Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 20 May 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Egypt flight from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean sea

An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people crashed into the Mediterranean sea with possible wreckage spotted off a Greek island, as investigators probed whether it was downed by a bomb.
Egypt’s Aviation Minister said that while it was too soon to say why the Airbus A320 had vanished, “a terrorist” attack would be a more likely scenario than a technical failure.
The plane had fallen 22,000 feet and swerved sharply twice in Egyptian airspace before it disappeared from the radar screens.
The incident raised fears of a repeat of the bombing of a Russian passenger plane by the Islamic State jihadist group over Egypt last October, which killed all 224 people on board.
The jet was flying from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared, without sending a distress signal.

India led the way for ‘Red Line Campaign’ for antibiotics packaging

India’s idea of putting a red line on antibiotic packages to curb their over-the-counter sale is now being cited as a model that can be used globally to counter the rising threat of superbugs.
In its final report on tackling drug resistant infection released on May 19, the global Review on Antimicrobial Resistance says India has led the way so far with its idea of a ‘Red Line Campaign’ for antibiotics packaging.
This was launched earlier this year, and should be considered as a starting point. It recommends that the labelling and symbols used can be improved if needed and then expanded globally.
While stressing that convincing people to stop using antibiotics would not be effective unless they recognise antibiotics.
“Labelling of antimicrobials, especially antibiotics, is crucial. We call on governments and international health organisations to agree on global labelling standards,” it adds.
India’s Red Line campaign, launched in February this year, began marking prescription-only antibiotics with a red line to curb their irrational use and create awareness on the dangers of taking antibiotics without being prescribed.
The report says laws prevent sale of antibiotics and other antimicrobials over-the-counter, but these may be weakly enforced in some countries and non-existent in many.
It says 20-30 per cent of antibiotics are consumed without prescription in south and east Europe, and up to 100 per cent in parts of Africa.
It is still early in India to map the impact of the Red Line initiative, but experts see better awareness.

Another month breaks temperature record

Due to the combination of global warming and an El Nino, the planet shattered monthly heat records for an unprecedented 12th straight month.
The month of April smashed the old record for the month of April by half a degree.
Previously various agencies has predicted that this could be the hottest year till date.

Report shows sexual abuse is frequent in India

Action Aid — a global charity — has set up various installations to represent women standing up against sexual violence. Its objective is to highlight the unsafe nature of cities in general for women.
Action Aid has also commissioned a poll by YouGov, which interviewed women across the globe from countries like Brazil, India, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
Forty per cent of women interviewed said they had experienced at least one of these forms of abuse — being groped in public transport or bus stops; getting stared at or being called names; being stalked or followed; or being sexually molested.
In North India, according to the survey, 89 per cent of women said they had experienced harassment of some sort, with 50 per cent having experienced unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature.
The charity has asked the U.K. government to contribute at least £70 million from its existing aid budget to help protect women over the next three years.\

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

US President to visit Vietnam and Japan

Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam and Japan next week will reiterate the “rebalance to Asia” policy that many critics say has faltered after the initial push.
Mr. Obama’s visit will also resuscitate the memories of the U.S.’s difficult past of war and conflict with these two current partners in Asia.
Mr. Obama will be the first serving U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped atomic bombs in 1945.
The visit will also underscore the significance the Obama administration attaches to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that is the cornerstone of the U.S.’s Asia-Pacific policy, despite it being hotly contested in the ongoing presidential campaign.
Maritimes disputes on the South China Sea will be part of the discussions at the G-7 meeting in Japan.
The U.S. opened full diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1995 but the relationship is far from smooth. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited Vietnam once each and this will be Mr. Obama’s first trip to the country that shares a border with China
But concerns regarding human rights violations in the country still rattle U.S. administrations, and Mr. Obama will interact with civil society organisations in Hanoi.
The White House had earlier said the President would not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb while visiting Hiroshima.

Seventh anniversary of end of Eelam war observed

Even as Sri Lanka observed the seventh anniversary of the end of the Eelam War, issues of reconciliation and accountability remained “largely unaddressed”, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).
The group said the government “appears to be backtracking” on transitional justice plans, particularly on the role of foreign judges and experts.
“Mechanisms promised to the UNHRC [United Nations Human Rights Council] feed Sinhala nationalist suspicions, while attempts to reassure Sinhalese and the military encourage doubts among Tamils about [the] government’s willingness”, it added.
It added that though the “national unity” government has “expanded the political centre and isolated hard-line nationalists”, the window for change has begun to narrow.

Syria regime takes back key town

Syrian troops backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah retook a key town and nine surrounding villages outside Damascus from rebels.
Pro-regime fighters used clashes between rival rebel factions Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman as an opportunity to retake the town of Deir al-Assafir, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
As rebels summoned their fighters from Deir al-Assafir to the frontline, regime forces launched “a violent attack and heavy air campaign resulting in them controlling the town” in the opposition bastion of Eastern Ghouta.

:: Business and Economy ::

Apple opened its first development centre in India to work on Apple Maps

Apple Inc. opened its first development centre in India to work on Apple Maps, the company’s digital maps and navigation service.
The company’s servers will be located in the U.S. but technical and support services would be provided in Hyderabad. It will work out of an existing software hub that is part of a special economic zone.
“The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations,” said Tim Cook.
Apple didn’t specify the amount of investment in the facility but in a statement it said the centre would accelerate development of maps and create up to 4,000 jobs.
The Cupertino, California-based company has teamed with Noida-based RMSI, a global IT services company, to provide development expertise and software for geo-spatial services.
It chose Hyderabad to set up its map development centre as the city had the largest number of engineers in the country specialising in mapping. The National Remote Sensing Agency that processed maps and images from India’s earth observation satellites was based here.
Several companies in the city offered GIS services, including spatial analysis, mapping and visualisation, content imagery and remote sensing.
There were at least 50 small enterprises that supported the GIS and mapping industry. A significant amount of mapping done was used by the mobile phone industry.

TRAI issued a consultation paper on free data

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a consultation paper on free data seeking comments from stakeholders whether business models which provide free data or suitable reimbursement to users could be allowed without violating the differential pricing norms set by the regulator.
This move is aimed at giving consumers more choices for accessing the Internet, according to a posting on the regulator’s website.
Earlier this year, TRAI had banned the practice of differential pricing of data or allowing telecom service providers to offer differential pricing for access to specific applications or websites.
The move put the end to Facebook’s Free Basics. Now, the regulator is looking at different models which can work within its regulatory framework.
It is looking at whether a “Telecom Service Provider (TSP)-agnostic platform” that does not play the role of gate-keeper could be allowed in order to “give consumers more choices for accessing the Internet.”
The other models it talks about is that of a “don’t charge” or toll-free API, where the telecom service provider doesn’t act like a gatekeeper and direct transfer of money for Internet data charges.

The hybrid annuity model is beginning to find some traction

The hybrid annuity model for awarding highway contracts introduced by the government last year, is beginning to find some traction after an initial lukewarm response from infrastructure players, ratings agency ICRA said in a report.
“After initial teething problems with no bids for the first project under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and modest participation (average of three bids for the first few projects) during January-March 2016, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India)’s aggressive promotion of the model, through awareness campaigns to lenders and developers has yielded positive results,” ICRA said in its report on Indian Road Sector.
It said some of the recent bids witnessed good participation, as high as nine-ten bidders per project.
The first bid under the hybrid annuity model, for four-laning of the Solan-Kaithalighat section in Himachal Pradesh had received no bids.
Under this public-private partnership (PPP) model, the government invests 40 per cent of the construction cost for building highways over a period and the balance comes from the private developer.
The government will invest money in five equal instalments based on the targeted completion of the road project.
Also, unlike the build, operate and transfer (BOT) toll model, government will collect the highway toll tax.
The private developer will recover his investment from the government by receiving annuity payments over a period of 15 years.
The government also offers 80 per cent of prior land acquisition and forest clearance in such projects to the developers.