Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam - 04 January, 2014

Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

India has decided to seal its border with Bangladesh for three days as a security measure ahead of parliamentary elections in the neighbouring country as General election in Bangladesh is scheduled to take place soon.
Despite India's move to close the Indo-Bangla border, reports indicate that legal movement of people across the international boundary will remain unaffected.
At least two people were killed in clashes between pro-and anti-government supporters across Bangladesh recently , as five voting centres were set on fire amid the opposition's nonstop blockade two days before the polls.
The Bangladesh National Party-led 18-party opposition alliance has been demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation and scrapping of the polls. The BNP has refused to field candidates, saying elections under Hasina will be rigged - an accusation the premier strongly rejects. Citizens in Bangladesh would be exercising their franchise to elect representatives in 147 constituencies out of the total 300.

The Delhi High Court has reserved its verdict on confirming the death sentence and appeals of four accused in the Dec 16 gangrape case.
A division bench of Justice Reva Khetrapal, and Justice Pratibha Rani reserved the order after prosecution and defence counsels concluded their arguments.
The court also asked defence counsels to file their written submissions by Jan 15.
A 23—year—old physiotherapy intern was gangraped, and brutally sexually assaulted by six men, including a juvenile, in a moving bus Dec 16, 2012.
The accused then threw her and her male companion out of the vehicle, stripped of clothing, to die by the roadside on the cold December night.
The woman died of grave intestinal injuries Dec 29, 2012 at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.
One of the six accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. A juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31 sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years, the maximum term under the juvenile law.
The trial court Sep 13 awarded the death sentence to Mukesh, 26, Akshay Thakur, 28, Pawan Gupta, 19, and Vinay Sharma, 20.
The court referred the case to the high court for confirmation of the sentence. The chargesheet was filed Jan 3 last year.

AAP candidate M S Dhir was elected as the Speaker of Delhi Assembly with the support of Congress.
Dhir was also backed by the lone JD (U) MLA and an Independent. 37 MLAs supported Dhir while BJP candidate Jagdish Mukhi got the support of 32 MLAs from his party.
The pro-tem speaker conducted a voice vote twice following objections by BJP MLAs.
The minority Aam Aadmi Party government had crossed the first hurdle in the Delhi Assembly when its confidence motion sailed through easily with the backing of the members of Congress, JD(U) and an independent.

After courting controversy during the selection of sportspersons for the National sports awards last year, the Union Sports Ministry has finalised a new set of criteria to make the selection process more transparent.
The Ministry has formulated a points-based system under which 90 per cent weightage will be given to sportspersons who have won medals in various international events in disciplines belonging to the Olympic Games (summer, winter and paralympics), Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
Points to be awarded for performances during the past four years will be calculated as per the following format: World Championship/World Cup [once in four years] (gold: 40 points, silver: 30, bronze: 20); Asian Games (30, 25, 20); Commonwealth Games, World Championship/World Cup [biennial/annual] (25, 20, 15); Asian championship, Commonwealth championship (15, 10, 7).
For performances in any other sports event other than the above-mentioned competitions, the selection committee will decide on the points to be awarded to a sportsperson.
According to the new criteria, medal winners in the Olympics and Paralympics will automatically be considered for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna or Arjuna awards (depending on the type of medal won).
For cricket and indigenous games, which are not included in the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, the selection committee will recommend the number of awards (not exceeding two).

The Asia Cup 2014 cricket tournament will be held in Bangladesh, despite the prevailing situation of the country.
The Asian Cricket Council sat in a meeting over the uncertainty of the event, scheduled to be hosted by Bangladesh, in view of the political situation.
After the meeting, Bangladesh was given the green signal to host the tournament. The schedule of the cricket tournament will remain unchanged.
Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan and acting Chief Executive Officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury were present in the meeting.
Bangladesh was expected to host the Asia Cup 2014 in March this year until uncertainty rocked circumstance over the political deadlock and violence.