Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 December 2016

:: National ::

Former IAS officer Anil baijal appointed as Delhi LG

Former IAS officer Anil Baijal is set to be appointed as the next Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, replacing Najeeb Jung.
Though there was no official communication about the appointment from Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Mr. Baijal is currently associated with the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), a New Delhi-based think tank. He was also on the VIF executive council.
Some top level appointments in the current dispensation have been associated with the VIF, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
A 1969 batch IAS officer of the Union Territory cadre, Mr Baijal served as the Home Secretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
He retired in 2006 as the Secretary, Urban Development Ministry. He also served as the vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority.
Mr. Baijal was associated with the designing and roll-out of the UPA’s flagship programme, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
He will succeed Mr Jung, who resigned on December 22, ending a three-and-a-half-year tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with the Aam Aadmi Party government.

Cabinet approved an ordinance to help extinguish the Reserve Bank of India’s liability

The Union Cabinet approved the promulgation of an ordinance to help extinguish the Reserve Bank of India’s liability towards currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, which were withdrawn on November 8.
The ordinance also includes a provision to penalise holders of such notes above a certain threshold after March 31, 2017.
The government had set December 30, 2016 as the deadline for depositing into banks these currency notes.
After that date, those still holding such notes would be able to deposit them at the RBI up to March 31, along with an explanation as to why they failed to deposit the notes earlier.
Under Section 26 of the RBI Act, there is an obligation of payment of legal tender by the central bank. Now, old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 have ceased to be legal tender but the legal obligation on RBI also needs to be relieved. This ordinance does that.

The United Naga Council decided to intensify the ongoing economic blockade in Manipur

The United Naga Council decided to intensify the ongoing economic blockade in Manipur.
The UNC has imposed an indefinite blockade since November 1 in protest against the State government’s plan to create two new districts.
The Naga outfit has ignored appeals from all sections, including church leaders, to call off the agitation. The State has been without petrol, diesel, cooking gas and consumer items for days now.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has said talks with the UNC can be held only if the group calls off the blockade and gives an assurance that it will not be repeated.

:: India and World ::

New Bill could pave for India’s entry into NSG

A new draft proposal circulated among NSG member-states early this month could pave the way for India to become a member of the elite club, but this is unlikely to happen before the end of the Obama presidency next month.
The American push for India to become a full-fledged NSG member would now have to be pursued by the incoming Trump administration.
The outgoing Obama administration is unlikely to fulfil its promise made to the Modi government before its term expires on January 20.
A draft formula for NSG membership to countries like India and Pakistan, that are not a signatory to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), was submitted by Rafael Mariano Grossi, the former NSG Chair, who prepared the report on behalf of South Korea, the current NSG chair.

US increased sanctions on LeT

Tightening the noose around Lashkar-e-Taiba, the U.S. designated the terror group’s student wing Al-Muhammadia Students a terrorist organisation and slapped sanctions against its two top leaders.
LeT was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States in December 2001.
Since the original designation occurred, LeT has repeatedly changed its name and created front organisations in an effort to avoid sanctions, said the State Department.
Simultaneously, the U.S. Treasury Department designated two LeT senior leaders, Muhammad Sarwar and Shahid Mahmood, as global terrorists. Both the LeT leaders are based in Pakistan.

:: Business and Economy ::

Mining sector will face difficulties next year

The mining sector is bracing itself for a dark new year, with two difficult deadlines set under laws governing forest conservation, forest dwellers’ rights and the mines and mineral development and regulation law of 2015.
Industry body FICCI has written to the Mines Ministry to request an extension of the December 31, 2016 (for forest clearances in mineral-rich Odisha) and January 11, 2017 deadlines to provide ‘a lease of life’ to these mines.
For existing mining leases in Odisha, the problem arises from the forest conservation law which came into effect on October, 25, 1980 and environment ministry guidelines on mines in areas designated as forest under the law.
While the forest land within mines was labelled as forest in government records from 1980, such areas were recorded as non-forest or hal land while processing approvals for the use of forest land under the law.
Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) or Regional Empowered Committee are yet to be approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
FAC imposed two additional stipulations for miners to comply with — obtaining a certificate under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to get a Stage-I forest act approval and proposing a suitable scheme for compensatory afforestation on an equivalent degraded forest patch.
Getting a FRA certificate from a Collector alone takes at least three months. Hence, securing that as well as stage-I and stage-2 clearances under the Forest Act is virtually impossible before the end of December, according to FICCI.

Helpline to address all queries related to digital payments

NITI Aayog, along with telecom services providers and National Association of Software and Services Companies, is working on a helpline to address all queries related to digital payments, the Aayog’s Vice Chairman Aravind Panagariya said.
Mr. Panagariya, was speaking after the fourth meeting of the Chief Minister’s Committee to push digital payments.
The panel will submit its Interim Report within a week, AP CM Chandrababu Naidu, the Convener of the Committee, said.

International Solar Alliance got approval from cabinet

The Union Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval to the proposal of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy for the ratification of the International Solar Alliance’s framework agreement by India.
The ISA was unveiled jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande in 2015 at Paris on the sidelines of the COP 21 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.