Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 09 February 2016

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

09 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

David Headley made revelations about ISI, JuD

In an important turn in the 2008 Mumbai attacks trial, Lashkar operative David Headley named Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed as the head of the Lashkar-e- Taiba.
During his deposition before a special court here via video-conferencing from the U.S., he identified Pakistani Army officers associated with the ISI.
Lashkar handlers Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi had also been named by Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani gunman who was executed for his role in 26/11, in his confession statement in 2008.
Notably, Headley named Major Ali and Major Iqbal of the ISI and Lashkar commander Sajid Mir as his contacts in Pakistan.
He also said the 10 people involved in the 26/11 attacks had made two previous attempts on Mumbai.
The first, in September 2008,failed as the boat, which started from outside Kara- chi, ran into some rocks and sank. The weapons and explosives were lost in the sea.
The second attempt took place a month later. It was Mir who informed Headley of the two attempts.
Headley, who was convicted in the U.S. for his role in the Mumbai attacks, gave his statement before special judge G.A. Sanap.
Testifying as a prosecution witness from an undisclosed location in the U.S., he confinedhimself to the information he divulged following his plea bargain agreement with the American government in 2010.
Terming his deposition “live evidence,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said it was a “statement of oath” of a person directly involved in the criminal conspiracy.

TRAI barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates for data services, effectively prohibiting Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero platform in their current form.
It said the prohibition was necessary to keep the Internet open and non-discriminatory.
TRAI said a fine of Rs. 50,000 would be levied per day, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakh, for any violation of these regulations. An exemption, however, has been made for offering emergency services.
Ruling out case-by- case approval for plans that might be priced differently, the regulator said a clear policy should be formulated.
The regulator and Facebook have been at loggerheads over the issue with the authority terming the social networking giant’s attempt to lobby for its Free Basics initiative a “crude” attempt at turning the consultation over differential pricing of data services into an “orchestrated opinion poll” on Free Basics.
Facebook had partnered with Reliance Communications in India to ofer Free Basics service. However, the services were put in abeyance, post a TRAI order to this effect.
TRAI said tariff for data services could not vary on the basis of the website/ application/ platform/ or type of content being accessed.
For example, a consumer could not be charged differently based on whether she was browsing social media site A or B, or on whether she was watching streaming videos or shopping on the Internet.

After six days under ice a soldier miraculously found alive in Siachen

The Army found a solider alive and retrieved the body of another from a huge mound of snow and ice, triggered by an avalanche in Siachen Glacier, in Ladakh region, where a search operation is on for six days now.
Lance Naik Hanamanthappa has been found alive. He is critical but allattempts are being made to evacuate him to RR Hospital in the morning. We hope the miracle continues. Pray with us.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

China and Russia both against deploying anti-missile defence shield by US in South Korea

China and Russia have slammed the possible deployment of an American anti-missile defence shield in South Korea following North Korea’s satellite launch.
China’s said that China is “deeply concerned” about the decision by the US and the Republic of Korea to start official negotiations on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ( THAAD) system.
The THAAD system comprises advanced U.S. Anti-missile defence batteries.
Analysts say that eachTHAAD missile batterywould cost $1.3 billion andwill be capable of coveringhalf or two-thirds of SouthKorean airspace.
China said deployment of these weapons would escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula. In turn, this would undermine regional peace and stability, and set back efforts to address the current situation.
On the other hand, Washington is of the view that following North Korea’s nuclear test in January, the THAAD system would be required to protect the 27,000 American troops that have been deployed in South Korea.

United Madhesi Democratic Front ( UMDF) ends five month old blockade

Days before the visit to India by Nepal’s Prime Minister, the United Madhesi Democratic Front (UMDF) declared an end to the five- month-old blockade which was started as a protest against the new Constitution of Nepal promulgated.
intense parleys between Indian and Nepali interlocutors have convinced the Madhesi rebels to stop the blockade which has created a major domestic disturbance in Nepal and hurt India-Nepal ties.
The Madhesis, however, have threatened to re-launch the blockade in case the key demand for creating two States for the Madhesi region is not met by the Kathmandu leadership.
The government of Mr. Oli has promised to implement a series of amendments in the Nepali Constitution to in- crease Madhesi representation in the government, politics and society.

Transition process from military to democracy started in Myanmar

The names ofMyanmar’s next President and two Vice-Presidents will be revealed on March 17, setting a clear timeline for the transition of power from a military-con- trolled government to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
Positive results could come out on the negotiation for the suspension of the Constitution’s Article 59 (f).”The provision which says anyone with a foreign spouse of children cannot hold the executive office, bars Ms. Suu Kyi from becoming President.
Parliament chairman Mann Win Khaing Than announced that the upper house, the lower House and the military will have to select one candidate each for the three posts before March 17.
Once the three names are put before the 664-member Parliament, all members will take a vote.
The person with the largest number of votes will become President, and the other two will be Vice- Presidents.
The current President’s term ends March 31 and the successor must take office April 1.

:: SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY ::

India’s sun mission Aditya-L1 will be launched in 2019

Aditya-L1, the Indian sun mission due after three years, may turn out to be a unique formation of not one but two spacecraft looking at the sun from two stable orbital points.
Aditya is the nation’s third big extra-terrestrial outing after moon and Mars, all conceived and designed by AD- COS, the multi-faculty body of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
ISRO has started activities to send a 400-kg spacecraft to look at the sun from a special stable orbital slot called L1 around 2019-20. L1 or ‘Lagrangian’ point # 1 is about 1.5 million km from Earth towards the sun.
There are four more Lagrangian points L2 to L5 for sun and Earth where space objects can resist the pulls ofboth the celestial bodies and stay relatively stable in that orbit.
According to ADCOS Chairman, and former ISRO chief and cosmic ray scientist U.R. Rao, a second spacecraft can be sent to Point L5, about 1.3 million km away and at a 30-degree angle to L1, for a fuller picture of the sun. It could follow L1 a few months or a year apart.
ADCOS has designed the 2008 Chandrayaan-1; its future sequel; the 2013 Mars Orbiter Mission and is weighing the pros of either a second Mars mission or a Venus trip — the last of which is attracting other space agencies as potential partners.
The first task is to build a few ultra-sensitive instruments to accurately measure minute details about the sun.
Dr. Rao said the bigger challenge is to create an all-aluminium 20-metre-high magnetic test facility near Bengaluru to specially assemble and test the spacecraft and instruments in a magnetically clean manner with “not one electric material, not even a car, being nearby”.

:: INDIA and World ::

India and UAE set to engage in various fields after Prince’s visit

India and the Unit- ed Arab Emirates are set to strengthen cyber security mechanism to track radicalisation of youth in South Asia and West Asian region.
Over the last several months, India-UAE cooperation has prevented several radicalised youths from joining the ranks of the Islamic State (IS).
Both sides are expected to sign a number of agreements on cyber security and law enforcement during the February 10-12 visit by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Security collaboration has become the centrepiece of India-UAE cooperation, especially since Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dubai in August 2015.
Cyber security experts have point- ed out that the cooperation between the UAE and India on cyber security has helped in tracking radicalisation in
India as well as inside Pakistan. Agreements on security and cyber security will be part of a total of 16 agreements that are expected to be signed during the visit which will also include an agreement on nuclear research and development, and aerospace collaborations.

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

Third quarter growth at 7.3 percent

Economic growth slowed in thethird quarter to 7.3 per cent from arevised 7.7 percent, the CentralStatistics Office (CSO) reported
The Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) is now estimatedto accelerate to a five-year high of7.6 per cent for the 12-month period ending March 31.
The higher growth in FY16 willbe possible thanks to robust out put in the services sector and a revival in industrial production,though concerns remain on theagriculture front. The 7.6 per centgrowth projection for this fiscalwill be the fastest pace since 8.9per cent recorded inFY11
The 7.3 per centgrowth in Q3 will alsomake India the fastestgrowing economy inthe world, faster thanChina which witnessed a 6.8 percent growth in the same period.
The growth estimates come at a time when several experts have expressed concernabout the methodology used tocompute the GDP and asked thegovernment to look into possiblediscrepancies as they feel it does not seem to accurately reflectground realities.
This includesweak (global and) domestic demand, exports shrinking for 13straight months and troubled balance sheets of banks and corporates especially those operating inthe infrastructure sector.
The government, however, claims the new methodology ofGDP calculation is an improvement over the previous one as itbetter collates the value additionthat happens in the entire supplychain of goods and services

Sugar mills want cane policy overhaul

Tamil Nadu, the country’s fourth largest sugarcaneproducing state, needs tooverhaul its policy and rationalise taxes to ensure them ills are profitable, a top official of Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said.
The current policy puts theburden solely on the millswhich is both “unreasonableand unaffordable
The state had four lakhfarmers and 45 sugar mills.Tamil Nadu accounts for seven to nine per cent of thecountry’s total sugar production of 260 lakh tonne.
Currently, the Tamil Nadugovernment has fixed theState Advised Price atRs.2,850 per tonne for 2015-16 sugar season, which was Rs.550 more than the Fair andRemunerative Price fixed bythe Centre. This was the highest in the country, if one considered the sugar recovery ratio
According to ISMA, sugarmills in Tamil Nadu were located close to the port andhad quick access to Sri Lanka.But out of about six lakh tonneof white sugar imported by SriLanka, India was able to meetabout 50 per cent. The balance was met by Brazil. Indiawas unable to take advantageof the situation because ofhigh sugarcane costs.
The stategovernment was urged to develop amodel followed by other states to ensure that the sugarcane farmers got their payments on time and if required,assist the mills in the paymentespecially when the revenuerealisation was poor.
There is an urge to removal of fiveper cent VAT on sugar, as it raised the cost of sugar produced in Tamil Nadu, whichwas already high due to lowsugar recovery. It thus made itall the more uncompetitive asrevenue loss for mills wasover Rs.200 crore a year.

:: SPORTS ::

India in south Asian games

India’s 27-year-old Sandeep Sejwal who took the gold in the men’s 100m and200m breaststroke, proved unbeatable once again as he clinched his third gold medal of the 12th South Asian Games.
Sri Lanka picked up three of thefour remaining golds which weredecided this evening, while Bangladesh took the other through MahfuzaKhatun who won the women’s50m breaststroke — her second inas many days.
Sri Lanka’s Komiko Raheem wontwo golds in a little over an hour the women’s 100m backstroke andthe 50m freestyle, the second one atthe expense of elder sister Machiko.
India completed its dominance, winning five of the six titles, on the concluding day of the wrestling events
Pakistan picked up the men’sheavyweight gold to prevent aclean sweep by the host, whichfinished with 14 out of the total 16gold medals.
India walked away with all the gold medals on ofer in badminton and archery at the South Asian Games
India steamrollered Sri Lanka3-0 in both the men’s and women’s sections to win the badminton crown. The host dominatedthe archery events as well clinching all the five titles at stake:compound team men’s andwomen’s, individual men’s andwomen’s and mixed.