Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 January 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Modi and Hollande both agree to fight terror

India and France are set for a new partnership in counter-terror cooperation, the visiting French President, Francois Hollande, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated.
In separate speeches at the CEO forum in Chandigarh, they under- scored the need for the two countries to work together on fighting terror and enhancing their strategic partnership.
Mr. Hollande said his first goal of visiting India was to “consolidate the strategic partnership”.
Both leaders will hold bilateral talks, during which they are likely to discuss upgrading the “special and strategic partnership” signed in 1998.
For the past few months, officials have been discussing a closer engagement on counter-terrorism cooperation on the lines of the India-U.S. homeland security dialogue.

Amit shah became BJP president for the second time

Amit Shah was elected unopposed president of the Bharatiya Janata Party for a second term, this time for a full tenure of three years.
Mr. Shah had earlier completed Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s interrupt- ed tenure as president from July 2014.
While party veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were absent from the election process and the ensuing festivities, it was more than made up for by the presence of other leaders, including the Chief Ministers of most BJP-ruled States, senior Ministers and party office-bearers.
Mr. Shah is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and it is believed that despite the defeats in the Delhi and the Bihar Assembly elections, Mr. Modi continues to favour him.

Cabinet recommends President rule in Arunanchal Pradesh

The Union Cabinet on Sunday recommended imposition of President’s rule on the Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh after it felt the State was heading for a “constitutional break- down.”
The Congress said it would challenge the decision in court if it got the President’s assent.
An emergency meeting of the Cabinet was convened here in the morning to discuss the situation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the chair.
It was decided to recommend to the President to issue a proclamation under Article 356(1) of the Constitution.
Taking cognisance of the situation in the State, based on Governor Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa’s report, the government felt the State is “heading for a constitutional crisis” and it warranted the Centre’s intervention.
The Centre based its decision on Article 174 of the Constitution, according to which six months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Assembly in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.
According to one interpretation, the next session should therefore have taken place at the latest by January 21, 2016.
The other interpretation is that a session was indeed held on December 16 albeit outside the Assembly building (where a majority of the members had voted) as access to the building was denied.
Notably, the session which took place on December 16, 2015 has been disputed by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and his supporters. Whether this session is valid or not is under litigation in the Supreme Court.

Dinosaur bones found in Kutch

A team of Indo-German geologists and palaeontologists may have found fossils of a 135-million-year old herbivorous dinosaur in Kutch, Gujarat, possibly the oldest such fossil found this century.
The pieces of bone — possibly from the limb or hip and about two feet long —suggests that it may have been a 10-15 metre-long animal and, were the researchers’ claims to hold up, only among a handful of Jurassic-era dinosaur fossils from India.
That was the time when India and Madagascar were one land- mass and the Himalayas yet to form.
The so-called Jurassic era spanned 250-145 million years during which herbivorous dinosaurs flourished and laid the ground for beasts, such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
These flourished during the Cretaceous period —145 to 65 million years ago — after which the double blows of a meteor strike and overflow- ing volcanoes are said to have destroyed these animals.
Though it is well known that the Indian landmass may be storing a plethora of fossil life, it hasn’t been plumbed enough — say researchers — for dinosaurs or other ancient life.
The Kutch Basin, it is believed, was inundated by sea- water during the Jurassic period and these repeated over millennia to throw up an extremely varied bio-geography.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Greek Islanders will be nominated for Nobel peace prize

Greek islanders who have been on the frontline of the refugee crisis are to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize with the support of their national government.
Of the 9,00,000 refugees who entered Europe last year, most were received — scared, soaked and travelling in rickety boats — by those who live on the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
The islanders, including fishermen who gave up their work to rescue people from the sea, are in line to be honoured with one of the world’s most esteemed awards.
The nomination deadline is February 1, but those behind the plan have already met the Greek Minister for Migration, Yiannis Mouzalas, who they say has offered his government’s full support.
A petition on the web- site of the grassroots campaign group, Avaaz, in favour of the nomination has amassed 2,80,000 signatures.
While the official nomination letter is yet to be finalised, it is understood the academics, whose identities will be revealed in the coming days, will implore the Nobel committee members to accept their nomination.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

US President Obama says Pakistan can and must take action against terrorism

Voicing his belief that the India-U.S. relationship can be one of the defining partner- ships of the century, he said Mr. Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and “we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices.”
On the Pathankot attack, he said: “We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to pre- vent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families.
Tragedies like this also under- score why the U.S. and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism.”
The President was of the view that Mr. Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region.
After the December, 2014 school massacre in Peshawar, he vowed to target all militants, regardless of their agenda or affiliation.
That is the right policy. Since then, we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups. We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in northwest Pakistan.
The President said that he still believed that “Pakistan can and must” take more effective action against terrorist groups that operated from its territory.

Sushma Swaraj pitches to check terrorists funding source

India and the Arab League on Sunday vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a strategy to “eliminate” its sources and its funding as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.
While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab- India Cooperation Forum here in the Bahraini capital, Ms. Swaraj also warned that those who “silently sponsor” terror groups could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.
The meeting, which was opened by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, culminated with the two sides issuing a joint statement called the Manama Declaration.
The two sides discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the Palestinian issue, developments in the Arab region and in South Asia, as well as counter-terrorism, Security Council reforms and nuclear disarmament.
They also emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism, including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime, the Declaration stated.
In this context, the two sides affirmed their respect to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and non-interference in its internal affairs and rejecting infringement of such principles, strongly condemned crimes committed by all terror organisations.

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Government making changes in scheme to make it more attractive

The government has made a slew of changes in its gold monetisation scheme to make it more flexible and attractive.
Since the scheme was introduced two months ago the government has collected over 900 kilos of gold.
The new norms issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in consultation with the government are based on suggestions to make the scheme more accessible for potential gold depositors, and allow premature redemptions after three years and five years for medium term and long term deposits, respectively.
The interest payable to depositors in such cases would be reduced, while allowing them an exit option.
Further, the quantity of gold collected under the scheme will be expressed up to three decimals of a gram to give consumers better value for their gold deposits that can be of any purity level.
The gold monetisation scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The gold collected under the scheme is refined for domestic purpose with an eye on cutting India’s high gold imports, which registered a surge of 179 per cent in the month of December 2015.
Gold depositors can now give their gold directly to the refiner rather than only though collection and purity testing centres (CPTCs).
Adding that this would encourage bulk depositors including institutions to participate in the scheme.
Banks would now be paid a 2.5 per cent commission for their services on medium and long term deposits which include testing the purity of gold deposits, refining, storage and transportation.
Banks have also been given the freedom to hedge their positions in the case of short-term deposits, and issues around interest rate calculation as well as extending loans against gold deposits have been clarified.

:: Sports ::

Indian shuttler P.V.Sindhu won Malaysia masters

Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu continued her rampaging run to clinch the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title with a straight-game win over Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour, making a resounding start to the new season.
The third-seeded Indian prevailed 21-15, 21-9 in a 32-minute clash to clinch her fifth Grand Prix Gold title to avenge a 2013 loss to the Scot, their only previous encounter before this match.
This is also Sindhu’s second Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title, having won it in 2013 as well. She also completed a hat-trick at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold in November last year.
The Indian had reached her maiden finals of a Super Series premier event at the Denmark Super Series Premier.

India won T20 Blind cricket Asia cup

World champion India held its nerve impressively on Sunday, defeated Pakistan by 45 runs and lifted the first T20 Asia Cup for the Blind at the Nehru Stadium.
Despite its big star Prakash Jayaramaiah — considered one of the world’s best batsmen in this version — falling for a duck and the consistent Ketan Patel not scoring big.
India still managed to make 206, thanks to some late fireworks from cap- tain Ajay Kumar Reddy who made an unbeaten 34 from 16 balls (1x6, 1x4).