Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 28 November 2015

:: National ::

PM’s address in the parliament

Asserting his government’s commitment to the Constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Parliament that the religion of the government was “India first” and the Constitution its “holy book.”
Mr. Modi's address in the Lok Sabha came as part of the commemoration of the Constitution to mark the 125th birth anniversary year of the chairman of its drafting committee Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Debate coincided with a debate on “intolerance” and secularism outside Parliament.
Reaching out to the Opposition, Mr. Modi said consensus was more important than majority rule.
The government is looking to pass crucial Bills like the Goods and Services Tax Bill – which re-quires a constitutional amendment – in the ongoing winter session of Parliament and needs to get a belligerent Opposition on board.
Picking holes in the present debate on secularism, Finance minister said that if the House had again become the Constituent Assembly and Dr. Ambedkar had proposed Articles 44 (uniform civil code) and Article 48 (ban on cow slaughter) today, “how would this House have reacted?”
He added that the governments of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had written to States to implement Article 48 and but for Kerala and West Bengal the others responded by banning cow slaughter.

Paying for gas cylinders will be easy

Soon you would no longer need your wallet to pay the delivery boy for your LPG cylinder. For the first time in the country, paying for your gas cylinder is set to go online.
Not just that, there are also go-ing to be LPG “smart cards” that could be used for booking a cylinder.
The project of going cashless across the country for LPG cylinders is in the pipeline and will be launched shortly.
Through this, a consumer will be able to pay for LPG cylinders online in just a few steps. Indane consumers will first have to log in to indane.co.in and then book a cylinder.

Maoists movement in Tiger reserve

The Kawal Tiger Reserve in Adilabad district has become a safe zone more for the resurgent Maoists than tigers.
Curiously, however, the clue to controlling extremism also lies in this disappointing phenomenon, if experts are to be believed.
Implementation of development schemes in tribal habitations located in the park, especially those which concern human development, will definitely make a difference.
People who are generally on the path of development are not known to be supportive of Naxalism.
In KTR buffer areas, activity should be concentrated on formation of eco-development committees, capacity building for enhancing livelihoods, provision of LPG kits to decrease dependence of Adivasi families on forest for fuel needs and facilitation of value addition and marketing of non timber Forest produce.
In the current phase of its resurgence, Maoist activity in the district is confined to the jungles which form the reserve which in turn means that the thrust of anti-naxalite measures need to be restricted to this area only.

Naxal threat hampers CBI probe into Dantewada violence

As the Centre reaches out to naxals in insurgency-hit Chhattisgarh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Supreme Court that a team of its officers walked a thin line between life and death as they investigate a series of alleged naxal attacks on villages in Dantewada district of the State.
The odds faced by the team working in the “extremely hostile area” prompted the Supreme Court to pull up the Chhattisgarh government for not providing adequate protection to conduct the investigation.
The court's reaction came after Additional Solicitor-General P.S. Patwalia said further investigation was required on the five FIRs filed by them on the violence, and they would need six more months of field investigation.

:: India and World ::

Car rally between BBIN

The four-nation Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) friendship car rally reached Tripura..
The 19-day journey will conclude in Kolkata on December 1. The rally will be flagged of on Saturday morning at Agartala for its final destination after a halt in Bangladesh. 20 small vehicles carrying delegates from the four nations entered Tripura through Churaibari.
The rally got underway at Bhubaneswar on November 14 to follow the routes described in BBIN-Motor Vehicle Agreement signed between the countries at Thimphu in June last to create capable, safe and environment friendly transport in south Asia.
The rally in its journey is covering 4,500 km across three countries — India, Bhu-tan and Bangladesh, but skipped Nepal due to political tension in some areas of the Himalayan nation.

:: Economy and Business ::

Deputy Governor of RBI candidates to be evaluated

A government appointed panel will interview candidates next month for the post of Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India as the term of Urjit Patel, the central bank's incumbent in charge of monetary policy, expires in January.
A central bank Deputy Governor can be appointed for a term with a maximum of five years or till the age of 62, whichever is ear-lier.
Some other candidates will also be interviewed, the sources said. Apart from the all important monetary policy portfolio, Mr. Patel is also in-charge of the economic and policy research department.
The RBI has provision for 12 Executive Directors, which was in-creased from nine following the appointment of three new officials in 2014.
The RBI has four deputy governors and typically two are from the outside, of which traditionally one is a commercial banker and the other an economist.

HSBC to close India private banking business

HSBC Holdings Plc has decided to shut its India private banking operations after a strategic review, a spokesman for the bank said. The private banking customers will be given the option to be a client of HSBC Premier – its global retail banking and wealth management proposition.
The Indian private banking arm of HSBC has about 70 clients who will transferred. HSBC employees about 32,000 in India, and there may not be any lay-of.
HSBC India reported 12 percent dip in pre-tax profit for the January-June period at $335 million due to a fall in the merchant banking, retail banking and wealth businesses.

Gold bond scheme getting responce

The government's Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme has received an “excellent response.
The Finance Ministry decided to postpone the date of issuance citing a large number of applications.
Gold Bond Scheme: 63000 applications for 917 kgs gold amounting to Rs 246 cr in first tranche. Excellent response for an innovative product.
The Ministry of Finance had on Wednesday decided to shift the issue date of the Sovereign Gold Bonds to November 30 from the earlier date of November 26.
The response to the Gold Bonds Scheme comes at a time when one of the other gold-related schemes launched by the government—the Gold Deposit Scheme—has met a very poor response from the public.
Industry officials have said that the gold deposit scheme has so far attracted only 400 grams of the yellow metal, a fraction of the estimated 20,000 tonnes in the country.

Billionaire unveils bicycle that generates electricity

Billionaire philanthropist Manoj Bhargava unveiled a bicycle that produces electricity when pedalled and the product, named Free Electric, aims to help solve problem of electricity shortage in the country, particularly rural areas.
The U.S.-based billionaire plans to make 10,000 bicycles, which is expected to be in the price range of Rs.12,000-Rs.15,000, in India by March 2016.
The design and manufacturing of the product will be done in the U.S. He intends to start the manufacturing the bicycle in India to reduce final price. Free Electric works by converting kinetic energy into electric energy.
As the user pedals the flywheel it spins a generator which in turns charges the attached battery.
One hour of pedalling can meet a rural household's electricity needs for 24 hours, he said. As of now the bicycle will be able to light up 24 bulbs, power an electric fan and charge a mobile device simultaneously.