Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

10 January, 2014

Aam Aadmi Party make an impact in 2014 General Election

• The Aam Aadmi Party is on a high. And it has reasons to be. On December 08, 2013, the party with broom as its election symbol literally swept the Congress party in the Delhi Assembly elections and stunned the BJP by winning 28 seats in the 70-member House. Its convener, the 45-year-old Arvind Kejriwal defeated the three-time chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, and became the seventh CM of Delhi in just over a year after launching the AAP.

• It cannot be denied that the new party captured the imagination of the people of Delhi with its innovative style of campaigning, with its anti-corruption plank and with its promise of changing the way politics is done in India. They talked of people’s participation and clean governance, and when offered outside support by the Congress which won eight seats in Delhi, they went to the people and sought their opinion on government formation.

• It’s almost been a fairy-tale launch for the AAP. No wonder buoyed by the success in 2013, they have now set their eyes on 2014. Notwithstanding the fact that the BJP is hoping to come back to power at the Centre after a decade and notwithstanding the fact that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has been growing in the country, they sincerely feel that there is an unprecedented excitement and buzz about the AAP.

• Thus the decision by them to take the national plunge and fight in almost 300 seats in the upcoming General Elections this year. As they say – make hay while the sun shines. Which brings us to the question – can AAP make an impact in Lok Sabha polls and can it repeat its good showing in Delhi at the national level? After what happened in Delhi where the Congress, BJP and the opinion makers did not give them much of a chance, not many would want to hazard a comment about their prospects at this juncture. But one thing can be said for sure – it’s going to be an uphill task.

Anti-graft bills

• The government will push its six anti-graft framework bills during the short Parliament session in February fulfilling the agenda set by Rahul Gandhi.

• Addressing his monthly press conference in New Delhi , Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the bills would be pushed when Parliament meets in February to pass vote on account.

• The bills likely to be pushed during the session are the Public Procurement Bill, the Prevention of Corruption Act (Amendment) Bill, the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations Bill, Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, The Right of Citizens for Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill and the Whistleblowers Protection Bill.

• To a question as to whom did Congress find as bigger challenge - Narendra Modi or Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Shinde said “none” and elaborated further that Congress had weathered many storms during its 128-year-long history.

Jains in minority list

• The Minority Affairs Ministry’s move to include Jains in the Centre’s minorities list has raised concern that broadening the definition without an economic eligibility criterion or a model for better implementation may cause the Muslim community to lose out, a fear which was unfounded.

• In terms of employment opportunities and bank loans, benefits of minorities’ entitlements are cornered by more affluent minority communities like Sikhs and Parsis. Jains too are an affluent community and their inclusion may cause the divide to deepen, specially when it comes to the banking sector as they are predominantly a business community.

• The problem, is designing schemes for Muslims and targeting it for “minorities” as there is a notion that Muslim-specific schemes may go against secular credentials, with the result that the only schemes from which Muslims benefit are scholarship schemes.

• The ministry view is that minority status to one more community does not compromise interest of any existing groups on the list. The five religious minorities currently recognised by the Centre are Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Buddhists.

Team India's No.1 position at stake

• India will have to beat New Zealand in the upcoming ODI series to retain their top spot in the ICC rankings as Australia and England have a chance to topple Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s men from the perch.
• Australia are currently ranked second with 114 ratings points, six ratings behind number-one ranked India, while England is ranked third on 111 ratings points.
• Australia was last ranked number-one in July 2012, only to be overtaken by England who held the top position till December 2012.
• Australia and England`s rise to the top position however, is dependent on how India fare in their five-match series against host New Zealand, which begins on January 19 in Napier.
• For both England and Australia to go top, they would not just need wins themselves but also hope that New Zealand gets the better of India.
• Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is the highest-ranked Indian in the batsmen`s rankings at the second spot with Shikhar Dhawan being the next best-placed at 10th.

• In the bowlers` list, Ravindra Jadeja is the highest-ranked Indian at sixth followed by R Ashwin at the 16th position after going up a rung. Jadeja is also the best among the Indians in the all-rounders` list at the fifth spot.

Biggest winner in Australian Open draw

• Three-time winner and defending champion Novak Djokovic earned a dream Australian Open draw while world No.1 Rafael Nadal faces a tricky first-round opponent in Bernard Tomic.

• Unbeaten in four months, Djokovic was handed the kindest draw amongst the big guns. The Serbian meets Slovakia's world No.90 Lukas Lacko in his opening match, and is drawn to meet 15th seed Fabio Fognini in the fourth round.

• The biggest threat in Djokovic's half is Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who will play Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev in the first round. And then the world No.2 is seeded to run into Spanish world No.3 David Ferrer in the semi-finals.

• Top-seeded Nadal, No.4 Andy Murray, No.5 Juan Martin del Potro and No.6 Roger Federer all stacked in the opposite half.

• Nadal, who missed last year's Australian Open with a left knee injury during a seven-month absence from the tour, returned to win 10 titles in 2013 and regain the No.1 ranking, overtaking Djokovic. His first round opponent Tomic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011 and has been ranked as high as No.27.

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