Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 October 2015

:: National ::

Centre approves Rs 500-crore project for war memorial, museum

Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government on Wednesday approved a Rs 500- crore project for building a National War Memorial and a National WarMuseum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence.
The total time for completion of the entire project at Princess Park in New Delhi is estimated to be five years.
Post-Independence, more than 22,500 soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice in national interests and in defence of the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
However, even after 69 years of Independence, no memorial to commemorate the martyrs has been constructed till date.
With the present decision of the Cabinet, a long-pending demand of the armed forces has been redressed, an official statement released after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said.
It has been decided that the project will be monitored by an empowered Steering Committee chaired by Defence Secretary and assisted by a dedicated project management team, to ensure that the proposed project is completed within scheduled time- frame.
Post commissioning, a management body will be formed for maintenance of the National War Memorial and the museum.

:: International ::

Nepal, biggest foreign policy challenge for India

Nepal has emerged as the Narendra Modi government's biggest foreign policy change, but worse may still come.
The hill-terai divide has already snowballed to dangerous proportions. The worst case scenario is that if this goes on unchecked the hill-terai divide may sow the seeds of an East Pakistan versus West Pakistan kind of situation in Nepal in foreseeable future.lei of AFP
The Indian strategic community will shudder to think of this kind of scenario becoming a reality but the key to whether Nepal goes down this road or not lies solely with Nepal, not India.
As far as the Indian roadmap for the current Nepal crisis is concerned it is a two-pronged strategy: encourage dialogue among all stakeholders in Nepal and ensure an inclusive approach that takes care of all sections.
This is the policy and approach that India has adopted for years and this government too is following the same policy.
The ongoing agitation in Nepal over the controversial new constitution that the country implemented last month, the resultant blockade by the Madhesis of supply of essential commodities like petroleum products from India to Nepal and the ever-deepening chasm between the people from terai (largely Madhesis and Tharus) and hills is a recipe for disaster.
Unfortunately, Nepal has shown unseemly hurry by rushing through its highly questionable and divisive constitution.
Much of the reporting in Indian media has been flawed and lop-sided which echoed just one narrative that India has put a blockade and Nepal has no official or unofficial blockade.
The problem is Nepal's internal one and it is trying to externalise it by deliberately involving India and projecting a bogey that India is close to the Madhesis because of geographical contiguity. Nothing can be more untrue because the 'paharis' (people from the hills) are actually closer to India than the Madhesis.
It is Nepal's problem, not India's, if the Madhesis continue to be treated like second class citizens. Till 1989 they needed a passport and a permit to travel to the hills.

Suu Kyi Will Lead Government if Party Wins Myanmar Polls

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday if her party wins upcoming elections she will lead the country from behind the scenes - circumventing a clause in the constitution that bars her from the presidency.
If the Nov. 8 vote is credible, most observers believe Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party will win the most seats in the country's parliament.
By forming a coalition with smaller parties, it could control a majority.
A clause in the 2008 constitution, drafted when the country was under military rule, prevents Suu Kyi from taking the top job because her late husband and two children are British nationals.
There are no obvious alternatives within her party's ranks.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 59 million people, began moving from a half-century of military rule toward democracy in 2011.
Though there are many concerns - including the exclusion of ethnic Rohingya Muslims from the process and irregularities in voting lists - most observers believe next month's elections are the country's best chance in decades for relatively free and credible polls.
Under the constitution, however, the military will hold 25 percent of the seats in parliament regardless of the outcome.
It also will retain control of all portfolios related to national security.
Suu Kyi said in the interview, released ahead of its broadcast Wednesday night, that the constitution needs to be amended to change that - a comment she acknowledged was likely to anger the still-powerful military.
Suu Kyi was under house arrest during 1990 elections that were swept by her party, but the military annulled the results and refused to hand over power. The following year, she won the Nobel Peace Prize, but the junta confined her to her home for much of the next 20 years.

European Union targets people smugglers on Mediterranean

The European Union launched a new operation Wednesday to intercept people smugglers on the Mediterranean Sea in an effort to halt trafficking and prevent more deaths amid Europe's ongoing migrant and refugee crisis.
Operation Sophia will allow navy personnel to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking in international waters at least 12 nautical miles off the Libyan coast. Many refugees and migrants are sailing to Italy from north Africa to escape conflict and poverty in countries including Eritrea and Sudan.
The operation is led by an Italian aircraft carrier and includes five warships from Germany, Britain, France and Spain, seven planes and some helicopters.
The EU launched the first phase of the operation, called EUNAVFOR Med, in June, focusing on surveillance and assessing smuggling and trafficking networks.
Last week, the International Organization for Migration said a record 522,124 migrants and refugees arrived in Europe by sea this year, more than double the previous high of 219,000 set in 2014.
An estimated 130,891 of them arrived in Italy after crossing the Mediterranean, while others crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey, landing in Greece.
Some 2,621 migrants drowned or went missing in the central Mediterranean so far this year, IOM said. Deaths have also started to increase in the Aegean, where many Syrians are heading from Turkey.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande raised issues including the migrant crisis during a rare joint address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
The last time a German chancellor and French president made such a joint address was in 1989, when Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand addressed the European Parliament shortly after the Berlin Wall fell.

:: Sports ::

India vs South Africa, 3rd T20I: Pictures, banners of Jagmohan Dalmiya spread all around Eden Gardens

As the Eden Gardens gears up to host the India-South Africa Twenty20 International (T20I) on Thursday, late cricket czar Jagmohan Dalmiya—for whom the ground was his second home—seems omnipresent in pictures, banners and recollections.
Associated with the Eden Gardens-headquartered Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) as a cricket administrator since the 1970s, Dalmiya passed away on September 20 while he was helming the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Amid a flurry of activities to make the match a success, the CAB mandarins seemed nostalgic as Dalmiya’s name cropped up in their discussions time and again
Dalmiya, who held on to the CAB president’s post from 1993 till his death, except a 19-month hiatus between December, 2006 and July, 2008, used to be the central figure whenever any cricket match was played at the Eden.
Be it the 1987 Reliance World Cup final, or the historic return of South Africa in 1991 to international cricket after the apartheid era, or other top flight international matches over the past four decades — Dalmiya was more often than not responsible for the matches being awarded to Kolkata.
He would always lead the organising efforts from the front, from resolving the numerous knotty issues through his legendary negotiating skills, to playing the perfect host to the invitees from the world of cricket, politics or other vocations who trooped into the colosseum on such big occasions.