Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 January 2017

:: National ::

The Centre cleared the Tamil Nadu government’s proposal to promulgate an ordinance to hold jallikattu.
The State government had proposed to issue an ordinance in a day or two to allow jallikattu, a bull taming sport.
Since the subject falls in the Concurrent list of the Constitution, it was mandatory to get a nod from the Centre.
The Home Ministry sent the draft submitted by the State to the Environment and Law Ministries for their response. Environment Ministry sent its reply, and the Home Ministry gave its clearance.
The Tamil Nadu Cabinet is expected to clear the ordinance and recommend it to the Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao for promulgation.
Environment Minister said that Centre wanted a “permanent” solution to the jallikattu issue and a final decision would be taken within a “day or two.”

Deposits above Rs. 80 lakh made between November 9 and December 30 in individual bank accounts are now being examined by the Income Tax Department.
A total of Rs. 17,000 crore of such deposits have been made, says the department and the total amount is expected to increase by January-end.
Banks have been asked to furnish reports of deposits above Rs. 2.5 lakh for savings accounts and Rs. 12.5 lakh for current accounts post-demonetisation. The last date for these reports is January 31.
The I-T department has also asked banks to furnish details of these accounts in the period between April 2016 and November 8 in order to compare the transactions with those made post-demonetisation.
Across the country, a total of Rs. 7.32 lakh crore above the threshold of Rs. 2.5 lakh for savings accounts and Rs. 12.5 lakh for current accounts have been detected so far in 1.34 crore accounts.
In this, Rs. 60,000 crore has been deposited in dormant accounts and Rs. 35,000 crore in Jan Dhan accounts, according to the I-T department.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s culture, traditions and social fabric would never allow the nefarious designs of terrorists and their sponsors to succeed and the Indian youth had successfully resisted radicalisation.
At a meeting with a delegation of Muslim Ulemas, intellectuals and academics, who thanked him for his efforts to increase the number of Haj pilgrims from India, Mr. Modi said there was a positive image of Indian Muslims abroad.
He said several parts of the world were affected by radicalisation, but attempts to radicalise the Indian youth had failed because of the long and shared heritage of the people.
The delegation congratulated the PM on the steps taken for inclusive growth, socio-economic and educational empowerment of all sections, including the minorities.

Days after losing two relatives in the Kandahar bomb blast, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the incoming U.S. President must keep the promises on ending terror camps in Pakistan that President Obama failed to.
Mr. Karzai confirmed claims made by his former aide Aimal Faizi, who says President Obama had written to then-President Karzai in 2012, where he had expressly promised to “degrade safe havens” in Pakistan.
“He [Mr. Obama] gave many such promises to me, and my disappointment with him was the reason for the difficulties in our [U.S.-Afghanistan] relationship,”.
The former Afghan President had been in India for a conference, but had also been attending to his cousin, businessman Hashim Karzai, who had been flown to India for treatment after he was grievously wounded.
The Kandahar blast has set off a massive blame-game in the region, with Afghanistan blaming the Haqqani group and Pakistan for the blast, a charge India concurred with in its condemnation of the blast.
The Taliban, however, denied any involvement it the attack. Speculation has grown that the UAE diplomats were targeted as a ‘warning’ over India and UAE coming closer.
Crown Prince and deputy supreme commander Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan expected in India next week as the Republic Day Chief Guest.

The Islamic State group has demolished more treasured monuments in Syria’s ancient Palmyra, a month after recapturing it from government forces, the country’s antiquities chief said.
The news is a fresh blow for the UNESCO World Heritage site, which had already been ravaged by the jihadist group during the nine months it held the site before being expelled in March last year.
Before being forced out of Palmyra in a Russian-backed offensive in March, the IS razed world-famous temples and tower tombs at the site.
The tetrapylon, built during the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd Century AD, consisted of four sets of four pillars each supporting massive stone cornices.
The monument had suffered considerable damage over the centuries and only one of the 16 pillars was still standing in its original Egyptian pink granite. The rest were cement replicas erected by the antiquities department in 1963.
The Roman amphitheatre dates to the 1st Century AD and was used by the IS for public executions during its occupation of the city between May 2015 and March last year.
The IS recaptured Palmyra late last year as Syria’s government waged a fierce battle to take back all of the northern city of Aleppo from rebel forces.

The government announced that cooperative banks will not be authorised to accept deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme.
“Application for the deposit in the form of Bonds Ledger Account shall be received by any banking company, other than co-operative Banks, to which the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 applies,” the official notification states.
This follows reports of irregularities in book-keeping at cooperative banks.