Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 May 2017

::National::

Army is fighting dirty war in Kashmir says Army Chief

The Army is facing a “dirty war” in Jammu and Kashmir which has to be fought in “innovative” ways, Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said, defending the use of a Kashmiri as a ‘human shield’ by a young officer.
He said the aim of awarding Major Leetul Gogoi, when a Court of Inquiry was finalising its probe into the incident, was to boost the morale of young officers operating in a very difficult environment in the State.
“This is a proxy war and proxy war is a dirty war. It is played in a dirty way. The rules of engagements are there when the adversary comes face to face and fights with you. It is a dirty war,” Gen. Rawat said.
The Army chief’s commendation medal awarded to Major Gogoi, who had tied a man to an Army jeep and used him as a human shield from stone-throwers last month, was criticised by human rights activists, Kashmiri groups and a few retired Army generals.
Talking about the complexity of the security challenge, he said it would have been easier for the forces had the protesters been firing weapons instead of throwing stones.
Gen. Rawat, who had served in J&K extensively, said that if people in any country lost fear of the Army, the country was doomed.
The Army chief said that just four districts in south Kashmir were disturbed, and it was incorrect to say the entire Kashmir had gone out of control” he said, asked about a solution.

PM Modi on four nation tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Berlin beginning a six-day, four-nation tour of Europe.
He will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks to tackle issues such as the impasse in the India-EU free trade agreement, as well as developing a common strategy to counter China’s moves on connectivity and preserving the international “rules-based” system.
From Germany, the Prime Minister will travel to Spain (May 29-30), Russia (May 31-June 1) and France (June 2-3).
His meetings at each of these countries will also be significant given that all four are members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group that will meet in June to once again consider India’s membership application.
Mr. Modi is to meet all the leaders once again in July at the G-20 summit in Hamburg (Spain is not a G-20 country, but is a permanent invitee).
The leaders are expected to sign a number of MoUs on trade and investment, security and counter-terrorism, innovation and science & technology, skill development, urban infrastructure, railways, civil aviation, clean energy, development cooperation, health and alternative medicine.
Germany is India’s largest trading partner in the EU, and Ms. Merkel will make a push for a resumption of the EU-India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), that has been suspended for four years.
Germany wants a commitment from India on either resuming talks with the EU or at least renewing the bilateral investment treaty that lapsed in March 2017.
Mr. Modi will travel next to Spain for talks with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, expected to yield an agreement on counter-terrorism cooperation, which Mr. Modi referred to as a “common concern”.

Mark III is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites

An indigenous rocket as heavy as 200 full-grown Asian elephants could well take “Indians into space from Indian soil”.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk- III) — the heaviest rocket ever made by India that is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites.
If all goes well with the maiden launch of the GSLV-Mk III (earlier named Launch Vehicle Mark-3) and subsequent flights, this rocket could be India’s vehicle of choice to launch “Indians into space, from Indian soil using Indian rockets” he said.
The heavy lift rocket is capable of placing up to 8 tonne in a low Earth orbit, enough to carry India’s crew module.
ISRO has already prepared plans of hoisting a two to three human crew into space as soon as the government gives it a sanction of about $4 billion.
If the human venture materialises, India would become only the fourth country after Russia, the U.S. and China to have a human space flight programme.

Tunnelling work under the Hooghly river is almost complete

The tunnelling work under the Hooghly river, the first such under-river project in the country, to provide metro connectivity between Howrah and Kolkata is slated to be completed next week.
The tunnel will be a crucial link for the Railway’s 16.6-km-long East-West Metro project in Kolkata.
The 520-metre twin tunnel, one east-bound and the other west-bound, is built 30 metre below the riverbed.
Commuters between Howrah and Mahakaran metro stations will be under the river for only about a minute when the metro train will pass through the tunnel at a speed of 80 km per hour.
The East-West Metro is scheduled to be operational by August, 2019.

::Business and Economy::

The advancement of budget date has positive effect

The advancement of the Budget date to February 1 had a positive effect on the pattern of government expenditure, which increased “substantially” in April and May compared to previous year.
The Budget for the financial year 2017-18 was presented on February 1 instead of at the end of the month in order to facilitate a timely disbursal of funds for various sectors.
The advancement of the Budget date to February 1 has already seen the disbursement of planned expenditure increasing in the months of April and May, instead of having to wait till the monsoon got over, as was happening earlier.
The exact increase is still being calculated, but it is definitely substantial and we will make the report public soon. It should have increased by about 10-15% of what was happening last year.
The Finance Act 2016, for example, was passed by the lower house or Lok Sabha only on May 5, 2016, while the Finance Act 2015 was passed even later in the respective year, on May 14. The Finance Act 2014 was passed on July 10 of that year.

Finance Ministry has initiated the process of finding a new SBI chief

The Finance Ministry has initiated the process of finding a new chief for the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) as Arundhati Bhattacharya’s extended term comes to an end on October 6.
Department of Financial Services has communicated to Banks Board Bureau the emerging vacancies at the top level of PSU banks which will have to be filled during course of the year.
This also includes chairman and one managing director of the SBI, which alone has market share of more than 20%.
Ms. Bhattacharya will complete her four-year term as chairperson of SBI on October 6. Besides chairman, SBI has four managing directors looking after different departments.
The post assumes significance as the bank has recently merged five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) pushing SBI into the league of top 50 banks globally in terms of assets.
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore, besides Bharatiya Mahila Bank, merged with State Bank of India with effect from April 1.
The process of integration would at least take a year.

BSNL plans to extend its satellite phone services for all citizens

BSNL plans to extend its satellite phone services for all citizens in two years. It will work at any corner of the country and remain immune to breakdown of mobile services during natural calamities.
“We have applied to International Maritime Organisation. It will take some time to complete the process. In 18-24 months, we will be in a position to open satellite phone services in a phased manner,” BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava told.