Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 24 June 2017

::National::

Thirty more cities have been added to the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission

• Thirty more cities from across the country have been added to the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission, with a proposed investment of Rs.57,393 crore in various projects under the scheme.
• Marking the second anniversary of the launch of the Smart Cities Mission, Union Urban Development Minister announced the new cities added to the scheme in the third round.
• It takes the total number of cities to 90. With the addition of the 30 cities, 23 States and four Union Territories have been included in the Mission.
• As in the previous two rounds, the cities were picked on the basis of the proposals they submitted for the Smart Cities Challenge. 
• Tamil Nadu emerged as the State with the highest number of cities selected in this round, with Tirupur, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tiruchi making it to the Mission.
• Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat had three cities each selected for the Mission.While Jhansi, Allahabad and Aligarh made it from U.P., Rakjot, Gandhinagar and Dahod were the picks from Gujarat.
• Among the 11 State capitals selected were Bengaluru in Karnataka, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, Aizawl in Mizoram and Gangtok in Sikkim.
• Mr. Naidu said that the proposed investment in these 30 cities was Rs.57,393 crore under various smart city plans. With that, the total investment for smart infrastructure development for the 90 cities had gone up to Rs.1.91 lakh crore.
• Of the 30 cities added to the Mission, 26 had proposed affordable housing projects, 26 cities would take up school and hospital projects, and 29 would carry out redesign and redevelopment of roads.

ISRO successfully launched 31 satellites

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched 31 satellites — 29 of them belonging to foreign countries — on board the PSLV-C38 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• The PSLV, in its 40th flight, carried the Cartosat-2 series satellite, the main payload, weighing 712 kg and another Indian satellite, NIUSAT, an Indian university/academic institute satellite from Noorul Islam University, Kanyakumari. 
• Delegates from foreign agencies that were sending their satellites watched from Mission Control as the satellites were placed into orbit.
• The PSLV-C38 took off from the first launchpad at 9.29 a.m. The Cartosat-2 series satellite was placed in orbit at 16 minutes after launch and the final satellite was injected into orbit at 23 minutes. 
• The total payload weighed 955 kg at lift-off. The Cartosat satellite launch will provide remote sensing services for about five years.
• The other 29 nano satellites belonged to 14 nations — Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the U.K., and the U.S.
• The Cartosat-2 is a remote sensing satellite, and is the sixth in the series. It was placed in a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous orbit. 
• It will be used for cartographic applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, Land Information Systems (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications, ISRO said.

3 D printing to help in developing hand

• Being born without fingers can be tough for any child. Getting new ones — especially red and blue superhero-themed digits — has made 8-year-old KaoriMisue a vibrant playground star.
• Flexing her wrist muscles to bend the plastic fingers, she can work with tape and stickers at an arts and crafts class. 
• She can ride a bike, skip a rope and bake pastries with her mother. Her amazed friends have even begged to borrow the 3D printed hand, which looks a little like a Transformers toy strapped to her wrist.
• When he began using 3D printers, the mother of a child who was missing a limb asked him if he could design a hand for her son. Mr. Tubaro delivered it in 2014, when he was still in high school. 
• Today, more than 500 people, mostly children, have received similar prostheses and 4,500 more remain on a waiting list.
• The project uses volunteers around the world who own 3D printers to print the pieces and assemble and deliver the hands. They can cost as little as $15 compared to sophisticated designs that are priced up to $15,000. 
• Some of the pieces can be interchanged to fit a specific purpose: from playing pingpong to grabbing a fork or riding a bike.
• If children outgrow a model, it can be easily replaced, perhaps with a different theme. A black Batman design can hurl plastic disks. A red and gold Iron Man version can shoot rubber bands. 

Infrastructure projects facing funding problem

• Independent experts say though money is being directed from the Centre to fund innovative technological solutions in cities, it would still be a while before major infrastructure projects, that could visibly transform a city, take shape.
• The major gain, they say, from having a smart city project is that it has created the concept of a Special Purpose Vehicle that is structured to ensure that promised projects are actually executed. 
• Cities such as Bhopal, which was among the earliest tranche of smart cities, have implemented projects such as ‘smart poles’ and energy efficient lightning that are worth Rs. 200 crore and a beneficiary of smart city funds.
• Under the Smart City scheme, the Urban Development Ministry would give cities Rs. 500 crore over five years, with States expected to pool in an equivalent amount.
• Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu earlier said that 6,737 projects had been approved which marked a 215% increase over the 3,138 projects cleared under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
• However, critics say several schemes in the JNNURM, meant for the urban poor, have been removed. 
• Moreover, in spite of 90 cities being selected for smart-city funding, it reportedly covers just 2.7% of the area, raising issues of lopsided development.

Govt is looking for a plan to reach out to Kashmiri 

• The Centre is chalking out a programme to reach out to the Kashmiris, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said.
•  “It’s our wish to go to the Kashmiris and tell them of the development story. It’s our responsibility to talk to the people; we are looking for a mechanism... Soon, we will come up with a concrete plan. The dialogue will be held at different levels,” Mr. Ahir said.
• Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi visited Srinagar, he was told by State officials that the Delhi-based news channels were showing the State in a negative light, and this helped Pakistan stoke more violence in the Kashmir Valley. 
• He said the fatal beating of a police officer outside the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar on Thursday was a sign of desperation amonog Pakistan-backed groups. 
• He also concurred with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s statement that “restraint shouldn’t be seen as a sign of weakness.” 
• Asked whether the communication between the police and the locals had snapped, Mr. Ahir said: “Some people are acting at the behest of separatists. There are Kashmiris who are doing well in professional exams and in other fields.”
• He said the global community should isolate Pakistan, and it was because of India that Hafiz Saeed was put under detention.

::International:: 

Intergovernmental financial watchdog has slammed Pakistan

• A leading intergovernmental financial watchdog has slammed Pakistan for continued complicity in financing terrorist entities, saying certain UN-designated terror groups in the country receive money due to lack of control by the authorities.
• At its meeting in Valencia, Spain, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based organisation which sets standards for banks globally, closely scrutinised Pakistan’s record on terror financing.
• A report on Pakistan’s complicity in terror financing was discussed at the FATF Plenary, the group’s highest decision-making body, that took place from June 18-23.
• As per the report, certain entities designated under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 continue to receive and disperse funds without controls being applied by the competent authorities in Pakistan.
• As a consequence, the International Cooperation Review Group of FATF has requested its regional arm Asia Pacific Group to provide the revised follow-up report on Pakistan. 
• The ICRG asked APG to provide the report following the discussion over it at the APG annual meeting in July. In February, the ICRG had requested the APG to provide its analysis report on Pakistan.

::Business and Economy::

Govt to set up committee for SDG

• The Centre will soon set up a high-level committee headed by Chief Statistician of India to oversee the country's progress towards UN’s Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending poverty, fighting inequalities and tackling climate change.
• A dashboard is also being developed with technical support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to “strengthen the mechanism” for monitoring progress on these global goals.
• India said in its Voluntary National Review Report submitted to the UN Forum on Sustainable Development.
• Data collected by private agencies may be considered for monitoring the SDGs, particularly since a number of the goals are not directly linked to the Centre’s provision of public services.
• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has already developed a list of draft national indicators to measure progress of SDGs. 
• These draft indicators have been put out in public domain. Based on the inputs received, national-level indicators will be finalised.
• India will hold bi-annual reviews with the State governments for identifying good practices and challenges. 
• There is an emphasis on assessing and improving the availability of data and putting in place a transparent monitoring system, the report said, pointing out that “disaggregated data” was vital as it would help formulate policies for specific disadvantaged groups and geographical areas.

Red flag over the location of the Essar port

• The Russian acquisition of Essar Oil has run into trouble over mandatory security clearances.Security agencies had raised a red flag over the location of the Essar port and refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat. 
• According to officials, the objection is that the refinery is located close to India’s maritime and land boundaries with Pakistan in the crucial Rann of Kutch, and that the refinery is near high-security installations.
• Requesting anonymity, an official said that the Prime Minister’s office is now seized of the matter, given that Mr. Modi himself had spoken to Russian President Putin about the deal on several occasions. 
• Security agencies are also understood to have called for safeguards against the proceeds of the sale being transferred to banks in Mauritius rather than coming into India.
• However, a senior petroleum ministry official rejected the concerns, saying that the deal was now in its final stages.

RBI has widened the scope of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme

• The Reserve Bank of India has widened the scope of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006 by enabling a customer to lodge a complaint against the bank for non-adherance to instructions related to mobile banking and electronic banking services.
• The banking regulator also said that the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Banking Ombudsman to pass an award has been increased from the existing Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
• “Compensation not exceeding Rs. 100,000 (Rs. 1 lakh) can also be awarded by the Banking Ombudsman to the complainant for loss of time, expenses incurred as also harassment and mental anguish suffered by the complainant,” the RBI said.

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