Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 20 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Kalikho Pul sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

The dissident Congress leader, Kalikho Pul, was sworn in as Chief Minister in the night.
Prior to this, both factions of the Congress, one headed by Mr.Pul and the other by former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, staked their claim to form a new government in the State.
At present, the dissenting Congress faction consists of 21 leaders.
Since they have the support of 11 BJP MLAs, they have the numerical majority in the 50- member Assembly.

India welcomes Pakistan move to file case for Pathankot attack

In a clear hint of the two countries holding the Foreign Secretary-level talks soon, India welcomed Pakistan’s move to file a case against an unnamed extremist group suspected of executing the January 2 attack on the Pathankot airbase.
India’s response came a day after the Pakistani police filed a case against a suspected terror group under the strict Anti Terrorism Act and the Pakistan Penal Code.
Immediately after the attack, India pointed the finger at the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has its headquarters in Gujranwala, but did not receive a favourable response even after providing technical evidence of the involvement of members of this group.
But the press release from Pakistan indicated that the police had filed the case against the terror group, though an official confirmation is expected.

Successful hotbed test of cryogenic engine makes ISRO upbeat

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) bid to acquire the capability to launch heavier satellites into orbit received a boost with the successful hotbed test of the cryogenic engine for the upper stage of the GSLV Mark 3 rocket.
The long-duration test at the ISRO Propulsion Research Centre at Mahendragiri lasted 640 seconds.
Using Liquid Hydrogen at -253 degrees C and Liquid Oxygen at -193 degrees C as propellants, the high-thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) generates power of approximately 2 MW.
Developed at the Liquid Propulsion System centre (LPSC) here, the engine had already undergone two short- duration tests for engine ignition and steady stateperformance.
Last year, the first developmental engine completed different hot tests in various operating regimes.
The third engine identified for flight use will be vacuum tested in the high altitude test facility as part of the flight acceptance test.

SC declined to hear the bail plea of Kanhaiya Kumar

The Supreme Court agreed with Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union, that repeated mob violence on court premises against him was “unusual and extraordinary”, but stopped short of hearing his bail petition barely 24 hours after listing the case at the top of the day’s work chart.
Instead, a Bench of Justices J. Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre transferred the petition to the Delhi High Court to be heard expeditiously.
The court ordered the Centre and the police to provide special security arrangements, with the entry to the High Court regulated by the Registrar-General of the latter.
Mr. Kumar, now lodged in the Tihar jail on a 14-day remand, moved the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking protection of his life and liberty.

Haryana government gave assurance about Jat reservation

The Haryana government, which said it accepted the demand of the Jats for reservation after their stir turned violent, gave an assurance that the relevant Bill would have legal sanctity.
The new Bill will have legal sanctity. With a view to ensuring that no loss is caused by including them in the category of Economically Backward Classes (EBC).
the quota for the same will be increased from 10 to 20 per cent and the income ceiling go up from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. six lakh.
Earlier in the afternoon, police said the protesters who had gathered at the Rohtak bypass road of the Delhi-Hisar National Highway turned violent and allegedly attacked police vehicles and the house of State Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu.

:: INTERNATIONAL::

Membership talks between U.K. And E.U. To continue some more time

A European Union (EU) summit to negotiate new membership terms for Britain was forced into extra time as Prime Minister David Cameron struggled for a deal he could sell to sceptical British voters in a referendum.
A plenary session to review progress was postponed several times and then the 28 leaders were asked to book hotel rooms for an extra night in Brussels.
Mr. Cameron cancelled plans to fly home andchair a Cabinet meeting due to have approved a deal and set in motion procedures to call a plebiscite expected on June 23.
EU officials said the main outstanding problems involved Britain’s demands to curtail welfare benefits for migrant workers from other EU countries, although other snags remained.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Nepal’s PM on visit to India

Aiming for Nepal’s recovery from more than five months of economic blockade, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who arrived on a six-day visit to India on afternoon, is expected to seal crucial bilateral agreements.
This visit is a confidence- boosting step. It’s not just about agreements and accords.
Mr.Oli’s visit, however, began on a dramatic note when 40 Madhesi students from Nepal were detained by the Delhi police near the embassy of Nepalwhen they were trying to reach the public reception organised by the ambassador of Nepal.
Earlier, another group of Madhesi students staged a protest outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

EU-India summit to be held after the gap of four years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Brussels for the EU-India summit on March 30, which is being held after a long gap of four years that have also seen the suspension of talks on the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).
the visit by Mr. Modi, who will stop in Brussels on his way to the U.S. will also see an announcement on the resumption of talks on the BTIA, as the free trade agreement (FTA) is known.
there are still some obstacles preventing the resumption of the India-EU FTA talks that were suspended in 2013 after 16 rounds of negotiation.
To begin with, the EU is learnt to have asked India to substantially bring down the “high” duties on automobiles as a pre-condition for resumption of the FTA negotiations.
India’s import duty on cars range from 60-120 per cent as against the EU’s 10 per cent.

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Historically low solar tariffs could dent operating margins

Low tariff bids for recent solar projects could prove risky for developers as any slight changes in costs could dent operating margins.
Developers are banking on the fact that module prices have been falling and so will fall in the future, then this could work adversely for them since module prices have already started plateauing.
Solar tariffs hit a historic low of Rs 4.34 per unit in January following the bid for a 70 MW project in Rajasthan by Finnish solar power company Fortum Energy.
At the time, many experts said that the tariffs are moving too low and that they would dissuade private lenders from giving loans for solar projects.
The key to boosting rooftop solar adoption — something that has been sluggish so far—is to make the power distribution companies (discoms) more financially secure.
At a time when the health of the discoms is so poor, they don’t particularly favour people going for rooftop solar and buying less from the grid.
The renewable energy sector in India, though benefiting from the huge push by the NDA-government, still needs some incentives- —both in policy and in the upcoming Budget—for the sector to take off.
At the moment, the country has 34 GW of operating wind capacity and 4 GW of operating solar capacity.
Going by the bid processes in the last year, an additional 2 GW should be under construction in each of the sectors.

Competitive prices and shorter shipping distances makes easier to import from OPEC

India’s oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq hit the highest in more than a decade last month as OPEC’s top producers gained at the expense of Latin American crudes, a validation of the OPEC policy of maintaining output and fighting for mar- ket share.
Competitive prices and shorter shipping distances are giving the Middle East members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) the upper hand in India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer.
Saudi Arabia was the top supplier to India in January, with volumes jumping 29 per cent from the same month a year ago to nearly 9,40,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Just behind was Iraq at 9,30,000 bpd, up 52 per cent from January levels last year. The daily rates from both were at their highest since at least 2001.
In contrast, total imports from Latin America fell by a quarter in January from a yearago to 7,06,000 bpd, the data showed.