Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 19 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

After JNUSU president getting threats in Patiala house court SC to hear his bail application

A day after violence returned to the Patiala House courts in defiance of the Supreme Court’s call for calm.
The apex court accepted that “something extraordinary is going on in this country” and agreed to hear the bail petition of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, facing sedition charges on the allegation that anti-national slogans were allegedly raised on the university campus.
Bench brushed aside objections raised in the courtroom that the court should not function like a magistrate and hear bail pleas, and posted the student lead- er’s case for urgent hearing.
“If a citizen comes to this court saying his fundamental rights are under threat, wehave to hear him. Something extraordinary is going on in this country.” Said Justice Chelameshwar.

Pak anti-terrorism court wants 24 Indian eyewitnesses statement to be recorded

The Pakistani anti-terrorism court holding the Mumbai attack trial has ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to present all 24 Indian witnesses before it so that their statements can be recorded.
The Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad, which is holding the trial of the seven accused including Mumbai attack mastermind and LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Court also directed that the boats used by Ajmal Kasab and others be broughtback from India and made case property.
The official said the Interior Ministry will write to the Foreign Ministry in this regard.

Experts wants India to learn from China for pollution control

Experts who worked on China’s successful pollution control measures have said India should learn from China’s mistakes and put in place regional and national level action plans.
Delhi’s poor air quality has been at the top of the government and the public’s agenda, with road rationing, car-free days and other measures being tried out.
However, measures restricted to Delhi cannot have any substantial impact on the air quality — just like the Chinese authorities learned.
The Chinese government woke up to the problem of air pollution only in the early 2000s, particularly in the run up to the 2008 Olympics.
They tried out pollution control measures in Beijing, which hosted the games, but found that the problem lay elsewhere.
Apart from the crackdown on polluting industries, China expanded its air quality monitoring system, which is something India needs to do as well.
Some of the most polluted parts of the country do not have an air quality monitor- ing station.
An online platform for each province of China was created, where air quality data, including emissions from individual industrial units in the area, is available to the public via an app.
A five-year plan with specific targets for pollution reduction was also drawn up in 2013.
Pollution control became a political agenda as well, with local government representatives being judged on whether they achieve air quality targets.

Li-Fi could make use of LED bulb for providing Internet

Imagine an LED bulb doubling up as an access point for connecting to the Internet and ordinary light being used as a medium to carry data.
A whole new world wherein a bulb would not only give us light but also help us access the Web might not be too far away, if a new technology called Li- Fi (or Light-Fidelity) goes mainstream.
Prof. Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh, who coined the term Li-Fi in 2011.
Li-Fi was a disruptive technology that could transform business models, create new opportunities, and was poised to be a $113 billion industry by 2022.
Prof. Haas said that the RF (radio frequency) spectrum would not be enough considering the rate of growth of wire-less data communication.
The visible light spectrum was much larger. The use of the light spectrum for Li-Fi overcomes the issues in traditional wireless communication, like the shortage of spectrum and network disruption because of interference.
In Li-Fi, anyone who has access to light can access theInternet. The system also allows users to move from one light source to another without losing their network connection
In order to provide Internet at night, the stream of photons can be reduced to a minimal level that won’t produce visible light but enough to carry data
The inability of light rays to pass through walls and similar structures is seen as a major drawback of this technology.

Toxicity testing of drug in the Indian population will start in India by month end

A pilot programme to test the toxicity, particularly cardio-toxicity, of bedaquiline drug (for combating multi-drug-resistant TB) in the Indian population.
Programme will assess drugs ability to achieve culture conversion and to check the feasibility of using the drug to treat MDR-TB patients will start in India by the end of this month or on World TB Day.
Six hundred MDR-TB patients will be enrolled in six institutions — two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, and Chennai — to study the suitability of thedrug for the Indian population.
Only those resistant to both rifampicin and isoniazid, the first-line TB drugs, will be enrolled.
The pilot programme would last for six months. As per the WHO’s recommendation, bedaquiline will be given to patients, besides the regular multidrug treatment regimen.
Unlike clinical trials, the sixinstitutions will not enrol a certain number of patients each. Instead, patients willing to participate in the pro- gramme will be enrolled on a first come, first served basis.

Defence Minister says OROP may also be given to military personnel retiring Prematurely

The government is “re- considering” the denial of One Rank One Pension (OROP) to personnel opting Pre-Mature Retirement (PMR) in light of the concerns expressed by serving and retired military personnel.
The PMR in the armed forces is a way of maintaining a younger officer profile at the middle level and open up vacancies for lower ranks.
Currently the PMR tenure for Jawans and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) is 15 years and for officers it is 20 years after which they are eligible for pension.
However, he said that there has to be a distinction between those leaving service for greener pastures and those leaving for the sake of the country.
The government issued the notification implementing the OROP in November last year which stated that personnel opting for the PMR will be out of the ambit of the OROP effectively distinguishing those who had already retired and those opting for the PMR in future.

Vice-Chancellors of central universities accept Tricolour will increase nationalism

The decision to unfurl the national flag at central universities taken at a meeting of Vice-Chancellors in Surajkand, Haryana comes as a surprise as some of the central universities, already have the tricolour flying from their buildings.
The Flag Code of India, 2002, provides the specifications of the national flag, and when it is to be flown on public buildings.
The meeting was called to discuss the issues of discrimination on campuses and the setting up of an ombudsman to look into specific complaints, some of the VCs present in the meeting said.
Some of the resolutions passed addressed optimising academic output of the student community through an active monitoring system and transparent proac- tive mechanism for grievance re- dress of the varsity community.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

U.S. President will visit Cuba

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Cuba on March 21-22 and meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, in the first U.S. presidential trip to the country in nearly 90 years as relations between the for- mer adversaries thaw.
During the trip, Mr. Obama will have the opportunity to meet with Mr. Castro, Ben Rhodes
Mr. Rhodes noted the ultimate aim is to persuade Con- gress to lift the trade embargo, Havana’s biggest request of the U.S.
Although short-term prospects have seemed un- likely, a Republican congress- man just back from leading a delegation of lawmakers to Cuba said he believed legislation ending the embargo could pass Congress by the end of the year
Word of his travel plans drew immediate resistance from opponents of warmer ties with Cuba including Re- publican presidential candi- dates.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Counter terrorism operation needs to be viewed with flexibility

Weeks after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar spoke about sending troops to fight the IS in Syria, India told the United Nations Special Committee for Peacekeeping Operations that it recognises the need for “flexibility” on international anti-terror operations if they are backed by U.N. authorisation.
Presenting India’s position on the HIPPO (High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations) report, which is aimed at countering international terror groups, Syed Akbaruddin, said: “We understand that these issues [response to counter-terrorism operation with U.N. authorisation] need to be viewed with flexibility in response to emerging challenges.”
The HIPPO report has expanded the scope of counter-terror operations beyond the traditional U.N. peacekeeping operations by recommending that “ad hoc coalitions authorised by the U.N. Security Council” can undertake counter-terror operations with the intention of peacekeeping and peace-enforcement.

:: BUSINESS ::

Reliance will start oil lifting from Iran

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, owner of the world's biggest refining complex, is preparing to lift oil from Iran next month after a gap of about five years,
The Indian conglomerate, con- trolled by billionaire Mukesh Am- bani, stopped Iranian oil imports in 2010 because it was worried that the threat of U.S. sanctions on companies doing business with the Islamic republic would com- plicate its eforts to boost market share for its fuels in the United States.
The shipment will make Reliance Iran's first new Indian oil customer since the lifting of the sanctions.
Reliance's sophisticated complex at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state can refine 1.24 million bpd of crude as varied as light West African to heavy sour Middle East and Latin American grades, allowing it to switch to whatever crude is cheapest.

Ministry moots National Social Security Authority

The Labour Ministry has mooted the idea of forming a National Social Security Authority, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a separate Social Security Department within the ministry to provide social security to the entire population in a bid to prop up the government’s pro-worker credentials.
The functions of the authority should be mainly to formulate the National Policy on Social Security and to co-ordinate the central and state level programmes and to en- sure that the objectives of the policy are achieved within the time frame prescribed.
The note proposes a four-tier system to cover the entire population of the country, including both formal and in- formal sector workers, through a common Social Se- curity Code.
It said the cur- rent social security programmes and schemes can be “strengthened” and universalised.
It said the first tier would include the “destitute and people below the poverty line,” the second tier would have workers in the unorga- nised sector who may be cov- ered under a subsidised scheme and the third tier would cover workers who can, with the help of employ- er, can make contribution to the schemes.
The fourth tier would include people who “are comparatively affluent and can make their own provisions for meeting contingencies or risks as and when arise.
The note “visualised” that the social assistance pro- grammes for the first tier shall be based on tax revenue.