Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 15 September 2017

::National::

Focusing on air cargo services

• Union Minister for Civil Aviation P. Ashok GajapathiRaju has said that the Centre will focus on transporting cargo by air, in order to strengthen the industry.

• The biggest airline in the world, in terms of freight tonnes flown, is FedEx and it is a cargo airline. We need to use our airports as cargo service points and set up cold storages and other logistics facilities. This will push our economy and strengthen the aviation industry

• Aviation is a highly taxed sector and we are trying to change that. If we do that, we can remove the mindset that only the rich can fly. Flying wide-body planes like Air Bus and Boeing will push up the operational costs unnecessarily and not lead to a reduction in ticket prices.

• The Airports Authority of India had invested Rs. 627 crore for the development of different airports in Karnataka.

• R.V. Deshpande, Heavy Industries Minister, urged private entrepreneurs to start maintenance, repair and overhaul services for aircraft. Now, most airlines in India go to Sri Lanka and other countries for MRO services. This can be avoided

Agriculture Ministry says there was no drought

• A spell of good rain in the first 10 days of the month has substantially lowered the prospects of any drought-like situation as the Agriculture Ministry claimed that production of kharif crops coverage was satisfactory.

• Though there is deficit rainfall reported in 95 districts, sowing is normal and satisfactory. The current rainfall in the first fortnight of September in many States will improve the situation.

• The yield is expected to be same as of last year. There is no drought-like situation said the Ministry, reacting to reports that “as many as 225 districts across 17 States could face drought-like situation.”

• The Ministry said rainfall was near normal and the overall deficit was only about 6%.

• The kharif crops’ coverage in almost all the States have been satisfactory, and, the rains during the period from 1-10 September, 2017 in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand have improved moisture in the soil.

• Media reports had suggested that the National Agriculture and Drought Assessment System had triggered level one of drought alert assessment after deficit rainfall last month.

• Rainfall shortage and deviation from normal rainfall pattern fall in the first category, while the second category of drought alert is triggered by a shortfall in crop sowing. The final stage of drought assessment is field surveys after prolonged dry spell affecting crop production.

• Last year, the Centre introduced a new system of assessing droughts, and, drought warnings were categorised into three categories.

High speed railway link to Ahmedabad

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone in Ahmedabad for the country’s first Rs. 1,10,000 crore, 508 km high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

• The ambitious project is being implemented with nearly 90% financial support and technology from Japan.

• To be built on elevated corridor with a seven-km undersea tunnel in Mumbai, the project will be based on the famed Japanese Shinkansen high-speed railway system with a record of zero casualties in its 50 years of operation.

• The Narendra Modi government has set an ambitious deadline to complete the project on August 15, 2022 when India marks 75 years of Independence. The project will be executed through a special purpose vehicle, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd.

• The bullet train project will take care of high speed, high growth and high-end technology describing it as “a symbol of New India” that his government wants to build by 2022.

• The bullet train project will be “humanity friendly” and “eco-friendly” and will usher in the next generation economic growth along the corridor between the two cities.

• India-Japan partnership is special, strategic and global and Japan is committed to support ‘Make in India’ and Japanese industries were working with the country to boost the manufacturing base in India.

• India’s Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd will tie up for manufacturing the rolling stock for bullet train project.

• Stressing on the strong Indo-Japan partnership, Mr. Abe said, “A strong India is in favour of Japan and a strong Japan is in favour of India.”

• As part of the project, a training centre in Vadodara is being set up to train over 4,000 employees who will be responsible for execution, operation and maintenance of the bullet train.

• The project will cover 12 stations — Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati — and once operational, the train is expected to service 1.5 crore travellers a year.

::INDIA AND WORLD::

India -Japan

• Displaying strategic convergence, India and Japan asked North Korea to shut down its nuclear and missile programmes.

• Both sides also hinted at Pakistan’s past involvement with North Korean nuclear and missile programmes and sought accountability of “all parties” who helped Pyongyang acquire nuclear technology even as Japan promised to help India deal with cross-border terrorism.

• Japan and India will take firm steps against the challenges that have emanated from North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, elaborated on the country’s concerns over the recent test of a hydrogen bomb by

• Pyongyang, which also fired a long-range missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on August 29.

• Mr. Abe’s speech,draws India into the escalating crisis over North Korean nuclear tests, reflects India’s growing “aspiration” to play a role befitting New Delhi’s rising status. Both sides also pledged to mount pressure on North Korea.

• A joint statement issued after the summit sought the implementation of Resolution 1267 of the UN Security Council to counter cross-border terrorism.

• In a significant move, Japan also stated its interest in the strategically important northeastern region of the country. Japan, at present, has two infrastructure projects in Meghalaya and Mizoram and more projects are likely to be added to the list after feasibility studies, said Mr. Maruyama.

• Both the points about North Korea and the reference to Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy – developed to deal with the Chinese influence – are significant in view of the now-resolved Doklam crisis that erupted between India and China.

• The two leaders also pointed out that maritime cooperation between the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the Indian Navy had expanded to include ‘anti-submarine aspects’ and acknowledged the need for greater maritime domain awareness (MDA) in the Indo-Pacific Region. Both sides also agreed to support small islands in the region as part of their common strategy.

• The joint statement emphasised expansion of joint exercises in areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR), peacekeeping operations and counter-terrorism, which will also include joint field exercises between the Japanese and Indian land forces next year. It further stated.

• India, Japan ink 3 MoUs in science & technology

• India and Japan signed three agreements in the science and technology sector to prepare an exchange programme for their scientists and promote joint research. The first pact is for an exchange programme between Japan’s iTHEMS and India’s Simons-NCBS, Bengaluru. The other two MoUs are on promoting research collaborations.

‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’

• Japan’s diplomacy with India during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s latest visit, highlighted the country’s intensifying focus on the Indo-Pacific region and Tokyo’s evolving foreign policy.

• Japan government’s overarching nature of the new concept, “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” that aims to prepare Japan to deal with the fast changing global and regional order and threats from China and North Korea.

• To create a “free and open” Asia-Pacific region which connects parts of eastern Africa, south Asia and southeast Asia with the western Pacific Ocean region and Japan would be Japan aim

• Japan will expand infrastructure, development, trade and investment, and enhance business environment and human development from East Asia as a starting point, to the Middle East and Africa.

• The ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’ rests on “two oceans” — Indian and Pacific — and “two continents” — Africa and Asia. It is understood that Japan is quietly challenging China’s aggressive plans in the South

• China Sea that pose a threat to the energy lane that sustains Japanese economy.

• The government of Shinzo Abe believes that connectivity between Asia and Africa through a free and open Indo-Pacific, is expected to support stability and prosperity of the region as a whole. Interestingly, a joint statement issued at the end of the visit did not mention ‘South China Sea’.

U.S. to extend sanctions relief to Iran

• The U.S. was to extend wide sanctions relief for Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal, sources familiar with the matter said, but no decision on whether to preserve the deal itself has yet been made.

• At the same time, the U.S. Treasury announced new cyber-related sanctions on about a dozen Iranian individuals or entities.

• Under the law, these sanctions can be waived for a maximum of 120 days, forcing the U.S. government to revisit the issue every four months. Sources familiar with the matter stressed that the wider U.S. policy toward Iran has yet to be decided.

Jane Austen 10-pound note launched in UK

• A new plastic £10 note featuring Jane Austen, one of Britain’s most renowned authors, has gone into circulation.

• Apart from the Queen, whose portrait is on all U.K. currency, Austen is only the third woman to feature on a modern-day British banknote, after medical innovator Florence Nightingale and social reformer Elizabeth Fry.

• She was chosen after a campaign for more female representation.

• The new ‘tenner’, as it is commonly known, is the first British banknote with a tactile feature, a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner to help the visually challenged.

• The note is made of polymer and is the central bank’s latest effort to make cash harder to counterfeit, following last year’s launch of a similar £5 note that showcases Winston Churchill. A new £20 note featuring artist JMW Turner will follow in 2020.

• Austen, whose novels include Pride and Prejudice , Emma , and Sense and Sensibility , is considered one of the great chroniclers of English country life in the Georgian era at the turn of the 19th century. Combining wit, romance and social commentary, her books have been adapted numerous times for television and film.

• As well as a portrait of Austen, the note features a quote from Pride and Prejudice : “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”

Basi the World’s oldest captive panda dies at 37

• The world’s oldest captive giant panda has died at the ripe old age of 37 more than 100 in human years her handlers in China as they gave “Basi” an emotional send-off.

• The Straits Giant Panda Research and Exchange Center in southeastern China, where she has lived for 33 years, bid a heartfelt farewell to the panda, with a memorial service that featured Basi’s body surrounded by yellow flowers with the tip of her tongue sticking playfully out.

• The original model of ‘Pan Pan’, the mascot for the first Asian Games (in China, 1990), and an angel of friendship both at home and abroad, giant panda star Basi

• Basi was rescued from the wild after falling into a river in southwestern China when she was around four and has lived at the Fuzhou care facility ever since.

::ECONOMY::

Advisers required for AI disinvestment

• The Union government on Thursday floated an expression of interest (EOI) to appoint two financial advisers and one legal adviser for strategic disinvestment of Air India, taking forward the process to shed a stake in the ailing national carrier.

• The Government of India has in-principle decided to consider the disinvestment of the AI Group as a whole or its constituents fully or part thereof through strategic sale with transfer of management control.

• The government has invited applications by October 12 from reputed investment bankers, merchant bankers, financial institutions and banks for providing advisory services and managing the strategic disinvestment process.

• The Union Cabinet on June 28 gave an in-principle nod to go for strategic disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to draw the roadmap.

• The decision to appoint advisers to steer forward the disinvestment process was taken by the GoM.

Revenue Secretary headed panel to review GST issues

• A government panel headed by the Revenue Secretary will meet on September 19 to resolve a ‘$10 billion-problem’ troubling India’s exporters and its potential adverse impact on jobs.

• Revenue Secretary-led ‘Committee on Exports’ set up on September 12 to address exporters’ concerns over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime would, among other things, take up the issue of “inordinate delay in refund of GST to exporters” and the consequent blockage of working capital that is severely affecting exporters’ liquidity and enhancing their tax burden.

• Exporters would have to wait till around December (considering 15 days for issuance of acknowledgement and another seven days for getting provisional refund of 90% of the total refund claim) for availing refund of the GST on exports, it would mean that they would have to arrange funds from their own sources to pay GST for the July-October period. The blocked amount for the four months time is estimated to be about $10 billion.

Rs. 6,000 cr. relief due to GST on coal to power sector

• CIL’s net turnover to remain the same due to ‘inverted tax’

• Changes in the tax structure on coal following the introduction of GST would translate to a Rs. 6,000 crore relief to the power sector.

• Coal, which had earlier attracted 6% excise and 11% VAT, was now taxed 5% GST. However, the inputs that it provided had a tax rate varying between 18% to 28% which would be refunded to CIL.

• “It is an inverted tax” which works out to a Rs. 6,000 crore annualised relief for power sector, Mr. Dey said. “While CIL’s gross turnover will be impacted due to this, its net turnover will remain the same,” he added.

• Earlier, CIL Chairman Gopal Singh said increased output over the last three years, had led to foreign exchange savings of Rs. 25,900 crore. Despatch to power utilities grew by 3% in 2016-17 and would have been higher but for regulated intake by generating firms, he added.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Cloaking technology that can make opaque materials invisible

• Scientists have developed a cloaking technology that can make opaque materials invisible by using light waves from lasers, paving the way for novel ways of camouflaging objects.

• A completely opaque material is irradiated from above with a specific wave pattern with the effect that light waves from the left can pass through the material without any obstruction.

• The technique can be applied to different kinds of waves, and should work with sound waves just as well as with light waves, researchers said.

• Complex materials such as a sugar cube are opaque, because light waves inside them are scattered multiple times.

• A light wave can enter and exit the object, but will never pass through the medium on a straight line. Instead, it is scattered into all possible directions.

• For years many different attempts have been made to outwit this kind of scattering, creating a “cloak of invisibility”. Special materials have been worked out, for example, which are able to guide light waves around an object. Alternatively, also experiments have been performed with objects that can emit light by themselves.

• When an electronic display sends out exactly the same light as it absorbs in the back, it can appear invisible, at least when looked at in the right angle.

• Original light wave was guided through the object, as if the object was not there at all. To make the laser shine, energy has to be supplied by means of a pump beam. Otherwise, the laser material behaves just like any other material it absorbs part of the incident light.

• The crucial point is to pump energy into the material in a spatially tailored way such that light is amplified in exactly the right places, while allowing for absorption at other parts of the material.

• If this pattern perfectly corresponds to the inner irregularities of the material which usually scatter the light, then the projection from above can effectively switch off the scattering, and another beam of light travelling through the material from one side can pass without any obstruction.

First map of water trapped on moon- Chandrayaan-1

• Scientists, using data from an instrument which flew aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, have created the first map of water trapped in the uppermost layer of the moon’s soil.

• The study, published in the journal Science Advances , builds on the initial discovery in 2009 of water and a related molecule — hydroxyl, which consists of one atom each of hydrogen and oxygen — in the lunar soil.

• Scientists from Brown University in the U.S. used a new calibration of data taken from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which flew aboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in 2008, to quantify how much water is present on a global scale.

• The amount of water increases toward the poles and does not show significant difference among distinct compositional terrains. The water concentration reaches a maximum average of around 500 to 750 parts per million in the higher latitudes. That is less than what is found in the sands of Earth’s driest deserts.

• Now that we have these quantitative maps showing where the water is and in what amounts, we can start thinking about whether or not it could be worthwhile to extract, either as drinking water for astronauts or to produce fuel.

• The researchers said that the way water is distributed across the moon gives clues about its source. The distribution is largely uniform rather than splotchy, with concentrations gradually decreasing toward the equator.

• That pattern is consistent with implantation via solar wind the constant bombardment of protons from the sun.

• Although the bulk of the water mapped in this study could be attributed to solar wind, there were exceptions.

• For example, the researchers found higher-than-average concentrations of water in lunar volcanic deposits near the moon’s equator, where background water in the soil is scarce.

• Rather than coming from solar wind, the water in those localised deposits likely comes from deep within the moon’s mantle and erupted to the surface in lunar magma, scientists said.

• The study also found that the concentration of water changes over the course of the lunar day at latitudes lower than 60 degrees, going from wetter in the early morning and evening to nearly bone dry around lunar noon.

• The fluctuation can be as much as 200 parts per million.

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