Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 6 AUGUST 2019

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Ending Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in the Indian Union, the BJP government extended all provisions of the Constitution to the State in one go, downsized the State into two Union Territories and allowed all citizens to buy property and vote in the State.
Leading the charge, Home Minister Amit Shah piloted two special resolutions and a Bill creating the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh through the RajyaSabha on Monday. While the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature, the one in Ladakh will not.
The government’s surgical strike on the State’s autonomy came as telephone and Internet services in the Valley were suspended, former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti remained under arrest and thousands of additional Central security personnel were deployed.
Dismissing concerns that there would be “bloodshed” in the Valley, Mr. Shah said this was a “new experiment” and everyone should support it. “Terrorism cannot end in the State till Article 370 or 35A continue. They are an obstacle to development. We want to embrace the Kashmiri youth. The move will bring development, tourism and industries to the State. These opportunities till now were controlled by only three families,” he said.

The LokSabha on Monday passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 by a voice vote. The Bill, introduced by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, seeks to ban commercial surrogacy and provides for constituting a National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Boards, and the appointment of appropriate authorities for the regulation of the practice and process of surrogacy.
Speaking on the Bill Dr.Vardhan said: “The Bill is aimed at ending the exploitation of women who are lending their womb for surrogacy, and protecting the rights of children born through this. The Bill will also look after the interests of the couple that opt for surrogacy, ensuring that there are laws protecting them against exploitation by clinics that are carrying this out as a business.”
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill regulates altruistic surrogacy and prohibits commercial surrogacy. It defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an eligible couple and agrees to hand over the child to them after the birth.

To protect the interest of online shoppers, the Department of Consumer Affairs has released draft guidelines on e-commerce that state that an e-commerce entity cannot directly or indirectly influence the price of the goods or services.
The draft ‘e-commerce guidelines for consumer protection 2019,’ which adds that e-commerce firms need to ensure that personally identifiable information of customers is protected, is open for stakeholder comments for 45 days or till September 16, 2019.
As per the draft, an e-commerce firm cannot falsely represent themselves as consumers or post reviews about goods and services in their name.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitha raman will hold separate meetings with representatives of various sectors over the course of the week, following which the government will decide on the steps needed to bolster the economy, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with the heads of PSBs, Ms.Sitharaman said that the government would decide on the way forward on the service tax demand from the banks after they replied to the notices sent to them.
Meanwhile the income tax department had issued notices to the banks to pay service tax amounting to a total of Rs. 38,000 crore on the penalties they imposed on customers for low balances in their accounts.The banks had disputed this and approached the Delhi High Court for redressal.

A UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission has urged foreign businesses and governments to sever ties with more than 140 companies owned or controlled by the Myanmar military Tatmadaw.
In the report released by UNHRC today, it said these companies help the Myanmar army to avoid public scrutiny and carry out human rights violations with impunity.
It also called for the immediate imposition of targeted sanctions against companies run by the military. The report accused the military of carrying out extensive human rights violations against civilians in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine provinces, including the forced deportation of more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya to Bangladesh.

The mayor of Hiroshima urged Japan to sign a landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons as the city today marked 74 years since being targeted in the world's first atomic attack.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led commemorations at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima as residents offered silent prayers, lit candles and placed wreathes to remember those killed in the August 6, 1945 bombing.
Mayor Kazumi Matsui used the occasion to push the Abe administration to sign the UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, approved by more than 120 nations, but rejected by the US and other nuclear armed countries.
Japan remains the only country to have experienced atomic attack -- against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, days ahead of the country's surrender on August 15, 1945 to end World War II.

The Prime Minister’s announcement that tiger numbers have increased in the country may be good news. But the loss of habitat, a decline of prey and poaching continues to be a threat to tigers’ survival.
Along with these, a potential virus — Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) — that can be transmitted from CDV-infected dogs living in and around wildlife sanctuaries has started to raise concern among wildlife biologists.
A recent study published in Threatened Taxa notes that 86% of the tested dogs around Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan carried CDV antibodies in their bloodstream.
This means that the dogs are either currently infected or have been infected sometime in their life and have overcome the disease. This finding points out that there is an increased risk of disease transfer from the dogs to tigers and leopards that live in the park.
Last year, over 20 lions from the Gir forest succumbed to the viral infection and now a guideline has been prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority to prevent the spillover of the disease to wild animals.
The easy way out is prevention. Managing any disease in a wildlife population is extremely difficult. Most dogs are free ranging and not owned by any particular person in the village. The government should take the initiative to vaccinate the dogs around wildlife sanctuaries in the country. This would be a good time to vaccinate against rabies as well.