Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

17 April 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Travelling in National Highways will be smoother

• Motoring along National Highway (NH) stretches is set to become further smooth with the Govt going ahead with removing all speed breakers from highway corridors that hinder speedier and smoother flow of vehicular traffic.
• The intervention of Govt comes in the wake of speed breakers (road humps) being constructed against the Ministry’s policy of not providing them on the NH corridors.
• Scientifically designed rumble strips have been mooted by Govt for places such has approaches to sharp curves at level crossings, and congested or accident prone locations.
• But, the Ministry is worried over rumble strips being put up on NHs indiscriminately.
• Govt has asked the States to inform the Ministry by April 20 about removal of speed breakers and the location of rumble strips on NH corridors.
• Henceforth, the location of the rumble strip needs to be approved by the chief engineer, NH, or the appropriate authority in the NHAI.
• States have been asked to explore the possibility of providing foot overbridges and underpasses at pedestrian crossings on NH to prevent direct crossing and entry of pedestrians on highways.
• Govt’s Road Accident Report for 2014 says 4,726 lives were lost in crashes due to humps and that 6,672 people died in accidents caused by potholes and speed breakers.
• Kerala has around 1,550 km of National Highways and removing speed breakers will be a risk. as there is no urban-rural divide in the State.

Talks for Rafale in critical phase

• Contrary to speculation that India and France have reached an agreement for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, govt said talks on pricing had reached a critical phase and were expected to be completed in a few months.
• The differences over pricing had narrowed down considerably, and the talks were in the final phase.
• While the French offer was about €11 billion, India said it would not go beyond €8 billion. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has clarified on various occasions that there will be no compromise on the price.
• After some hard negotiations, the differences seem to have narrowed down considerably, with the French climbing down on their offer. The conclusion of the inter-governmental agreement will pave the way for signing of the final contract.
• In January this year, both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase during the visit of French President Francois Hollande to India.
• The development comes one year after the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris on the direct purchase of 36 fighter jets under a government-to-government agreement.
• However, the talks to conclude the deal were gridlocked over offset requirements, customisations as sought by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and pricing.

Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) for the cross-border broadcasting initiative

• Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) for the cross-border broadcasting initiative to be kick-started with President Pranab Mukherjee’s inauguration of a transmitter at Chinsurah later this year.
• Director General of AIR, said: “DRM has the twin capabilities of anologue and digital transmission, which makes it perfect for simulcast modes.”
• DRM is not a good option as its receivers cost around Rs. 15,000 and people may not buy such expensive receivers. People do listen to FM radio (available on cell phones) and car music systems) so it would have been nice to install more FM transmitters if the objective is to reach listeners.
• AIR is using both FM transmitters and DRMs to reach out to India’s neighbours. A senior official said Radio Bangla was discontinued in 2010. With DRM, Radio Bangla will be active again.
• Two years ago, the Sam Pitroda Committee set up to suggest a road map for the Prasar Bharati, had struck a cautious note in its report: “Digitalise the present AM radio system to a new digital radio transmission after due evaluation subject to cost and availability of DRM receivers.
• In the transition period, FM may be expanded as per demand”. AIR, according to officials, has set 2017 as deadline to achieve total digitisation.

Air quality was logged between moderate and poor levels

• Air quality in Delhi improved and was logged between moderate and poor levels. Fine respirable pollutants was reported to have dispersed “considerably” across the Capital on the second day of the enforcement of the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme.

• This even as the Delhi government claimed initial trends pointed at restrictions imposed on the plying of vehicles as per the provisions of the scheme showed it was expected to have a “positive impact” on Delhi's air quality but said that a “concrete assessment” would be made after assessing the data related to four-five working days.

• As per data released by the Delhi government, PM2.5 levels found within permissible limit (below 60) at 40 out of 74 locations while PM10 levels at a majority of locations were recorded below the level of 200.

• Meanwhile, the eight-hour average of Ozone, a gaseous pollutant, also dipped below 40 parts per billion (ppb) which was a sharp drop from Friday and the day before. Its eight hour notified average safe limit is 100 micrograms per cubic metre.

• The eight monitoring stations of the Centre’s SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research) put air quality between moderate and poor with the forecast being the same.

• The safe levels of PM2.5 and PM10 are 60 and 100 ug/m3 respectively, anything beyond which are considered hazardous for the respiratory system.

:: International ::

Tussle between US and Saudi over 9/11 bill

• Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in U.S. courts for any role in the September 11, 2001, attacks.
• Adel al Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, delivered the kingdom’s message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the U.S. before they could be in danger of being frozen by U.S. courts.
• The administration, which argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas, has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of September 11 victims are infuriated.
• President Barack Obama will arrive in Riyadh for meetings with King Salman and other Saudi officials.
• Saudi officials have long denied that the kingdom had any role in the September 11 plot, and the 9/11 Commission found “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organisation”.
• But critics have noted that the commission’s narrow wording left open the possibility that less senior officials or parts of the Saudi government could have played a role.

Earthquake in Japan take many toll

• Scores of people were feared buried alive on Saturday after two powerful quakes hit southern Japan a day apart, killing at least 41 people, as a forecast storm threatened more devastating landslides.
• Homes, roads and railway lines were swept away when huge hillsides collapsed as thousands of tonnes of mud were dislodged by the thunderous seismic tremors.
• Buildings were reduced to rubble, including a university dormitory and apartment complexes, with dozens of people unaccounted for over a wide area.
• More than 90,000 people have been evacuated, including 300 from an area near a dam thought to be at risk of collapse.
• Isolated villages in mountainous areas near Kumamoto were completely cut off by landslides. At least 500 people were believed trapped in one settlement and expected to spend the night in public buildings.

:: Business and Economy ::

Finance minister says Indian economy can do a lot better than this

• A bleak global economic outlook and the resultant export contraction are challenges to the Indian economy but good monsoon rains that are forecast this year would provide an impetus, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
• Indian economy has been the fastest growing among major economies for the past three quarters, the minister said at a conference of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting at the International Monetary Fund.
• He outlined the policy initiatives that the government was taking to capitalise on growth and said the Centre was re-examining existing fiscal policy approaches and increasing public investment.
• Mr. Jaitley, during his speeches and interactions in the U.S capital over the last two days, said India was doing better than many other countries, but admitted that more needed to be done.

Declining interest rates results in slowing deposit growth

• With interest rates declining, deposit growth in the country’s banking system slowed to a 50-year low of 9.7 per cent in the last financial year, Reserve Bank of India data showed.
• Bank deposits increased by 12.1 per cent in the previous financial year. The central bank has reduced the repo rate or the policy rate by 150 bps to 6.5 per cent since January 2015. Banks followed suit by reducing deposit rates as well as lending rates.
• State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, for example offers 7.25 per cent for one-year deposits.
• RBI governor Raghuram Rajan had indicated during the monetary policy review earlier this month that in Jan-March quarter, certain developments like issuances of tax free bonds and a rush to cash in on small savings before old rates expire, were some of the reasons for slower deposit growth.

Twitter Seva to address queries related to start-ups

• As part of its steps to support budding entrepreneurs, the government on April 21 will launch a new service, Twitter Seva, to address various queries of start-ups in a timebound manner.
• “The process is on. We would have a place where you can virtually contact us, tell us your issues. We have a team that will divert the things or issues to the particular ministry and then come back to you and try to reply in 24 hrs,” Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
• During an hour-long interaction, the minister heard their issues and responded to their queries.
• On the matters related to other departments, she assured them to take that up with the concerned ministries.

:: Sports ::

India lost finals to Australia

• India suffered a 0-4 drubbing at the hands of World champion Australia to settle for a silver medal, its best finish in six years, in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament.
• This was Australia’s ninth title win as it continued its stranglehold over the tournament.
• India last won the tournament in 2010, its fifth title, when it was a joint-winner with South Korea. In 2012 and 2015 it was the bronze medallist.

:: Science and Tech ::

Arctic link to the monsoon

• In the chill climes of polar waters, scientists are looking for specific oceanographic factors that could influence Indian monsoon.
• IndARC, the country’s first moored-underwater observatory in the Arctic, had recently been deployed for the continuous monitoring of the oceanographic parameters from various depths.
• IndARC is expected to provide significant inputs in the understanding of the Arctic climate and its possible link to tropical processes, specifically the Indian monsoon.
• The observatory is presently anchored about 1100 km away from the North Pole at a depth of 192 metres.
• The observatory carries with it an array of high-end oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at discrete depths in the water column.
• The sensors are programmed to collect real-time data on seawater temperature, salinity, current and other vital parameters of the fjord (creek),
• Climate change is felt first and fastest in the Arctic. It manifests as rising temperatures, loss of sea-ice and the melting of ice sheets.

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