Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

09 January, 2014

Sitasharan Sharma : Speaker of MP Assembly

• Senior BJP legislator Sitasharan Sharma was unanimously elected as the Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

• The proposal to elect Sharma, who represents Hoshangabad seat, was moved by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and seconded by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Narottam Mishra.

• From the Opposition bench, the proposal was supported by senior Congress MLAs, Mahendra Singh, Satyaprakash Sakhwar, Dr Govind Singh, newly-nominated Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Satyadev Katare, besides Independent MLA Kal Singh Bhabar.

N-safety index

• India has been ranked below its two nuclear-armed neighbours — Pakistan and China — in the list of countries with a weak nuclear material security in the world, according to a U.S.-based think-tank.

• In the 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Index released, India has been ranked 23rd out of 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials.

• India received 41 out of 100 points, which is improvement by one point from the 2012 score.

• For comparison, China received 64 points and has been ranked at 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22nd place.

• India and these countries are included in the list of 25 countries with one kilogram or more of these materials, which also includes all other nuclear-armed states.

• The low rank is due to a number of factors, including weak regulations that are written as guidance rather than as requirements; increasing quantities of weapons-usable nuclear materials for both civilian and military use and gaps in its regulatory structure such as a lack of an independent regulatory agency.

• External risk factors, such as high levels of corruption, which undermine confidence in implementation or enforcement of security measures and also increase the risk that officials may contribute (even unwittingly) to the theft of nuclear material are also among the factors, it added.

• Both India and China improved their scores since 2012 by one point by contributing to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund, which supports the implementation of nuclear security activities, the report said.

• Pakistan improved its score by publishing new regulations for the physical protection of nuclear facilities.

• In comparing both countries, India scored higher than Pakistan on international legal commitments because India has adopted all of the relevant treaties whereas Pakistan has not.

• Pakistan, however, scored higher in a number of areas, including: the existence of an independent regulatory agency; having invited peer review of its nuclear security arrangements; and having security and other personnel with access to nuclear materials subjected to additional vetting.

Khobragade arrest

• In a major setback to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, a federal judge has denied her request to extend the January 13 deadline for a preliminary hearing, the date by which she has to be indicted.

• Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said adjournment of the date will not grant her the "relief she seeks" regarding plea negotiations between her and the government to resolve the visa fraud case.

• An indictment or information charging the defendant with the commission of an offence must be filed within 30 days of the date of the defendant's arrest or service of a summons in connection with such charges, she said in her order.

• Any adjournment of the preliminary hearing date will not have any impact on the filing of the indictment.

Top-seeds : Nadal and Serena

• World number ones of both men and women's tennis, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, have reportedly been made the top seeds at the Australian Open, which begins on Jan 13 at Melbourne Park.

• Defending champion and world number two Novak Djokovic have been made second-seeded, followed by Spaniard David Ferrer at third, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray at fourth, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro at fifth and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at sixth.

• According to Sport24, on the women's side, defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.

• The report mentioned that the 32 seeds were only altered twice from the rankings, both because of injuries, with No 29-ranked Jurgen Melzer not playing due to a left shoulder injury and Maria Kirilenko, who would have been seeded 18th, having a left knee injury.

Click Here for Daily News Archive