Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 15 December 2018

::NATIONAL::

India to remain as world’s fastest growing economy, claims finance ministry

Finance Minister ArunJaitley has said India will clock a growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent despite global uncertainties and will retain the tag of the world's fastest growing major economy. He said the economy is now fairly large to display a certain degree of resilience.
Speaking at the inauguration of the FICCI Annual General Meeting in New Delhi yesterday, Mr Jatley, said the government will stick to the 3.3 per cent fiscal deficit target in the current financial year. He said there is a need to focus on several unreformed sectors in the economy. He also cited the need to improve credit flow and tackle liquidity.
Vice president calls for innovative methods to tackle malnutrition
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu called upon scientists, policy makers and planners to adopt new strategies to tackle the problem of malnutrition, which in its various forms is a looming threat to our development.
Addressing the valedictory session of the International Conference on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (ECDs), organized to mark the completion of centenary celebrations of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), in , the Vice President referred to the difficulty in bringing about a change in age-old dietary habits of the people and suggested the involvement of local community at the grass roots to effectively convey the message for consumption of nutritious food.
Calling upon the nutrition scientists to accord the highest priority to eliminating the triple burden of malnutrition comprising under-nutrition, over-nutrition and micronutrients deficiencies (hidden hunger), the Vice President wanted NIN to align its research with the National Nutrition Mission, which seeks to improve the nutritional indicators of children, pregnant women and lactating women.

::ECONOMY::

Recovery of bad loans by PSB’s going on swiftly claims centre

Minister of State for Finance Shiv PratapShukla informed Parliament that Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have recovered 2.33 lakh crore rupees worth of bad loans during the four years from financial year 2014-15 to fiscal 2017-18.
In a written reply to the LokSabha yesterday, MrShukla informed that as per RBI data on global operations for PSBs, during the financial years 2014-15 to 2017-18, PSBs recovered 2,33,339 crore rupees, of which 32,693 crores were from written-off accounts.
He said, write-offs of non-performing assets is a regular exercise of the banks to clean up their balance sheet, tax benefit and capital optimisation.
During 2014-15 to 2017-18, the PSBs witnessed reduction in their NPAs due to write-offs to the tune of 3,16,515crore rupees. The Minister also said that aggressive lending practices, wilful default/loan defaults as well as corruption in some cases and economic slowdown were the primary reasons for spurt in stressed assets.
Country's largest lender SBI, stood on a gross bad loans of 2.02 lakh crore rupees as on September 30, 2018, showed the data furnished by the Minister which was sourced from the Reserve Bank.
Among the rest of the 20 PSBs, Punjab National Bank had grossed NPAs to the tune of 80,993 crore rupees by end of second quarter of the current fiscal, IDBI Bank 50,690 crore rupees, Bank of India 50,338 crore rupees, Union Bank of India 48,575 crores.

Centre to set up National Medical Devices Promotion Council

To give a fillip to the medical device sector, which is a sunrise sector, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, announced setting up of a National Medical Devices Promotion Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry
The Medical Devices Industry (MDI) plays a critical role in the healthcare ecosystem and is indispensable to achieve the goal of health for all citizens of the country. The manufacturing and trade in MDI is growing steadily which includes a wide range of products. Although the industry has been growing in double digits but is predominantly import-driven with imports accounting for over 65% of the domestic market
The Council will be headed by Secretary, DIPP. Apart from the concerned departments of Government of India, it will also have representatives from health care industry and quality control institutions. Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, Visakhapatnam, will provide technical support to the Council.
The council will also make recommendations to government based on industry feedback and global practices on policy and process interventions to strengthen the medical technology sector, including trade interventions for related markets.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Srilankan PM Rajapakse resigns to give way to Wikramasinghe

In Sri Lanka, Prime Minister MahindaRajapaksa will resign today to pave the way for formation of new government under ousted Prime Minister RanilWickremsinghe. His son NamalRajapksa said the resignation will follow an address to the nation. He added that Mr. Rajapksa party will work with others under a broad coalition.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to vacate interim order of lower court restraining Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning. A Presidential advisor confirmed that Mr. Wickremsinghe will be appointed as the Prime Minister by Monday and President MaithripalaSirsiena has reportedly agreed to it.
The political crisis began in the country on October 26 when the President appointed MahindaRajapaksa as the Prime Minister replacing Mr. Wickremsinghe.
Later, Mr. Rajapaksa failed to prove his majority in Parliament and thereafter Parliament passed several motions against his government.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientistsdeveleop new bee vaccine for insect apocalypse

Scientists in Finland have developed what they believe is the world’s first vaccine to protect bees against disease, raising hopes for tackling the drastic decline in insect numbers which could cause a global food crisis.
Bees are vital for growing the world’s food as they help fertilise three out of four crops around the globe, by transferring pollen from male to female flowers.
But in recent years bee populations around the world have been dying off from “colony collapse disorder”, a mysterious scourge blamed on mites, pesticides, virus, fungus, or some combination of these factors.
UN-led research in 2016 found that more than 40% of invertebrate pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, are facing extinction.
The vaccine, developed by a team at Helsinki University in Finland, works by giving bees resistance to fight off severe microbial diseases that can be fatal for pollinator communities.
The treatment is administered to the queen bee via a sugar lump, similar to the way many children are given polio vaccines. The queen then passes the immunity to her offspring, spreading it through the bee community.

::SPORTS::

PV Sindhu enters semi finals of BWF world tours

In Badminton, P.V.Sindhu and Sameer Verma have advanced to the semifinals of the BWF World Tour Finals 2018.
In Guangzhou, China today, Sindhu registered her third straight win to advance to the semi-finals. World No.6 Sindhu eased past Beiwen Zhang of the United States 21-9, 21-15. With three wins, Sindhu also finished at the top of her group.
Sindhu will next face Thailand's RatchanokIntanon in the semi-final .