Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 October 2015

:: National ::

ICHR to explore Europe’s connect to India’s past

India will soon tap French historical sources to trace its own history. The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has proposed to offer Indian scholars access to “multiple sources” of history to arrive at India’s past, to present it more accurately than before.
Prof. Rao, who has earlier stated that India is yet to evolve a methodology to study its remote past with “Indian perspective and is yet to understand the nuances of ancient knowledge,” said the Council will shortly begin special training sessions for history teachers and scholars to help them interpret accurately the epigraphs that have been found in different ancient and medieval languages.
This too is being done to uncover facets of ancient and medieval Indian history, which have till now not been recognised.
The council has been conducting training programmes and workshops for research scholars in historiography and methods, but under the new project, it would organise 21-day training capsules annually for junior scholars and teachers in history to equip them with basics of epigraphy, manuscriptology and numismatics to help them keep abreast with the latest in this field.
Also, on the agenda is a project to trace the development of science in a historical perspective. The ICHR has proposed mapping the journey of science and technology from the earliest times to the 18th century.

:: International ::

Jerusalem’s Old City off limits for Palestinians

Israel took the rare and drastic step of barring Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child.
The restrictions will be in place for two days, with only Israelis, tourists, residents of the area, business owners and students allowed, police said.
Worship at the sensitive al-Aqsa mosque compound will be limited to men aged 50 and above. There will be no age restrictions on women, and worshippers will be allowed to enter through one specific gate. The Palestinian government denounced “Israeli escalation” after the announcement of the ban, which Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called unprecedented.
The usually bustling alleyways of the walled Old City were mostly quiet on Sunday morning. The police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse protesters at one gate, an AFP journalist reported.
Some 3,00,000 Palestinians live in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, where the Old City is located.

:: Business ::

RBI actions to bring annual FPI funds of Rs.48,000 crore

50 basis points repo rate cut and slew of policy measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the recent monetary policy review could attract an average annual flow of Rs.48,000 crore in government bonds from overseas investors for the next few years, says a report.
In a surprise move, RBI last week reduced repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75 per cent from 7.25 per cent.
According to domestic rating agency India Ratings, RBI’s front loaded monetary action and accompanying policy changes have a significant positives for fixed income and the rupee.
“In our view, average annual foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) in government bonds alone would be Rs.48,000 crore (or $7.3 billion at the current exchange rate) for the coming two and half years,” the report said.
This gradually augmented demand for government bonds will have a sustained, salutary impact on bond prices or sustained decline in yields, it added.
India Ratings sees bond yields softening in medium-term.
In the fourth monetary policy, the RBI said the limits for FPI investment in government securities would be increased in phases to five per cent of the outstanding stocks by March 2018, from the current level of 3.7 per cent.
The report said this may imply around Rs.1.2 trillion additional inflow of funds in the next two and half years.
Additionally, measures to enhance participation in state development loans by bringing the FPI investment to two per cent by March 2018, are likely to enhance the market appetite.

:: Miscellaneous ::

A new variety of chicks for rural community

ackyard poultry farming is an age old practice in rural India. It is a low cost enterprise which does not require much time and labour while ensuring high economic returns and nutritional security among rural poor. But, indigenous birds which are reared by the rural households are less productive.
However, the Poultry Research Station (PRS) of Sri P.V. Narasimha Rao Telangana State University for Veterinary, Animal and Fishery Sciences, (SPVNRTSUVAS), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, has developed a promising backyard poultry variety, Rajasri' for the rural farming community.
The new variety is quite suitable for backyard poultry farming as it is hardy, attractive with multi-coloured plumage, capable of self propagation, have good body conformation with capacity to escape from predators, a good scavenger and less susceptible to diseases, says M. Gnana Prakash, Professor, Department of Animal Genetics, College of Veterinary Science, SPVNRTSUVAS.
The bird would produce nearly 150 eggs a year, attain a body weight of about 1.5 kg by 18 weeks of age, and start laying eggs in 5-6 months, Dr. Gnana Prakash, who is also the officer in charge of the PRS, adds.
Generally, elaborate housing is not required for backyard poultry farming. If they are grown on commercial scale under intensive system, then a conventional shed constructed with locally available material will do.