BackNews in numbers | Money held by Indians in Swiss banks in 2015 lowest since 1997
In other news, World Bank will lend $1 billion to India for its solar energy programme
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$1 billion
What is it? The amount the World Bank will lend to India for its solar energy programme.
Why is it important? This is the biggest ever loan given by the bank for a solar programme to any country and will help India achieve its ambitious target of installing 100 GW (gigawatts) by 2022. The solar power generation had crossed 19,000 MW (megawatts) in 2015-16, even as the minister for power, coal, new and renewable energy is looking to achieve the 100 GW target by the end of 2017 itself.
Tell me more: India wants non-fossil fuel (wind, water, solar and nuclear) to account for 40% of the total installed power capacity by 2030 from 30% currently. The World Bank lent $4.8 billion to India between 2015 and 2016, making the country its biggest client.
₹ 2,28,986 crore
What is it? India’s fiscal deficit (excess of expenditure over receipts) for April and May of 2016.
Why is it important? It’s 42.9% of the budget target for this fiscal compared to 37.5% for the same period last year (despite a slowdown in government’s capital expenditure). This may make it challenging for the finance minister to restrict fiscal deficit to ₹ 5.33 lakh crore in 2016-17, especially with the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission that would cost the exchequer over ₹ 1 lakh crore.
Tell me more: The government’s capital expenditure was down by nearly 12% to ₹ 33,231 crore in the first two months of 2016-17 from ₹ 37,743 crore in the same period last year. The revenue expenditure, which would go up further due to the Seventh Pay Commission payout, increased by 17.6% to ₹ 2.64 lakh in April and May from a year ago.
₹ 8,392 crore
What is it? The amount held by Indians in Swiss banks at the end of 2015.
Why is it important? This is the lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss Banking system since the country started making its data public in 1997 and marks the second straight year of decline. This seems to be the impact of clampdown of illicit wealth by countries including India, which is likely to lead to Swiss banks becoming more transparent than ever. India has sought faster responses to its pending information requests from the Alpine nation and an automatic financial information exchange would begin in 2018.
Tell me more: The funds held by Indians in Swiss banks was at a record high of ₹ 23,000 crore at the end of 2006.
91
What is it? E-commerce firm Flipkart’s score in the quarter ended March based on metrics including trust in a brand, product assortment and prices, overall buying experience in terms of ease of using its platform and the ease of product cancellations and returns.
Why is it important? Flipkart is still slightly ahead of Amazon India, which entered the country in June 2013 and had a score of 87, while Snapdeal was a distant third at 60. This is yet another sign that Amazon is ahead of Snapdeal and breathing on the neck of Flipkart. With a recent investment announcement of $3 billion in the country, Amazon India has an advantage over both Flipkart and Snapdeal, which has to depend on external investors. A US mutual fund managed by Vanguard Investment marked down the value of its shares in Flipkart by 25%, the sixth such markdown in recent times.
Tell me more: In terms of ‘Most trusted brand’ and ‘Best value proposition’, Flipkart scored higher than Amazon India, while the latter beat the former in terms of ‘Great experience’. The analysis is by RedSeer Management Consulting for Mint.
683
What is it? The number of invitees to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, of which 46% are women and 41% are minorities.
Why is it important? It will make the voters more diverse. The Academy had recently promised to double it female and minority membership by 2020. The Oscars came in for heavy criticism for having no nominees from minority actors for the second year in a row. However, it has a long way to go because even if all the invitees join, the share of women and minorities would only marginally increase (25% to 27% and 8% to 11%, respectively).
Tell me more: If all those who invited were to join, it would increase the academy’s total voters to 6,945, a record in the last few years.
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