Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 02 December 2015

NATIONAL

Maharastra amends laws to allow women to work at night

In a development that could create more employment opportunities and improve working conditions for women in factories and other sectors in Maharashtra, President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to a legislation that amends the Factories Act, 1948 allowing women to work night shifts from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m..
Percentage of educated women is in- creasing, and there is need for more employment opportunities for them.
In July this year, the Maharashtra Assembly had passed the amendment to Section 66 of the Factories Act which prevented women from working night shifts. The Bill was sent to the President for his nod.

Heavy rain continue in Tamil Nadu

Very heavy rain returned to Tamil Nadu, battering the already-ravaged coastal areas and bringing life to a grinding halt in Chennai and Puducherry.
Heavy rain in the catchment areas of the Chembarambakkam reservoir (25 centimetres between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Tues- day) forced the authorities to discharge water at the rate of 20,000 cubic feet per second into the Adyar River.
Army Flood Relief Columns are carrying out extensive operations in Tambaram and Urapakkam areas in Chennai. Experts say there is a clear danger of infectious diseases breaking out, given the sanitary conditions. They warn that the State must be prepared and initiate remedial measures as soon as possible.

President appeals for cleaning of minds

In yet another strong call for harmony and tolerance amid the raging debate on intolerance, President Pranab Mukherjee called for freeing “our public discourse from all forms of violence, physical as well as verbal.”
“ Real dirt of India lies not in our streets but in our minds and in our unwillingness to let go of views that divide society into ‘them’ and ‘us,’ ‘pure’ and ‘impure,’ he said, stressing Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of India as an inclusive nation with everyone being equal.
Underscoring the importance of an open society, Mr.Mukherjee said: “Only those who are confident of their conviction, secure in their faith and rooted in their culture can hope to live in an open house, an open society. If we close ourselves in, seek to be immune from other influences, it shows we are pre- pared to live in a house that is devoid of fresh breeze.”

Technological funding still the contentious issue for India

Talks on the text of the Paris agreement began, Indian negotiators said they were introducing provisions in it for a technology and financial mechanism that will make it possible to raise low-cost capital and widely deploy renewable technologies.
The agreement to be reached in Paris would be in the form of a framework that gives recognition to the voluntary pledges made by countries (described as In- tended Nationally Determined Contributions).
It has to contain provisions on finance and technology, which are central to goals to reduce carbon emissions for developing countries as they grow. The quantum of reductions that countries make and the time frames would be part of allied instruments of the framework.
Pursuing the question of responsibility for historical emissions, India has said it favours the stocktaking of carbon on a global scale.
As countries cut the greenhouse gases over the years, and a re- view is done every five or 10 years, nations would get more ambitious with future targets. Even with all voluntary actions, the rise in temperature over the pre-industrial era would be not be able to meet the targeted 2 degrees C.
These concerns make it imperative for the Paris agreement to incorporate suitable provisions.
Currently, investors in renewables have to borrow capital at high rates of interest, and this would not enable a quick scale up or reduction in the real cost of power.

INTERNATIONAL

The first BRICS media summit

China proposed a string of thematic lines, including a focus on counter-terrorism, for the development of media, in tune with the growing clout of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping on the international stage.
The first BRICS media summit, was hosted by China’s Xinhua News Agency and co-chaired by The Hindu group of publications, Empresa Brasil de Communicacao S/A-EBC of Brazil, Rossiya Segodnya of Russia and South Africa’s Independent Media.
The BRICS countries are “protectors of current international system,” “constructors of international peace” and “promoters of a new type of international relations” said Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui
The media summit focused on two additional themes — integration of traditional and new media, as well as establishing an institutional architecture for the development of journalism in the BRICS countries.
The Beijing Declaration issued at the end of the conference noted the profound changes that were brought about the rapid development of the Internet and digital technology on the global media environment. “
The summit also yielded a six-point agreement on institutional development in the BRICS countries. This included: establishing a BRICS media foundation, a liaison office that would coordinate summit activities, training of media personnel, and coordination of BRICS media covering G-20 summits, holding a photo exhibition along BRICS summits and setting up BRICS Media Journalism Awards.

Burkina Faso President

Roch Marc Kabore became Burkina Faso’s first democratically elected leader in nearly four decades , vowing a brighter future for the western African country after a year of political turmoil and unrest.

Russia building bases on Japan islands

Russia has begun building two modern military compounds on the far eastern Kuril islands, defence minister Sergei Shoigu said, heightening long-running tensions with Japan over the disputed islands
Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have been strained for decades because of the status of the four southernmost islands in the Kuril chain, known as the Northern Territories in Japan.

BUSINESS

Repo rate unchanged

The benchmark interest rate, the repo rate, unchanged at 6.75 per cent as expected, and stressed the central bank’s policy stance remained “accommodative”.
The comment signalled that the RBI was prepared to continue with more monetary easing, if needed, to support an economic recovery.
Consumer price inflation, RBI’s main gauge for measuring price gains, quickened to a four-month-high of 5 per cent in October though the central bank appears on course to meet its January inflation target of 6 per cent.
Rajan also stressed the need for fiscal consolidation, which is also required for further monetary easing.
The impact of the seventh pay commission’s proposals need to watched. The pay panel’s direct effect on aggregate demand is, however, likely to be offset by appropriate budgetary tightening as the Government stays on the fiscal consolidation path,

Manufacturing sector growth drops to 25-month low

India’s manufacturing sector grew at its slowest pace in 25 months in November on sluggish pace of new business orders, data from a monthly survey showed, strengthening the case for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to keep the interest rates low.
This also marks the fourth consecutive month of decline in the rate of Indian manufacturing output growth, as per the monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey conducted by Markit and Nikkei India.
he health of India’s manufacturing economy improved for the 25th successive month in November, although to the least extent in this sequence. The latest PMI data showed slower increases in incoming new business and output, while subdued demand growth led firms to keep workforce numbers broadly unchanged

India showing early signs of recovery: Moody’s

An increase in public sector expenditure and an upturn in capital replacement cycle are driving investment in India, and it will take a while for private investment to show a sustainable revival, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service.
a broad-based and sustainable revival in the private sector capital expenditure cycle will likely take longer to materialise, given high corporate leverage, asset quality concerns in the banking sector, and subdued external demand
India’s economy was forecast to grow forecast at 7 per cent for 2015 and 7.5 per cent for 2016 “which take into account a slower investment recovery,
The manufacturing sector in India is unlikely to increase its capital expenditure in any significant manner in the near-term due to the poor state of global demand, weak commodity prices and low capacity utilisation.