Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 06 July 2016

:: National ::

Govt redraws its team

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expansion of his Council of Ministers turned out to be a redrawing of his entire team, with major changes in portfolios held by senior members.
This seems to be a consequence of a very thorough performance appraisal done by Mr. Modi of his Ministers over the last three months, during his monthly meetings with his entire Council.
Prakash Javadekar, promoted to Cabinet rank, was one of the biggest gainers in the reshuffle, bagging the prestigious Human Resource Development portfolio.
He replaces Smriti Irani, who has been handed the Textiles portfolio. This brings to an end Ms. Irani’s controversy-ridden tenure, which saw unrest break out in campuses across the country.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley opted out of handling the I&B Ministry, with the charge now being handled by Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu. Mr. Jaitley will handle Corporate Affairs as well, as before.
It was also promotion time for Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who got back the Law portfolio after losing it in November 2015.
His Communications portfolio has been given to Manoj Sinha, who has been promoted to Minister of State with independent charge.
Another big gainer was Minister of State for Power Piyush Goel, who gets Coal and Mines as well.
This major rejig, with the induction of 19 new faces, is significant with regard to the upcoming Parliament session, with Ananth Kumar, known for networking across party lines, being given additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs.
According to a list of portfolio allocations released by the government Anil Madhav Dave, sworn in as Minister of State, has been given independent charge of Environment and Forests and Climate Change.
While Vijay Goel has been allocated the portfolio of Sports and Youth Affairs, again as independent charge.

Madras High Court provides guidelines for freedom of expression

The Madras High Court has said it is the State’s responsibility to maintain law and order, and that it should not permit any compulsion on artists concerned to withdraw from their stand.
It is important for the authorities to follow certain guidelines so that necessary precautions are taken to nip in the bud attempts to bring pressure on them so that it does not assume the proportion of a law and order scenario.
Elaborating on the freedom of speech enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, Bench said: “The presumption is bound to be in favour of free speech and expression as envisaged, unless a court of law finds it otherwise as falling within the domain of a reasonable restriction under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.
Observing that it was time for the government to constitute an expert body to deal with situations arising from such conflicts of views
Such an expert body or panel of experts would obviate the kind of situations the court has discussed in the present case.
In such matters of art and culture, the issue could not be left to the police authorities or the local administration alone, especially when there was a spurt in such conflicts, the judges added.

High proportion of freshwater biodiversity in the Kerala moving towards extinction

More than half of the endemic freshwater biodiversity in the Kerala region of the Western Ghats could be inching towards extinction in habitats outside protected areas, a recent study by an expert group has revealed.
More than half of the 130 species were not represented in the Protected Area (PA) network of the State.
Odonates and freshwater shrimps had the fewest endemic species represented inside the protected areas of the State.
The scientists who are part of the study team feel that Kerala will have to nearly double the area of the current PA network by widening the extent of existing PAs or creating new ones, especially targeting areas that are significant for biodiversity.
The paper points out that conservation efforts by the government had failed to address the issue despite the drastic impact of human activities and natural disturbances on freshwater ecosystems of the Western Ghats.
The paper notes that native freshwater biodiversity inside protected areas was exposed to multiple threats like invasive alien species, damming of rivers and infectious diseases.
Although 62 endemic freshwater species occur inside the PA network, they are rarely subject to species- specific management or monitoring plans, it observes.

:: International ::

Bangladesh hopes that the global community will support in fighting terrorism

Bangladesh has hoped that the international community will support the country in fighting terrorism.
Seven militants killed 20 visitors at an upmarket café in Dhaka in an overnight siege. The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility.
Mr. Ali said terrorism was a global challenge and that Dhaka would continue to work “closely” with other countries, regional bodies and the UN to fight the menace.
Around 50 diplomats, most of them Ambassadors and High Commissioners from countries such as the U.S., U.K. Japan, Italy, Turkey, India and Pakistan, attended the briefing.
Meanwhile, the police have started interrogating more suspects besides two North South University teachers — Hasanat Reza Karim and Tahmid Hasib Khan.
The police declined to disclose the identities of the others who are under interrogation “in the interest of the investigation”.

Beijing and Tokyo at loggerheads

Beijing and Tokyo were at loggerheads on Tuesday over accusations that Japanese warplanes locked their fire control radar onto Chinese aircraft.
Beijing also accuses Tokyo of interfering in the South China Sea, where it is not a claimant but has strengthened ties with some of the rivals, including the Philippines.
China bases its maritime claims on a vaguely defined “nine-dash line” dating back to maps it produced in the 1940s.
Manila lodged its suit against Beijing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in early 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues.
The tribunal will issue its ruling on July 12, though China has consistently rejected its right to hear the case and has taken no part in the proceedings.

Science and Technology ::

NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit

NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit after a five-year journey from the Earth, in a giant step to understand the origin and evolution of the king of planets and the solar system.
Juno will study the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter’s intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere and observe auroras on our solar system’s largest planet.
The mission also will let us take a big step forward in our understanding of how giant planets form, NASA said. Juno’s name comes from Greek and Roman mythology.
The mythical god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife — the goddess Juno — was able to peer through the clouds and unveil his true nature.

:: Business and Economy ::

Indian financial markets will experience limited impact from Brexit: Moody's

Indian financial markets will experience limited impact from Britain exiting the European Union (EU), according to Moody’s Investors Service.
Factors such as subdued global demand, weak rural incomes, higher food inflation and high leverage for some large corporates are likely to have a more immediate effect on the economy.
“Exports to the U.K. and the rest of the European Union account for 0.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent of India’s GDP respectively. Only a very large and prolonged slump in imports from these regions, which is not our baseline assumption, would markedly dent India’s exports,” it said.
There are reasons for less growth in India. First, lacklustre global demand constrains exports, which account for around 20 per cent of GDP,” the note said.
“Second, two years of drought have dampened consumption with weak rural incomes and higher food inflation lowering purchasing power.
Lastly, high leverage for some large corporates weighs on credit demand while impaired assets in the banking system negatively affect credit supply.”
Continued high corporate leverage, low nominal domestic growth and a lack of corporate pricing power will hold back investment activity for at least several quarters with poor asset quality and weak capitalisation likely to restrict public sector bank lending capacity, Moody’s said.

Banks need $90 bn to meet Basel-III norms: Fitch

Domestic banks will need a whopping $90 billion capital to meet the Basel-III norms which will be fully implemented by the March 2016, rating agency Fitch said.
Public sector banks will needs 80 per cent of the estimated capital, Fitch said.
“The capital needs have come down due to weak loan growth, but they are onerous for the banks, given weak asset quality and internal capital generation,” it said in a statement."
Out of the total capital requirement, more than 50 per cent has to be met via core equity and the rest largely via Additional Tier-1 (AT1) debt capital instruments.
Public sector banks have seen sharp rise in bad loans in the second half of 2015-16 and many of them reported heavy losses.
Fitch said the viability ratings of these banks will be under more pressure if capital levels are not addressed, either by the government or the market.

The Centre approved an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore to provide apprenticeship

The Centre approved an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore towards a scheme to provide apprenticeship training to 50 lakh youth by 2020.
The approved National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme will provide financial incentives to employers to engage apprentices.
Under the scheme, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will share 25 per cent of the total stipend payable to an apprentice with employers.
The government will also fund 50 per cent of the total expenditure incurred by the employer in providing basis training to apprentices.
Some analysts felt financial incentives were only a miniscule component of the entire scheme of things that needed to be addressed to encourage apprenticeship training.