Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 16 February 2017

:: National ::

Delhi-Centre issue to be taken by constitution bench

A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court referred to a Constitution Bench a series of appeals filed by the Delhi government.
It is for laying down the law on whether the Lieutenant Governor (LG) can unilaterally administer the National Capital without being bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government.
A question that arises for consideration now is whether the appeals would have to be heard by an eleven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.
This is because a nine-judge bench of the apex court had in 1996 in the NDMC versus State of Punjab case, recognised Delhi as a Union Territory for taxation purposes.
However, senior advocate for the Delhi government, had submitted that the petitions did not seek full Statehood for Delhi, but was asking for more freedom for an elected government to administer and govern the national Capital.

India created history by record 104 spacecraft launch

India, a one-rocket fledgling in space transportation compared to its European and U.S. counterparts, created launch history by placing a record 104 spacecraft in their desired orbits.
The feat was performed on the old reliable launch vehicle, the PSLV, numbered C-37, which took off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
C-37 was a largely commercial flight as all but three passenger satellites, small nanosats, belonged to six other countries.
The PSLV, in the category of launch vehicles that can lift relatively light loads to space, now marks 38 successful missions in a row out of a total of 39 flights.
The latest Cartosat is the fifth in the series of six Cartosat-2 spacecraft, starting from Cartosat 2 in 2007 and followed by what were earlier marked A, B, C, D and E. The last one is due.

Government appointed five new judges to apex court

The President of India appointed five new judges to the Supreme Court, in a much-needed boost to the judicial strength of the highest court.
The new judges are Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Shantanagoudar Mohan Mallikarjunagouda.
Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court Navin Sinha, Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court Deepak Gupta and Karnataka High Court judge S. Abdul Nazeer.
The appointments come at a time when the judicial strength had dipped to 23, an all-time low in recent years.
The appointments come at a time when the relations between the two institutions are on the mend.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat warns of tough action

Acknowledging that the hostile conduct of locals was causing higher casualties in the Kashmir Valley, Army chief General Bipin Rawat warned those attacking security forces during anti-militancy operations of “tough action.”
The stern message from General Rawat came a day after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there.
Alerted by the stone-pelters, the militants got an opportunity to fire hand grenades and empty a few magazines from AK rifles into the advancing troopers, leaving three jawans dead and some others injured.
General Rawat said security forces in J&K were facing higher casualties due to the manner in which the local population was preventing them from conducting the operations and “at times even helping the terrorists to escape.”
“We would now tell the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan.
Then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go for them. They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue,” the Army Chief told.
General Rawat said those supporting terror activities are being given an opportunity to join the national mainstream but, if they continue with their acts, security forces will come down hard on them.

:: India and World ::

India moved to stabilise ties with China

India moved to stabilise ties with China, saying there was nothing political in the ongoing visit of a delegation from Taiwan, which criticised Beijing’s One China policy.
India’s statement came after China filed a diplomatic protest after the delegation argued that Taiwan’s independence is an international reality.
The statement, which came within hours of a major dinner hosted by BJP leader Ram Madhav in Delhi in honour of the delegation, Foreign Secretary is expected to visit Beijing, which will be the 1st high-level visit from India to Beijing in 2017.
“The reason why China lodged the representation is because that we have been requiring countries that have diplomatic relations with China to fulfil their commitment to the ‘One China policy,” China said.
“Some Indians view the Taiwan question as an Achilles’ heel of the mainland. They have long wanted to use the Taiwan question and the South China Sea and Dalai Lama issues as bargaining chips in dealing with China,” said Global Times.
Leader of the delegation Kuan Bi Ling had emphasised that Taiwan’s freedom and sovereignty is a reality in international affairs.

:: Business and Economy ::

Lower growth in Information Technology sector

The information technology (IT) industry lobby body Nasscom said the sector will grow at the lower end of its revised target in fiscal 2017 but deferred guidance for the next financial year by a quarter as it faces headwinds.
Amid continuous technology disruptions, political upheavals and slowdown in IT-BPM global spending, the Indian IT-BPM industry is projected to grow 8.6% (in constant currency) to cross $155 billion in FY2017.
Nasscom had earlier revised downward its fiscal 2017 revenue growth target to 8%-10% from an initial 10%-12% as the headwinds started emerging.
Nasscom president said the association will come out with its guidance for the IT and the BPM sector in the next quarter, most probably in May, once it is done with “deeper interactions” with customers and other stakeholders.
While the world and especially Indian IT industry tries to adjust to Mr. Trump’s policies, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani opined that the protectionist policies were ‘blessings in disguise’ for India.
Stressing the significance of data Mr. Ambani said, “Data is the new oil and Indians should not have scarcity of it in terms of quality, quantity or affordability.”

India’s goods exports recorded positive growth

India’s goods exports recorded positive growth for the fifth consecutive month with shipments in January rising by 4.32% to $22.1 billion following good performance by major sectors such as engineering and petroleum.
The slowdown in global trade continues to impact India as well, he said adding India’s goods exports for 2016-17 would be about $270 billion.
Increasing protectionism, volatility in currencies and uncertainties clouding over global economy pose major challenges for India’s exports in 2017.
Imports in January, meanwhile, increased by 10.7% – a five-month high – to $31.9 billion. This resulted in trade deficit increasing to $9.8 billion, more than $7.6 billion seen in January 2016.
Gold imports shrunk by about 30% to $2 billion in January. In December, imports of the yellow metal had contracted 50.1% to $1.8 billion after having risen in the previous two months.
As per WTO statistics, the growth in exports is positive for the U.S. (2.63%), the European Union (5.47%) and Japan (13.43%) but was negative for China (1.51%) for November 2016 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Non-petroleum exports in January rose 1.6% to $19.4 billion while petroleum exports increased by 29% to $2.7 billion. Oil imports in January surged 61% to $8 billion while non-oil imports were marginally up by 0.01% to $23.8 billion.
Exports during April-January 2016-17 were also marginally higher by 1.09% to $221 billion while imports during the period shrunk 5.8% to $307.3 billion.
Trade deficit in April-January 2016-17 also narrowed to $86 billion from $107.7 billion during the same period in the previous fiscal.

The Cabinet approved the merger of State Bank of India

The Cabinet approved the merger of State Bank of India with five of its associate banks – State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, and State Bank of Travancore.
The merger is likely to result in recurring savings, estimated at more than Rs. 1,000 crore in the first year, through a combination of enhanced operational efficiency and reduced cost of funds.
Existing customers of subsidiary banks will benefit from access to SBI’s global network. The proposal was announced in May 2016 and scheduled for March 2017.
While announcing the decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Cabinet had earlier given in-principle approval for the merger and sent it to the respective banks for their suggestions.
The suggestions were taken on-board and decision formally approved by the Cabinet.