Rs.700 crore
What is it? The total worth of assets of liquor baron Vijay Mallya that would be auctioned next month. These assets include the erstwhile headquarters of Kingfisher Airlines, his personal jet, Kingfisher Villa in Goa, brands, trademarks, cars and office furniture.
Why is it important? This is the second attempt by tax authorities and lenders to recover his outstanding dues of around Rs.9,000 crore. The first attempt to sell each of these assets was a failure—either no bidders turned up or they quoted much below the reserve price. The base price of almost all the properties have been reduced from that fixed the first time and it remains to be seen if this helps them recover at least a part of their dues.
Tell me more: Kingfisher Airlines, which was once India’s second biggest airline , stopped flying in 2012 after it ran out of cash.
10,000
What is it? The number of Indian workers India would bring back from Saudi Arabia as they face a food crisis there.
Why is it important? This is an impact of low oil prices on Saudi Arabia’s economy, which earns 70% of its revenues from this commodity and is a major source of employment. Due to cuts in government spending, many migrant workers have been laid off and have been left with no money to return to their home countries or even for food. Many of them have not been paid wages for months. The Consulate General of India in Jeddah on Saturday said it had distributed 15,475 kg of food stuff and 1,850 packets of ready-made food to workers in association with the Indian community.
Tell me more: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has appealed to the 30-lakh strong Indian community in Saudi Arabia to reach out and help those in need. The Saudi authorities have assured that the exit visas of the affected Indian workers would be processed and their wage claims will be looked into.
Rs.10,000
What is it? The amount IIT Kharagpur hopes to get from its alumni per student per year to fund its scholarship programme.
Why is it important? Unlike the elite western institutions such as the Harvard, which earn a substantial portion of their revenues from alumni funding, their Indian equivalents don’t. This gains importance at a time when the central government has reduced funding for Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and minister of human resource and development Prakash Javadekar suggested they set up a roadmap to become independent by 2030. The IIT Kharagpur director reasons that even if 30,000 alumni students pay Rs.10,000 each, it can raise Rs.30 crore.
Tell me more: The 2014-15 batch of IIT Kharagpur students got an average salary of Rs.9-12 lakh per annum. The annual fee for undergraduate courses at IITs have been more than doubled from Rs.90,000 to Rs.2 lakh from the 2016-17 academic session.
Rs.919 crore
What is it? The total amount received in the fourth tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme launched last November.
Why is it important? This is around 41% of the total amount netted under the scheme, indicating it has gathered pace from the initial months. The scheme was launched with an aim to reduce demand for physical gold, reduce imports and, thereby, bring down the country’s fiscal deficit but it has a long way to go before that can happen. The cumulative worth of the applications for gold bonds under all four tranches is just around 2% of the total gold imports during the same period.
Tell me more: Under the fourth tranche of the scheme, the minimum subscription limit was decreased from 2gm to 1gm and the trading of gold bonds was implemented in this phase. The government also exempted the redemption of the bonds from capital gains tax, which was extended to the previous three tranches too.
182
What is it? The number of additional cases filed against the Patidars during the quota agitation last year that the Gujarat government has withdrawn now, taking the total number of cases withdrawn against the Patidar community members to 391.
Why is it important? This is nearly 90% of the total number of cases filed against them. These cases reportedly relate to stone-pelting and vandalism while the serious cases of violence would remain. There are chances that this issue coupled with that of the ongoing Dalit protests in the state is likely to affect Bharatiya Janata Party’s chances of winning the assembly elections next year.
Tell me more: A year ago, the Patidars had staged protests across Gujarat (which turned violent) demanding that their community be given the Other Backward Class status. The government, in response, announced scholarship for students and age limit relaxation for government jobs for the economically weaker sections, irrespective of their caste.
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