Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam - 17 January, 2014

Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

Norwegian criminal investigators have said fertilizer giant Yara illegally paid $1million to a top Indian bureaucrat’s son in return for his helping it secure a joint venture with public sector firm Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (Kribhco) documents made available by Norwegian prosecutors .
Yara routed $1 million into an offshore account held on behalf of Gurpreetesh Singh Maini and his father, Finance Ministry Additional Secretary and Kribhco board member Jivtesh Singh Maini, according to the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, Økokrim. “Both the offer and the payment constituted an improper advantage,” Økokrim’s Penalty Note to Yara states.
Yara, the world’s largest mineral fertilizer company, was fined $48.3 million for paying bribes to the Kribhco project in India, which eventually fell through, as well as separate projects in Libya and Switzerland.
“In April 2007,” the Penalty Note issued by Økokrim states, “members of Yara’s senior management team, on behalf of Yara, offered to make a deal with Gurpreetesh Singh Maini, the son of Dr. Jivtesh Singh Maini. Dr. Maini was at that time Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and a member of the board of Kribhco.”

Much like her life after movies, the final journey of legendary actress Suchitra Sen too was a quiet affair with the administration taking measures honouring her wish of keeping her face away from public gaze.
The body of Sen, who died today following cardiac arrest at a city nursing home, was carried to her Ballygunge residence in a coffin inside a hearse fitted with dark glasses and covered with floral wreaths.
The 'Mahanayika' remained virtually invisible to the public during the entire process.
Adequate security measures were put in place to ensure that her body was smoothly taken out of Belle Vue Clinic as hundreds of fans gathered around the medical facility hoping to get a glimpse of the screen-goddess who has been an enigma after she shunned the arclights and went into reclusion.
Even her house was cordoned off with heavy deployment of security personnel and only a chosen few -- including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a few of her ministerial colleagues besides the actress's family members -- could pay their last respects.

Security has been beefed up in airports across the country after the Bureau of Civial Aviation Security (BCAS) alerted airport operators earlier this week about the possibility of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) hijacking an aircraft to put pressure of the Indian government to release one of its founder Yasin Bhatkal.
In the alert, the BCAS said recent inputs suggested that the IM operatives may organise the "hijacking of aircraft or forcible intrusion at uncategorised, smaller airports which are vulnerable to demand the release of Yasin Bhatkal".
Entry of visitors may be lkept within restrictions and sale of visitor entry tickets may be stopped from January 20 to 31. Other measures like strengthening anti-terrorist measures, checking of vehicles entering the parking slot to curb possibilities of car-bomb attacks will also be undertaken.
The terrorists had hijacked IC-814 in 1999 to successfully free JeM leaders Authorities still remember a similar situation in 1999 when an Indian Airlines aircraft IC 814 was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan when the hijackers successfully negotiated the release of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar and two others. Bhatkal, the IM leader, was arrested near the Nepal border in Bihar on August 27 last year and is being grilled by interrogators in connection to several terror attacks in India ever since.

Sachin Tendulkar will be conferred with the Bharat Ratna on February 4 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket on November 16 after an illustrious career spanning 24 years, is also a Member of Parliament in the Upper House. The Rashtrapati Bhawan announced the award for Tendulkar on the day he retired, making him the first sportsman get the honour.
Tendulkar, who called it a day after his historic 200th Test match will receive the award along with eminent scientist Professor CNR Rao. Many believed hockey legend Dhyanchand should have got the Bharat Ratna ahead of any other sportsman but when Tendulkar's name was announced, few disagreed on the historic nomination.
The last recipient of the Bharat Ratna was legendary musician Bhimsen Joshi back in 2009.

Serena Williams got on and off court as quickly as she could in the scorching heat registering yet another record with match win No. 61 at the Australian Open as she advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova.
The five-time Australian Open champion later withdrew from the doubles, avoiding any extra exposure to the blazing sun during the once-in-a-century heat wave that was gripping Melbourne for a fourth straight day.
Two-time finalist Li Na, the major threat to top-ranked Williams in the top half of the women’s draw, had to save a match point before coming back to beat No. 26-seeded Lucie Safarova 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in 2 hours, 37 minutes.
Williams didn’t face any serious danger in her win over No. 31-seeded Hantuchova, whose only win in 10 head-to-head matches came in the corresponding round at the 2006 Australian Open.
Williams was off the court in 1 hour, 20 minutes, and has conceded just 12 games in three straight-set wins this week.
She equaled Margaret Court’s Australian Open mark of 60 wins with her second-round victory, and beat that in the third round when she also matched Lindsay Davenport’s record of 69 main-draw matches here in the Open era. That means she’ll set another record just by showing up on Sunday, against the winner of the night match between 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur and former No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic.