Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 28 May 2016

:: National ::

The Indian Air Force test-fired a land-attack version of BrahMos, in the western sector

The Indian Air Force successfully test-fired a land-attack version of the supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, in the western sector.
The flight-trial which took place in a firing range in the western sector, met its mission parameters, a BrahMos press release said. The missile destroyed a designated target.
Its accuracy in mountain warfare mode was re-established during a campaign by the Army in the eastern sector last year and repeated last month.
This brings to light that the IAF too has been equipped with the land-attack version of BrahMos, which flies at a supersonic speed of Mach 3. The Navy and the Army have already deployed the two-stage missile, which has a range of 290 km.
The IAF had deployed the missile in the border areas to take out the enemy’s communication towers, runways, and radar in case of a conflict.
The IAF is preparing to fire the air version of BrahMos from its Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft in the coming weeks.

Defence minister says Tejas would be the mainstay of the Indian Air Force

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas would be the mainstay of the Indian Air Force and would likely replace the entire MIG-21 fleet of almost 250 fighters.
“LCA is mainstay. There will be seven squadrons of it. It is 3-4 times better than MiG-21s,” he told while giving an overview of the IAF modernisation plans.
About 250 MiG-21s were in service, most of which would be phased out in the next 10-15 years, Mr. Parrikar said, adding that they would be “replaced by the LCA and another single-engine fighter.”
Mirage and Jaguar upgrade programmes were currently under way which, Mr. Parrikar said, would add 10-30 years to their life.
The improved version of LCA referred to as Mk-1A with four major improvements over the Mk-1 variant has been offered by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as an interim measure in view of the delay in LCA-MK2.
However, the LCA being a single-engine, light-weight fighter, it has its limitations, which is why another twin-engine fighter would be needed other than the Rafale.
Functionally, the LCA is better than many other foreign fighters. It reacts very smoothly, fly-by-wire, its turn radius is very good, manoeuvrability is very good but it has limitation in the sense that it is a light combatant.
It cannot go into deep penetration… It is mostly good for dogfights in your own sky or to degrade the opponent Army’s command posts,” Mr. Parrikar observed

T.S.R. Subramanian committee submitted its report to the HRD Ministry

A committee headed by the former Cabinet secretary T.S.R. Subramanian for the evolution of the soon-to-be-announced national education policy submitted its report to the Human Resource Development Ministry.
The Committee has examined the large body of outcome documents, recommendations and suggestions received from the various consultations.
The Committee also had several meetings with various stakeholders and held regional consultations as well as undertaken field visits to educational institutions.

:: International ::

US President paid moving tribute to victims of the first atomic bomb

Barack Obama paid moving tribute to victims of the first atomic bomb, offering a comforting embrace to a tearful man who survived the devastating attack on Hiroshima.
In a ceremony loaded with symbolism, the first sitting U.S. President to visit the city clasped hands with one survivor and hugged another after speaking about the day that marked one of the most terrifying chapters of World War-II.
Mr. Obama also chatted with a smiling Sunao Tsuboi (91), who had earlier said he wanted to tell the U.S. President how grateful he was for his visit.
The trip comes more than seven decades after the Enola Gay bomber dropped its deadly atomic payload, dubbed “Little Boy”, over the western Japanese city.
The bombing claimed the lives of 140,000 people.
As expected, Mr. Obama offered no apology for the bombings, having insisted that he would not revisit decisions made by Truman at the close of a brutal war.
Shinzo Abe praised the “courage” of the visit, which he said offered hope for a nuclear free future.

Russian President in Greece to reinforce their relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Greece in a visit aimed at reinforcing a relationship with one of his few friends in the European Union (EU) amid tensions with the West.
The visit comes at a low ebb in relations between Russia and Europe over the conflict in Ukraine that broke out in 2014, with sanctions still in force against Moscow.
It also comes as Athens desperately seeks to come out of recession. Greek officials say increased trade with Russia could play a part in recovery efforts.
EU leaders are to discuss next month whether to renew sanctions on Russia’s banking, defence and energy sectors that expire in July.
While the sanctions are likely to be extended, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said resistance is growing within the EU to extending them, and a unanimous vote is required.
Italy and Hungary have been among the most sceptical while Poland and the Baltic states have repeatedly pressed for maintaining pressure on Moscow.
Greek leader Alexis Tsipras, urged Europe to cooperate with Russia, and to move away from what he branded a futile cycle of sanctions and militarisation.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee promises to increase oil and gas production

With a view to overturn the existing U.S. policies, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has promised to increase oil and gas production and to incentivise fracking, while ridiculing renewable energy technologies.
This is the first time that he has promised to scrap the deal altogether. Throughout his campaign season, he has been stating that he would “at minimum renegotiate” the Paris deal.
Republicans and conservatives have been increasingly sceptical of the science of climate change, while Democrats and liberals are convinced of the phenomenon and that human interventions caused it.
For Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s position could turn out to be advantageous.
While there is convergence between Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders on a range of popular issues, climate change is one topic that places them miles apart.
Jobs and wages are the primary issues likely to determine the polls this year and both Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton articulate their respective positions within that framework.
Mr. Trump has said that a regulation or rule should be tested by the single question of whether or not it is “good for the American worker”.
He holds that climate priorities are damaging the American economy and its workers. Ms. Clinton on the other hand, has been trying to project the challenges posed by climate change as a big opportunity to create jobs in clean technologies.
When it comes to the India-U.S. bilateral ties, combating climate change has been repeatedly cited as a key area of cooperation.
One of the main arguments in favour of the civil nuclear deal was that it will reduce carbon emissions in a fast growing economy.

:: Science and Technology ::

New Biochip for cancer detection

Scientists have created a hydrogel-based biochip with 3D cells to help diagnose colorectal cancer — the third most common type of cancer.
Bowel cancer i.e. colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer and it develops with minimal clinical symptoms in the early stages. Despite doctors' efforts, the 5-year survival rate does not exceed 36%.
Treatment is only effective, and patients only have a good chance of recovery, if the cancer is detected early.
Diagnostic methods that are currently in use are not sufficient.
Analyses carried out in vitro have low specificity and invasive studies such as colonoscopy are not only traumatic.
they are also not always suitable for an early diagnosis, as they do not give a complete picture of the development and distribution of colorectal cancer.

:: India and World ::

US to support India’s bid to NSG

The U.S. Senate is likely to pass an amendment to the 2017 National Defence Authorisation Act that seeks to ease defence trade with India to the level of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies and close partners of the U.S.
The House of Representatives has already passed amendments similar to the proposed Senate Bill, but the details vary between the two.
U.S. legislative process requires both Chambers to reconcile their individual versions of similar Bills, and pass a combined version before sending for the approval of the President.
Once the President signs them into law, the amendments will enable defence trade between the U.S. and India on automatic route for a range of equipment, bypassing the bureaucratic and legislative hurdles in the existing case by case approval process.
The amendment Bill incorporates provisions from the stand-alone ‘Advancing U.S.-India Defence Cooperation’ Bill moved earlier by Senators Mark Warner and John Cornyn earlier this month.

:: Business and Economy ::

FDI inflow recorded $40 billion

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India increased by 29 per cent to a record $40 billion during in the financial year ended March.
If re-invested earnings ($10 billion), other capital ($4.4 billion) and equity capital of unincorporated bodies ($1 billion) are taken into account along with $40 billion worth equity inflows, the total FDI flows in FY'16 is the highest-ever at $55.4 billion.
The FDI equity inflows in March 2016 went up by 16.5 per cent to $2.46 billion, according to data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Of the FDI inflows (equity) in FY'16, services sector attracted maximum investments of $6.88 billion followed by computer hardware and software ($5.90 billion), trading business ($3.84 billion) and automobile industry ($2.52 billion).
Maximum inflows (equity) were from Singapore ($13.69 billion), followed by Mauritius ($8.35 billion), the US ($4.19 billion), the Netherlands ($2.64 billion) and Japan ($2.61 billion).
The previous highest FDI inflow was in FY12 when the country received $46.55 billion, which was a 34 per cent increase over $34.8 billion it got in FY11.
However, India recorded its largest-ever percentage increase in FDI when it received $22.8 billion in FY07, representing a 155 per cent increase over the $8.9 billion in FY06.

The Centre is set to regulate private employment agencies

The Centre is set to regulate private employment agencies by amending the contract labour law of 1971.
The agencies won't be allowed to take money from candidates for jobs and hiring agencies who “dupe workers' would soon be weeded out.
The labour ministry would have to amend the contract labour Act of 1970. According to him, some quarters have looked upon contract workers as undesirable due to the industrial unrest in recent years, stemming from poor quality of jobs and the individuals being vulnerable to false hopes.
There are several staffing agencies that dupe people in the guise of getting them employed after charging them hefty amounts.
Trade unions are also in favour of the regulation. “The number of staffing agencies is growing and is largely unregulated and they mislead the workers.
There is no official website to check the authenticity of a particular agency. We need transparency and trade unions are willing to make the regulation a success,” Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh general secretary said.

Tata group made foray into eco mercy throug TataCLiQ.com

The 148-year-old Tata Group has made a foray into the Indian ecommerce market through TataCLiQ.com.
The venture will sell apparel, electronics and footwear among other products.
Currently, there are only 30 million regular online shoppers in India and there is immense potential to bring the next 100 million.
The group said it developed the Tata Cliq website over a year-and-a-half at a cost of “several hundred million dollars”.
The site would act as a marketplace for its in-house and partner companies. The venture marks a new direction for the salt-to-steel conglomerate which has so far focused on physical retail stores.
Customers can order online at TataCLiQ and get the items home-delivered or pick them up at designated stores, a model the company termed “phygital,” a combination of physical and digital.
“Phygital” play can be a game changer in e-commerce, significantly enhancing customer experience while reducing logistics and delivery costs for a long-term, profitable business.
Start-ups Flipkart, Snapdeal and U.S.-based Amazon are battling it out for market share in the country.
E-commerce giant Alibaba is looking to enter the India market. By 2025, online merchandise sales will hit $220 billion in India from $11 billion last year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.