Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

01 April 2016

:: NATIONAL :

Classifying SUVs are used by super rich who wants to show off, SC extends ban

• Classifying powerful, high-end diesel private cars and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) as “vehicles used by the super-rich who want to show-off”, the Supreme Court refused to lift the ban ordered on their fresh registration in the National Capital Region.

• The court had banned registration of diesel-run private cars of the capacity of 2000 CC and above and SUVs on December 2015, in a bid to cut down air pollution in the city. The ban was to continue till March 31, 2016.

• Lawyers pointed out that some SUVs like Toyota Innova and Tata Sumo with over 2000 CC engine capacity could hardly be described as luxury cars.

• Putting a check on this strain of argument, Chief Justice Thakur asked whether there was any study to prove that diesel caused less pollution than petrol cars.

• The court further mooted the idea of making bigger car owners pay pollution charges in case the ban on fresh registration in the NCR was lifted in the future.

• The court, however, extended till April 30 the deadline for taxis to switch to CNG.

• The court had earlier ordered that all taxis, including those operating under aggregators like Ola and Uber in Delhi, plying under city permits, shall switch to CNG not later than March 1, 2016.

• Noting that it was sensitive about the dent the ban has caused to the economy, the Bench asked the car companies to come up with possible alternatives to curb the rising air pollution in the city.

Telecom operators moves to SC against TRAI

• Cellular operators questioned the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) move to penalise them with the new call drops regulations when they had never exceeded the two per cent margin for errors fixed by the telecom regulator.

• A Bench of Justices hearing a challenge posed by the COAI to TRAI’s controversial Telecom Consumers Protection (9th Amendment) Regulations, 2015.

• The regulations make telcos liable to compensate consumers for call drops from January 2016.

• In the maiden hearing of the case on March 17, telco’s had argued that the very fact that the TRAI gave two percent margin for errors meant it accepted the inevitability of call drops.

• TRAI, said they would in due course address the Bench on TRAI’s stand to the court's query as to whether the telecom regulator would consider amending the regulations.

2.2 km long Vivekanand Flyover collapsed in north Kolkata

• At least 21 people were killed and 88 injured as two parts of an under-construction 2.2-km-long Vivekananda Flyover collapsed in a congested market area in BurraBazar, north Kolkata.

• The Army was called in to help with the rescue.

• A 100-metre (330-ft) section of the flyover came crashing down suddenly on a crowded street around lunchtime, crushing pedestrians, cars and other vehicles under huge concrete slabs and metal.

• The death toll is likely to increase as scores of people inside vehicles were trapped under the collapsed bridge.

• An FIR has been lodged against the local officials of the Hyderabad-based IVRCL, contracted to build the giant flyover.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Ms. Banerjee and offered all Central government assistance to her.

• The National Disaster Response Force deployed five of its teams. Specialist rescue teams armed with concrete and metal cutters, drilling machines, sensors and sniffer dogs reached the venue.

:: International ::

Sri Lankan Govt. firm on demilitarising the Northern Province

• The recent seizure of a host of arms in Jaffna and Mannar of the Northern Province will not have any adverse bearing on the Sri Lankan government’s plan for demilitarising the North, according to Defence Secretary KarunasenaHettiarachchi.

• However, he hastened to add that demilitarisation is “not the right word. What we say is right-sizing and right-deployment” of security forces.”

• Thee police found at a house in Chavakachcheri a suicide kit, four claymore mines, three parcels of C4 (Composition 4) explosives and ammunition, weighing 12 kg.

• Govt. Said that “isolated instances” did not constitute threat to national security. “The media and the Opposition are highlighting them, but we take them on the merit of the incident.”

• Already, members of the Joint Opposition, a coalition of parties and groups owing allegiance to former president MahindaRajapaksa argue that the country’s security was in danger.

• Meanwhile, a study on the status of occupation of land by the authorities revealed that about 12,750 acres in the Northern Province are still under the military’s control.

• Continued land occupation by the military and police fuels suspicion of plans to use land to effect demographic change and ultimately, impact electoral representation of the area.

• Such fears must be addressed if the GOSL [Government of Sri Lanka] is genuine in its commitment to reconciliation.

• It recommended complete implementation of the 13{+t}{+h}constitutional amendment.

VojislavSeselj acquitted of all charges by UN court

• In a sweeping defeat for UN prosecutors, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal acquitted Serbian ultranationalist VojislavSeseljof all nine counts alleging that he was responsible for or incited atrocities by Serbian paramilitaries in the 1990s Balkan wars.

• Prosecutors had charged Seselj, 61, with crimes including persecution, murder and torture and had demanded a 28-year sentence.

• But in a majority decision, the three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence linking the politician himself to the crimes.

• At a Belgrade news conference shortly after his acquittal, Seselj, who defended himself throughout his trial and did not call a single defence witness, said the decision was “the only possible one from the legal aspect.”

• He said “After so many proceedings in which innocent Serbs were given draconian punishments, this time two honest judges showed they valued honour more than political pressure.”

• The court’s chief prosecutor, questioned a number of key findings by two of the three trial judges.He almost certainly will appeal, but said that he first has to study the100-page ruling and its dissenting opinions.

The 13th India-EU summit concluded with many agreements

• The 13th India-EU Summit concluded in Brussels without a consensus on a bilateral free trade deal known as the BTIA (Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement) even as progress was made in bilateral cooperation in other fields -- from foreign policy to outer space.

• The talks were a culmination of efforts to kick-start a relationship that has been flagging for at least four years. The very fact that they occurred made them significant.

• The discussions on trade involved an expression of ambitions and degrees of flexibility from both sides.

• India has been pushing for opening European markets for its services sector and the movement of people to deliver those services while the EU has been keen on reducing or abolishing tariffs in several sectors, including in the automobile and wine and spirits sectors.

• The Brussels meetings evidently did not see the closing of gaps between the two sides.

• There was some promise of action that would be taken in areas such as water, climate and energy, with the adoption of joint declarations on the India-EU Water Partnership and a Clean Energy and Climate Partnership.

• Government-to-government and business-to-business level meetings to exchange best practices in these areas, including deadlines for setting the work programmes in some instances, have been agreed.

• The cost of these programs will be borne by the parties that incur them. India is no longer eligible for development assistance from the EU.

• However, India will still have access to concessional loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

• India and the EIB signed the first tranche of a Euro 450-million-loan at the Summit towards the construction of a metro rail line planned in Lucknow.

• The joint declarations and Agenda for Action suggest that the EU has specifically courted Mr. Modi on several of his pet projects including the ‘Clean India’ initiative and the ‘Ganga Rejuvenation Initiative,’ where the EU will help in developing a solution to clean up the river as well as developing legal and governance frameworks for managing the basin.

• The two sides agreed to cooperate in countering violent extremism, disrupt recruitment of terrorists and prevent the free passage of foreign fighters in a joint declaration on counter terrorism, which also called for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UN.

• They have also agreed to explore the possibility of India and EUROPOL, the EU’s law enforcement agency, to share intelligence.

• The Agenda also includes the prevention of human trafficking and promoting international protection as priority areas. Points of special interest to India on the agenda are likely to be easier visa procedures for skilled workers, IT professionals, and business travellers.

• Regarding ‘sensitive issues’ that were to be discussed at the summit, both parties have officially expressed their confidence in the legal processes of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where the case of the Italian marines, MassimilianoLatorre and Salvatore Girone, is currently being heard.

• The EU also expressed a swift solution, “through due process of law” in the case of MV Seaman Guard Ohio, where 14 Estonians and six Britons were arrested in 2013 and sentenced in India.

• One of the ostensible reasons for stalled talks between the European Union (EU) and India had been the EU’s concern over human right violations in India.

• A joint statement from India and the EU yesterday reiterates the importance that both countries officially accord human rights and the rights of women.

Eight core industries grew at fastest pace in 15 months

• Output from the eight core infrastructure industries grew at the fastest pace in 15 months, clocking a 5.7 per cent growth in February, driven by a robust growth in cement and fertilisers.

• Analysts said these core sector numbers bode well for overall industrial output to recover from three successive months of contraction, and register a 3 per cent to 4 per cent growth in February.

• The core sectors constitute around 38 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

• The core sector growth number for February is encouraging at 5.7 per cent with a fairly diversified picture across: steel, electricity, refinery products and fertilisers.

• This high growth should hopefully translate into an IIP growth rate of 3-4 per cent for February.

• However, the numbers don’t point to a full-scale revival yet as a similar growth levels needs to be sustained in the next few months.

• While production of fertilisers and cement posted a double-digit growth of 16.3 per cent (from fall in output by 0.4 per cent in February 2014) and 13.5 per cent (from 2.2 per cent), respectively, that of electricity rose to a five-month high of 9.2 per cent.

• Among all core sector industries, only steel saw a fall in output in February, by 0.5 per cent, against a decline of 0.6 per cent in February last year. In January, the output of crude oil, natural gas and steel had declined.

Safeguard duty on steel imports extended till Mar 2018

• The government has extended safeguard duty on steel imports till March 2018. The move is aimed at protecting the Indian industry from cheap China steel.

• The 20 per cent safeguard duty will apply to import of “hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel in coils of a width of 600 mm or more” till September 13, 2016.

• Thereafter, it will drop in a staged manner to 18 per cent between September 14, 2016 and March 13, 2017, 15 per cent from March 14, 2017 to September 13, 2017, and 10 per cent between September 14, 2017 and March 13, 2018.

• China had, in the face of a domestic economic slowdown last year, increased its steel exports, which attracted duties in several markets such as India and the European Union.

• The Director General (Safeguards), had in September 2015, come to the conclusion that “increased imports of subject goods (steel goods) into India had caused and threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry.”

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Facing objection from intelligence agencies Govt. stayed away from global terror database

• The government has decided not to join a U.S. maintained global terror database in the face of objections from the intelligence agencies.

• Unhindered access to the Americans to the database of terror suspects in India, which includes their biometric details, was opposed by both the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), a senior official in the security establishment said.

• The proposal has been stuck since it was initially proposed by the U.S. in 2012.

• A model text of the proposal — the Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-6) — was to be discussed at a bilateral homeland security meet to be held in June this year.

• The HSPD-6 is an agreement for exchange of terrorist screening information between the Terrorist Screening Centre (TCS) of the U.S. and a selected Indian security agency. The TCS has the database of 11,000 terror suspects.

• In the past one year two dozen people with terrorist links were arrested in Canada and Australia with the help of HSPD-6 as both countries are signatories to it.

• There have been several rounds of discussions between India and the U.S. in the past one year on the issue. Both sides narrowed down their differences on several key aspects.

US Secretary of State says India is responsible in securing nuclear material

• India has a very important role to play in securing nuclear weapons and nuclear materials, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “India has a long record of being a leader, of being responsible,” Mr Kerry said, after a meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

• He also said that “It is particularly important right now at a time when we see in the region some choices being made that may accelerate possible arms construction, which we have serious questions about”.

• The U.S. has repeatedly said battlefield deployments make nuclear weapons vulnerable to theft and sabotage and has called upon Pakistan to desist from the move. Pakistan has turned down the U.S. request.

• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was scheduled to participate in the summit, cancelled his visit after the Easter Sunday terror strike in Lahore.

• Mr Doval said Mr. Modi was “deeply interested in seeing and ensuring that the safety and security of the radioactive material must be ensured.”

:: SPORTS ::

India lost in semifinals

• No team has won a Twenty20 International at the Wankhede Stadium after losing the toss.

• India made a strong case to reverse the trend, but Lendl Simmons had other ideas. West Indies won the World Twenty20 semifinal encounter by seven wickets and two balls to spare.

• Man-of-the-match Simmons, who led a charmed life — twice out on a no ball — led the charge with a 51-ball 83 not out. His knock included seven fours and five sixes.

• Andre Russell 43 (20b, 3x5, 4x6), who hit the winning run, gave Simmons good company from the 14th over when the West Indies was 116 for three.

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