Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 14 AUGUST 2019

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, heading the Constitution Bench hearing the Ayodhya appeals, said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court is not in a hurry. Lawyers need not feel constrained and can argue to their heart’s content.
The top judge said lawyers on both sides could raise their arguments as and how they like, no matter how long they take.
The CJI’s words signify the importance the court is giving to the appeals. These appeals had previously been pending unheard in the court for the past nine years. The Bench is now hearing them five days a week, morning till evening.
His clarification came after senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, for the Muslim parties, complained that the court was allowing the Hindu side to argue for days without producing a shred of evidence or exhibit to fortify their claim over Ramjanmabhoomi.
The Chief Justice said Mr.Dhavan can read through the entire text of exhibits and evidence if required and the court would fully cooperate.

As the Election Commission held internal discussions on the delimitation of constituencies ahead of elections to the new Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, former Chief Election Commissioner and ex-officio member of the Delimitation Commission N. Gopalaswami said the increase in the number of seats was “an issue which is a political decision of Parliament”.
He said the total population would be divided over the 114 seats to get an average number of electors per constituency. The boundaries of the constituencies would then be drawn while ensuring that administrative units are not split as far as possible.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the UT of J&K would be increased from 107 to 114. The Act also specifies that delimitation will be based on the 2011 census till 2026.
Sources in the government were very clear that the EC will be asked to commence the delimitation exercise soon.The BJP has been the first off the block, telling its State unit to prepare for polls.

The Sensex losses were led by the HDFC pack — HDFC Bank and HDFC — along with banking and auto majors such as Yes Bank, M&M, Bajaj Finance and Maruti Suzuki India among others.
RIL was the saviour for the benchmark on Tuesday as the diversified conglomerate, which has the second-highest weightage in the Sensex, gained over 12% in intraday trades on the back of a slew of announcements it made at its annual general meeting on Monday.
Shares of RIL finally settled at 1,275, up 9.72%, thereby contributing nearly 360 points to the Sensex, which still closed deep in the red as 28 of its constituents lost ground.
The weakness in equity markets spilled into the currency markets with the rupee plunging to a six-month low against the dollar amid uncertainties gripping the global market and a crash in the Argentine currency.
The rupee ended 0.87% or 62 paise weaker against the dollar to close the day at 71.40.

Days after the Indian Tea Association (ITA) sent a distress signal through newspaper advertisements, the Centre has called for a meeting of all stakeholders to discuss issues pertaining to the sector.
The ITA, the apex industry association — accounting for a majority of the tea produced in the organised sector — had inserted an advertisement, highlighting the crisis and seeking government intervention.
More than 80% of the ITA members, with estates in Assam and West Bengal, had incurred losses in 2018-19 and were preparing for losses during the first quarter of this fiscal.
While the costs have ballooned to almost Rs. 200 per kg, the average selling prices have remained flat at about Rs. 160 per kg between 2013-14 and 2018-19,

India has contributed one million US Dollars to the United Nations Special Purpose Trust Fund for the Resident Coordinator System. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin tweeted yesterday that India is happy to tangibly contribute to reform of the UN Development system.
According to the UN information, Special Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF) is a specific fund housed within the UN Secretariat, established to receive, consolidate, manage all contributions and financial transactions of the new Resident Coordinator system in a transparent and effective way.
SPTF web portal, displays in real time all commitments, contributions and expenditures recorded for the fund.

The famous Palanipanchamirtham, a ‘prasadam’ at the Murugan temple in Palani, has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with the GI tag.
The Palanipanchamirtham is a combination of five natural substances — banana, jaggery, cow ghee, honey and cardamom. Dates and diamond sugar candies are added for flavour.
The panchamirtham is an ‘abhishegaprasadam’ (food that is a religious offering), which is served in a semi-solid state. It is sweet in taste and one of the main offerings for Lord DhandayuthapaniSwamy, the presiding deity of ArulmiguDhandayuthapaniSwamy Temple, situated on Palani Hills. Not even a single drop of water is added during the preparation of the panchamirtham.
As per the GI application, the geographical area for production of panchamirtham is Palani town in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu.
According to the GI application filed, the Palanipanchamirtham is prepared under the guidance given by the CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute) Mysore, a government of India undertaking.

In a piece of big news for cricketing fans around the world, the Commonwealth Games Federation today announced that women's T20 Cricket has been confirmed for inclusion at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Eight teams will compete across eight match days, as cricket returns to the Commonwealth Games for the first time since 1998 when South Africa won the gold medal in a men's 50-over format competition in Kuala Lumpur.
Edgbaston, the venue of England's semi-final victory over Australia in the men's 50-over World Cup, will play host to all the matches. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will take place in England from 27th July to 7th August.