Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 22 NOVEMBER 2019

::NATIONAL::

Union Environment Minister PrakashJavadekar said that a comprehensive air plan has been developed identifying the timelines for abating and controlling air pollution.
Replying to calling attention to the situation arising out of the dangerous levels of air pollution in Delhi and other parts of the country, Mr.Javadekar said, Centre has notified a graded response action plan for Delhi-NCR for different levels of pollution.
Mr Javadekar has emphasized that urban forestry, school nurseries and public participation are needed to reduce the air pollution in the country. He added that the government is promoting cleaner alternative fuels like CNG, LPG and ethanol-blended petrol.
The Minister said in the year 2018-19, state governments have supplied over 56 thousand machines to farmers and custom hiring centres for in-situ management of crop residue. Mr Javadekar added that Centre has allocated ten crore rupees for 28 cities in the current year for promoting public awareness.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has asked Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to develop technical tools to check fraud in government departments. Addressing a Conclave of Accountants General and Deputy Accountants General in New Delhi yesterday.
The Prime Minister said, the government wants to move to evidence-backed policy-making by 2022 and the CAG can play a role by becoming a think tank and focusing on big data analysis.

A high-level panel is contemplating setting up a common fund pool for all skills related schemes and a decision to this effect could be made soon, skills development minister MahendraNathPandey told
The government is of the view that it was important that all skill development programs being imparted in the country are aligned to common norms and have a common overall objective, which is to make youth employable and efficient.
The government spends nearly Rs 15,000 crore every year on skilling through different schemes spread across 20 different ministries. This is topped up with matching contribution from states, taking the total spend to Rs 30,000 crore annually.
The minister, however, refuted any possibility of a unified skilling scheme for the country, something which was under consideration at the ministry level earlier. “Considering the diversity of the country and varied geographies and segments, one scheme cannot justify the local requirement for skilled workforce across all,” Pandey said.

Centre has set a target to provide internet and broadband connectivity to two lakh Gram Panchayats by March next year.
In a written reply in the RajyaSabha, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said a total of over 1,28,000 Gram Panchayats have been made Service Ready till 7th of this month.
The Minister said, BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband and internet connectivity to all 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country.
Mr Prasad said, as of now, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in around 45,000 Gram Panchayats and services are being provided in over 16,000 Gram Panchayats. The Minister said, the internet is being currently accessed mainly through mobile wireless 2G, 3G and 4G technologies which at present cover more than 95 per cent population of the country.

Tens of thousands of Colombians took to the streets of the capital Bogota yesterday amid a general strike to protest the policies of President Ivan Duque's right-wing government.
Several clashes and arrests were reported as trade unions, students, opposition parties and the South American country's indigenous organisations challenged the full gamut of Duque's economic, social and security policies.
The popularity of Duque's right-wing government, a key US ally, has been on the wane since his election 18 months ago, as it deals with hosting 1.4 million refugees from neighbouring Venezuela's economic meltdown as well as the complex fallout of a 2016 peace deal with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels and rampant drug trafficking.

In a first, an international team has found sugars essential to life in meteorites - supporting the hypothesis that chemical reactions in asteroids can make some of life's ingredients.
The research provides the first direct evidence of ribose in space and the delivery of the sugar to Earth.
Ribose is a crucial component of RNA (ribonucleic acid). In much of modern life, RNA serves as a messenger molecule, copying genetic instructions from the DNA molecule and delivering them to molecular factories within the cell called ribosomes that read the RNA to build specific proteins needed to carry out life processes.
Since its arrival in December 2018, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has mapped the entire Bennu asteroid in order to identify the safest and most accessible spots for the spacecraft to collect a sample.
NASA has chosen four potential sites for its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to fetch a sample of the asteroid Bennu. The goal is to collect a sample of Bennu in mid-2020, and return it to Earth in late 2023.

The first ever pink ball Test match between India and Bangladesh will begin at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata this afternoon. The second test of the two-match series against Bangladesh will also be a historic Day-night Test. The play will begin at 1 PM.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the sporting greats of India will be in attendance.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Raveesh Kumar yesterday informed that the Bangladesh Prime Minister will witness the opening day's play.
Pink balls will be used in place of red balls for better visibility under lights. India had wrapped up victory in the first Test in three days and they used the extra time to get some sessions with the pink ball.