Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 July 2019

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister NarendraModi today called upon people to start a mass movement for water conservation and resolve to save every drop of water amidst water scarcity in several parts of the country.
He said an awareness campaign should be started which should not only focus on water-related problems but also propagate ways to save water.
Mr Modi also requested the people to share the information concerning people who are making significant contributions towards water conservation. He urged people to use #JanShakti4JalShakti to share their content on the matter.
Listing the initiatives taken by the people for water conservation in many parts of the country, the Prime Minister said there cannot be a single formula for dealing with water crisis throughout the country.
Urging the people to choose books over flowers in welcome or felicitation ceremonies, the Prime Minister mentioned about the stories written by famous Hindi writer Premchand and said their messages are still relevant. He said his stories like Eidgah, Pus Ki Raat, Nasha, show images of the stark social realities that exist and are expressions of human emotions through a simple and lucid language.
Mr Modi also mentioned Akshara Library in Kerala which lies in a village nestled within the dense forests of Idukki. A Primary school teacher, P.K.Muralidharan and P.V.Chinnathampi who runs a small tea shop, work tirelessly for this library which is a beacon guiding tribal children on a new path.

Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank will move the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill, 2019 for consideration and passing in LokSabha today.
The bill will ensure full representation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections in direct recruitment in teachers' cadres.
This will allow filling up of more than seven thousand existing vacancies by direct recruitment in Teachers' cadre. The Bill will also ensure providing 10 per cent reservation to Economically weaker section.
In RajyaSabha, Home Minister Amit Shah will move the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill is aimed at providing relief to persons in Jammu and Kashmir residing in areas adjoining the international border.

The Centre will celebrate two years of the Goods and Services Tax on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur will preside over the event, the government said on Sunday.
Monday also marks the first day of the trial run of the new return-filing system, announced by the GST Council at its latest meeting. It is expected to simplify the process.
The Centre will also introduce a cash ledger system that will merge the earlier 20 heads into five major heads. There will be only one cash ledger for tax, interest, penalty, fee and others, the government said in a statement.
“The introduction of the GST is a game changer for the Indian economy as it has replaced a multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure with a simple, transparent and technology-driven tax regime,” the government said.
“The introduction of the GST is a game changer for the Indian economy as it has replaced a multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure with a simple, transparent and technology-driven tax regime,” the government said.

The Government has constituted a Working Group for the revision of the current series of Wholesale Price Index.
In a release, Commerce and Industry Ministry said, Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NitiAayog will be the chairman of the 18-member committee.
The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will be the nodal office for the Working Group and will process the report and recommendation of the Group for further necessary action.
The Ministry said the current series of Wholesale Price Index with 2011-12 as the base year was introduced in May 2017. Since 2011-12, significant structural changes have taken place in the economy.
The Terms of Reference of the Working Group include deciding on the computational methodology to be adopted for monthly WPI and Producer Price Index and reviewing the existing system of price collection in particular for the manufacturing sector and suggest changes for improvement.

The United States and the Taliban have opened fresh negotiations in Doha. The talks mark the seventh round of negotiations aimed at ending Afghanistan's longest war.
The negotiations have, so far, centred on four issues - counter-terrorism, presence of foreign troop presence, an intra-Afghan dialogue and a permanent ceasefire.
US officials previously said, they are hoping for a deal before the upcoming Afghan presidential elections in September, which have already been delayed twice.
A potential deal would see the US agreeing to withdraw its troops after more than 17 years in Afghanistan, in return for the Taliban guaranteeing the country never again becomes a safe haven for violent extremist groups, as was the case with Al-Qaeda before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

North Korea today described the weekend meeting between its leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in the Demilitarised Zone as 'historic' and 'amazing'.
The official Korean Central News Agency said that the two leaders agreed to resume and push forward productive dialogues for making a new breakthrough in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
After a Twitter invitation by the US President on Saturday, the two leaders met yesterday in the strip of land that has divided the peninsula for 66 years since the end of the Korean War.
Kim and Trump shook hands over the concrete blocks dividing North and South before Trump walked a few paces into Pyongyang's territory, the first US President ever to set foot on North Korean soil.The impromptu meeting in the DMZ was full of symbolism.

India captain ViratKohli today became the fastest batsman to reach 20,000 international runs, eclipsing batting greats Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.
Kohli reached the milestone in only his 417th international innings. Prior to today's match, Kohli was 37 runs short of the milestone and reached the feat with a single off in the 25th over of the India innings.