Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 MARCH 2020

::NATIONAL::

The LokSabha on Friday passed a Bill to confer the status of Institution of National Importance (INI) on five more Indian Institutes of Information Technology.
The Bill proposes to bring the five institutions — located in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur — under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme through public-private partnership.
These five IIITs, along with the 15 others, will be able to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D degrees. The status will also help the institutes attract students required to develop a strong research base in information technology.
Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhiriyal said such institutes had recorded 100% placement. They followed the government’s reservation policy, he said.

The Supreme Court has held that courts are empowered to order parties in a contempt case to surrender their passport in order to ensure their presence in the proceedings.
The court clarified that contemnors would only be depositing their passport with the court.The court was hearing a contempt case in connection with a civil suit on partition of a disputed property in Delhi. A Single Judge of the Delhi High Court had ordered one of the parties in the dispute to surrender his passport.
But Justice Banumathi agreed with the Single Judge’s order. “The order [of the Single Judge] was passed to ensure the presence of the first respondent [contemnor] and compliance of the order of the court. It cannot be said that the Single Judge exceeded the jurisdiction or committed an error in ordering the surrender of the passport,” Justice Banumathi wrote in a 21-page judgment.

Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said there is no shortage of essential commodities and food items in the markets. Responding to the concerns raised by leader of opposition AdhirRanjanChowdhury in the LokSabha, the minister asked members to refrain from spreading panic in the wake of Corona Virus.
The minister said that the Prime Minister in his address to the nation last evening urged the people to take protective measures including announcement of a Financial task force to take care of concerns arising out of COVID-19.

Nepal has committed 100 million rupees to SAARC fund set by the Prime Minister NarendraModi to fight Corona virus. Addressing the nation in Kathmandu this evening, Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said during SAARC leaders video conference on Corona virus he had committed to contribute amount for the fund announced by Indian Prime Minister to fight the Coronavirus pandemic.
In his first speech after the renal transplant, Nepali Prime Minister Oli urged the citizens to make necessary changes in their daily activities incorporating precautionary measures to fight against the new pandemic that started from China.
Nepali Prime Minister also announced ban on all international flights into the Himalayan Nation from 22nd to 31st March along with the strict health check-ups at border sides to rein COVID-19. He said, compulsory health check-ups would be introduced at border points for travellers entering Nepal via roads.

On March 19, 2020, the Indian Meteorological Department announced that the El Nino Weather Phenomenon is to remain neutral this year between May and July.
This will bring in normal rains to India during South West Monsoon. The Indian Monsoon is greatly affected by the El Nino and La Nina Weather Phenomenon.The neutral event of the weather phenomenon is addressed as ENSO Oscillation.
The ENSO phenomenon strengthens the trade winds that give good rains to India during Monsoon. It is the trade winds that get deflected due to Coriolis force and blow as south west monsoon. The heating up of Himalayas during summer creates a low pressure in the region. This low pressure attracts the moisthigh-pressure winds in the equator. They are moist due to the ENSO phenomenon.Therefore, India receives good rainfall when ENSO is neutral.
During El Nino, the ocean waters in the western Pacific (near Australia) warms up. This breaks the warm waters from reaching the Australian coast. This is because, the oceanic temperature in the middle of the Pacific is greater than its coastal.
Hence, water starts moving from Australian coast and South American Coast towards the centre of the ocean.Rainfall now occurs in this part of the ocean, making both the coasts dry. Hence, the trade winds reaching near Indian waters are dry as well. This weakens the Indian monsoon.