Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 FEBRUARY 2020

::NATIONAL::

President addresses both houses of parliament ahead of budget session

President Ram NathKovind said abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A related to Jammu and Kashmir, has paved way for equal development of the regions and people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have got rights on par with the rest of the country. He was addressing the joint sitting of both the houses f Parliament at Central Hall today.
The President hailed the Citizenship Amendment Act as historic and said it has fulfilled wishes of Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. Mr.Kovind said, the mutual debate and discussion on any issue strengthen democracy, while violence during protests weaken it.
Mr Kovind highlighted several work done by the government at the ground level in the last five years which has helped India's ranking on several International ranking indices. Lauding the contributions of farmers, the President said that bringing about a change in their lives is the priority of the government.
Talking about the health initiatives, Mr.Kovind said, impact of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme on the health sector of the country is visible. On women safety, the President said that the more than 600 One Stop Centres have been set up in the country and a national database has been created to identify the perpetrators of crimes against women.

Delhi high court postpones death warrant execution of Nirbhaya case convicts

A Delhi court today postponed execution of death warrants of the four convicts in the Nirbhayagangrape and murder case till further order. Additional Sessions Judge DharmenderRana passed the order on plea by the convicts seeking a stay on their execution on February 1.
Earlier today, Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case, Pawan Gupta, seeking review of its order rejecting his juvenility claim. The review plea filed earlier in the day was taken up for consideration in-chamber by a bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna.
The trial court on January 17 issued black warrants for the second time for the execution of all the four convicts in the case - Mukesh Kumar Singh, Pawan, Vinay and Akshay in Tihar jail at 6 am on February 1. Earlier, on January 7, the court had fixed January 22 as the hanging date.
Convict Akshay's curative petition was dismissed by the top court on January 30. Another death row convict Vinay moved mercy plea before President on January 29, which is pending. Mukesh has also approached the trial court seeking stay on the execution scheduled on February 1, saying the legal remedies of some of the convicts are yet to be availed.

::ECONOMY::

Economy survey emphasizes on wealth creation at grassroot level

Economic Survey 2019-20 has emphasised on entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation at the Grassroots. It has suggested that industrial sector performance is a key to achieve the target of a five trillion dollar economy.
The Economic Survey 2019-20, tabled by the Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in Parliament today, also suggested sectoral initiatives for industrial revival. The survey has projected economic growth at 6 to 6.5 percent in the next fiscal. It called for more reforms for making it easier to do business in country.
The survey said for India to achieve a five trillion US dollar economy depends on promoting pro-business policies, strengthening the invisible hand of the market and ease of doing business.
The Economic Survey gave a detailed analysis of the trends in India’s infrastructure sector which is necessary for growth. Power shortages, inadequate transport and poor connectivity affect overall growth performance.
To achieve GDP of five trillion dollar by 2024 - 25, India needs to spend about 100 lakh crore rupees on infrastructure. According to the survey, there is a significant jump of around 2.62 crore new jobs with 1.21 crore in rural areas and 1.39 crore in urban areas. Over 69 lakh candidates have been trained under PradhanMantriKaushalVikasYojana till November last year.

Centre bans export of all kinds of respiratory masks

India banned exports of all kinds of personal protection equipment, including clothing and masks used to protect people from air borne particles.
The move assumes significance as there could be a spurt in demand for such products due to outbreak of deadly coronavirus that has claimed more than 200 lives in China while the number of confirmed cases reached near 10,000.
Air India's 423-seater jumbo B747 plane took off from the Delhi airport on Friday to evacuate Indian nationals from Wuhan as China deals with the novel coronavirus outbreak.
In a separate notification, the DGFT has also banned imports of stock lot papers.These are kind of discarded, improper sized and unused papers.The move aims at cutting down imports of non-essential items into the country.

Click Here for Study Material for SSC CGL Exam

SSC CGL (Tier-1) Exam Crash Course

::INTERNATIONAL::

WHO declares corona outbreak as global emergency

The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus, as China reported Friday the death toll had climbed to 213 with nearly 10,000 infections.
The UN health agency based in Geneva had initially downplayed the threat posed by the disease, but revised its risk assessment after crisis talks.
Many countries have already urged their citizens not to visit China, while some have banned entry for travellers from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first surfaced.
More than 6,000 tourists were temporarily put under lockdown aboard a cruise ship at an Italian port after two Chinese passengers were isolated over fears they could be carrying the virus. They later tested negative for the illness.

UN affirms commitment to resolve Palestine-Israel conflict

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the global body remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict on the basis of UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements, a day after US President Donald Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan aimed at settling the longstanding dispute between the two sides.
Standing along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Tuesday, Trump proposed a two-state solution and said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes.
Describing it as "historic" and a "giant step" towards peace, he said that under his vision, Jerusalem "will remain Israel's undivided, very important capital." He proposed Palestinian capital in Eastern Jerusalem and that US will set up its embassy there.
Asserting that his peace plan will more than double the size of Palestinian territory, Trump said that Palestinian people "deserve a far better life" than being trapped in a cycle of terrorism and violence."

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Google to promote news literacy amongst Indians,prepares AI model to study whales

On January 31, 2020, Google announced I million USD grant to promote news literacy among Indians. Also, the organization has launched a new application called Tangi.
The Google News Initiative has announced to contribute 1 million USD grant to improve news literacy of Indians.
The grant is to be used to build a strong network against fake news producers in the country. Around 300 workshops, boot camps and sessions are to beorganized to train journalists, academicians and fast-checkers on the authentication of the published content on the internet. The training is to be provided in 7 Indian languages.
The Tangi Application of Google focuses on Do It Yourself videos. The name of the application has been inspired from Teach and Give.
Google has used an AI model that listens to Killer Whales, identifies the origin of sound and displays its location. The model has been installed in Canada.
According to Centre for Whale Research, only 73 Southern Resident Orcas (a sub species of Killer Whales) are left in the world.

::SPORTS::

India beats New Zealand to clinch series

India beat New Zealand via Super Over in the fourth T20 International after a second successive tie at Wellington today. Chasing the target of 166 set by India, New Zealand were coasting at one stage before the hosts were restricted to 165 for 7.
Needing 7 runs of Shardul Thakur's last over, New Zealand buckled under pressure and lost two wickets as India took the match into the Super Over for the second consecutive game. Earlier, sent in to bat, India posted 165 for 8, riding on Manish Pandey's 36-ball 50.