Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 March 2016

:: National ::

Cheating charges invoked on Vijay Mallya by CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation has decided to invoke the charge of cheating against businessman Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and others in the alleged Rs.900-crore IDBI Bank loan wilful default case. The agency is also probing over 5 lakh financial transactions of the company since 2004.
The CBI had in JULY 2015 registered the case under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) read with Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and other provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against unknown IDBI officials pertaining to abuse of office to allegedly extend favours to Mr. Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines.
Section 409 of the IPC, a stringent provision that prescribes a maximum of life sentence, does not come under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the law that empowers the Enforcement Directorate to attach the alleged proceeds of crime. Therefore, the Directorate was concerned that attaching assets in its money laundering case against Mr. Mallya would pose a challenge.
Apart from corruption, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust, cheating charges are also being pressed against the accused, given that they allegedly defrauded the bank of the loan amount,
The CBI has through various channels approached the authorities in the four countries seeking access to the details of transactions. The agency is treading cautiously in identifying the transactions pertaining to the IDBI Bank loan funds as the loan had been sanctioned for a wide range of purposes and, therefore, many of the transactions could be legal.

Ford Foundation gets a relief

The Home Ministry, on the basis of a report sent by the Gujarat government in 2015, had put the international non-governmental organisation on the “watch list”, citing concern to “national security”.
The Gujarat government report had said that the organisation funded the “anti-India” activities of Citizens for Justice and Peace and Sabrang Trust run by Teesta Setalvad, activist.
Apart from the diplomatic pressure, Ford Foundation complied with the government’s condition to register itself under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 which enables it to receive foreign funds in its accounts.
Ford Foundation, which has been operating in India since 1952 was not registered either as an NGO or under any other category like the Indian Society Act till now. It applied under FEMA and got registered as a branch office by the Reserve Bank of India in December 2015.
Besides Ford Foundation, there are 15 other NGOs/associations, which are under this restricted category.
The Home Ministry sent a letter to the Reserve Bank of India on March 16 to remove the foundation from the watch list
The order means that banks will no longer require the Ministry’s clearance to process the foreign funds coming from the foundation to any Indian bank account.

Baig acquitted

In a reprieve to the lone convict, Himayat Baig (35), in the 2010 Pune German Bakery blast case, the Bombay High Court on Thursday quashed the death sentence awarded to him, citing lack of evidence and the prosecution’s failure to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Baig was facing the capital punishment for his alleged role in the explosion that rocked the popular German Bakery restaurant in Pune’s Koregaon Park on February 13, 2010 that killed 17 and injured 58, among them college students and several foreign nationals.
The Bench also quashed other charges including under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Baig has also been acquitted of the charge of forgery, forgery of valuable security and forgery for purpose of cheating.
The HC has only convicted him of the charges under Section 5 (b) (Punishment for making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances) of The Explosive Substances Act, which results in rigorous imprisonment that can extend up to 10 years and Section 474 (Having possession of document knowing it to be forged and intending to use it as genuine) of the IPC that provided imprisonment of seven years.

TIME’s ‘influential on Internet’ list

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the most influential people on the Internet, TIME magazine said, describing the Indian leader as an “Internet star” who often uses social media to “conduct diplomacy.”
The list includes U.S. Presidential hopeful Donald Trump, reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her husband Kayne West, author J.K. Rowling, former Olympic athlete Caitlyn Jenner and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
For its second annual roundup of the most influential people on the Internet, TIME said it looked at the contenders’ global impact on social media and their overall ability to drive news.

:: International ::

Kurds declare federal region in Syria

Syria’s Kurds declared a federal region in areas under their control in the north of the conflict-hit country, but both the government and an opposition coalition rejected the move. The announcement is likely to anger neighbouring Turkey and has complicated peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the five-year civil war.
The U.S., a key backer of Kurdish fighters in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), has also warned that it would not recognise any self-ruled Kurdish region within Syria.
More than 150 delegates from Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and other parties meeting in Syria agreed to create a “federal system” unifying territory run by Kurds across several Syrian provinces.
Kurdish parties already operate a system of three “autonomous administrations” in Syria’s north, with independent police forces and schools.
The three cantons stretch along Syria’s northern border with Turkey and are known as Afrin and Kobani, both in Aleppo province, and Jazire in Hasakeh province.
The new “federal system” is expected to centralise governance in the three cantons under elected councils.

Sanctions order against N. Korea

U.S. President Barack Obama signed an order implementing UN-backed sanctions on North Korea after a nuclear test and missile launch this year, as Pyongyang promised reprisals.
The White House said Mr. Obama had signed an executive order targeting the volatile hermit state’s energy, financial and shipping assets.
Among the entities targeted are the “Propaganda and Agitation Department” of the Workers’ Party of Korea and mining firms that provide the regime with much-needed revenues.

:: Business ::

Monsanto ordeal

The government expects to develop its own genetically modified (GM) cotton varieties early next year to end Monsanto's dominance; it controls over 90 per cent of cotton seed supply.
New technologies are critical to lifting India's poor farm productivity, although even if India did develop a home-grown GM cotton variety in 2017, it would struggle to sustain a program that needs to refresh seeds every decade or so, experts warned.
The introduction of Monsanto's GM cotton seeds in 2002 helped turn India into the biggest producer of the fiber, while other crops like pulses continue to suffer as transgenic food is banned and local research has stalled.
Despite the gains GM cotton brought for more than 7 million cotton farmers in India, some of them and their associations, including one affiliated to Modi's ruling party that promotes self-reliance, have complained Monsanto overprices its products.
Under pressure to mollify farmers hit by three straight crop failures due to bad weather, Modi's government has imposed a cut of around 70 per cent in royalties that local firms pay Monsanto for its cotton technology.
Monsanto has taken the government to court over the royalty.
Monsanto said it have to re-evaluate its India business, because it was difficult to bring in new technologies in an “environment where such arbitrary and innovation-stifling government interventions make it impossible to recoup research and development investments

MoU between Railways and ISRO

The Railway Ministry has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to leverage space technology for providing passenger information in all trains, map railway assets and help survey new route alignments.
At present, Indian Railways uses space technology to provide connectivity to passenger reservation counters, unreserved ticketing system in remote areas, and emergency communication using satellite phones during disaster
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed aims at developing applications in the field of remote sensing and graphic information system, proposes to provide information such as train stoppages, real-time train tracking, survey of new rail route alignments in hilly and difficult terrain