Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 July 2016

:: National ::

Apex courts asks reasons for less disabled people in govt services

Supreme Court asked government to investigate the “barriers” preventing disabled persons from entering government service, especially into the higher ranks.
“The intent is to turn persons with disability (PWD) into ‘agents of their own destiny’.
The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 was enacted to fulfill India’s obligations under the ‘Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of the People with Disabilities in the Asia and Pacific Region’.
It is disheartening to note that (admittedly) low numbers of PWD (much below three per cent) are in government employment long years after the 1995 Act,” a Supreme Court judgment by a Bench observed.
The apex court said the government must scrutinise the barriers to their entry by rigorous standards within the legal framework of the 1995 Act.
The apex court observed that there is hardly any representation of disabled persons in higher governmental hierarchy despite certain posts having been identified as suitable for them.
SC dismissed the government's argument that “providing for reservation (for disabled persons) in higher level posts is constitutionally impermissible,”
Supreme Court observed the basis for providing them preferential treatment is solely their physical disability and not factors banned by the Constitution like caste and religion.

Another terrorist attack in Baghdad

A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State (IS) ripped through a busy Baghdad shopping district, killing at least 119 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq’s capital.
The blast hit the Karrada district early in the day as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week’s holiday, marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The attack came a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured Fallujah from the IS, leaving Mosul as the only Iraqi city under the jihadist group’s control.
IS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of the group’s “ongoing security operations”.
The jihadist group said the blast targeted members of Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority, whom the Sunni extremists consider heretics and frequently attack in Baghdad and elsewhere.
Bombings in the capital have decreased since the IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, with the jihadists apparently occupied with operations elsewhere.

Kiribati's survival in danger

For years, scientists have been predicting that much of Kiribati may become uninhabitable within decades because of an onslaught of environmental problems linked to climate change.
And for just as long, many here have paid little heed. But while scientists are reluctant to attribute any specific weather or tidal event to rising sea levels, the tidal surge last winter, known as a king tide, was a chilling wake-up call.\
Pacific island nations are among the world’s most physically and economically vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events like floods, earthquakes and tropical cyclones, the World Bank said in a 2013 report.
While world powers have summit meetings to negotiate treaties on how to reduce and mitigate carbon emissions, residents of tiny Kiribati, a former British colony with 1,10,000 people, are debating how to respond before it is too late.
Much of Kiribati, a collection of 33 coral atolls and reef islands scattered across a swath of the Pacific Ocean about twice the size of Alaska, lies no higher than 6 feet above sea level.
The latest climate models predict the world’s oceans could rise 5 to 6 feet by 2100.
The prospects of rising seas and intensifying storms “threaten the very existence and livelihoods of large segments of the population,” the government told the UN in a report last year.

:: International ::

China to hold military drills in the disputed South China Sea

China will hold military drills in the disputed South China Sea ahead of an international tribunal ruling over Beijing’s maritime claims in the resource-rich area.
The drills will be held in waters around the Paracel Islands from July 5 to 11, with other ships prohibited from entering the waters during that time.
The military exercises come as an international tribunal in The Hague prepares to rule on a case brought by the Philippines challenging China’s claims in the strategic waterway.
Manila lodged the suit against Beijing in early 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues to settle the dispute.

IS retains ability to strike amid losses

The Baghdad bombings demonstrated the extremists’ ability to mount significant attacks despite major battlefield losses, including the city of Fallujah, which was declared “fully liberated” from IS just over a week ago.
The deadliest attack took place in the central Karrada district of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laded pickup truck outside a crowded shopping centre.
Within hours, IS claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted online, saying they had deliberately targeted Shia Muslims.
Until the government launched its Fallujah operation, the Prime Minister had faced growing social unrest and anti-government protests sparked, in part, by popular anger at the lack of security in the capital.
In one month, Baghdad’s highly-fortified Green Zone which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions was stormed twice by anti-government protesters.

:: Science and Technology ::

Juno spacecraft is barrelling toward Jupiter

Juno, an unmanned NASA spacecraft, is barrelling toward Jupiter on a $1.1 billion mission to circle the biggest planet in the solar system and shed new light on the origin of our planetary neighbourhood.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. Its atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium and packed with so much radiation that it would be more than 1,000 times the lethal level for a human.
The gas giant is enshrouded in the strongest magnetic field in the solar system.
Jupiter is perhaps best known for its Great Red Spot, which is actually a massive storm, bigger than the Earth, that has been roiling for hundreds of years.
The planet is marked by cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water that appear as reddish, brown and beige stripes and swirls.
Getting close, and surviving, is no easy feat. Even though the spacecraft is entirely robotic and controllers on Earth can do nothing at this stage.

:: Business and Economy ::

Various challenges awaits new RBI governor

With Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan deciding not to seek a second term, the government is in the process of finalising Mr Rajan’s successor, and an announcement is expected shortly.
While the names of several economists and bureaucrats are doing roundsone thing certain is that the new governor will face number of challenges ranging from reining in inflation to managing currency volatility.
One of the immediate challenge is the redemption pressure of the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (bank) deposits, or the FCNR(B) deposits, as outflows will start from September.
These deposits were raised in 2013 when the rupee was depreciating sharply and went on to hit its lowest against the dollar in August 2013. While Mr. Rajan said the outflows, estimated at about $20 billion, was a non-event, there are concerns of foreign inflows slowing down.
The new governor will be also the first one to make his policy stance under the new framework of the Monetary Policy Committee. The Centre has already laid down the rules for the selection of its nominees to the panel.
MPC is a departure from the present practice where the entire onus rests on the governor for any rate decision.
While the governor will have the casting vote if there is a tie, the responsibility will be shared by the committee. The governor has to ensure that he does not opt for the casting vote frequently. .
The new governor will take charge amid expectation of sharp cuts in interest rates – something which Mr. Rajan resisted. RBI had reduced the policy rate by 150 bps to 6.5 per cent between January 2015 and now.
The burden of expectation now will fall on the new governor at a time when retail inflation accelerated to a near two-year high of 5.76 per cent in May, driven by surging prices of food products such as pulses and sugar.
The outgoing governor has cautioned against dropping the guard against inflation.
The new governor may find it challenging to manage rate cut expectation of the government and the industry at a time when inflation is on the rise, said a former central banker.
The new governor also has to complete the task of cleaning up of Indian banks that was started by Mr. Rajan, who had set a deadline of March 2017 to complete the exercise.
There are requests from banks to extend regulatory forbearance that Mr. Rajan has resisted. These requests will resurface again with the new governor taking charge. Also, saddled with bad loans, banks, particularly public sector ones, have squeezed lending.

India’s biggest oil refinery to cost $30 billion

India’s biggest oil refinery that state-run IOC, BPCL, HPCL and EIL plan to set up on the west coast will cost $30 billion or Rs.2 lakh crore.
The 60 million tonnes a year refinery and a mega petrochemical complex will be set up in two phases. Phase-1 will be 40 million tons together with an aromatic complex, naphtha cracker and polymer complex.
Phase-1 will cost Rs 1.2-1.5 lakh crore and will come up in 5-6 years from the date of land acquisition.
IOC has been looking at west coast for a refinery as catering to customers in West and South was difficult with its refineries mostly in the North.
HPCL and BPCL have also been looking at a bigger refinery because of constraints they face at their Mumbai units.
Fifteen million tonnes a year is the biggest refinery any public sector unit has set up in one stage. IOC recently started its 15 million tonnes unit at Paradip in Odisha.
Reliance Industries holds the distinction of building the biggest refinery in India till now. It built its first refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat with a capacity of 27 million tonnes (mt) , which was subsequently expanded to 33 million tonnes.
Being on the west coast will provide the unit a natural advantage of easily sourcing crude oil from the Middle-East, Africa and South America.