Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 April 2016

:: National ::

Thrissur Pooram festival painted the city in vibrant hues

Thrissur Pooram, the renowned festival of sound and light, painted the city in vibrant hues.
Challenging the scorching sun, lakhs of Pooram lovers poured into the cultural capital of Kerala for the 36-hour- long festival, which is the meeting of deities of ten participating temples.
There was something for everyone – processions, elephants, fire- works and percussion ensembles.
The celebrations started on Sunday morning with Ezhunnellippu of Kanimangalam Sastha.
It was followed by other processions (Cheru Poorams) from Karamukku Bhagavathy, Neythilakkavu Bhagavathy, Panamukkamballi Sastha, Choorakkottukavu Devi, Ayyanthole Karthyayani and Chembukkavu Karthyayani temples.
The sight of tuskers emerging in their regalia through the milling crowds to the accompaniment of percussion ensemble was awe-inspiring. There is a friendly competition between the Devaswoms.
Against the backdrop of the High Court order on fire- works and elephant processions, stringent security measures were taken for the Pooram.

New inscription shedding more light on Buddhism found in Karnataka

A new inscription that sheds more light on the history of Buddhism in Karnataka has been discovered at Lakkundi village in Gadag district.
It is the first time that an inscription related to Buddhism was found in Lakkundi, a place of antiquarian interest with nearly 50 temples, 101 stepped wells and a large number of inscriptions spread over the Chalukya, Kalachuri and Hoysala periods.
The inscription, whose lower portion has been severed of, makes salutations to Lord Buddha, ‘dhamma’, ‘sangha’ and Tara Bhagavati.
There are possibilities of the inscription speaking about donations to a Buddhist monastery located at Lakkundi. Besides, it was among a handful of inscriptions making specific reference to the Tara Bhagavati cult of the Vajrayana Buddhism.
The period of this inscription could be assigned to the regime of Hoysala king Veeraballala II (1173–1220 CE).

Problem of Maharastra is more economic than drought

The water train chugged into Latur last week capturing national attention. But it took the spotlight away from the daily struggles of lakhs facing the most immediate consequences of an extended drought and acute water scarcity in Latur district.
Scarce water availability has resulted in poor farm yield, low income and diminishing spending power of the farmers. The weddings lack the pomp, while festivities are curtailed both in urban and rural areas.
The local Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) turnover fell to Rs 905 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 1,460 cr the previous year and Rs 1,875 cr in 2013-14.
The drop in the arrival of pigeon pea from 15,000 quintal last year to only 5,000 this year is an indicator of the crashing economy, say experts.
Drought and water scarcity is a complex phenomenon.The district administration blames nature’s vagaries while the oilseed and pulses lobby point fingers at the water- guzzling sugarcane crop.
Northeastern Maharshtra Jalkot, Ahmedpur, Deoni, Nitur and Udgir — are facing more of a hydrological drought and scarcity as compared to the slightly better of and greener northwestern belt of Renapur, Latur City and Ausa.
But they are also home to three powerful sugar factories and major sources of water, including the Manjara dam, and the Bhandarwadi barrage among others.
There was no rain in June in the region, some in July and in most parts concentrated around August, and back again in October with devastating hailstorms in February.
This mean it becomes challenging for a farmer to opt for pulses (pigeon-pea, urad and moong) and easier to go for oilseeds (soyabean).
With only 1.72 per cent water remaining in 141 small and big sources of water, the district officials estimate failure of in excess of 70 per cent of the kharif crop.
As many as 125 farmer’s suicides were reported from Latur district till July 2015.

:: India and World ::

US defence secretary visit send important message to neighbours

The many strategic decisions agreed upon during U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit last week to India opens up not just new possibilities but also challenges, say specialists in the defence sector.
Many of them also see a message for India’s neighbourhood, especially China, in the decisions.
Both sides reached an “in-principle” understanding on concluding the first of the three foundational agreements, the Logistical Exchange Memorandum of Understanding (LEMOA), which has been in the works for over a decade.
India needs more support as it cannot stand against China on its own either militarily or economically. Some kind of message had to be sent. It doesn’t mean we are allying with the U.S.
The LEMOA, a modified logistics support agreement, addressing Indian concerns entails the militaries of two nations to share facilities for refuelling, supplies and spares.
The U.S. has similar arrangements with over 80 countries.

Iran assures India that they can be relied upon

Iran President Hassan Rouhani assured External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that his country could be a “reliable partner” for India’s energy needs, as the two nations decided expand engagements in their ties, particularly in the oil and gas sectors.
Ms. Swaraj called on Mr. Rouhani and held talks with her Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, besides meeting Ali Akbar Velayati, Adviser to Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and discussed a range of issues.
India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran following lifting of nuclear sanctions and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in the oil and gas and petrochemical and fertilizer sectors there.
India is keen on increasing oil imports from Iran from the current 3,50,000 barrels a day. Mr. Rouhani spoke of the Chabahar port as a “defining partnership which has the potential of connecting the entire region,”.
Enhancing energy cooperation and development of the Chabahar port were the centre-piece of talks which was mostly dominated by economic issues.
Mr. Rouhani, whose country shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, hoped for closer consultations with India on regional issues, especially Afghanis- tan and the challenge of terrorism.

:: International ::

Strong earthquake jolt Ecuador

Rescuers in Ecuador raced to dig out people trapped under the rubble of homes and hotels, after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 235.
Vice-President Jorge Glas called it the “worst seismic movement we have faced in decades”. In a news conference, he raised the toll to 235 killed and 1,557 injured.
The quake, which struck at 2358 GMT on Saturday about 170 km northwest of Quito, lasted about a minute and was felt across Ecuador, northern Peru and southern Colombia.
Ecuador lies near a shifting boundary between tectonic plates and has suffered seven earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher in the region of the quake since 1900, the USGS said. One in March 1987 killed about 1,000 people.

:: Business and Economy ::

Indian government wants World Bank to continue its concessional financing

Arun Jaitley has called on the World Bank to continue its concessional financing until 2030 and in- crease the development financing and non-concessional loans to $100 billion over the next five years.
During the ‘Spring Meetings’ interaction with various officials of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Mr. Jaitley said the ongoing revision of environmental and social standards required under the financing conditions must not “compromise the primacy of the development objective.”3
The largest recipient of World Bank loans, India has so for received $ 52.7 billion in commercial loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and $49.4 billion from the International Development Association (IDA) which is the Bank’s assistance programme for developing countries.
The finance minister said delivering the Bank’s SDG on development and reconstruction agenda would require large amounts of concessional and non-concessional finance.
All these call for a bigger-than-ever grant contributions based IDA replenishment. In fact, we will need quite a few such strong replenishments until 2030 if we were to achieve the goals of eliminating extreme poverty and other SDGs in IDA countries.
He called for increasing the current levels of $50-$60 billion per annum in concessional, non-concessional and private sector re- sources from the WB Group to $100 billion a year over the next five years.
IDA funds are meant for countries with per capita income up to $1,260 adjusted for purchasing power, and going by this technical definition India is no longer eligible for continued support.
This year, the 45-odd developed countries that contribute to the kitty are set to replenish it, as it happens once in three years. Amid global economic un- certainties support for India under this plan has ignited a debate in the Bank.
The framework will have significant implications for India that is grappling with environmental and social questions alongside its push for rapid economic development.
The ESF requires borrowing governments to ad- dress certain environmental and social risks in order to receive Bank’s financing for development projects.
Seeking reforms in IMF and World Bank to reflect a larger say for economies like India, Mr Jaitley has said the voting share of developing and transition countries (DTCs) in the multi—lateral lending agencies IBRD and IFC must be raised to 50 per cent, from the current 45.06 per cent in IBRD and 39.41 per cent in IFC.

Huge jump in FDI inflow in 2015

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country increased by 37 per cent to $39.32 billion during 2015.
The foreign investment inflows stood at $28.78 billion in 2014, according to data by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Computer hardware and software sector attracted the highest FDI, followed by services, trading business, automobile industry and chemicals.
Singapore emerged as the biggest FDI source, followed by Mauritius, US, Netherlands and Japan.
The government has taken several steps to promote investments through a liberal FDI policy. It has relaxed norms in sever- al sectors, including single brand retail, e-commerce and construction.

World economic outlook says India needs to be cautious about fiscal management

While several demand and supply side factors have resulted in a sharp fall in inflation and have given the RBI space to cut interest rates, there are several factors that could drive inflation up again, World Economic Outlook (WEO) says.
The government must continue on its fiscal consolidation path and focus on reforms, especially in the labour and infrastructure sectors, the report said.
It said India’s current account deficit would widen sharply to $94.7 billion by 2021.
The report does not indicate how the IMF has arrived at the figure. Consumer inflation would be at 5.3 per cent for the next two years and would ease by 2021.
The report said India would achieve its inflation target of 5 per cent in the first half of 2017, though it warned that an unfavourable monsoon and the effect of public sector wage increases could pose risks.
However, India Meteorological Department has said it is expecting an above-normal monsoon, with rainfall at 106 per cent of the long-term average. This, economists agree, should boost economic growth and keep inflation in check.
The WEO data show India’s CAD, which was at $26.2 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP in 2015, will widen to $51.8 billion (2.1 per cent of GDP) by 2017. The CAD is projected to hit $94.7 billion by 2021.
The IMF has retained its GDP growth forecast for India, adding that the main driver of this growth will be private consumption and investment.
While the IMF predicted that India’s GDP growth rate will be at 7.5 per cent in 2016 and 2017 (a shade higher than the 7.4 per cent predicted by the Asian Development Bank recently), it projected that this would accelerate to 7.8 per cent by 2021.

:: Science and Tech ::

Carbon sharing between trees

A chance discovery in a mixed forest in Switzerland reveals that tree-to-tree interaction in forests goes beyond mere competition for resources.
Forest trees are even more interconnected than thought, suggests a new study, which showed that around 40 per cent of the carbon in fine roots of spruce trees came from neighbouring trees.
This level of sharing can be crucial for forests, especially under stress conditions like wildfires.
Human-driven activities have been releasing vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere since industrialisation began two hundred years ago.
Consequently, there is a lot of interest in understanding to what degree forests the largest terrestrial pool of biological carbon, are able to absorb this amount, thereby mitigating climate change.
Much about the magnitude, direction and the regulation of these transfers is yet unclear.
Since all the trees in the study were healthy, and stress- free the authors acknowledged the possibility that the labelled trees were transferring its excess carbon below ground and, in turn, triggering mycorrhizal growth and activity.