Spain is India’s sixth largest trading partner with which it has had a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTA) since 1993. In the light of improving bilateral and trade ties between the two nations, Spain’s President Pedro Sanchez is expected to make an official visit to India during the course of this year.

In recent years, imports into Spain have tripled in number compared to exports. In 2021, Spanish exports were  €1,496.53 million and imports from India were €4,200.10 million, a coverage rate of 35.6 per cent.

Spain's main exports to India are machinery and mechanical appliances, organic chemical products and fuels and mineral oils. The products that Spain imports most from India, include organic chemical products, foundry, iron, steel and clothing.

Meanwhile, India is in the process of getting 16 of the 56 Airbus military aircraft that they ordered from Spain last year -the cost of which is Euro 2.5 billion. These aircraft will replace Indian Air Force’s Avro aircraft.

Spain is also hopeful of India considering buying five AIP submarines for its Navy, which is manufactured by Navantia.

External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, during the first leg of a three-nation visit in Latin America, addressed the Indian diaspora in Sao Paulo.

Besides, Brazil he will also visit Paraguay and Argentina.

During his speech, the EAM thanked the Indian community for serving as an effective bridge between Brazil and India.

Meanwhile, during the course of his visit, official interactions begin from August 22nd, EAM will call on the top leadership in all three countries. He is also expected to inaugurate the premises of the newly opened Indian Embassy in Paraguay. The tour will be the first-ever visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to the country.

In Brazil and Argentina, the EAM will co-chair the Joint Commission Meetings (JCM) with his counterparts. JCMs will review the entire gamut of bilateral relationships in diverse fields and discuss regional and global issues of common interests.

With concerns over the likely levying of charges on UPI payments following a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) discussion paper hinting at the same, the government on  Aug 21 clarified that there are no such plans to levy any charges on UPI services.

The finance ministry posted a couple of tweets clarifying its position on the issue.

Central Bank of India, the only public sector lender under the RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework, may see an exit from restrictions soon following an improvement in its financial health.

The bank has already made a representation to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) based on the improvement in financial parameters on a sustained basis for the past five quarters.

Central Bank of India reported a 14.2 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 234.78 crore in the first quarter ended June this fiscal as compared to Rs 205.58 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Of the three PSU lenders under the RBI's watch, Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank were removed from the framework in September 2021.

The Central Bank of India was put under the PCA framework in June 2017 due to its high net non-performing assets (NPAs) and low Return on Assets.

PCA is triggered when banks breach certain regulatory requirements such as return on asset, minimum capital and quantum of the non-performing assets including on lending, management compensation and directors' fees.

The bank under PCA faces RBI restrictions on dividend distribution, branch expansion, management compensation or requiring promoters to infuse capital.

The power ministry on  Aug 20 allowed three more states – Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – to sell and buy electricity at the spot market after they cleared their dues to the power generators.Only three states – Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, and Mizoram -- are now barred from trading in the spot electricity market. These three states together have an outstanding of R801 crore.

Jammu and Kashmir owes a maximum R 552 crore followed by Karnataka (Rs 223 crore) and Mizoram R26 crore. Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO), a national grid operator invoking the Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022 barred 27 discoms from 12 states and one UT from trading in power exchanges in India on account of non-payment on 18 August 2022.

These states included Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Manipur, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh. Together they owe Rs 5085 crore to the power generators.Among the states, Telangana owes the maximum Rs 1,380 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu 926 crore, Rajasthan 501 crore, Jammu Kashmir 435 crore and Andhra Pradesh 412 crore.  On Aug 19 , POSOCO had removed seven states from the banned list.

This is the first time when the ministry has invoked the rule to penalise default discoms by not letting them trade in the three power exchanges -- Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX). The Electricity Rules 2022, notified this year in June,  mandates discoms to pay payment surcharge (LPS) on the outstanding amount after the due date of payment.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced  that the country will repeal a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, though he maintained that the government will continue to "uphold" marriage as between a man and a woman.

Inherited from the British colonial era, section 377A of Singapore's penal code penalises sex between men with up to two years in jail.

Gay rights campaigners have long said the law runs afoul of the affluent city-state's increasingly modern and vibrant culture, and had mounted two unsuccessful legal challenges.

During a major policy speech on Aug 21 , Lee said attitudes have shifted since 15 years ago when the government decided the law should remain, although it has not been actively enforced.

The first attempt to overturn the law was rejected in 2014. The Court of Appeals dismissed the second challenge last February.

In 2018, India's Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex by overturning legislation from its own period under British rule -- a decision that spurred campaigners in Singapore to renew their efforts to challenge the law.The following year, Taiwan took the unprecedented decision in May to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first place in Asia to do so.

As it prepares to expand to serve a population now exceeding 20 million, the Cairo metro has recruited Egypt's first female train drivers, a novelty in a country where few women have formal jobs.

Egyptian women have had the right to vote and stand for office since 1956, but patriarchal legislation and a male-dominated culture have severely limited personal rights.

The Cairo metro itself provides reserved carriages for women who do not wish to ride with men in an attempt to provide protection against sexual harassment.

Business graduate and mother of two Hind Omar said she had rushed to apply to be a train driver, eager to be a pioneer in a country where only 14.3 percent of women are in formal employment, according to 2020 figures.

Omar was one of two women accepted for the training programme run by Egypt's National Authority for Tunnels in cooperation with RATP-Dev.

The other, Suzanne Mohamed, 32, recalled the first time commuters on the platform saw her in the driver's cab.

Launched in 1987, the Cairo metro is the oldest in the Arab world but it has fallen behind other Arab countries in providing employment opportunities for women.

Moroccan Saida Abad became the first female train driver in Africa and the Arab world in 1999.

Even in Saudi Arabia, where until recently women were banned from driving cars, a first group of women is currently in training to be drivers on the railways.

Q1. Name the Spanish President who is  expected to visit India later this year ?

1. Pedro Sanchez
2. Teresa Ribera Rodríguez
3. Yolanda Díaz Pérez
4. Nadia Calviño Santamaría
5. None of These

Q2. Name the Singapore's Prime Minister  who has announced  that the country will repeal a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, though he maintained that the government will continue to "uphold" marriage as between a man and a woman?

1. Bole Goh Chok Tong
2. Lee Kuan Yew
3. Lee Hsien Loong
4. S. Rajaratnam
5. None of These

Q3. Which of the following country is not visited by the External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, during the first leg of a three-nation visit in Latin America ?

1. Brazil
2. Paraguay
3. Argentina
4. Mexico
5. None of These

Q4. Name the  only public sector lender  which is under the RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework ?

1. UCO Bank
2. Central Bank of India
3. Indian Overseas Bank
4. Indian Bank
5. None of These

Q5. Who among the following is not deputy governor of RBI ?

1. Mahesh Kumar Jain
2.  Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra
3. Kris Gopalakrishnan
4.  M. Rajeshwar Rao
5.  None of These

 Answers

1----------------------------1 Pedro Sanchez

2------------------------------3  Lee Hsien Loong

3--------------------------4 Mexico

4---------------------------2 Central Bank of India

5-------------------------3  Kris Gopalakrishnan

Ans T. Rabi Sankar