Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 February 2016

:: International ::

Govt is likely to make big disinvestment

The big thrust areas of Union Budget 2016-17, will be the agriculture and transport sectors and big-ticket disinvestment, including strategicsales in high-value companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and oiland defence public sectorunits (PSUs) such as Oil andNatural Gas Corporation(ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL).
Mr. Jaitley will also announce in his budget speech a new centrally sponsored scheme forirrigation.
On the expenditure side,the big outgo will be on account of the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendationsfor pay and pension hikes with effect from January 1, 2016
Mr. Jaitley will present the budget in Parliament on February 29.
To meet the fiscal deficittarget, the government willrely on proceeds from disinvestment for which the budget will set ambitious targets

Loss making Public sector undertakings to be winded up

A two-year road map for three types of sales of government stake in PSUs.
First, a plan for windingup loss-making units, including rules for the disposal of their assets and land.Passage next month of thenew bankruptcy code byParliament during the bud-get session, it is expected,will aid these sales
Second,profitable PSUs will be list-ed on stock exchangesthrough public sales of shares.
The government’s shareholding in enterprisesalready listed will be pareddown through public offers to the minimum level depending on the sector and“in line with governmentpolicy.
The third categorywill be that of strategic sales of high-value and big-sizecompanies such as BHEL,and the oil and defense sector PSUs.
Based on inputs received from private investors, the government is finalising anew revenue model for irrigation projects to be developed in the public-privatepartnership space, whichwill bring down the down-stream user charges forfarmers.
This technology-intensive concept will beselectively applied to high-yield, plantation and commercial crops.
The Centre has already opened up 100% FDIunder the automatic routein rolling stock, services, catering and the developmentand running of passenger terminals.
Measures are likely for addressing delaysin land acquisition in various States that is leading to stalled rail projects.

Ten soldiers died in Siachen’s Avalanche

The 10 soldiers trapped in ice after an avalanche on the Siachen glacier were declared dead
The soldiers belong to the Madras regiment of the Army and have been posted there recently.
Avery large rescue team has been deployed to reach down to the swamped Army post. The rescuers are working at extremely low temperatures hovering between -25 to -45 degrees putting their lives at risk.
The major avalanche struck the Army post in Northern Siachen Glacier located at a height of 19600 feet
The Indian Army has been controlling the dominant heights of the glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, since occupying it in April 1984 under Operation Meghdoot pre-empting Pakistan’s move which controls heights at the lower altitudes.

50% quota for women in panchayats planned

Minister for RuralDevelopment and PanchayatiRaj, has said the government would bepushing a Constitutionalamendment, first cleared bythe UPA Cabinet, to increasereservation for women inpanchayats from 33 per cent to 50 per cent in the budgetsession of Parliament.
Though someStates have provided 50% reservation to women in panchayats, the government will,through the ConstitutionalAmendment, ensure that it isimplemented in the wholecountry.
Though someStates have provided 50% reservation to women in panchayats, the government will,through the ConstitutionalAmendment, ensure that it isimplemented in the whole country.
Among the States that al-ready follow 50% reservationfor women in Panchayati RajInstitutions (PRIs) are Bihar,Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

:: India and World ::

India and Russia forms working group to build components for nuclear plants in India

In a move that could become a model for countries keen on a share of India’s civil nuclear energy pie, India and Russia have set up a working group to locally build components for nuclear power plants of Russian design.
This is based on the Action Programme signed between Rosatom and the Department of Atomic Energy of India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow in December 2015.
Rosatom, as part of its plans for expanding its global footprint, is in the process of opening its regional office for South Asia office in Mumbai.
The Action Programme includes areas of cooperation in the field of joint machinery production, especially for nuclear power plants, as well as cooperation in the field of joint development, mastering and technological support of the implementation of end-to-end production technologies of products for heavy and power engineering industries.
The three joint working groups, set up under the Indo-Russian Coordinating Committee on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy established in December 2014, are on the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear CM energy and scientific-technical cooperation.
The localisation plans are part of the government’s efforts to build manufacturing in the country under its ambitions Make in India initiative.
Russia is currently building six reactors in Kudankulam of which the first unit was commissioned in autumn 2013. It was shut for the first scheduled preventive maintenance (SPM) and has now successfully restarted power generation.

India ratifies pact on nuclear compensation

Five years after signing the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), India ratified the convention, the IAEA’s Office of Public Information and Communication reported from Vienna.
The CSC is a convention that allows for increasing the compensation amount in the event of a nuclear incident through public funds pooled in by contracting parties based on their own installed nuclear capacities.
It entered into force on April 15, 2015.
India had also passed its own domestic nuclear liability law, the Civil Law for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act in 2010.
• Countries such as the U.S. have said that the Indian law’s provisions are violative of the CSC, but this has been denied by India.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Breakdown in talks for Syria

The U.S. demanded that Russia immediately halt its bombing campaign in Syria after a bitter breakdown in peace talks ex- posed the deep rift between world powers aiming to end the five-year conflict.
On the ground, nearly 40,000 people have fled an offensive this week by President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime north of the city of Aleppo.
Mr. Assad’s forces also entered two Shia villages that were under siege by rebels.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Moscow to halt its bombing of the Syrian op- position in what he said was a “robust” phone call with Rus- sian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Meanwhile, aconference of donor nations raised $11 billion for Syrian humanitarian needs over the next four years.
Mr. Cameron told a news conference that donors had pledged $6 billion for this year alone, and a further $5 billion to be spent by 2020.

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Crucial bills at stake in budget session

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expects the joint committee of Parliament studying the insolveny and bankruptcy code will submit its report by the first week of March, with passage of the reform legislation possible during the Budget session scheduled to begin February 23.
He also expressed the hope that the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill meant for the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would al- so be passed in the Budget session itself.
Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha stressed upon prioritising the pro- vision of universal pension security including income security, health and life insurance and taking advantage of the large number of young people in the country who would otherwise become dependent on the State and society in the old age.
He said that he believed in the philosophy to em- power Indians with tools and knowledge to take ownership of their own retirement.
The NIIF would be the major driving force for investments in to India’s infrastructure 2016-17 onwards and can emerge as a major vehicle for bringing in foreign investment for infrastructure.

IT services exports to cross $100 billion

IT industry body Nasscom said that India’s IT services exports would cross the $100 billion mark in 2015-16 and the sector would clock double digit growth in 2016-17.
The optimism comes despite concerns about the impact of the election campaign in the United States, which accounts for half of India’s IT exports and the rise of protectionism in Europe and the U.K.
The IT sector, which India’s largest private sectoremployer, is likely to add two lakh new jobs this year, taking its employee strength to 3.7 million.
It expects another two lakh new jobs in 2016-17 with an expected 10 per cent to 12 per cent growth in exports at the present currency valuations.

Cabinet nod likely for scraping old vehicles

The government is working on a plan to phase out old vehicles from the roads and the policy frame- work will be soon sent to the Cabinet for approval.
The auto industry has been demanding a uniform policy in this regard for a long time.
Scrapping of old vehicles will not only create a market for new vehicles but also help in reducing the pollution to some extent.
With the government pushing for introducing of BS-VI emission norms by 2020, Mr. Gadkari told the automakers not to worry about the availability of suitable fuel but focus on developing engines to meet the guidelines.
Automobile manufacturers have expressed doubts on whether BS-VI compatible fuel would be available in time as the entire country is yet to be covered by BS-IV, although it was introduced in 2010.

:: SPORTS ::

South Asian games started at Guwahati and Shillong

The 12th South Asian Games will be launched with pomp and grandeur at the Indira Gandhi stadium, Sarurasajai, Guwahati.
Originally scheduled to be back in 2012, the prestigious multi-discipline event encompassing competitions in 23 disciplines and 241 events well be held across two cities — Shillong and Guwahati.
From a historical perspective, the South Asian Games were established as a movement to foster peace and friendship through regular sporting contact between athletes from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and current host India.
The first edition was held in Kathmandu in 1984.
This is the third time India will host the Games, after Kolkata in 1987 and Chennai in 1995,and it will have hopes of continuing with its overall dominance across venues for a twelfth straight time.