Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 SEPTEMBER 2019

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 SEPTEMBER 2019

::NATIONAL::

Study finds evidence of coexistence of obesity and undernutrition amongst Indian children

  •  Nearly 10% of children in the age group of 5-9 years and adolescents in the age group of 10-19 years are pre-diabetic, 5% are overweight and another 5% suffer from blood pressure.
  •  These are among the key findings of the first-ever national nutrition survey conducted by the Centre, yet to be made public, providing for the first time hard evidence of the coexistence of obesity and undernutrition, among school going children.
  •  The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF between February 2016 and October 2018 is the first study undertaken to measure malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies through biochemical measures such as blood and urine samples, anthropometric data as well as details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents.
  •  The National Family Health Survey (NFHS), however, collects anthropometric data (weight for age, height for age, weight for height, mid-upper arm circumference) to measure prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight and household dietary intake to measure deficiencies.

::ECONOMY::

Centre bans exports of all onion varieties

  •  In the light of skyrocketing prices, the government on Sunday prohibited onion exports until further notice and imposed limits on the stocks that can be held to prevent hoarding.
  •  Government sources said the States had been asked to take “strict measures to prevent hoarding by traders, including organising raids”.
  •  Further, a stock limit of 100 quintals for retail traders and 500 quintals for wholesale traders has been imposed.The retail price of onions have shot up to as much as ₹60 per kg in the metros. At one point, they even touched ₹80 per kg.
  •  A central buffer of 56,700 metric tonnes was built by the government.The buffer stocks are maintained through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).

Indian Forex reserves decline by September end

  •  India's forex reserves declined by USD 388 million to USD 428.572 billion for the week ended September 20 due to a slide in core currency and gold assets.
  •  The Reserve Bank data released on Friday showed that in the week to September 20, foreign currency assets a major component of overall reserves declined by USD 125 million to USD 396.670 billion.
  •  It also showed that during the week, the value of gold reserves declined by USD 259 million to USD 27.843 billion, making it the second consecutive week of decline in the value of the precious metal held by India.
  •  According to the data, country's special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund increased by USD 3 million to USD 1.435 billion during the week, while country's reserve position with the Fund declined by USD 6 million to USD 3.623 billion.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India joins group of countries to stop spread of fake news

  •  Twenty countries, including France, Britain and India, have signed an agreement at the United Nations to stop the spread of fake news on-line. The signatories, which also included South Africa and Canada, committed to promoting independently reported, diverse and reliable information on the internet under an accord initiated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a press freedom watchdog.
  •  French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian yesterday said, the emergence of a global digital space is shaking up the world of information, bringing with it progress as well as risks. He added on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that misinformation on-line, especially during election campaigns, undermined trust in democratic institutions. RSF said in a statement that the agreement underlined the responsibility of internet providers to promote trustworthy content and pluralism to escape the current information chaos.
  •  Last week, Twitter shut down thousands of accounts worldwide for spreading misinformation, including some artificially amplifying pro-Saudi messaging as part of a regional propaganda war. Fake accounts from China seeking to sow discord among protesters in Hong Kong were also found.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers find relation between food security and learning

  •  With the introduction of SarvaShikshaAbhiyan and the mid-day meal scheme, there has been an increase in the number of children enrolling in schools. But new research says that Indian children are not able to perform well in their studies due to widespread food insecurity at home.
  •  An international team from U.K. and India looked at data collected by Young Lives, a UK- and India-based research study of over 1,900 schoolchildren in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
  •  The link between food insecurity at home and learning was more pronounced for those children who experienced chronic food insecurity and/or experienced it during early childhood (at 5 years).
  •  Further, transitory spells of food insecurity at home did not affect the kids’ test scores in reading and vocabulary, but their mathematical skills were still affected. This suggests that children may be able to bounce back from short-term food insecurity in some learning domains, but not in others.

::SPORTS::

India clinches SAFF U-18 title

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