Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

24 March 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Centre increased dearness allowance by 6 percent

• In a decision described as a Holi gift to over one crore Central government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet increased Dearness Allowance by 6 per cent to 125 per cent of their basic pay with effect from January.

• The decision will cost the exchequer Rs. 14,724.74 crore a year.

• Of this, Rs. 6,795.5 crore will go to employees and Rs. 7,929.24 crore to pensioners during 2016-17.

More lower birth seats would be reserved for senior citizens

• The government announced an increase in lower berth quota for senior citizens in trains from April 1.

• There will be 80-90 seats reserved for senior citizens on every train as against 50-60 at present.

• Now, each sleeper class coach will have six lower berth seats reserved for senior citizens, female passengers above 45 years and pregnant women, up from four at present.

• In 3AC and 2AC classes, three lower berths will be kept reserved for senior citizens. In Rajdhani, Duronto and fully AC Express trains, four lower berths in every coach will be reserved in 3AC class, as against three per coach that are reserved in Mail or Express trains.

• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had announced the proposal in the Budget 2016-17 presented last month.

• In another move, the government also announced decreasing freight rates on dedicated merry-go-round systems – rail tracks that connect coal mines and power plants.

• The freight rates for transporting goods have been revised down to Rs. 47 per tonne effective April 1 from Rs. 63 per tonne at present, Railway Board member (Traffic).

• This would make transportation of goods by train cheaper than roads where Rs. 72 per tonne was charged for covering 18 km.

Electricity de France and NPCIL signed MOU for Jaitapur

• India and France have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, two months after the two countries decided to conclude the techno-commercial negotiations for the project by the year end.

• The pact was inked at the end of the two-day visit of a high-level delegation of Electricite de France (EDF) — French public utility — to Mumbai for holding discussions with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on the construction of the plants.

• French Ambassador to India Francois Richier, who was present on the occasion, reiterated his country’s commitment to working seamlessly with India through a collaborative approach to enable both sides to contribute collectively to the development of nuclear energy in India in the most economical manner.

Bangladesh will lease 10 GBPS Internet bandwidth to India in return of 100 MW power

• Sheikh Hasina joined a video conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, jointly inaugurating the supply of 100 MW power from India and leasing of 10 GBPS Internet bandwidth from Bangladesh.

• Inaugurating the power supply from Tripura, Mr. Modi described it as a “historic occasion”, and “an example to the world” on how Bangladesh and Tripura, which share historic relations as the tiny Indian State had given millions of Bangladeshis shelter during the nation’s liberation war in 1971.

• Bangladesh allowed the transport of over-dimensional cargo through its territory during the construction of the Palatana power plant in Tripura in 2011.

• The power grids of the two countries have been hooked up with the supply of 500 MW of power to Bangladesh through transmission cable.

• The supply of another 500 MW through the same interconnection was also announced during Mr. Modi’s Dhaka visit in 2015.

• Mr. Modi has expressed his ‘earnest desire’ to take the country’s cooperation with Bangladesh to the sphere of space.

• Referring to the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) connectivity deal, the Indian PM said, “We have already started working together on road connectivity. Today, we are forging a new bond through electricity sharing. We are also working together on digital connectivity, a must for the 21st century.

• Bangladesh hopes to launch the Bangabandhu-1 Satellite by the end of 2017.

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continues to win

• Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton used the backdrop of the Brussels terror attack to drive home their respective political messages after securing new victories in presidential nomination contests.

• Mr. Trump reiterated his call for a ban on Muslims travelling to the U.S, and waterboarding of terror suspects to extract information from them, while Ms. Clinton said in her victory speech that “the last thing we need are leaders who incite more fear”.

• Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton won Arizona, the State that had the highest number of delegates.
  • Senator Ted Cruz defeated Mr. Trump in Utah, and on the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders won Utah and Idaho and promised to take the contest all the way to the convention.

• Occasional terror strikes through the campaign season have helped Mr. Trump’s tactics.

• Mr. Trump has effectively used the Paris and California terror strikes to bolster his campaign and Brussels happened just as his rhetoric may have plateaued.

• Meanwhile, in a TV interview, Mr. Trump said Muslim communities are “absolutely not reporting” suspected terrorists and need to “open up to society”.

• Meanwhile, Mr. Cruz won the endorsement of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush who dropped out of the race last month.

• Differentiating between Mr. Cruz and Mr. Trump may be more a question of semantics than substance.

• Mr. Cruz called for higher border security to stop “terrorist infiltration”, and increased surveillance of Muslim neighbourhoods in U.S.

• Ms. Clinton said. “What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. It will not keep us safe, this is a time for America to lead, not cower.”

Brussels terrorists also linked with Paris terror attack

• The two brothers who blew themselves up in the deadly train and airport attacks in Brussels were known by police for serious crimes and are linked to November’s Paris massacre.

• Khalid (27), who blew himself up on Tuesday at the Maalbeek metro station, is a convicted car-jacker. His brother Ibrahim (30), who was one of two suicide bombers at the airport, had been handed a nine-year sentence for firing his gun at police, local media say.

• Belgian media reports said a joint squad of Belgian and French police approached the property because it was rented under a false name used by Khalid to secure a hide-out months earlier for the Paris attackers.

• Khalid is suspected of having rented other properties used to prepare the November tragedy in Paris, including one in the city of Charleroi from where ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud set off to lead the assault in the French capital.

• The brothers are not believed to have been present in those events, but their connection to Islamic State jihadism was established.

• Turkish authorities in June 2015 detained and later deported one of the Brussels attackers, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said as a media report named him as Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

:: Business and Economy ::

Environment ministry tightened rules for e-waste

• The Environment Ministry has tightened rules by putting the onus on manufacturers, dealers, retailers and refurbishers of electronic goods to ensure that electronic or e-waste goods are collected and “scientifically” recycled.

• The new norms include fines, a greater involvement of states in policing and collection as well as bringing exhausted compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and other mercury-containing lamps in to the purview of electronic waste.

• The actual date of the rules and quantum of fines would be announced later this year after discussions with states.

• With nearly 1.7 million tonnes of e-waste reportedly produced in India in 2014 and increasing annually at between four and five per cent, a variety of experts have warned of its dangers to the environment as well as health.

• This is because defunct laptops, phone and other electronic goods are usually broken down by hand for precious metals and hacked down manually or crudely burnt.

• The residue is frequently thrown in rivers, drains and/or disposed in solid waste dumps that over time can contribute to degraded land and water quality as well neurological and skin diseases, genetic defects and cancer in the workers who deal with them, the ministry added.

• The rules governing electronic, or e-waste, have been in place since 2011. The new rules say that producers will have to ensure 30 per cent e-waste collection, based on their projected sales, by 2018 and 70 per cent by 2023.

• They can do this through a variety of ways such as a deposit refund scheme, an e-waste exchange and they also have to pay for publicity and awareness programmes.

• Later this year, when the rules come into effect, state will have to set up e-waste dismantling and recycling units in industrial park as well as register the workers involved with the e-waste business and finally, take up industrial skill development activities and ensure health and safety of workers.

2.95 crore houses to be constructed in rural area under Housing for All scheme

• The Union Cabinet approved the construction of 2.95 crore houses in rural areas under ‘Housing for All’ scheme wherein financial assistance of up to Rs.1.30 lakh will be provided for construction of pucca houses to homeless families.

• The target will be achieved by 2022 —the 75th year of India's Independence, he told reporters after a Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• The programme will be implemented in two phases.The government proposes to provide assistance for one crore households in the next three years (by 2018-19) at an estimated cost of Rs. 81,975 crore.

• Mr. Prasad said Rs. 60,000 crore will come from Budgetary provisions.

• The additional financial requirement of Rs. 21,975 crore will be met by borrowing through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to be amortised through budgetary allocations after 2022.

• An eligible family living in plains will get Rs. 1.20 lakh and those living in “hilly and difficult” areas will receive an assistance of Rs. 1.30 lakh under the scheme.

• The identification and prioritisation of beneficiaries will be done using information from Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC).

• The beneficiary will be entitled to 90 days of unskilled labour from MGNREGA.

• The cost of unit assistance to be shared between Central and State Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for North Eastern and hilly states,” according to an official statement.

• The scheme would be implemented in rural areas throughout India except Delhi and Chandigarh.

• Under the existing rural housing scheme ( Indira Awaas Yojana ), financial assistance of Rs. 70,000 in plains areas and Rs. 75,000 in hilly/difficult areas is provided.

:: SPORTS ::

India beats Bangladesh in a nail-biting match

• Nerves were shredded, nails got chewed and throats turned hoarse as a rousing Wednesday night witnessed India effect a remarkable turnaround and snatch a one-run victory over Bangladesh in the ICC World Twenty20 Super 10 Group 2 match.

• Pursuing India’s 146 for seven, Bangladesh needed 11 from the last over with four wickets in hand.

• Hardik Pandya conceded a single to Mahmudullah, suffered two fours at the hands of Mushfiqur Rahim and when it boiled down to two from three deliveries, M.S. Dhoni’s men set a miracle in motion, helped largely by the visitors’ desire to go for glory instead of a humble single or two.

• Rahim and Mahmudullah perished to wild hoicks and a nervous Mustafizur Rahman was no match for a sprinting Dhoni, who knocked down the stumps to leave the batsman and Bangladesh stranded.

• The visitor finished with 145 for nine and crashed out of the tournament.

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