Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 July 2016

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 10 July 2016

:: National ::

Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani dead

Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani (22), the architect of the social-media driven psychological warfare in Kashmir, was killed along with two other militants in an encounter in Anantnag district.
Described by security agencies as “the biggest-ever success” in recent times, Wani, who carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was tracked after a tip-off that he was planning to come down from the Tral forest area for Eid celebrations.
The militants hurled grenades and opened fire in a bid to escape, but the house where they were holed up was bombed killing all three.

Good rainfall increased Rice cultivation

The area under rice (paddy) has gone up from 77.31 lakh hectares during 2015-16 to 81.93 lakh hectares as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana have received good rainfall.
Monsoon has covered most parts of the country, and in the coming days, the planting of kharif crops such as rice, soybeans, pulses and cotton will be further boosted.
In all, the kharif crops have been planted on 406.27 lakh hectares so far as against 431.82 lakh hectares in the corresponding period last year.
The good monsoon, however, has not yet had a positive impact on the water level in major reservoirs, which has gone down because of the poor rainfall in the preceding years.
The IMD is expecting the monsoon to gain momentum during July-August.

Apex court puts limitation on AFSPA

Every death caused by the armed forces in a disturbed area, whether the victim is a dreaded criminal or a militant or a terrorist or an insurgent, should be thoroughly enquired into.
“It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both."
The verdict tears down the cloak of secrecy about unaccounted deaths involving security forces in disturbed areas and serves as a judicial precedent to uphold civilian and human rights in sensitive areas under military control.
Dealing a blow to the immunity enjoyed by security personnel under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) against criminal action for acts committed in disturbed areas.
A thorough enquiry should be conducted into “encounter” killings in disturbed areas because the “alleged enemy is a citizen of our country entitled to all fundamental rights including under Article 21 of the Constitution.”
International

IUCN puts Bornean orangutan in critically endangered

A global conservation group says Borneo’s orangutans are now a critically endangered species due to hunting and destruction of forest habitat.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates the number of Bornean orangutans has dropped by nearly two-thirds since the early 1970s and will further decline to 47,000 animals by 2025.
The assessment for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was carried out earlier this year and published this week. Previously the species was considered to be endangered.
It said deforestation has dramatically shrunk the primate’s habitat, with about 40 percent of Borneo’s forests lost since the early 1970s and another swathe of forest expected to be converted to plantation agriculture in the next decade.
On top of that, hunting is also a significant pressure because orangutans are slow breeders, producing only one offspring every six to eight years on average.
IUCN estimates between 2,000 and 3,000 of Borneo’s orangutans have been killed every year for the past four decades, mainly for their meat.
Orangutans only live in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on Borneo in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah and Kalimantan, which is the Indonesian part of Borneo.

China wants India to engage with China directly

India should engage China directly for better coordination on multilateral platforms like the Nuclear Suppliers Group and avoid blaming China as an obstacle for accessing high technology from the global market,
India had been pointing out since its failed attempt to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on June 24 that “only one country” opposed its membership bid at the plenary of NSG held in Seoul.
The strong defence on the South China Sea issue was part of China’s ongoing attempts to convey its position in the run-up to the scheduled session of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague where the Tribunal will issue its Award for the case started by the Philippines.

:: Business & Economy ::

After Brexit talks between India and UK

A fortnight after Britain voted to exit the European Union (EU), U.K. Business Secretary held talks with Commerce & Industry Minister on the possibility of inking a separate U.K.-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
On the nature of future talks with the EU on the proposed India-EU, Ms. Sitharaman said: “With the EU of course, it shall continue but it will be recalibrated now that U.K. is out of EU, so we shall be doing both.”
Trade with U.K. is substantial. Indian investments in UK are one of the biggest. A lot of jobs created in the U.K. are by Indian investors. Similarly on services, we have great potential.
The Tata group wanted to sell its steel business in U.K. owing to fall in steel prices, cheap imports of the commodity from China and rising energy costs. Tatas move would have hit around 11,000 jobs.
Mr. Javid met Tata Steel senior management chairman Cyrus Mistry ahead of the company’s board meeting and held discussions regarding fate of Tata Steel’s UK assets, put on sale.
In FY’16, India’s exports to the EU were $35.35 billion, while India’s exports to Britain were $9.35 billion.
The U.K. government statement said the U.K. is the largest G20 investor in India, while India invests more in the U.K. than the rest of the European Union combined.
India has also emerged as the third largest source of FDI for the U.K. Commerce.

Centre begins stake sale in 51 firms

The government has invited merchant bankers to help it sell minority stakes in 51 companies, including RIL, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and L&T, and is looking at exiting them within three years.
The Specified Undertaking of UTI (SUUTI) has investments in these 51 listed as well as unlisted companies, like Hindustan Unilever, ITC Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates and a host of Tata Group firms.
Government holds minority stake in these companies through SUUTI, which was formed in 2003 as an offshoot of erstwhile UTI, and is looking at selling them either through an OFS, block deal, bulk deal or regular sale through stock exchanges.
The bankers would have to put in a single consolidated bid for the entire SUUTI Holdings. However, the sale process of each of the 51 companies would be carried out individually.
The government has set up an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs.56,500 crore for 2016-17.
Of the budgeted target, Rs.36,000 crore is to come from minority stake sale in PSUs and the remaining Rs 20.500 crore is estimated to come from strategic sale in both profit and loss-making companies.

The Ministry of NRE to make BIS compulsory for all solar water heaters

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working on a ‘quality order’ to make it compulsory for all solar water heaters installed in buildings to be certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
This follows a BIS announcement on the quality standards for evacuated tube collector-based solar water heaters, which have rapidly become the design of choice for such water heaters.
The Indian government used to subsidise solar water heaters, but stopped the practice in September 2014, leading to an increase in imports from China, which offered products up to 50 per cent cheaper than Indian alternatives.
While it depends on the level of chlorides and nitrates in the water in different regions, this low level of thickness is such that the walls will corrode anywhere in the country within a year. Even 0.5 mm does not last more than a year in some regions.
Another factor is that the Chinese products are being used to bypass the intention of rules set by states.