Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 13 December 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 13 December 2021

::NATIONAL::

Rajnath Singh to inaugurate BEL’s week-long exhibition

Defence minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) week-long exhibition at its nine units spread across the country to showcase its capabilities in both defence and non-defence segments, according to the company's press release.
The exhibition by the Centre-owned aerospace and defence electronics company will take place from Monday till Sunday (December 19) in adherence with all coronavirus disease (Covid-19) related protocols.
Apart from Bengaluru, the exhibition will be organised in BEL's units in Ghaziabad, Panchkula, Kotdwara, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Machilipatnam and Chennai.
It is being organised as a part of the Union government's AzadiKaAmritMahotsav, which is an initiative to commemorate 75 years of progressive India and its glorious history, the press release said.
“Students of local schools, colleges and professional institutions, and the general public at large are expected to attend the exhibition which is being planned at BEL’s Bengaluru Unit in Jalahalli,” the press release added.
The BEL release also said the week-long exhibition is a unique opportunity for people to have a first-hand glimpse of the company's various iconic and marquee products manufactured for use by the armed forces.
In 2020, BEL was among the top 100 global arms-producing and military services companies, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

::INTERNATIONAL::

New Caledonia rejects independence from France in third referendum

Residents of the Pacific territory of New Caledonia voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to remain part of France in a third referendum that was boycotted by pro-independence groups, reports say.
Police reinforcements have been sent to the territory known as "the pebble", which is of strategic importance to France and is part of a wider tussle for influence in the Pacific between Western countries and China.
Local television channel NC la 1ere reported that, with 90.23 percent of ballots counted, 96.32 percent of voters had voted "No" to independence in a result that will raise fears of unrest and questions about the legitimacy of the process.
The archipelago of about 185,000 voters, 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) east of Australia, was granted three independence referendums under a 1988 deal aimed at easing tensions on the islands.
Turnout on Sunday was only 41.60 percent by 5 pm local time (0600 GMT).
Having rejected a breakaway from France in 2018 and then again last year, the inhabitants were asked one last time: "Do you want New Caledonia to accede to full sovereignty and become independent?"
The main indigenous pro-independence movement, the FLNKS, had called the government's insistence on going ahead with the referendum "a declaration of war".
"This referendum does not make too much sense because half the population has decided not to vote," Cathy, a bookseller who gave only her first name, told AFP at a polling booth in the capital Noumea.

::ECONOMY::

18% GST on insurance premium is atrocious: Former IRDAI member NileshSathe

Insurance is a necessity in India in the absence of a social security net, but the government is taxing the sector heavily even as others in the financial sector are exempted, lamented former Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) member NileshSathe.
Sathe was the keynote speaker at the insurance round of the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit.
“Charging 18 per cent GST (Goods and Services Tax) on insurance premium is atrocious,” the respected insurance veteran said in his customary frank manner.
“In the absence of any social security available to the citizens, insurance becomes a necessity. All essential commodities are out of the purview of GST, why should premium be taxed, and that too, so heavily,” Sathe asked, adding nowhere in the world one has to pay such heavy tax on insurance premium.
“There is no such tax on banking services or mutual fund services. These are also financial services, there is no reason why insurance services should be taxed and that too, so heavily. Even the premium for purchase of annuity attracts GST,” said Sathe in his speech.
Sathe said the government’s “clear apathy” towards the sector was evident when no immediate capitalisation was done to state-owned insurance companies when their solvency ratio (which must always remain above 150 per cent) fell below the threshold a couple of times.
The government is also not filling up vacancies in the insurance regulator fast enough.
“IRDAI is headless for the last five to six months. Members' positions are vacant. Institutions weaken if not manned on time,” Sathe said, adding, development of the sector is not the sole responsibility of the insurance companies alone, but all stakeholders will have to share the responsibility.
“The government has to ensure that the GDP grows, employment grows, and the per capita income increases,” said Sathe.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Daughter of pioneering astronaut Alan Shepard set for Blue Origin spaceflight

The eldest daughter of pioneering US astronaut Alan Shepard is set for a ride to the edge of space aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin commercial rocketship on Saturday, 60 years after her late father's famed suborbital NASA flight at the dawn of the Space Age.
Laura Shepard Churchley, 74, who was a schoolgirl when her father first streaked into space, is one of six individuals due for liftoff at 8:45 a.m. Central time (1445 GMT) from Blue Origin's launch site outside the rural west Texas town of Van Horn.
They will be flying aboard the crew capsule of a fully autonomous, six-story-tall spacecraft dubbed New Shepard, designed to soar to an altitude of about 350,000 feet (106 km) before falling back to Earth for a parachute landing on the desert floor.
The entire flight, from liftoff to touchdown, is expected to last a little over 10 minutes, with the crew experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness at the very apex of the suborbital flight.
The spacecraft itself is named for Alan Shepard, who in 1961 made history as the second person, and the first American, to travel into space - a 15-minute suborbital flight as one of NASA's original 'Mercury Seven' astronauts.

::SPORTS::

Pat Cummins becomes 1st captain to get 5-wicket haul in Ashes since 1982

Australia skipper Pat Cummins on Wednesday became the first captain to take a five-wicket haul in an Ashes Test since 1982.
Cummins achieved this feat on Day 1 of the ongoing first Ashes Test here at the Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday. In 1982, England pacer Bob Willis was the first skipper to scalp five wickets in the Ashes Test.
Coming to the match, England was bowled out for 147 with skipper Cummins taking five wickets.