Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 JULY 2019

::NATIONAL::

Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi on Wednesday said great institutions like the judiciary should be on their guard against the “wicked and the vile,” who work in their dark recesses to weaken them in a deceptive manner.
The Chief Justice was speaking at the inauguration of the state-of-the-art Additional Building Complex of the Supreme Court. On the occasion, the Court also launched the translation of 100 of its English judgments in seven other languages.
In his address, the CJI said it is time for stakeholders to introspect their respective roles in order to successfully engage in the process of nation-building.
“The threat from such people has always been the greatest to institutions like the judiciary, which do not pander to any particular interest or bow to powerful coteries that breed in the nooks and dark corners,” the CJI said.

In a move to bring sweeping changes to the medical education sector, the Centre plans to introduce the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill in this session of Parliament and repeal the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956.
The Union Cabinet approved a revised version of the Bill on Wednesday, almost two years after the original version was introduced in Parliament in December 2017.
The 2017 Bill, which had provoked widespread protests over a proposal for bridge courses to allow AYUSH practitioners to prescribe allopathic medicines, was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee and amended to remove that contentious initiative. However, it lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th LokSabha.
The current Bill proposes to convert the final year MBBS examination into a licentiate exam, which will be a requirement for doctors to practise medicine. The Bill also proposes to unify all entrance procedures to enforce common standards.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, placing a greater emphasis on more time-bound resolution and laying down voting rules of the financial creditors.
Among the amendments approved is the one that mandates a deadline for the completion of the resolution process within 330 days, including all litigation and judicial processes.
“Votes of all financial creditors covered under Section 21(6A) shall be cast in accordance with the decision approved by the highest voting share [more than 50%] of financial creditors on present and voting basis,” the release added.

In a major verdict that accepted India’s plea that former Indian naval officer KulbhushanJadhav’s trial under espionage and terror charges in Pakistan violated international law, the International Court of Justice ruled that Pakistan should “review and reconsider” his conviction and death sentence.
The court, based at The Hague in the Netherlands, also ruled that Pakistan should give the Indian government consular access to Mr.Jadhav, something Pakistan has failed to do in the three years since his arrest, and to stay the execution of his sentence, pending the review process.
The verdict was welcomed by Prime Minister NarendraModi, the government and by leaders across the political spectrum. External Affairs S. Jaishankar said that he had spoken to Mr.Jadhav’s family after the verdict was delivered, and “applauded their courage.”
The Pakistan government claimed a victory of sorts, pointing out that the court had not accepted India’s submissions asking for cancellation of the Pakistani verdict, and to direct Mr.Jadhav’s release. “Commander Jadhav shall remain in Pakistan. He shall be treated in accordance with the laws of Pakistan,” tweeted Foreign Minister Shah MehmoodQureshi.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is likely to revise downward by 2% the quantity of ‘normal’ monsoonal rain, two independent sources confirmed.
Currently, 89 cm of monsoon rain from June to September is considered ‘normal’, more technically, the long period average (LPA), and this is derived from the average rainfall that the country got from 1960-2010.
The IMD routinely updates ‘normal’ rain every 10-12 years but the changes can take nearly 5 years to reflect in the agency’s official forecasts.
This time the change could be reflected by 2021 after taking into account the monsoon rainfall from 1970-2020, a senior meteorologist connected to IMD's forecast process told.

Star Indian sprinter Hima Das clinched her fourth gold in a fortnight as she won the 200m race with a creditable timing in the Tabor Athletics Meet in Czech Republic yesterday.
Hima won the race in 23.25 seconds, which had a mediocre field with most of the competitors representing clubs of Czech Republic.
In men's 400m, Muhammad Anas won in 45.40 seconds, while compatriots Tom Noah Nirmal came second with a season-best effort of 46.59 seconds. KS Jeevan was third with a timing of 46.60 seconds and MP Jabir finished fourth in 47.16 seconds.