Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 December 2020

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday flagged off the 100th run of the Kisan Rail via video conferencing, calling the service a major step towards increasing the “income of farmers”.
Speaking on the occasion, the PM said the service will bring a major change in the farm sector and increase the strength of the country’s cold supply chain. Union railway minister Piyush Goyal and agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar also attended the event.
“The Prime Minister termed the Kisan Rail Service as a major step towards increasing the income of the farmers of the country. He expressed happiness that even during the Corona pandemic, 100 Kisan Rails were launched in the last four months. He said this service will bring a major change in the economy related to farming and will also increase the strength of the country’s cold supply chain,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The train, starting from Sangola in Maharashtra and culminating in Shalimar in West Bengal, will cover a distance of 2,132 km with more than 400 tonnes of cargo at a speed of 54.6 kmph in around 39 hours. It is carrying pomegranate, custard apples, grapes and oranges.

The union government will lift the ban on export of all varieties of onion from January 1 next year, a notification from the directorate general of foreign trade said Monday, as the supply crunch eases with good winter harvests and brisk imports.
“The export of all varieties of onions, as described above, has been made free from 01.02.2021,” the notification said.
On September 15, the government had banned the export of all varieties as a precautionary step since domestic supplies showed signs of depleting due to a bad winter crop and exports.
In the April-July period, the export of onions rose by an unusual 30%, causing prices to show signs of firming up.
Prices had jumped 30% at the wholesale level in that period, while retail prices had soared to Rs80-100 per kg in most urban centres of the country.
According to official trade data, the country exported $328 million worth of fresh onions and $ 112 million worth of dried onions in 2019-20. Between April and July 2020, exports of onions to neighbouring Bangladesh soared 157.7%.
“Onion prices have remained elevated during the festive season. The full year onion output will still likely drop by at least 10% due to weather-related damage to both the winter and summer crop. But good winter harvests have eased the supply crunch now,” said Abhishek Agrawal of Comtrade, a commodities trading firm.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced the members of his White House Office of Digital Strategy, where Kashmir-born Aisha Shah has bagged a senior position.
Shah has been named as Partnerships Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy, which would be headed by Rob Flaherty, Director of Digital Strategy, according to an announcement by the Biden transition team.
Raised in Louisiana, Shah previously served as digital partnerships manager in the Biden-Harris Campaign. She currently serves as an advancement specialist for the Smithsonian Institution.
Prior to this role, Shah worked as an assistant manager on the Corporate Fund of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, supporting the first-ever expansion of a presidential memorial.
Shah also served as a strategic communications specialist at Buoy, an integrated marketing firm that specialises in social impact communications, as well as spitfire strategies, where she enabled nonprofits to use pop culture as a tool for social change.

Scientists have found evidence of a previously undiscovered population of blue whales living in the western Indian Ocean based on an analysis of sound recordings from the region, an advance which sheds light on the global distribution of the largest animals to have ever lived on the Earth.
While these highly endangered mammals are found around the globe in all oceans, and sing very low-pitched and recognizable songs, the researchers, including those from the New England Aquarium in the US, said every blue whale population has its own unique song.
In a recently published study in the journal Endangered Species Research, the scientists analyzed recordings from the Arabian Sea coast of Oman, and as far south as Madagascar, and found a blue whale song that had never been described.
Based on the analysis, the researchers believe they have discovered. What is likely a previously unrecognized population of blue whales in the western Indian Ocean?
"It was quite remarkable to find a whale song in your data that was completely unique, never before reported, and recognize it as a blue whale," said study co-author Salvatore Cerchio from the New England Aquarium.