Current Affairs 18 august

1. Andhra, Telangana CMs agree to resolve contentious issues
The chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Sunday agreed to solve the contentious issues between the two states through talks and mutual cooperation.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao decided to entrust the issue of bifurcation of employees to the chief secretaries of the two states.

2. CEO pay: private sector still far ahead of PSUs 

One of the many things that came under the scanner after news of the Syndicate Bank scam broke recently is the disparity in the salaries of senior executives in the private and public sectors.

Top executives in public sector undertakings (PSUs) are paid only a fraction of what their private sector counterparts earn. And with private companies going out of their way to reward employees, that difference is only getting wider.
Growing disparity
The banking sector perhaps best epitomises this disparity. ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar’s total pay in 2013-14 was in excess of ₹5 crore, while most of her PSU peers were paid ₹20-30 lakh.
HDFC Bank paid its MD Aditya Puri ₹6 crore. State-owned Bank of Baroda’s Chairman SS Mundra, on the other hand, earned just 4 per cent of that, or about ₹26 lakh.
The country’s largest lender, state-owned State Bank of India, paid its Chairman Arundati Bhattacharya just about ₹9 lakh for the October 2013-March 2014 period, which works out to about ₹18 lakh annually.
This is a tad lower than the compensation paid to her predecessor Pratip Chaudhuri, who earned ₹23 lakh in 2012-13.
Top executives working for manufacturing companies in the public sector fare no better. For instance, NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Choudhury’s total compensation in 2013-14 amounted to about ₹52 lakh.
In contrast, private sector rival Tata Power paid nine times more to its Managing Director and CEO Anil Sardana (₹4.4 crore).
This is despite Tata Power posting a sharp increase in losses, from 85 crore in 2012-13 to ₹260 crore in 2013-14.


3. IRDA’s new norm for third party motor policies may help insurers cut losses
The recent proposal by the insurance regulator to allow three year policies
for two-wheelers could help the general insurance industry to lower losses on their third party motor insurance portfolio, say industry experts.
For the consumers, the longer-term product will be beneficial as the IRDA has imposed a condition that restricts the insurer from raising the premium for three years. Generally, premium for one-year policies are hiked every year.
Currently, motor insurance policies are renewed annually. Motor insurance covers one’s own and third party damage to property or life. Insurers expect the longer term policies to help bring more vehicles into the overall insured pool, as according to industry estimates there is a 40 per cent of the two-wheeler owners do not renew the motor insurance policies in the second year.



4. India plumbs new depths
 The stench of defeat has become second nature to India and when a poster was held aloft in one of the stands, with the words “give them another innings Cooky” scribbled on it, the humiliation was complete.
Shane Warne cryptically said: “Even four innings may not be enough.” Such was the depths that Indian batting plunged to at the Oval here on Sunday.
M.S. Dhoni’s men lost their third match in a row and as India slid to an innings and 244-run defeat against the host in the fifth and final Test, a series that began well for the visitor, was squandered away with England winning it 3-1.
After the host posted 486 in its first innings — a lead of 338 — India faithfully repeated its bizarre template of losing the top-half cheaply and once that happens, there is only one way a team is headed — a soul-crushing defeat; it managed to score only 94.


5. Tax base must be broadened: CBDT Chairman
The country’s tax base is very narrow and it needs to be broadened substantially, according to Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman KV Chowdary.
He was talking to reporters here on Saturday. He said that out of a population of 125 crore the number of tax-payers was only 3.5 crore. “It has to be broadened substantially. We have 20 crore PAN card-holders in the country and the base can be broadened to include many of them. Of course, not all of them have taxable income, but there are many who can be brought within the net,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the target of 7,36,221 crore this year could be achieved. Already, net collections amounted to more than 1,50,000 crore. He said the department would not conduct search-and-survey operations unless they are deemed absolutely necessary. “We will adopt a non-adversarial, non-intrusive approach. A culture of voluntary tax payment would have to be inculcated,” he said.