Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 24 February 2018

::NATIONAL::

Pre-lake 2018 Conference

An unplanned development path adopted by “unscrupulous decision-makers” is threatening the ecologically sensitive regions in the Netravathi river basin in the State.
This is according to a study report released by a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
The report titled “Carrying capacity of Netravathi river basin based on the ecological sensitiveness” was released by Energy and Wetlands Research Group (EWRG), Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), IISc, at Alva’s College during the pre-lake 2018 conference jointly organised by the IISc and Alva’s Education Foundation.
It said that river diversions, hydro electric projects, coastal reservoirs, commercial plantations, unscientific tourism, etc., would cause irreplaceable loss of rich biodiversity in the river basin.
Referring to the river basin, it said that Netravathi having a catchment area of 4,409 sq km covers 11 taluks in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
It originates in Bangrabalige valley, YelaneeruGhat of Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru district.
The basin is part of the ecologically fragile Western Ghats, one among the 35 global hotspots of biodiversity.
“It is the lifeline of Dakshina Kannada region supporting the enormous population with rich resource base and diverse cultures,” it said.
The 203-page report from T.V. Ramachandra, co-ordinator, EWRG-CES, BharathSetturu and Vinay S., researchers, said that rivers/streams in the ecologically sensitive regions should not be diverted or manipulated as that would affect the water retention capability of the catchment area and ground recharge potential.
It would affect the sustenance of water in the streams and affect the downstream users’ right to adequate freshwater.
The report assumes significance in view of the ongoing Yettinahole diversion project in the Netravathi basin.
Earlier, a group of researchers from IISc, led by Mr. Ramachandra, had, in a report, questioned the State government’s estimation of the project yielding 24 tmcft of water for diversion to parched districts.
The group said that only 0.85 tmcft of water could be diverted from the project.
The group had warned that the project would lead to water scarcity in Hassan and Dakshina Kannada and would not benefit Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Tumakuru districts.

Meeting on Lokpal on March 1

In a turnaround from its earlier position, the government will invite the leader of the single largest Opposition party to attend a meeting scheduled for March 1.
It will discuss the long-pending appointments to the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal.
At a brief hearing before a Bench led by Justice RanjanGogoi, Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal said the meeting would have the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chief Justice of India and the leader of the single largest Opposition party in attendance.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, said the single largest Opposition party leader was attending as a “special invitee.”
Justice Gogoi asked the government to update the court in an affidavit on March 5.
This is a significant development as the government has for years taken the position that Lokpal appointments could be made only after amending the law to replace the Leader of the Opposition with the single largest party Opposition leader on the high-level selection committee.
The Bench posted the next hearing for March 6.
Under the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act of 2013, the high-level selection committee for appointments to Lokpal comprises the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, the LoP, the Chief Justice of India and an eminent jurist chosen by them.
The 16th Lok Sabha does not have anLoP as the Congress party failed to get the required 10 per cent membership in the Lok Sabha post the 2014 parliamentary elections.
However, an April 2017 judgment by the Supreme Court did not buy the government’s argument that an amendment in the provisions to replace the LoP with the single largest Opposition party leader was necessary to get on with the Lokpal appointments.
The judgment authored by Justice Gogoi called the Lokpal Act of 2013 an “eminently workable legislation” in its present form itself.
He observed that the 2013 Act provided enough room for the appointment of Lokpal chairperson and members even in the absence of a recognisedLoP.

Against Financial fraud: PM

Breaking his silence over the Rs. 11,500-crore fraud at the country’s second-largest public sector bank, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of stringent action against those involved in financial irregularities and said
Speaking at the Global Business Summit organised by a financial daily , Mr. Modi asked the managements of financial institutions and supervisory bodies to do their job diligently to check such frauds.
“I want to make it clear that this government has been taking strict action against financial irregularities and will continue to take strict action,” the Prime Minister said.
Without naming the alleged kingpin of the fraud or the Punjab National Bank, the Prime Minister said the managements of financial institutions, auditors and regulators should perform their duty earnestly.
“I want to make an appeal to those who have been entrusted with the job of framing rules and policies and maintaining ethics to do their job faithfully and diligently,” Mr. Modi said.
He added this should specially be followed by those who have been given the responsibility of supervision and monitoring.
Mr. Modi lauded his government’s economic agenda which he said was “job-oriented” and aimed at bringing “people-centric growth.”
He also mentioned the announcements made in his government’s last full-year Budget, including pro-agriculture steps such as paying farmers a price that is 50% more than the cost of production.
“Some economists are speculating about price rise [because of this decision]. These economists must also consider about our duty towards our annadata [referring to farmers],” he said.
“I feel we should support every decision taken to increase farmer’s income.”
Industry should contribute to the decisions taken by the government, Mr Modi said.
‘Speed, scale, and sensitivity’ were needed for policies to reach people, he said. “In the past four years, the government has stressed job-centric, people-centric growth [and focussed on] an economy which gives poor financial inclusion and takes care of middle-class aspirations.”

Trudeau hints probe

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated that he would hold officials accountable for the embarrassment caused by the presence of an extremist Sikh sympathiser at events organised in his honour in India.
Addressing a select group of international media here, Mr. Trudeau said his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “great”, and said he had assured the Punjab government of security cooperation.
Jaspal Atwal, a Canadian businessman of Indian origin, known for his proximity to the separatist International Sikh Youth Federation and arrested for an attack on a Punjab Minister in 1986.
He has been part of Mr. Trudeau’s delegation at official events over the last couple of days.
“Obviously, it was not acceptable to me that the concerned gentleman was present here. I will have a conversation on this,” Mr. Trudeau said.
This hinting that he might order an official inquiry into how Mr. Atwal attended events with him.

PIB to have DD & AIR officials to work

In an unprecedented order, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry posted 15 officials from Doordarshan and 16 from All India Radio (AIR) as publicity officers for various Ministries.
The attempt is to strengthen the government’s severely short-staffed publicity arm, the Press Information Bureau (PIB), say senior officials of the I&B Ministry.
However, the latest reshuffle of the 31 Indian Information Service (IIS) officers from the state broadcasters is likely to lead to confusion and a conflict of interest, sources said.
Autonomy issue
The officers’ primary charge will be to handle the publicity of the Ministries. They will, however, additionally continue their work in Doordarshan and AIR.
PrasarBharati officials say the issue has not yet been discussed.
The IIS officials say that more than a conflict of interest, the order is not workable.
The nature of jobs are very different.
Both DD and AIR follow a 24X7 cycle and a publicity official’s job can be equally tricky — he has to be available at the beck and call of the Minister whenever required.
The reason for such a mass reshuffle of the IIS officials, according to few PIB officials, can be traced to an event last October.
It is when Doordarshan missed reporting the upgrade of India’s position in the ease of doing business rankings of the World Bank.
Shortage of hands
Ms. Irani called for a meeting of all publicity officials and pulled them up for not alerting the public broadcaster.
The publicity officials, in turn, told her of the severe manpower shortage in the PIB.
To this, Ms. Irani is said to have promised to strengthen the ranks of the PIB.
Recently, the association of IIS officers wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office, drawing attention to mass transfers, which they alleged have been carried out in contravention of rules.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

New tariffs a concern: US official

The Donald Trump administration has moved the U.S. closer to India than any previous administration on strategic issues, but disagreements on commercial issues remain challenging, according to a senior administration official.
The recent union budget might “make it more challenging”.
The economic relationship has been a bit more difficult than the strategic area of the relationship.
This administration is very interested in having fair and reciprocal trade relations with India.
The President has committed to opening market access for U.S. companies, obviously India also has investments in the U.S. We would like to see trade increase.
Mr. Trump mentioned high tariffs on high-end motorcycles in India recently.
Trade figures in the last quarters has reported a reduction in the imbalance, which is likely because of the energy import by India from the U.S.
The official said trade issues would be discussed during the trade policy forum in June between the two countries.
According to the official, these commercial disagreements are playing up at a time when the strategic cooperation between the two countries has reached an unprecedented level.
The official pointed out that no other country finds as many position mentions as India does in the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS), on dealing with South Asia and Indo-Pacific.
The official said the administration has taken a long-term view on China, and this will not be susceptible to any short-term compromises.
“The NSS is very clear on this administration’s view on China, which is a long-term view. It is clear about how we assert values that we share with India — freedom of navigation, rule of law, transparency, financing of infrastructure projects, resolution of disputes, etc. It is a long-term vision and the U.S. has been forthright in asserting that vision,” the official said, noting that the recent revival of the Quad dialogue is a tangle outcome of this approach.
“The U.S. is very clear-eyed in dealing with China, and the U.S. sees India playing an important role in that... this idea that the U.S. might be making any short-term changes to its strategy [is not true] — it is a long-term vision.”
Defence cooperation is a very important part of the relationship, and the administration is “looking to move forward on Sea Guardian” drone negotiations, the official said. The U.S. is willing to do much more with India on defence, the official said, seeking more cooperation from India. “….to do that we need India to cooperate. Of course we have to protect our highest technologies. So there has to be a cooperative arrangement between the two countries,” the official added

::ECONOMY::

Search for RBI Dy.Governor

The Centre has resumed the process of looking for a suitable candidate to appoint as the fourth deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — a post which has been lying vacant for almost seven months now.
Deputy Governor S.S. Mundra, who was looking after banking supervision, retired on July 31.
Though the Centre had initiated the search for a replacement in May last year, the process appeared to have stalled for unknown reasons.
The Finance Ministry issued a fresh newspaper advertisement inviting applications for the central bank deputy governor’s post.
The latest move comes in the wake of the Rs. 11,500-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank, which has thrown the spotlight on internal oversight failures at the state-owned bank and drawn criticism about possible audit and regulatory lapses.
The latest advertisement specifies the eligibility criteria for candidates — these include a minimum 15 years of experience in banking and financial sector with an understanding of supervision and compliance.
A candidate’s age should not exceed 60 years as on July 31, 2017, the ministry said, adding the criteria could, however, be relaxed for deserving candidates.
The tenure of appointment would be three years and could be extended.
Similar to last time, the post is open to candidates from the private sector.
Also, the criterion that a candidate must have served as a bank CEO has been dropped and anyone with board experience is eligible to apply.
Out of the four Deputy Governors, two are promoted from within the RBI and one is an economist.
The fourth is typically a commercial banker.
In the past, only the CEO of a public sector bank — like Mr. Mundra of Bank of Baroda or his predecessor K.C. Chakrabarty of Punjab National Bank — was selected as Deputy Governor.
Candidates who had applied in response to the earlier advertisement in May would not need to apply afresh.
The last date for submitting applications is March 14, 2018.
The Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC) would shortlist and interview the candidates.
However, the FSRASC can recommend a candidate’s name even if he/she had not applied.
The FSRASC “is free to identify and recommend any other person also, based on merit,” the ministry said.