Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 16 October 2015

:: National ::

SC allows voluntary Aadhaar use in Job scheme, Jan Dhan, PF, pension

The Supreme Court on Thursday relaxed its earlier order to extend use of Aadhaar card on voluntary basis in social welfare schemes like the rural job guarantee scheme, old age pensions, provident fund and Prime Minister's Jan Dhan Yojana.
A constitution bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, Justice M.Y.Eqbal, Justice C. Nagappan, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Amitava Roy modified the August 11 order on a batch of applications by the central government and its various agencies seeking the relaxation of the said order by which the use of Aadhaar card was limited for getting foodgrain and kerosene under PDS and for LPG.
The court said: "We also make it clear that Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and can't be mandatory till the matter is decided."Reuters
It also asked the government to follow all court orders from September 23, 2013.
Before passing the order, the court asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to indicate three social welfare schemes that the government wanted to link with voluntary use of Aadhaar card.
After mentioning the rural job scheme, old age pensions, provident fund and prime minister's Jan Dhan Yojana, Rohatgi wanted to add linking the opening of bank accounts with unique identification number and the court said: "Modification and clarifications can be limited."
Divan, appearing for Karnataka High Court's former judge Justice K.S. Puttaswamy, however said that they were opposed to permitting the use of Aadhaar card for getting the foodgrains and kerosene under the PDS and LPG but the three judges bench headed by Justice J.Chelameswar for striking a balance permitted this and "we have to live with it"."
At this Chief Justice Dattu said: "I am also a citizen of this country. I want to use my (Aadhaar) card for getting facilities. Can you say that I can't use it?"
In response, senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam said: "Even if you consciously know the dangers of parting with information for getting Aadhaar card and yet you opt for it then the state has to step in.”

India's telecom subscriber base touches 101 crore in August

Driven by growth in mobile phone users, Indian telecom subscribers crossed 101 crore mark in August, as per regulator Trai data.
"The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,009.31 million at the end of July 2015 to 1,014.70 million at the end of August 2015, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.53 per cent," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said in its monthly subscribers report.
The wireless or mobile subscriber base in the country grew by half a per cent to 98.86 crore in August from 98.32 crore in July.
Out of the total wireless subscriber base, 88.59 crore customers were found active.
However, the subscriber base of landline continued its decline despite public sector BSNL and MTNL offering free calling schemes.
The landline or wireline connections declined from 2.61 crore in July to 2.60 crore at the end of August.
The growth in mobile users was led by telecom major Bharti Airtel with net subscriber addition of 13.12 lakh in August, followed by Idea Cellular with 11.67 lakh users, Vodafone 11.27 lakh, Tata Teleservices 8.25 lakh, BSNL 8.12 lakh, Telenor 3.9, Aircel 3.84 lakh Videocon Telecom (with Quadrant) 1.16 lakh and MTNL 18,132.
Sistema Shyam and Reliance Communications, both companies that are in process of consolidation, lost 1.82 lakh and 4.91 lakh users, respectively.
Reliance Communications saw maximum erosion in subscriber base in Bihar where its right to use 900 Mhz spectrum (2G) expires this December.

:: Business ::

2K-cr financial inclusion fund created

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday announced the creation of a new financial inclusion fund with a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore to support “developmental and promotional activities” like financial inclusion and research and transfer of technology.
After the completion of the initial five years, the RBI decided to merge both the Financial Inclusion Fund and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund into a single fund — Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF).
The contribution to FIF would be from the “interest differential” in excess of 0.5 per cent on Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) and Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit (Refinance) Fund (STCRC) deposits on account of shortfall in priority sector lending kept with NABARD by banks.

Trai,RBI agree on roles in rollout of m-banking
The new fund will be in operation for another three years or till such period as may be decided by the RBI and the Government in consultation with other stakeholders.
According to the Reserve Bank of India, the objectives of the Financial Inclusion Fund will be to support “developmental and promotional activities” including creating of financial inclusion infrastructure across the country, capacity building of stakeholders, creation of awareness to address demand side issues, enhanced investment in Green Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution, research and transfer of technology, increased technological absorption capacity of financial service providers/users with a view to securing greater financial inclusion. “The fund will not be utilized for normal business/banking activities,” it said.

:: Sports ::

Zaheer Khan: retires from international cricket

In sports writing, the phrase "one of the best" is used liberally. It is a term easily produced when culling a list of exceptional performances or to summarise a sportsperson's career without necessarily having to quantify the claim; it is assumed that once you take that person's name, their achievements speak for themselves.
With time and excessive usage, "one of the best" runs the risk of being bandied about too easily.
It is a term of appreciation and respect, and yet it can easily end up being somewhat perfunctory.
In the case of Zaheer Khan, who on Thursday announced his retirement from international cricket, the phrase actually holds true: he actually was one of India's best fast bowlers and, for two periods in his international career, on par with the best in the world.
From an Indian context, on a thin list of genuine fast bowlers, Zaheer rightly occupied a place because of his wickets and skill with a cricket ball in his hand, new and old.
Think Indian fast bowling and the three names that will come to mind are Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath and Zaheer.
Why? Chiefly, for success, longevity and that key ingredient so often lacking in Indian bowlers - pace.
There were other quicks who showed glimpses of lengthy, luminous careers: Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth - has any other Indian bowler bowled the seam so upright as he did in Johannesburg in 2006? - and Irfan Pathan. But for whatever reason, they never matched the promise and potential.