Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 26 November, 2015

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

26 November 2015

:: National ::

Winter session will see debate on intolerance

But the Opposition made it clear that it intended to press for a resolution to condemn rising intolerance in the country.
Winter session of Parliament that starts on Thursday may not see disruptions, even though it may see heated debate, as the focus will be on a special discussion on BabasahebAmbedkar and the Constitution.
There are great expectations from Parliament, Let's make it function, said the parliamentaryaffairs minister before start of parliament session.
Opposition expect a direct reply from the Prime Minister on the issue of intolerance.

ULFA general secretary is mediating between ULFA and Centre

ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia has given his support to the ongoing peace talks between the banned outfit and the Centre.
ULFA pro-talk faction chairman ArabindaRajkhowa gave this information to reporters on Wednesday after the organisation's central committee members met the leader at the Guwahati Central Jail.
central committee members met ULFA general secretary Anup Chetiain Guwahati Central Jail.
Chetia has extended his support to the peace process and expressed his willingness to participate in the talks.
The ULFA central committee members had also apprised Chetia of the progress of the parleys so far.

Civil and Military salary gap may widen after Pay commision recommendation

In the military fraternity, already peeved over discrepancies in the imple-mentation of the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme, recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commis-sion have raised hackles.
After analysing the pay structures of civil and military officials, the commission observed in its report that.
In fact, the pay of defence service officers remains uninterruptedly high-er for a 32-year period. Thereafter, pay of defence and civil service officers are at par.
However, several officers pointed that the recommendations are based on the pay of the officer cadre who constitute 3-4 per cent of the 1.3-million-strong Army.
The allowances given to military personnel number 50 as against 90 to civilian officials.
Special duty allowance Hardship allowance is paid to the former serving in forward locations and extremely hard conditions.
The maximum of Rs. 31,500 a month is paid to those serving on the Siachen glacier, the world's highest battlefield.
Civil servants posted in Jammu & Kashmir and North-east India are paid a special duty allowance (SDA), which was recommended at 30 per cent of their basic pay for postings, which are mostly in district headquarters.
A colonel posted at Siachen gets a fixed allowance of Rs. 31,500, while a person of equivalent rank in the civil service, a director-level officer, draws upwards of Rs. 50,000.

Can CMs be treated as public servants: plea in apex court

In what may impact the disproportionate assets case involving Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the Supreme Court has agreed to settle the law on whether chief ministers or ministers of government can actually be treated as “public servants” on a par with government functionaries per-forming public duties.
The apex court wants to know whether it is repugnant to treat chief ministers and ministers on a par with other public servants on government roll, especially when no statute passed by the legislature has ever specifically defined them as one.
The petition, filed by Chennai-based lawyer R. Rajavel, said the question of law was triggered by the pro-longed litigation in the Jayalalithaa wealth case.
The Bench, during a November 23 hearing, tagged it along with the disproportionate assets case.
The petition said there was no clear statutory provision defining a chief minister as a public servant. Written law or statutes enacted by Parliament do not include political persons in the cate-gory of public servants.
In fact, it was the Supreme Court, which, in the case of M. Karunanidhi versus Union of India on February 20, 1979, had held that the post of chief minister is that of a ‘public servant'.
Interpreting the term ‘public servant', the apex court had taken recourse to Section 21 (12) (a) of the Indi-an Penal Code, 1860, which said “every person in the service or pay of the government or remunerated by fees or commission for the performance of any public duty by the government” is a pub-lic servant.
The Prevention of Corruption Act also de-fines the public servant similarly.

:: International ::

Missiles will be deployed in Syria

Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered state-of-the art air defence missile systems to be deployed at a Russian air base in Syria follow-ing the downing of a Russian war-plane by Turkey, a move that raised the threat of a military confrontation between the NATO member and Russia.
The S-400 missile systems, which will be sent to the Hemei-meem air base in Syria coastal province of Latakia, located just about 50 km south of the border with Turkey, are capable of target-ing Turkish jets with deadly precision.
If Russia shot down a Turkish plane, NATO would be required to intervene. Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber on Tuesday, saying it crossed into its airspace from Syria despite repeated warnings.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that the Russian missile cruiser Moskva al-ready has moved closer to shore to protect the Russian aircraft fly-ing missions near Syria border with Turkey with its long-range Fort air defence system.
Mr. Shoigu also said from now on all Russian bombers will be escorted by fighters on their combat missions in Syria. He said that his Ministry has severed all contacts with the Turkish military.
Russia doesn't plan to go to war with Turkey.

:: Science and Technology ::

2015 to be hottest year on record: WMO

This year will be the hottest on record and 2016 could be hotter due to the El Niño weather pattern, According to the World Meteorological Organisation
Warming inaction on climate change could see temperatures rise by 6 degrees Celsius or more.
But decisions taken at a summit of world leaders in Paris starting on Monday could keep global temperature rises within 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times, a target set down in 2010 to try to prevent dangerous climate change.
Global average surface temperatures in 2015 were likely to reach what the agency called the “symbolic and significant milestone” of 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era.
This is due to a combination of a strong El Niño and human-induced global warm-ing.

:: Business and Economy ::

7.5% GDP growth will help boost business:Moody's

Healthy 7.5 per cent GDP growth for India for the fiscal year ending March 2017 (FY2017) and a pick-up in manufacturing activity will be broadly supportive of business growth.
Most non-financial corporates Moody rates in India (Baa3 positive) will benefit from strong domestic growth and accommodative monetary policy.
Although weak global growth and a potential U.S. rate hike will weigh on businesses.
However, the corporations will also remain vulnerable to the volatile Indian rupee as against the U.S. dollar and to low commodity prices, which has in turn led to a sharp decline in external trade.
The Modi administration so far this year has been un-able to enact legislation on key reforms, including a unified goods and services tax and the Land Acquisition Bill.
It seems highly unlikely that the major reforms will get enacted by the upper house of the Indian parliament where the ruling coalition is in minority.
The fall in commodity prices has benefited many Indian corporates given the country’s status as a net importer of raw materials and its recent history of high inflation.
The resultant moderating inflation should result in low-er borrowing costs for corporates and yields on corporate bonds, says Moody's.

Government says call drop rate is decreasing

The government's intervention has led to a decline in frequent call drops faced by mobile phone users with private operators installing over 22,000 new cell sites between July and October
While the number of dysfunctional sites has come down to 13,823 across the country.
Earlier (in September) 35,000 cell sites were found to be defective. At last count, the number stood at 25,598.
Between the July and October period private operators have installed 7,528 new 2G sites and 14,751 new 3G sites across the country.
A total of 18.33 lakh mobile sites are be-ing operated by telecom service providers across the country.
The problem of call drops have improved in New Delhi but operators still didn't meet the quality parameters of less that 2 per cent.
According to a survey done by TERM cell -- the vigilance and resource monitoring arm of the Department of Telecom, call drops on Bharti Airtel network in Delhi, which was in the range of 2.92 - 17.77 in August, improved to 0.08-2.98 at the end of October.

:: Sports ::

Cricket association of Bihar for reforms in BCCI

The Cricket Association of Bihar secretary, Aditya Verma, has appealed to the Justice Lodha Committee to make the Board of Control for Crick-et in India (BCCI) introduce some reforms in its functioning.
Pointing out that the BCCI has handed out memberships to various associations in ‘an arbitrary manner' as a result of which meritorious players from various parts of the country have suffered.
Verma requested for reforms in the Board's administration, including the grant of membership. Citing a Supreme Court ruling which said the BCCI should meet the demands of institutional integrity and avoid conflict of interests.