Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 November 2016

:: National ::

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be levied at multiple rates ranging from 0 per cent to 28 per cent.
Ultra luxuries, demerit and sin goods, will attract a cess for a period of five years on top of the 28 per cent GST.
Overcoming opposition from some States, the GST Council finalised a multiple-slab rate structure, including the cess, for the new indirect tax. The quantum of cess on each of these will depend on the current incidence of tax.
On nearly half of the consumer inflation basket, including food grains, the GST will be at 0 per cent, Council Chairman and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told a media conference after the meeting.
The approved slabs vary slightly from the proposal the Centre had moved at the Council’s last meeting. The lowest slab of 5 per cent will be for items of common consumption.
There would be two standard rates of 12 per cent and 18 per cent, which would fall on the bulk of the goods and services. This includes fast-moving consumer goods.
The highest slab of 28 per cent will include white goods and all those items on which the current rate of incidence varies from 30-31 per cent.

The Indo Tibetan Border Police and the Army have been engaged in a face- off with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army along the Line of Actual Control in Leh’s Demchok area.
Around 50 Chinese Army personnel had come close to the Indian side of the LAC and were refusing to go back.
The Chinese side is objecting to an irrigation project under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to link a village with a ‘hot spring’.
The Chinese troops took positions and demanded that work be stopped as either side needs permission before undertaking any work.
India disputed the claim, stating that as per the agreement between the two countries, information about construction needs to be shared only if it was meant for defence purposes.
This is the first time since the 2014 incident when Chinese Army had come deep inside the Indian territory in Demchok to protest an ongoing irrigation project.

Delhi faces the worst smog in 17 years as visibility in the Capital morning remained poor and the city choked its way through a haze.
Environment experts said the Delhi government must issue health alerts and warn children and other vulnerable sections to stay indoors.
As per the India Meteorological Department, the smog on November 2 was the worst in 17 years. This demands emergency response to protect the vulnerable – those who are suffering from respiratory and heart diseases and children.
The CSE analysis also found that post-Diwali peak of pollution is higher than the Diwali peak.
Analysis of data from Delhi Pollution Control Committee shows that the levels of PM 2.5 have increased by 62.7 per cent on November 2 as compared to that on Diwali.
According to SAFAR, PM 2.5 levels are in severe category and are expected to remain in this category for more than three days.
Satellite images of NASA’s fire mapper have showed that incidences of paddy burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have increased after Diwali.
The images clearly revealed that after October 30, crop burning in Punjab, Haryana and UP became more aggressive which would have contributed to the severe smog in the national capital.

NASA has successfully completed building the mirror of the largest space telescope, which will be 100 times more powerful than the Hubble probe and may find the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be the successor to NASA’s 26-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb telescope’s infrared cameras are so sensitive that it needs to be shielded from the rays of the Sun.
A five-layer sunshield of the size of a tennis court will prevent the background heat from the Sun from interfering with the telescope’s infrared sensors.
The five layers of membrance are each as thin as a human hair.
It will go into space on a European Ariane rocket from French Guiana, but before that is possible the delicate hardware must be tested to ensure it will survive the ride.

Centre has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of steel wire rods from China to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap in-bound shipments.
The Department of Revenue in a notification said anti-dumping duty is being imposed for six months on import of wire road of alloy or non-alloy steel from China.
The measure follows recommendation by the DGAD that steel wire road was being exported by China “below the normal value” and “the domestic industry has suffered material injury” because of such imports.

Services sector activity in the country gathered pace in October, driven by sharper increase in new business orders amid strong demand and improved market conditions.
The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks services sector companies on a monthly basis, stood at 54.5 in October as against 52.0 in September.
The Services PMI recorded above the no-change mark of 50.0 for the 16th straight month, highlighting sustained growth in the sector. A reading above 50 means the sector is expanding while below that points to contraction.
On the prices front, the survey noted that input costs of providers rose but at a softer rate.

Justice R.M. Lodha Committee has advised the BCCI to comply with the Supreme Court orders to “avoid any hindrance to the cricketing calendar and to ensure the continued enjoyment of the sport by its aficionados”.
The Supreme Court has asked the BCCI and its full members to adopt the Justice Lodha Committee recommended Memorandum of Association, Rules and Regulations.
The Lodha Committee has also told the BCCI that “The proposed MOU between the BCCI and ECB concerns bilateral cricketing policy, the formulation of which is not a part of the mandate of the Committee.”
The BCCI has asked the five staging associations — Saurashtra, Andhra, Punjab, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu — if they can host the Test matches without facing financial crunch.