Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 April 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

PM promises improvement in ease of doing business index

Highlighting fast-evolving bilateral priorities, India and Saudi Arabia agreed to diversify more bilateral trade and investment into the non-oil sector.
They also asked all states to dismantle terror infrastructures “where they happen to exist” and reject the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy, seen as an oblique reference to Pakistan.
In a bid to boost confidence of Saudi investors in India’s economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a select group of Saudi entrepreneurs that India will increase ease of doing business and bring in the long awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST).
He also said that India has a stable tax regime and his government has successfully removed the retrospective taxation policy creating ease of doing business.
“Retrospective tax is a matter of the past. My government will continue to work towards establishment of a predictable long-term taxation regime,” the Prime Minister said.

An Inspector of the National Investigation Agency shot in Bijnore

An Inspector of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the counter-terror investigation agency formed after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in front of his wife and children in Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh.
Mohammed Tanzil Ahmed, 45, died on the spot, while his wife Farzana, who was injured, is in a critical condition. His daughter (14) and son (12) escaped unharmed.
Ahmed, an officer of the rank of Deputy Superintendent, who was on deputation from the Border Security Force, had been posted to the NIA as Inspector, when the agency was created in 2009.
Because of his proficiency in Urdu, Ahmed was the key liaison officer during the visit last week of the Joint Investigation Team from Pakistan to probe the Pathankot attack.
Ahmed joined the BSF in 1991 as a Sub-Inspector and was posted along the western and eastern borders.

“Stand up India” scheme, to provide credit to SC, ST, and women to be launched by PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the “Stand up India” scheme, aimed at providing credit to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and women borrowers.
The scheme is intended to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes and women and will involve loans ranging from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.
The scheme includes a composite loan of between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 100 lakh for setting up any new enterprise. In addition, borrowers will be provided a RuPay debit card to enable the withdrawal of the working capital.
The government will also develop the credit histories of these under-banked sections of society and will open a refinance window through the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of Rs. 10,000 crore.
The scheme will also facilitate the creation of a corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore for credit guarantee via the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company.
The launch event will also involve distribution of 5,100 e-rickshaws by Bharatiya Micro Credit under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Sunday banned the sale of toddy

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar banned the sale of toddy in public places.
The State government ostensibly took the decision after reports that tipplers have turned to toddy shops following the enforcement of prohibition.
Bihar ranks fourth in the sale of toddy after Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Assam. In Andhra Pradesh, the average monthly expenditure on toddy is Rs. 12.10, in Kerala it is Rs. 7.50, whereas in Bihar it is Rs. 3.54.
RJD chief and coalition partner, Lalu Prasad, had made toddy tax-free when he was the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, following prohibition and the State government’s crackdown on hooch outlets, it has been reported that liquor addicts, particularly from border areas, are moving to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Nepal.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Brussels airport reopens

Brussels Airport reopened on Sunday with three “symbolic” flights and strict additional checks for passengers, marking a new high-security era for air travel in Belgium after attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers.
The key travel hub has been closed since two men blew themselves up in the departure hall on March 22 in coordinated blasts that also struck a metro station, killing a total of 32 people.
There was also a strong security presence inside the tents, where travellers, who have been asked to arrive three hours before their flight, walked through metal detectors and had their bags screened.

Suspected traces of MH370 found two years after aircraft vanished

A piece of debris found on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius will be examined by investigators to see if it came from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
The discovery comes less than two weeks after officials confirmed that two pieces of debris found along the coast of Mozambique were almost certainly from the aircraft that vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board.
Australia is leading the search for the airliner in a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean far off the country’s west coast, about 6,000 km east of Mozambique and around 4,000 km east of Mauritius.
Authorities had predicted that any debris from the plane that isn’t on the ocean floor would eventually be carried by currents to the east coast of Africa.
Last year, a wing flap from the plane washed ashore on the island of Reunion, not far from Mauritius.

:: Science and Technology ::

Scientists have discovered a rare triple-star system

Scientists have discovered a rare triple-star system with a gas giant planet similar in size to Jupiter.
Known planets with three stars appearing in their sky are rare — the new discovery is just the fourth and the closest one to Earth yet, allowing a better look than has been possible.
The main star is also brighter than the other two, making it easier for astronomers to study both the star and the planet.
The newly found planet, called KELT-4Ab, orbits one star. It takes three days to make its way around the star KELT-A, which serves as its sun.
The view from KELT-4Ab would likely to be one where its sun, KELT-A, would appear roughly forty times as big as our Sun when it is viewed from Earth. This is because the main star is close to KELT-4Ab.
On the other hand, the two other orbiting stars would appear much dimmer due to their great distance, shining no brighter than our Moon, the researchers said.
Scientists have known of the existence of the KELT system for several years, but it was thought that the binary stars were actually just one star.
The triple-star system offers a unique opportunity for scientists trying to understand how it is that gas giants, such as KELT-4Ab, manage to orbit so close to their star.

:: India and World ::

US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act to institutionalise the DTTI framework

The US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Congress a couple of weeks ago, would “institutionalise” the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) framework between the two countries and the Indian-specific cell in the Pentagon.
The resolution was introduced to amend the U.S. Arms Export Control Action to formalise India’s status for the purpose of Congressional notifications as a major partner of equal status as America’s treaty allies and closest partners.
The U.S.-India Business Council played a major role in pushing the resolution forward.
The India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) is the only country-specific cell in the Pentagon and functions under the office of the Under Secretary of Defence Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
It was set up in January 2015 with a six-member team which, officials said, is indicative of the importance attached to deepening strategic cooperation with India.
The IRRC was the initiative of U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter, also the key architect of the DTTI, launched in 2012 to deepen high-technology cooperation and move towards co-development and co-production of high technology platforms.

:: Business and Economy ::

Market expects 25 bps rate cut in the first bi-monthly review of monetary policy

With most of the conditions set by the RBI Governor for further easing of the monetary policy met, market participants said the stage is set for at least a 25 bps reduction in interest rate in the first bi-monthly review of monetary policy.
The case for a rate cut becomes even stronger considering the benign CPI trends and a strengthened transmission mechanism..
Retail inflation for February grew by 5.18 per cent, the slowest in four months due to lower food inflation.
In the budget, the government showed resolve in adhering to the fiscal consolidation path by keeping the fiscal deficit target for 2016-17 at 3.5 per cent.
The central bank has reduced interest rate by 125 bps to 6.75 per cent since January 2015. However, it kept interest rate unchanged in the last two monetary policy reviews.
The future inflation trajectory beckons more hope and we believe that for a major part of the current fiscal inflation could well be below 5 per cent, and with a little bit of luck, it may even go lower than 4 per cent.
Bankers are also expecting the central bank will revise the liquidity framework to address structural issues in liquidity management.
Liquidity deficit in the banking system was over Rs.2 lakh crore in March, mainly due to lack of government spending which jacked up the short term rates.
SBI — the country’s largest lender — had demanded that the government’s cash balances to be kept with the lenders, and not with the Reserve Bank of India, which will give more flexibility to banks for managing their liquidity.

States are set to exceed their fiscal deficit targets

India’s gross fiscal deficit for 2015-2016 could be 6.9 per cent of GDP, wider than the budget estimate of 6.3 per cent, according to an analysis.
Although the Centre’s estimates show that it will succeed in keeping its fiscal deficit within the target of 3.9 per cent of GDP, a slippage is expected by the States as a whole.
The study is based on the budget projections of 18 States, which make up just less than 80 per cent of India’s economy. These States released their budget projections for the upcoming fiscal year over the past month.
The IMF estimates that the average fiscal deficit for the emerging market and middle-income economies was 1.1 per cent in 2015. For G20 emerging market economies it was 4 per cent. Its latest data shows that China’s general government deficit was 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2015 and is projected to rise to 2.3 per cent in 2016.
The IMF calculates fiscal deficit differently than how it is done in India. It excludes disinvestment proceeds, which are essentially capital receipts, from the calculations for instance. Its estimate for India of 7.2 per cent for 2015 is, therefore, higher than the official estimates
Though States cut expenditure to reduce the deficit, they by and large avoided touching capital spending, which saw only a minor decrease. Much of the hit was taken by current expenditure.
This, the study concludes, is an important development as last year when the centre decided to give more untied funds to States following the 14th Finance Commission Award, the risk was that States would be reckless with spending.
The deficit widened despite the higher-than-expected funds transfers from the Centre on account of the implementation of the 14th Finance Commission award, according to the study, which projects further slippage this year: To 2.9 per cent, against the official estimate of 2.6 per cent.
The spoilers this year are going to be the twin burdens of the wage hikes following the awards of the pay commissions of the States and the interest bill on UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) bonds.
According to latest available information, eight States will issue around Rs.1.8 lakh crore of UDAY bonds over 2016 and 2017. As per the norms, the State deficits will still have to finance the interest costs of these bonds.
Despite the fiscal slippage of the States, the study doesn’t see the aggregate government borrowings rising much this year.
According to RBI data, States borrowed a total of Rs.2.95 lakh crore last year, which is around half of the gross borrowings of the Centre, of Rs. Six lakh crore.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has indicated that instead of fixed annual targets, the amended FRBM could specify a range for deficit to be contained within. However, the unpredictability even in a narrow range could trigger volatility in the markets.
Lower levels of government borrowings can bring down borrowing costs for all borrowers – government and private--and thus restart the investments cycle and spur growth.
It has also been suggested by a number of public finance experts that in the revised FRBM framework, the Government must also commit to not borrow to finance consumption spending.
Over the long run, government borrowings to finance fiscal deficits raise inter-generational issues.

More than 21000 crore pumped by FPI in March

Overseas investors pumped in over Rs.21,000 crore (over $3 billion) into Indian equity markets in March after pulling out massive funds in the preceding four months.
However, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs.1,476 crore in the debt markets.

:: Sports ::

West Indies win both men and women T20 title

Darren Sammy’s men as their own and found ecstasy in a last over of pulsating thrills. The West Indies, known for its hoary past, won the ICC World Twenty20 title.
Marlon Samuels (85 n.o., 66b, 9x4, 2x6) anchored the chase and Carlos Brathwaite (34 n.o.) mocked the 19 runs required from the final six deliveries.
The burly Brathwaite’s riposte — 6, 6, 6 and 6 — stunned England and forced a hapless Ben Stokes, the bowler, on to his haunches.
The West Indies won by four wickets, scoring 161 for six in 19.4 overs while in pursuit of England’s 155 for nine.
In racing towards the victor’s podium, the West Indies became the only squad so far to win the World Twenty20 title twice, having secured it last in 2012.
The exuberant Caribbean celebrations were back on the cricket field as the West Indian women declared themselves the best in the world.
West Indies women convincingly outsmarted the seemingly invincible Australians to win the maiden ICC World T20 women’s title here at the Eden Gardens.