Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 November 2016

:: National ::

IT department conducted raids across country

The Income Tax Department conducted searches in Mumbai and Delhi on hawala operators and bullion traders found accepting demonetised currency.
The IT searches followed “specific and definite information” against at least a dozen hawala operators and jewellers suspected to be dealing in demonetised currency in return for gold, sources said.
The monitoring in the cooperative banks is loose, and chances of manipulation and back-dated entries is high. But mainly, the searches were restricted to hawala operators in the Mumbai region.

SC made Punjab law regarding Ravi, Beas illegal

Supreme Court declared that Punjab reneged on its promise to share the waters of rivers Ravi and Beas with neighbouring States like Haryana by unilaterally enacting the controversial Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act of 2004.
A five-judge Constitution Bench led by Justice Anil R. Dave gave its opinion on a Presidential Reference made to it 12 years ago, on July 22, 2004, questioning the constitutional validity of the Act.
The apex court concluded that the Act was illegally designed to terminate a 1981, agreement entered into among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to re-allocate the waters of Ravi and Beas. The SYL Canal was a product of this 1981 agreement.
By introducing the 2004 Act, the State defied two back-to-back apex court verdicts, pronounced in 2002 and 2004, it said.
The first one had directed Punjab to complete the SYL Canal in a year. The second judgment had ordered the formation of a central agency to “take control” of Punjab’s work on the canal.
In short, the Supreme Court said Punjab acted as “a judge in its own cause”. The State exceeded its legislative power in proceeding to nullify the decree of this court and therefore, the Punjab Act of 2004 cannot be said to be a valid legislation.

SC asks Central and State govt to work in removing pollution

The Supreme Court asked the government and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) whether it intends to just sit back and watch people gasping for breath finally die in a polluted national Capital.
“The courts are trying to monitor, the National Green Tribunal is trying to monitor the pollution... and there you are, just sitting there and waiting for people to die,” Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur said.
You must have plans. How will you have spread of stations (to monitor air quality) that will clear the picture? You need to immediately plan as to how many stations will be reasonable, looking into the importance of the situation,” the Bench said
The Centre had promised to inform the court about its comprehensive plan to grade pollution and warn the public about the air toxicity levels.
However, instead of a plan, the Bench found that Delhi had just three air ambience monitoring stations – Dwarka, Dilshad Gardens and Shaadipur – with no central monitoring system to collate real-time pollution data and inform the public.
Mr. Kumar complained that though the government is willing to do what is necessary to help, the implementing agencies are not doing what they should do to curb pollution.
In response, the Chief Justice called the government “sluggish.”

All Govt transactions to be made cashless

The NDA government's demonetisation gambit is being backed up by an effort to move all government transactions to the cashless mode.
Centre working on a new single window e-payment system that individuals or businesses can use to make payments to any central or State department.
Govt will be issuing a request for proposal (RFP) by December to set up a common e-governance platform for end-to-end transactional experience for a citizen, businesses as well as internal government functions.
An RFP is issued by an agency to invite bids for a particular project from interested parties.
While some government departments have introduced electronic payments system, a lot of PSUs, schools and courts have said they lack mechanisms to introduce such a system.
While it will not be mandatory for the government bodies to be part of the platform, the IT ministry will “continue to encourage and push” all departments to go cashless.
Last year, the Prime Minister’s Office had also set an ambitious target to shift at least 90 per cent of all government transactions that involve payments or receipts from citizens and businesses to electronic or paperless mode by the end of 2016.
The implications of such a platform on corruption will be huge, the official said, adding, “If cash isn’t involved anywhere…there can be no deniability. If someone has taken money, it will be easily traceable.”
The official pointed out that for payments happening out of Central government, over 97 per cent are already electronic.

:: International ::

Country stay divided after US elections

A day after Republican Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th President of the U.S., it dawned on America that divisions are easy to create but difficult to heal.
The three protagonists of this election season — President Barack Obama, President-elect Trump and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton — appealed for unity and calm, but protests broke out in many parts of the country.
In at least 25 cities across the country, protesters chanted ‘not my President’ and lit candles while numerous social media initiatives sought support to ensure that Mr. Trump is a one-term President.
The protesters marched on Trump buildings in several cities. College campuses in California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania also witnessed students protests.
Muslims, Hispanics and Blacks, three communities that felt particularly at the receiving end of Mr. Trump’s campaign, are more anxious.
The most unsettling prospect for minority communities is the potential repealing of Obamacare, which Mr. Trump has promised to do. The programme ensured health insurance for 20 million people who were not previously covered.

:: India and World ::

Prime Minister Modi on Japan visit

As PMModi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe prepare to discuss the conclusion of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement after their talks, all eyes will be on whether India will accept a “nullification” or “termination” clause.
The deal, which will open up access for India to cutting edge nuclear energy technology, reactors and critical parts, has been held up for years over the clause, which stipulates that it would be cancelled if India were to conduct a nuclear test.
Along with the $1.5-billion deal for U-2 amphibious aircraft, the civil nuclear agreement will be the highlight of the talks between Mr. Modi and Mr. Abe, which will follow business meetings and a call on Emperor Akihito.
India maintains a voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing, but has thus far refused to sign on to the NPT, the CTBT or given any other undertaking outside of its commitments at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
However, analysts concede that Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has special sensitivities that India may need to make an exception for, despite India’s insistence on nuclear sovereignty.
MEA officials refused to comment on the report, saying only that the “text will speak for itself.”

India lashed out World Bank on Indus water treaty

India lashed out at the World Bank over its decision to favour Pakistan on the Indus Water Treaty dispute process over the Kishenganga and Ratle dam and hydropower projects.
While India had asked for a neutral expert to be appointed over Pakistan’s objections to the projects first, Pakistan appealed directly for a Court of Arbitration (CoA) to be set up as it claims India has violated the 1960 treaty.
“Inexplicably, the World Bank has decided to continue to proceed with these two parallel mechanisms simultaneously. India cannot be party to actions which are not in accordance with the Indus Waters Treaty,” said a statement issued by the MEA spokesperson from Tokyo, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed there.
The MEA statement came just hours before the World Bank was due to draw lots by which it selects “umpires” for the Court of Arbitration.
World Bank’s action of going ahead with Pakistan’s claim had escalated the differences into an international dispute.
PM Modi held a high level meeting on the issue, where several senior officials proposed that India should pull out of the arbitration entirely unless the World Bank changes.

:: Business and Economy ::

GST regime to start from April 1

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that major issues on the GST have been resolved and the new regime will be implemented from April 1, 2017.
“A lot of distance has been covered as far as GST is concerned,” Mr. Jaitley said at the Economics Editors’ Conference.
“It is the consensus approach that we have been following. And one of the objects has been that since the GST Council is a federal decision-making process, the manner in which it functions in the initial years will lay down a precedent for the future.”
“Rather than resorting to voting and divisions on every issue, we have been trying to discuss, re-discuss and then reach a consensus and so far we have been able to resolve most of the major issues through a consensus,” he said.
“If you look at some of the important directional decisions, I think one of the most obvious ones pending for a long time was that the different sectors of the economy needed to be opened up,” Mr. Jaitley said.

India hopes for fair resolution on U.S. work visa issue

India will take up the IT industry’s concerns regarding curbs on the non-immigrant temporary work visas as well as the absence of a bilateral social security pact, once U.S. President Donald Trump takes charge, Commerce Minister said.
“We will continue our negotiations … At the earliest available moment, we will brief about the Indian (IT) industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy. We hope the new President will deal with the issues in a fair manner,” Ms. Sitharamansaid.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) in a statement said the Trump administration must expedite talks on the proposed India-US Bilateral Investment Treaty.
The USIBC said the U.S. should also take up market access barriers faced by American companies in India.
This includes tariff increases on the importation of Information & Communications Technology products, foreign direct investment (FDI) barriers in insurance.
This is especially with respect to ownership and control, inequitable FDI restriction in tobacco, and price controls in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.
The USIBC said about “five lakh U.S.-based Indian workers pay the 6.2 per cent Federal Insurance Contributions Act payroll tax on an ongoing basis.
Despite their contributions, which add up to $1 billion per year, they will never receive the benefits because they return to India before having worked for at least 40 quarters (approximately 10 years).”
Following the Obama administration’s move to increase the fees for H1-B and L-1 visas, industry body Nasscom had said the move will result in the IT sector taking a hit of over $400 million annually.