Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 31 December 2015

:: NATIONAL ::

Work for NATGRID will start again

The Union government is set to make an aggressive effort to accomplish one of the most ambitious intelligence projects in recent memory, which failed to take of during United Progressive Alliance rule.
Conceived in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is a centralised agency which stores sensitive personal information on citizens from almost two dozen agencies to be made available for counter-terror investigations.
The government will appoint a senior serving government official, in all likelihood one with an intelligence back-ground, to head NATGRID, with a mandate to operationalise it as a federal counter-terrorism centre.
The grid was to provide an intelligence database that would have networked 21 sets of data sources to provide quick and secure access of information to about 10 intelligence and law-enforcement agencies including theIntelligence Bureau (IB) and R&AW

For proper welfare benefits country needs to grow faster: FM

Union Finance Minister said that India needed to grow by an additional 1-1.5 per cent for the government to bear the burden of wage increase and welfare benefits.
He said that India is growing at a good pace of 7.5 per cent at a time when the global economy is experiencing a slow- down, which is appreciable in itself; but we need to increase our growth by another 1-1.5 per cent.
the Centre would have to bear a burden of Rs. 1.02 lakh crore on account of the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, besides the burden from the one rank one pension for veterans.

Jnanpith award for 2015 went to Raghuveer Chaudhary

Eminent Gujarati novelist, poet and critic Raghuveer Chaudhary has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for 2015.
Mr. Chaudhary is the recipient of the 51st Jnanpith Award.
Instituted in 1961, the award by the Bharatiya Jnanpith recognises Indian literatteurs who write in one of the 22 Indian languages listed in Schedule Eight of the Constitution.
Born in 1938 in Gandhinagar, the writer is a Gandhian and his works are largely influenced by literary figures such as Govardhanram Tripathi, Kaka Kalelkar, Suresh Joshi, Ramdarash Mishra and G.N. Dickey.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Leading banks from Iran will open branches in India

Iran’s leading banks will soon open branches in India to energise commercial ties between New Delhi and Tehran.
The decision was amongst a slew of commercial measures taken by the India-Iran Joint Commission that met for the first time since Iran and the P-5+1 grouping struck a deal to end sanctions on Iran.
A major beneficiary of normalisation of banking channels between two sides will be India which has just begun settling more than $6.5 billion energy-related pending payment, with Iran.
Two countries also dis- cussed measures to boost logistic services, including allowing freight forwarding companies (numbering around 5,500 in India) to take advantage of the rupee payment mechanism and the insurance cover that are currently available only to exporters and importers.
India and Iran have decided to hold preliminary discussions for a preferential trade agreement (PTA).
The PTA is meant to ensure that both the countries will cut oreliminate duties on certain mutually agreed products to increase bilateral trade. A Joint Working Group will hold meetings to look at the feasibility of the PTA.

:: SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY ::

Barak NG test fired from Indian warship

One of India’s most ambitious and costly efforts to develop a surface-to-air missile system, in collaboration with Israel, achieved a significant milestone over the last two days with its successful firings from an Indian naval warship.
The long-range surface-to- air missile (LRSAM) — land version is medium-range SAM or MRSAM — is the product of a joint development project of India and Israel.
It is said to be a very advanced SAM that can track and shoot down incoming missiles and other flying objects with high-level accuracy.
While the LRSAM is for the Navy, the Air Force has an order for the MRSAM and the Army variant has been recently approved.
Also called Barak NG (next generation), the LRSAM can intercept aerial targets up to arange of 80 km.
It is being codeveloped by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from India and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel, and will be manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL).

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Christine Lagarde says world will not see good growth in 2016

IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, said the prospect of rising interest rates in the U.S. and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide.
In addition, growth in global trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in many countries still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, Ms. Lagarde added.
The U.S. Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade earlier this month and made clear that was a tentative beginning to a “gradual” tightening cycle.
There are “potential spill- over effects” with the prospect of increasing interest rates there already having contributed to higher financing costs for some borrowers,including in emerging and developing markets.

Union government turns its focus on falling exports

With merchandise exports falling for an unprecedented 12th consecutive month in November, the government is working on a slew of measures to prop up export-oriented institutions, including Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the forthcoming Union Budget.
The Centre has called for a meeting (likely on January eight) of representatives of all the State governments for the first time to expedite the notification of a separate foreign trade policy for each state and to push through infrastructure creation measures that can sup- port exports.
The Union Budget is likely to have a package for SEZs to ensure they are the focal point of the ‘Make In India’ initiative.
In addition, to encourage domestic manufacturing, the Budget would address the inverted duty structure (where the duty on inputs/raw mate- rials / components is greater than that on the finished product) on several items, including on electronic hardware.
The inverted duty structure leads to higher imports of finished products.
The Budget may also ease guidelines for the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports (ASIDE) scheme to enable the commerce ministry to take up more projects.
Interest subvention (of three per cent) is also likely to be extended to large manufacturers in some segments like engineering and merchant ex- porters in sectors such as carpets and agriculture.

Increase in the budget for implementation of grid-connected solar rooftop systems

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairsapproved an increase in the budget for implementation of grid-connected solar rooftop systems to Rs.5,000 crore from Rs.600 crore up to the financial year 2019-2020.
This will support installation of 4,200 MW solar roof- top systems in the country in next five years.
The capital subsidy of 30 per cent will be provided for general category States and Union Territories and 70 per cent for special category States, including Uttarak- hand, Himachal Pradesh, Jam- mu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and those in the North-East.
There will be no subsidy for commercial and industrial establishments in the private sector since they are eligible for other benefits such as accelerated depreciation, custom duty concessions, excise duty exemptions and tax holiday.
The capacity of 4,200 MWp will come up through the residential, government, social and institutional sector, according to the statement, add- ing industrial and commercial sector will be encouraged for installations without subsidy.