Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 16 MAY 2019
::NATIONAL::
PM assures commitment to protect tribal rights
- Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that
his government has ensured protections of rights of the tribals, and
enhanced welfare measures for them.
- Speaking at Deoghar in Jharkhand today, he said that minimum
support price for forest products were increased from ten to fifty different
types of products, and a fixed share has been allotted in the forest
produce, in addition to compulsory spending of profits from minerals on
tribal welfare.
- He enumerated various projects -like upcoming new AIIMS, Airport
in Deoghar and new road and rail lines in Santhal region of the Jharkhand.
He also said that BJP governments at both Centre and Jharkhand are giving
special incentives to farmers.
- He charged the opposition parties like Congress and JMM of
abetting illegal immigrations of Bangladeshis in the region and country.
Indian joins global initiative to counter terrorism
- India has joined a major global initiative to combat terrorism and
extremism online and secure the internet.
- The initiative 'Christchurch call to action' has been named after
the New Zealand city where 51 people were killed in an attack on mosques.
- It was launched in Paris yesterday by India, France, New Zealand,
Canada and several other countries.
- The declaration on Christchurch call to action said a free, open
and secure internet is a powerful tool by which to promote connectivity,
enhance social inclusiveness and foster economic growth.
- The declaration said the Christchurch attack highlighted the
urgent need for action and enhanced cooperation among the wide range of
actors with influence over this issue, including governments, civil society,
and online service providers, such as social media companies, to eliminate
terrorist and violent extremist content online.
- The initiative outlines collective, voluntary commitments from
governments and online service providers intended to address the issue of
terrorist and violent extremist content online and to prevent the abuse of
the internet.
::ECONOMY::
RBI releases vision document for safe and secure e-payment
- Reserve Bank of India has released a vision document for ensuring
a safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system.
- According to RBI release on Wednesday the 'Payment and Settlement
Systems in India: Vision 2019 - 2021', with its core theme of 'Empowering
Exceptional E-payment Experience', envisages to achieve "a highly digital
and cash-lite society" through the goal posts of competition,
cost-effectiveness, convenience and confidence (4Cs).
- It said that the bank will implement the approach outlined in this
Vision during the period 2019 - 2021. It further said that the approach of
the RBI will continue to be of minimal intervention in the pricing of
charges to customers for digital payments, all efforts will be made towards
facilitating the operation of payment systems which are efficient and
price-attractive.
Government to prepare working plan to eneable farmers to grow new crops
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the government is working
on a plan that will enable farmers to grow new crops instead of the
conventional ones.
- Addressing an election rally at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, he said
that national security is paramount for BJP. He said that India needs a
Prime Minister like Narendra Modi who can firmly deal with the issue of
terrorism.
- Referring to various public welfare schemes of the central
government, Mr Gadkari said that in the last five years, there has been many
development works in the country like the cleaning of Ganga and building of
waterways in rivers.
::INTERNATIONAL::
Saudi says attack on oil ships threatening global supplies
- Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, has said that
attacks on two of its tankers and a major pipeline targeted the security of
global oil supplies.
- The Saudi cabinet affirmed yesterday evening that such acts of
terrorism and sabotage do not only target the kingdom but also the global
economy.
- Yesterday, Drone attacks shut down one of the kingdom's main oil
pipelines. It further increased Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage
of four ships, two of them Saudi tankers, recently.
- Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes and
said they were a response to "crimes" committed by Saudi Arabia and its
allies during more than four years of war in support of the government.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
Study claims moon shrinking due to interior cooling
- The Moon is shrinking as its interior cools ,getting over 50
metres skinnier through the last several hundred million years and causing
quakes on the lunar surface, a study has found. Just as a grape wrinkles as
it shrinks down to a raisin, the Moon gets wrinkles as it shrinks,
researchers said.
- Unlike the flexible skin on a grape, the Moon’s surface crust is
brittle, so it breaks as the Moon shrinks, forming “thrust faults” where one
section of crust is pushed up over a neighbouring part.
- These fault scarps resemble small stair-step shaped cliffs when
seen from the lunar surface, typically tens of metres high and extending for
several kilometres.
- The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, analysed
data from four seismometers placed on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts
using an algorithm, or mathematical programme, developed to pinpoint quake
locations detected by a sparse seismic network.
- Weathering from solar and space radiation gradually darkens
material on the lunar surface, so brighter areas indicate regions that are
freshly exposed to space, as expected if a recent moonquake sent material
sliding down a cliff.
::SPORTS::
Igor Stimac appointed Indian football team coach
- Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac has been appointed Indian
football team head coach for a two-year term.
- The national team has been without a coach since the departure of
Stephen Constantine in January, following the creditable show at the AFC
Asian Cup.
- The appointment was made by the All India Football Federation's
Executive Committee today. The 51-year-old Stimac, who was part of Croatia's
1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, has over 18 years of
coaching experience.