Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 1 August 2017

::National::

Decision favouring GM mustard seeds will not go unchallenged says SC

• The Supreme Court said a government decision favouring a commercial roll-out of genetically modified (GM) mustard seeds will not go unchallenged.

• A Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar prima facie noted that the court will hear pleas highlighting the health hazards involved in case the government frames a policy favouring the release of GM mustard seeds into the market.

• In short, such a policy would have to survive judicial scrutiny. The court conveyed this to the government when Govt said a policy decision on whether to commercially roll-out GM mustard is expected to be taken by September 2017.

Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar maestro of Drupada passes away

• Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar, maestro and custodian of the venerable Dhrupad tradition of Hindustani classical music and a member of the eminent Dagar family, passed away in Pune after a brief illness. He was 78.

• The renowned Dagar brothers were the grandsons of the legendary Zakiruddin and Allabande Khan Dagar, and the entire family is frequently credited with being the curators who preserved the oldest known form of North Indian classical music from.

• UstadSayeeduddin came to Pune in 1984 and had been residing in the city’s bustling Karvenagar-Kothrud area, staying at a number of houses for several years as he awaited the State government to allot him a permanent one.

• Dhrupad — a Sanskrit blend of dhruva (immovable) and pad (verse) — has its roots since ancient times and finds mention as early as the 3rd Century B.C. in the Natyashastra .

• The contribution of the Dagar family through 20 generations of Dhrupad exponents is all the more remarkable given the slow death of this form following Independence and the extinction of a musically-informed aristocracy, when royal court patronage had all but vanished.

A large statue found by Archaeologists in Angkor Wat temple

• Archaeologists at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex studying the site of a hospital from eight to nine centuries ago say they have found a large statue in their excavations.

• The government agency that oversees the complex, the Apsara Authority, said on its website that the statue measuring six feet and three inches in height and 23 inches in width was discovered by its team. It is one of the largest statues from the era to be unearthed in recent years.

• The statue, believed to be from the 12th or 13th century, is thought to have been a symbolic guardian of the entrance of the hospital. It will be put on public exhibition in the museum in the northwestern province of Siem Reap, where Angkor is located.

• In late 2011, archaeologists at the temple complex unearthed the two largest Buddhist statues found there in eight decades.

• Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to the 15th centuries.

• Large numbers of architectural and religious artefacts have been looted from there and sold overseas, while others were buried for safekeeping during a civil war in the 1970s.

SC prohibited the use of five chemicals, labelled as toxic by CPCB in firecrackers

• Ahead of the festive seasons of Dussehra and Deepavali, the Supreme Court prohibited the use of five chemicals, labelled as toxic by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in the manufacture of firecrackers.

• A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta recorded in its short order that, “that no firecrackers manufactured by the respondents shall contain antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic and lead in any form whatsoever.

• It is the responsibility of the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) to ensure compliance particularly in Sivakasi.”

• The order came after the court heard the submissions from officials of the CPCB and Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation’s (PESO) Firework Research and Development Centre at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu.

• The court asked the CPCB to clarify on the use of strontium, another chemical branded toxic by the pollution body, in firecrackers. . Manufacturers however denied using these chemicals.

• Even as the court gave the CPCB time till September 15 to provide detailed information on the environmental impact, especially air pollution, caused by firecrackers.

• Private manufacturers, who are suffering a court ban on sale of firecrackers in the Delhi and NCR regions, tried to reason that firecrackers is not the only source of pollution.

::International::

US and Russia’s relationship turns from bad to worst despite President Trump

• A little more than a year after the alleged Russian effort to interfere in the U.S. presidential election came to light, the diplomatic fallout — an unravelling of the relationship between Moscow and Washington on a scale not seen in decades — is taking its toll.

• President Vladimir Putin bet that Donald Trump, who had spoken fondly of Russia and its authoritarian leader for years, would treat his nation as Mr. Putin has longed to have it treated by the West.

• That is, as the superpower it once was, or at least a major force to be reckoned with, from Syria to Europe, and boasting a military revived after two decades of neglect.

• That bet has backfired, spectacularly. If the sanctions overwhelmingly passed by Congress last week sent any message to Moscow, it was that Mr. Trump’s hands are now tied in dealing with Moscow, probably for years to come.

• Congress is not ready to forgive the annexation of Crimea, nor allow extensive reinvestment in Russian energy.

• The new sanctions were passed by a coalition of Democrats who blame Mr. Putin for contributing to Hillary Clinton’s defeat and Republicans fearful that their President misunderstands who he is dealing with in Moscow.

• Putin seems to believe his greater leverage lies in escalating the dispute, Cold War-style, rather than subtly trying to manipulate events with a mix of subterfuge, cyberattacks and information warfare.

• But it is unclear how much the announcement will affect day-to-day relations. While the Russian media said 755 diplomats would be barred from working, and presumably expelled, there do not appear to be anything close to 755 U.S. diplomats working in Russia.

• That figure almost certainly includes Russian nationals working at the embassy, usually in nonsensitive jobs.

::Business and Economy::

US aircraft manufacturer says India would require 2,100 planes over the next 20 years

• U.S.-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing said that India would require 2,100 planes over the next 20 years valued at $290 billion.

• In its annual Current Market Outlook report, Boeing revised its forecast for aircraft demand by 13% from the previous year when it had said India would need 1,850 planes in the next two decades.

• The increasing number of passengers combined with a strong exchange rate, low fuel prices and high load factors bodes well for India’s aviation market, especially for the low-cost carriers.

• Single-aisle airplanes, such as Boeing 737, will account for 85% of the expected plane deliveries, Boeing said.India’s domestic air traffic grew 17.7% in May – the highest growth rate globally, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA).

• According to its global projections, there will be a demand for 41,030 new planes over the next two decades with Indian carriers accounting for more than 5% of the total global demand.

• Mr. Dinesh Keskar was upbeat about the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme (RCS) and said Boeing could increase its projection next year depending upon the scheme’s progress.

NITI Aayog to examine methanol as an alternative propellant

• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari held a high-level stakeholders meeting to deliberate upon a strategy to use methanol as an alternative fuel in automobiles.

• The Minister has asked government think-tank NITI Aayog to study the automobile standards developed in China to use methanol as an alternative fuel.

• “Methanol economy will help India use its vast reserves of coal while driving import substitution. Research in converting carbon dioxide to methanol is promising and can be a game-changer for methanol economy,” Mr. Gadkari said

• In its presentation, Niti Aayog said methanol is a promising fuel for waterways as it is clean, cheaper than fossil fuels and a good substitute for heavy fuels. It suggested that ethanol could be made out of coal and informed that a pilot project was already underway in Talcher in Odisha.

• India imports methanol from Saudi Arabia and Iran at present, the think-tank said, adding that it is working on a roadmap for conversion from coal to methanol.

• The government think-tank also said that methanol can be produced from municipal waste as well.

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