Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 July 2015

:: National ::

Hurdles to ‘Make in India’

Public sector agencies in the strategic areas of aerospace and defence on Friday said it may be a tall order in the near term to reverse the 70 per cent import of military hardware.
However, they have started changing production strategies to meet the challenge.
To meet the government’s ‘Make in India’ mandate, public defence manufacturing majors are ready to source more from small and medium industries but suppliers are falling short on facilities, quality and time lines, was the refrain at the Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing Summit organised by Bengaluru-based Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI).
V. Udaya Bhaskar, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad, said a paradigm shift would be needed to get quality components on time. Public and private sectors must work in tandem.
In recent years, BDL had outsourced up to 80 per cent of the work for Akash and other missiles. “Now we have to outsource high-end sub-assemblies. The private sector must also gear up,” he said.

Union environment minister non-committal on air pollution-induced deaths

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday refused to take a stand on whether air pollution in Delhi was indeed causing 80 deaths every day as per his earlier submission to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
In a press conference outside Parliament here, at the conclusion of a review meeting with National Capital Region States – Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana, he said the Union Environment Ministry had set itself yet another three-month deadline to tackle air pollution in the capital.
Mr. Javadekar said action plans will be formulated to tackle the four main focus areas — agriculture, construction waste, demolition waste and vehicular pollution. “Air quality monitoring stations will be installed in every state and by every concerned organisation,” he said. The earlier three-month deadline, set by the Ministry in April, to take proactive measures to tackle Delhi’s air pollution ended on July 22, prompting Friday’s review meeting.
Earlier this week, Mr. Javadekar had cited a study ‘Epidemiological Study on Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health in Delhi’ published in 2008, to state that 80 deaths take place in Delhi every day due to air pollution-induced illnesses.
He also cited another study ‘Study on Ambient Air Quality, Respiratory Symptoms and Lung Function of Children in Delhi’ to support the claim in Parliament. However, on Friday, the Minister appeared non-committal on the matter and in a written submission to Lok Sabha said “no conclusive evidence exists that air pollution led to loss of lives of patients suffering from respiratory diseases.”

:: Sports ::

BCCI takes interest in conflicts of interest

Call it the Justice Lodha Committee effect. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally decided to tackle the menace of conflict of interest. Board secretary Anurag Thakur has shot off a letter to state associations, instructing them to to sign a declaration stating they have no conflicts of interest.
Thakur wants associations to ensure that every official declare the absence of "any personal or family allegiance, bias, inclination, obligation or any interest of whatsoever nature, directly or indirectly which may in any way affect or provide any financial or any other benefit to me, my family or close relations or which may tend to interfere with or affect my objectivity, independence, impartiality and neutrality in any decision making process, acts and conduct relating to or arising out of discharge of my office of president or honorary secretary of (the respective association)..."
Every state association receives a generous annual grant from the BCCI. According to sources, the payout is about Rs 35 crore. The associations use this money to run the show.
Often, officials belonging to these associations award contracts for generators, water tanks, food, refreshments, clothing, kits, etc to companies owned by them or to people known to them.
There have been allegations that some officials, who work in an honorary capacity, receive 'cuts' from such deals. This is one of the main reasons why officials cling onto their chairs for decades.

Indian Tiger Woods in the making

An Indian tiger cub is prowling the golf courses in the USA. And he is hunting trophies by the week.
Prodigy Shubham Jaglan, the 10-year-old son of a milkman from hinterland Haryana, swung his way to the IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf crown in Las Vegas, winning by a handsome five-stroke margin.
Last week, he had clinched the IMG Academy junior world championship for the 9-10 age category in San Diego.
The young master already has the next tournament at Pinehurst in his sights. Winning at Pinehurst would make it a junior grand slam of sorts for him
Coached since the age of seven by India's former top golfer Nonita Lall Qureshi, Shubham comes from Israna, a village in Haryana's Panipat district.
Supported by the Golf Foundation, a charitable society formed by golfers such as Amit Luthra to help talented, underprivileged golfers, he now lives with his family in Ashram, a south Delhi colony.

1st time gulf country qualify for World Twenty20

Oman qualified for next year's Twenty20 World Cup in India with a five-wicket victory over Namibia in Ireland.
It will be the first time the Gulf country, coached by former Sri Lanka captain Duleep Mendis, have reached a major international tournament.
Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea by six wickets to claim the other qualifying place and book a spot in the tournament for the fourth time in a row.
Scotland, Ireland, Hong Kong and the Netherlands will also join the 10 test-playing nations in the 16-team tournament.