Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 July 2016

:: National ::

Govt will be undertaking an expansion of his Council of Ministers with a nod to the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and bolstering the talent pool with “doers”, albeit mostly with junior Ministers.
The expansion is being made keeping in view the need to bring in doers, and performers who would deliver on Prime Minister Modi’s promise of good governance.
Almora MP Ajay Tamta, finds a berth, and is a Dalit. Mahendranath Pandey and Krishna Raj, both from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, have also got ministerial berths.
Among NDA allies, apart from Apna Dal, the Republican Party of India’s Ramdas Athawale will be included.
Rajasthan MP P.P. Choudhary, who is a Supreme Court advocate, had been chosen for his professional expertise; Subhash Rao Bhamre, first time MP from Dhule, Maharashtra, is a well known oncological surgeon, while M.J. Akbar is an acclaimed journalist.

Big and high-end diesel cars have better emission norms and pollute less than the commoner’s small cars, the Centre told the Supreme Court.
Govt. challeneged the court’s blanket ban on fresh registration of diesel luxury cars and SUVs with over 2000 CC engine capacity in the national capital.
Besides, the government warned the highest judiciary that if the continued, global car makers would opt to leave India for greener pastures, rendering lakhs of youths without jobs and FDI in a shambles.

Researchers from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium have built a sensitive electronic nose with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that can detect pesticides and nerve gas in very low concentrations.
MOFs are like microscopic sponges. They can absorb quite a lot of gas into their minuscule pores. The chemical sensor can easily be integrated into existing electronic devices.
The best-known electronic nose is the breathalyser. As drivers breathe into the device, a chemical sensor measures the amount of alcohol in their breath.
This chemical reaction is then converted into an electronic signal, allowing a police officer to read the result.
The new MOF is the most sensitive gas sensor to date for dangerous substances.

Radiation levels across the Pacific Ocean are rapidly returning to normal five years after a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant spewed gases and liquids into the sea.
Japan shut down dozens of reactors after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake-generated tsunami on March 11, 2011 triggered one of the largest ever dumps of nuclear material into the world’s oceans.
In the days following the quake and explosions at Fukushima, seawater meant to cool the nuclear reactors instead carried radioactive elements back into the Pacific.
Five years on, a review by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, which brings together ocean experts from across the world, said radioactive material had been carried as far as the United States.
But after analysing data from 20 studies of radioactivity associated with the plant, it found radiation levels in the Pacific were rapidly returning to normal after being tens of millions of times higher than usual following the disaster.
The research examined radioactive caesium levels measured off Japan’s coast across the Pacific to North America.
Caesium is a by-product of nuclear power and is highly soluble in water, making it ideal for measuring the release of radioactive material into the ocean, it said.
Cleaning up Fukushima and making the area habitable again is a crucial plank of government policy in Japan, with Tokyo keen to prove nuclear power is a viable form of energy production for the resource-poor nation.

Criticising the strong reactions from India over China blocking its bid to enter NSG, a state-run daily said India is “still stuck” in the 1962 war mindset as it called for a more objective evaluation of Beijing’s stand.
“The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into NSG,” an article in Global Times said.
The country seems to be “still stuck” in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the “obsolete geopolitical view” that China does not want to see India’s rise, it said.
Continuing to justify China’s stand to block New Delhi’s bid, the article harped on the often repeated argument of signing the NPT being a must for India to join the NSG and that consensus is required for entry of new members.
Quoting Political scientist Zheng Yongnian who stated that that, “China’s bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-U.S. relationship,” it said ties with China are of great significance to India as well.

For three days Kabul, like much of the Muslim world, will come to a celebratory halt.
The sense of anticipation is a welcome if brief relief from Afghanistan’s worsening conflict, with a resurgent Taliban stepping up attacks across the country nearly 15 years after launching their insurgency.
Just last week more than 30 police cadets were killed in Kabul as a double suicide blast ripped through the bus that was taking them home for Eid.
While the years of fighting have not destroyed the customs surrounding Eid, they have left their mark, with the economy brought to its knees by the insurgency.
For just a few days, the girl — who, for her part, defies tradition by wearing a baseball cap instead of the veil — does not want to think about war.

Nearly 200 stocks hit their one-year high level on the BSE supported by a rally in the broader market where the Sensex rose by about 134 points, registering gains for the sixth session.
A total of 192 firms surged to their 52-week high mark, including BPCL, DLF, GAIL, Godrej Consumer Products, Hero MotoCorp, IOC, M&M, NHPC, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, and Yes Bank.
The 30-share Sensex ended higher by 133.85 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 27,278.76 — its highest closing since October 26 last year.
It had added 747.20 points in the past five sessions.

Companies raised as much as Rs.5,855 crore through initial public offers (IPO) in the first three months of the current financial year, the highest quarterly mobilisation in nine years.
According to Prime Database, a primary market tracker, the three-month period between April and June saw six main board IPOs and as many as 13 offers in the segment for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Main board IPOs are listed on the main platform of BSE and NSE while there is a separate segment for listing of SME companies. Both, BSE and NSE have such dedicated platforms.
Despite a volatile secondary market, six main-board IPOs hit the market collectively raising Rs.5,728 crore in the quarter (corresponding period of FY16 saw five IPOs collecting Rs.2,280 crore).
The previous highest-ever mobilisation through IPOs (April-June) was in 2007-08 at Rs.13,083 crore.
The domestic institutional investors played a significant role as anchor investors with their subscription amounting to 21 per cent of the amount compared to 12 per cent from foreign investors.