Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 23 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Jat protest turns ugly

Even after the Centre’s assurance on reservation for the Jats, the agitation in Haryana doesn’t seem to die down.
Three more persons were killed in police firing during protests in Sonipat district, even as the State government said the situation was returning to normality.
The death toll in the State has gone up to 16 and 183 persons have been injured. So far, 320 cases have been filed and 102 persons have been arrested.
The State Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister, is reported to have witnessed a heated exchange of words between some Ministers.
The Cabinet decided to give full compensation for the damage to private property, both residential and commercial.
The Cabinet also decided to introduce a Bill for reservation in the coming session of the Assembly.

Three of the finest soldiers died in Kashmir

The Army lost three of its finest soldiers, two young oicers and a jawan from the Para Special Forces in the deadliest fidayeen at- tack in the Srinagar area in many years. It was not an iso- lated incident, but part of a disturbing trend of the Army losing some of its finest soldiers as the Kashmir violence flares up yet again.
While statistics may hide much of it, the reality is that the Army has lost many of its most experienced counter- insurgency operatives in recent months because of a host of actors, including the return of fidayeen attacks.
Among the possible reasons being discussed in intelligence circles is the role of dubious sources planting wrong information on Army units operating in the Valley.
Earlier this month, two jawans were killed in a 22-hour gunfight in the Chowkibal forest in Kupwara.
Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami, another para commando who was awarded Ashok Chakra this Republic Day, was killed in September last year along with another commando. A month later, four more soldiers were killed in the district.
In November last, Colonel Santosh Mahadik, commanding officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, was grievously injured in Kupwara, not very far from where the earlier casualties occurred, and died later.
A police officer of the Special Operations Group was also killed in the operations.

Supreme Court refuses to topple Arunachal government

Remarking that the Arunachal Pradesh “experiment” to topple State governments may prove “deadly”, the Supreme Court on refused to intervene in the formation of the new government under dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul.
The five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Justice J.S. Khehar, is looking into the constitutionality of State Governor J.P. Rajkhowa’s move to advance the Arunachal Assembly session, which eventually triggered a political crisis that lead to the ouster of the Congress-led Nabam Tuki government and proclamation of emergency in the State on January 26 this year.
The court told the Congress leaders that it should be allowed to comprehensively deal with the issue rather than in a piecemeal, “hotchpotch” fashion.

Global banking giants HSBC gets tax evasion notice

Armed with “sufficient evidence”, Indian tax authorities have issued notices to the global banking giant HSBC, warning of prosecution against its Swiss and Dubai arms for allegedly abetting tax evasion by four Indians and their families.
The U.K.-based HSBC, which also disclosed ongoing probes by tax authorities from various countries in connection with alleged abetment of tax evasion and money laundering through its Geneva branch, said it was cooperating with the authorities concerned and cautioned of “significant” financial impact as a result of these investigations.
HSBC has been under the scanner ever since a leaked list of hundreds of Indian clients of its Geneva branch found its way to the Indian tax authorities.
Similar lists made their way to tax authorities in various other countries, prompting probes.
The Indian government has stepped up its fightagainst black money, allegedly stashed away in Switzerland, in recent years and there have been apprehensions that the so-called illicit wealth might have got shifted to other places such as Dubai.
Without disclosing the names of the Indians who indulged in the alleged tax evasion through its Swiss or Dubai units.
HSBC said while announcing its annual results that it had first received summons in February 2015 from Indian tax authorities, while fresh notices were issued in August and then in November.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Islamic State’s is deepening its reach in Africa

The Islamic State’s branch in Libya is deepening its reach across a wide area of Africa, attracting new recruits from countries like Senegal that had been largely immune to the jihadist propaganda — and forcing the African authorities and their Western allies to increase efforts to combat the fast-moving threat.
The U.S. air strikes in northwestern Libya, which demolished an Islamic State training camp and were aimed at a top Tunisian operative, underscore the problem.
The more than three dozen suspected IS fighters killed in the bombing were recruited from Tunisia and other African countries, and were believed to be re- hearsing an attack against Western targets.
Even as U.S. intelligence agencies say the number of IS fighters in Iraq and Syria has dropped to about 25,000 from a high of about 31,500, partly because of the U.S.-led air campaign there, the group’s ranks in Libya have roughly doubled in the same period, to about 6,500 fighters.
More than a dozen U.S. and allied officials spoke of their growing concern about the militant organisation’s expanding reach from Libya and across Africa on rules of anonymity because the discussions involved intelligence and military planning.
IS leaders in Syria are telling recruits travelling north from West African nations such as Senegal and Chad, aswell as others streaming up through Sudan in eastern Africa, not to press on to West Asia.
The IS in Libya is now the most dangerous of the group’s eight affiliates, counter-terrorism officials say.
About half a dozen senior IS lieutenants have arrived from Syria in re- cent months to build up the franchise.
New U.S. and allied intelligence assessments say IS commanders in Libya are seizing territory there, starting to tax its residents and setting up quasi-government institutions.

Jamaat men held for killing Hindu priest

Bangladesh Police have detained three people in connection with the attack on a temple in north Bangladesh where a Hindu priest was killed and a devotee shot at.
Two of the detainees are said to be members of the banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and the other a Jamaat-e-Islami activist.
The unidentified attackers slit the throat of the 50-yearold Jogeswar Dasadhikari, who headed the Santo Gaurio temple, after hacking him with sharp weapons.
The attackers, who arrived on a motorcycle, also shot and injured Gopal Chandra, the devotee who witnessed the murder.
Meanwhile, the SITE Intelligence Group, the U.S.- based terror monitoring group, said the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the temple attack.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Principle of sovereign equality should guide the India-Nepal relations, said Oli

Asserting Nepal’s sovereignty, visiting Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday said that ties be- tween India and Nepal should be based on the “principle of sovereign equality”.
“Our cultural connections are deep. Pashupatinath and Bishwanath, Janakpur and Ayodhya, Lumbini and Bodhgaya and many more are icons of our shared civilization and our relationship should not be judged on the basis of agreements and treaties”, Mr. Oli said
Mr.Oli’s comments came a day after he defended Nepal’s new Constitution, which he described as a “living dynamic document” that had emerged out of a long process of democratic struggle to end discrimination.
His assessment of the constitutional democratic process went against India’s viewpoint.
Reflecting the Indian concern for the democratic process in Nepal, External Afairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India was playing the role of an “elder brother”.
“India’s role of an elder brother is not similar to the Western concept of a Big-Brother”.
Mr. Oli asked India to make most of the opportunities provided by Nepal and partner the new development process.

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Government wants to bring growth reforms through budget

The Union Budget for 2016-17 will primarily focus on stimulating growth without deviating too much from the fiscal deficit target set by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his previous Budget.
Mr. Jaitley had set a fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of GDP for 2015-16, paring it further to 3.5 per cent for 2016-17 and 3 per cent for 2017-18.
However, with the economic recovery still tentative and private sector investments remaining elusive, there has been a growing clamour for the government to relax its deficit targets in order to pump prime the economy via enhanced public investments.
Given the fiscal constraints, it is the government’s endeavour to present a budget which is growth oriented and maintains the momentum of growth and tries to develop on it.
For Budget 2016-17, the government invited suggestions from citizens through Twitter for the firsttime, even conducting a series of polls to gauge public priorities and expectations from the budget.

Government will divest five percent of its stake in NTPC

The government announced it will be divesting five per cent of its stake in NTPC through the ofer-for-sale route.
The sale is expected to garner Rs.5,029 crore at a floor price of Rs.122 per share.
The stake sale is to be spread over two days, with institutional bidders getting to buy shares and retail investors.
The retail investors have 20 per cent of the shares re- served for them.
The five per cent stake in NTPC works out to 41.22 crore shares.At the floor price of Rs.122 per share, this could fetch the government Rs.5,029 crore.
The government has been struggling to meet the disinvestment target of Rs.69,500 crore for the financial year.
With about 40 days left in the financial year, the government has managed to realise only Rs.13,330 crore through divestment which is less than20 per cent of the budgeted target.