Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 OCTOBER 2019

::NATIONAL::

Indian Army has destroyed three terror camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and killed ten Pakistani soldiers. In a major counter-offensive after unprovoked firing by Pakistan, Indian Army carried out heavy artillery strikes targeting four terror camps and several Pakistani military positions in Neelam Valley yesterday.
Ten terrorists were also killed in the retaliatory action by the Army. Army Chief Gen BipinRawat told media persons that the action by the Indian forces caused substantial harm to the terror infrastructure across the Line of Control (LoC).
He said, more information on terrorist casualty is being obtained. Army chief said the terror camps destroyed by the forces were located in Athmuqam, KundalShahi, Jura and one in Leepa Valley.

India has highlighted Prime Minister NarendraModi's vision of 'Sab KaSaath - Sab KaVikas - Sab KaVishwas' for inclusive health along with scheme -- Ayushman Bharat, at the on-going two-day G20 Okayama Health Ministers' Conference in Japan.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who represented India at the conference in Okayama City, also highlighted Mr Modi's vision of FIT India Movement and Eat Right campaigns.
The deliberations of the G20 Health Ministers focused on four major global health issues like the achievement of Universal Health Coverage, response to population ageing, management of health risks and health security management including Anti-Microbial Resistance and its containment.
Dr Vardhan said that New Delhi is on the path to Universal Health Coverage and will contribute effectively in sustaining UHC at the global level.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman has said that negotiations between India and the US on a trade deal are going in full speed. She also expressed hope that an agreement will be structured soon.
The ongoing trade deal negotiations briefly came up for discussion during a pull-aside between Mrs Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the IMF headquarters. Mnuchin is scheduled to visit India early next month.
India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). India also wants to greater market access for its products from sectors, including agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have infused a net sum of Rs 5,072 crore into the Indian capital markets in October so far amid the government's efforts to revive domestic demand.
In the preceding month, FPIs had invested a net Rs 6,557.8 crore in the domestic capital markets (both equity and debt). This came following net outflows in July and August.
As per the latest depositories data, foreign investors put in a net sum of Rs 4,970 crore in equities and a net Rs 102 crore in the debt market during October 1-18, taking the cumulative net investment to Rs 5,072 crore.

Brussels officials today pressed on with plans to ratify the Brexit deal as European leaders considered Prime Minister Boris Johnson's reluctant request for a Brexit delay.
Ambassadors and senior officials from the other 27 member-states met after British MPs forced Mr Johnson to send EU Council President Donald Tusk a late request to postpone the withdrawal.

Sri Lanka has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of countries at risk for money laundering.
Minister of Finance MangalaSamaraweera said in a statement that FATF in Paris informed the removal of Sri Lanka's name from the blacklist commending the new measures taken by the country on financial security.
Sri Lanka was first included in the blacklist in 2011. By 2012, Sri Lanka was listed in the list as a dangerous country with no commitment to the financial security plan.
The statement said the government together with the Central Bank and other financial institutions, has taken several measures since 2016 to ensure the financial security of the country.

Mars once had salt lakes that went through wet and dry phases similar to those on the Earth, according to a study that indicates that the red planet's climate 'dried out' over a long time.
According to the researchers, including those from Texas A&M University in the US, liquid water on Mars may have become unsustainable and evaporated as the planet's atmosphere became thinner, and the pressure at the surface became lesser.
The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, noted that over three billion years ago, the lake that was present in Gale Crater -- an immense 95-mile-wide rocky basin that is being explored with the NASA Curiosity rover since 2012 -- underwent a drying episode possibly linked to the global drying of Mars.
The researchers said that the salt ponds on Mars are similar to some found on the Earth such as those in a region called Altiplano near the Bolivia-Peru border.