Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 June 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 June 2022

::NATIONAL::

Centre’s programme for returning expatriates showing no impact: Kerala CM Vijayan

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the Centre’s ‘Swades Skill Card’ programme, launched to support expatriates returning to the country, and said it did not make any impact among the community even two years after its announcement.
The Kerala chief minister also accused the BJP-led Union government of ignoring his administration’s demand of granting a package worth ₹2,000 crore for the expatriates who had returned to the southern state after losing their jobs due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The Centre was not even bothered to respond to the state’s request, he said during his speech at the third edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha, a two-day conference inaugurated by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan here on Thursday.
As doctors advised him rest due to ill health, industries minister P Rajeev read out Vijayan’s speech during the function, which is being attended by invited guests.
He said SWADES (Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support) was the lone programme announced by the Centre to support the returning expatriates.
The Chief Minister, however, claimed that his government has always recognised the significance of the expatriate community and considered them as an inevitable part of the state’s social life.
A total of 351 delegates, including over 180 representatives from 65 foreign countries, are taking part in the third edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha, an ambitious initiative of the Vijayan government envisaged as a convention of non-resident Keralites.
Meanwhile, an approach document presented as part of the Loka Kerala Sabha called for a comprehensive policy for immigration and recruitment of people from the state to other countries.

::INTERNATIONAL::

US think of themselves as “God's own messengers,” says Putin on sanctions

President Vladimir Putin said at Russia’s showpiece investment conference Friday that the country’s economy will overcome “reckless and insane” sanctions, while condemning the United States for acting like “God’s own messengers on planet Earth.”
Putin began his address to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with a lengthy denunciation of countries that he contends want to weaken Russia, including the United States.
He said the US “declared victory in the Cold War and later came to think of themselves as God's own messengers on planet Earth.”
Russia came under a wide array of sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine in February. Hundreds of foreign companies also suspended operations in Russia or pulled out of the country entirely.
Putin said trying to damage the Russian economy “didn't work."
"Russian enterprises and government authorities worked in a composed and professional manner,” he said. “We're normalizing the economic situation. We stabilized the financial markets, the banking system, the trade system.”
“In the current situation, against a backdrop of soaring risks and threats, Russia’s decision to conduct a special military operation was a forced one," the Russian leader said. "It was very hard to make it, but it was forced and necessary. It was a decision by a sovereign country that has an unconditional right, based on the U.N. Charter, to defend its security.”

::ECONOMY::

Targeting 'soft landing' for economy: RBI governor Shaktikanta Das

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank has been targeting a soft landing for the economy, at a time when soaring inflationary pressure has necessitated domestic monetary tightening.
“We are targeting a soft landing,” Das said at a media event.
He countered arguments that the central bank should have acted early to tackle the price rise and that it was behind the curve. Das said that acting early by raising rates could have been counterproductive for growth as the economy was reeling from the pandemic.
“Just imagine, if we had started increasing the rates early, what would have happened to growth,” Das said. “The RBI has acted proactively and I would not agree with any perception that the RBI has fallen behind the curve.”
The RBI governor made the comments amid a spate of recent criticism. These include the views of former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, who said the central bank was late to respond to inflation risks.
Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) printed at 7.04 per cent in May.
While the consumer price gauge eased from a near-eight-year high of 7.79 per cent in April, retail inflation remained well above the RBI’s mandated band of 2-6 per cent for the first five months of 2022.
A surge in global commodity prices, particularly crude oil, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, have significantly increased upside risks to India’s inflation. Das said that the conflict had come “without any forward guidance or advance notice.”

::Science and tech::

Scientists discover 'super Jupiter' orbiting white dwarf

Space scientists have discovered a 'super Jupiter' orbiting a white dwarf, detected using direct observations of the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Gaia mission.
The discovery forms part of a treasure trove of data made available in Gaia's Data Release 3, which provides the most detailed survey of our galactic neighbourhood to date.
Observations made by the Gaia observatory, which orbits a point in space about 1.5 million km from Earth, will allow astronomers to create the most accurate and complete multi-dimensional map of the Milky Way and better understand our place in the Universe.
Martin Barstow, Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science at the University of Leicester and Director of Strategic Partnerships for Space Park Leicester, is part of the Gaia collaboration to have co-authored multiple papers using the new data.
Other highlights of Data Release 3 include a description of 'starquakes', stellar DNA and a new binary star catalogue of more than 800,000 binary systems. Before Gaia launched in 2013, only around 30,000 binaries were known in our galaxy.
"This Data Release 3 is a complete step change. All the data we have catalogued using spectra -- stellar distances, ages, composition, and more -- adds an extra dimension to what we know about the stars in our galaxy, and represents a huge leap forward."

::Sports::

After controversies, Indian cycling looks to get back on track

It has been far from an ideal preparation for the Indian cycling team that will compete in its first international meet in two years at the Asian Track Cycling Championships at the IG Sports Complex velodrome here beginning.
The lead-up has been rather stormy as a woman cyclist levelled allegations of sexual harassment against chief coach RK Sharma during their camp in Slovenia. The endurance team’s tour was cut short by a week and called back on June 8.
Sharma's contract was terminated based on a preliminary report of a probe panel constituted by the Sports Authority of India. VN Singh was given charge of the team just days before the competition. Following the incident, there were reports of other cyclists revealing a toxic team environment under Sharma.