Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 November 2015

:: National ::

NGT says no to age-old practice

Even as the winter has set in, the pollution-ravaged Capital is now battling thick smog due to stubble burning, forcing the National Green Tribunal to direct Delhi and its neighbouring States to stop the age-old practice.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Delhi government and the four northern States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajas-than and Uttar Pradesh to check the bi-annual menace, which the farmers engage in to save time between sowing of wheat and rice.
The tribunal also announced a fine of Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 15,000 on farmers found indulging in straw burning.
The practice is followed by farmers not only to save time under the rice-wheat crop rotation to clear the land of residue of one harvest and sow the next, it is also believed that it makes the land more fertile and kill pests.
The burning of agriculture waste is a serious issue contributing towards global warming and the environmental pollution. You all are putting the life of people and children at danger, and they are getting sick. You cannot allow them to suffer.
The tribunal also directed the District Magistrates to form a committee to organise aware-ness programmes for farmers and villagers so as to educate them about the ill-effects of straw burning.

President to launch IIT -IISc initiative

President Pranab Mukherjee will, on Thursday, launch an initiative to develop a road map for research and pave the way for solutions to major engineering and technology challenges, at the on-going Visitor's Conference in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The initiative, ‘IMPRINT India', is a pan-IIT and IISc joint collaboration to develop a blueprint for research of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation, direct scientific research into identified areas, ensure higher fund-ing support for research into these areas and measure out-comes of the research efforts with reference to the impact on the standard of living in rural/urban areas.
IMPRINT India will focus on 10 themes and each theme will be coordinated by one IIT/IISc. For instance, IIT -Kharagpur will work on the themes of health care, computer science and information and communication technology, while IIT -Kanpur will work on advance material, water re-sources and river systems.

Rape victim's child can claim inheritance right

Allahabad High Court has ruled that a child born after a rape has inheritance rights over the property of the assaulter, the “bio-logical father,” and suggested that an appropriate law be en-acted to deal with this “complex social issue.”
We may observe here that in the matter relating to inheritance, the manner of birth of a person is irrelevant; the rights of inheritance are governed by the Personal Law to which the person is subject, irrespective of the manner of birth.
The Bench noted that the right of inheritance to the property of a biological parent was a complex Personal Law right which was guided by either legislation or custom.

:: International ::

Crisis deepens in the Maldives

The state of Emergency declared in the Maldives on Wednesday, as of now for 30 days, by President Abdulla YammenAbdul Gayoom is the latest in a host of crises that shook the Indian Ocean nation's young democracy.
The Emergency was declared after the Maldives National De-fence Force (MNDF) and the Maldives Police discovered a large cache of arms in different locations in the archipelago nation.
The government recently arrested the Vice-President, Ahmed Adeeb, and conducted a series of raids to recover arms and explosives from several locations after the September 28 blast on the Presidential boat.

Historic China- Taiwan meet prompts hope and suspicion

The Presidents of China and Taiwan will dine together in Singapore on Saturday in what will be the first meeting of its kind since Chairman Mao's Communist troops forced out their nationalist enemies from the Chinese mainland in 1949.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Yingjeou will meet to “exchange views on cross-Strait issues.”
The announcement of the milestone meeting comes as Taiwan gears up for a presidential election on January 16.
Ma, who has overseen an unprecedented and controversial warming of ties with Beijing since taking office in 2008, will step down next year, and his ruling Nationalist party (KMT) is currently badly trailing its rivals in the polls.
“I believe people across the country, like me, felt very surprised,” Tsai said. “ A meeting of the leaders of the two sides across the strait is a great event, involving the dignity and national interests of Taiwan. But to let the people know in such a hasty and chaotic manner is damaging to Taiwan's democracy.”

S. China Sea row cancels ASEAN joint statement

Differences over the South China Sea forced countries from Southeast Asia, along with China and the United States, to cancel a joint statement at a meeting of de-fence ministers in Malaysia.
The meeting was split between countries that agreed with China and those that strongly disagreed, including Australia, Japan and the United States.
China maintains that its territorial claims in the South China Sea must be discussed with individual countries that also have claims. It has consistently opposed eforts to have conflicting claims discussed in a regionalsetting like ASEAN.

:: Business And Economy ::

GST only a matter of time: FM

Obstruction against the GST has been due to political reasons. Within months from now, the numbers (in the Rajya Sabha) are going to tilt even more. So it will become easier to pass. GST is only a matter of time. As and when it is put to a vote, it will be passed,” the Finance Minister said.
Mr. Jaitley also added that he is looking to table the government's proposed Bankruptcy Bill in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.
Also regarding corporates, the Union Finance Minister said that he will soon be announcing the first tranche of exemptions from corporate tax that are to be done away with. The first round of corporate rate cuts — part of the government’s longer term agenda of cutting corporate tax rates from 30 per cent to 25 per cent — will be announced in the next Budget.
Talking about infrastructure, Mr. Jaitley lauded the performance of the road sector, but said that the power sector was still a problem. “The big problem in infrastructure is the power sector. We are generating more power than India needs. However, state discoms, the last mile, are not in a position to lift that power because of their poor financial health,” he said, adding that re-forms regarding the power sector will be announced soon.
There are some crises that impact more than others, he added. “If the U.S. Fed hikes rates, there will be some turmoil here but it will settle down. Like what happened after China's currency devaluation,” Mr. Jaitley said.

Govt. issues notice to V Volkswagen India unit on diesel car emissions

India has issued a notice to Volkswagen AG's lo-cal unit after finding ‘significant variations' in the German carmaker's diesel car emissions.
The government has asked Volkswagen to respond to the notice in 30 days.
Europe's biggest carmakerhas admitted cheating U.S. diesel emissions tests and that up to around 11 million vehicles worldwide could contain illegal software - the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history.

:: Science And Technology ::

GSA T -15 set to replace INSA T -3A, 4B

GSAT -15, the mainly communications satellite being put in space next week, will replace two older space-craft that will likely expire in the coming months.
Its 24 transponders are solely in the Ku band and will cater to DTH (direct-to-home) television first, besides supporting the thousands of VSAT operators who provide broadband services; and DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) for TV news channels.
GSAT -15 will not add new transponder capacity to thecountry; it will ‘ensure sustainability of service ‘for the capacity-hungry DTH sector’.
It will also carry the third GAGAN satellite navigation transponder as a back-up for airlines and other users of augmented GPS-based systems.
GSAT -15, weighing 3,164 kg, will be launched in the wee hours of November 11 (IST) from Kourou in French Guiana (in South America) on the European Arianespace's Ar-iane-5 launcher.
GSAT -15 will be flown along with Saudi Arabia's Arabsat-6B/Badr-7.

:: Sports ::

Tom Graveney passes away

Tom Graveney, the former England captain and president of Marylebone Cricket Club, died at the age of 88.
Graveney made 11 centuries in 79 Test matches be-tween 1951 and 1969, scoring 4,882 runs at an average of 44.38. Appointed MCC president in 2005 he was an honorary life member of the Lord's Club.
India was a lucky hunting ground for Graveney. Hescored his first Test century (175) against India at the BraBourne Stadium before the 1951 Christmas.