Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 17 MARCH 2020

::NATIONAL::

President Ram NathKovind on Monday nominated former Chief Justice of India (CJI) RanjanGogoi to the RajyaSabha.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, President is pleased to nominate ShriRanjanGogoi to Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members [K.T.S. Tulsi],” the Home Ministry said in its notification.
Justice Gogoi, who retired in November, headed the five-judge Bench that delivered the verdict in the Ayodhya land title dispute on November 9.
Soon after the unanimous verdict was delivered, Prime Minister NarendraModi had lauded the judiciary for bringing an end to the decades-old Ayodhya land title dispute.

Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh PokhrialNishank has said that Central Government is providing support to the States and UTs through SamagraShikshaYojana for implementing the various provisions of the RTE Act, including opening or strengthening of schools.
In a written reply to a question in the LokSabha today, the Minister also said that under erstwhile SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA), till 2017-18 and SamagraShiksha effective from 2018-19, sanction has been given for 3.64 lakh new elementary schools out of which States and UTs have reported the opening of 3.60 lakh schools.
He also said, under erstwhile RashtriyaMadhyamikShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA), till 2017-18 and SamagraShiksha effective from 2018-19, 12994 new secondary schools have been sanctioned, out of which States and UTs have reported the opening of 12423 new schools, till 31st December last year.
MrPokhrial also said that proposals for opening of new KendriyaVidyalayas are considered only when received in the prescribed proforma from the District Administration through the State Government concerned.
The proposals received from various sponsoring authorities for opening of new KendriyaVidyalayas also have to compete among other proposals under the Challenge Method. He also said that there are 1,227 KendriyaVidyalayas functioning in the country and three abroad.

The stock exchanges on Monday clarified that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was not considering any proposal regarding a ban on short selling to curb the ongoing volatility and equity sell-off.
The spokespersons for BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) said ‘there is no proposal on ban on short selling with SEBI’, after a media report suggested that the capital markets regulator was considering such a ban among other measures.
Regulators in a few countries like Spain, South Korea and Italy have banned short selling amid huge volatility and a fall in stock prices.
Short selling refers to a strategy by which traders bet on a decline in prices and try to profit at a time when the markets are falling.
Indian indices have fallen more than 25% from their record highs reached in January.In market parlance, a fall of over 20% is looked upon as a sign of the markets entering a bear market.

Minister of Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar today informed the LokSabha that except the Construction Sector, all major sectors have shown growth in employment in the country.
While replying to a question, the Minister further said that Labour Bureau initiated Revamped Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) in April, 2016 by extending scope and coverage with the objective to measure the relative change in employment situation over successive quarters in the sizeable segment of Non-farm Industrial economy covering eight major sectors including Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Transport, Education, Health, Accommodation and Restaurants and IT/BPO having 10 or more workers.
The Minister also said that there has been a total positive change in employment from April 2016 to October 2017 to the tune of 6.16 lakh workers in the selected eight sectors of the economy.

The Government of India will provide 107.01 million Nepali Rupees for three new school buildings in Nepal. The schools will be constructed in Darchula, Dhanusha and Kapilvastu districts.
The Embassy of India and Nepal’s Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with Mahakali Municipality, Darchula and MukhiyapattiMusharniya Rural Municipality, Dhanusha in Kathmandu today for the construction of two new school buildings.
These schools will be built under the India-Nepal Development Partnership program at a total estimated cost of 73.96 million Nepali Rupees. The new infrastructure will be used by Shree Malikarjun Higher Secondary School at Dhap in Darchula district and BaidyanathDevnarayan Public Higher Secondary School at Tulsiyahi in Dhanusha district.
The Government of India will provide funds while construction work, including a call for tender, the award of work and day to day supervision, will be by Mahakali Municipality, Dharchula and MukhiyapattiMusharniya Rural Municipality, Dhanusha.

Leaders of the G7 advanced economies have pledged to use all their tools to safeguard the economy and help workers hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.
As the outbreak caused more countries to shut down and brought the global economy to a screeching halt, the leaders stressed the need to join forces and move quickly to address the damage.
The G7 leaders said in a statement following an emergency video conference that the Group resolve to coordinate measures and do whatever it takes, using all policy tools, to achieve strong growth in the G7 economies and to safeguard against downside risks.
The measures are aimed to support immediately and as much as necessary the workers, companies, and sectors most affected.
The leaders called on global institutions like the International Monetary Fund to "swiftly" deploy financial assistance to the needy countries.

Elon Musk-led private space launch company SpaceX plans to send three tourists to the International Space Station (ISS).The 10-day long space voyage would take place sometime around the end of 2021, reported The Verge.
The tourists will be shot into orbit in a Crew Dragon space capsule sitting atop a Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
The logistics of the trip would be managed by Axiom Space, a Houston Based startup which recently signed up with SpaceX for the space tourism project.
Although private tourists have already spent time aboard the ISS, this would be the first time that such a trip is being fully organised by private companies.
The Verge cited The New York Times, according to which, each of the total three tickets cost 55 million dollars, and one seat has already been booked.
According to The Verge, this is the second space tourism project announced by SpaceX this year, as just last month the company unveiled that it would be collaborating with Space Adventures to launch four private citizens on a mission that would circumnavigate the Earth's orbit.