Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 12 February 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 12 February 2022

::NATIONAL::

Karnataka government to waive penalty on changing to medical course

Karnataka Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Friday said he has instructed the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) not to levy penalty on students, who had held their engineering seats or have already got admitted into an engineering course, now seeking admission into medical courses.
“There used to be simultaneous allotments for Engineering and Medical courses in previous years. But in the current year, there was a delay in allotment of seats for medical courses due to a petition filed in the court with regard to the NEET examination, and this led to uncertainty,” Narayan said.
“Those students who had got admitted to engineering or held engineering seats, but now have been allotted medical seats can get admitted to medical courses. For this, fine will not be imposed,” he was quoted as saying by his office in a release.
“In previous years, for such students a penalty of five times the fee used to be imposed. But this year, it was earlier decided to collect one year’s fee as a penalty. However, now, this too stands cancelled,” he added.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Canada, US work together to end Covid blockade

Even as the truckers protest against vaccine mandates and Covid restrictions in Canada marked two weeks, the so-called Freedom Convoy has evolved into a source of global and political embarrassment for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
The protest against Covid restrictions, which began with a siege on the Canadian capital of Ottawa, has evolved into blockades in several provinces, including Alberta, Manitoba, and most significantly at a major crossing in Ontario, which handles nearly a quarter of trucked trade between Canada and the United States.
Trudeau’s government on Thursday reached out to officials in Washington to try and resolve the situation hampering movement at a critical bridge at Windsor, in the Canadian province of Ontario, connecting it to Detroit, the largest city in the US state of Michigan.
A statement issued by the prime minister’s office on Thursday night said that ministers and officials have been “in close contact with representatives and officials from the United States of America to align efforts to resolve this situation”.
According to media reports, Washington has asked Ottawa to use its “federal powers” to deal with the Covidblockade .
Trudeau attended a series of meetings on the strike, including one with leaders of opposition parties.
The Conservatives -- the main opposition party -- called the organisers of the protest to “to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive action, and come together”. Simultaneously, interim Conservative Party leader Candice Bergen moved a motion in the House of Commons “to table a plan for the lifting of all federal mandates and restrictions, and to table that plan by February 28, 2022”.

::ECONOMY::

India and Australia close to sealing early trade pact: PiyushGoyal

India and Australia have been fair about understanding the sensitive sectors in respective nations, indicating that the interim trade deal is likely to steer away from making such areas a part of the agreement.
The interim trade deal, or the early harvest agreement, is expected to be finalised over the next 30 days. A December 25 deadline had been set earlier, but the deal could not be finalised as both countries were not able to iron out disagreements over market access issues.
Commerce and industry minister PiyushGoyal said both countries have had fruitful discussions, made significant progress, with respect to the early harvest agreement, which will be followed by a full-fledged trade deal.
The proposed deal is likely to include lower tariff and greater market access for Indian exporters in areas such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, footwear, leather, Goyal had said.
Tehan is visiting Delhi to advance negotiations with respect to the trade deal. Both ministers renewed a pact on tourism cooperation. “My understanding is that Australia and India are not only natural partners in terms of strong bond between our governments but we complement each other in trading, goods services in a variety of ways,” Goyal told reporters here.
Tehan said the agreement between both countries will be modern and will go beyond the traditional goods and services.

::SPORTS::

Newly-appointed women’s wrestling coach eyes rich haul at Asian Games

"I am targeting medals in each category this time. We have plenty of excellent wrestlers, who could realise this dream,” national coach JitendraYadav said on the first day of his maiden stint with national campers in Lucknow.
In the last 20-odd years of women’s freestyle wrestling at the Asian Games, India have won six medals, including the only gold by VineshPhogat at the 2018 edition of the event at Jakarta. The year also witnessed young DivyaKakran winning a bronze medal in the 68 kg category.
Much before this double delight, GeetikaJakhar and AlkaTomar won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2006 Games at Doha. This was followed by Phogat and Jakhar claiming a bronze medal each at the 2014 Incheon Games.
These six medals, including the only gold at the 2018 Asian Games, sum up India’s performance at the quadrennial event. Newly appointed women’s national coach, JitendraYadav, is aiming for medals in all six categories at this year’s Asian Games at Hangzhou, Zhejiang in China.