Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 November 2018

::NATIONAL::

Vice president stresses on reconstruction of higher education in the country

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu stressed on the need to re-imagine and reconstruct the higher education system in tune with the requirements 21st century.
While launching Krea University, he underscored those institutes of eminence must aim to ensure all round development of an individual apart from imparting quality education.
The Vice President said that institutions like the Krea University with sights set firmly on the achievement of brilliance and distinction at the global platform must serve us in good stead in our quest for fast track progress and all round development.
He called for an impactful coordination of Public-Private Sector in providing such education system. Government should play the role of a strong facilitator and others supplement government’s efforts, he added.
Expressing concern that the higher education system in India still lags behind the standards of the world’s best universities, Shri Naidu said that in 2018 too, no Indian university was able to secure a place in the top 100 best universities in the QS World University Ranking. American and European universities still rule the list, he said.
The Vice President said that Indian Universities face a number of problems starting from shortage of funds to inadequate number of teachers to falling enrollment numbers. The profusion more rewarding career choices, lack of adequate facilities for post graduate education and the retirement of the current generation of professors and teachers has created a staff crunch in our centers of higher education, he added.

CIC wants centre to release loan defaulters list

The government must divulge the list of wilful defaulters of large loans, Central Information Commissioner (CIC) Sridhar Acharyulu said on Friday, dismissing the Prime Minister’s Office’s latest response disclaiming responsibility.
In his order, the Commissioner slammed the PMO for refusing to comply with his November 2 direction to explain what action has been taken on former RBI Governor RaghuramRajan’s 2015 letter alerting the PMO to high-profile cases of wilful default.
The PMO had claimed that as the original petition was not addressed to it, it was not liable to comply with the direction.
“If there is any objection based on any exception, the PMO should have pleaded such provision and justified their denial. Instead, the PMO refused to comply with the direction of disclosure of action on letter of Sri RaghuramRajan, on grounds which are not legal,” said Mr.Acharyulu.

::ECONOMY::

Swachh Bharat Mission to celebrate World Toilet Day

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) will celebrate the World Toilet Day tomorrow with mass awareness and mobilization activities across States and districts. The focus is on usage of toilets, which is closely linked to the Prime Minister’s call for a Swachh Bharat by October 2019.
The central part of the day’s celebrations is the theSwachh Bharat World Toilet Day Contest 2018 among all districts by organizing grassroots activities involving district, block and panchayat level teams, swachhagrahis and swachhata champions.
The objective is to engage with communities and reaffirm the national resolve to a sustain the Sanitation achievement. States and districts are working on a competitive mode since 9th November with a range of innovative activities centred around Toilets and Swachhata creating unprecedented momentum in the country which is expected to culminate with mega initiatives tomorrow.
Since the inception of the Swachh Bharat Mission, the rural sanitation coverage of India has increased significantly, from 39% in October 2014 to over 96% today. Over 8.8 crore household toilets have been built by rural Indians.

Centre not to issue direction to RBI under section 7

The Union government may not invoke Section 7 of the RBI Act to issue directions to the central bank, in a bid to reduce the tension between North Block and Mint Road, sources privy to the government’s thinking told.
The central board of the RBI will meet on Monday to discuss contentious issues that figured at the last board meeting economic capital, governance issues of the central bank, boost for the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for banks.
Though the government had ‘referred’ Section 7 of the RBI Act for ‘consultation’ on these issues, it may refrain from issuing directions as such a move will have wide ramifications.
Section 7 has never been used in the 83-year history of the bank. Invoking it would be interpreted as interference in the central bank’s autonomy. It would also have a bearing on international agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that issue ratings for central banks.
The RBI may also climb down from its position of stringent norms for the PCA framework for banks. As many as 11 public sector banks out of 21 are under PCA, which the government thinks is hampering loan growth. RBI may ease some of the conditions, which may help some lenders come out of PCA.
The RBI and the Centre may also reach an agreement to form two committees, to address the issue of economic capital of the RBI and other governance issues.

Click Here for Study Material for SSC CGL Exam

SSC CGL (Tier-1) Exam Crash Course

::INTERNATIONAL::

Fiji prime minister wins second term

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama will stay in power for a second term as he narrowly won a general election on Sunday after voting resumed following delays due to bad weather.
Mr. Bainimarama's Fiji First party led with about 50 % of the votes, closely followed by nearly 40 % for opposition Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), according to the Fiji Elections Office (FEO).
Mr. Bainimarama, who has been the Prime Minister of Fiji since leading a bloodless coup in 2006, has won 27 of 51 seats, according to the electoral commission.
SODELPA, which won 21 seats, and three other losing parties urged the electoral commission and the FEO to refrain from officially announcing results, saying the tally process was not transparent.Fiji went to polls on Wednesday, only the second time the country has held democratic elections since 2006.
Endorsing Mr.Saneem's claims, election monitoring body Multinational Observer Group (MOG) said in a short interim statement on Friday that the Fijian election campaign was conducted according to international standards.
Earlier in the week, heavy rain disrupted the election in some venues. Voting in those places was rescheduled to Saturday, Nov. 17, to ensure all eligible votes were counted.

Rohingyan relocation plan likely in 2019

Bangladesh’s plans to tackle the Rohingya refugee crisis have been stalled until the new year with repatriation and relocation programmes only likely to be revisited following year-end general elections, a top Bangladeshi official said on Sunday.
AbulKalam, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, said that “a new course of action” needed to be adopted that took into account refugees’ key demands.
More than 7,20,000Rohingya fled a sweeping Army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017, according to UN agencies. The crackdown was launched in response to insurgent Rohingya attacks on security forces.
Rohingya refugees say soldiers and Buddhist civilians killed families, burned many villages and carried out gang rapes. U.N-mandated investigators have accused Myanmar's army of ”genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied almost all the accusations, saying its forces engaged in a counter-insurgency operation against “terrorists”.
In late October, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to begin to repatriate refugees, but the plan has been opposed by the refugees in Bangladesh and the UN refugee agency and aid groups, who fear for the safety of Rohingya in Myanmar. The repatriation of the first batch of 2,200 refugees was to begin officially on November 15, but it stalled amid protests at the camps.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

India’s longest waterway project cleared

India’s longest waterway project, one terminal of which was inaugurated by Prime Minister NarendraModi earlier this week, was made possible only after a high-power Committee of Ministers and senior officials from multiple Ministries overruled the recommendations of experts appointed by the Environment Ministry.
The latter had recommended public consultations and a full-fledged environment clearance, documents made available through the Right to Information (RTI) Act show.
As part of the theModi government’s ambitious plan to make stretches of the 2,500-km-long Ganga suitable for transporting containers, it decided to make navigable a 1,390-km stretch of the river between Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Haldia in West Bengal.
The project entails construction of 3 multimodal terminals (Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia); 2 intermodal terminals; 5 Roll On–Roll Off (Ro-Ro) terminal pairs; a new navigation lock at Farakka; assured depth dredging; an integrated vessel repair and maintenance facility; a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS); a River Information System (RIS); and ‘river training’ and river conservancy works.
Since early 2016, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), which is attached to the Union Shipping Ministry, have been at odds over whether this dredging required environmental clearance (EC). This process involves a consultation with locals likely to be affected by the project and residing at locations along the river, where major constructions would be executed.

::SPORTS::

Wrestler Ravi kumar enters U-23 world championsip

India's freestyle grappler Ravi Kumar has stormed into the 57 kg Final of Senior Under-23 World Wrestling Championship in Bucharest. In the semi-finals, Ravi defeated Uzbekistan's JahongirmirzaTurobov, 10-8 to book a place in the Final.
Ravi will face Japan's Toshihiro Hasegawa in the Final today. Toshihiro had defeated China's WanhaoZou, 5-2 in the other semi-final.