Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 MARCH 2020

::NATIONAL::

Centre claims 195 fast track courts set up for speedy disposal of POCSO and rape cases

A total of 195 Fast Track Special Courts have been set up across the country for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences, POCSO Act 2012.
Giving this information in the LokSabha, Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, maximum 56 Fast Track Special Courts are functional in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Gujarat and Rajasthan. He said, 34 Fast Track Special Courts in Gujarat and 26 in Rajasthan are functional by the end of January, 2020.
In reply to another question, the Minister said, 14th Finance Commission has endorsed the proposal of government for setting up of 1,800 Fast Track Courts during the period 2015-20 for dealing with specified nature of cases related to women, children, senior citizen and other vulnerable sections of the society. Mr Prasad said, there are 828 such Fast Track Courts functioning in the country as on 31st December last year.

Parliamentary panel finds huge infrastructural gaps in govt.schools

Almost half the government schools in the country do not have electricity or playgrounds, according to a report submitted by the parliamentary panel on education.
In its report on the 2020-2021 demand for grants for school education submitted to the RajyaSabha last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (HRD) expressed concern that budgetary allocations saw a 27% cut from proposals made by the School Education Department. Despite proposals for ₹82,570 crore, only ₹59,845 crore was allocated.
Noting similar 27% reductions for the central and centrally sponsored schemes as well, the panel recommended that these core schemes get additional funds at the revised estimates stage.
Less than 57% of schools have playgrounds, including less than 30% of schools in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2017-18 survey.
The panel recommended that the HRD Ministry collaborate with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to construct boundary walls, and work with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to provide solar and other energy sources so that schools have access to power.
In government higher secondary schools, not a single additional classroom had been built by December 31, 2019, although 1,021 had been sanctioned for the financial year 2019-20.

::ECONOMY::

RBI ensures safe deposit to YES bank customers

In the wake of the moratorium on private sector lender Yes Bank, the RBI clarified on Sunday that deposits of customers were safe.
Allaying concerns over the banking sector health, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said Indian banks were well capitalised and there was no reason to worry. He said it was a wrong method to assess a lender’s health based on the ratio of deposit to m-cap (market capitalisation).
“What I want to emphatically state is that the m-cap ratio is a totally incorrect metric for assessing the safety of the banks. No banking sector expert or banking regulator uses this measure,” Mr. Subramanian told mediapersons at his office here.
“What banking sector experts and regulators use is what is called the CRAR. It is important to keep this in mind that the international norms for CRAR is 8% and Indian banks on an average have a CRAR of 14.3%.
“So, 8% is the mandated minimum norm and our banks on the average have 14.3% (CRAR). Now 14.3% versus 8% almost translates into 80% greater capital than the international norms,” he said. He said the RBI mandated the banks to keep CRAR at 9%. “Even compared to that, our banks have 60% more capital. So this is something that is very important.”

Govt. plans to form 75 lakh SHG’s by 2022

The government is planning to create a total of 75 lakh Self Help Groups by 2022 to enable more women to get a livelihood. Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said this while addressing a programme on Women's Empowerment to mark International Women's Day in New Delhi today.
MrTomar said, Women’s Self Help Groups are the backbone of poverty alleviation programmes and the entire focus of the Ministry is oriented towards women’s emancipation. He said there are over 60 lakh SHGs across the country mobilizing more than six crore 73 lakh women.
The Minister said, Government is providing funds and training to them for livelihood missions and linking them with banks for easy credit flow.
MrTomar said, Government is not only supporting women and rural population but also providing them with platforms like the Government e-Marketplace for fetching better prices for their products.

Click Here for Study Material for SSC CGL Exam

SSC CGL (Tier-1) Exam Crash Course

::INTERNATIONAL::

South Korea accuses North of test firing projectiles

North Korea has fired three projectiles, Seoul's military said , a week after it launched what the South said appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement said that three devices were fired eastwards over the sea from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong province. Today's launch was the North's second weapons test in a week.
After last week's launch the North's state media said leader Kim Jong Un had overseen a long-range artillery drill but it was not clear if those two incidents last week were the same.
The latest launch came days after Kim sent a personal letter to the South's President Moon Jae-in, offering comfort for the rapid outbreak of the Novel Corona virus outbreak in the country.
The launches come as nuclear negotiations with the US are at a standstill and after the expiry of a unilateral deadline Pyongyang set for Washington to offer it fresh concessions on sanctions relief.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Report in wildlife trade reveals drop in poaching of red pandas in India

The iconic and endangered Red Panda (ailurusfulgens) has fewer hunters because the younger generations of people across its Himalayan habitat are losing interest in animal products, a new study by wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC has found.
However, the reddish-brown arboreal mammal, not closely related to the iconic black-and-white giant panda, is falling to traps laid for other animals, such as the musk deer and wild pigs, the report said.
The only living member of the genus Ailurus, the Red Panda is listed as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The animal has been hunted for meat and fur, besides illegal capture for the pet trade. An estimated 14,500 animals are left in the wild across Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar.
Red pandas have been reported from 11 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, which is presumed to hold the largest red panda population in the country.
The researchers found that neither India nor Bhutan had reported any incidences of poaching or illegal trade in Red Pandas in the study period. “This may indicate that traditional demand for such products has reduced over time and might be indicative of the success of awareness campaigns undertaken in the areas,” the report said, indicating that younger people were not keen on using the pelt or meat of the animal.
In contrast, experts from Nepal reported about 25 incidences of Red Panda poaching, involving approximately 55 animals, and also claimed to have witnessed and/or confirmed reports related to poaching on six occasions involving 15 animals.

::SPORTS::

Five Indian boxers qualify for Tokyo Olympics

Five Indian boxers, including the seasoned trio of VikasKrishan in 69 kilogram, Pooja Rani in 75 kg and Satish Kumar in91 kg category, yesterday secured Tokyo Olympic berths by advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Qualifiers with mostly commanding victories in Amman, Jordan.
Satish, Rani, Krishan, LovlinaBorgohain in 69 kg and Ashish Kumar in 75 kg became the first set of Indian boxers to qualify for quadrennial showpiece scheduled in July-August this year.