Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 October 2016

:: National ::

NCW chief said Triple talaq a highly misused custom

National Commission of Women (NCW) Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said that triple talaq was a “highly misused” custom and it should be scrapped to protect the rights of Muslim women.
“Triple talaq is not a political issue. It is an effort to protect the rights of Muslim women. It cannot be linked to the Uniform Civil Code. It has nothing to do with it,” she said.
The NCW chief said she had received several representations from Muslim women who said they felt “disempowered” because of the practice of triple talaq.
Asked about the practices followed by other religions, she said: “It’s not a comparison of religious laws and customs.”
Banking sector hit by one of the biggest security breach
With India hit by one of its biggest financial security breaches compromising hundreds of thousands of debit cards, customers need to be doubly vigilant.
Opening the wrong attachment can also introduce a malware to your system. Never view, open or copy email attachments unless you are expecting the email and trust the sender.
The law is very clear. All banks are intermediaries under the Income Tax Act. Under Section 79 of the Act they are mandated to do due diligence.
In case banks are negligent in doing this, leading to a loss, it is the banks that will have to bear the brunt of the loss.
However, a bank may not be liable if it asks the customer to change his or her PIN but the customer chooses to ignore the advice.

Food securtiy related issues still on WTO agenda

The World Trade Organization (WTO) head, Roberto Azevêdo, has said no member country has sought long-standing issues, including food security-related, to be taken off the negotiating table of the Doha Round.
Agriculture, is a key priority for developing countries. Progress on these issues will be difficult but I think that with fresh thinking, open-mindedness, and a renewed spirit of flexibility, anything is possible.
The main objective of the Doha Round negotiations — unveiled in November 2001 — is to “improve the trading prospects of developing nations”. There are fears that the “development agenda” is being “diluted”.

Government will relax the conditions for farmers to kill wild boars

The Kerala government will relax the conditions for farmers to kill wild boars attacking their crops.
Threat posed by wild animals to crops and humans had forced the government to think of relaxing the conditional permit for farmers to shoot wild boars raiding crops in areas bordering the forests.
Pointing out that the wildlife population in the State was going up, he said habitat loss, climate change and farming in areas bordering forests were primarily responsible for wild animals venturing into human settlements.
Forests in Kerala were home to 6,177 elephants, 48,034 wild boars, 136 tigers, 50,000 monkeys and 44,000 deer.
Efforts were on to complete the work on elephant trenches, biofencing, granite walls and electrified fences and an SMS-based early warning system had been put in place in Wayanad, Munnar and Aralam.

Pakistan warned India against Indus water treaty voilation

Pakistan warned “appropriate action” if India violated the Indus Water Treaty and said it was closely monitoring the situation, amid reports that New Delhi might revisit the key water sharing accord.
Pakistan was keeping a close eye on the situation, Radio Pakistan quoted him as saying. Mr. Zakaria’s remarks come amid reports that India may review the 56-year-old Indus Water Treaty.
He said Pakistan was highlighting “Indian brutalities in Kashmir” at world fora and there had been “very substantive outcome” of these efforts but the international community remained concerned about the situation.
Responding to a question, he claimed that India violated ceasefire on the Line of Control for more than 90 times this year.
He also termed the Indian treatment to Pakistani artistes “very disappointing and highly regrettable” as he deplored India’s decision to “use SAARC for its political ambition,” according to the report.

:: International ::

UK to play important role in EU till it is a member

Theresa May, Prime Minister of United Kingdom (U.K.) vowed that Britain will play a full part in the European Union (EU) until it leaves.
Ms. May was to use the meeting in Brussels to update EU counterparts on her plan to start formal exit talks by the end of March, paving the way for Britain to leave the bloc by early 2019.
But as she arrived to take the seat, she made clear Brexit was not the only issue on the table, calling for a “robust and united” EU response to Russia’s “atrocities” in Syria.
EU president Donald Tusk repeated that there would be no negotiations before Britain triggers Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon treaty, which begins a two-year countdown to leaving.
Ms. May’s plan to trigger Article 50 by March, unveiled at her party conference earlier this month, has been welcomed by European leaders.
But she angered many member states by stating her intention to limit EU migration into Britain, while also seeking “maximum freedom” to operate in the EU’s single market.
European leaders have repeatedly said the two demands are incompatible, and warned London should expect to pay a heavy price for its decision to leave.

:: Business and Economy ::

Moody's report says India's infrastructure needs require PPP model

India’s infrastructure needs can be addressed by enhancing the public-private partnership (PPP) model, which will help attract more private sector investment, according to a Moody's Investors Service report.
While the country's PPP model has seen reasonable success in some sectors over the last 20 years, PPP activity has been low in the last four fiscal years due to challenges with the model.
The sharp drop in private investment in PPP projects in recent years was due to delays in project approvals and land purchases by the government.
Complicated dispute resolution mechanisms in concession agreements and lower than expected revenues due to aggressive assumptions.

Centre has turned optimistically cautious about regional connectivity scheme

A day ahead of its introduction, the Centre has turned “optimistically cautious” about its regional connectivity scheme, which aims to activate torpid airports and make flying a cheaper option.
Regional connectivity scheme will offer passengers air fares for Rs.2,500 for an hour’s journey to an unconnected airport. The Centre plans to revive dormant airports and attract regional airlines under the scheme.
To help airlines offer cheaper airfares on such flights, the Centre will provide subsidies to them by creating a regional connectivity fund. The fund will be financed by a levy on domestic flights on major routes.
However, most domestic airlines have termed the move illegal and are likely to challenge it in courts.
In a bid to make the scheme more attractive for lessors, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has issued draft rules to help aircraft leasing firms to take back aircraft quickly from defaulting airlines.
Minister of State Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that land and skill development were the two big bottlenecks grappling the aviation sector today.

:: Sports ::

India to face Thailand in kabaddi WC semifinal

Khomsan Thongkham has been one of the bright sparks in the ongoing World Cup. The lanky raider has inspired Thailand past four teams — Poland, Kenya, USA and Japan — carrying his team into the knock-out stages from Group-B.
Against India, Thailand’s prospects will depend heavily on Thongkham’s individual brilliance.
India, meanwhile, has been in rollicking form shaking off a shock defeat to Korea in the inaugural match of the competition.
Since the defeat to Korea, India has beaten Australia, Bangladesh, Argentina and England, with Pardeep Narwal (33 points) and Ajay Thakur (41 points) in superb raiding form.
Korea goes into the knock-outs as the only unbeaten team in the league. Its key player will be Jang Kun Lee.
All four semifinalists’ captains — Anup, Dong, Thongkham and Iran’s Meraj Sheykh — expressed hope that kabaddi would become an Olympic sport in the future.

Indian football team gets its best ranking till date

The Indian football team achieved its best FIFA ranking in over six years when the side jumped 11 places to be 137th in the latest list released.
India, which defeated 114th-ranked Puerto Rico in an international friendly in Mumbai in September, garnered 230 points for the month.
In August 2010, India was ranked 137th which stayed India’s best ever FIFA ranking since then.
National Coach Stephen Constantine sounded delighted but wasn’t willing to read too much into it.
“But this is just the beginning of the long-term plan we have for Indian football. I am certainly not over the moon as I feel my team can achieve much more,” he said.