Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 January 2017

:: National ::

14th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas got off the ground

With a record participation since its inception, the 14th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas got off the ground amid deliberations on several issues concerning the Indian diaspora across the globe.
The number of delegates that has now crossed 7,100 has been “unprecedented” since the inception of the event in 2003 to provide a platform for engagement between the diaspora and the government.
“It is also unprecedented to have about 1,700 overseas participants and about 300 to 500 NRIs living in India, participating,” he added.
While concerns were raised on not having separate session to address grievances of those residing in Gulf countries, all the issues pertaining to those living abroad were being addressed.
After the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas — the first day of the event, the diaspora representing 72 countries is looking forward for Sunday’s sessions on grievances and issues that have been deliberated over the past 10 months.

EC has sought a response from the Centre on defering Union Budget

The Election Commission has sought a response from the Centre on petitions for deferring the presentation of the Union Budget in view of the coming Assembly elections in five States.
The EC has written to Cabinet Secretary, asking for a response by January 10. The government has maintained that the budget presentation need not be postponed; otherwise developmental works in other States would suffer.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said that a representation for deferment of the budget was being examined, and the EC would take a decision in due course. The budget is to be presented on February 1.
EC sources said the date would not change in case the government decided against postponing the budget presentation.
The budget session of Parliament was convened to start from January 31. President Pranab Mukherjee has summoned the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha to meet on January 31, according to official notifications.

MEA may announce allowing online voting for Non-Resident Indians

The Ministry of External Affairs is waiting for a formal announcement on allowing online voting by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and is closely working with the Election Commission on this issue.
On the issue of allowing NRIs to return the demonetised currency of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, Ministry has considered the reasonable needs of NRIs following which the deadline has been extended to June 30.
Although Government was not ready to commit that deadline of returning notes would be extended to end of 2017.

:: International ::

Pakistan to wind up its special military courts

Pakistan was to wind up its special military courts, two years after they were set up for a speedy trial of hardcore militants following a Taliban attack on an Army school that killed nearly 150 children.
The courts were established through an amendment in the Constitution after the attack in Peshawar on December 16, 2014.
There was no formal statement either from the government or the military announcing the end of the extraordinary powers for trial of civilians by the military.
However, the insertion of a ‘sunset clause’ in the amendment ensures that the courts will be wound up.
They handled 275 cases during two years and sentenced 161 to death, whereas another 116 were given varying jail terms, mostly life sentences. Twelve convicts have been executed.

:: Science and Technology ::

NASA will send two spacecraft to explore asteroids

NASA will send two spacecraft to explore asteroids in the hopes of revealing new information about the solar system’s origins.
Psyche will journey to what could be the metallic heart of a failed planet, and Lucy will investigate the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter.
They were shortlisted by NASA in September 2015 and have survived a final cut that eliminated two proposed missions to Venus — which has not seen a U.S. planetary mission since Magellan launched in 1989.
Scheduled to launch in October 2021 and arrive at its first major target in 2027, Lucy will explore six of Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, which are trapped in orbits ahead of and behind the giant planet.
Named after the famous hominid fossil, the spacecraft will investigate the origins of the giant planets by looking at the fragments left over from their formation.
Psyche is slated to launch in October 2023 and should reach its 210-kilometer-wide target in 2030. It will explore what could be the exposed core of an early, now-vanished planet.

China is setting up the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes

China is setting up the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in a Tibet prefecture close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, which may reveal more about the Big Bang theory.
Construction has started for the first telescope, code-named Ngari No. 1, 30 km south of Shiquanhe Town in Ngari Prefecture. Parts of Nagri is last Tibetan prefecture at China’s border with India.
The telescope, located 5,250 meters above sea level, will detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is expected to be operational by 2021, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The budget for the two-phase Ngari gravitational wave observatory is an estimated 130 million yuan ($18.8 million).
Ngari, with its high altitude, clear sky and minimal human activity is said to be one of the world’s best spots to detect tiny twists in cosmic light.
Gravitational waves were first proposed by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity 100 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2016 that scientists with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory announced proof of the waves’ existence.
China commissioned the world’s largest radio telescope in a mountainous region of southwest China’s Guizhou Province to search for more strange objects space, gain better understand the origin of the universe.
The installation of the telescope’s main structure — a 4,450-panel reflector as large as 30 football pitches was built at unique valley in Guizhou Province.

:: Business and Economy ::

The Centre would shortly introduce an exclusive scheme for women entrepreneurs

The Centre would shortly introduce an exclusive scheme for women entrepreneurs.
Earlier, government started myloanassocham.com, a portal. ASSOCHAM said the site provides MSMEs online access to funds at an affordable rate from a mix of banks and financial institutions.
MSME sector contributes 8 per cent to the country’s GDP, 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and 40 per cent of the exports are based on survey reports of 2007.
Ministry is in the process of creating an MSME data bank based on which it can project the actual requirements of the sector, he said and asked these enterprises to register themselves.
The Reserve Bank of India, had issued guidelines for the creation of committees for revival and rehabilitation of MSMEs facing stress. Banks were in the process of setting them up at state levels.

Loan disbursals by MUDRA slowed down due to demonetisation

Loan disbursals by Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) slowed down in the third quarter of current financial year following demonetisation of high-value currencies.
“We have disbursed Rs. 80,000 crore (from April 1 to December 31, 2016). There has been some lull during the last two months because of currency exchanges and those kind of things,” Jiji Mammen, CEO of MUDRA, said.
Asked if he was confident of reaching the disbursal target of Rs. 1.8 lakh crore for FY17, Mammen replied in the positive.
The agency was established by the government with an initial corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore.