Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam - 23 December, 2013

Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

Around 50 environmentalists from across the country have written to the Union Environment Ministry that Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project, Statue of Unity, envisaging a 182- metre statue of Sardar Patel inside Narmada river, 3.2 km downstream of Sardar Sarovar Dam and Shoolpaneshar Sanctuary, was working without environment approval.
This was an eco-sensitive zone, involving massive infrastructure. Work had started without the mandatory environment and social impact assessment or any public consultation process either.
The website http://www.statueofunity.in pointed out that the project cost was more than Rs. 2,500 crore. The Government of Gujarat website clearly stated that it would be “a monument that will not just be a mute memorial like the rest, but a fully functional, purpose-serving tribute that will boost tourism and facilitate development in the surrounding tribal areas.”

Around 20 Chinese soldiers last week entered Indian territory near the LAC and pitched their tents in Chepzi area in Ladakh.
Around 20-22 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had last week pitched around 8-10 tents in the west of Chepzi in Ladakh area.
However, the Army headquarters insisted there was no such incident in that area.
It was not immediately known whether the Chinese troops still remained in the Indian territory or have left.
Chepzi is close to Chumar area, which has been witness to a large number of incursions by the Chinese side in the last one year.
In April, Chinese troops had entered 19 km inside Indian territory in the Daulat Beg Oldi sector and left the place only after long negotiations and a series of flag meetings between the two sides.
The reports about the Chinese camp in the area have come soon after PLA troops apprehended five Indian nationals in the Chumar area and took them to their camp across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in an apparent bid to stake their claim on the area.
After the two countries signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) in Beijing, they have agreed to resolve their issues under the mechanisms provided by the new pact aiming to prevent flare-ups between their troops.

Zaheer Khan got his 300th Test wicket under the African sun, when he dismissed Jacques Kallis in the first Test at the Wanderers Stadium.
In a career spanning innumerable tours, plentiful wickets and countless desolate nights of coping with injury-induced self-doubt, Zaheer is back again in the African continent, refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to rattle batsmen with his potent mix of swing and pace.

That performance catapulted Zaheer onto the bigger leagues while also offering fresh hope to Indian cricket, tainted as it was after the match-fixing controversy.
That series also brought to the fore another young and energetic talent — Yuvraj Singh — who had blasted an 84 in that match.

Kane Williamson completed his second half-century of the match to take New Zealand to an eight-wicket victory in the third and final test against West Indies and seal the series 2-0 after lunch on the fourth day in Hamilton.
The hosts finished on 124-2 with Hamish Rutherford unbeaten on 48 and Ross Taylor on two, having hauled in a meagre target of 122.
Taylor, who scored an unbeaten 217 in the series-opener in Dunedin and 129 in Wellington, shone again in New Zealand's first innings in Hamilton with 131 and was named man of the match.
New Zealand had not beaten a top-eight nation in a series since they beat West Indies 2-0 in 2006. Until their innings and 73-run victory at the Basin Reserve last week, they had not won a test in more than 12 months.