Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Govt set to revoke President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh

A day after the Supreme Court refused to stop the dissident leaders and the Governor in Arunachal Pradesh from forming a new government, the Union Cabinet sought the revocation of President’s rule in the State imposed on January 26.
The dissidents had staked a claim to form a government. Mr. Pul was accompanied by 19 rebel Congress MLAs, along with 11 BJP legislators, and two Independents.

Cabinet gives in principle approval to gravitational wave detector

Days after an international team of scientists, including several from India, formally announced that it had detected gravitational waves from deep space, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said it had, “in principle,” approved a proposal to have a gravitational wave detector in India.
Those connected with the project said it was an important development and marked the government formally acknowledging it but a final decision regarding the money, and how it would be spent, was still some time away.
Current estimates suggest the project would cost at least Rs. 1,200 crore.
The gravitational waves were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) — a system of detectors in Washington and Louisiana.]
Known as the LIGO-India project, it is piloted by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The LIGO-India project will be jointly coordinated and executed by three Indian research institutions: the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune and Department of Atomic Energy organisations: Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar and the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT),Indore.
Another ambitious mega- science project, the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) project — a proposed, under-ground observatory in Tamil Nadu to detect ephemeral particles called neutrinos — had been cleared by the Centre in 2015, after several years of deliberations.

By year end at least one fighter aircraft from Private sector

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that by the year-end, India would select one or more fighter aircraft which will be manufactured locally by a private company under the Make in India initiative.
This is in addition to the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), the production of which is be- ing scaled up.
India and France are in advanced stage of talks to conclude an inter-governmental agreement for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. This fighter aircraft will likely be other than the Rafale.
The Air Force is expected to induct over 100 of the improved LCAs which will feature an Advanced Electronically Scanned Array radar, mid-air refuelling and improved electronic warfare suite in addition to other minor improvements.

India and Nepal begin to repair strained ties

India and Nepal hope to begin repairing ties as Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli makes his first official visit to India.
But as Mr. Oli lands in Delhi on the six-day visit, the two sides are unlikely to dwell too much on the past few months of strain, choosing instead to focus on the earthquake reconstruction effort, Indian power projects in the pipeline and future cooperation.
In accordance with tradition, Mr.Oli is making India his first destination abroad after becoming Prime Minister in October 2015.
He will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and other leaders in Delhi besides visiting two of India’s worst earthquake-hit areas, looking at the hydropower station built in Tehri, Uttarakhand, and re- construction projects in Bhuj, Gujarat.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

China deployed surface to air missile in disputed woody Island

China has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of the disputed islands it controls in the South China Sea, ratcheting up tensions even as U.S. President Barack Obama urged restraint in the region.
The missile batteries had been set up on Woody Island. The island is part of the Paracels chain, under Chinese control for more than 40 year but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
Images from civilian satellite companyImageSat International show two batteriesof eight surface-to-airmissile launchers as well as a radar system.]
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year, and has been building runways and other infrastructure on artificial islands to bolster its claims.
Taiwan President-elect Tsai Ing- wen said tensions were now higher in the region.

World Health Organization needs $ 56 million to combat Zika virus

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that $56 million were needed to combat the Zika virus until June, including for the fast-tracking of vaccines, diagnostics and research studies into how it spreads.
The funds, including $25 million for the WHO and its regional office, would also be used to control the mosquito- borne virus that has spread to 39 countries, including 34 in the Americas.
The WHO expects the funds to come from member states and other donors and said that in the meantime it has tapped a new emergency contingency fund for $2 mil- lion to finance its initial operations.

:: Business and Economy ::

India’s most affordable smartphone will cost 251 rupees

Noida-based smart-phone maker Ringing Bells is set to unveil India’s most affordable smartphone, priced at Rs.251, a move that is set to disrupt the booming Indian mobile handset market.
The 3G handset, Freedom 251, features a 4-inch display, Qualcomm 1.3-GHz quad- core processor and 1 GB RAM, according to details shared by the company.
The Android Lollipop-based handset will have an onboard storage of 8 GB with support for expandable memory of up to 32 GB.
It features a 3.2-MP rear and a 0.3-MP front facing camera and a 1,450-mAh battery.
The mass market device will come with preinstalled apps including Women Safety, Swachh Bharat, Fisherman, Farmer, Medical, WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube.
Bookings for the Freedom 251 will start on Thursday.

Department of Pharmaceuticals are expected to come up with bulk drug policy

Department of Pharmaceuticals is expected to come out with a newbulk drug policy in less than amonth with an objective to grow the Indian pharmaceuticals sector to a $200 billion industry by2030.
Under this policy, the government wants to build an ecosystem to help pharma companiesto move up in the value chainand develop new moleculesthrough innovations.
The industry which grew inthe last 15 years has potential tobe a $200 billion industry andcan be the world’s largest if itscales up and moves up thevalue-chain.
Until 1970 India was dependent on other countries for itspharmaceutical requirementsand in 20 years’ time it becameself sufficient to meet its own requirements.
India has now become a superpower as far as generic drugs are concerned. India can become a $300 billion industry including medical devices by 2030.
As per this report the country’s pharmaceutical industry has the potential to touch $200 billion by 2030 from the present $32 billion.
And the medical devices segment can grow from $5 billion now to $100 billion.