Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 February 2017

:: National ::

Controversial travel ban suspended by US

U.S. authorities suspended President Donald Trump’s controversial ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries, following a court ruling that blocked its enforcement.
“We have reversed the provisional revocation of visas,” a U.S. State Department spokesman told AFP.
The department had said some 60,000 travel visas had been revoked in compliance with the President’s recent executive order.
Those individuals with visas that were not physically cancelled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid.

Assembly polls in Punjab and Goa saw a big turnout

Despite overcast and cold conditions, the Assembly polls in Punjab saw a voter turnout of 78.62%.
Voter turnout was 78.62% with Mansa district witnessing the highest polling at 87.34%, while the least polling was seen at 71.9% in SAS Nagar (Mohali). The State recorded 78.57% polling in 2012.
Reports suggested that EVMs with voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) developed technical snags at few polling booths in Majitha and Sangrur. These were later replaced with regular EVMs.
VVPAT was being used for the first time and hence at a few places we did face problems due to which polling was hindered for a while. These machines were replaced,” said Chief Electoral Officer.

Samples from the oil spill analysed by the Central Pollution Control Board

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is analysing samples from the oil spill resulting from a collision between two ships off the coast of Tamil Nadu.
Clean-up operations are being coordinated by the Coast Guard and involve several disparate organisations; however the Union Environment Ministry is expected to present a status report on the damage done.
Preliminary assessments said several species of fish and turtle are believed to have been killed because of the spill.
The Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services has estimated that about 20 tonnes of oil may have leaked when the vessels, M.T. BW Maple and M.T. Dawn Kanchipuram collided at the Kamarajar Port.
The M.T. Dawn Kanchipuram , was carrying 32,813 tonnes of oil as cargo, though in a statement, Kamarajar Port authorities said it was engine oil and not cargo oil, that had leaked.

:: International ::

Sanctions over notorious Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar lifted by UN

The UN Security Council has lifted sanctions on the notorious Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, previously branded “a global terrorist” and accused of war crimes.
The move follows a peace deal between Hekmatyar’s insurgent group Hezb-i-Islami and the Afghan government in September that granted him legal immunity from past offences, sparking outrage from rights groups.
Although Hekmatyar is accused of killing thousands in Kabul during the 1992-1996 civil war, many foreign governments, including the U.S., praised the landmark accord as a step towards peace in Afghanistan.
A statement on the UNSC’s website said an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo targeting Hekmatyar no longer applied.
It theoretically opens the way for Hekmatyar’s return to Kabul after two decades of exile in Iran and then in Pakistan.

Iran remain defaint of USA sanctions

Iran was to deploy missiles for a Revolutionary Guards exercise on Saturday in a show of defiance, a day after the United States imposed sanctions over a ballistic missile test launch.
Relations between Washington and Tehran have deteriorated sharply since Donald Trump took office last month promising a tough line on what he sees as Iranian belligerency towards U.S. interests and allies.
Hours after the new U.S. sanctions were announced, Pentagon chief James Mattis charged that Iran was “the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world”.
The new sanctions are a response to Iran’s test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile as well as its support for Yemeni rebels who attacked a Saudi frigate.
Iran’s Vice-President urged calm heads to prevail. “These are worn-out accusations against Iran and even the [accuser] himself is ashamed of saying it,” state news agency IRNA quoted Eshagh Jahangiri as saying.

:: Science and Technology ::

Anticancer agent promotes regeneration of damaged heart muscle

In a new development, researchers have found out that a cancer drug could promote regeneration of heart tissue.
An anticancer agent in development promotes regeneration of damaged heart muscle. This is an unexpected research finding that may help prevent congestive heart failure in the future.
Many parts of the body, such as blood cells and the lining of the gut, continuously renew themselves throughout a person’s life.
Others, such as the heart, do not. Because of the heart’s inability to repair itself, damage caused by a heart attack causes permanent scarring that frequently results in serious weakening of the heart, known as heart failure.
These molecules are crucial for tissue regeneration, but also frequently contribute to cancer.
Essential to the production of Wnt proteins in humans is the porcupine (Porcn) enzyme, so-named because fruit fly embryos lacking this gene resemble a porcupine. In testing the porcupine inhibitor, the researchers noted a curiosity.
Based on their initial results, the researchers induced heart attacks in mice and then treated them with a porcupine inhibitor. Their hearts’ ability to pump blood improved by nearly twofold compared to untreated animals.

:: Business and Economy ::

The increased focus on human capital development in Budget 2017

The increased focus on human capital development in Budget 2017 to empower the youth is indeed a welcome step.
The several key announcements in education, skills and youth development shall have structural and long term impact on quality of education, availability of qualified manpower and preparing the next generation.
All aspects of human capital development have been addressed in the Budget. The provision to introduce measurement of annual learning outcome in schools of 3,479 educationally backward blocks could be a game changer in improving the quality of elementary education.
To ingrain the element of innovation at the school level, an innovation fund is to be created for secondary education for ideation on solutions for universal access, gender parity and quality improvement.
The quality of higher education is sought to be improved through greater autonomy for colleges based on quality metrics and accreditation.
These efforts will be further amplified by online courses through the SWAYAM platform which will offer at least 350 online courses.
In medical education and healthcare, the Budget has made provisions for increasing 5000 PG seats to tide over the severe lack of specialists in clinical practice.
It has also proposed to allow select private hospitals to offer DNB courses in specializations and has added to the provision of public sector tertiary care through 2 additional AIIMS in Gujarat and Jharkhand.
Budget has emphasised on reforming the UGC and has proposed a new authority for conducting all entrance exams, thereby freeing the CBSE and ICSE from the tedious administrative exercise.
The skills ecosystem will be improved by extending the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras to more than 600 districts.
Separately, 100 India International Skills Centres are proposed across the country to make life easier for outbound immigrants looking for soft skills and foreign language proficiency.
The next phase for Skill India is envisaged as Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) to be launched with an additional budget of INR 2,200 crore.
STRIVE will focus on improving the quality and market relevance of vocational training provided in ITIs and strengthen the apprenticeship programmes through industry cluster approach.
India was ranked 130th among 188 countries in the 2015 edition of the UNDP HDI Index which broadly measures life expectancy, education and per capita income.
This was despite the fact that real per capita GDP has grown 6.2% during 1990-2014; improving the education and health standards are therefore imperative for raising living standards of the population.
This holds true for an evolving world driven by new age technologies, automation and digitisation.
The announcements in the Budget aim at creating an enabling ecosystem for financing social sector and channelising private sector capital towards actualising the much needed change in India’s socio-economic development.

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo’s to visit India

Talks on the proposed global rules on e-commerce are likely to take centre stage during the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevêdo’s two-day visit to India starting February 8.
India has been opposing attempts, mainly by the rich nations, to incorporate what it calls, ‘new issues’ such as e-commerce and investment in the ongoing Doha Round talks of the WTO.
It is on the grounds that it would lead to the ‘dilution’ of the ‘development agenda’ (that is to improve the trading prospects of developing countries) of the negotiations.
While it is not against informal and non-binding discussions on issues like e-commerce, New Delhi has said these topics cannot be made part of the formal agenda of WTO negotiations without consensus among all the WTO member.
Several Indian companies had expressed reservations regarding a global, regional or bilateral pact on e-commerce fearing it would favour multinational firms.
India’s e-commerce policy is not yet evolved for it to take a stand regarding a global e-commerce pact, they said, adding that there were differences between ministries on issues such as ‘data localisation.’
As per the WTO, in 2015, global e-commerce in goods and services was worth about $22 trillion, and has grown the fastest in emerging economies.
The ICC and the B20 had proposed that “WTO members (should) give active consideration to launching new talks on a holistic package of trade disciplines, rules and assistance to boost MSME e-commerce with an overriding objective to promote inclusive growth.”
ICC had said: “Recognising the importance of e-commerce for the world economy, WTO Members agreed in 1998 to a standstill whereby no customs duties are imposed on e-commerce transmissions.