Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam - 11 December, 2013

Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

The first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre of India's maiden mission to Mars was carried out successfully by ISRO scientists on the spacecraft, which is presently travelling some 2.9 million kms away from Earth.
The TCMs fine tune the trajectory of the spacecraft to keep it travelling in the intended track towards the red planet.
Ever since the successful Trans-Mars Injection on December 1, MOM navigators were spending days ranging and measuring the spacecraft's velocity and precisely determined its flight path to come up with the required correction in the path, ISRO said in its official Facebook page.
Earlier, the spacecraft was rotated from its nominal orientation to the orientation required for the first TCM.
Four TCMs are planned to fine tune the trajectory of the spacecraft so as to keep it in the precise intended track.
ISRO had earlier said MOM was not taking the shortest route to the Red Planet, since accelerating and later decelerating to match the planet's speed would require an extremely large amount of fuel in that option.

Tehelka founder and former editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, who has been accused of sexually assaulting his female colleague, was sent to 12-day judicial custody by a court in Goa.
A lady journalist, employed with Tehelka, had accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her twice on November 7 and 8 in Goa. Tejpal has been booked under Section 354A (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 376 (2)(K) (custodial rape) of IPC.
The Goa Crime Branch also booked him under additional charges of wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement, covered by Sections 341 and 342 of the IPC.
Tejpal has also been booked under Section 376 (2) (f) of The Criminal Law ( Amendment) Act, applicable in circumstances where the rape has been committed by a person "being a relative, guardian, or teacher or in a position of trust" towards the victim.

Indian athletes have been cleared to compete in the Winter Games in Sochi after the country complied with the IOC’s ethics rules and avoided becoming the first country expelled from the Olympics in more than 40 years.
Still to be determined is whether the few Indian athletes who have qualified for Sochi compete for their country or under the Olympic flag.
The International Olympic Committee gave a reprieve to India’s suspended national Olympic body after a long impasse that had threatened to lead to the expulsion of the world’s second most populous nation.
The move came two days after the Indian Olympic Association amended its constitution to bar any officials charged with a crime from running for election, as demanded by the IOC.
The Indian body was suspended by the IOC last December after electing secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, who spent 10 months in jail on corruption charges related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
India is likely to send a three-member team to Sochi, led by luger Shiva Keshavan, who will be participating in his fifth Winter Olympics. Keshavan, who set a continental record at the Asia Cup in Nagano, Japan, last December, is hoping to become the first Indian to win a medal at a Winter Games.
India can also send one male and one female Alpine skier to the games.

India crashed out of the Hero Junior Men's Hockey World Cup after being held 3-3 by Korea in a must-win Pool C match at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
The draw means both India and Korea finished their pool engagement with four points apiece but it was not enough for the home team to qualify for the quarterfinals as they needed a win.
The draw, however, was more than enough for the Koreans to progress to the knock-out stage as they had a better goal difference than the Indians.

The Supreme Court bench did not cover itself with glory when it overturned a Delhi high court verdict of 2 July 2009 that had effectively decriminalised homosexuality.
Under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), any sexual act of an “unnatural” nature could attract penalties ranging from 10 years to a life sentence.
The reason for this controversial judgement : it was not for courts to create the law, a two-judge bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi, said. Inherent in this verdict is a challenge to the government: if you have the guts, change the law yourself. Don’t ask us to do it.