Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 September 2015

:: National ::

Another blow for Greenpeace India

Stating that Greenpeace India has “continued to violate FCRA norms”, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has cancelled the registration of the NGO under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
In an affidavit filed before the Delhi High Court Thursday, the MHA said the decision to cancel the FCRA registration was taken at a meeting Wednesday. The MHA had earlier said Greenpeace India “mixed foreign and domestic funds” and had “not disclosed the movement of funds properly”.
Responding to the MHA affidavit, Greenpeace India issued a statement that it would “continue its campaign” despite the government’s “onslaught against the community’s right to dissent”.
In April this year, the MHA suspended registration of the NGO saying it had violated norms by opening five accounts to use foreign donations without informing the authorities concerned. On MHA directions, the IDBI, ICICI and Yes Bank had frozen the NGO’s accounts.
Greenpeace India then moved an application challenging the “arbitrary decision” of the MHA and was granted relief on May 27 by the court which allowed it to use two of its accounts for receiving and utilising fresh domestic donations for day-to-day functioning.
It also allowed the NGO to liquidate its fixed deposits, saying these and fresh donations should be used for its aims and objectives, and in accordance with law.
The NGO moved an application seeking an order “directing respondents 1 (MHA) and 2 (IDBI) to remit/transfer 148,608 Euros, that was blocked by the incidental measures impugned in the writ petition, transferred by Stichting Greenpeace Council (Greenpeace International) to petitioner’s (Greenpeace India) FCRA account…”

:: International ::

England set to accept more migrants

David Cameron is expected to announce plans later to increase the number of refugees being allowed into the UK.
No specific figure has been agreed, but Mr Cameron has previously said the UK would continue to take in "thousands".
The extra refugees are expected to come from UN camps bordering Syria, and not from among people already in Europe.
The PM, who has faced growing pressure to do more to address the crisis, is likely to make an announcement in Spain after talks with fellow leaders.
He is meeting his Portuguese and Spanish counterparts for talks that had been intended to focus on his desire for EU reform, but which will be overshadowed by the migrant crisis.
He still thinks opening up Europe's borders and agreeing quotas will not solve the refugee crisis. In fact, he thinks it would make it worse by increasing pull factors and encouraging people traffickers.
But, as the crisis gets worse and the public and political pressure grows, the prime minister does now accept that Britain has a moral duty to do more.

Seeking asylum in the UK

25,771
people applied for asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2015
41%
(11,600) were granted asylum

14% of applicants were from Eritrea
9% were from Pakistan
8.5% were from Syria
2,168 applications were from unaccompanied children
Source: Home Office

:: Science & Technology ::

Enzyme responsible for protection against asthma and allergy identified

The reason why children who grow up on dairy farms are less likely to suffer from allergies and asthma has been unravelled by a study.
Using mice and human samples, a team of scientists found that high-level exposure to bits of bacteria (endotoxin or lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) found in farm dust initially triggers an inflammatory response in the lungs of the animals but eventually goes on to protect them from asthma. The results of the study were published today in the journal Science.
Martijn J. Schuijs, the first author of the paper from the VIB Inflammation Research Center, Ghent, Belgium, and others tried to establish whether exposure to environmental endotoxin offered the protective effect against asthma in mice and also study the mechanism of protection.
To do this, they exposed mice to low dose of endotoxin every day for two weeks before challenging them with dust mites. While the mice exposed to endotoxins did not develop allergic features, the mice in the control group did.

:: India & world ::

India's GVK wins court fight over Australian coal mine

Green groups lost a fight to stop billionaire Gina Rinehart and India's GVK from building a giant coal minein Australia, as a court on Friday dismissed an appeal against the state of Queensland's environmental approval for the project.
Conservation group Coast and Country, originally working for three farmers, had sought to have the state environmental approval for GVK-Hancock's 30 million tonnes a year Alpha mine overturned based on the impact it would have on water supply and climate change.
The state Land Court last year ruled that the mine should be approved with strict water management conditions or rejected.
But the green group appealed that decision to the Supreme Court saying the Land Court did not have the right to issue two alternative recommendations and should have rejected the mine outright.
The Queensland Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on Friday.
The ruling eliminated one hurdle for the $10 billion Alpha mine, rail and port project, which has effectively been put on ice until it obtains a mining permit and overcomes a lack of funding due to a slump in coal prices.

:: Sports ::

India rise a spot to 155th in FIFA rankings

India have jumped a place to the 155th spot in the global football rankings released on Thursday.
According to the rankings released by world football governing body FIFA, India fared marginally better as they moved up a place from their previous 156th position.
India dropped 15 places to the 156th spot earlier in July following two consecutive defeats in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
India will face Iran in a World Cup qualifier in Bengaluru on September 8.
The team, coached by Stephen Constantine, was held goalless by Nepal in a practice match in Pune on August 31.
Copa America runners-up Argentina continued to top the list, which they attained in July, ahead of second-placed Belgium and world champions Germany, who are third.
Colombia and five-time world champions Brazil round off the top five list, in the fourth and fifth places, respectively. Portugal are sixth in the rankings, ahead of seventh-placed Romania and Chile.
Wales have moved up to their highest ever position at ninth, ahead of England who fell two places to 10th. (IANS)