Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 January 2018

::National::

Apex court ordered all States to ensure that the law and order

The Supreme Court stayed the notifications and orders passed by certain States to prohibit the exhibition of the Censor Board-certified moviePadmaavat , saying its “conscience is shocked” that States have guillotined creative rights.
The apex court ordered all States to ensure that the law and order situation is maintained during the screening of the film across the country.
Gujarat and Rajasthan had issued notifications on January 5 and 17, respectively, prohibiting the screening while Haryana had in principle agreed to a ban on exhibition.
Madhya Pradesh had made statements that it intended banning the screening of the movie in theatres.
The movie portrayed the 13th century battle between Maharaja Ratan Singh and his army of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi.
Many groups were up in arms about the portrayal of Queen Padmavati in the film.The court ordered the States to protect the artistes and the people involved in the movie from threats.
It further forbade States from passing any order, notification which amounts to a prohibition of the exhibition of the movie.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said a film may bomb at the box office or people may choose to not watch it, but the States cannot use their machinery to prohibit its exhibition citing risk to public order.
The three-judge Bench, led by the Chief Justice, said in a detailed order that it is “the duty and obligation of the State to maintain law and order.”

India successfully tested Agni-V

India successfully tested Agni-V, validating the long range surface-to-surface ballistic missile’s reliability.
“This was the fifth test of the missile and the third consecutive one from a canister on a road mobile launcher. All the five missions have been successful,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The missile was tested for its full range at 9.53 a.m. from the Dr. Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha. “All objectives of the mission have been successfully met,” the Defence Ministry statement added.
Agni-V, with a range of over 5,000 km, is India’s longest range ballistic missile and can reach most parts of China, making it the mainstay of India’s triad to deliver nuclear weapons.
The user associate test-flight of the missile has further boosted indigenous missile capabilities and deterrence strength of the country.
Describing the trial as “fully successful,” the sources said, the sophisticated missile travelled for 19 minutes and covered 4,900 km.
Agni-V is the most advanced missile in the Agni series with new technologies incorporated in it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.
The missile is so programmed that after reaching the peak of its trajectory, it will turn towards the Earth to continue its journey towards the intended target with an increased speed due to the attraction of the Earth’s gravitational pull.
Its path is precisely directed by the advanced on-board computer and inertial navigation system, the official added.
The first two successful flights of Agni-V in 2012 and 2013 were in open configuration.
The third, fourth and this launch from a canister, integrated with a mobile sophisticated launcher, were in its deliverable configuration that enables launch of the missile with a very short preparation time as compared to an open configuration.
It also has advantages of higher reliability, longer shelf life, less maintenance and enhanced mobility.

Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report, 2017

The southern State of Kerala seems far ahead of all Indian States in breaching the digital divide, if the data generated by Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report, 2017, for its sample district of Ernakulam are to be believed.
And the eastern State of West Bengal seems right at the bottom in terms of the rural youth’s access to the Internet, computers and mobiles, as per data generated from its South 24 Parganas district.
Even as the government looks at ushering in a Digital India, ASER 2017 offers a snapshot into how different States are faring in breaching the digital divide, by focusing on rural youth in the 14-18 age group in 28 rural districts across 24 States in India.
The patterns may not hold true or all districts in particular States, but may be a pointer to the south’s lead and the eastern States’ backwardness in rural digital access.
Significantly, 69.8% of the rural youth surveyed in Kerala’s Ernakulam district had used the Internet in the week before the survey. Similarly, 92% had used mobile phones and 60% had used computers in the week leading to the survey.
It was also the only district among those surveyed across India where a third of the rural youth had used an ATM.
The surveyed districts of Amritsar and Bhatinda and Maharashtra’s Satara and Ahmednagar also showed decent digital access, though well below Kerala.West Bengal lay at the other end of the spectrum, faring worst in breaching the digital divide.
Just 17.1% of the rural youth between 14 and 18 in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district had used the Internet in the week leading to the survey. Just 21.2% had used a computer and 65.5% had used a mobile phone.
In Kerala’s Ernakulam, just 10.5% of the surveyed rural youth had never used the Internet and 0.4% had never used a mobile phone.The situation was much worse in eastern States, however.
While nationally, 63.7% of the rural youth surveyed had never used the Internet, the figures were much higher in districts in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam.
In West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district 74.4% rural youth in the age group of 14 to 18 years had never had access to Internet while in Odisha’s Khordha district, the number was 65.8%.
In Jharkhand’s PurbiSinghbhum the figure stood at 68.8% and in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district 67.5%. In Assam’s Kamrup district the number was 64.1%.

India should be worried about China’s continued military build-up in Doklam

India should be worried about China’s continued military build-up in Doklam, said Lobsang Sangay, president of the Central Tibetan Administration in India.
Dr. Sangay made his observations on the Doklam issue while announcing the upcoming events to mark the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the Dalai Lama and Tibetans in India.
“India has to be cautious about China’s plans in Doklam. China has traditionally maintained that Tibet is the palm and the five fingers are Bhutan, Nepal, Arunachal [Pradesh], Ladakh and Sikkim. Therefore its actions in the Doklam region should be taken seriously,” Dr. Sangay said.
Dr. Sangay announced that the Tibetan community in India will hold a major inter-religious event in New Delhi to commemorate March 31, 1959 arrival of the Dalai Lama in India.
The Tibetan leader pointed out that Bhutan should also express concern about the Doklam situation. “Going to the U.N. is definitely one of the options for Bhutan,” he said.

Prime Minister will visit the Palestine soon

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to the Palestinian capital of Ramallah on February 10.
The visit to the Palestinian territory is likely to be part of Prime Minister Modi’s outreach to the Arab world in the second week of February, during which he will hold a meeting with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“The visit is confirmed though the last minute logistical details are yet to be put in place. PM Modi will be in Ramallah for a day during his visit to the Arab world,” the diplomatic source said, describing the visit as the “most important” in the Arab country’s calendar.
This will be the first time that an Indian Prime Minister will visit the Palestinian capital.The visit was confirmed even as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is on the last leg of his trip to India.
The official said that the trip indicated that India is on track with its traditional stance on Palestine. Palestine had praised India’s recent vote in the UN against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Mr. Modi is also expected to visit UAE and Omanduring the trip.

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::International::

US will stay in Syria long after war is finished

U.S. troops will remain in Syria long after their fight against the Islamic State (IS) to ensure that neither Iran nor President Bashar al-Assad of Syria take over areas that have been newly liberated with help from the U.S., Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.
Staying in Syria, will help ensure that the Donald Trump administration does not repeat what he described as the mistakes of former President Barack Obama, who withdrew troops from Iraq before the extremist threat was doused and failed to stabilise Libya.
“ISIS has one foot in the grave, and by maintaining an American military presence in Syria until the full and complete defeat of ISIS is achieved, it will soon have two.”
There were roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria last month, a mix of engineering units that build fortifications and Special Operations units that fight and train with local militias. Additionally, U.S. military contractors in Syria help de-mine recaptured areas as the IS is pushed back.
Mr. Tillerson’s comments were the first time a senior Trump administration official pledged to keep U.S. troops in Syria well after the current battle ends.
Mr. Obama won the White House in 2008 in part by promising to wind down the war in Iraq, and agreed to only a limited role in the 2011 airstrikes in Libya.
Those decisions have haunted the military officers who now serve in Mr. Trump’s Cabinet and, in turn, have led to the administration’s deepening military involvement in Afghanistan.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian regime, but it has consistently rejected any American interference as illegal and counterproductive.

::Business and economy::

GST Council has reduced the rates on many goods and services

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has reduced the rates on 29 goods and 53 categories of services, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said following the Council’s meeting.
Against the backdrop of declining GST collections and waning compliance, the Council also discussed in detail various approaches to ease the return filing compliance burden, and the need for the implementation of anti-evasion measures.
Some of the services for which the rates have been cut include tailoring (18% to 5%), admission to theme parks (28% to 18%), and petroleum and natural gas mining and exploration (18% to 12%).
The goods on which the rates have been reduced include biodiesel buses used for public transport (28% to 18%), sugar boiled confectionery, biodiesel, drinking water packed in 20 litre containers (all from 18% to 12%), and LPG supplied to domestic consumers by private distributors (18% to 5%). The new rates would come into effect on January 25.
Mr. Jaitley said that while the latest round of rate reductions would have an affect on the Centre’s revenues, the impact would be small.
Regarding easing the compliance burden, Mr. Jaitley said that the Council was considering systems where the invoices of the buyers and sellers could be matched easily.
Mr. Jaitley, however, said that no decision had been taken in this regard and that the Council would take it up during its next meeting, the date for which had not been decided as yet.
The inclusion of key sectors like petroleum and real estate in GST was not taken up in this meeting, according to him.

Govt is working on marketing strategy to diversify exports

The government is working on a marketing strategy to further diversify India’s overall export basket, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said.
He also said that the government was planning to introduce specific measures to ensure that India became the Food and Beverages (F&B) trading hub in South East Asia.
He was speaking after inaugurating ‘Indus Food’, a mega international F&B trade show held in Greater Noida in the national capital region.
“We are in the process of adopting a new strategy to diversify our exports. We want to ensure that India exports new products and to new markets. We are preparing a marketing strategy based on market research. We will support private sector... we will identify roadblocks and address them,” he said.
More than 400 exhibitors, including 12 states as well as global buyers from 43 nations are taking part in the event that is aimed at providing a robust platform to Indian exporters to access global market.
Mr. Prabhu said, “My ministry has plans to introduce measures with a view to further facilitate the trade in this (F&B) sector’s products.”