Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 May 2016

:: National ::

CJI again reiterate need to improve Judge-population ratio

Continuing to express the need to improve the judge-population ratio in the country, Chief Justice of India T. S. Thakur said access to justice was a fundamental right and the governments could not afford to deny the people their fundamental rights.
CJI had an emotional outburst over the problem of ‘shortage of judges’ in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a conference last month.
The CJI once again raised the issue while addressing a large gathering of legal luminaries on the occasion of centennial celebrations of circuit bench of High Court.
Justice Thakur alleged saying around 170 proposals for appointment of High Court judges were currently pending with the government.
This matter was brought to the notice of the Prime Minister recently with a request to make appointments quickly, Justice Thakur said. people could not be denied justice.
Shortage of judges was one of the formidable challenges the judiciary was facing, the CJI said disclosing that out of some 900 sanctioned posts of judges in different High Courts, there were over 450 vacancies, which needed to be filled immediately.

Nihal Bitla, the country’s first progeria patient, is no more

Nihal Bitla, the country’s first progeria patient, is no more. The 15-year-old breathed his last following dehydration at his native Poosala village of Sultanabad mandal in Karimnagar district.
Nihal and his parents Bitla Srinivas and Sridevi, who had migrated to Bhiwandi in Maharashtra a decade ago, came to their native village on April 18 to attend a marriage on April 23 and stayed back to spend some time with relatives.
Due to the severe heat wave conditions prevailing in the region, he developed diarrhoea and was shifted to a private hospital here but died while undergoing treatment
The youngster, who is the face of ‘progeria’ patient in India and one who inspired Amitabh Bachchan to essay a similar role in reel life, in the 2007 production ‘Paa’, was actually a big fan of Aamir Khan and loved him for ‘TaareZameen Par’.
“Though my son is no more, I will continue my campaign to educate people about the proper treatment of people suffering from Progeria,” father said.

Introducing a noise net around airfields could save lives and money

Introducing a noise net around airfields that emit sound levels equivalent to those of a conversation in a busy restaurant could prevent collisions between birds and aircraft, saving lives and billions in damages, new research has found.
Filling a controlled area with acoustic noise around an airfield, where the majority of collisions tend to take place, can reduce the number of birds in the area by 80 per cent, the findings showed.
By playing a noise at the same pitch, we mask those sounds, making the area much riskier for the birds to occupy. The birds don’t like it and leave the area around the airfields.
The researchers set up speakers and amplifiers in three areas of an airfield in Virginia and observed bird abundance over eight weeks, the first four weeks without noise and the second four with the noise turned on.
Results showed a large decrease in the number of birds in the ‘sonic net’ and areas just outside and found that it was particularly effective at deterring a number of species that were at high risk of bird strike such as starlings.

After completing visits to Gulf regions, PM to begin outreach to Africa

After completing visits to the energy rich Gulf region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to begin a new round of energy diplomacy and diaspora-outreach in Africa, with visits to Mozambique and South Africa this summer.
The expected visit to Africa follows the Prime Minister’s outreach to Saudi Arabia in April and Iran, which he will visit later this month.
He is also scheduled to visit Qatar on his way back from the United States in June. Mr. Modi is also likely to travel to a third destination during this travel window which has not yet been confirmed.
Mr. Modi’s visit to Mozambique is significant as the country is home to a bulk of India’s Africa-bound investment.
Energy dialogue between two sides has been steadily growing since the India Africa Forum Summit, when Carlos Augustinho Do Rosario, Prime Minister of Mozambique discussed the possibility of expanding energy ties.
Mr. Modi’s visit will also be a reciprocation as Mozambique was among the first countries in Africa to engage the Modi government; in August 2015, both sides signed a crucial MoU to cooperate in the new and renewable energy sector during the visit of President Felipe Nyusi to India.
Mozambique is expected to become a major energy exporter like Nigeria if it can set a proper legal framework to enable foreign firms to explore oil and gas in the country.
India has been a major campaigner to facilitate the pro-energy legal framework in the country.
South Africa has been a partner of India under the BRICS platform and the visit to Johannesburg is likely to provide an important dialogue to the run up to the BRICS summit to be held in Goa later this year.

:: International ::

Kim Jong-un said North Korea will not use nuclear weapons first

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country will not use its nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty is invaded and announced a five-year economic plan at the congress of North Korea’s ruling party.
Mr. Kim said he is ready to improve ties with “hostile” nations, and called for more talks with South Korea to reduce misunderstanding . He also urged the United States to stay away from inter-Korean issues.
He announced a five-year plan starting this year to develop the North’s moribund economy, and identified improving the country’s power supply and increasing its agricultural and light-manufacturing production as critical parts of the plan.
He also said the country must secure more electricity through nuclear power.

China digging cultural roots to revive ancient Silk Road

China is digging deep into its cultural roots to anchor a seamless revival of the ancient Silk Road, in tune with a growing domestic focus on tapping the achievements of its past.
In Dunhuang, the oasis town along the ancient Silk Road in northwestern China, dozens, under the authority of the Dunhuang Academy, are patiently restoring the priceless artwork in Mogao caves.
The caves, whose intricately painted walls and statues depict the life and thought of Buddha, and much more, are an icon of the vigorous cultural cross-currents that, for centuries, energised ties between India and China, through a branch of the ancient Silk Road.
In September, thousands will descend in Dunhuan for the first Silk Road International Cultural Expo, whose mascot would be the Mogao grottos.
Organisers say that 72 countries have been invited to participate in the mega event, which draws inspiration from China’s traditional engagement with a diverse set of people and cultures along the Silk Road.
By leveraging culture, the Chinese wish to send a message to the world that the One Belt One Road (OBOR) connectivity project, is an extension of China’s peaceful engagement of Asia and Europe that ran for over a millennia along the Silk Road super-highway.
With China as the fulcrum, the OBOR hopes to link Asia with Europe, while reviving the ancient Silk Road
The scale of the infrastructure being established in Dunhuang is stunning. A legion of yellow cranes operate round the clock as workers in blue uniforms race against time to complete three main buildings, including the main convention centre, by July, well ahead of the expo.
The focus on culture and tourism also aligns well with China’s “new normal” economy, which aims to override low-end manufacturing with services and consumption.
The overall contribution of the “culture industry” to the total GDP of the city had already crossed the 55 per cent mark last year, and the figure is expected to rise.

:: Business and Economy ::

Facebook loses first round in suit over storing biometric data

Facebook Inc lost the first round in a court fight against some of its users who sued the social networking company, alleging it ‘unlawfully’ collected and stored users' biometric data derived from their faces in photographs.
The judge in a California federal court last week turned down Facebook's motion seeking dismissal of the suit.
Facebook filed the motion arguing that the users could not file a complaint under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) as they had agreed in their user agreement that California law would govern their disputes with the company.”
The court found that Illinois law applies and that the plaintiffs have stated a claim under BIPA.
The complainants alleged that Facebook's face recognition feature that suggests ‘tags’ on photos unlawfully collected and stored biometric data, in violation of the BIPA.

Direct benefit transfer reaches more than 60000 crore

The government has electronically transferred more than Rs.61,000 crore in the last financial year to March 30 through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, Finance Ministry data showed.
According to the data presented in Parliament, Rs.61,824.32 crore was transferred to 30.8 crore beneficiaries in 59 schemes.
Out of this, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) payments made up Rs.25,800 crore, or 42 per cent of total DBT schemes.
This also means that 85 per cent of the MGNREGA payments made in 2015-16 were done directly into the beneficiary's bank accounts.
The second largest head under which DBT transfers were made was the PAHAL scheme for the electronic transfer of LPG subsidies.
The government transferred Rs.21,400 crore under the PAHAL scheme in 2015-16, which is 35 per cent of the total amount transferred through DBT.
The Finance Ministry data also showed that 3.34 crore duplicate, fake, or inactive consumers were blocked under the PAHAL and related schemes as of April 1, 2015. That number may have increased since then.
The savings in LPG subsidy on account of this blocked customers, calculated at an average cash subsidy of Rs.150 taking the average cylinders used by a consumer at 6.5 comes to an estimated savings of Rs.3,300 crore in 2015-16.
The Department of Higher Education (Rs.1,975 crore), Ministry of Minority Affairs (Rs.1,134 crore) and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (Rs.955 crore) were the other government agencies that made substantial payments using the DBT model.

Govt proposed a mechanism for the issue of non-payment by Venezuelan importers

The Commerce Ministry has proposed a mechanism to address the issue of non-payment of dues by Venezuelan importers to Indian exporters.
However, Venezuela has not given its approval to the proposed payment mechanism. Talks on the issue will soon be held with the RBI.
Venezuela, an economy that relies on oil exports, has been severely hit by a drastic fall in oil prices.
This has in turn resulted in the value of the Venezuelan currency plunging to record lows and a high demand for dollars. India’s goods exports to Venezuela in 2014-15 were $258 million (registering a 31 per cent year-on-year growth).
Owing to the crisis in Venezuela, India’s exports in FY16 (April-February) have touched only $125.5 million.
India shipped mostly pharmaceutical products which amounted to $143.55 million in FY15 and $71.3 million in FY16. The sector is the worst affected due to the payment defaults.
Under the proposed payment mechanism when Indian importers pay for oil and other imports from Venezuela, a certain portion (say around 30 per cent) of the payment will be held by an Indian public sector bank, say SBI, in Venezuela.
Then through a vostro account that money will be kept in SBI’s Mumbai branch and converted to Indian rupees. Vostro’ is an Italian term meaning ‘yours’, and vostro account refers to holding ‘your’ money or Venezuela’s money in this case.
When India’s exports to Venezuela, the Venezuelan buyer (importer) will certify that they have received the goods and instruct the concerned Venezuelan bank to release the payment to the concerned Indian exporters.
This instruction will be passed on to SBI-Venezuela and then to SBI-Mumbai. Finally, SBI-Mumbai will release the payment to Indian exporters by debiting from the vostro account.
The sources said due to the fear of losing the Venezuelan market to competitors from other countries including China, India’s exporters have decided to hold on for the moment despite the payment problems.
Though India’s goods imports from Venezuela in 2014-15 were worth $11.7 billion, most of this ($11.6 billion) were oil imports.
Therefore, if Venezuela withdraws the remaining amount (after paying for India’s exports) in one go after a few years, it could have some impact on the Indian rupee.