Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 29 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

PM urges state governments to give priority to farm sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the State governments to give priority to agriculture even as he pledged to “double the income of farmers” by 2022, to mark India’s 75 years of independence.
To attain that goal, Mr. Modi said the Centre had adopted a scientific approach to farming and urged farmers to utilise the various agricultural initiatives introduced by his government.
Fleshing out a formula for productive agriculture, Mr. Modi stressed the need to divide farming practices into three sectors, traditional farming, tree or timber plantation (along the periphery and borders of fields) and livestock rearing.
The Prime Minister praised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government for its irrigation and farming schemes for the turnaround in the agriculture sector.
Listing the Centre’s steps to get better prices for farmers, Mr. Modi hit out at the State governments for misusing funds allocated for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
He appealed to the States to use MGNREGS funds to support agriculture.

PM’s Mann ki Baat focused upon students who have board exams

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat reached out to students preparing to sit for their school-leaving “Board” exams, many of whom are likely to enter universities.
He had roped in cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand and scientist C.N.R. Rao in this pep talk to students on the eve of the exams.
Mr. Tendulkar emphasised the need to have a positive attitude and to compete with oneself. “I will only say that you set your targets and don’t come under pressure of expectations of others.”
Vishwanathan Anand said “Work hard but set a realistic, achievable target and try to achieve it”.

Army uniform sale banned in Punjab

The Punjab government on Sunday imposed a ban on the sale of Army uniforms across the State.
Punjab had witnessed terror attacks in Pathankot and Gurdaspur in the recent past where militants had disguised themselves in the Army fatigues.
Any person who wants to buy the uniform would have to submit a self-attested copy of his identity card and phone number with the shopkeeper and this record would be maintained along with date of sale in the record register of the shop- keeper.
The State has also banned use of red and blue coloured stickers used by police on vehicles.

Vinod Rai would be first chairman of Bank Board Bureau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the setting up of the Bank Board Bureau with former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India Vinod Rai as its first Chairman.
The Bureau is mandated to play a critical role in reforming the troubled public sector banks by recommending appointments to leadership positions and boards in those banks and advise them on ways to raise funds and how to go ahead with mergers and acquisitions.
The bureau will recommend for selection the heads of public sector banks and financial institutions and help banks in developing strategies and capital raising plans.
The bureau was announced last August as part of the seven-point Indradhanush plan to revamp these banks.
It will constantly engage with the boards of all 22 public sector banks to formulate appropriate strategies for their growth and development.
The non-performing assets of public sector banks are estimated at almost Rs. 4 lakh crore, and they need to raise capital of Rs. 2.4 lakh crore by 2018 to conform to Basel-III capital requirement norms, according to the government.

Eleven years after NDMA Centre looks after disaster victims

Eleven years after the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) became law in 2005, centre have said that much is to be done in States across the country to ensure that disaster victims access even minimum standards of relief.
A letter written by the Joint Secretary, Policy and Plan, National Disaster Management Authority, on February 25 to the Chief Secretaries of all States has called for immediate action to frame a road map to provide ‘Minimum Standards of Relief’ mandated under Section 12 of the NDMA in disaster-hit areas.
A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra on Friday ordered the Chief Secretaries to complete the framing of guidelines while remarking that providing minimum standards of relief under the NDMA is a fundamental duty of the State.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Rouhani’s allies won all 30 parliamentary seats

Reformist allies of Hassan Rouhani won all 30 parliamentary seats in Iranian capital.
The List of Hope, a pro- Rouhani coalition of moderates and reformists, was on course to wipe out its conservative rivals in Tehran with 90 per cent of ballots counted.
The clean sweep was a major fillip for the President, signalling overwhelming public backing in the capital for his landmark nuclear deal with world powers last year that ended a 13-year stand-off.
The landslide in Tehran came after mixed results for the President’s supporters in the provinces in the first elections since sanctions were lifted last month under the nuclear agreement.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Turmoil in Maldives is stalling PM Modi’s visit

Continuing political turmoil in the Maldives is the reason Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi’s visit to Male has had to be put of repeatedly.
The visit that was cancelled at the last moment in March 2015 owing to protests over former President Nasheed’s trial has been due since early January this year, but each time, actions by the government spark of a new crisis that makes it difficult for Mr. Modi to travel to the Islands.
When India’s largest new aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, accompanied by two support ships travelled to the Maldives on February 14 for a “goodwill” visit, many in Male fully expected that Mr. Modi would also be on his way.
MEA believes that moment will only come with some political resolution and a more controlled narrative in Male that seems to be fast spinning out of President Yameen’s grip.
India has stayed away from direct criticism of the Yameen government over the past few months as it tried to rebuild ties with the Maldives.
However, it is a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that passed a resolution giving the government one month’s time to start a dialogue with the Opposition and halt the use of anti-terror laws against political opponents.

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Controller General of accounts questioned the new accounting method

The Controller General of Accounts has asked the government to be careful in adopting the accrual method of accounting considering the costs involved as only a few of its departments can benefit.
CGA said that There is no such thing as a big-bang approach.
Even if you've heard of some advanced countries that have made this transition, like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, you must understand that the background to the introduction of accrual accounting was not that it was an end by itself.
The Fourteenth Finance Commission had strongly recommended the adoption of the accrual system of accounting.Accrual method is the standard accounting procedure for most medium and large companies.
The method, according to experts, provides a more accurate picture of the company's current financial position.
However, it is a more complex accounting system than cash accounting, which the government uses currently and so is more ex- pensive and time-consuming to implement.
While cash accounting recognises a transaction only when money changes hands, accrual accounting recognises the transaction at the time it is made, thereby providing a more current snapshot.

:: SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY ::

Experiment proves acidification diminishes the coral-reef growth

A ﬁrst-of-its kind, ﬁeld-controlled experiment carried out for 22 days in a natural coral-reef community has allowed scientists to unequivocally show the detrimental effects of ocean acidiﬁcation on coral reefs across the world.
Coral reefs, which provide marine ecosystems comparable to tropical rain forests, are most vulnerable to ocean acidiﬁcation.
Ocean acidiﬁcation arises when nearly 25 per cent of carbon dioxide released in- to the atmosphere and absorbed by the oceans reacts with water to form carbonic acid.
The carbonic acid thus produced leads to ocean acidiﬁcation by decreasing the pH of the ocean, reducing the concentration of carbonate ion.
oceans are already 30 per cent more acidic than they were before the Industrial Revolution.
Increasing the pH of the ocean to make it more alkaline than acidic will provide an ideal condition for coral reefs to grow.
Global warming has not only increased the acidity of the oceans but has also elevated the sea surface temperature.
While a warming ocean would have initially favoured coral reefs and led to more growth, the continued increase has proved harmful.
Hence, coral reefs suffer from the combined onslaught of both acidiﬁcation and elevated sea surface temperature.

Climate-driven reduction in sea-level rise

The rate of rise of sea level globally has lessened by 20 per cent during the last decade, according to a new study.
This is because of 3.2 trillion tons of excess liquid water storage on land in aquifers, lakes and other water bodies.
Though glaciers and ice bergs have been steadily melting, the earth has been behaving like a sponge and absorbing the water which should otherwise have ﬂowed back to the oceans from the land, thus closing the hydrological cycle.
While increase in sea level can be attributed to glacier and ice-sheet melting and transfer of water from aquifers to ocean from human–driven pumping, the reason for the slowing down of the sea level rise has not been accurately attributed until this study, which states that climate driven hydrology has a major role.
Human-induced changes in land water storage include the direct effects of groundwater extraction, irrigation, impoundment in reservoirs, wetland drainage, and deforestation.
Several studies of large aquifers suggest that trends in regional and global land-water storage are now strongly inﬂuenced by the effects of groundwater withdrawal.