Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 13 November 2016

:: National ::

PM says there will be more actions on black money

Hinting at more action to unearth black money, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that those holding unaccounted money would not be spared.
He also said there was no “guarantee” that no further steps would be taken after December 30, the deadline for depositing the demonetised currency notes.
Mr. Modi assured the honest people that they would not face any trouble. “I would like to announce once again that after the end of this scheme, there is no guarantee that something new will not be introduced to punish you,” he said.
Mr. Modi termed the demonetisation a Swachhata Abhiyan and hailed the undaunting spirit of the people, despite the hardship following the November 8 announcement.
“I salute my countrymen. I thought long and hard about the possible difficulties, and it was also important to keep it a secret. It had to be done suddenly, but I never thought I would receive blessings for this,” he said.

Kerala commission for protection of child rights to look into low conviction in POCSO cases

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has decided to look into the reasons behind the low conviction under POCSO, 2012.
Data provided by the commission on the basis of figures from special courts on cases from November 2012 to December 2015 revealed that only 7 per cent of the 3,711 cases registered under the Act in the State were disposed of.
The conviction rate stood at a mere 20 per cent, that is, the accused were convicted in only 53 of the 261 cases disposed of.
The number of cases in which compensation was awarded was 23. There were acquittals in as many as 197 cases.
Commission chairperson said that the low rates of conviction and disposal of cases were matters of serious concern. The commission said the courts were yet to become child-friendly as per the directions of the POCSO Act.
An analysis of 999 cases registered between July and December last year found that 32 per cent of the accused in cases registered under the Act were neighbours of relatives of the children, and 31 per cent teachers.
Unknown persons were the accused in 13 per cent of such cases, and van, bus, and autorickshaw drivers 5 per cent.
Most of such cases occurred in the house of the children (304) or the accused (185). Public places accounted for 331 such cases. Schools too were not safe, with 33 cases occurring there.
Most of the affected children were in the 16-18 age-group (36 per cent). As many as 34 per cent of them were in the 13-15 age group.
As many as 50 per cent of the affected children belonged to the OBC category. As much as 16 per cent of them belonged to the Scheduled Castes, and seven per cent to the Scheduled Tribes.
Ninety-seven per cent of the accused were men.As many as 593 of them were in the 19-40 age group, and 210 in the 41 to 60 age group. There were 76 accused who were below the age of 18.

India faces highest number of Child death due to pneumonia

It is World Pneumonia Day 2016, and India stands pretty much where it stood last year — right on top of the charts with a total of 2,96,279 deaths from pneumonia and diarrhoea.
The tally being just short of last year’s figure of 2,97,114 deaths, and the nation desperately needs to reduce those numbers.
The Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report published annually by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), puts India at the top of the list of 15 nations, as it did last year, and the years before.
The report, however, does indicate some consolation can be found in the fact that India is among the 12 nations that have improved their Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) score this year.
The report says: “The rate of all-cause mortality in this age group has been cut by more than half worldwide since 1990, from 91 deaths per 1,000 live births to 43 in 2015.
Although this is an enormous achievement, pneumonia and diarrhoea’s contribution to under-5 deaths remains stubbornly high.
In 2015, these two diseases together were responsible for nearly one of every four deaths that occurred in children under five.”
Nearly 15 years after the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in 2000, five countries among those with the highest pneumonia burden — India, Indonesia, Chad, China and Somalia — are still not using the vaccine in their routine immunisation programmes, the report noted.
India recently announced a partial introduction of the vaccine in five states (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh) from 2017.
India introduced rotavirus vaccines in four States in 2015. In addition to thinking of vaccines, the report points out other simple proven interventions in order to prevent these deaths, including antibiotics, exclusive breastfeeding.
Also urging nations to go beyond business as usual, it chronicles innovations that help speed up the process and better chase the goal of cutting down the number of preventable child deaths.

Panna tiger reserve to take hit of Ken-Betwa river-linking project

The Rs. 9,000-crore Ken-Betwa river-interlinking project, which will partly submerge the Panna tiger reserve, may be delayed after a key Environment Ministry body tasked with giving it forest clearance has deferred it at least until January.
The project will submerge 6,221 hectares of land— 4,141 hectares of it is core forest inside the reserve. The Forest Advisory Committee’s clearance is required for this diversion of forest land.
Depending on whether a project takes over land in wildlife sanctuaries or notified forest land, it requires separate wildlife, forest and environment clearances.
The main feature of the project is a 230-km canal and a series of barrages and dams connecting the Ken and the Betwa to irrigate 3.5 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 14,000 hectares in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.
The key components are the Makodia and the Dhaudhan dams, the latter expected to be 77 metres high, which will submerge 5,803 hectares of tiger habitat in the tiger reserve.
On the other hand, 6,388 people will be affected as water from the Daudhan reservoir will submerge 10 villages and 13,499 in 28 villages will be affected by submergence caused by the Makodia reservoir.
Seventeen lakh residents of nearby towns and villages in both States will benefit from improved drinking water supply and irrigation, the report added.

:: International ::

US President-elect says some aspects of Obamacare would be protected

Pushing Vice-President-elect Mike Pence to the foreground of his transition efforts and signalling that some defining components of ‘Obamacare’ will be protected when it is overhauled.
Mr. Pence is close to Republicans of all hues, particularly the conservatives. Having spent 13 years in Washington DC as a member of Congress, he is well-networked in the capital and, most important of all, is a friend of House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Mr. Pence has replaced New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as the head of the transition team.
Extreme positions on issues and personal attacks on President Barack Obama and his opponent Hillary Clinton had fired up the campaign that catapulted Mr. Trump to the most powerful office in the world.
But the self-proclaimed deal-maker now says he could consult the Clintons and Mr. Obama, and signals more moderate views on issues.
Adding that he would “definitely think about that” consulting both of them, Mr. Trump said: “He’s a very talented guy, both of them… I mean, this is a very talented family.”
Mr. Trump has to rework the existing political alignments in DC if he were to push his agenda of scrapping trade deals and investing in infrastructure and defence that will create domestic jobs in America.
While congressional conservatives might resist deficit spending by the government, Mr. Trump could find support from progressive Democrats.
On other crucial questions, like climate change and nominating a Supreme Court judge, Mr. Trump could align more with his own party while resisting the combined Democratic pressure.
Altogether, the political divides as they exist in the national capital will undergo some radical changes as Mr. Trump pushes ahead with his platform and will put to test his deal-making skills.

:: India and World ::

Both India and Japan made exceptions before signing Nuclear deal

In signing the civil nuclear agreement with India, Japan made a major exception for a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), based on India’s impeccable nuclear record.
India, too, may have given exceptional commitments on its nuclear sovereignty and right to conduct nuclear tests in order to bag the deal.
Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) signed in the presence of PM Modi and PM Shinzo Abe followed the template set in the India-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement of 2008, a text signed in addition to it is a departure from the past.
In the additional document, called the “Note on Views and Understanding” signed by Indian and Japanese nuclear negotiators after the meeting.
Article I (iii) says: “The representative of the Japanese delegation stated that an Indian action in violation of the September 5 statement could be viewed as a serious departure from the prevailing situation.
In that situation, reprocessing of nuclear material subject to the Agreement will be suspended in accordance with paragraph 9 of Article 14 of the Agreement,” invoking a section on emergency suspension of nuclear parts or fuel supply.
India also understands this, which is confirmed in the official document, “Note on Views and Understanding”, attached to the Treaty,” he said.
However, former nuclear envoys say the text signifies India has gone “much further” in commitments to Japan than ever before.
In the past, India had rejected direct references to nuclear tests as a trigger for cancelling the deal from the U.S., Canada, and Australia, amongst a dozen countries India has signed nuclear agreements with.
Next, India has allowed Japan to include the “emergency suspension” clause, which could mean a major shutdown of its nuclear power capabilities given that Japanese companies and spare parts are expected to be a crucial part of all future reactors in India.
With the exception of Russian reactors, all the suppliers in negotiation with India at present: GE, Westinghouse and Areva have considerable ownership by Japanese companies Hitachi, Toshiba and Mitsubishi.
Finally, the additional note states that Japan can contest the claims by India for compensation if it suspends its nuclear cooperation with India.
The difference in perceptions between the MEA and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan will be significant, given that the Japanese Parliament, Diet, is yet to approve the Nuclear cooperation Agreement.
In India, the debate over nuclear sovereignty will be key.

:: Business and Economy ::

RBI urged public to switch to alternate modes of payment

Amid long queues at bank branches to trade in old Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000 notes and as automated teller machines ran out of cash, RBI urged citizens to switch to alternative modes of payment such as pre-paid, mobile banking, and Internet banking.
The government had on November 8 cancelled the legal tender status of existing currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denomination and said at the time that such notes could be exchanged at bank branches and post offices till December 30.
Following the announcement, ATMs were closed for two days. Each and every ATM in the country (estimated to number more than two lakhs) had to be recalibrated in those 2 days so that they did not dispense any Rs.500 or Rs.1,000 notes.
ATMs were only disbursing Rs.100 notes. A few of them, however, were also disbursing Rs.50 notes. A new Rs.2,000 denomination note has been issued but that is only available in bank branches.
Further, each ATM needs to be recalibrated so that the new Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes, which are of smaller size, can be processed by the cash dispensing machines.
RBI admitted that it was a huge responsibility for the banking system to swiftly withdraw those notes in a smooth and non-disruptive way.
The central bank maintained that adequate stocks of notes were kept ready in currency chests located at more than 4,000 places across the country.
Even as efforts are on for a smoother exchange of currencies, the RBI asserted that a detailed reporting system for banks had been put in place to track the exchange of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 currency notes.
The RBI said it was also closely monitoring the situation to prevent any misuse of the facility.

Annual survey of industries to collect data on assets and liabilities

The Centre on November 7 notified the holding of annual survey of industries for 2015-16, which will collect data on assets and liabilities, employment and labour cost, receipts and expenses of companies, among other information.
The exercise is expected to be completed by June 2017.
While the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is a regular feature since 1959, the latest edition which might be released towards the end of next year would feature these new elements.
It would be conducted nationwide except the State of Jammu & Kashmir where it will be undertaken under the J&K Collection of Statistics Act, 2010 and J&K Collection of Statistics Rules, 2012.
Information is required to be furnished for the Financial Year commencing from April 2015 and ending on March 31 2016 or for the Accounting Year of a unit ending on any date between April 2015 and March 2016.
The part one of the 2015-16 survey , would throw light on assets and liabilities, employment and labour cost, receipts, expenses, input items – indigenous and imported, products and by-products, distributive expenses of the registered industries.
The second part would focus on different aspects of labour statistics, namely, working days, man-days worked, absenteeism, labour turnover, man-hours worked, earning and social security benefits.
The inspectors would have access to business records of a unit, or any other legal document in support of the information furnished by the unit may be inspected by the statistics officer.