Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 13 January 2018

::National::

ISRO launched its 42nd PSLV

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its 42nd Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The PSLV-C40, which took off at 9.29 a.m, placed 31 satellites, originating from seven countries, in two orbits. ISRO termed the successful launch a New Year’s gift to the nation.
The rocket was only briefly visible to onlookers on a foggy morning. Its primary payload was the fourth satellite in the advanced remote sensing Cartosat-2 series.
The Cartosat-2, whose imagery will be used to develop land and geographical information system applications, weighs 710 kg and was placed in a circular polar sun synchronous orbit 505 km from Earth. The satellite’s design life is five years. The 30 co-passenger satellites together weigh 613 kg.
It was, however, the two other Indian satellites in the C40’s payload that generated the most excitement. Called technology demonstrators, the microsatellite and the nanosatellite showed big strides towards miniaturisation.
The ISRO also used them to send a message to potential commercial customers, placing its microsatellite in an orbit different from the other 30. After deploying all the other satellites, the fourth stage of the rocket restarted twice to move from the 505 km orbit to a 359 km orbit to inject the microsat.
The remote sensing microsatellite is of the 100 kg class with a mission life is 10 months. The nanosatellite, named Indian Nano Satellite-1C, is the third in its series. The INS-1C, whose mission life is six months, carries the Miniature Multispectral Technology Demonstration payload.
The ISRO Chairman said the Chandrayaan-2 was on schedule but did not commit to a March 2018 deadline.

India pressed the need for Britain to review immigration policies

Commerce and Industry Minister, have pressed the need for Britain to review immigration policies relating to India, including on student visas and the extension of a visa system introduced for Chinese visitors to the U.K.
The visit comes amid the official confirmation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)in London in April.
The meetings came as India and Britain agreed to the terms of a memorandum of understanding on the swift return of Indian illegal immigrants from the U.K. — an issue that has been repeatedly raised by the British government and cited as an obstacle to immigration reform on the British side.
The progress on this issue — the MoU will likely be signed during Mr. Modi’s visit — will be seen as a gesture of goodwill on the Indian side and will strengthen their calls for change on the U.K.
Among the key asks raised by the Ministers is for the introduction of a two-year visa system for business travellers. Britain introduced the system for Chinese visitors in 2016.
Mr. Prabhu said he raised issues both around the ease of getting visas and the costs which could prove prohibitive for the services sector. Costs have been rising amid a toughening of the U.K. policy regime in this area.
Mr. Rijiju raised issues relating to the two-year visa, as well as students and the treatment of women on spousal visas.
The last is a growing issue of concern, amid fears that women who had accompanied partners on spousal visas would be deserted in India, had their visas been cancelled.
He added that another issue raised was the need for visa-free travel for Indian diplomats in the U.K. Britain remained the only major European country not to bring in this policy, he said.
With Britain unable to commence formal discussions on a trade deal with India till it leaves the EU, the two countries have begun informal talks on the scope of potential trade opportunities through this working group.
India would be working with Britain on cooperation around new technical innovation when it came to the use of wind, tidal and solar energy, as well as the potential for British firms in this area to set up manufacturing facilities in industrial corridors in India.

In an unprecedented act four SC judges held the press conference

In an unprecedented act, four senior judges of the Supreme Court on Friday held a press conference and publicly accused Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra of selectively assigning cases to judges of his choice without any rational basis.
Transcending judicial protocol that sitting judges should not interact with the media, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph — the senior-most judges after the CJI — accused Justice Misra of assigning cases of “far-reaching consequences to the nation” to junior hand-picked judges against the time-tested convention, practice and tradition of the court.
In a letter addressed to the CJI and circulated at the press meet, the four said certain Supreme Court judges arrogated to themselves the “authority to deal with and pronounce upon” cases which ought to be heard by other appropriate Benches. The letter is of October 2017 origin.
Justice Chelameswar, speaking for the four, said they had collectively tried to persuade the Chief Justice to take remedial measures but their efforts had failed.
The judges said that with the independence of the judiciary and the future of democracy at stake, they had “no other choice but communicate to the nation to please take care of this institution.”
Justice Chelameswar said they decided to act now because they did not want “any wise men to say 20 years later that Justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Lokur and Kurian sold their souls and did not take care of the interests of this illustrious institution.”
Justice Chelameswar recounted that the trigger for the press conference was a meeting they held with the Chief Justice regarding the assignment of a petition, seeking an independent probe into the mysterious death of CBI judge B.H. Loya, to a particular Bench.
The four had expressed their reservations to the CJI about the assignation of the case. But the CJI had refused to budge. They had then informed him of their intention to go public.
Though Justice Chelameswar did not name the Loya petition, Justice Gogoi, who is scheduled to take over as Chief Justice of India after Chief Justice Misra retires on October 2 this year, spoke up to say the petition is indeed regarding judge Loya’s death.
Without naming any, Justice Chelameswar said that several other important cases like this had been assigned to preferred Benches over the past months. The convention of the court demands that important cases of public interest or sensitive matters should be first heard by the CJI.
If the CJI is not willing for some reason to hear the case, it should be assigned to the next senior-most judge in the Supreme Court. Instead of that, such cases were assigned to certain Benches and eventually given a quiet burial.

Govt says it’s an internal matter of judiciary

As four sitting judges of the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of addressing a press conference airing their differences with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Minister of State for Law P.P. Chaudhary said, “Our judiciary is reputed all over the world as independent and they will sort out the matter themselves.”
As Justices J. Chelameshwar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph addressed the press conference, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad carried on with his workday in his ministerial office and refused to respond to any queries.
Attorney-General of India K.K. Venugopal tweeted, “This should not have happened. My expectation is that it will be resolved in the next two days.”
Govt said the issues highlighted by the judges were “an internal matter of the judiciary” and that it was “up to them [the judiciary] to sort out the matter.”

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::International::

Israel says India’s vote in UN will not change things between India and Israel

Israel said that India’s vote at the United Nations General Assembly against the American recognition of Jerusalem as its capital would not affect its ties with India.
Speaking to the media, Ambassador of Israel Daniel Carmon indicated that Israel and India maintained an “all-weather friendship” and that discussion on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement was under way.
“Our relationship is richer and wider in terms of collaboration and complementarity. It [the issue of India’s negative vote at the UN General Assembly] is being talked about through diplomatic channels between our countries.
We always want the international community to vote for us. Of course we are not happy when some do not support us,” said Mr. Carmon, reminding that Israel had recently supported India’s candidate for the ICJ, Judge Dalveer Bhandari.
The envoy spoke about his country’s position on India’s UNGA vote while sharing details of the January 14-19 visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Netanyahu, who will visit Delhi, Gujarat, and Mumbai, will be accompanied by a 130-member business delegation and Baby Moshe, an Israeli survivor of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

China became Nepal’s second Internet service provider

China became Nepal’s second Internet service provider, breaking India’s monopoly in providing Internet access to the Himalayan country.
China Telecom Global (CTG), a company formed in 2012, has teamed up with Nepal Telecom to provide alternative cyber connectivity to Nepal.
So far, Nepal had been linked to the global internet network through Indian telecom operators, using optical fibre connections in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Birgunj, among others.
But a new terrestrial fibre cable launched in 2016 by CTG will now connect Nepal and China through the Jilong (Rasuwagadhi) border gateway. Media reports in Nepal say the new link extends to China’s Hong Kong Data Center, one of Asia’s largest global data centres.
Last month, CTG paired with Daily-Tech, a developer and operator of data centre infrastructure across China, and Global Switch, a leading data centre in Europe, to launch a state-of-the art data centre in Hong Kong.
The Chinese side views its Nepal venture as part of a larger digital network of countries along the New Silk Road.

::Business and Economy::

Industrial output went to more than two years high

Industrial output growth quickened in November to a 25-month high of 8.4% bolstered by strong performances in the manufacturing, construction, and consumer non-durables sectors.
Separately, Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for December showed retail inflation quickened to a 17-month high of 5.21%, spurred by food and fuel price gains.
The acceleration in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth was significant, coming after October’s 2.24% increase. Growth in the manufacturing component of the index touched 10.2% in November, up from 2.47% in the previous month.
This strong performance was accompanied by a 13.5% jump in the infrastructure and construction sector, up from 5.21% in October.
Economists said a low base -- in November 2016, when the government demonetised high value currency, IIP grew 5.1% even as the index number itself shrank from the preceding month-- and public spending contributed to the stronger IIP reading.
Growth in manufacturing in November was led by strong double-digit growth in ‘food products’, ‘pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’, and the ‘computer, electronic and optical products.’
The other sector that saw robust growth was consumer non-durables, which grew 23.1% in November, up sharply from 7.7% in the previous month. The consumer durables sector grew 2.5%, recovering from October’s 6.89% contraction.
The data reflects an ongoing revival, said Ranen Banerjee, Partner - Public Finance and Economy at PwC India.

Govt puts up defense for thhe World trade organization

Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu made a strong defence of the WTO and the multilateral trading system, and expressed his optimism about tackling the issue of food security, following the impasse at the Buenos Aires WTO meeting in December.
“The benefits of global trade expansion have happened largely because of the WTO,” said Mr. Prabhu, speaking at the London School of Economics during an official visit to the U.K. this week.
The WTO was “democratic, rule-based, transparent and something more unique — no decision can be taken without consensus,” he said contrasting it with the United Nations, and the limited ability of countries to exercise their veto to those within the Security Council. This veto was coming under increasing scrutiny globally, he added.
The WTO, by contrast, gave all members an equally strong voice, which offered the best choice for taking forward the “expansion of global trade” and “bringing more economic prosperity for people at large” as well as dealing with the issues of poverty and the need for inclusive growth.
Those who questioned the WTO itself had turned it into an ‘easy whipping boy’, he said. “We need to make sure that this organisation is promoted, protected and taken forward.”
This did not mean reforms were not necessary to make it more transparent and effective, he said. Moreover, the WTO and constituent countries had to address the issues of economic development and inclusivity, according to him.

CPI accelerated to a 17-month high

Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index accelerated to a 17-month high of 5.21% in December, from November’s 4.88% as food, housing and fuel costs continued to strengthen.
Economists said quickening retail inflation would likely lead the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to retain its cautious monetary stance.
“Inflation is being largely driven by housing and vegetables,” said DK Srivastava, Chief Policy Advisor at EY India. “Out of these two, vegetables are a seasonal effect and housing has a large weightage in the index.
A more sustained influence is that of rising fuel prices. The present indications are that the RBI will go for long pause in its rate policy.”
The housing segment saw inflation accelerate for the sixth straight month in December to 8.25%, from 7.36% in November. Inflation in the food and beverages segment quickened to 4.85%, from 4.41%.
Within this, inflation in the vegetables segment touched 29.1%, the fastest pace of gains among all items in the food groups.
Inflation in the clothing and footwear segment eased in December to 4.8%, from 5.04% in the previous month.