Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 30 March 2017

:: National ::

Health of the citizen is more important than the commercial interests says SC

The health of the citizen is more important than the commercial interests of the automobile industry, the Supreme Court observed and ordered a freeze on the registration and sale of BS-III fuel compliant vehicles.
From April 1, 2017, such vehicles that are not BS-IV compliant shall not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer, that is to say that such vehicles, whether two-wheeler, 3-wheeler, 4-wheeler or commercial vehicles will not be sold.
The court further prohibited registration of vehicles meeting BS-III standards on and from April 1.
All the vehicle registering authorities under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, are prohibited from registering such vehicles on and from April 1, 2017, that do not meet BS-IV emission standards.
The seminal issue is whether the sale and registration and therefore, the commercial interests of manufacturers and dealers of such vehicles that do not meet the Bharat Stage-IV emission standards as on April 1, 2017.
It takes primacy over the health hazard due to increased air pollution of millions of our countrymen and women. The answer is quite obvious.

Delhi LG asked AAP to give 97 crore used for self promotion in govt ads

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal directed Chief Secretary to recover Rs. 97 crore from the AAP for self-promotion through government advertisements in alleged violation of Supreme Court guidelines.
The advertisements range from those which were published outside the territory of Delhi to those mentioning the name of the party, publicising the views of its functionaries on development in other states and those which “targeted” the opposition.
Mr. Baijal’s orders were based on a report by a three-member committee headed by former Chief Election Commissioner B.B Tandon.
The committee was constituted by the Union Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on the directions of the Supreme Court.

India took historic step towards implementing a new, consolidated GST

In a historic step towards implementing a new, consolidated indirect tax regime from the proposed date of July 1, the Lok Sabha passed four Bills, relating to the implementation of the GST, following a marathon nine-hour long debate.
The Lower House passed the Central GST Bill, Integrated GST Bill, GST Compensation Bill, and the Union Territory GST Bills.
The fifth GST legislation, the State GST Bill, will need to be passed by the legislative assemblies of each of the States and Union Territories with legislature.
The passage of the Bills followed a day-long debate in the Lok Sabha, in which Opposition leaders raised several objections such as the disempowerment of Parliament in setting tax rates.
The reduction in the fiscal autonomy of the States, why there are several tax rates when the principle is to be of ‘one nation, one tax’, and the need for the levy of additional cesses.
The recommendation of the rates will come from the Council. But the Council has two-thirds voting by the States and one-third by the Centre. The GST Council has been given the power to only make a recommendation regarding the model law.

The new TB vaccine (VPM1002) to be tested

In June this year, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India Pvt. Limited will begin a Phase II/III vaccine trial for tuberculosis using a novel, recombinant BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial will be carried out on 2,000 adults who have been successfully treated (and cured) for TB. While 1,000 adults will receive the vaccine, the remaining volunteers will receive a placebo.
A single dose of the vaccine will be administered, and the volunteers will be followed up for a year. The trial will be conducted in 15-17 centres across the country.
The new TB vaccine (VPM1002), which will be tested, is based on the BCG vaccine that is in use. However, it is more powerful and efficacious as it contains a gene, better recognised by the immune system.
The vaccine will be first administered in 200 volunteers to test its safety. “If there are no safety concerns, the trial will continue in the remaining 1,800 volunteers,” he says.
The safety of the vaccine has already been tested in two Phase I trials — 80 adults in Germany (2009) and 24 in South Africa (2010) — and one Phase 2a trial in South Africa in 2012 in 48 newborns who have not been exposed to HIV.
The results of the Phase 2a trial in newborns in South Africa, published in February this year in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, has confirmed the safety of the vaccine.

A new Road Accident Data Recording and Reporting Format has been rolled out

A new Road Accident Data Recording and Reporting Format has been rolled out by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) with a view to moving closer towards an accurate, consistent, and objective road accident database.
Besides, the comprehensive recording and reporting format, to be executed by all States and Union Territories, is aimed at bringing out the underlying real cause of the road accident so that stakeholders can take corrective and preventive steps.
The recording format, to be filled in by the police at the site of the accident, has five sections specifically to record primary data on road accidents (and not to replace the FIR), capturing the actual circumstances of the accident.
The five sections are: accident identification details, road-related details, vehicles involved in accident, driver’s details, and persons other than drivers involved in accident.
A committee, including experts from the IIT Delhi, IIT Khargapur, senior officers from the Police and Transport Departments of States, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, WHO, and officers of MoRTH, drafted the uniform recording format, which has been accepted by the Ministry.
As many as 55 indices, including weather condition, GPS location, surface condition of road, road type, speed limit, visibility at the time of accident, physical divider, ongoing road works, and use of safety device, have been incorporated in the new recording form.

:: International ::

Britain has formally triggered its departure from the EU

Britain has formally triggered its departure from the EU, commencing two years of negotiations with its European partners.
This will propel both Britain and the EU into a new territory, as the country becomes the first nation in history to trigger Article 50, the six-paragraph-long section of the Lisbon Treaty, briefly outlining the process for exiting the union.
There is nothing to win in this process and I am talking about both sides. In essence, this is about damage-control,” said Mr. Tusk.
With events now set in motion to take Britain out of the European Union (EU), the spotlight will fall on the negotiating process, the terms agreed, and the ways in which the country will build its post-EU future.
While Ms. May has insisted that the government aims to deliver a “smooth and orderly Brexit” and reach an agreement within two years, many remain sceptical. They point to the seven years the EU and Canada took to reach a free trade deal.
The EU has indicated in the past that a deal would have to be agreed within 18 months to give enough time for all the relevant bodies and national Parliaments to get on board.
The government will also face a battle going forward over issues such as the right to remain of EU citizens already in the U.K. In her letter to Mr. Tusk.
Ms. May called for Britain and Europe to strike an “early agreement” on the rights of EU citizens in Britain, and U.K. citizens across Europe.
There will also be a domestic battle over what EU laws Britain chooses to apply to itself once it leaves the union, as well as other policy changes it will bring in to further the trade deals it hopes to make outside the EU.
The triggering of Brexit has also brought to the fore questions about the future of the countries that make up the U.K. In a heated ‘Prime Minister’s Questions’ just before Ms. May’s historic announcement.
Ms. May shot back, telling that she had always been clear that the negotiations would be conducted on behalf of a united nation, and that now was not the time for questioning the nation’s unity.

:: India and World ::

India and Bangladesh to sign on defence cooperation during Hasina's visit

India and Bangladesh will sign a “document” on defence cooperation during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to New Delhi on April 8, her senior adviser, H.T. Imam, said.
However, the defence agreement would not amount to a treaty or a defence pact “in the traditional sense” that India has been keen on, but more on the lines of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a fixed time period.
Mr. Imam’s comments came after months of speculation, ever since the then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, visited Dhaka in December 2016, and is understood to have pitched for the cooperation document.
With details of the big-ticket announcement still being wrapped up, Mr. Imam said the visit of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to Dhaka on March 31 would be significant.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh Shringla is in Delhi, fine-tuning the more than 40 agreements expected to be announced during Ms. Hasina’s four-day visit to Delhi from April 7.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has stepped up its campaign against the announcement of a defence treaty, alleging that it would turn Bangladesh’s defence system into an “extension of India’s”.
Opposition parties as well as most Bangladeshi newspapers have been pressing for some movement on the Teesta issue, which has been stalled by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s objections.
He conceded, however, that India’s traditional policy was to discuss all such issues bilaterally and not in such a trilateral format.
With no movement on Teesta talks so far, the Bangladesh government had pinned its hopes on a possible meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Ms. Banerjee during the PM’s stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

:: Business and Economy ::

Amid weak global trade, India reported a 10% growth in export-import

Amid weak global trade, India reported a 10% growth in export-import (EXIM) trade in 2016 as compared with that in 2015, according to estimates by Maersk Lines, the world’s biggest container shipping line.
“The EXIM container trade volume grew by 10% for the full year 2016, which was double of 2015,” Maersk Lines said in its latest trade report.
“Trade growth was also more balanced across both exports and imports as against 2015, where import volumes grew four times faster than exports,” it added.
Contrary to belief, the demonetisation exercise had limited impact on exports of select commodities, especially the ones that rely on cash for trading, mainly meat exports, it said.
Increased demand from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kenya contributed to the overall export growth of 11%.
Imports grew 10%. Even though China remained the largest trading partner reporting 19% year on year growth in 2016, trade volumes from South Korea registered the highest growth in imports at 41%.
In 2016, India forayed into new exports markets. Exporters increased focus in the Middle East and in East Africa thus reaping benefits, even as they entered into new markets such as Central America, the report said.

Workers with EPFO will be eligible to receive medical treatment from ESIC hospitals

More than eight crore workers contributing towards Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may soon be eligible to receive medical treatment from Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals after their retirement.
The EPFO’s central board of trustees will meet to consider passing on medical benefits under ESIC to pensioners under Employees’ Pension Scheme linked to EPF accounts.
The ESIC has a network of over 1,400 dispensaries and over 150 hospitals across the country which will be accessible to EPF pensioners once the plan is finalised.
The broad contours of the proposal will be discussed in the CBT meeting which has employers’ and employees’ representatives.
Workers drawing salary up to Rs. 15,000 per month are entitled to medical benefits for treatment during incidences of sickness, maternity, disability and death due to injury during work.
The ESI Act applies to factories with 10 or more workers and it is also applicable to shops, hotels, restaurants, cinemas and road transport undertakings.
While 4.75% of a worker’s salary goes towards ESI as employer’s contribution, 1.75% of the income goes as the employee’s share.
Till March 2016, 2.13 crore insured persons were covered under the Insurance Corporation’s Act.