Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 AUGUST 2019

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Rescue and relief operations are being carried out on a war footing in rain and flood-hit Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra. A red has been issued in 8 districts of Kerala.
Official sources said 42 people have died due to heavy rain and landslides. Over one lakh people are taking shelter in relief camps in the state.
In Karnataka, Union Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman reviewed the situation in the rain and flood-hit areas of Belagavi and Bagalkote. She assured flood victims of all assistance from the Central Government.
Addressing media persons in Bengaluru, Chief Minister B S Yeddiyurappa informed that 24 people have died due to rain which also displaced two to four lakh people in over one thousand villages in 16 districts.

More than half of all seeds sold in India are not certified by any proper testing agency, and are often of poor quality.
The Centre now hopes to mandate uniform certification by pushing through a replacement to the Seeds Act, 1966, in the winter session of Parliament, and also by barcoding all seeds to ensure their traceability.
This could increase overall agricultural productivity by up to 25%, Agriculture Ministry officials say.
The main aim of the new legislation, which is ready for submission to the Cabinet for approval, is to bring uniformity to the process of quality regulation. The 1966 Act starts with these words: “An Act to provide for regulating the quality of certain seeds for sale.”
The new Bill removes the word “certain”, and aims to regulate the quality of all seeds sold in the country, as well as exported and imported seeds.
The Centre also hopes to roll out a software to barcode seeds in order to ensure transparency and traceability. “The National Informatics Centre has been collaborating with the Agriculture Ministry for this Rs. 5 crore project and the first prototype will be ready by the end of the month.

The draft National Logistics Policy, released by the government earlier this year, has overlooked the role of the express industry (courier and parcel) and air cargo sectors in the multimodal transport mix for faster and cost effective movement of cargo, Express Industry Council of India (EICI) said.
“We note that the policy document does not focus on the express industry and air cargo sectors, which are integral parts of the logistics network. The air express has also been overlooked in the multimodal mix even though air is an essential segment of the movement of goods,” Vijay Kumar, chief operating officer, EICI, said in a statement.
He said in developing countries such as India, an efficient air express infrastructure could contribute directly to global competitiveness of the country by ensuring just-in-time deliveries and reducing clearance dwell time.
The government had issued the draft national logistics policy with a target to bring down logistics costs from 13-14% of GDP to 10% “in line with best-in-class global standards.”
For the air cargo sector, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is the single largest component of direct operating cost with a share of 40%.

Pakistan’s move to stop import of products from India or of Indian origin is not expected to have much impact on the Indian textile industry, said Siddhartha Rajagopal, executive director of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council.
Pakistan imports mainly yarn and cotton from India. However, in recent years, Indian exporters have slowed down their supply to Pakistan. Between April and June this year, $38 million worth of cotton yarn was exported to Pakistan as against $42 million for the same period last year. The annual yarn exports to Pakistan are about $100 million and it was mostly the low count yarns, Mr.Rajagopal said.
The Indian exporters, who are already facing a drop in cotton yarn exports, will have to look at other markets.

Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers clashed at a Jerusalem holy site as overlapping Jewish and Muslim holidays led to tensions there.
Police fired sound grenades as Palestinian protests intensified at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported injuries without specifying a number.
Today marks the start of the Muslim Eid-ul-Azha holiday and thousands of Palestinians prayed at the Al-Aqsa mosque. It coincides with the Jewish TishaB'av holiday, which typically sees an increase in Jewish visits to the holy site.
The compound, which includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock, is a sensitive site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is the third-holiest site in Islam and the most sacred for Jews, who are allowed to visit but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology - Guwahati (IIT-G) have developed a low-cost handheld biocompatible sensor that can detect bacteria almost instantaneously — without cell culture and microbiological assays.
The device will enable rapid detection of bacteria, which is important not only in healthcare but also in anti-bioterrorism measures and environmental monitoring applications, lead researchers Parameswar K. Iyer and Siddhartha S. Ghosh said.
The new device does not require cell culture and microbiological analyses, and it distinguishes between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria almost immediately, he added.
At present, the detection of bacteria in body fluids is done in laboratories. The cells that are derived from the patient are initially cultured or grown so that enough of the bacterial cells are available for microbiological analysis.

India's top two wrestlers continued their impressive run this season with BajrangPunia defending his title at Tbilisi Grand Prix and VineshPhogat reaching her fourth final at Medved event.
Bajrang, who had won a gold at the same event last year as well, prevailed 2-0 over Iran's PeimanBibyani in the 65 Kilogram category final of the men's free style competition in the capital city of Georgia.
It is fourth gold of the season for the Asian Games champion Bajrang after standing atop the podium at Dan Kolov, Asian Championship and Ali Aliev tournament.