Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 September 2016

:: National ::

India wins Gold and Bronze at Paralympics

Two of India’s athletes — ThangaveluMariyappan (21) of Tamil Nadu and Varun Singh Bhati of Noida — scripted history by winning the gold and bronze medals respectively in the men’s high jump T-42 event at the Paralympics in Rio.
While Mariyappan jumped 1.89 metres, Bhati registered a personal best of 1.86 metres.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announcing a reward of Rs. 2 crore to the first Indian to win a gold medal in the high jump event in Paralympics.
At the age of five when he was on the way to school. A bus had run over his right leg, crushing it below the knee, leaving him with a permanent disability. As a child, he was fond of volleyball.

President says India requires people who can work for the country

Observing that the 21st century is witnessing chaos and strife of a very virulent nature, President Pranab Mukherjee said the country required men and women, who would work “tirelessly and selflessly, even at the peril of their lives.”
“More than ever before, India requires young men and women to take up the challenge of navigation through troubled waters and work tirelessly and selflessly even at the peril of their lives in the service of our Mother land,” the President said.
The country’s security challenges apparently went much beyond conventional borders and conventional threats, including a sizeable diaspora, to protection in unstable regions, energy security issues, Mr. Mukherjee said.
\The cadets who became officers in the Army on the completion of their training at the Academy have come from various walks of life.

:: International ::

Agreement reached for truce in Syria

The United States and Russia working in lockstep against the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.
A rejuvenated truce that will compel President Bashar al-Assad’s air and ground forces to pull back. New flows of badly needed humanitarian aid.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov capped another marathon meeting in Geneva to present their latest ambitious push to end Syria’s devastating and complex war.
The potential breakthrough deal, which launches a nationwide cessation of hostilities, will hinge on compliance by Mr. Assad’s Russian-backed forces and U.S.-supported rebel groups, plus key powers such as Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The ultimate hope is to silence the Syrian guns so that the long-stalled peace process under U.N. mediation can resume between Mr. Assad’s envoys and representatives of the opposition, while the two world powers focus on battling jihadists.
The U.S. and Russia Now, are also lining up in an unexpected new military partnership targeting the IS and al-Qaeda-linked militants.
The military deal would go into effect after both sides abide by the truce for a week and allow unimpeded humanitarian deliveries. Then, the U.S. and Russia would begin intelligence sharing and targeting coordination.

:: Science and Technology ::

Astronomers have found a magnetar that spins much slower than the slowest known

Astronomers have found evidence of a magnetar — magnetised neutron star — that spins much slower than the slowest of its kind known until now, which spin around once every 10 seconds.
The magnetar 1E 1613 — at the centre of RCW 103, the remains of a supernova explosion located about 9,000 light years from Earth — rotates once every 24,000 seconds (6.67 hours), the researchers found.
These exotic objects possess the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe — trillions of times that observed on the Sun — and can erupt with enormous amounts of energy.
New data from trio of high-energy telescopes, and archival data from Chandra, Swift and European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton confirmed that 1E 1613 has the properties of a magnetar, making it only the 30th known.
Rotation of once every 6.67 hours, much slower than the slowest magnetars known until now, which spin around once every 10 seconds.
This would make it the slowest spinning neutron star ever detected, the researchers found.
Astronomers expect that a single neutron star will spin quickly after its birth in the supernova explosion and will then slow down over time as it loses energy.

:: Business and Economy ::

Other countries in the BRICS are opposed to Chinese free trade proposal

India and three others in the BRICS bloc — Brazil, Russia and South Africa — have cold-shouldered China's attempt to bring to the negotiating table a proposal for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the five major emerging economies.
While Beijing’s proposal for a 'BRICS FTA' is aimed at boosting trade ties in the grouping through binding commitments on eliminating tariffs, BRICS members barring China are not keen on such a pact.
Their apprehensions about the plan include the fear that it could lead to a surge in imports of Chinese goods into their territory — in turn, hurting local manufacturing.
The development comes amid hectic preparations for the BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting on October 13 and the first BRICS Trade Fair from October 12 to 14 (both in Delhi) as well as the Eighth BRICS Summit (to be held in Goa) on October 15-16.
There will only be a framework cooperation agreement on matters related to small and medium enterprises, services sector and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
BRICS members will also consider evolving mechanisms for single window clearance as well as to speedily resolve non-tariff barriers that are hurting trade.
India said it is already participating in negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (or RCEP, a proposed mega-regional FTA between the 16 Asia-Pacific nations including India and China).
New Delhi also raised concerns regarding a widening goods trade deficit with China. India’s goods trade deficit with China has escalated from $1.1 billion in 2003-04 to $52.7 billion in 2015-16, according to Indian government statistics.
The forthcoming BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting would look at a cooperation agreement for an exchange of services trade data, in addition to discussions on the proposed ‘BRICS Visa’.

Singapore exchange to exit from Bombay Stock exchange

Singapore Exchange, along with some of the other top shareholders of BSE like Atticus Mauritius, Caldwell India Holdings Inc, Acacia Banyan Partners and GKFF Ventures plan to sell their shares in the forthcoming IPO of the exchange.
While Singapore Exchange holds a 4.7 per cent stake in BSE, Quantum (M) Ltd and Atticus Mauritius both have 3.7 per cent stake each.
Interestingly, domestic institutional investors like State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) have chosen not to sell any shares as part of the public issue.
Both the entities hold 4.7 per cent each in BSE, which was established in 1875 and is the oldest stock exchange in Asia.
BSE would become the second exchange in India to be listed after Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).
BSE’s bigger rival the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has also initiated the process to get listed.
BSE and NSE compete with each other in almost all the segments of capital markets. BSE has a larger share in the SME space.