Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 MAY 2019
::NATIONAL::
PM claims government has ensured ease of living along with EODB
- Prime Minister NarendraModi today said people of Delhi have during
the past five years always supported his government in every major decision,
including GST.
- Addressing a rally at Ramlila ground in the national capital, Mr
Modi said the bond between Delhi and BJP is strong. He said BJP will keep
working for Delhi’s welfare. The senior BJP leader said NDA government has
not only improved the ranking of country in Ease of Doing Business, but is
also working towards Ease of Living.
- He said price rise used to be a major issue in every election but
NDA government has been able to bring it under control and Opposition
parties are not being able to speak on it now. Mr Modi said the poor have
access to houses, toilets, electricity and are given benefits of Ayushman
Bharat Yojana now.
- He added that middle class is given help for their houses under
PradhanMantriAwasYojana and the annual income upto 5 Lakh rupees has been
kept out of taxable income.
- The Prime Minister said pollution is a major challenge which
threatens Delhi and the solution lies in using better technology and modern
transport.
Supreme court gives deadline for final NRC
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Assam National Register of
Citizens (NRC) Co-ordinator PrateekHajela to act with “wise discretion”
while dealing with people who had failed to appear for scheduled hearings on
their objections filed against exclusion from the draft NRC.
- “Objections’ hearings have started. ‘Objectors’ are not appearing
in most cases,” Mr.Hajela reported to a Special Bench of Chief Justice
RanjanGogoi and Justice Rohinton F. Nariman.
- “If they are not appearing, the law will take its own course,” the
Chief Justice replied.
- The Chief Justice told Mr.Hajela to take whatever action was
necessary in the cases of the absentee ‘objectors’. The decisions taken
should be free and fair, keeping the law in mind. “But whatever you do, do
it by July 31. A day earlier than July 31 but not a day later,” he said
before listing the case for July 3, after the summer vacations.
::ECONOMY::
RBI expresses concern over fiscal slippages due to govts.income support
scheme
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has voiced its concern over
government schemes such as income support, revival package for power
distribution companies and farm loan waivers as such schemes led to fiscal
slippages.
- In a presentation to the 15th Finance Commission, the RBI said the
UDAY scheme, recent income support schemes of the government and farm loan
waivers could drive fiscal slippage in the revised estimate for 2018-19.
- In the Interim Budget presented in February, the government
announced a cash transfer scheme, for small and marginal farmers with
landholdings of up to two hectare, of ₹6,000. The government had allocated
₹75,000 crore towards the scheme for financial year 2020.
- “Fiscal deficit of States is budgeted to be lower in 2019-20 BE
(budgeted estimates), but RE (revised estimates) and actuals deviate
significantly reflecting poor fiscal marksmanship,” a statement issued by
the government after the meeting said. The central bank noted that
outstanding debt as percentage of GDP had been rising despite moderation in
interest payment as percentage of revenue receipts.
- Some of the other issues that were discussed during the meeting
include public sector borrowing requirements and continuity of the Finance
Commission and development of expenditure codes, especially given that
expenditure norms vary from State to State
- On the continuity of the Finance Commission, the government
statement said “felt that this was required more in view of the fiscal
management requirements of the States, especially given the absence of
mid-term reviews of awards granted by the Finance Commission, as it used to
happen earlier with the awards granted by the Planning Commission.”
Indian equity indices lose for consecutive sessions
- Indian benchmark equity indices lost ground for the sixth
consecutive session on Wednesday as a mix of global and domestic factors
made investors jittery even as foreign investors turned net sellers in the
last few trading sessions.
- On the global front, the escalation of U.S.-China trade war has
led to a selling spree across equity markets globally, while on the domestic
front, a largely lacklustre corporate results season has made investors
cautious ahead of the election results.
- Market participants are of the view that the ongoing weakness in
the markets had led to many investors and traders being wary of taking fresh
positions, especially since the election results are only a few trading
sessions away.
- Meanwhile, global markets continued to trade weak with the
benchmarks of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia all ending the
day in the red.
- The rupee fell against the dollar for the third consecutive
session amid escalating the U.S.-China trade tensions and sell-off in the
domestic stock market. The rupee dropped 28 paise against the dollar on
Wednesday to close the day at 69.71.
::INTERNATIONAL::
Trump imposes more sanctions on Iran
- US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Iran's iron,
steel, aluminium and copper sectors. The move is aimed at stopping Tehran
from acquiring a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
- A year after he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and began the
process of reimposing sanctions on Tehran, Mr Trump with his new move has
now imposed sanctions on Iran's top three exports - oil, petrochemicals and
metals.
- The White House said, the US will aggressively enforce its
sanctions, and those who continue to engage in a sanctionable activity
involving Iran will face severe consequences.
- Washington’s European allies opposed Mr. Trump’s decision to
withdraw from the agreement and have failed so far to find ways to blunt the
economic impact of new U.S. sanctions, which include an all-out effort to
block Iran’s oil exports to starve its economy.
- The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia remained committed to
the Iran nuclear deal and denounced “unreasonable pressure” that led Tehran
to suspend some of its commitments under the agreement. Reiterating Moscow’s
“committment” to the agreement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced
“ill-conceived and arbitrary decisions that put unreasonable pressure on
Iran.
India Turkey expand economic cooperation
- India and Turkey vowed to strengthen economic relations with the
aim of reaching 10 billion US dollars bilateral trade by 2020.
- Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister SedatOnal, who is on a three-day
visit to India since May 7, held talks with Gitesh A Sarma, Secretary (West)
under the institutional mechanism of foreign office consultations on
Wednesday.
- opportunities for enhancing trade and investment relations.
- It added that other aspects such as enhanced cultural interaction,
tourism, people-to-people contacts were also discussed.
- India and Turkey reviewed the current situation in their
respective regions and also exchanged views on several multilateral issues.
Mr.Onal had earlier visited India as part of the delegation of President
RecepTayyipErdogan in May 2017.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
WHO to eliminate industrially produced transfat by 2023
- Trans fat, also called the worst form of fat in food, responsible
for over 5,00,000 deaths globally from coronary heart disease each year,
could be eliminated from the industrially produced global food supply by
2023 if the World Health Organization (WHO) has its way.
- The WHO has welcomed its partnership with the International Food
and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to achieve this target. It said: “Eliminating
industrially produced trans fat is one of the simplest and most effective
ways to save lives and create a healthier food supply.”
- WHO Director-General Dr.TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus, in a statement,
said they had met the IFBA representatives, including chief executive
officers from several of the 12 companies comprising the alliance on May 2
to discuss actions to eliminate industrial trans fats, and reduce salt,
sugar and saturated fats in processed foods.
- The meeting also stressed the value of regulatory action on
labelling, marketing and urged industry for full adherence to the WHO code
of marketing of breast milk substitutes.
- Dr.Ghebreyesus said, “The commitment made by the IFBA is in line
with the WHO’s target to eliminate industrial trans fat from the global food
supply by 2023. Of particular note was the decision by IFBA members to
ensure that the amount of industrial trans fat in their products does not
exceed two grams per 100 grams fat/oil globally by 2023.”
- Speaking about the relevance of this meeting and deadline for
India, Medanta Hospital founder and heart surgeon NareshTrehan said, “India
has among the highest number of coronary heart disease cases in the world
and we must try to beat this deadline.”
