Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 23 April 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Six new members nominated to upper house

The Rashtrapati Bhavan approved a list of six nominated members to the Rajya Sabha, including senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, former Test cricketer and BJP MP Navjyot Singh Sidhu and boxing legend Mary Kom among others.
Economist and former member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) Narendra Jadhav has also been nominated for a Rajya Sabha seat, along with journalist Swapan Dasgupta and Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi.
These nominations to the Upper House are for achievers in various spheres of public life, and total 12 in number. As of now, there are seven vacancies among these 12, for which six names have been announced, and one kept in abeyance.
The government can nominate members in this category at anytime and it is not bound to an electoral cycle like the other seats.
Of these, Mr. Sidhu’s nomination is politically most significant as there had been talk that the former cricketer was negotiating with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) just ahead of the Assembly polls in Punjab.

After undertaking from Attorney-General SC kept HC’s order aside

The Supreme Court restored President’s Rule in Uttarakhand till April 27, barely a day after the Uttarakhand High Court quashed the Centre’s decision and restored the Harish Rawat-led Congress government.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh admitted the Centre’s challenge to the High Court decision and brought back President’s Rule in the State because judgment, dictated by Uttarakhand HC was not yet available in the public domain.
The Bench said the High Court judgment would “remain in abeyance” till April 27, the next date of hearing in the Supreme Court. It further directed the High Court to release the signed judgment by April 26 to the parties, who will file copies in the apex court.
The Supreme Court recorded an oral undertaking from Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi that the Centre would not in the meantime revoke President’s Rule in the State before April 27 as a ploy to install a BJP government.

Leaked chapter of draft RCEP shows reduction in access to affordable medicines

A leaked chapter of the draft Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement being negotiated by 16 countries reveals that the trade pact in its current form could reduce access to affordable medicines in many developing countries.
The chapter on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is part of an October 2015 draft of the RCEP agreement.
India has opposed some damaging proposals initiated by the RCEP members, particularly Japan and Korea, involving patent extensions, restrictive rules on copyright exceptions, and other anti-consumer measures.
Some member countries, who are part of both the TPP and the RCEP, are trying to push for the TPP standards in RCEP.
Japan and Korea are working to introduce some of the worst ideas from the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), the TPP and other trade agreements in the RCEP chapter on Intellectual Property.
The humanitarian aid organisation is particularly concerned about a proposal by Japan and Korea demanding patent term extension — from the current 20 years by an additional five years — in ASEAN countries that are not party to the TPP.
Countries like India have, in the past, resisted pressure to sign the patents treaty as it can curtail the flexibility under the Indian system to address key public policy issues such as ever greening.
If these terms are accepted, it would limit access to affordable medicines for people in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who depend on Indian generics.
The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are concerned at the move to withdraw the exemption granted under the TRIPS to implement intellectual property laws until 2033.
The RCEP is one of three mega FTAs proposed so far — the other two being the TPP and the TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the U.S. and the EU) — and aims to integrate Asian markets.
The next round of RCEP discussions will take place in Perth, Australia, between April 23-29.

:: International ::

India along with 174 other countries signed Paris climate agreement

A total of 175 Countries, including India, signed the Paris climate agreement at the United Nations.
This is a record for one-day signing of an international accord.
Fifteen countries, mostly small-island states, have already ratified the agreement on combating global warming.
The landmark deal takes a key step toward entering into force years ahead of schedule.
States that do not sign on Friday have a year to do so. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 per cent of global emissions have formally joined it.
The U.S. and China have said they intend to join this year.

Resolution of border dispute discussed during NSA meet between India and China

China and India should reach a “fair and reasonable” political solution to the border dispute acceptable to both sides, the China said in an indication of Beijing’s willingness to make concessions on the vexed issue.
As National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who along with his Chinese counterpart held border talks.
China said in a statement that both sides had in-depth and candid exchanges on the boundary question, bilateral relations and relevant international and regional issues.

US President makes an impassioned appeal against Brexit

In an impassioned appeal visiting U.S. President Barack Obama has urged British citizens to vote to stay in the European Union in the referendum.
He said a united Europe, which turned “centuries of war in Europe into decades of peace”, must preserve its “remarkable legacy.”
In what is likely to be his last visit to the U.K. as President, Mr. Obama set the tone for his three-day visit in an exclusive article in the Daily Telegraph.
He placed the EU in the class of post-war international institutions and initiatives like the United Nations, Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Mr. Obama told British citizens that they should be “proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices — democracy, the rule of law, open markets — across the continent and to its periphery”.
The appeal by Mr. Obama will come as an enormous boost for the ‘Stay’ campaign, especially in the light of the very small margin with which it leads over the Brexit group in opinion polls.
With almost one-third of the electorate still undecided, Mr. Obama’s intervention may help sway votes to the ‘Remain’ side.
London Mayor and the lead campaigner for the Brexit campaign Boris Johnson retaliated in an equally strong reply in the British tabloid The Sun.
The U.K. was not merely contributing over £20 billion each month to the EU kitty, it has also lost control over its borders and its right to determine its public policy, a surrender that the U.S. would never make.

:: Science and Technology ::

India’s own Regional Navigation Satellite System, the IRNSS, is all set to be completed

India’s own Regional Navigation Satellite System, the IRNSS, is all set to be completed in space next week when the seventh and last of its spacecraft gets placed in orbit.
The 1,425-kg spacecraft, IRNSS-1G, will be launched at 12.50 p.m. on April 28, Indian Space Research Organisation said.
IRNSS will be to the subcontinent what the U.S. Global Positioning System, GPS, is to its users worldwide, but with far greater precision and in Indian control, according to ISRO.
It will drive both everyday uses as a 24/7 standard service for air, sea, ship transport and will also be used for missile-related applications as an encrypted and restricted service.
IRNSS-1G is slated to be launched from the PSLV-C33 from Sriharikota and will be the 35th PSLV flight in the last two decades.
Over the next three to six months, all the IRNSS satellites in the fleet would be stabilised as a constellation, their signals and performance verified and later put to use.
The fleet has two spare satellites ready in case of an emergency, a full-fledged ground control centre in Bengaluru and tracking stations across the country.

:: India and world ::

External affairs ministry exploring legal options in Mallya case

The External Affairs Ministry is consulting legal experts to explore the option of deportation of Vijay Mallya in connection with the money laundering probe against the liquor baron in the Rs. 900 crore IDBI ‘loan fraud’ case.
On revocation of the passport of Mr. Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines has allegedly defaulted on loans of over Rs. 9,400 crore, the Ministry, which has “suspended” his passport, said it was examining the reply sent by him while declining to divulge its contents.
The Ministry was also examining the response provided by Mr. Mallya through his lawyer to the show-cause notice asking why his passport should not be impounded or revoked.
Once the deportation proceedings were initiated, the government would seek the U.K.’s assistance to interdict Mr. Mallya and fly him back to India.

After J-e-M snub by China, India allows China declared terrorist

Dolkun Isa, a German national of Uighur ethnicity who is in the middle of the latest diplomatic stand-off between India and China, has requested Indian and German authorities to ensure his safety during his next week’s visit to Dharamshala.
Mr. Isa, a leader of the so-called World Uighur Congress, who has been declared a “terrorist” in China, said he was granted an electronic visa by India to attend a conference in Dharamshala.
Beijing was quick to protest. “Dolkun Isa is a terrorist on red notice of Interpol and the Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is a due obligation of relevant countries,”
However, Indian Govt said that the MEA was yet to “ascertain” the details of the conference.
The WUC is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organisation (UNPO), founded in 1991 in The Hague, according to the UNPO website.
The Dharamshala conference is being organised by the Citizen Power of China, an organisation based in the U.S.

:: Business and Economy ::

With consultation about to finish new civil aviation policy to released soon

With long-drawn consultations now in final stages, the Civil Aviation Ministry expects to come out with the new civil aviation policy next month.
The inter-ministerial consultations on the revised draft policy are progressing and once these are completed, the ministry hopes to give the final touches.
The draft policy, unveiled in October 2015, seeks to bolster the country’s aviation sector which has high growth potential.
It has suggested tax incentives for airlines, maintenance and repair works of aircraft, increasing FDI limit for foreign airlines, setting up of no-frills airports and providing viability gap funding for carriers to bolster regional air connectivity.
The ministry has held extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including ministries, airlines, airport operators and ground—handling agencies.
The issue of 5/20 international flying norm has witnessed extensive debates with legacy carriers opposing any changes to the rule, while start—up airlines are against continuing with the requirement.Under 5/20 rule, carriers having five years of operational experience and a fleet of at least 20 planes would be allowed to fly overseas.

Niti Aayog CEO says that US should open service sector more

The U.S. must open up its market for services to Indian firms, just as India has liberalised foreign direct investment in many sectors such as railways and defence for the benefit of American firms, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said.
“India has opened up every sector of the economy in the last two years. While India is becoming more and more open, America must also open its services sector for Indians to go and work there. It can’t be a halfway house,” Mr Kant said
The Indo-US relationship will only flourish further when there’s reciprocity in market access, Mr Kant said.
India has allowed American companies to come in and flourish otherwise GE would have never got the biggest contract to build locomotives for the Railways. Similarly, America must welcome Indian services and software companies to work there.”
Richard Verma, the US Ambassador to India, said that the US has more government-level engagement with India than any other country in the world.
Bilateral trade is about to touch 108 billion dollars. Indian companies investing into the U.S. touched a record in 2015. Defence trade has touched $14 billion, 1.1 million visas were issued to Indian travellers in 2015 — the highest ever
The Niti Aayog chief executive officer said that the biggest foreign direct investment into India in recent times was American Tower Corporation’s purchase of a 51 per cent controlling stake in Viom Network.