Kazakhstan. Nursultan Nazarbayev worked approximately 30 years as leader of the oil-rich country.
The decision of the Nursultan Nazarbayev to resign came as a surprise when he did a declaration regarding same via television address. He was the 1st president of Kazakhstan and headed Kazakhstan since it emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. It was Nursultan Nazarbayev who motivated the capital of Kazakhstan’s capital from the southern city of Almaty, near the Kyrgyz border, to northern Astana, which interprets to ‘the capital’ in Kazakh and Astana roared from a minor provincial steppe town into a revolutionary city. Although suggestions were made earlier to retitle the city as Nursultan earlier, Nursultan Nazarbayev had himself disallowed such proposals.
Impact
While Nazarbayev will be stepping-down from Presidency, he would be remaining a considerable amount of political power, as he would continue as the Chairman of the country’s Security Council and the leader of the ruling Nur Otan party.
Nazarbayev declared that the speaker of Kazakh Senate, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will work as the interim leader of state in line with the constitution until a fresh election is organised.

International Day of Happiness 2019 celebrated on - 20th March 2019

The International Day of Happiness-2019 was observed on March 20th with the theme “Happier
Together”, focusing on what we have in common, instead of what divides us.
International Day of Happiness

• International Day of Happiness highlights the significance of happiness in the lives of people worldwide.
• The perception of International Day of Happiness was conceptualised and materialised by United Nations special advisor Jayme Illien to encourage and blowout a happiness movement universally and the 1st ever International Day of happiness was celebrated on March 20th, 2013.
• Further to put forward the agenda of Happiness the UN has released the 17 Sustainable Development
• Goals that pursues to finish poverty, diminish inequality, and shelter our planet which are the 3 key aspects that lead to well-being and happiness.
• March 20th was selected for International Day of Happiness-2019 for its importance as the March
  equinox.
• March equinox is a worldwide phenomenon felt instantaneously by all of humankind, and which happens when the plane of Earth’s equator passes via the centre of the Sun’s disk.

Initiative to restrict Masood Azhar initiated  by - Germany

Germany has started an initiative at the EU to announce the Chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Masood Azhar as an international terrorist.  The initiative comes days later China choked a motion at the United Nations Security Council to restrict him. 

Germany has been initiating discussions with various EU member states to list Azhar as an international terrorist, which will result in his travel restriction and the freezing of his assets in the 28 countries bloc.  As per to reports, Germany has also drifted a proposal in this regard but no resolution has been initiated yet. 
All the 28 European Union member countries will have to support the initiative in order to restrict the Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief, as the bloc decides on such matters under the principle of consensus.
Did you know?
On March 15th, 2019, France forced financial sanctions on Azhar and said it will work with its European
partners to put the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief’s name on the European Union list of individuals involved in terrorist activities. The conclusion by France came 2 days after China blocked a new initiative to designate Azhar an international terrorist by the Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
The suggestion to restrict Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar was initiated by France, the United Kingdom and the United States, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in India, in which 40 CRPF troops were killed. Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the horrific attack.
Among the 15-member of the United Nations Security Council, 14 had supported the application against Azhar, leaving China as the only country that did not support it.

IBBI, SEBI sign agreement for better execution of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code on - 19th March 2019

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India- IBBI on March 19th, 2019 inked a MoU with the Securities and  Exchange Board of India- SEBI, for better execution of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India together pursue effective execution of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and its rules and norms which goal to promote entrepreneurship and debt market. 
The Memorandum of Understanding was inked by Anand Baiwar, Executive Director of the Securities and  Exchange Board of India and Ritesh Kavdia, Executive Director of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
Highlights of MoU

• Assist and co-operate with each other for the actual execution of the Code, subject to limits imposed by the applicable laws.
• Share the data, subject to the limitations forced by the applicable laws.
• Share the resources available with each other which are possible and legally permissible.
• Hold cyclic conferences to discuss matters of mutual interest, as well as regulatory requirements,
  enforcement cases, research and data analysis, Information Technology and data sharing.
• Undertake cross-training of work force in order to enhance understanding of the each other’s missions for actual utilisation of joint resources.
• Capacity building of insolvency specialists and financial creditors
• Carry out cooperative efforts to improve the level of awareness among financial creditors about the significance and need of swift insolvency resolution process of borrowers in distress.

Reserve Bank of India Governor bats for Enduring Status to - Finance Commission

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das called for enduring status to  Finance Commission .  Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das is also the member of the fifteenth finance commission.
Need of the Enduring Status
The enduring status will make sure consistencies between Finance Commission  so that there is some
certainty in the flow of funds to the states.
The enduring status will also deliver continuity between the successive finance commissions.
The enduring status will also deliver the Finance Commission to work as a leaner entity in the intervening period until the succeeding finance commission is formed in a full-fledged manner.
The formation of the finance commission via enduring status will also enable it to address matters arising from the execution of the sanctions of the finance commission during the intervening period.
The Reserve Bank of India governor also called on for a healthy expenditure planning without negotiating on fiscal consolidation as fiscal federalism gathers momentum in the era of even GST.

Transition plan for new tax rates for real estate sector approved by - GST Council

The Goods and Services Tax Council held its 34th conference on March 19th, 2019 to deliberate the details for execution of the sanctions made by the council in its 33rd conference for lowering Goods and Services Tax rate in Real Estate Sector.
The council sanctioned the transition plan to initiative towards fresh tax rates for the real estate sector in accumulation to giving builder an option to remain with the old tax rate, if they want. It undertook
following decisions:
Ongoing projects in Real Estate Sector
The builders will be given a single-time option to remain with the old tax rate of 8%/12% with input tax
credit on ongoing projects where construction and actual booking begun before April 1st, 2019 and have not been accomplished by March 31st, 2019.
This option can be trained once within a prescribed time and if missed, the new rates shall apply.
New tax rates
For the fresh projects opening from April 1st, 2019, following changes have been made:
In case of affordable houses, the Goods and Services Tax rate has been condensed to 1% without input tax credit from 8%. 
In case of non-affordable houses, the Goods and Services Tax rate for under-construction flats and houses has been brought to 5% without ITC, down from the current 12%.

SpiceJet joins international airlines grouping IATA on - 19th March 2019

Indian budget carrier, SpiceJet on March 19th, 2019 declared its membership of International airlines’
grouping ‘International Air Transport Association’- IATA.
SpiceJet is the 1st Indian low-budget airline to seam the International Air Transport Association, which has more than 290 airlines as members including Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara.
Significance
SpiceJet’s International Air Transport Association membership is noteworthy because SpiceJet strategies to rapidly expand its international footmark.
This membership will permit SpiceJet to explore and expand its associations with international member
airlines of the International Air Transport Association grouping via interlining and sharing of codes.
It will also allow the low-cost flight in seamlessly growing its network opportunities for its passengers in
future.

International Air Transport Association

International Air Transport Association is Geneva-located trade association of the worldwide airlines
designed to support aviation activity as well as benefit to formulate industrial policy on aviation matters.
Started in Havana, Cuba, in April 1945, International Air Transport Association make sure safety and security in aviation services.
International Air Transport Association signifies 290 airlines in 120 nations, carrying 82% of the world’s air traffic.
It is the major formulator of industrial policy to resolve the aviation concerns and simplify the aviation trade including electronic ticket, bar coded boarding pass, quick travel initiative, self-service baggage options and many more.