Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 May 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

UPSC declared final result of civil services

Tina Dabi, a 22-year-old Delhi girl, has topped the civil services examination for 2015, the results of which were declared.
A graduate from Lady Shri Ram College, Tina cracked the examination, arguably the toughest in the country, in her first attempt.
Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan, 23, from Jammu and Kashmir, came second while the third position went to another Delhiite, Jasmeet Singh Sandhu, an Indian Revenue Service officer.
An ecstatic Tina told she was not expecting the first rank. “I am very happy. I cannot express my feeling in words. I would say the key to my success has been patience, focus, discipline and the support of my family.”
She credited her mother, a former Indian Engineering Service officer, for her success and said she was the one who motivated her to pursue humanities in Class XII even when other toppers from her school were opting for science and commerce.
Tina’s interest and hard work paid off and she scored 100 per cent in political science in Class XII. She also topped her batch in Lady Shri Ram College last year.
Tina has chosen Haryana as her cadre because she wanted to contribute in empowerment of women there.

Apex court relaxed the verdict on diesel cabs

Making it clear that its final objective is a gradual phase out of diesel taxis, the Supreme Court tweaked its April 30 blanket ban to allow diesel-run All India Travel Permit taxis to operate till the expiry of their existing permits.
The ban on plying of diesel taxis in Delhi from May 1 had led to widespread protests, forcing the AAP government and the Centre to urgently approach the Supreme Court for modification of its order.
The Centre argued that the ban on diesel cabs with All India Travel Permits (AITP), numbering over 64,000, would severely cripple the burgeoning BPO businesses located mostly in the National Capital Region (NCR).
BPOs contract AITP operators to conduct point-to-point ferrying of employees numbering to several thousands from Delhi to Gurgaon, in neighbouring Haryana, and other NCR areas.
The ban — both on diesel taxis and fresh registration of diesel vehicles over 2000 CC engine capacity — has left many BPO and taxi operators in dire straits.

Govt told in lower house more than 1.5 villages are affected by drought

The government told the Lok Sabha that drought had affected nearly 1.5 lakh villages across the country and around a quarter of its population had been impacted.
Rural Development Minister Birender Singh said 313 districts, 1,58,205 villages and 4,44,280 dwellings had been hit by drought and the government was taking efforts to deal with the situation.
He was replying to the discussion on drought, water scarcity and inter-linking of rivers, with members voicing concern over the worsening situation and demanding waiver of loans of farmers.
The Centre has allocated Rs. 1,360 crore to Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka well before the drought.
Mr. Singh said the government had also increased funding under the MGNREGS from Rs. 37,000 crore to Rs. 45,000 crore and the man-days had been raised to 252 days.

India’s indigenously built light combat helicopter closer to reality

India’s indigenously built and under development Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) moved a step closer to induction as it is set to undergo weapon certification trials in July-August.
The certification firing trials with integration of mission sensors such as electro optical system, helmet pointing system and weapon systems air to air missiles, turret gun and rockets are planned during July-August 2016.
The LCH had earlier successfully undergone development trials under various conditions at Bangalore, Chennai, Leh and Jodhpur.
The 5.8 tonne multirole attack chopper is being developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and is intended to play a major role in providing close air support to ground forces.

:: International ::

Obama to become the first US president to visit atomic bomb site

Barack Obama will become the first U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, the first target of an atomic bomb 70 years ago, the White House announced..
Mr. Obama will fulfil a desire he had expressed in 2009 — to travel to either of the two Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped atomic bombs in 1945. Many historians believe it was necessary to end the Second World War. Jimmy Carter visited Hiroshima in 1984, after he had left the White House
President Obama will be travelling to Japan for his final G-7 summit.
Only months ahead of the November presidential election, Mr. Obama’s trip to Hiroshima is fraught with serious risks — to his own legacy and the chances of the Democratic nominee.
The Republicans have accused Mr. Obama of being on a perpetual global apology tour — referring to his various remarks that sought to recalibrate U.S. positions towards Europe, the Muslim world and the war on terror.
In a preemptive move, the White House said the President would not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb.
The Hiroshima bombing and America’s relations with Japan have cropped up in the ongoing presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump has said he would rather allow Japan and South Korea to develop their own nuclear arsenals than having U.S. deployment in the region to provide them protection.
Mr. Obama’s visit to Hiroshima will highlight America’s commitment “to pursue the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” Mr. Rhodes said.

Bangladesh is working on a strategy to fight extremism with US

The U.S. and Bangladesh are working out a strategy to fight violent extremism in the South Asian nation, which saw a number of killings in recent months of activists and writers by alleged Islamists.
The plan, mooted by the U.S., is currently being discussed. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal had visited Bangladesh on May 5 following the recent murder of a USAID employee and his friend in Dhaka.
Another U.S. delegation is expected to visit Dhaka soon to discuss the counter-terrorism plan.
Ms. Biswal had met Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla and reportedly discussed security issues when she was in Dhaka last week.
The U.S. envoy’s comment came two days ahead of Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit to Dhaka.
Indian officials denied the reports of a trilateral counter-terror partnership saying that Mr. Jaishankar’s visit to Dhaka would discuss a “range of issues”, but they would be “strictly bilateral”.
Officials also pointed to the fact that there are many “divergences” between the American and Indian positions on extremism in the region, most notably over the ongoing war crime trials, as well as the groups responsible for the killing of bloggers.

:: Business and Economy ::

Centre will tax capital gains on investment from Mauritius

Starting next year, the Centre will tax capital gains on investments from Mauritius, the tiny island from where India has received nearly a third of its total FDI inflows since 2000.
The source of the leak in tax revenue was plugged after the two countries signed a protocol at Port Louis, Mauritius.
The protocol amends the convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital gains.
However, following the agreement, Mauritius could cease to be the preferred route for FDI and portfolio investments into India.
The amendment will tackle long-pending issues of treaty abuse and round-tripping of funds, attributed to the India-Mauritius treaty.
It will also curb revenue loss, prevent double non-taxation, streamline the flow of investment and stimulate the flow of exchange of information between India and Mauritius.
The 1983 Double Taxation Avoidance treaty made Mauritius, which taxes capital gains at near-zero rates, an attractive “post box address” for foreign investors to route investments into India.

According to WB India has largest offline population

India has the largest offline population in the world with nearly a billion Indians still not able to tap the benefits of a digital economy, the World Bank said.
At least 8 in 10 individuals in India own a mobile phone and digital technologies are spreading rapidly, but the aggregate impact of digital technologies has fallen short and is unevenly distributed, noted a 2016 development report on Digital Dividends released by the Bank.
The opportunities for increasing access to digital technology for creating higher growth, more jobs, and better public services are significant for India.
At the end of 2014 India had more than 200 million Internet users, compared to 665 million in China, according to the report.

Process for Monetary policy committee will begin after notification of finance bill

The process to constitute a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will begin once the Finance Bill 2016 has been notified as an Act.
In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the Reserve Bank of India Act would be amended to facilitate the setting up of a committee tasked with setting interest rates in the economy.
The proposed committee will have six members — three appointed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the remaining nominated by an external selection committee.
Following the setting up of this MPC, each member will have a vote while the Reserve Bank of India governor will have a deciding vote in the event of a tie, therefore rendering him as first among equals.
This is important in the context of the government pushing for lower interest rates to spur the sluggish demand in the economy.