Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 22 October 2015

:: National ::

A UP court has slapped sedition charges on finance minister Arun Jaitley for criticizing the Supreme Court's recent decision striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) for selection of judges to the higher judiciary.
Taking suo motu cognizance of Jaitley's criticism of the verdict, civil judge of Mahoba in Jhansi district Ankit Goel summoned him to be present before him on November 19.
Goel had earlier issued summons against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for his purported comment that allegations of gang rape could often be fabricated.
The judge in his order said the finance minister's blog 'Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the unelected' prima facie amounted to sedition under Section 124A as well as causing public mischief under Section 505 of Indian Penal Code.
The court said under Section 190 of Criminal Procedure Code, it was entitled to take cognizance of the statements which were published in various newspapers.
Several people, including constitutional experts, have criticized the verdict of the apex court which on October 16 quashed the NJAC Act and revived the two-decade-old collegium system for appointment of judges.
The finance minister, writing in his personal capacity, had held that the SC's verdict striking down the 99th constitutional amendment to turn the appointment of judges into an exclusive prerogative of judiciary was tantamount to rewriting the Constitution.

Senior U.N. officials have objected to a proposal by some Arab states to classify the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, as part of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, following angry denunciations by Israel and many Jewish-American groups.
The proposal is contained in a draft resolution to the executive board of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The agency formally designates cultural treasures around the world.
The proposal to UNESCO has emerged at a time when deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians has been flaring over the holy site, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.
New clashes erupted on Tuesday that left at least four Palestinians fatally shot.
The UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova, expressed her objection to the resolution on Tuesday in a stern statement, saying it “could be seen to alter the status of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls”.
The Western Wall, as part of the Old City of Jerusalem, is a UNESCO World Heritage site adjacent to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, and its protection is central to the UNESCO mandate.
A U.N. diplomat said the draft, which is being discussed by UNESCO’s executive board, made up of envoys from 58 countries, had been proposed by six of the agency’s Arab members: Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the UAE.

A Russian military unit will be permanently stationed in the Arctic by 2018, the defense minister said on Thursday.
Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies on Thursday that the "creation and arming" of the Arctic military unit should be completed by 2018. Shoigu also said Russia is building several new bases in the Arctic as well as rebuilding six Soviet-era air bases there.
"We are not hiding this from anyone: we are have practically finished building bases on the Novosibirsk Archipelago and on Kotelny island," Shoigu said, adding that modern military technology was "necessary for guarding borders" in the Arctic.
The Kremlin announced its intentions to bring its military to the Arctic in 2008 but has yet to station troops there.
In tandem with the military expansion, Russia is building the Yamal LNG plant in the Ob River estuary in collaboration with the French energy company Total. It will produce gas, liquefy it and ship it to European and Asian markets.

Petronet LNG Ltd, India's biggest liquefied natural gas importer, is shelling out Rs 400 crore every quarter in demurrage charges for ships idling because of its PSU buyers refusing to buy expensive imported gas.
The company is taking only 68 per cent of the volumes it agreed to in 25-year contracts with RasGas of Qatar after a slump in global energy prices led to gas being available in spot or current market a roughly half that rate.
State-owned GAIL India Ltd, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) have committed to buy all of the 7.5 million tonne a year of LNG Petronet is to import from Qatar.
But with slump in global prices, they have opted to buy gas from spot market rather than use the long-term LNG, senior officials said.
The reduced offtake by the buyers forced Petronet to cut its purchase from RasGas. This resulted in idling of three cryogenic ships it had chartered hired for ferrying gas in its liquid form at sub-zero temperatures from Qatar to its import terminal at Dahej in Gujarat.

Newly elected Canadian MP Chandra Arya is a “newbie” in more ways than one. Not only is he a new MP, this tech-entrepreneur joined politics recently, and moved to Canada only 12 years ago. Mr. Arya has been elected from Ottawa along with 19 other Indo-Canadians in the parliamentary elections, one of 18 Liberal candidates who swept to power on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wave.
“My constituency has never elected a south Asian before, and Liberals haven’t won it for years,” he told The Hindu over telephone from Ottawa shortly after his win, adding, “It shows how everyone has a chance here.”
When asked if he had ever considered politics while he lived in India, Mr. Arya, who grew up in Bengaluru and was educated at Karnatak University and Bangalore University, before heading several ventures, demurs from answering.