Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 2 September 2017

::National::

Chinese government is trying to woo Kashmiri students

• Oblivious to the tensions that have recently marked India-China relations, Chinese medical universities have been splurging on advertisements in Kashmiri newspapers, promising “affordable” MBBS courses to students from the State.
• Fatima Jan, a counsellor with Srinagar-based Fayaz International Counselling Centre, that around 90 China-based and state-run medical universities are currently taking students from Kashmir for courses taught in English.
• This year, following an advertising blitz, half a dozen placement agencies in Srinagar have received over 200 queries on admission to MBBS courses in China. Similar queries at these centres were less than 20 last year.
• Traditionally, Bangladesh has been the preferred destination for aspirants from the Valley.
• Apart from MBBS, students in Jammu and Kashmir are looking at China for other specialised courses.
• This year, counsellors are also offering MBBS seats in countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan.
• A Kashmir-like climate and cultural links, especially food, “attract students to Central Asian countries.”

PM Modi to visit Xiamen, China, to address the BRICS summit

• A week after the end of Doklam standoff, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Xiamen, China, to address the BRICS summit, where he is likely to take up regional and global issues.
• The External Affairs Ministry has said India will sign four BRICS-level agreements during the summit which will be followed by Mr. Modi’s three-day visit to Myanmar.
• Discussions during the restricted session of BRICS will focus on global economic issues, national security, and development-related issues which will be followed by a plenary session when leaders will discuss practical cooperation and cultural exchanges.
• Govt refused to confirm if a bilateral meeting would take place between Mr. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit and indicated that details are still sketchy.

After two decades Assam government issued orders for AFSPA

• For the first time since 1990, the Assam government issued orders declaring the State a “disturbed area”, imposing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for six months.
• Such orders were earlier issued by the Union Home Ministry, which recently gave up its power and asked the State government to decide on continuing the enforcement of the AFSPA in the State.
• Under Section 3 of the Act, it can be invoked in places “where the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary”.
• Except in the case of Tripura and Manipur, the Centre had been issuing such notifications for Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The decision comes a year after the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016.
• The AFSPA gives powers to the Army and Central forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to kill anyone acting in contravention of the law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant.
• On August 4, the Home Ministry extended the AFSPA in Assam for 27 days, which expired on August 31.

::International::

WB govt to distribute UNHCR refugee cards to Rohigya children

• The West Bengal government will distribute identity cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to Rohigya children lodged in the juvenile justice homes of the State.
• The UNHCR says some 16,500 Rohingya from Myanmar are registered with it in India.
• The government issues long-term visas to refugees which ease their access to public services and employment in the private sector.
• Because of some recent changes to the documentation processes, some refugees have reportedly been facing challenges in accessing public services and opening bank accounts.
• The UNHCR advocates that the long-term visas and refugee cards continue to be recognised to facilitate their access to these services.
• While there are no fixed settlement of Rohingyas in West Bengal, most of them are in prisons.
• The data available for the period till August 2015 show that 83 Rohingyas, including women and children, are lodged in prisons and 27 had completed their term.

::Business and Economy::

NITI Aayog vice-chairman says growth to rebound to 7.5%

• The new Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar said he was confident that India’s growth would rebound to 7%-7.5% in the current quarter after declining for five consecutive quarters.
• He also categorically dismissed any link between the slowdown in growth and demonetisation.
• As per official data, India’s GDP grew at 5.7% between April to June this year, the slowest pace in 13 quarters.
• “I am confident that in the July-September quarter, economy will grow by minimum 7-7.5% because re-stocking has started, there is more clarity on the GST and there is prediction for a good monsoon,”.
• Dr. Kumar said there cannot be any link between demonetisation and slowdown in GDP because re-monetisation started in the first week of January.
• He reasoned that the decline was mainly due to the fact that the April-June quarter saw active de-stocking by firms in anticipation of GST.
• Citing the surge in private firms lining up for IPOs to raise funds and the buoyancy in the capital markets, Dr. Kumar said that private investment was picking up.
• Terming the revival of private investment his major priority after job creation, he said that India was a country of entrepreneurs and private investors who accounted for 70% to 80% of total investments.
• The corporate sector wants to invest because that’s the business they are in.
• “If they are not investing, and this is changing already as a large number of IPOs are now lined up, it has been because there has been a demand deflation. There are excess capacities in the system and a large number of corporate houses are stuck with weak balance sheets.”
• Terming employment his top priority, Dr. Kumar said it was not important if India faced unemployment or under-employment.

Govt to fulfill all the formalities before merger of PSBs

• The Centre dashed off a letter to public sector banks asking them to start the merger process immediately and their respective boards to take up the issue.
• The government said the approval requirement of Competition Commission to expedite mergers among PSBs had been done away with.
• According to senior bank officials who received the communication, the government cited the Narasimham committee report and highlighted the need for large-sized bank that could fund the huge infrastructure need of the country.
• Bankers said this was the first time in recent history that an official communication had come from the government to the banks asking them to start the merger process.
• The Centre has provided a broad framework to the banks to take the merger exercise forward.
• According to the framework, once the board approves the merger plan, it has to be sent to the ‘alternative mechanism’approved by the Union Cabinet. Banks have also been asked to seek the banking regulator’s view regarding their proposal.
• Bankers said the government had also started preparing the ground to remove certain hurdles for consolidation, such as doing away with the approval from Competition Commission.
• Some bankers said the government would wait till the Q2 results, which will be out by the first week of November, before finally deciding which bank will be merged with whom.

Tax officials should make every effort to bring all traders into GST net

• Tax officials should make every effort to bring all traders, including smaller businesses with turnover of less than Rs. 20 lakh, into the Goods and Services Tax (GST) net, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told taxmen.
• Currently, traders with less than Rs. 20 lakh annual turnover have to register under GST only if they are supplying goods to other States.
• PM said that in order to enable all traders to take the maximum benefit of GST, we should work towards ensuring that all traders, including even relatively smaller traders with a turnover of below Rs. 20 lakh, should register with the GST system.
• Urging tax officials to fix clear targets for sprucing up tax administration by 2022, the PM said his government was creating an environment that shattered the confidence of the corrupt, while creating trust among honest taxpayers.
• He asked the officers to use data analytical tools to pro-actively track and determine undeclared income. Mr. Modi also asked taxmen to improve their work-culture and inculcate a “sense of urgency” and “measurability” in their performance.

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