Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 17 JULY 2019

::NATIONAL::

The Centre and the State of Assam on Tuesday made an urgent mention before the Chief Justice of India for an extension of the deadline for final publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the State from July 31, 2019 to a “future date”.
In identical but separate applications, the Centre and Assam urged the court for more time to conduct a “sample re-verification process” in relation to names included in the draft NRC published on July 30, 2018.
Both the Centre and the State said the re-verification exercise should be conducted by Class 1 officers of the State government from other districts who have knowledge and experience of handling the process of enquiry/investigation.
The applications further sought an order that the sample re-verification should be undertaken at a place different from where the NRC exercise happened. The Assam government agreed that this would cut out the possibility of local influences, bias/threat, etc.
The draft NRC list, published on July 30, 2018, had included 2,89,83,677 persons as Indian citizens but found 40,70,707 persons ineligible. The Centre said re-verification should be done for both inclusions and exclusions.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed all States and Union Territories to furnish a report on the amount of biomedical waste generated and asked them to set up common treatment and disposal facilities, if not done yet.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the District Magistrates across States to monitor compliance of the biomedical waste management rules, twice a month.
Stating that a District Environment Plan needs to be in place across the country, the green panel further said that the plan can be operated by district committees comprising representatives from the respective panchayats, local bodies, regional officers and State pollution control boards.

The demographic change India is going through, coupled with the banking infrastructure being put in place, stands to greatly increase savings in the country, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said on Tuesday.
Mr. Subramanian also said India needs to move out of the mindset of being apologetic for profit, as long as they are legally obtained.
As life expectancy increases, people realise that they must begin saving by at least 40 years because they will live for much longer now.
“And, as people have fewer children, they will realise they need to save because their children might not be able to take care of them,” Mr. Subramanian added. This shift will be enabled by the Jan DhanYojana, which is creating the necessary banking infrastructure, especially in rural India.
“I don’t know why people are apologetic about profits,” Mr. Subramanian said. “If you are working within the law and are helping the economy grow, then profits are good!”

Tyre major MRF Ltd. expects the current year to be a tumultuous one for the auto sector on account of various regulatory changes and the switch over to BS-VI norms.
The Indian automotive industry is at an inflection point where both opportunities and challenges abound in equal measure. The coming year will be witness to several landmark disruptions and changes in the auto industry which will shape the direction of future events in the industry, MRF said.
Asserting that these short-term hiccups would have to be factored in by automobile firms and tyre manufacturers, he said that the uncertainty over the next six months would be further compounded by low consumer sentiments, resulting in inventory build-up and all OE (original equipment) manufacturers aligning production in line with demand.
Compliance with BS-VI norms will require higher investment by automakers in technology to upgrade vehicles in stock and in making new vehicles. This will also mean significantly reduced launches till the new norms come into force, effective April 1, 2020, MRF said.

Sri Lankan President MaithripalaSirisena has asserted that international drug dealers were behind the Easter Sunday attacks as he continued with his anti-drug drive.
Addressing a programme in NuwaraEliya on Monday, Mr Sirisena said drug barons carried out the attack to discredit him and discourage his anti-narcotics drive.
He said, illegal drug trafficking is the simplest and the easiest way to destroy a country but added that he will not be deterred.
The comments came as the President has taken a tough stand against drug traffickers and ordered death penalty be implemented for four accused but the matter has been stayed by court amidst opposition by some political parties and international organizations.
Investigations so far have revealed that the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out by local fundamentalist groups though ISIS had claimed responsibility for it.

Stating that economic development cannot take place at the cost of public health, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to shut down all polluting industries in “critically polluted” and “severely polluted” areas within three months.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the apex pollution control board to assess the quantum of compensation to be recovered from polluting units for the period of last five years, in coordination with the respective State pollution control boards.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change was directed to take requisite steps for the enforcement of the action plans.
The directions came after the NGT took cognisance of a media report which stated that the CPCB was ranking 88 industrial clusters across the country based on their pollution levels.
The NGT, however, clarified that non-polluting industries will not be affected by this order.

India bagged two Gold and one Silver medal in the Women's 10-metre Air Rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.
In the Individual section of the category, ElavenilValarivan claimed the top honours with a total score of 251.6, while another Indian MehuliGhosh settled for a Silver with 250.2 points.