Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 03 September 2016

:: National ::

Climate change could be easy to implement than earlier deals

Climate change treaties have been notoriously hard to implement in the past, but the Paris Agreement, signed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference last year, could be a different story.
That’s according to U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Dr. Jonathan Pershing who says that the will of countries, such as India and the United States, to expedite change could see the agreement come into force as early as this year.
The group was formed to review progress made in the bilateral relationship on climate resilience, air quality, forestry, capacity building and clean energy, and to discuss opportunities for future collaboration in shared climate priorities.
The meetings between the two governments, he said, focused on how the two sides could grow interactions in terms of experts travelling each way for fellowships.
He highlighted that the talks looked at the question of climate resilience in a new light.
In the area of resilience, Mr. Pershing said, discussions were held about water, agriculture, food, energy systems, and the focus once again was on the kind of expertise each side can contribute to the other.

Muslim Personal Law Board says SC has no authority to decide on triple talaq

Noting that a religion cannot be “reformed” out of its existence or identity, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board challenged the Supreme Court’s initiative to judicially examine Islamic personal laws relating to marriage and divorce.
The apex Muslim law body of the country accused the Supreme Court of trying to indulge in judicial legislation in the name of “socially reforming” Islamic practices of marriage and divorce.
It said the practices depicted in the Holy Koran are out of bounds for the Supreme Court.
The AIMPLB claimed that personal laws of marriage and divorce are outside the purview of the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution, and Article 44.
It envisages a Uniform Civil Code, is only a “directive principle of State policy and not enforceable.

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of G20 countries are continuing to increase

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of G20 countries are continuing to increase, a report from Climate Transparency, an open global consortium, has shown ahead of the 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit to be held in China.
Between 1990 and 2013, the absolute carbon dioxide emissions of G20 countries, which account for three-fourths of global CO{-2}emissions, went up by 56 per cent, the report shows.
India received a ‘medium’ rating with good scores for emissions, share of renewables in total primary energy supply (TPES) and climate policy, but poor scores in carbon intensity, share of coal in TPES and electricity emissions.
The worst overall performers were Australia, Argentina, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
The carbon intensity of the energy sector was found increasing, due to the strong and continuing role that coal plays.
Of all the G20 member-states, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United States stand out with by far the highest per capita energy-related CO{-2}emissions.
Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan still show an increase over the five-year period 2008-2013.
Argentina and South Africa have declining per capita emissions, as with the EU and its big member-states Germany, France, Italy and the U.K., the report notes.
China’s per capita emissions were found to be above the G20 average: at 38%, with China having the highest economic growth rate between 2008 and 2013.
The coal share of China, India, South Africa and Turkey will remain clearly above the maximum 2˚C benchmark in the time period until 2030, the report notes.
To be in line with a 2°C-compatible trajectory by 2035, G20 countries face an investment gap of almost $ 340 billion/year in the power sector.
Though plugging the gap requires an increase in green investments, G20 governments provided, on average, almost $ 70 billion in subsidies for fossil fuel production between 2013 and 2014, the report points out.
This was despite G20 leaders pledging to phase out ‘inefficient’ fossil fuel subsidies in 2009. The report also points out that reducing fossil fuel subsidies could theoretically create fiscal space for more international climate finance.

Canonisation of Mother Teresa do be done in the Vatican

The canonisation of Mother Teresa in the Vatican will be marked by India with the release of a commemorative postage stamp.
India Post will on the day issue a souvenir sheet on Mother Teresa, acclaimed the world over for her work among the poor.
The stamp will be available for sale on the e-post office portal.
India Post released, in Kolkata, a special postal and numismatic cover on the Roman Catholic nun.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee left for Rome to attend Mother Teresa’s canonisation ceremony.

:: International ::

Belt and Road initiative to be followed by a World Land Bridge

China’s Belt and Road connectivity initiative, which bears a strong imprint of the Eurasian Land Corridor should be followed by a World Land Bridge that will link North America with the New Silk Road.
World Land Bridge is the natural sequel to the Eurasian Land Bridge, the mega-connectivity initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road in all its dimensions, including its lost cultural and civilisational attributes.
Siberia in Russia can be connected with Alaska, if we build an undersea tunnel across the Bering Strait. That would lay the foundation for a World Land Bridge.
Better coordination among the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) within the G-20framework, to achieve far-reaching results.
Energy committee of the BRICS must embark on a “crash programme” to develop thermonuclear fusion, to achieve long-term energy security, and reduce pressure on finite resources.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the most obvious thing was to enlarge this conception of connectivity by establishing development corridors linking the population and industry centres of Europe with those of Asia.

:: Business and Economy ::

India will tread a cautious middle path on excess capacity in steel

India will tread a cautious middle path when a simmering battle over global ramifications of excess capacity in steel takes centre-stage at the G-20 Summit in China.
The U.S. has already mounted pressure on China to drastically reduce its steel capacity, claiming that the ‘dumping’ of the commodity in various countries has been hurting steel producers across the world.
India will, however, play a low-profile role in the discussions on the topic as it is aware of the growing needs of its user industries — which currently depend on a mix of imported and locally-made steel to meet their requirements.
The U.S. at the G20 Summit will seek discussions on the reasons for excess capacity in steel as well as reforms & regulations in the global steel industry, including in China.
For India, it will be a ‘Catch-22’ as it is not only the third largest steel producing nation, but was also among the top 10 steel importers in 2015.
This means, the interests of local producers and user industries will have to be kept in mind while taking a stance, the sources said.
Besides, the Centre wants more foreign investment in India, including in the steel sector, as part of the ‘Make In India’ initiative aimed at boosting local manufacturing and exports.
It was also decided that the G20 steelmaking economies will participate in the OECD Steel Committee meeting slated for September 8-9, 2016 to tackle the issue.
To counter a surge in cheap imports of steel, which was hurting local steel makers, India had taken measures including anti-dumping duty, safeguard duty and Minimum Import Price.
India had also brought out an order banning the manufacture and distribution of stainless steel products that do not comply with the the ‘Bureau of Indian Standards’ mark.

Maharashtra ranked highest in broad measure of Ease of Doing Business

Maharashtra ranked highest according to a broad measure of Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in Indian states announced at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy here.
The new gauge has given 21 major states entirely different ranks when compared with the only other previous measure of this sort, the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
The latest measure produced by the Asian Competitiveness Institute (ACI) extends the definition of ease of doing business beyond the core measure of business friendliness that the Bank had focussed on for successive years.
The EDB report, which was shared, ranked Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Goa and Andhra Pradesh as the top five states respectively, whereas these states were ranked 8, 1, 15, 19 and 2 by the Bank.
The ACI’s EDB Index includes 81 indicators that include Business Friendliness (40 per cent weight), Attractiveness to Investors (40 per cent) and Competitive Policies (20 per cent).
It also balances “hard data” from each state with the results of surveys undertaken amongst investors, government officials and academic experts in this area.
Except Maharashtra and Gujarat, ranked 1 and 2 respectively, the ranks of all other states in the study improved through this simulation.