Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 28 July 2015

:: National ::

Demise of APJ Abdul Kalam, irreparable loss for nation

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the renowned missile scientist who played a stellar role in advancing India's nuclear programme, died on Monday after collapsing at an event in Meghalaya.
His body was flown to Guwahati in Assam this morning and will be brought to Delhi by a special aircraft.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all three service chiefs will receive his body at the airport.
Dr Kalam, 83, collapsed after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong last evening.
The government has declared a seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the man known and loved across the country as the "People's President".
The Union Cabinet will hold a special meeting in New Delhi today to condole Dr Kalam's death. His funeral is likely to be held in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, where he was born.
Paying tribute to Dr Kalam last night, PM Modi had said, "My mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him. Always marvelled at his intellect, learnt so much from him."

New adoption guidelines; centralised database of children

A centralised databank of adoptive children, allowing single parents looking to adopt, and, treating non-resident Indians (NRIs) on par with Indian citizens are some of the revamped guidelines of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) introduced by the union ministry of women and child development, on Monday.
The guidelines will be effective from next month.
Under the new guidelines, an e-governance measure that will hasten the adoption process, and make it transparent by putting up the data of the adoptive children online, has been brought up.
The Central Adoption Resource Information Guidance System (CARINGS), a centralised system that collates the data, will be connected to the district child protection units.
NRIs will be treated on par with domestic adoptive parents, and a child of below five years, will be given up for adoption 60 days after being cleared for adoption.
A child of above five years will be given up for adoption 30 days after clearance.
The new guidelines have also made it possible for single parents to adopt. While single mothers can adopt children of either gender, single men can only adopt male children.
The minimum age difference between child and parent cannot exceed 25 years under the new guidelines.
The revamped guidelines were originally mooted in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014.
But the Bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha, has been pending for a year and a half. And WCD minister Maneka Gandhi wanted to a hassle-free adoption process, said a ministry official.
In 2013-14, 3924 children were given up for adoption within the country, while 3988 children were given up in 2014-15. There were 422 inter-country adoptions in 2013-14, and 374 in 2014-15.

Gujarat becomes first state to ink mandatory voting rule

It is official now. After dithering for long, the Gujarat government issued a notification making voting in local body elections compulsory under the controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment), Act 2009 (2014).
The notification dated July 17, 2015 will apply to over three crore voters who are expected to cast their franchise in the upcoming civic elections in six municipal corprations, around 60 municipalities, 33 district panchayats and more than 150 taluka panchayats.
State has recorded 45-50 per cent voting in local bodies elections in the past. In 2010, six municipals corporations had recorded average voting of 44 per cent.
Following this notification, any citizen abstaining from voting in civic elections will be penalized — the punishment could be monetary fine or non-eligibility for certain civic incentives — which will be specified once the rules are framed, officials said.
Along with the compulsory voting notification, state government has also issued an ordinance for the addition of a clause the act for declaring the elected representatives disqualified if they do not vote.
In case of failure in voting the registered voter will be declared as the defaulter and against whom the designated authorities will take legal action as prescribed in the rules which will be declared shortly.

:: Business ::

Centre appoints R S Sharma,new Trai chairman

Ram Sewak Sharma is set to be the new chief of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), taking charge at a time when the regulator is deciding on crucial matters such as net neutrality and the way to deal with the fast-growing eco-system of over-the-top (OTT) operators, who are mushrooming over the mobile and internet world. He replaces Rahul Khullar, who retired from the job in the second week of May.
Sharma, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, is currently the secretary in the department of electronics and information technology(Deity), a job that makes him thorough with matters related to the IT sector and well-versed with crucial telecom issues.
A formal notification is expected over the next few days, sources said. "He is seen as most experienced for the job.
There were a number of applicants for the high-profile job that regulates the issues related to the telecom sector and the broadcasting industry.
There were over 75 applicants for the position and apart from Sharma, others vying for the post included former defence secretary R K Mathur, information & broadcasting secretary Bimal Julka, former commerce secretary Rajeev Kher and steel secretary Rakesh Singh. Former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn was also in the fray.
Sharma holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics from IIT, Kanpur, and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of California.

:: Sports ::

New professional league all set to give wrestlers a leg-up

The Wrestling Federation of India joined the 'league bandwagon' as it launched the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) on Monday.
The PWL, scheduled from November 8-29, will witness world's top 66 wrestlers including eight current world champions. Around 20 Olympic medallists will represent six city-based franchises.
Wrestling icons of the country like two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, World Championship bronze medallist Bajrang, the famous Phogat sisters Geeta and Babita and Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist Geetika Jakhar walked the ramp in 'Spartan-like' warrior outfits at the launch of the league.
Sushil later said that the league would help country's grapplers by giving them 'international exposure' at home.