Inflation accelerates to 7.41%

• Retail inflation accelerated to a five month high of 7.41% in September, from 7% in August, as food inflation surged sharply to 8.41% last month — the steepest level in 22 months.
• September’s retail inflation was the highest since April, when price rise quickened to an almost eight year high of 7.79%, and economists warned that the latest negative surprise could force the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to opt for further interest rate increases beyond the widely expected 0.5 percentage point increase in the December monetary policy.
• This is the ninth month in a row that inflation has exceeded the 6% upper tolerance threshold mandated for the RBI and would require it to send an explanation to the government on its inability to achieve the price stability target.
• Rural inflation picked up further steam, from 7.15% in August, to touch 7.56% in September, while urban consumers also experienced a resurgence in price rise at 7.27%, from 6.72% a month earlier, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday show.

About Inflation

Inflation is a general rise in the price level of an economy over a period of time. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation reflects a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money – a loss of real value in the medium of exchange and unit of account within the economy.

As per RBI, an inflation target of 4 per cent with a +/-2 per cent tolerance band, is appropriate for the next five years (2021-2025).

Types of Inflation ;

Demand-Pull Inflation

This type of inflation is caused due to an increase in aggregate demand in the economy.

Causes of Demand-Pull Inflation:

• A growing economy or increase in the supply of money – When consumers feel confident, they spend more and take on more debt. This leads to a steady increase in demand, which means higher prices.
• Asset inflation or Increase in Forex reserve– A sudden rise in exports forces a depreciation of the currencies involved.
• Government spending or Deficit financing by the government – When the government spends more freely, prices go up.
• Due to fiscal stimulus.
• Increased borrowing.
• Depreciation of rupee.
• Low unemployment rate.

Cost-Push Inflation

This type of inflation is caused due to various reasons such as:

• Increase in price of inputs
• Hoarding and Speculation of commodities
• Defective Supply chain
• Increase in indirect taxes
• Depreciation of Currency
• Crude oil price fluctuation
• Defective food supply chain
• Low growth of Agricultural sector
• Food Inflation
• Interest rates increased by RBI

Cost pull inflation is considered bad among the two types of inflation. Because the Nationa income is reduced along with the reduction in supply in the Cost-push type of inflation.

Built-in Inflation

This type of inflation involves a high demand for wages by the workers which the firms address by increasing the cost of goods and services for the customers.

Measurement of Inflation

1. Wholesale Price Index (WPI) – It is estimated by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and measured on a monthly basis.
2. Consumer Price Index (CPI) – It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined lot of goods and averaging them.
3. Producer Price Index – It is a measure of the average change in the selling prices over time received by domestic producers for their output.
4. Commodity Price Indices – It is a fixed-weight index or (weighted) average of selected commodity prices, which may be based on spot or futures price
5. Core Price Index – It measures the prices paid by consumers for goods and services without the volatility caused by movements in food and energy prices. It is a way to measure the underlying inflation trends.
6. GDP deflator – It is a measure of general price inflation.

 Home Minister to launch Hindi version of first year MBBS books

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah will launch the Hindi versions of first year MBBS textbooks in Bhopal on October 16.
• With this, Madhya Pradesh will inch closer to becoming the first State to provide medical education in Hindi.

 Tamil Nadu notifies India’s first slender loris sanctuary

• The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday notified the Kaduvur slender loris sanctuary (First in the country) covering 11,806 hectares in Karur and Dindigul districts.
• Slender lorises, which are small nocturnal mammals, are arboreal as they spend most of their life on trees.
• The species acts as a biological predator of pests in agricultural crops and benefits farmers.
• Listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, slender loris has a wide range of ecological roles in the terrestrial ecosystem.
• The survival of the species depends on habitat improvement, conservation and mitigation of threats
• The sanctuary will cover Vedasandur, Dindigul East and Natham taluks in Dindigul district and Kadavur taluk in Karur district.

Railways to Operate Vande Bharat freight trains soon

• The Indian Railways will soon launch highspeed freight trains on the Vande Bharat platform.
• The superfast parcel service is aimed at capturing high value and time sensitive cargo consignments now being moved using other forms of transport.
• The trains have been designed for palletised container transportation at a speed of 160 kmph.
• The 1,800mm wide rakes with automatic sliding doors would have provisions to load reefer containers for temperature sensitive cargo, a pneumatically retractable roller floor system with locking facility for easy handling of pallets, and a payload of 264 tonnes.
• As per sources, the first service would be introduced in the Delhi and Mumbai regions. The Integral Coach Factory in Chennai is expected to rollout the first freight EMU rake in December this year.

SC Bench asks Centre and RBI about demonetization objective

About Demonetisation

8^th November 2022 will marked as sixth year anniversary of demonetisation, when Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes were withdrawn from the system in 2016.

• Demonetisation is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender.It occurs whenever there is a change of national currency and the current form or forms of money is pulled from circulation and retired, often to be replaced with new notes or coins.

Objectives of Demonetisation :

• To discourage the use of high-denomination notes for illegal transactions and thus curb the widespread use of black money.
• To encourage digitisation of commercial transactions, formalise the economy and so, boost government tax revenues.
  • The formalisation of the economy means bringing companies under the regulatory regime of government and subject to laws related to manufacturing and income tax.

 Navy’s MiG29K crashes off Goa

A MiG29K fighter of the Indian Navy crashed on Wednesday morning while on a routine sortie over the sea off the Goa coast after it developed a technical malfunction while returning to the base.

The first World Sloth Bear Day was observed on 12 October

• On first World Sloth Bear Day, Central Zoo Authority urges every zoo in India and around the world to celebrate the occasion for conservation and protection of the Indian species of bear
• The first World Sloth Bear Day was observed on Wednesday to generate awareness and strengthen conservation efforts around the unique bear species endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
• Listed under Schedule I of the (Wildlife Protection) Act of India, 1972, the species has the same level of protection as tigers, rhinos and elephants
• Classified as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, sloth bears are endemic to the Indian subcontinent and 90% of the species population is found in India.
• A proposal for observing World Sloth Bear Day was mooted by Wildlife SOS India,
• On Wednesday, the officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), along with other stakeholders, participated in an event at Agra to observe the day.

JP Nadda and Amit Shah will be launching Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in Gujarat

 Central Government extended the Ethanol Subsidy Scheme till March 2023

 Statue Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan has been unveiled by Home Minister Amit Shah at Sitabdiara in Saran district, Bihar

Phase 1 of Shaikshanic Sankul been inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad

 Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey has been appointed Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court by the Central Government

 President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated recently the Tripura State Judicial Academy

 Discus thrower Kamalpreet gets Three year ban

• Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, the National record holder who was sixth in last year’s Tokyo Olympics, has been suspended for three years by the Athletics Integrity Unit for failing a dope test.
• Kamalpreet was tested out of competition in Patiala on March 7 this year and her urine sample showed the presence of stanozolol, a non specified substance prohibited at all times by the World Anti Doping Agency.

13th October observed as

• Karwa Chauth celebrated in India
• International Day for Disaster Reduction
• World Sight Day