Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 4 August 2017

::National::

NOTA will remain on the ballot paper in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections

• The ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) option will remain on the ballot paper in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

• The Supreme Court refused to stay an Election Commission circular issued in January 2014 that introduced NOTA in the Rajya Sabha elections.

• A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar rejected the Gujarat Congress’s plea to freeze the NOTA option for elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats in the State on August 8.

• Mr. Sibal raised the concern that MLAs could defy the party whip and invalidate their votes by opting for NOTA. To this, Justice Roy asked Mr. Sibal whether he was apprehensive of losing the RS polls in Gujarat.

• The court, however, issued notice to the Election Commission of India, saying the poll body should be heard in detail as any judicial decision on NOTA may have a ripple effect on elections conducted from January 24, 2014, to the present day.

• The court specifically recorded Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal’s submission that the Union of India does not in anyway interfere with the decisions of the Election Commission and, hence, had no role in this case.

• Consequently, the court issued notice only to the Election Commission for a response on the Gujarat Congress’ challenge of its January 24, 2014, notification. Though the Union was let off as a party in the case, Mr.

• Venugopal was roped in by the Bench to assist the court.

India must withdraw its troops from the Doklam says China again

• India must withdraw its troops from the Doklam plateau or “face consequences”, a senior Chinese diplomat said.

• The remarks mark a serious escalation in rhetoric over the ongoing tensions between the two countries, as their Armies continue a six-week standoff near the India-Bhutan-China trijunction off Sikkim.

• Refusing to elaborate on what the “consequences” would be, the diplomat said the Indian action at Doklam was akin to “intruding into your neighbour’s house, and demanding the neighbour leave to ensure your withdrawal”.

• The diplomat’s comments, the sharpest so far from China, followed India’s rejection on Wednesday a 15-page statement of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying the numbers of Indian troops on the stretch of the

• Doklam plateau, contested by both China and Bhutan, had reduced from 400 to “over 40”.

• Mr. Liu, however, said that as of Thursday, the Chinese Army had counted 48 Indian soldiers.

• The diplomat said Chinese troops had notified India of their intention to repair a road in what it called its own territory on two occasions — May 18 and June 8.

• Bhutan’s Ambassador to India V. Namgyal told he would not comment on the remarks by the Chinese envoy, saying there was “nothing further to add” to the official statement.

Delhi has seen two days of ‘good’ air quality in July

• For the first time in two years, Delhi has seen two days of ‘good’ air quality in July, according to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

• Moreover, not a single day in July saw ‘poor’ air quality, a feat that has not been replicated in any month of the last 25, save August 2016. These classifications are part of a 6-grade, colour-coded AQI that the government uses to rate air quality.

• While the peak monsoon months of July and August typically see an improvement in air quality — because monsoon winds and rain settle noxious particles to the ground — the average air quality in these months is mostly only ‘moderately’ good, or still not absolutely safe for asthmatics or those with underlying respiratory problems.

• Delhi gets monsoon rain only around mid-July and has got 25% less monsoon rainfall than what is normal for June 1 to August 3. Two weeks of June and one in July, however, saw excessively heavy rainfall.

• Since the organisation began issuing colour-coded air quality reports only since May 2015, Mr. Saha said he was not sure if previous Julys had seen air quality improve to the levels observed last month.

Central government is mulling a revision in the formula to calculate minimum wages

• The Central government is mulling a revision in the formula to calculate minimum wages that may increase income levels of workers across the country.

• The Central Advisory Committee on Minimum Wages decided to constitute a committee to deliberate the proposed changes in the calculation of minimum wages for workers.

• The laid down norms to fix the minimum wages is not commensurate for the present day workers. We have decided to constitute a committee to re-look at the norms for fixing minimum wages.

• He said the committee would deliberate upon the following factors while recommending a new formula for minimum wages number of units per family, inclusion of dependant parents and “treatment of women and children at par with the male family member.”

• The norms for fixing minimum wages today are based on recommendations of the Indian Labour Conference in 1957.

• Under it, the minimum wage level for industries is fixed based on spending estimates for a working class family on 2,700 calories of food per person, 72 yards clothes, minimum housing rent and education and light and fuel.

• A standard working class family consists of three consumption units for one earner with earnings of women, children and adolescents being disregarded.

• RSS-affiliated BharatiyaMazdoorSangh recommended the government to increase the total units for calculating minimum wages for a family from three to six, its organisation secretary (north-central region) Pawan Kumar said.

• However, employer representatives, part of the Central Advisory Board, highlighted the inability to pay higher wage levels in case the formula for minimum wages is revised, a source present in the meeting said.

BJP to become the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha

• The BJP overtook the Congress to become the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha, where it now has 58 members against 57 of the main Opposition party.

• BJP MP SampatiyaUikey, elected to the Upper House in a bypoll in Madhya Pradesh, took oath.

• This is the first time the saffron party has become number one in the RS after the Modi government came to power in 2014.

• The BJP-led NDA, however, is still short of a decisive majority in the House.

::Business and Economy::

Parliament’s Committee has questioned the country’s low manufacturing growth

• The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Commerce has questioned the country’s low manufacturing growth despite initiatives such as Make In India, Startup India and FDI reforms that are now more than two years old.

• The committee, led by BJP MP Bhupender Yadav, had expressed concerns about manufacturing growth averaging just 1.6% in the five years till 2015-16 and a 0.5% contraction in the sector in the first 9 months of FY17, in a report tabled in Parliament this March.

• In an action taken report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), under the ministry of commerce and industry, has listed out the several measures taken by the government to promote manufacturing and ease the business environment.

• While expressing appreciation for the measures enumerated by the government, the Committee stressed: “However, it will serve better to remember that most of these initiatives are now more than two years old and the manufacturing growth has not yet gone to the desired level.”

• Urging the department to take effective steps to implement initiatives such as Make in India in a ‘more robust manner’, the committee has said all obstacles to the ‘optimal implementation’ of such programs must be removed in a time-bound manner.

India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility

• India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, a joint venture between the $2.5 billion Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., was inaugurated near Hyderabad.

• To begin with, the Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant will make anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Spike and the production is expected to begin in a few weeks, Kalyani Group chairman Baba N. Kalyani said. Besides supplying to the Indian Army, the plan is to export to South East Asian countries, he added.

• Formed in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Centre and the policy to encourage private sector participation in defence production, the 51:49 joint venture will develop a wide range of advanced capabilities.

• These include command control and guidance, electro-optics, remote weapon systems, precision guided munitions and system engineering for system integration. The plant would employ more than 300 engineers and provide indirect employment to 1,000 people.

• On the plant’s ATGM capacity, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems president and CEO Maj. Gen. (retired) YoavHar-Even said: “We are speaking in thousands of the air-to-surface missiles.”

• The localisation content is 90% and most of the vendors are in and around Hyderabad.

• Telangana Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao, said that more than 30,000 researchers and scientists and 1,000 MSME units in and around the city were working in the areas of defence systems.

India conveys its pitch for a sovereign rating upgrade

• To convey India’s pitch for a sovereign rating upgrade better, the finance ministry has begun interacting with global rating agencies through teleconferences and e-mails on a more regular basis to give clarifications and updates regarding the economy.

• While India has done well on attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), its sovereign credit rating has not improved owing to unfavourable debt and deficit indicators, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion

• (DIPP) has told the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Commerce.

• The committee had asked the government to explain the rationale behind rating agencies flagging ‘low private investments’ as a constraint towards raising the country’s rating and whether high FDI flows are not sufficient to improve the country’s business outlook.

• FDI has a relatively small weight in the total criteria. India fares well in the case of FDI but because the debt and deficit indicators are not favourable, ratings are not improved.

• The government also informed the committee that it had taken several steps to improve India’s sovereign credit rating, including introduction of a structural interaction process with rating agencies, to provide them the information they need.

• The Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs chairs an annual review meeting on India’s sovereign rating with agencies, which is followed by interactive meetings with officials.

• During these meetings, government presents its perspective to rating agencies about the strengths of the Indian economy and recent initiatives taken. DEA encourages agencies to also consider the long-term credit strengths of the economy in a holistic manner, and, in view of such strengths, consider upgrading the rating of India’s sovereign debt.

• A detailed cross-country presentation about the comparative position of India and other similarly rated economies on key economic indicators is also made. Separately, the Economic Affairs Secretary meets rating agency representatives on the sidelines of IMF and World Bank meetings usually held in Washington during September or October.

Service sector activity in July slowed to its lowest level

• Service sector activity in July slowed to its lowest level since September 2013, due in large part to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, according to a private sector survey.

• The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index registered a reading of 45.9 in July, falling from the eight-month high of 53.1 seen in June. A reading over 50 indicates expansion and one below 50 implies a contraction in activity.

• The report claimed business conditions in India’s service economy deteriorated markedly in July following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

• Output and new work declined for the first time since January, with rates of reduction the quickest since September 2013.

• That said, firms expressed a lack of knowledge regarding the GST and expect more clarity in the near-term to lead to activity growth.

• The slowdown in services activity coincides with a similar sharp slowdown in manufacturing activity in July, with the Manufacturing PMI registering a reading of 47.9, the lowest it has been since February 2009.

• Ms. De Lima, however, highlighted the fact that while the slowdown was attributed to the implementation of the GST, confidence for the future was at a 11-month high.

• Services firms surveyed said that the introduction of the GST had caused a contraction in new work, leading to lower activity. This drop in new business inflows resulted in a fall in output, the first such case since January, and the most pronounced in almost four years, the report added.

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