Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 15 July 2015

:: National ::

Modi’s ambitious Skill India Mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Skill India mission is expected to be a mass campaign involving the youth to encourage them to take up skilling and vocational training to improve their employability.
The mission, which will be launched on Wednesday by the Prime Minister, is likely to see a large turnout of Union ministers including the finance minister, railway minister as well as chief ministers.
“Nearly 18 ministers including Union ministers as well as chief ministers would be attending the event,” said a senior government official, adding that a large number of private skill trainers would also attend.
Invitees from the private sector include Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, chiefs of industry associations as well as Teamlease Services chairman Manish Sabharwal and Romesh Wadhwani of the Wadhwani Foundation.
The Skill India mission, which is being launched on the World Youth Skills Day, will also be simultaneously launched by state governments.
“While a number of chief ministers will be in New Delhi, each of the states too will launch the Mission to create awareness amongst youth about the need for skilling,” said the official.
Data from the Census 2011 and 68th round of the National Sample Survey revealed than an estimated 10.4 crore fresh workers would enter the labour market and require skill training by 2022, and 29.8 crore of the existing workforce will require additional skill training over the same time period.
Accordingly, the government now plans to skill 40.2 crore workers by 2022 and a number of schemes including the new National Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and the skill loan scheme will be launched.
The Prime Minister will also unveil a new logo and slogan for the Skill India mission and give out letters of employment to some of the students who have successfully undergone skill training.

:: Business ::

India,s big Defence Deals Worth $4.7 Billion, Boeing Spy Planes

The Indian Army will be replacing its vintage anti-aircraft guns, decided the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) - headed by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar -- that met late this evening. The committee has cleared purchase of defence equipment worth Rs. 30,000 crore, sources said.
The new guns will have to be bought from Indian companies. But no Indian firm has yet demonstrated the capacity to manufacture these weapons. The army is likely to get 428 guns and it is likely to cost the exchequer Rs. 16,900 crore.
Currently, the Indian army uses L-70 and Zu- 23 mm guns of 1950s vintage, acquired from Swedish manufacturer Bofors and from the erstwhile Soviet Union's Podolsky Electromechanical Plant.
In 2013, then UPA Government had issued global tenders for anti-aircraft guns and invited Israeli, British, French, Russian and Polish firms to compete. None, however, responded as they did not find the proposal lucrative enough and the tender was later cancelled.
Besides, the DAC has allowed the Indian Navy to buy four more P8i maritime surveillance aircraft from the US.
The Indian Navy has eight such long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft made by Boeing. The purchase of four more is likely to cost the exchequer Rs. 4,380 crore.

Centre,s new initiative for trade facilitation

Concerned over declining exports, the government will soon set up a trade facilitation council comprising members of the Centre and states to promote India’s overseas shipments.
The council will be chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and secretaries of key ministries and state ministers will be the members.
The main objective of the council will be facilitating trade from states in a bid to boost the country’s exports.
The Union Commerce Ministry is also working on other measures including dis-segregation of exports data state-wise. “We will give access to DGCI&S window for their (states) own data to see where they are going,” the official added.
The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), under the Ministry of Commerce, is an official organisation for collection, compilation and dissemination of India’s trade statistics and commercial information.
The Commerce Ministry will encourage every state to set up a State Trade Policy in order to streamline procedures and increase exports.
Seeking to involve states for promoting exports, the Commerce Ministry had asked them to appoint commissioners and prepare export strategy.
As many as 21 states have appointed export commissioners, while 14 states, including Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, have worked out strategies for outward shipments.
The move is aimed at achieving the $900 billion exports target by 2019-20.
The Ministry is also working with the states to prepare a list of infrastructure projects which would ensure full potential of growth in exports.
Contracting for the sixth month in a row, India’s exports dipped by 20.19 per cent in May to $22.34 billion.

:: Sports ::

IPL verdict effect, Champions League T20 discontinued

The Champions League Twenty20 tournament, run since 2009 by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, has been discontinued with immediate effect because of lack of interest.
The 2015 edition, which would have been the seventh and was scheduled for September and October, has been cancelled because of the tournament's "limited public following", organisers said in a news release on Wednesday.
Launched by the three cricket boards in 2008, the competition offered a highly lucrative prize pool of $6 million with $2.5 million going to the winners.
It brought together teams from the India Premier League, Australia's Big Bash League, South Africa's Ram Slam T20 Challenge and Caribbean Premier League along with other qualifiers.
The inaugural event was cancelled after the death of 164 people in coordinated attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, however, and the tournament failed to gain any real traction thereafter.
The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were the most successful teams in the competition after they both won it twice with the Super Kings securing what will be the final title in Bangalore last year.

India Whitewash Zimbabwe

India skipper Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday applauded his team for playing as a unit, saying that every member of the side contributed in the 3-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe in the ODI series.
Despite a sloppy start, Kedar Jadhav (105 not out) and Manish Pandey (71) put on a crucial 144-run stand to help India post 276 for five and then eventually win the match by 83 runs.
Rayudu was awarded the Man-of-the-Series award for his 124 not out and 41 runs in the first and second ODIs, respectively.
Man-of-the-Match Jadhav said it was a great feeling to get his maiden century.

Lodha committee & IPL verdict

The Chennai Super Kings are undoubtedly the most successful and popular team in the Indian Premier League.
They win titles, have a fanatical fan following and some of the league's finest players. They also have Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, are the small-budget team that inspired many dreams. They belied their underdog status year after year.
They would start well and then they would struggle. But they gave us a Sanju Samson; a Pravin Tambe; a Swapnil Asnodkar. Shane Warne steered them in the early years and of course, at the heart of this all, is Rahul Dravid
But after the Lodha commission suspended their owners (and in essence, the teams themselves until a new owner is found) for two years, their future and perhaps that of the IPL itself is mired in a haze of uncertainty and frustration.
The BCCI, however, still saw the money rolling in as did the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals and that was enough for them to ignore the gathering dark clouds. Srinivasan -- the then BCCI president -- had a simple parameter for success: money.
Justice Lodha's verdict is damning not just for the owners of the franchises but also for the BCCI.
The Lodha panel spoke to journalists, editors, and anyone else who had a stake in the matter and arrived at a decision that really was the BCCI's to take; a decision they should have taken instead of giving Gurunath Meiyappan the clean chit or allowing the investigation against Raj Kundra to stop once it transferred to Rajasthan.
All great achievements require time but in its rush to attain greatness, the BCCI and the owners ignored the rules that they themselves had put in place. And truth to be told, in their refusal to act, they cheated not just the fans but the game itself.