Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 13 December 2016

:: National ::

After JEE govt planning to make Aadhaar card mandatory for other exams

After making the Aadhaar card mandatory for all candidates appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to check impersonation, the government is considering extending the requirement to other competitive examinations.
In another exam reform proposal, the Centre is also planning to start a specialised ‘National Testing Institute' to conduct all important examinations which are now being conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Aspirants seeking entry to the prestigious IITs, NITs and designated institutes, except candidates from Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir, have to write the JEE (Mains) examination in 2017 using their Aadhaar.
There has been a controversy over whether the government can mandate Aadhaar for such activity, with the Supreme Court reminding the government in September that it could not mandate the Aadhaar number for scholarship schemes.
Asked whether the government could demand pos-session of Aadhaar to appear for an examination, as no ser-vice or benefit was being provided.
Mr. Javadekar said the government was preparing a Cabinet note to set up a National Testing Institute to hold competitive examinations for entry into educational institutions in engineering, medical and other fields.

Worlds two most populous Muslim countries decides tonight terror

India and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, decided to expand their defence and maritime security ties and resolved to deal with terrorism.
During the talks between PM Modi and Indonesian President, among the very few fast-growing large economies, also decided to boost trade and investment in the areas of oil and gas, renewable energy, information technology and pharmaceuticals.
The issue of South China Sea figured prominently. In a veiled message to Beijing, both sides said the disputemust be resolved through peaceful means.
Two memoranda of understanding were signed to provide for cooperation in youth affairs and sports and standardisation.
Joint communiqué A joint communiqué on combating illegal and unregulated fishing was also firmed up.
In his statement, Mr. Modi said the talks focussed onthe full range of cooperation and both countries agreed to prioritise defence and security cooperation and intensifyefforts to ensure the safety and security of the sea lanes.
As the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia stands for democracy, diversity, pluralism, and social harmony.
These are also our values. Our nations and societies have nurtured strong bonds of commerce and culture throughout our his-tory,” said Mr. Modi.
A joint statement said the two leaders condemned terrorism in all forms, say-ing there must be “zero tolerance” of acts of terror.
It said all states must deal with transnational terror-ism emanating from their territory through effective criminal justice response.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Widodo called upon all countries to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 (banning militant groups and their leaders) and other resolutions designating terrorist entities.
This is seen as an apparent reference to China blocking India's move to get Jaish-e-Mo-hammed chief Masood Azhar designated as a glob-al terrorist.
Referring to the South China Sea dispute, in which Indonesia is a party, the two leaders called for resolving it through peaceful means and in accordance with international law, including the UNCLOS.

China says no shift on NSG and Masood Azhar position

China reiterated that there was no shift in its position either on New Delhi's inclusion in the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) or on imposition of U.N. sanctions on the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad Masood Azhar.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman GengShuang told a media briefing. Mr. Geng was responding to a question on Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's re-marks at the first India-China think tank forum in New Delhi.
The Foreign Secretary hadproposed that Beijing should not impart a political colour to New Delhi's efforts to access civilian nuclear technology.
No common stand He had also regretted that the two countries, despite establishing an elaboratestructured relationship, were unable to take a com-mon stand on “fundamentalist terrorism.”
As two major developing countries it is only natural for us to not see eye to eyeon all issues, but the main-stream of the bilateral relationship is cooperation and the two of us are staying in communication on relevant issues.
Mr. Geng said Beijing was looking forward to working with New Delhi to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and manage differences based on consensus reached by leaders of both countries.

Debit and credit card users to get benefits

The Centre on Monday announced that customers buying petrol and diesel at state-run pumps would get a discount of 0.75 per cent if they paid using credit or debit cards from December 13 onwards.
The discount amount would be credited to customers' bank accounts within three working days.
The government announced a slew of measures, including discounts at petrol pumps, sub-urban ticket counters, to encourage digital transactions, but had not specified the date fromwhich these discounts would come into effect.
PSU oil marketing companies have been working closely with banks, e-wallet companies and service providers since the announcement and are now pleased to advise that the above would be implemented effective midnight tonight, i.e. from December 13, 2016, 00.00 hrs,” the statement said.
This incentive will be credited to customer's account by way of cashback within three working days of the transaction,” it added.

:: International ::

China says it is firm on one-China policy

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday warned that any change in the U.S.'s one-China policy will impair ties between Beijing and Washington.
“Upholding the ‘one China' principle is the political basis for developing China-U.S. ties.
If this basis is interfered with or damaged, then the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in important areas is out of the question,” China's Foreign Ministry spokesman GengShuang told.
Mr. Geng was responding to a spate of queries follow-ing a interview on Fox News by Donald Trump, where he questioned the U.S.'s persistence with the one-China policy, unless there were concessions from Beijing on trade and other issues.
He also blamed China for devaluing its currency, and not cooperating with Wash-ington on North Korea and the South China Sea.
The one-China policy underscores recognition ofChina's sovereignty over Taiwan — a position that has been held by the U.S. since 1979.
The one-China policy “is not something that can be negotiated... It seems Trump knows only about business. He thinks he can put a price on everything”, GlobalTimes said.

After India, Venezuela also does demonetisation

Venezuela, mired in an economic crisis and facing the world's highest inflation, will pull its largest bill, worth two U.S. cents on the black market, from circulation this week ahead of introducing new higher-value notes, President Nicolas Maduro said.
The surprise move, announced by Mr. Maduroduring an hours-long speech, is likely to worsen a cash crunch in Venezuela.
Mr. Maduro said the 100-bolivar bill will be taken out of circulation and Venezuelans will have 10 days after that to exchange those notes at the central bank.
48% of all currency Critics slammed the move, which Mr. Maduro said was needed to combat contra-band of the bills at the volatile Colombia-Venezuela border, as economically non-sensical, adding there would be no way to swap all the 100-bolivar bills in circulation in the time the President has allotted.
Central bank data showed that in November, there were more than six billion 100-bolivar bills in circulation, 48 per cent of all bills and coins.
Authorities are due to start releasing six new notes and three new coins, the largest of which will be worth 20,000 bolivars, less than $5 on thestreets.
No official inflation data is available for 2016 though many economists see it in triple digits. The oil-producing nation's bolivar currency has fallen 55 per cent against the U.S. dollar on the black market in the last month.
Mr. Maduro previously has said that organised crime networks at the Colombia-Venezuela border buy up Venezuelan notes to in turn buy subsidised Venezuelan goods and sell them for vast profits in Colombia.
Strict currency controls introduced in 2003 in the country that had pegged the bolivar to the dollar, coupled with heavy reliance on oil, are seen as the root of the crisis by most economists.

EU and Cuba to improve ties after decades

The European Union (EU) and Cuba signed a deal to normalise ties that had been blocked for decades by human rights concerns.
Cuba was the only Latin American country not to have a “dialogue and cooperation” deal with the 28-nation EU covering issues such as trade, human rights and migration.
But EU Ministers last week dropped a policy in place since 1996 which stated that Cuba first had to improve its human rights record before getting closer links with the bloc.
Asked what impact Donald Trump's election might have on U.S. policy, he noted angrily that despite easing tensions, Washington had kept its economic embargo against Cuba. “EU-Cuba relations do not go via Washington,” he added.
Ms. Mogherini said she saw no reason for concern al-though Mr. Trump's shock election victory has stoked doubts in Europe about Washington's global stance and its crucial security guarantee.

:: Business and Economy ::

Mistry removed as director after Tata Industries EGM

Tata Industries, at its Extraordinary General Meeting on Monday, re-moved former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus P. Mistry, as director in the company.
Hence, he has also ceased to be the chairman of the company. A Tata Sons spokesperson confirmed the development.
Tata Industries is a subsidiary of Tata Sons, which is a majority share-holder. Several Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel, hold equity in the company.
These shareholders met at the EGM in Bombay House and unanimously voted Mr. Mistry out. This was on ex-pected lines, said people familiar with the development. Mr. Mistry did not attend the meeting.
Tata Industries' main activities are to promote the Tatas' entry into new businesses and to invest in operating companies to facilitate growth.
The Board of Tata Indus-tries, post the EGM, com-prises K.R.S. Jamwal, R. Bhinge, Ireena Vittal, Ashish Dhawan, N. Srinath, and F.N. Subedar. TCS has called for an EGM to remove Mr. Mistry as a director.
Five more Tata Group companies have lined up their respective EGMs later this month to remove Mr. Mistry as director from their boards.

Indian railways may soon build exclusive tracks for suburban trains

Indian Railways may soon build exclusive rail tracks for suburban trains in a bid to ease congestion.
The Railways will partner states through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for suburban train systems, which would be empowered to propose a surcharge on passengers for recovering operating losses and capital costs of such projects.
At present, the Railways is running suburban train ser-vices in certain sections onthe tracks laid primarily for long-distance trains.
The Railways has framed the draft guidelines to address the demand for more sub-urban trains from the state governments.
Suburban railway projects are proposed to be implemented and operated through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with equal equity participation from the respective state governments and the Railways.
Further, the Indian Rail-ways, on request from the SPV , may restructure fares on suburban trains and impose a surcharge to recover the operating losses and the capital cost “if operating losses are not recovered from the dedicated urban transport fund.”
The state governments will be required to conduct feasibility studies of the project at their own cost which will be examined by zonal Railways and subsequently sent to Indian Railways.
States will have to ensure there is no delay in land acquisition and Indian Rail-ways will only contribute its equity share to the SPV once 70 per cent of the land to be acquired is made available by the state government, as per another proposal.
States will have to bear the complete cost of land acquisition, leas-ing of railway land and resettlement and rehabilitation.