Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam - 31 March, 2014

Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

The Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence of 1993 Delhi bomb blast case convict and Khalistani terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar to life term on the ground of delay in deciding his mercy plea and his medical condition.
A four-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam granted life to Bhullar on the ground of delay on the part of the government in deciding his mercy plea and also on the basis of his present medical condition.
The bench, also comprising justices R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu and S.J. Mukhopadhaya, passed the order on a curative petition filed by Bhullar’s wife Navneet Kaur.
She pleaded before the court to relook into its verdict, in which Bhullar’s plea for commuting the sentence was rejected, in view of its recent judgment where it was held that delay in deciding mercy plea can be a ground for commutation of death penalty.
Bhullar was convicted and awarded death penalty for triggering a bomb blast in New Delhi in September 1993, which killed nine persons and injured 25 others, including then Youth Congress president M.S. Bitta.

The CBI will submit reports on investigations against 20 companies, as part of the preliminary enquiries instituted into the coal block allocations scam to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), for a review following a Supreme Court directive.
Few days ago, the court had directed the CVC to review the 20 cases, asking the CBI to submit the reports to the Commission within five days.
The apex court has also asked the CVC to review the cases against two companies — Vikas Metals Private Limited and Kamal Sponge and Power Private Limited — in which the CBI has filed closure reports.
This after the CBI Deputy Inspector-General Ravi Kant Sharma, who is supervising investigations into the coal block allocation cases, submitted before the Supreme Court that he wanted to file charge sheets against the two companies. The probe against 20 other firms under scrutiny for alleged irregularities in allotment of coal blocks was closed despite some officials’ opinion that it should have been carried further.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court directed the CVC to look into these cases and submit its recommendations within four weeks. The CBI has so far registered five preliminary enquiries, including the two in connection with the missing coal block allocations-related files. While 18 cases have been registered, the agency has filed charge sheets in two cases.
The agency has registered two latest cases against Prakash Industries and Central Collieries.

Mercedes AMG Petronas made it two out of two so far this season, winning the 2014 Malaysian GP. This time, it’s the 2008 world champion and new Petronas Primax technical performance consultant Lewis Hamilton taking the victory, ahead of teammate and Australian GP winner Nico Rosberg and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton entered the record books with the dominant win, securing his first Grand Chelem. That’s getting the pole position, the fastest lap of the race and winning the grand prix while leading every lap. Only 23 drivers have ever achieved this, and just 11 of them have more than one. Vettel, for instance, has four.

British Columbians reduced the province’s electricity load by a full one per cent last night for Earth Hour on 29th of March which was equivalent of turning off 1.4 million lights.
Earth Hour was observed at night from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and millions more people around the world also turned off their unnecessary lights and electronics.
In Vancouver, BC Place and Canada Place turned off their lights for an hour.
B.C’s energy savings during Earth Hour of one per cent was actually down from last year, when it was 1.95 per cent — the highest savings since 2008, when it was two per cent.

Sri Lankans went to polls to elect representatives to provincial councils, which in a way might be a form of referendum on a resolution against Sri Lanka adopted at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Elections for the western and southern provincial councils got underway with both the government and the opposition confident of coming out on top.
The government is confident of winning the elections and says it will use the results to tell the international community that the public have opposed international intervention in Sri Lanka.
The government rejected the resolution adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva which called for an international investigation in Sri Lanka over alleged civil war crimes.
Meanwhile, the main opposition is seeking a mandate to push for early presidential and general elections to remove the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.
The incumbent government has won successive elections following the end of the civil war in 2009, except elections in the Tamil-dominated north of the country held last year.

South Africa confirmed its semifinal place in the World Twenty20 tournament with a three-run win over England recently.
AB de Villiers smashed 69 not out off only 28 balls to help South Africa reach a massive 196-5. Hashim Amla scored 57 while Quinton de Kock made 29.
England came close with 193-7 in response but will now go home.