Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 14 NOVEMBER 2019

::NATIONAL::

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has held that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The court, however, said that judicial independence has to be kept in mind while disclosing information in public interest.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India, RanjanGogoi yesterday dismissed the appeal filed by the Central Public Information Officer and the Secretary-General of the apex court against the Delhi High Court's 2010 judgement.
Writing the judgement on behalf of the CJI, Justice Deepak Gupta and himself, Justice SanjivKhanna referred to several decisions and viewpoints to highlight the contentious nature of the issue of transparency, accountability and judicial independence.
He said it is necessary that the question of judicial independence is accounted for in the balancing exercise.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has called upon business leaders from the BRICS nations to invest in India, particularly in infrastructure development.
Mr Modi said, India is the world's most open and investment-friendly economy due to political stability, predictable policy and business-friendly reforms.
Mr Modi was addressing the closing ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, last night. Mr Modi said, the BRICS has led to economic development despite the global economic slowdown.
Prime Minister said, BRICS accounts for 50 per cent of the world's economic growth. Mr Modi called upon BRICS business leaders to exploit the opportunities among member countries.
The meeting of working groups of BRICS Business Council concluded on the first day of BRICS 2019. In this meeting, leaders of working groups have agreed on 30 important proposals related to different areas.

India and Switzerland held Secretary-level bilateral meeting today in New Delhi and discussed enhanced cooperation in the fight against tax evasion.
An official release said, the Secretaries expressed satisfaction over the progress made over the past few years in the area of administrative assistance in tax matters, particularly the efforts made by Switzerland in providing assistance in HSBC cases.
Welcoming the first transmission of financial account information on automatic basis between the two countries in September 2019, the Secretaries reiterated their countries’ commitment to global tax transparency for tackling offshore tax evasion.
This automatic exchange of financial account information will usher a new era of financial transparency as Indian tax administration will now know the details of all bank accounts held by Indians in Switzerland.

To ensure better price to the farmers of newly created union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Tuesday said the government will seek help of NABARD in procuring farm produce like saffron, peaches and walnuts from them.
Also, she said, the government wants to promote solar energy generation in the union territory (UT) of Ladakh, which is also carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has recently procured apples from the farmers of UT of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED
NABARD will speak to farmers of Jammu and Kashmir and understand their issues, he said, adding that efforts will be made to provide help farmers of saffron, peaches and walnuts.
"NABARD can focus on marketing of local nutrients in the coastal areas. It can work with the farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and self help groups (SHGs) in these areas to help increase nutritional input of the area, which could be well received in the wellness industry,"finance minister said.

Connectivity between India and Bangladesh is a game changer and it is a win win situation for both the countries. Speaking at the Global Dhaka Dialogue on the second day of the event on Tuesday India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das said that 80 percent of the 8 billion dollar Line of Credit given by India to Bangladesh is earmarked for connectivity linked projects.
She said that projects in road, railways, inland waterways and ports between the two countries create a win win situation for both the countries. She also talked about the digital connectivity as an exciting area for connectivity in the future.
On the issue of the Indo-Pacific region Riva Ganguly Das said that India believes in an inclusive Indo-Pacific which is safe, secure and stable. She said India believes in freedom of navigation and respect for sovereignty of all in the region.
Former Information & Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said that the 21st century is the Asian Century and South Asia is its economic driver.

The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to explore the feasibility of a hydrogen-based Japanese technology as a permanent solution to the air pollution in the NCR region and other parts of north India.
The court directed the Centre to expedite the deliberations on the issue and come before the court with its findings on 3rd of next month.
The development comes as Delhi's air quality neared the emergency zone for the second time in a fortnight today due to raging farm fires in neighbouring states and unfavourable weather conditions.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi and CJI designate S ABobde said, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has brought to the court's notice a technology which is the outcome of research by a university in Japan.
The bench said, Centre will explore the feasibility of using it in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other parts of north India.

In Cricket, Indian skipper ViratKohli and JaspritBumrah have maintained their top spots in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings. Kohli is at the top of the rankings for batsmen, followed by his deputy Rohit Sharma.
In the bowlers' rankings, Bumrah maintained his top spot followed by New Zealand's pacer Trent Boult. HardikPandya is the only Indian to feature in the top 10 among all-rounders. He is at number 10. England's World Cup hero Ben Stokes tops the chart followed by Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan.