Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 30 December 2015

:: NATIONAL ::

Liquor-Free kerala policy upheld by Supreme Court

Upholding the controversial ‘Liquor-Free Kerala’ policy restricting the serving of liquor to five-star hotels in the State, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the State governments be given a free hand to curtail or ban public consumption of alcohol to protect public health and nutrition.
The policy led to the closure of over 400 bars and restricted liquor availability to nearly 20 five-star hotels.
The consumption of tobacco as well as liquor is now undeniably deleterious to the health of humankind. Vulnerable persons, either because of age or proclivity towards intoxication or as a feature of peer pressure, more often than not succumb to this temptation.
Banning public consumption of alcohol, cannot but be seen as a positive step towards bringing down the consumption of alcohol, or as preparatory to prohibition

Foreign funds plan share in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

Sovereign and pension funds from Russia, Singapore, the U.K. and the UAE are among those to express interest in the Rs. 40,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
The government will invest Rs. 20,000 crore in the Fund that will build greenfield and brownfield projects and revive stalled projects. The remaining Rs. 20,000 crore is expected to come from private investors. The government’s share in the corpus will not exceed 49 per cent.
The Governing Council of the Fund has decided to complete by January-end the selection process of the Chief Executive of the investment management company responsible for taking investment decisions of its corpus

Election Commission to automatic delete voters after death

Election Commission of India announced that it will launch a nationwide programme to link the server of Registrar of Birth and Death of each district with its server for “automatic deletion” of the voter from the electoral rolls on issuance of the death certificate.
The beginning of the programme would be made in Punjab to tackle the malice of duplicate and invalid voters, the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said.

Euro V & VI norms

At present, BS-IV auto fuels are being supplied in over 30 cities, and the rest of the country has BS-III fuels.
Earlier, the government planned the implementation of BS V and BS VI emission norms nationwide by 2020 and 2024 respectively. However, the government decided to advance the dates.
However, the auto industry opposed the advancement of dates. Though no objections to the implementation of BS V norms but had opposed the deadline for BS VI norms which were earlier proposed to be implemented from 2023

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Iran moves closer to nuclear deal ‘Implementation Day

Iran had entered the final days of completing its commitments under a landmark international deal to curb its atomic programme after it shipped low-enriched uranium to Russia.
Iran’s atomic energy agency said 11 tons of uranium materials were sent to Russia on Monday, a move U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said was “significant progress” under the July 14 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers.
The exchange was one of three major measures Iran had to take to fulfil its end of the nuclear deal
“Implementation Day” when almost a decade of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be lifted seems to be near

:: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ::

Seaweed capsules may do away with insulin injections

Seaweed capsules may lead to an injection-free life for diabetic patients, say researchers who have developed a novel method to overcome major challenges in pancreatic islet transplantation.
Pancreatic islet transplantation is an effective treatment to dramatically reduce daily insulin doses or even eliminate dependence on external insulin.
A group of researchers developed a novel cryopreservation method that not only helps to protect pancreatic islets from ice damage but also facilitates real-time assessments of cell viability. Moreover, this method may reduce transplant rejection and, in turn, decrease use of immunosuppressant drugs, which can be harmful to patient health.
The novel technique employs a droplet microfluidic device to encapsulate pancreatic islets in hydrogel made of alginate, a natural polymer extracted from seaweed. These capsules have a unique microstructure: a porous network and considerable amount of non-freezable water.
Hydrogel capsules with large amounts of non-freezable bound water protect the cells from the ice damage and reduce the need for cryoprotectants — special substances that minimise or prevent freezing damage and can be toxic in high concentrations
Islet encapsulation reduces the risk of rejection of transplanted cells by the recipient. The hydrogel capsule allows small molecules to pass through the membrane easily but prevents direct contact between implanted islets and host cells.
Encapsulation also may prevent an attack on transplants by the autoimmune response that destroy the patient’s own islets in the first place.

Barak-8 missile to be tested

The Navy will carry out the maiden test of the long-range Barak-8 surface-to-air missile from INS Kolkata.
The Barak-8 missile is being developed jointly by India and Israel. While two tests have been successfully conducted from Israeli ships, this is the first time that the test would be held onboard an Indian one.
The missile has been designed to defend against a variety of short-to-long-range airborne threats, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, drones and projectiles.

:: ECONOMY ::

Banks should focus on first generation entreprenuers

Citing Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s belief in industrialisation as a means for uplifting the backward classes from a vicious circle of poverty, Mr. Modi said that the NDA government is committed to facilitating skills and finance for Dalit youth to become job creators instead of job seekers.
Nearly 80 lakh people have been granted loans worth Rs.50,000 crore without any collateral under the PM’s Mudra scheme in its first eight months. Mudra is an acronym for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency.
Most of these beneficiaries are Dalits, other backward castes, scheduled tribes and some women running small businesses. They create two, three jobs each and together such enterprises employ 14 crore people but were not able to access bank credit,

2015: Reforms, a retreat and resurgence for banks

The government launched a host of reforms, christened as Indradanush, aimed to improve governance in public sector banks like separating the post of Chairman and Managing Directors, proposed the formation of Bank Board Bureau for top level appointments and announced Rs.70,000 crore capital infusion in public sector bank over four years.
Two new full service banks, IDFC Bank and Bandhan Bank started operation during the second half of the year. These banks received in-principle licences from RBI in 2014 — which is the first universal bank licence granted in more than a decade
The banking regulator allowed banks to acquire 51 per cent or more stake in companies defaulting even after restructuring of their loans. The norm, known as Strategic debt restructuring, was aimed to ensure promoter’s have ‘skin the game’. The move is expected to improve repayment culture of the borrowers.
The central bank entered into a historical agreement with the government in March this year over how to tackle price rise which has pinched the consumers for many years. According to the framework, RBI has the explicit mandate to have an inflation target, for which it is accountable.
The RBI on December 17, 2015 issued guidelines for the computation of the benchmark lending rate using the marginal cost of funds method. Banks will have to implement the new Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) with effect from April 1, 2016.
The latest norms hold the potential of improving the efficiency of monetary policy transmission for new borrowings, and will impact new borrowers immediately. They will benefit in a declining interest rate scenario and take a dent when interest rates are rising; existing borrowers with floating-rate liabilities will bear the impact at a lag of up to one year

Global north-south corridor

In a bid to boost trade with former Soviet Union countries, Iran and Russia, the commerce ministry has pitched for popularisation of International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as an alternative route through Tehran that significantly reduces costs and travel time.
The move comes at a time when the government has adopted a market diversification strategy to help Indian exporters reduce their dependence on traditional markets in the West where there is currently not much demand and instead gain more access in growing markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America not tapped as much previously.
The INSTC is a multi-modal route (ship, road and rail) from Mumbai to the Iranian port of Bander Abbas then via Tehran to Baku (Azerbaijan) and further to Astrakhan, Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia. Alternatively, there is also a road route from Iran to former Soviet Union countries such as Azerbaijan.

Patent rules to b amended

The Centre plans to amend patent rules to speed up patent filing and approvals to give a boost to the government’s ambitious slogans of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India,
the Union Government is also planning to outsource the job of patent agents to about 1,000 professors in various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country.
The Centre is also in the process of bringing out a new national policy for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), which will be one of the finest in the world. The new IPR policy will be placed before the cabinet for approval in a month’s time. The government had created a think tank to provide recommendations and draft the IPR Policy.

:: SPORTS ::

First Indian in Harvard soccer team

Sixteen-year-old Vardhin Manoj, a U.S. citizen by birth, has been offered a place in Harvard University soccer team and has agreed to join the team as soon as he finishes school.
The 11th grade student of La Costa Canyon High School, California, is the first player from India to be offered a place in the Harvard University soccer team purely on the basis of football talent.

How would a banned drug help cricketers

How much does consumption of banned substances help in cricket? The issue is under sharp focus after Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah was recently suspended provisionally by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for failing a dope test.
He has tested positive for a diuretic. This is a chemical substance that leads to excessive flow of urine from the body. In cricket, diuretics do not help in enhancing performances.”
Diuretic are often used to reduce weight. In sports like boxing for example, a boxer may need to shed weight to compete in a particular category. So he could take a diuretic to reduce weight by losing fluids in the body to compete. In cricket, there is no such use for it.
Diuretics are employed to treat hyper tension and high blood pressure. But then, diuretics have a big role to play as a masking agent for other drugs including steroids and any medicines.
Anabolic steroid is a different beast altogether. They help in an athlete getting explosive power. In cricket, they can lift a fast bowler’s performances.
A stimulant can delay fatigue, increase concentration. It is principally used by batsmen in cricket. Caffeine and ephedrine are some of the popular stimulants. On the other hand, steroids enhance muscle building, provide additional power.
Amphetamine, which is one of the stimulants. It increases awareness levels, focus, quickness and gives a sportsperson a feeling of euphoria where he does not feel pain or stress. It’s also taken as a party pill or by some students before examinations