Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 December 2015

:: NATIONAL ::

Future Androids versions might be named after Indian desserts

An Android version named 'Nankhatai' Google CEO Sundar Pichai thinks it is not a bad idea. After naming its Android versions lollipop, kit-kat, ice-cream sandwich and jellybean, Google might name the future generation of Androids after the names of Indian desserts

Borra caves

If the Survey and Construction (S&C) team of the Dandakaranya Balangir Kiriburu (DBK) Railway had not stumbled upon them, the Borra caves would not have become a major tourist attraction over the last four decades.
Though the caves, believed to be 150 million years old, were discovered by the British geologist William King in 1887, it was only after the construction of the DBK railway line, which then had its headquarters at Visakhapatnam, and the Borra railway station, that they gained immense popularity.
The 450 km-long K-K (Kothavalasa-Kirandul) line was constructed between 1960 and 1968 with Japanese financial aid mainly for transportation of iron ore from the Bailadila mines to the Visakhapatnam Port for export to Japan.

10th WTO Ministerial Conference- Nairobi

On the penultimate day of the Nairobi meet of the WTO, there was still no deal in sight to liberalise global trade.
India and other developing countries rejected the language in another draft text on the final Nairobi Ministerial Declaration.
Expressing “severe reservations” about the draft declaration on agriculture, India and the developing world have pointed out that it has not taken on board their demands , that they be given an effective tool to protect poor farmers' interests without any conditionality, and that the text mention a short deadline (of December 2016 or latest by December 2017) for arriving at a permanent solution for the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes.
As per the agriculture draft, the developing nations’ demand for an SSM (Special Safeguard Mechanism) would be accepted on the condition that these nations grant greater market access to farm goods through reduced tariffs.
The SSM will allow developing countries to temporarily hike duties to counter import surges and price falls of farm products.
India has said that an instrument similar to SSM is already available to a select few countries (mostly the developed countries) for over two decades, and therefore, the demand for SSM was reasonable and pragmatic.
The draft has taken note that the 'peace clause' -- as agreed during the 2013 Bali Ministerial Declaration and later made clear by the WTO General Council decision in November 2014 -- shall remain in force until a permanent solution in this regard is agreed and adopted
With this indefinite peace clause, the WTO member countries cannot challenge the agriculture subsidies given by nations saying they violate the provisions of the WTO norms.

‘Made Snana’ in Udupi

The controversial ritual ‘Made Snana’ was performed by devotees at Subrahmanya shrine in Sri Krishna Mutt complex during Subrahmanya Shashti festivities
Made Snana is a practice where devotees roll on plantain leaves with food leftovers of Brahmins

Set up for Constitutional Assembly- Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena , Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will move a resolution in Parliament for converting the House into a ‘Constitutional Assembly’ (CA). This is to start the process of drafting a Constitution to replace the current one, in place since 1978.
The proposed Assembly would seek the views and advice of the people on a fresh Constitution and prepare a draft Constitution. Once Parliament adopts the Bill with a two-thirds majority, it will be sent to Provincial Councils for opinion and eventually be tested through a referendum.
A survey conducted by the Centre for Policy Alternatives during the period of October-December revealed that 53.4 per cent of Sri Lankans agreed that the Constitution needed to be changed to produce a political solution to the ethnic problem as compared to 39.9 per cent two years ago

:: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ::

Helixsafe to come to rescue

A wearable device that aims at automatically providing relief and summoning medical help for victims who are left unattended after serious automobile accidents has been developed by a student in Uttar Pradesh.
Seventeen-year-old Akshat Prakash, named his invention ‘HelixSafe’ and presented it at the Taiwan International Science Fair, 2015.
The device uses heartbeat variance as the key indicator to auto-detect grave injury during automobile accidents and auto- injects medicine to prolong the victim’s survival while informing the nearest medical facility for help. It provides life-prolonging support to accident victims as they wait for help to reach them.
Akshat has won ‘India’s First Whiz Kid’ award for Best Innovation, 2013, for the device. The award is given by Nurture Talent & Computer Society of India.

Supernova spotted by Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of the first-ever predicted supernova explosion offering a unique opportunity for astronomers to test how mass is distributed within a galaxy cluster.

:: BUSINESS ::

Maruti’s Gujarat plant gets nod for shareholders

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) minority shareholders have given a go-ahead for the proposal to let Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corporation develop and invest in its upcoming manufacturing plant in Gujarat.
The resolution has passed comfortably with 89.75 per cent of the minority shareholder who cast their vote voting in favour and 10.25 per cent voting against the proposal
Following the approval, the company will move ahead to transfer assets at the Gujarat plant, where it has already invested Rs.350 crore, to Suzuki's wholly owned arm Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt. Ltd.

Fed rate hike

The central bank raised the range of the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point to between 0.25 per cent and 0.50 per cent.
The US Federal Reserve has raised the interest rates by one quarter percentage, the first in seven years when America tumbled into a deep financial crisis with the collapse of the Wall Street.
This action marks the end of an extraordinary seven-year long period during which the Federal Reserve funds rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression
Room for further improvement in the labor market remains and inflation continues to run below our longer run objective. But with the economy performing well and expected to continue to do so, the committee judged that a modest increase in the federal funds rate target is now appropriate. Recognising that even after this increase, monetary policy remains accommodative

Stocks surge as investors take Fed rate increase in stride

Investors shrugged-off the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first interest rate increase in almost a decade, with stocks surging and the rupee closing at a one-month high.
The Fed raised the benchmark rate by 25 basis points and signalled it was in no rush to raise rates again.
The increase, which had been factored in by most market participants, ended the uncertainty over the U.S. central bank’s timing of its decision and helped the BSE Sensex climb almost 310 points.
As far as markets are concerned, the major uncertainty has gone and the focus will now shift to the fundamentals of India. While the emerging market space, as a whole, may look less attractive versus the U.S. economy, India is likely to stand out.
India is less dependent than several of its peers on commodity exports, and has thus not been negatively affected by the global rout in commodity price

Gold price dropped after Fed rate hike

Gold fell, as the dollar surged after the Federal Reserve increased U.S. interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade and hinted at more increases in 2016.
The move sent the dollar up one per cent to a two-week high against a basket of leading currencies, while spot gold dipped 0.7 per cent to $1,066 an ounce by 1056 GMT, just $23 above a near-six-year low hit earlier this month.
Gold has slumped nearly 10 per cent this year so far, largely on uncertainty around the timing of the rise and on fears that higher rates would hit demand for the non-interest-paying metal.
Other precious metals also took a hit from a stronger dollar. Palladium fell nearly 3 per cent to a session low of $552.22 an ounce, while silver was down 0.6 per cent at $14.08 and platinum dropped 1.3 per cent to $861.55.
Further trouble for gold could come from continued weakness in other commodities, notably oil, which fell 5 per cent on Wednesday on supply worries and continued to ease, mostly on dollar strength.

Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate (MCLR)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued fresh norms on how banks ought to calculate their lending rates, a move which is aimed at lowering borrowing costs at a time when lenders are reluctant to do so.
The new method, Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) ,will replace the present base rate system.
MCLR, as the name suggests, mandates banks to calculate the lending rate taking into account the marginal cost of funds
In the base rate system, it was left to the individual banks as to what cost it used, which typically was the average cost of funds.
RBI has mandated that MCLR will be a tenor-linked benchmark, and banks should arrive at the MCLR of a particular maturity by adding the corresponding tenor premium to the sum of marginal cost of funds, cost of maintaining cash reserve ratio and operating costs.
This new framework will come into effect from April 1, 2016. Like base rate, banks are not allowed to lend below MCLR, except for few categories like loans against deposits, loans to bank’s own employees.
Banks have to review and publish their MCLR of different maturities every month on a pre-announced date and banks which do not have adequate systems to carry out the review on a monthly basis, can review once a quarter for the first one year, that is, March 31, 2017.