Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 November 2018

::NATIONAL::

Nation remembers soldiers who fought in first world war

India remembers our brave soldiers who fought in WW-1. This was a war in which India was not directly involved yet our soldiers fought world over, just for the cause of peace.
“I have had the honour of paying tributes at the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial in France and at the memorial in Israel's Haifa, places associated with India's role in the First World War. When PM Benjamin Netanyahu came to India, we paid tributes at the Teen Murti-Haifa Chowk", the Prime Minister said.
"Today, as we mark one hundred years since the end of the horrific First World War, we reiterate our commitment towards world peace and pledge to work to further an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood so that the trail of death and destruction caused by wars does not occur”said the prime minister.
In the month or so preceding Remembrance Day, which marks the anniversary of the end of the First World War, red poppy badges are a common sight across Britain.

NCPCR recommends tutorials to children at observation homes

Tutorials should be provided to children living in observation homes so that they can return to mainstream education, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended.
Observing that education has not been a “priority” at these homes, the apex child rights body recommended that teachers be deputed to these homes to help the children with their education.
It has also recommended that observation homes need to start intervention on education soon after the child, who is in conflict with law, is referred to a home.
In a report on ‘Availability of Quality Education and Vocational Training in Observation Homes in India’, the NCPCR recommended that tutorials be provided to rehabilitated children to regular schooling.
The Juvenile Justice Act mandates that children found in conflict with law be sent to a special home that provides reformative services like education, skill development, counselling, behaviour modification therapy and psychiatric support during their stay.

::ECONOMY::

NIA gives report on seizure of fake currencies

Two years after demonetisation, the fake currency notes seized so far are not of a high quality, a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found.
Another Home Ministry official said the network of same fake currency operators was still intact as two years ago, that pushed fake notes from the Bangladesh border. But there was not much evidence to link it to Pakistan yet. A reason cited by the government for scrapping Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes in 2016 was to wipe out fake notes.
India had accused Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of printing high-quality fake notes and channelling it into India. Agencies suspected that certain security features of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes were compromised as the supplier of raw currency notes, ink and silver thread was same for India and Pakistan.
The NIA and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the anti-crime and anti-terror unit of Bangladesh, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2015, to share intelligence on fake notes and other terrorist modules in real time.

Ship owner’s association denies that move to relax cabotage had led to reduction in coastal shipping rates.

The Indian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA) has disputed the reported claims of Union Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna that the government’s move to relax cabotage had led to reduction in coastal shipping rates. The Shipping Ministry, had in May this year, relaxed cabotage for foreign-registered vessels to bring down logistics costs.
INSA said foreign vessels, unlike Indian ships, do not pay GST for transport of empty or laden containers, which is a direct loss to the Indian exchequer. “Data shows that relaxing licensing norms for foreign container companies has eventually led to no reduction in coastal shipping rates till date,” INSA asserted.
The Indian shipowners’ body has also countered the Shipping Secretary’s claim that Indian ports like Krishnapatnam and Visakhapatnam had started attracting a share of cargo, which was previously transshipped at Singapore or Colombo.
“As per available information this may not be the case. For example, cargo from India being transshipped over Colombo has in fact increased by around 10% Y-o-Y in FY18. From May 2018 to August 2018 also, Indian cargo volumes in Colombo have increased by 9%, which translates to 36% on an annualised basis,” the association said.
“Till date, similar benefits have never been offered to Indian flagships operating coastal services. Hence, the lack of decline in transshipment despite seemingly desperate measures of the government point to serious fallacies in current policy revisions,” INSA said.

Click Here for Study Material for SSC CGL Exam

SSC CGL (Tier-1) Exam Crash Course

::INTERNATIONAL::

Srilankan opposition to challenge dissolution of Parliament

A day after Sri Lankan President MaithripalaSirisena controversially dissolved Parliament, parties opposed to the decision are preparing for a high stakes legal battle.
Major parties on Saturday decided to move the Supreme Court early next week, challenging Mr.Sirisena’s decision that, they said, violated the Constitution.
The United National Party (UNP) of the deposed Prime Minister, RanilWickremesinghe, and its coalition partners will mount a legal challenge, according to their members.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), which is part of the UNP-led front, is contemplating court action independent of the coalition as well, a senior member said.
The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) is also preparing to petition the Supreme Court on Monday. “This is not because we fear elections, but because we think the President’s actions are completely unconstitutional and against democratic values,” ACMC leader RishadBathiudeen told The Hindu .

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

ISRO invites riders to Venus

An 18-month-old pitch for what could be the first Indian orbiter mission to Venus has just been refreshed and relaunched, opening it up now for international experiments.
Tentatively marking the yet to be named ‘Mission Venus’ for mid-2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to study the planet from an elliptical orbit that is closest to Venus at 500 km and 60,000 km at the farthest end — similar to its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) of 2013.
The latest announcement opportunity (AO) does not specify the weight of the spacecraft; it plans to send up instruments or payloads totally weighing 100 kg. (MOM’s payloads weighed nearly 15 kg.)
Currently being handled by the Space Science Programme Office, the entire project must be vetted by the Advisory Committee on Space Sciences and approved by the Space Commission and eventually the government.
From the Moon orbiter mission Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and the Rs. 450 crore MOM, the Venus voyage if approved would be ISRO’s third interplanetary dash.
ISRO says that it may lower the orbit of its future Venus spacecraft after a while for sharper observations. According to an informed ISRO official, the Venus mission would be comparable to the phenomenally popular MOM in terms of its the orbit and the cost.