Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 17 September 2016

:: National ::

Politics turned a full circle in Arunachal Pradesh when 43 of the 44 Congress MLAs, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, joined the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), a part of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA.
Just two months ago, Mr. Khandu and his group of Congress rebels had deserted the PPA and returned to the Congress to form the government.
Mr. Khandu became the Chief Minister on July 16, replacing Nabam Tuki, who in turn had replaced Kalikho Pul after the Supreme Court reinstated the Tuki government.
Hours after losing its government in the State, the Congress dubbed the new dispensation an “illegitimate child of the BJP” and blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

Recognising Nepal’s efforts to build a democratic polity, India expressed the hope that the government of PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal would hold an “inclusive dialogue” while implementing the controversial Constitution of his country.
India and Nepal held wide-ranging talks and sealed three significant deals as Mr. Prachanda’s September 15-18 visit to India unfolded.
However, differences over the Constitution which led to domestic discord and disturbed ties with Delhi persisted.
This remark indicated that Delhi would maintain dialogue with the Madhesi leaders who had demanded that PM Prachanda should address representational and territorial concerns of their community, within a short time span.

The Delhi High Court held that the photocopying of course packs prepared by Delhi University comprising portions from books published by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press did not amount to infringement of copyright.
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also lifted the stay on the kiosk from photocopying the course packs. The case had seen protest by students who backed the kiosk.
Copyright, especially in literary works, is thus not an inevitable, divine, or natural right that confers on authors the absolute ownership of their creations.
It is designed rather to stimulate activity and progress in the arts for the intellectual enrichment of the public.
“Copyright is intended to increase and not to impede the harvest of knowledge. It is intended to motivate the creative activity of authors and inventors in order to benefit the public,” Justice said.

The Centre warned Kerala and Tamil Nadu that foodgrains for distribution to above the poverty line families would be provided at a higher rate to the States if they fail to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) at the earliest.
Other 34 NFSA implementing States and Union Territories have been asked to address gaps on the list of beneficiaries, computerisation of public distribution system, PDS, Aadhaar linkage with ration cards etc.
The NFS Act, aims to abolish the APL and below the poverty line (BPL) criteria and uniformly provides 5 kg of wheat or rice to all beneficiaries every month at a subsidised rate of Rs.1-3 per kg.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the only two States left where the NFSA has not been implemented yet. Despite being developed States.
The Kerala government had earlier said it would implement the NFSA from November but now the State is planning to do it from December.
Asking the States to speed up reforms in the PDS to curb leakage of foodgrains, Mr. Paswan said there could be problems in putting up necessary infrastructure for the effective roll-out of the NFSA.
While the ration cards have been digitised 100 per cent in the country, States are slow in seeding them with the Aadhaar card, which would help in eliminating bogus beneficiaries.

All India Radio announced the launch of a multi-media and mobile app for Balochi-speaking people in the Af-Pak region and other parts of the world.
Move was part of India’s efforts to reach out to the neighbourhood for a better people-to-people contact.
India had also raised the issue of atrocities in Balochistan at the meeting of a U.N. body earlier this week.
Prasar Bharati officials said the mobile app and the webpage were just “value addition” as Balochi service of the AIR has been in existence since 1974.

Over the last year, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have seen their business grow faster in urban India than in rural, according to an annual report by Sa-Dhan, the self-regulatory body for MFIs.
In addition, the report finds that these loans are being put to increasingly productive uses with a higher proportion of them going towards income generation than before.
In 2016, total loan amount disbursed increased by Rs.13,433 crore over 2015, there is a growth of 23 per cent where amount increased in rural areas by 14 per cent and in urban areas by 27 per cent.
The report also found that 94 per cent of the loans disbursed in 2015-16 were used for income-generating purposes, up from 80 per cent in the previous year.
Analysis of the loan portfolio held by reporting MFIs for 2014-15 and 2015-16 shows that the proportion of income generation loan to non income generation loan is 94:06.
Within the income-generating loans, the report found that the largest proportion—39 per cent—went to the animal husbandry sector, followed by 29 per cent to the trading & small business category.
Agriculture received 15 per cent of the loans, according to the report.

The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has decided to set up a Task Force on Innovation.
It will comprise members from the industry and the government and will assess India’s position as an innovative country, suggest measures to enhance the innovation ecosystem and improve the country’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII).
India’s ranking in GII-2016 rose 15 places to 66th position. Recognising India’s potential, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had sought the setting up of the Task Force.
The Cell for intellectual property rights (IPR) Promotion and Management and the DIPP has invited ideas and suggestions from the public, the statement said, adding that the Task Force may hold discussions with some of the contributors.
In the GII 2016, India retained the top rank in Information and Communication Technology Service Export.
India ranks second on innovation quality amongst middle-income economies. As per the report, “India is a good example of how policy is improving the innovation environment”.
India moved up across all indicators within the Knowledge Absorption sub-pillar.
It has also recorded a good performance in the GII model’s newly incorporated research talent in business enterprise, where it ranks 31st, according to the statement.