Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams 22 May 2016

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

22 May 2016

:: National ::

Apple chief executive discusses sensitive issues with PM

Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed sensitive issues relating to cybersecurity, data encryption, the possibility of manufacturing in the country and tapping India’s young talent.
The Apple CEO appreciated the breadth of young talent in India with significant skills that Apple would like to tap.He highlighted the immense potential for ‘app-development’ in the country, according to the statement.
During his maiden visit to India, Mr. Cook announced the setting up of an app development centre in Bengaluru and another one in Hyderabad for maps.
The PMO said Mr. Cook appreciated Mr. Modi’s initiatives on “ease of doing business” and renewable energy. Apple runs on 93 per cent renewable energy and plans to move its entire supply chain to renewable energy.
Mr. Cook unveiled an updated version of the PM’s mobile app that includes a new volunteering network.

President is seeking clarifications on NEET

President Pranab Mukherjee has sought legal advice on the Ordinance to keep State boards out of the National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test for this year.
The President is seeking clarification on the Ordinance, he is consulting inhouse legal experts on certain questions.
The Ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet, is aimed at “partially” overturning a Supreme Court verdict which said all government colleges, deemed universities and private medical colleges would be covered under NEET.
Clarifying that the exemption is only for the State government seats, government sources had said State seats earmarked in the private medical colleges have also been exempted.
Different States earmark anywhere between 12 and 15 per cent seats in various private medical colleges for State quota so that students from one State can get seat in another State.
The remaining seats in such colleges are reserved for domicile students. Now with this Ordinance, the remaining seats meant for domicile students will come under NEET.

Artificial waterfall near Jog falls has raised ecological concerns

A proposal to create an artificial waterfall in the ecologically sensitive Jog Falls area has raised concerns over its possible impact on not just the environment and biodiversity, but also existing power projects around it.
A Government Order (GO) has been issued approving the water recirculation project at Jog Falls even before receiving necessary clearances.
The Forest, Environment and Ecology Department, and the Energy Department, have expressed their reservations and concerns about the proposed project, which aims at keeping the waterfall gushing right through the year at the popular tourist attraction.
To be set up under the PPP model, the project intends to pump water at the rate of 400 cusecs during the summer months from a storage pond at the foot of the waterfall to the weir/anicut, which will be constructed upstream of the Sitakatte bridge.
During monsoon, the project proposes to generate power using the same pipeline.
But the Forest, Environment and Ecology Department is concerned about the impact the construction might have on the biodiversity of the forests and the effect the impounding of water during non-monsoon months may have on the hydrology of the area.
The Sharavathi Wildlife Sanctuary and Aghanashini Lion-tailed Macaque Conservation Reserve are both situated between a 5 and 10-km radius of the proposed project.
In addition, the Energy Department has said no water from the Linganamakki reservoir will be released for the scheme.
It has also said the construction of the power house and pump house should not affect availability/discharge of water in the Mahatma Gandhi Hydro Electricity Power House.

India may become part of Tibetan rail network

China is keen that India join the Tibetan rail network, a senior adviser to the Chinese government on Tibetan affairs told a group of visiting journalists at the end of a tour deep into Tibetan territories spread across three provinces.
The modern high-altitude rail network in Tibet that snakes through tunnels and rises to thousands of metres, is not just an engineering marvel, but a determined showpiece of China’s ambitious financial intervention in regions where Tibetans live.
Tibetans are a majority in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and have large settlements in a few other provinces such as Sichuan and Yunnan.
Despite the slowdown in Chinese economy in recent times, the TAR continues to record two-digit growth, thanks significantly to the massive financial intervention from Beijing.
According to the Chinese vision, by 2020 no region or ethnic group should be left behind in achieving a per capita of $12,000. “Infrastructure growth will keep progressing.
Farmers and herdsmen will get development, not just cities,” Chinese side said, justifying the broad roads and flyovers that link up even remote Tibetan villages.
As part of its aggressive investments in Tibetan regions, China is developing rail networks, roads and airports across the region at high altitudes.
The world’s highest railway station (Tanggula), the highest civilian airport (DaochengYading Airport) and some of the finest roads at a few thousand metres altitude are already built across provinces where Tibetans live.
China has a two-front strategy for rail networks to Tibet and within TAR. One is to build a new rail line from TAR to the mainland, which would link Sichuan’s capital Chengdu with Lhasa. This is in addition to the existing Qinghai-Tibet rail link.

:: International ::

US house passed amendment to National defence authorisation act

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed amendments to the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA)-2017, seeking to enhance the country’s defence cooperation with India.
A similar bill is under the consideration at the Senate as well. The bipartisan move of Congress seeks to bring India at par with NATO allies for technology and equipment sale.
Once signed into law by the President, these provisions will liberalise the sale of a wide range of technologies to India, bypassing legislative approvals.
The move also seeks to open a special office in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to the U.S.-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative.
The Senate is likely to pass the bill before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to a joint session of Congress on June 8.
The U.S.-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act in the Senate was introduced by Senators Mark Warner and John Cornyn, co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus. Senator Marco Rubio has also joined as a sponsor.
In further amendments, the House has tightened the flow of aid to Pakistan. The Secretary of Defence must now certify to Congress that Pakistan is not using funds or equipment provided to persecute minority groups.
The amendments also put new conditions to be met before Pakistan can access $450 million next year in Coalition Support Fund, which is for reimbursing costs incurred in Afghanistan.

China threatening to suspend talks with Taiwan

China threatened to suspend talks with Taiwan if the newly sworn-in Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen does not acknowledge the “1992 consensus”, which refers to a purported understanding that they belong to a single sovereign nation.
Only by confirming the adherence to the common political foundation of the 1992 Consensus that embodies the ‘one China’ principle can cross-Strait affairs authorities continue with their regular communication.

India to raise visa curb issue with Canada

India will raise its concerns over Canada’s restrictions on temporary work visas for skilled professionals, as these curbs put in place two years ago have been hurting the domestic Information Technology (IT) sector.
The matter would be taken up by India in a meeting with Canadian authorities early June. The issue may also figure in bilateral talks during the likely visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in November.
The ‘coalition’ will in turn forward them to a Canadian Parliamentary panel that will comprehensively review the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
As per Nasscom estimates, Canada is among the top five markets for Indian IT companies, the others being the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Switzerland. Annual revenue of Indian IT firms from the Canadian market is around $2-3 billion.
India has already taken up with the U.S. and U.K. the issue of curbs imposed by them on temporary work visas for skilled professionals. India has even dragged the US to the World Trade Organisation on the issue.
Until 2013, Canada had, according to sources in the Indian IT industry, a liberal policy for foreign skilled workers (including for intra-corporate transfers).
However, reports in 2013 of several Canadian employees at the nation’s largest bank — Royal Bank of Canada — being allegedly replaced by temporary foreign workers, including Indian employees, due to an outsourcing arrangement, had led to a huge controversy.
There were also reports of alleged displacement of Canadian workers by temporary foreign workers at McDonald’s restaurants.
These incidents put pressure on the Canadian government, which then announced an overhaul of its TFWP in June 2014.
The new rules, besides being more complicated due to elaborate questionnaires, have also increased the costs (in terms of fees etc) of employers bringing in temporary foreign workers.
The Indian IT industry, according to Nasscom, expects the presence of Indian-origin ministers in the Canadian government and Indian-Canadians in the Canadian Parliament to help push their case to relax the TFWP.

:: Business and Economy ::

RBI Governor pitches for better business environment

Pitching for a better business environment for start-ups, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said India has done away with the licence raj, but ’inspector raj’ continues to some extent.
He also said that regulations should be for betterment of the industry and not to discourage entrepreneurs and suggested a system of self-certification for the industries with some checks on the part of the authorities to prevent any misuse.
Advocating an easier set of regulations for small and medium enterprises in India, Rajan gave examples of the UK and Italy saying, “We have seen that while regulations are liberal in United Kingdom, it is very heavy in Italy.
Calling for a need to focus on the development of small and medium enterprises that require ‘hand-holding’ by the state governments and other agencies, Rajan said,
“Indian economy is in the midst of recovery. However, some areas are still under stress and need to be focused in order to get them better.”
A good monsoon will be helpful for the growth of the economy, he added.
Small and medium enterprise require focused attention, the governor said and mooted setting up new institutions to finance SMEs to ensure easy access to funds.
Rajan said public sector banks have increased their credit to small and medium enterprises after RBI identified medium enterprises as priority sector and that he was optimistic about growth of start ups if provided required facilities to grow.