Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 10 May 2017

:: National ::

India won a stay order from the International Court of Justice for Jadhav

In a major breakthrough in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former naval officer sentenced to death in Pakistan, New Delhi won a stay order from the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
In its petition, India had accused Pakistan of gross violations of international laws.
Ordering the stay, President of the ICJ directed Pakistan Prime Minister to “act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects,”.
Team of lawyers, led by senior advocate Harish Salve, listed the details of the case and the “egregious violations” of the Geneva convention that deals with consular relations, including Pakistan’s refusal to give any details of Mr. Jadhav’s arrest and trial until after the death sentence was passed.
Failure to provide consular access to India despite 15 requests, and suggesting that access would be given only in exchange for information about Mr. Jadhav from India.

A committee experts recommended a tax on “highly-processed” foods

A committee of medical experts and nutritionists has recommended a tax on “highly-processed” foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The body, tasked by the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI), has also advocated a ban on advertisements promoting foods high in FSS (fat, salt, sugar) during TV shows and channels aimed at children.
“In fact, we should progress towards a total ban, as being done in a few other countries like Chile. Celebrity endorsements of such foods need to be discouraged,” says the report on the FSSAI website.
Committee has compiled existing scientific literature on the consumption of fats, sodium and sugar in foods, across socio-economic groups in the country, and endorsed that the proportions of these food constituents not exceed guidelines by the WHO and the ICMR.
A salient finding was that Low Income Groups (LIG) reportedly consumed more fried snacks and sweets than High Income Groups (HIG) and, the highest consumption of bakery items was in slums, said a study on urban populations.
The panel also recommended that all packaged food carry detailed labels specifying the energy value in kcal (kilo calories); the amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat; and the amount of any other nutrient for which a nutrition or health claim is made.
If relevant, the label should also specify the amount or type of fatty acids or the amount of cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in gram (g) and cholesterol in milligram (mg), the panel said.
While many companies provide a breakdown on the nutritional constituents, they are not systematically enforced.

Netherlands extended support to India’s membership bid for UNSC

The Netherlands has extended support to India’s membership bids for the United Nations Security Council and a host of export control regimes.
Visiting Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said that the Netherlands was eager to upgrade trade and commerce between the two countries and expressed the hope of overcoming the shock of Brexit.
He reiterated that the Netherlands has been a steady supporter of India’s admission into export control regimes.
India accepted membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) last year when the Netherlands had the chairmanship of the multilateral organisation.
Mr. Koenders also came out in support of regulated globalisation to overcome the shock of Brexit and asked for structural adjustments in the international community.

Govt set up task force for employment

In the face of a poor employment generation report card, the government has, on the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, set up a task force to look into how to solve the problem of poor employment data in the country.
A task force has been created under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, with members including Labour Secretary Satyavati and others.
India suffers from a lack of reliable, timely data on employment which has made it difficult for policy makers and independent observers to assess the extent of employment generation at different points of time.

:: International ::

Modi to visit Sri Lanka on UN Vesak day

Modi arrives in Sri Lanka, and will inaugurate the UN Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo, being held to mark Buddha Poornima.
He would go to the Central Province, which is home to thousands of upcountry Tamils, descendants of Indian-origin tea estate workers brought down to Sri Lanka by the British.
Apart from inaugurating an India-funded hospital facility nearby, Mr. Modi will address a public meeting in the estates, in which President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are expected to participate.
Wasps are commonly found insects in tropical Sri Lanka and are known to have a formidable sting. Wasp attacks are often reported in the island’s tea estates, where workers are most vulnerable.

:: Business and Economy ::

NHAI to raise about Rs. 5,000 crore by issuing masala bonds

The National Highways Authority of India will soon raise about Rs. 5,000 crore by issuing masala bonds to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Road Transport and Highways Ministerwill open the market for LSE trading on May 11 to which will coincide with the culmination of the NHAI’s debut Masala Bond issuance which is expected to list on the LSE shortly.

RBI has imposed sanctions on state-run IDBI Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed sanctions on state-run IDBI Bank that include curbs on branch expansion and distribution of dividend after the lender’s financial health weakened.
IDBI Bank is the first lender to be sanctioned by the RBI after the central bank recently revised its prompt corrective action framework and RBI sources said the regulator may shortly take action against another one or two more banks.
Sanctions are imposed if a bank breaches a certain level of net non-performing assets (NPA), Return on Assets (RoA) and capital adequacy ratio.
IDBI Bank informed the exchanges that RBI, in a letter dated May 5, had initiated prompt corrective action in view of high net non-performing assets (NPA) and negative Return on Assets.
Restrictions on dividend distribution, domestic and overseas branch expansion, higher provisioning, are part of mandatory restrictions.
However, discretionary restrictions like curbs on lending or accepting deposits had not been imposed, the sources added.

PM reviewed the progress of key infrastructure sectors

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of key infrastructure sectors including petroleum and natural gas, power, renewable energy and housing.
In the presentation made by CEO NITI Aayog, it was noted that remarkable progress has been made in several sectors, including generation of renewable energy, affordable and rural housing, LED bulbs.
It said that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has reached 1.98 crore BPL households.

IMF has projected a slowdown in India due to demonetisation

The International Monetary Fund’s latest regional outlook has projected a slowdown in India due to the lingering effects of a cash crunch caused by demonetisation.
Even as economic growth is expected to remain robust in the Asia and Pacific region compared with the levels forecast in October 2016.
India’s national accounts statistics may understate the economic impact of the cash crunch, at least in the near term, according to the IMF’s May 2017 Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific.
Specifically, the impact on the informal economy and cash-based sectors, which are relatively large and have been affected the most by the cash crunch, is likely to be understated because these sectors are either not covered in the official statistics or are proxied by the formal sector activity indicators.
However, these were likely to be short-term impacts and demonetisation was likely to have medium and long-term gains, especially in terms of fiscal gains, increases in bank liquidity, and the push towards cashless transactions and digitisation, the IMF noted.