Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 November 2015

:: National ::

Two-third majority for Nitish-Lalu GrandAlliance

As the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad duo led the Grand Alliance on Sunday to a historic, thumping two-thirds majority, even reviving its junior partner, the Congress, the BJP-led NDA bit the dust — and the curtain came down on what must rate as one of the most bitterly fought Assembly elections in Bihar.
Conscious that this victory would resonate through the country, influencing politics in other parts, Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar — com-posed but clearly moved by the extent of the mandate — said: “The Bihar 2015 poll will always be remembered as a milestone in the electoral politics of the State; it reflected the national mood.” Mr. Kumar said the poll would be remembered as one where the “party at the Centre had put all its re-sources into an Assembly election.”
Seat share in Bihar election saw RJD comes out as single largest party with 80 seats followed by JD(U) at 71 seats and BJP got 53seats.

Alarming rise in ground-ozone levels

When it’s protecting us from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun at higher altitudes, ozone is great. But at ground-level, the gas is classified as an air pollutant that poses serious health risks, and its increase in Delhi has experts alarmed.
Ozone is not found naturally at ground-level; it is a product of a reaction of oxygen, volatile hydrocarbons and the oxides of nitrogen, which are emitted by vehicles. It tends to peak during the high temperatures of summer.
An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) of summertime ozone levels in April-May this year found that the hourly levels at Lodhi Estate, a green and posh part of the city, had peaked at “close to three times the standard.
“Even when there has been intermittent rain that brought down the temperature and blocked the sun, thus reducing ozone levels, the gas would bounce back very quickly after the rains were over,” said the CSE report.
Targeting the cause of ground-level ozone, the Delhi Government is monitoring particulate matter in the air such as dust and smoke. “Ozone is dangerous at lower levels of the atmosphere, especially in smoggy conditions. But we are not monitoring it specifically, as we are already monitoring the factors that cause it, like nitrogen oxides,” said Delhi Government Environment and Forest Secretary Ashwani Kumar.
Doctors accept that awareness about the adverse health effects of ozone is not widespread. “But this doesn’t stop the rampage of that growing air pollution is causing to the health of city dwellers. We are seeing a steep rise in respiratory problems,” said Dr. Anil Bansal from Delhi Medical Association.
Studies have shown that the upper respiratory tract isn’t as effective in scrubbing ozone from the air that we inhale, as other pollutants like sulphur dioxide or chlorine gas, which are more soluble in water.
The majority of the ozone inhaled reaches the lower respiratory tract and dissolves into a thin layer of epithelial lining fluid throughout the conducting airways of the lung thus damaging it, according to scientific papers.

Greater weightage to be given for theory in ISC exam

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has changed the marking scheme of its Class XII examinations from 2016 onwards. Under the new scheme, greater weightage will be given to theory.
Hitherto, equal weightage was given to theory and practicals in six subjects -- Indian classical music (Hindustani), Indian classical music (Carnatic), western music, computer science, fashion design-ing and physical education.
But from the 2016 examination, there will be 70 per cent weightage to theory and 30 per cent to practicals.

Mars Orbiter Mission is in good nick, says ISRO chief

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said on Sunday that the health of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan was extremely good. Speaking to press persons after participating in the Graduation Day ceremony of SMV Institute of Technology and Management (SMVITM) here in Karnataka, Mr. Kumar said that the ISRO had a pro-gramme in Bengaluru on November 5, where it marked two years of completion of launch of Mangalyaan and more than a year of its orbit-ing around the Mars
All five payloads of MOM were sending data on a regular basis. “It is completing one revolution around the Mars roughly in two and a half days. All the sub-systems are work-ing fine. We still have about 35 kg of fuel. The satellite is expected to last for quite some time,” he said.
Future plans to a query, he said Chandrayaan-2 would carry a lander and a rover. It would help in having a controlled landing on the surface of the moon.
The rover would move on the surface of the moon. It would collect data and send it to Earth. Chandrayaan-2 was likely to be launched in 2017 or 2018. The ISRO was planning to launch Aditya, the satellite, which would help in studying solar eclipses on continuous basis and also other aspects of the Sun.

Country not lagging in higher education: Smriti

Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said here on Sunday that just because Indian higher education institutes do not figure in global rankings it does not mean that the country is lagging behind in higher education and quality research.
“A hue and cry is often raised about our higher education institutes not figuring in global rankings. The reason is not lack of high quality re-search work but the fact that in India a large section of re-search work is done in vernacular languages whereas global rankings only consider research in English,” Ms. Irani said.
The Minister was here to address the concluding session of a national seminar on the New Education Policy.
She also said that on December 25 she would dedicate the digitised version of 29 under graduate (UG) books to the nation. She termed the initiative as “E UG Shala.”

:: International ::

Millions vote in Myanmar polls

With tremendous excitement and hope, millions of citizens voted on Sunday in Myanmar's historic general election that will test whether the military's long-standing grip on power can be loosened, with Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party expected to secure an easy victory.
The count began after polling stations shut at 4 p.m. Early indications were of an “80 percent” turnout, according to Union Election Commission deputy director Thant Zin Aung.
In a country that was under military rule for almost a half a century, many of the eligible 30 million voters cast ballots for the first time in what was billed as the nation's freest election ever. It was the first time even for Ms. Suu Kyi, the epitome of the democracy movement who had defied the junta for decades.
She quickly cast her vote and left without speaking to reporters. Many people lined up in Buddhist temples, schools and government buildings early in the morn-ing to vote, well before a heavy downpour beat down in Yangon an hour before voting ended peacefully in the late afternoon with no reports of major irregularities or violence.
Vote counting began immediately, and hundreds of supporters gathered under umbrellas at theopposition National League for Democracy party's office hoping to see results. But party functionaries announced that results would not be available until Monday, and that the 70-year-old Suu Kyi would not address the crowd as expected, urging the crowds to return the next day.

:: Business And Economy ::

Government considers Africa route to help central PSUs

The Centre is considering a plan to help the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), including those of them incurring losses, set up subsidiaries or form joint ventures with State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in poor African countries.
The proposal has been moved by the department of public enterprises (DPE) of the heavy industries and public enterprises (HI & PE) ministry, and is currently being considered by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), official sources told
DPE wants the MEA to influence African countries, especially those with hardly any private capital investment currently, to replicate the ‘Nehruvian' post-independence period industrial policy of India that heavily favoured SOEs.
For such a policy, the DPE, as per its proposal, wants these African countries to reserve several sectors for SOEs so that these CPSEs can operate in a near monopolistic environment for about 15-20 years, the sources said.
The new plan is to ask the MEA to convene a special meeting of all the African high commissioners / senior diplomats stationed in Delhi and elicit their views on the strategy.
On its part, the HI & PE ministry will shortly call a meeting of CPSUs to discuss the idea.
The development comes even as the Centre has identified 58 loss-making PSUs for either reviving or closing them down, and has been holding inter-ministerial consultations to chalk out a viable strategy. It is also planning to raise Rs.69, 500 crore from disinvestment of PSUs this year. Africa is not entirely a new playing ground for Indian PSUs, especially for those in the energy sector. Indian privatecompanies including Bharti Air-tel and the Tata Group also have their presence in several African countries.
However, India is far behind China in this game. China-Africa trade has surpassed $200 billion, and is almost thrice as large as the about $70 billion for India-Africa trade. By 2020, China aims to double its trade with Africa to $400 billion and increase direct in-vestment to $100 billion.

:: Science And Technology ::

For saving Asian vulture from fatal drugs

After successfully campaigning for the ban on multi-dose vials of painkiller drug diclofenac in veterinary use, conservationists have stepped up pressure for withdrawing two more drugs, which they say, are fatal for Asian vultures.
It was recently that the authorities slapped a ban on the 30 ml multi-dose vials of the drug, which was largely responsible for the decline of the vultures, which used to feed on bovine carcasses.
The bird conservationists pointed out that “twenty years ago there were tens of millions of vultures in the Indian sub-continent. They provided a valuable ecosystem service by disposing of millions of tonnes of waste carrion from dead cattle each year.
Nowthey, and the services they provided, are nearly all gone,” according a publication of Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (SAVE), a consortium of eleven organisations.
The “three species of Gyps vultures endemic to South and Southeast Asia, oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vulture (G. indicus) and slender-billed vulture (G. tenuirostris), are the worst affected and are threatened with glob-al extinction after rapid population declines, which began in the mid-1990s.

:: Sports ::

Warriors trump Blasters in opener

The chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin' filled the air but Sachin Tendulkar could not trump Shane Warne's magic as the Indian icon's Blasters went down to the Australian legend's Warriors in the first ‘Cricket All Stars' Twenty20 here.
Tendulkar was the undisputed favourite for the largely Asian crowd at a baseball stadium here but it was Warne, who weaved some old-time magic to lead his side to a six-wicket win. Set a target of 141, the Warriors romped home with 16 balls to spare after Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara hit 81 runs between them.
Shane Warne snared three wickets, including that of Tendulkar and the legendary Brian Lara. For the Blasters, Virender Sehwag hit the series' first half-century which came of just 22 deliveries. Electing to field after wining the toss, the Blasters were given a rollicking start by Tendulkar and Sehwag, much to the delight of an expatriate crowd that filled the stands.
Together, the former Indian batsman raked in 85 runs in a mere 48 deliveries. However, the rest of the star-studded line-up failed to come good and the team ended with 140 for eight.
For Warriors, Warne showed he had lost none of the famed magic with figures of three for 20 in his four overs. In reply, Ponting (48 not out) and Sangakkara (41) steered the Warriors home after a top-order collapse.

IPL: Kochi and Jaipur removed from venue list

Kochi and Jaipur have been removed from the venue list for the two new IPL franchisees for season 2016 and 2017. The new franchises will re-place CSK and Rajasthan Royals which have been suspended from the league for two years.
“Issues with Jaipur have not been sorted out and Kochi, too, has problems, but there are nine other venues. The IPL Governing Council has approved the draft invitation to tender (ITT) that will be endorsed by the AGM tomorrow [Monday],” said IPL GC chair-man Rajiv Shukla, who is likely to be renamed IPL chairman for2015-2016. Shukla also said the GC has deferred the big auction by a year.
The two new franchisees will be allowed to choose from ten players together from CSK and Rajasthan Royals, and the rest of the 40 players from CSK and RR will go for the auction. “We will follow a reverse bidding for the two new franchisees and Rs. 40 crore will be the base price, which means a franchise can start bidding be-low the base price.”