Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 22 February 2017

:: National :

Amnesty expressed concerns over a range of human rights violations in India

Amnesty International’s annual report, the State of the World’s Human Rights Report 2016-17, has expressed concerns over a range of human rights violations in India.
The report slammed the use of legislation such as the Foreign Currency (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and the sedition law to silence government critics and crack down on civil society organisations.
Amnesty International said, “Human rights activists and journalists faced intimidation and attacks from both state and non-state actors.”
The report pointed to deaths of journalists Karun Mishra and Rajdeo Ranjan, who were allegedly killed for their reporting, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and Siwan, Bihar, respectively.
The report also drew attention to India’s amendment to the child labour law, which allows children under 14 to work in “family enterprises”, and children between 14 and 18 years to work in occupations not classified as “hazardous.”

RBI unaware of number of bank accounts where 2.5 lakh were deposited

The RBI is not aware of the number of bank accounts in which more than Rs. 2.5 lakh in the scrapped currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 were deposited between November 8 and December 30 last year.
The Department of Currency Management of the RBI on February 17 said it did not have the figure of bank accounts in which more than Rs. 2.5 lakh were deposited.

India to strengthen surveillance of over 7,500-km coastline of the country

To strengthen surveillance of over 7,500-km coastline of the country, the Defence Ministry gave the go-ahead to expand the coastal radar surveillance network.
The decision was taken by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The council reviewed the status of other procurements.
The DAC gave approval for issuing the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Phase II of the static sensor chain and also an intermediate aircraft engine repair facility for the Navy.
Phase II involves setting up 38 additional radars and four mobile surveillance stations as well as two vessel traffic management systems (VTMS) in Kutch and Khambat in Gujarat at a cost of approximately Rs. 800 crore.
In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the government decided to set up a chain of static sensors to fill gaps in coastal surveillance and keep track of boats entering Indian territorial waters.
Under Phase I, a chain of 46 coastal surveillance radar and electro-optic sensors were set up, including 36 in the mainland, six in the Lakshadweep islands and four in the Andaman & Nicobar islands.
India is also setting up similar radar stations in friendly Indian Ocean littoral nations, which are integrated into India’s own radar network.
The DAC also gave approval for the setting up of a shore-based intermediate engine repair facility for the Navy’s MiG-29K fighter aircraft at the Naval aircraft yard in Goa.
The Navy currently operates as many as 45 MiG-29K carrier aircraft procured from Russia. Some of them operate from the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya .

SC asks whether ISPs can identify those who upload obscene content online

Noting that it wants “prevention and not cure”, the Supreme Court asked Internet service providers if there was any mechanism to identify those who upload obscene content online and prevent it.
A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and U.U. Lalit referred to the loss of reputation and dignity of women and children who became victims of sexually abusive videos uploaded on websites.
Google's council said the inflow of information online was huge, and it was near impossible to filter and block content before they were uploaded. He submitted that the government’s nodal agency could help Internet service providers.
The court referred to the Information Technology Act, and asked how the service providers abided by the guidelines to regulate Web content.
The court observed that the time lapsed to remove objectionable videos or material led to loss of reputation and dignity of the victims. “Will it or will it not be conducive to prevent the uploading of such contents,” the court asked.

United Kingdom has assured India of expeditious action on wanted persons

The United Kingdom has assured India of expeditious action on its request for the custody of wanted persons, including businessman Vijay Mallya, during a two-day dialogue on issues related to extradition and mutual legal assistance.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in an official statement, said the meeting was held pursuant to the decision taken during the visit of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to India in November last year.
Indian agencies gave elaborate presentations on key legal aspects of the cases for which they had sought help under the 1993 Extradition Treaty and the 1995 Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with the U.K.
They also highlighted unexplored provisions which could be invoked for expeditious action.
One of the prominent cases on the agenda was of Vijay Mallya, who faces probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate for alleged wilful default of over Rs. 9,000 crore bank loan.
He is currently in London and has refused to join legal proceedings back home despite the court’s intervention. Several non-bailable warrants are pending against him.

:: International ::

U.S. hardens rules for deportation

The Trump administration is greatly expanding the number of people living in the U.S. illegally who are considered a priority for deportation, including people arrested for traffic violations.
The documents represent a sweeping rewrite of the nation’s immigration enforcement priorities.
The Homeland Security Department memos, lay out that any immigrant living in the United States illegally who has been charged or convicted of any crime and even those suspected of a crime will now be an enforcement priority.
That could include people arrested for shop lifting or minor traffic offences.
The memos eliminate far more narrow guidance issued under the Obama administration that focussed resources strictly on immigrants who had been convicted of serious crimes, threats to national security and recent border crossers.
One of the memos says that foreigners sent back to Mexico would wait for their U.S. deportation proceedings to be complete. This would be used for people who aren’t considered a threat to cross the border illegally again.
It’s unclear whether the United States has the authority to force Mexico to accept foreigners. That provision is almost certain to face opposition from civil libertarians and officials in Mexico.
The pair of directives do not have any impact on President Barack Obama’s program that has protected more than 750,000 young immigrants from deportation.

:: Business and Economy ::

PM Modi asks US to take farsighted aproach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the U.S. to develop a “reflective, balanced and farsighted perspective on movement of skilled professionals.”
Mr.Modi’s comments come in the backdrop of proposals in the U.S. for restrictions on short-term work visas for foreign skilled professionals.
“It augurs a good start to bilateral exchanges following the new U.S. Administration and Congress,” Mr. Modi was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the PM’s office.
Modi also shared his perspective on areas where both countries can work even more closely, including in facilitating greater people-to-people linkages that have over the years helped contribute to each other’s prosperity.
The PM referred to the role of skilled Indian talent in enriching the American economy and society, the statement added.
Changes could impact the $110 billion Indian IT sector as well as issues concerning intellectual property rights (IPRs) and market access for certain farm products.
While India took up its IT sector's concerns on the proposed restrictions on the U.S. non-immigrant visas for foreign skilled workers, the American lawmakers led by Bob Goodlatte, raised concerns on IPR issues.

Provident funds withdrawl made very simple

Banking on your provident fund savings for critical contingencies will now become far simpler with the EPFO introducing a single page composite form for such withdrawals before retirement age.
Over eight crore Employees’ Provident Fund account holders will no longer be required to submit evidential documents for withdrawing PF for availing housing loans, grant of advances in case of factory closure, marriage, higher education of children, among other things.
Till now, employees were required to fill and submit three different forms to EPFO for withdrawing provident fund for various purposes.
The EPFO has introduced forms in two categories – one, for those whose Aadhaar number is seeded with Universal Account Number a common number for all PF accounts, and the other for those without an Aadhaar number.
Employees whose Aadhaar number is seeded will not be required to get employer’s attestation for withdrawing PF but employees without the seeded Aadhaar number will need the employer’s approval on their forms before submitting it to the EPFO.
Further, a single form signed by the employee will be treated as ‘self-certification’ instead of the present requirement of submitting various documents.
However, in case PF is being withdrawn for medical purposes, a doctor’s certificate will still be required.

India signed an agreement with Japan on enhancing railway safety

India signed an agreement with Japan last week on enhancing railway safety in the Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety.
The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed here on February 17 between Railway Board Chairman A.K.Mittal and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan Vice-Minister Hiroshi Tabata.
The areas of cooperation include rail inspection, rail wielding and providing automatic railway track safety inspection, maintenance of rolling stock and “any other relevant railway safety matters jointly determined by both sides” with the aim to prevent major rail accidents.
The agreement with Japan comes at a time when the train derailments are on the rise. In 2016-17, the number of consequential train accidents remained the same level as last year at 95 while derailments rose from 56 to 74.