Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 02 July 2016

:: National ::

Union govt sought law commission’s views UCC

The Union Law Ministry has asked the Law Commission to examine in detail all issues pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code and submit a report to the government.
Through an office memorandum, the Legislative Department has made a reference to the Law Commission for an in-depth examination of “matters in relation to Uniform Civil Code”.
Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda confirmed the Law Ministry initiative. “The issue has been discussed in and outside Parliament.
It has also been on the BJP’s agenda. Therefore, the Law Commission has been asked to conduct a detailed study and file a report. It may take six months to a year,” he said.
The Minister said a decision on the future course of action would be taken on the basis of the Law Commission report. “If it is required in the larger interest of the country, we will hold consultations [with stakeholders]..,” he said.
Even the Preamble of our Constitution and Article 44 of the Constitution do say that there should be a Uniform Civil Code. it needs to have a wider consultation,” he had said.
Implementation of a common code is part of the BJP’s election manifesto.

India successfully tested surface-to-air missile

Scoring a hat-trick, India successfully test fired the new surface-to-air missile developed jointly with Israel from a defence base off Odisha coast in a third consecutive trial of the air defence system.
The missile with a strike range of 70 km was launched at 1020 hours from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.
With a third consecutive successful test firing today, the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) air defence system has achieved a hat-trick
With this, MRSAM system has proved the air defence capability for three different boundary envelopes of the target, it said.
Defence Research and Development Organisation created history by conducting three consecutive successful trials of the missile for Indian Air Force, a DRDO official said.

India adds various new species

Four species of reptiles, six species of amphibians, 26 species of fishes, three species of wild ginger and three of figs are among the 445 species new to science identified in India in 2015. The figure includes 262 animal species and 183 plant species.
Some of the notable additions to the list of animals include a rock gecko ( Hemidactylusyajurvedi ) found in KankerChhattishgarh, a new frog species ( Fejervaryagomantaki ) from the Western Ghats, and a shiny new species of fish ( Bariliusardens ), also from the Western Ghats.
Among the plants, a new species of ginger Zingiberbipinianum has been found in the South Garo hills of Meghalaya, and a species of mushroom ( Bondarzewiazonata ) has been collected from north Sikkim at an altitude of 2,829 m.
Scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) are delighted that all regions in the country have recorded new species while those from the Zoological Society of India (ZSI) are excited that more than 15 per cent of the new species are higher vertebrates.
The most discoveries were made in the Eastern Himalaya region, which accounts for 19 per cent of the total discoveries followed by the Western Ghats (18 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands at about 15 per cent, BSI director Paramjit Singh said.

:: International ::

Another socking death of Hindu priest in Bangladesh

A Hindu priest has been hacked to death in Bangladesh’s Jhenaidah, the latest in a series of attacks on religious minorities by suspected Islamists.
Three weeks ago, another Hindu priest was killed in similar way in the same western district.
The attack bears similarities to the killing of Ananda Gopal Ganguly, a 69-year-old priest, on June 7 in Jhenaidah Sadar’s Mahishdanga village.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters on Friday that the law enforcers will be able to catch the killers “soon”.
Several Bangladesh analysts say the killing of Hindu religious leaders in the country is a focused attempt by the Islamists to create misunderstanding between India and Bangladesh at a time when bilateral relations are at its peak.

Many people in Britain now regret voting for Brexit

Nearly 2.3 million people in the U.K. regret voting for Brexit from the European Union (EU) in last week’s historic referendum, a trend which has come to be referred to as “Bregret”, a new survey said
According to the “Opinium survey,” 7 per cent of the people who voted to leave the EU now regretted their choice and may vote for remain instead if they had a choice.
When the survey’s findings are projected on to the statistics of the June 23 referendum, it cuts the Leave vote-share by 2.3 million, wiping out its majority and reversing the shock result in favour of Brexit, the survey said.
Remain voters want the government to prioritise staying part of the EU’s single market while Leave voters are keen to end free movement between the U.K. and the EU and both priorities are likely to be mutually exclusive.
The survey also found that 3 per cent of ‘Remain’ voters also regretted their choice.
More than 4 million people have now signed a petition calling for a second referendum but the government has ruled out another vote on the issue to avoid what outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron termed “neverendum.”

:: India and World ::

PM will take his first visit to African mainland

In a bid to strengthen India-Africa ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will undertake his first visit to the “African mainland” between July 7 and 11, covering four countries.
The Prime Minister’s visit reflects India’s desire to further strengthen and reinvigorate bilateral ties with our African partners which were renewed at the successful IAFS-III in October last year.
Since taking charge in May 2014, Prime Minister Modi has visited Seychelles and Mauritius that are members of the African Union.
Mr Modi will address two major meetings with members of Indian diaspora in Johannesburg and Nairobi on July 8 and 10.

India did not take any position on LGBT at HRC

India avoided taking a position on the need to end discrimination based on sexual orientation at the Human Rights Council of the UN, as the Supreme Court is yet to “pronounce” on the issue of rights of LGBT persons.
MEA's clarification came a day after India abstained during a voting at the UNHRC to set up the office of Independent Expert to end discrimination against LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual) persons.
The issue of LGBT rights in India is a matter being considered by the Supreme Court under a batch of curative petitions.
As such, we had to take this into account in terms of our vote on the third UN resolution to institutionalise the office of an Independent Expert to prevent discrimination against LGBT persons.

:: Business and Economy ::

PMI shows good jump

Manufacturing activity saw a pick up in June after two months of sluggish growth, according to a private survey.
The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 51.7 in June from 50.7 per cent in May. The index was at 51.3 in June 2015.
“The favourable operating environment encouraged businesses to purchase additional inputs but was insufficient to generate jobs,” it said.
“The upturn is significant when compared to the average 0.5 point decline between
The new orders index rose to 52.9 from 51.3 in May, mainly led by an improvement in domestic demand.
“The PMI data suggest that external demand remains lacklustre even as domestic demand continues to support growth, led by consumption,” the note said.

Draft regional connectivity scheme released

The civil aviation ministry released the draft regional connectivity scheme in a bid to make flying affordable and to revive dormant airports.
Once the scheme is implemented, passengers will be able to fly an hour’s journey (of about 500 km) for an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,500. The passenger service fee and user development fee will not be applicable on this fare.
However, the cap on the airfares will be applicable only to a limited number of seats in an aircraft and the passengers will be eligible for subsidised fare on a first-come-first served basis.
Only routes covering a distance of 200-800 km connecting a ‘less connected or unconnected’ airport will qualify for the regional connectivity scheme and the airfare cap will be proportional to the air distance travelled.
Airfares will be capped in the range of Rs.1,700-Rs.4,070 and will be revised every quarter based on the prevailing inflation rate.
While the scheme will be applicable to airports with no flight connections in the previous two flying seasons, the government has identified 16 airports, receiving seven flights a week, which will also fall under the scheme.
Some of them are: Agra, Allahabad, Pantnagar, Diu, Shillong, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Kullu, Tezpur, among others.
While the Centre will provide 80 per cent subsidy to airlines for three years to fund the losses they incur, to enable them to charge lower airfares to passengers, the remaining 20 per cent will come from the states.
The Centre will set up a regional connectivity fund, to be be financed by a cess charged to airlines flying on metro or trunk routes for each departure.
The cess, which will likely be levied beginning August 1, may marginally increase airfares on such routes.
The government may provide higher subsidy to the airlines if the cost of aviation turbine fuel goes up in future, Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said.
The airlines will be mandated to fly at least three flights every week on such regional routes and the subsidy will be provided for maximum seven flights per week.