Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 13 April 2017

:: National ::

Veteran diplomats says India had various options for Kulbhushan Jadhav

India should not rush into negotiations with Pakistan to free the former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded the death sentence by Pakistan, veteran diplomats said.
They said India had several bilateral and multilateral options to free Mr. Jadhav, who was accused of sabotage and tried in a military court.
One option before India is to ask [U.S.] President Trump to prevail upon the Pakistan military to release Mr. Jadhav. It is highly unlikely that any request to shift Mr. Jadhav to a civil court would work.
Mr. Jadhav’s case was unique in the history of India-Pakistan hostility and was reminiscent of a Cold War spy drama.
Some diplomats have recommended that India should not hurry in responding to this move by Pakistan as the case is peculiar.
There were many instances when individuals suspected of being spies were given the death sentence in the usual courts of law in Pakistan and therefore the issue was why a normal legal process was avoided in this case.
Diplomats also said that India would have to deliberate upon what kind of response would be befitting if Pakistan executed Mr. Jadhav.

PSLV received double customers since Feb

The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) space vehicle has received more than double the volume of inquiries from prospective customers ever since it launched a record 104 satellites on a single flight in February.
A world best, 101 small foreign commercial spacecraft were taken up at once in the feat, catapulting the PSLV’s overall commercial tally to 180.
The PSLV, with a near impeccable 37 successes in 39 flights, he said, is a clear leader in the category of rockets that lift small satellites to low earth orbits or LEOs.
These satellites weigh up to 500 kg and must be placed in polar orbits 500 km from the earth.
Similar 100-plus satellite contracts on a single flight would be uncommon; Mr. Sasibhushan said the next PSLV, C-38, due in May, would have 30 small satellites (smallsats) riding piggyback with the primary Cartosat-2 series satellite.

Curative petition filed by centre in AFSPA case

The government asked the Supreme Court to urgently reconsider its July 2016 verdict which ripped open the cloak of immunity and secrecy provided by the AFSPA to security forces for deaths caused during encounters in disturbed areas.
The Supreme Court had held that “there is no concept of absolute immunity from trial by a criminal court” if an Army man has committed an offence.
Judgement held that every death caused by security forces in a disturbed area, even if the victim was a dreaded criminal or a militant or a terrorist or an insurgent, should be thoroughly inquired into to address any allegation of use of excessive or retaliatory force.
Attorney-General appeared before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar during the mentioning hour, and apprised the court that the judgment had become a fetter on security forces involved in anti-militancy operations.
The judgment came on a plea by hundreds of families in Manipur for a probe by Special Ivestigation Team.

National Lok Adalatsettled nearly 6.6 lakh cases in one day

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), led by Supreme Court judge Justice Dipak Misra, has been quietly chipping away at the backlog and has accomplished its latest feat of settling over six lakh cases in just 24 hours.
The Second National Lok Adalat for 2017, conducted on April 8, through out the country from taluk level courts to High Courts, has settled nearly 6.6 lakh cases.
Out of this, 3.68 lakh cases have been reduced from court pendency and about 2.92 lakh cases were settled even before they could be filed in courts.
The cases ranged from matrimonial disputes, partition suits, civil matters, cheque bounce cases, motor accident claims, revenue disputes pending in courts, criminal compoundable cases and service matters pertaining to pension, retrial benefits, etc.
The award of a Lok Adalat is final and cannot be challenged by way of appeals and revision, etc.
Moreover, settlement of a pending court case in a Lok Adalat comes with an added incentive of refund of court fee to the party involved in the litigation.
The NALSA, under Justice Misra, has decided to organise bi-monthly National Lok Adalats for both pending and pre-litigative cases.
Pendency in subordinate courts is a whopping over 2.7 crore cases.A statement issued by NALSA emphasised the point made by Justice Misra that it is developing a “culture of settlement”.

Budget session came to an end

The Budget session of Parliament came to an end after the approval of four GST bills and other legislations, besides the Budget and the demands for grants of various Ministries.
The two-part session, advanced this time, began on January 31 with the President’s address to a joint sitting of both Houses. Also, for the first time, the Railway Budget was merged with the General Budget.
The session also saw government statements on the death sentence awarded to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court on the charges of spying.
Altogether, there were 29 sittings, with the Lok Sabha working for 176 hours and 39 minutes and the Rajya Sabha for a little over 136 hours. The Lok Sabha lost eight hours and 12 minutes to disruptions. The Upper House lost 13 hours.
The Lok Sabha passed The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Enemy Property Bill, the Mental healthcare Bill, Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the 123rd Constitution Amendment Bill (to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes), among others.

:: Business and Economy ::

Industrial production shrank to 1.2%

Industrial production in February 2017 shrank 1.2% year-on-year, the lowest in four months, mainly due to a decline in manufacturing output and the persistent impact of demonetisation, data released by the Central Statistics Office.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had recorded 1.99% growth in February 2016. The previous low was a contraction of 1.87% in October 2016.
Manufacturing sector, accounting for more than 75% of the index, shrank 2% in February 2017. The sector had marginal growth of 0.6% in February, 2016.
The main factor retarding growth was a fall in consumer goods output — both durable and non-durables being in the negative zone, according to an analysis by CARE Ratings.
CARE Ratings said 15 of the 22 industries witnessed negative growth, which was not a good sign, adding that capital goods declined against an increase in January which was expected as such growth rates have been volatile in the past.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation inched up in March 2017 to 3.81% (provisional) as against 3.65% recorded in February 2017, according to government data. Still, retail inflation was slower than the 4.83% recorded in March 2016.
According to CARE Ratings, the acceleration in inflation could be ascribed to higher fuel prices on account of rising global crude oil prices and increases in the costs of food articles like fruits and milk products.
Slower gains in the prices of pulses helped cap headline retail inflation.

FRBM review committee says centre can hold fiscal deficit at 3% till 2020

The Centre can take a pause on the fiscal consolidation front over the next three years by maintaining a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 3% till 2019-20, the FRBM Review Committee chaired by former Revenue Secretary N.K. Singh has recommended.
Set up to comprehensively review and give recommendations on the FRBM roadmap for future, the panel has advocated reaching a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 2.8% in 2020-21, 2.6% the subsequent year and 2.5% in 2022-23.
To put that in context, the government has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of GDP in 2017-18, marginally better than the 3.5% clocked last year.
The FRBM law enacted in 2003 had originally envisaged attaining a fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP by 2008-09, but amendments over the years had revised the year for achieving the same target to 2017-18.
The panel has introduced an escape clause that allows the government to skip the fiscal deficit target for a particular year, in situations that include national security concerns, acts of war, national calamities, a collapse of the agriculture sector.
It recommended that deviations from the stipulated fiscal targets should not be more than 0.5%. The Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel was not in favour of such a large deviation.
The escape clause can also be triggered if the economy’s real output growth slips by three percentage points from the average of the previous four quarters.
A similar buoyancy clause has been proposed, so that fiscal deficit must fall at least 0.5% below the target if real output grows 3% faster than that average.
The panel has recommended that the existing FRBM Act and rules be scrapped and a new Debt and Fiscal Responsibility Act be adopted and proposed the creation of a Fiscal Council that the government must consult before invoking escape clauses.

Centre to close the gaps on virtual currencies

The Centre has decided to close the regulatory gaps to keep a check on virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, and has set up an inter-disciplinary committee to recommend an action plan for dealing with such currencies within three months.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had also cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies (VCs), including Bitcoins, about the potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks that they are exposing themselves to.
To examine the existing framework for virtual currencies, govt has constituted an inter-disciplinary committee chaired by Special Secretary with representatives from the departments of revenue and financial services and the ministries of Home Affairs as well as Electronics and Information Technology.
In its February advisory, the RBI had said it has not given any licence or authorisation to any entity or company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any virtual currency.