Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 22 June 2017

::National::

Third international yoga day celebrated across the world

• Continuous drizzle failed to dampen spirits as thousands of enthusiasts came together to perform yoga here on the the third International Day of Yoga.
• At the centre of the performance was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who executed multiple asanas or yogic postures even as the weather conditions threatened to spoil the show.
• Stressing that yoga was about “wellness” and a “health insurance,” the PM, who was sporting the white Yoga Day T-shirt, urged people to make yoga a part of their daily lives.
• Around 50,000 people were estimated to have attended the event, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Ram Naik along with other dignitaries from Uttar Pradesh performed complex asanas. 
• Praising the impact of the International Day of Yoga in the last three years, Mr. Modi said a large number of yoga institutes had developed, the demand for yoga teachers had increased in India as well as globally, and a large number of youth were choosing to be trained as yoga professionals.
• The Prime Minister also said that yoga had created a “job market globally”, and pointed out that attempts were being to standardise the practice across the world.
• Mr. Modi also used the analogy of salt to talk about the significance of yoga, saying that just like salt added taste to food, yoga ensured the well-being of a person.

NASA will test a flexible solar panel on the International Space Station

• NASA will test a flexible solar panel on the International Space Station.
• The panel rolls up to form a compact cylinder and may offer substantial cost savings as well as an increase in power for satellites in the future.
• Traditional solar panels used to power satellites can be bulky with heavy panels. Smaller and lighter than traditional solar panels, the Roll-Out Solar Array consists of a centre wing made of a flexible material containing photovoltaic cells to convert light into electricity.
• On either side of the wing is a narrow arm that extends the length of the wing to provide support. The arm can be flattened and rolled up.

Renewable energy push can create a big job market as well

• Were India to be able to meet its commitment of adding 1,60,000 MW of renewable power (solar and wind power) by 2022, it would generate employment for 3,00,000 new workers. Ninety per cent of these jobs would be in the solar sector.
• Currently both these industries employ around 21,000 people. But with a strong domestic manufacturing policy in place, another 45,000 could find indirect full-time jobs, according to the study. 
• Seventy per cent of the new jobs would be in the labour-intensive rooftop solar segment, which tend to generate “seven times more jobs” than large-scale projects such as solar farms, which are more typically associated with India’s solar push.
• This study is the third in a series of reports that look at job creation in the renewable sector. The findings were based on a survey of 37 solar companies, eight solar manufacturers, and nine wind companies. 
• In all, 60% of the solar companies that responded were developing ground-mounted plants, while the rest were involved in rooftop solar projects.
• Solar jobs would be distributed fairly evenly across the country, with a pronounced tilt in favour of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. However, wind jobs were likely to be concentrated in a few States that have high wind potential.
• As part of its commitments to dealing with global warming, India has committed to installing 1,75,000 MW of green power by 2022. Of this, only 10% has been installed so far.

Planets most unique coral found in Red Sea

• In the azure waters of the Red Sea, Maoz Fine and his team dive to study what may be the planet’s most unique coral: one that can survive global warming, at least for now.
• The corals, striking in their red, orange and green colours, grow on tables some eight metres underwater, put there by the Israeli scientists to unlock their secrets to survival.
• They are of the same species that grows elsewhere in the northern Red Sea and are resistant to high temperatures.
• Global warming has in recent years caused colourful coral reefs to bleach and die around the world — but not in the Gulf of Eilat, or Aqaba, part of the northern Red Sea. 
• Gulf of Eilat corals fare well in heat thanks to their slow journey from the Indian Ocean through the Babal-Mandab Strait, between Djibouti and Yemen, where water temperatures are much higher.
• The world just marked its three hottest years in modern times, with scientists pointing to increases in heat-trapping emissions such as carbon dioxide as a driving factor. 

::Business and Economy:: 

Tea board demands auction of every output of country

• The Tea Board of India wants 100% of the country’s tea output (except the quantity meant for direct exports) to be routed through the auction system, saying that this is considered to be the most secured way of marketing.
• The board recently issued a notice seeking comments from the industry and trade on the matter by June-end. Currently, all registered manufacturers have to sell 50% of their produce through public auctions.
• However, it is increasingly being felt that this measure, introduced last year to improve price-realisation, may not have achieved its objective. 
• It also said that a detailed analysis of auction participation by the manufacturers was being carried out at present by the industry regulator. 
• The Tea Marketing Control Order of 2003 was amended in October 2015 through a notification to put in place the 50% mandatory system. 
• The regulator noted in this context that the initial proposal to implement 70% routing was diluted to 50 following industry representations.
• Trade and industry sources were not very happy with the proposal saying that low tea prices were not directly linked with the amount being offered in auctions. 
• However, small tea growers were happy with the proposal since it would help them get better prices.

SEBI relaxed norms to resolve bad debt issue

• As part of the larger attempts of the government to resolve the massive bad debt issue, SEBI relaxed norms for investors acquiring assets in companies with stressed assets and facing bankruptcy proceedings.
• The board of the capital markets regulator has decided to exempt the acquirers from making open offers after buying stakes from lenders while including checks such as a three-year lock-in for new investors and mandating that such relaxation would have to be approved by a special resolution.
• This would come as a big relief to both lenders and acquirers concerned about a possible open offer since sizeable stakes could change hands.
• The regulator has decided to provide a similar exemption for acquisitions post the resolution plans approved by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.
• SEBI has decided to levy a ‘Regulatory Fee’ of $1,000 on each subscriber of offshore derivative instrument (ODI), which will have to be collected by the registered foreign portfolio investor (FPI) that issues the ODIs.
• The regulator had recently floated a consultation paper to further tighten the norms for issuance of ODIs. It has also decided to “prohibit ODIs from being issued against derivatives except on those that are used for hedging purposes.”
• Meanwhile, the regulator will soon float a consultation paper on easing investment norms for FPIs by expanding the list of eligible jurisdictions for grant of FPI registration and simplification of broad-based requirements and ‘fit and proper’ criteria.
• The regulator is in the process of appointing a forensic auditor to look into the co-location matter of the NSE, wherein it is alleged that certain brokers had received preferential access to the exchange systems for execution of trades.

Click Here for Daily Current Affairs Archive

Click Here for Study Material for SSC CGL Exam

Click Here to Join Online Course for SSC CGL Exam