Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams 23 February 2017

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

23 February 2017

:: National ::

Scientists predict life expectancy will reach 90 years

Life expectancy will soon exceed 90 years for the first time, scientists have predicted, overturning all the assumptions about human longevity that prevailed at the beginning of the 20th century.
Women born in South Korea in 2030 are forecast to have a life expectancy of 90, a study has found.
But other developed countries are not far behind, raising serious questions about the health and social care that will be needed by large numbers of the population living through their 80s.
It is impossible to accurately forecast the natural disasters, disease outbreaks or climate changes that may take a toll of lives around the world.
But the study in medical journal Lancet shows a significant rise in life expectancy in most of the 35 developed countries studied.
A notable exception is the U.S., where a combination of obesity, deaths of mothers and babies at birth, homicides and lack of equal access to healthcare is predicted to cause life expectancy to rise more slowly than in most comparable countries.
The big winners are South Korea, some western European countries, and some emerging economies.
France is second in the league table for women — as it was in 2010 — at 88.6 years, and Japan is third on 88.4 years after decades with the longest life expectancy in the world.
The study incorporates 21 different models of life expectancy to try to come to a definitive prediction of the future, but the authors say there is still uncertainty.
There is a 97% probability that women’s life expectancy at birth in 2030 in South Korea will be higher than 86.7 years and 57% probability that it will exceed 90 years.
South Korea’s performance is due to improvements in its economy and education. Deaths among children and adults from infectious diseases have dropped and nutrition has improved, which has also led to South Koreans growing taller.

EU team says Kashmir issue must be dealt internally in India

Human rights ‘violations’ in Jammu and Kashmir must be resolved internally in India, says a visiting delegation of Members of European Parliament, accepting that the conflict in the State is an internal Indian matter.
The conflict is a very sensitive issue, we know how sensitive it is. Delegations of MEPs visited both sides of Kashmir in 2003-04. This has to be settled through domestic Indian institutions,” said, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the EU Parliament.
However, while giving India its full support on the human rights issue, the delegation, however, will take up two other thorny issues: India’s denial of a visa to a member of their delegation, and recent Home Ministry action against NGOs in India.
On the issue of NGOs operating in India, the EU delegation said it was concerned about strictures on funding and the functioning of rights organisations, that had also been brought to the EU parliament’s notice.

Three lakh Indian in US face risk of deportation

Nearly three lakh Indian-Americans are likely to be impacted by the Trump administration’s sweeping plans that put the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation.
U.S. President Donald Trump has laid the groundwork for potentially deporting millions of undocumented immigrants by issuing new guidelines.
“The Department no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in an enforcement memo.
“Department personnel have full authority to arrest or apprehend an alien whom an immigration officer has probable cause to believe is in violation of the immigration laws,” it said.
The emphasis is on criminal aliens but opens up the door for others too. As per unofficial figures, Indian-Americans account for nearly 3,00,000 illegal aliens.

Apex court remain firm on construction of SYL

Even as Punjab denied any liability on its part to share water with Haryana, the Supreme Court stood firm by its decision to construct the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal and urged the neighbouring States to maintain law and order at any cost.
A Bench of Justices raised concern about violence after reports that the Indian National Lok Dal, Haryana’s main opposition party, had asked its workers to gather at Ambala and march inside Punjab to start digging the SYL canal.
The Supreme Court’s call for status quo in the inter-State water dispute came amidst Punjab’s affidavit that the Punjab Termination of Water Agreement Act of 2004 was still in force.
It argued that a recent Supreme Court verdict that declared the 2004 Act as unconstitutional was only an opinion given by the court on a presidential reference and not a verdict as such to be complied as law.
Haryana submitted that the verdict allowing the SYL canal to be built has to be executed.

:: Science and Technology ::

Scientists have spotted seven Earth-sized planets

Scientists have spotted seven Earth-sized planets, with mass similar to Earth, orbiting around a dwarf star the size of Jupiter, just 39 light years from the Sun.
The planets’ temperature is low enough to make possible the presence of liquid water on their surface.
In May last year, scientists found three planets passing in front of TRAPPIST-1, the dwarf star. Based on further monitoring of the star from the ground and space, scientists have found four more ‘exo-planets’ orbiting TRAPPIST-1.
The scientists have been able to make precise mass measurement for six of the seven planets. Though the mass measurements are preliminary, they do indicate that the planets are terrestrial with liquid water.
The four newly discovered planets orbit around the star every 4.04 days, 6.06 days, 8.1 days and 12.3 days respectively; the orbital period of two of the three planets discovered last year is 1.51 days and 2.42 days respectively.
Five planets have sizes similar to that of the Earth, while the remaining two are intermediate in size — between Mars and Earth. Based on the mass estimates, the six inner planets may have a rocky composition.
The sixth planet has low density suggesting a volatile rich composition. The volatile content could be either ice layer and/or atmosphere.

:: Business and Economy ::

Centre wants solar park capacity to reach 40000 MW

The Cabinet has approved the doubling of solar park capacity to 40,000 MW, which will entail an additional 50 solar parks to be set up at a cost of Rs. 8,100 crore to be borne by the Centre, Minister of New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said.
Mr. Goyal said while most of the additional 50 solar parks, to be commissioned by 2019-20, will be of 50 MW capacity, the Centre is also considering smaller parks in Himalayan and other hilly states where contiguous land is difficult to acquire.
The solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects will be set up by 2019-20 with Central Government financial support of Rs. 8,100 crore.
The total capacity when operational will generate 64 billion units of electricity per year which will lead to abatement of around 55 mt of carbon dioxide per year over its life cycle.
Mr. Goyal explained that the state governments will first nominate the solar power park developer (SPPD) and will also identify the land for the proposed solar park.
The Cabinet also approved a Rs. 5723.72 crore investment for the Arun-3 900 MW hydroelectric plant in Nepal.
Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for the existing implementing agency, already incorporated in the name of SJVN Arun-3 Power Development Company (SAPDC) for the implementation of the project.
The project, located on the Arun river, is expected to provide any surplus power not used by Nepal to India.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Australia for the promotion and development of cooperation in civil aviation security also got the green signal.

Salaries in India are expected to grow only 9.5%

Salaries in India are expected to grow only 9.5% in 2017 compared to a growth of 10.2% in the previous year, according to a survey report by Aon Hewitt.
This low growth, driven by demonetisation, as well as global factors like Brexit and the new U.S. government’s policies, would be the lowest increase in salaries since 2009, when the financial crisis hit India’s wages.
However, despite this expected dip in the growth of salaries, the annual Aon Salary Increase Survey still sees India as having the highest growth in salaries among other Asian economies.
In comparison, China is expected to see a 6.9% growth in salaries, Japan 2.4%, Malaysia 5.5% and Singapore 4.1%.
The survey report found that some industries like consumer Internet, professional services, entertainment media, automotive manufacturing, consumer products, engineering manufacturing and ITeS expected higher than average salary increases.
The survey, the largest conducted by the company so far, covered 1,003 companies across 20 industries. Of the respondents, 575 were service companies and 428 were engaged in manufacturing.
Regarding the business outlook, the survey found that 67.5% of the respondents expected an improvement in business conditions in financial year 2017-18 compared with 61.9% in the previous financial year.

Rising oil prices will not pose a serious risk to the economy says chief economic adviser

Rising global oil prices will not pose a serious risk to the economy if they remain within the range of $55-65 a barrel, said chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.
“As long as it is in that range it should not be a serious risk to our macroeconomy,” he said. International prices of crude oil have started to trend up.