14-02-2014 Current Affairs Updates for SSC and All Competitive Exams

AP Assembly passes two bills amid ruckus, adjourned sine die

1. Amid slogan shouting by TRS and other members from Telangana region in support of separate state demand, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Thursday passed two Bills before being adjourned sine die.


2. The TRS members stood in the Well of the House as the day began and raised slogans in support of separate Telangana demand. As his appeals to members to resume their seats went unheeded, Speaker N. Manohar adjourned the House for an hour. It was the same scene after the House re-assembled.


3. Amid the din, Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy moved the 'Andhra Pradesh Appropriation (vote-on-account) Bill, 2014' and the 'Andhra Pradesh Appropriation Bill, 2014 (L.A. Bill No.2 of 2014)', which were passed.


4. The Speaker then adjourned the House sine die. Today was the last day of the brief session convened from last Monday for passing the vote-on-account budget. The session witnessed several disruptions over the state bifurcation issue.

MP Rajagopal, who used pepper spray in LS, once moved a bill to curb unruly behaviour in Parliament

1. In what has to be the irony of ironies, the expelled Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal - the man who shot to infamy after he unleashed a can of pepper spray in Lok Sabha - once wanted stringent steps to curb unruly behaviour in Parliament.


2. Rajgopal had successfully introduced a private members bill in the Lok Sabha in 2009 to deal with disruptions by MPs and even suggested a mechanism to penalise them.


3. The Lok Sabha erupted in unprecedented chaos when Rajagopal, an industrialist and opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh, brought a canister from which he sprayed pepper during noisy protests against the Telangana Bill. Rajagopal, a two-time Congress MP from Vijaywada, had on July 31, 2009 moved the bill and the motion for its introduction was adopted by the Lok Sabha.


4. The Disruption of Proceedings of Parliament (Disentitlement of Daily Allowance to Members and Termination of Membership) Bill, 2009 proposed that if a member or a group of them disrupt the house for the third time during the same session, the House may resolve to terminate the membership of such member or a group of members, as the case may be.


5. The membership of a member or a group of members referred to in the motion shall stand terminated from the day of adoption of the motion by the House, according to the bill's statement of objects and reasons.


6. The bill also proposed that if proceedings of the House are disrupted by any member or a group of members, as the case may be, leading to its adjournment for a substantial part on that day, no member shall be entitled to receive daily allowance for a day.


7. "...it is being observed that the proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament are disrupted due to pandemonium and the Houses have to be adjourned for substantial part of the day without transacting any business. This not only results in loss of precious time of Parliament and public money but also dents the image of Parliament," the bill said.


8. It said if the proceedings of either House are disrupted and Parliament is not permitted to function and transact the listed business on account of pandemonium, the legislative scrutiny over the Executive is diluted since debates on issues of public importance are withheld. However, today the same Parliamentarian was in the well of the House where he sprayed pepper after which four MPs had to be taken to hospital for medical attention

Jaya comes up with 'Amma' pharmacies; sops galore in Tamil Nadu Budget

1. With an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Tamil Nadu government in Thursday announced the opening of 100 subsidised 'Amma' pharmacies in budget 2014-15, which estimates a surplus of Rs 289.36 crore sans new taxes.


2. After opening 'Amma Canteens' and 'Amma mineral water', the government would set up 100 'Amma Marundagam' (medical stores) which will sell medicines at reasonable prices.

President gets Rotary's highest award

1. President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday got the Rotary's highest award for his leadership in the country's victory over polio.


2. The award is a recognition for heads of countries or governments who have rendered unique service to the humanity and served the country and its people upholding values reflected in the Rotary's motto 'Service Above Self'.


3. "Ron Burton conveyed greetings and admiration of Rotarians across the world to Mukherjee for the leadership he has provided and the country's victory over polio," a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said.


4.  The President appreciated the work the Rotary movement is doing worldwide and in India, especially its support to the government for the eradication of polio, it said.

US envoy Powell meets BJP's PM candidate Modi in Gujarat

1. US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell has met BJP Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar today.


2. The meeting is significant as the US has refused to give a diplomatic visa to Narendra Modi for the last nine years on the ground of human rights.


3. US Ambassador has also met leader of Congress legislative party, Shankarsinh Waghela and other senior Congress leaders in the state. She also visited some NGOs during her short visit.


4. Nancy Powell's visit is the first by the US diplomat after the 2002 post-Godhra riots. In the past few years, several European allies have also met Narendra Modi.

Veteran filmmaker Balu Mahendra passes away

1. Renowned filmmaker Balu Mahendra died here today at a private hospital following a cardiac arrest, sources close to his family said.


2. Balu Mahendra, 75, who suffered a heart attack, was rushed to the hospital where he breathed his last, sources said. He is survived by his wife and son.


3. Born on May 20 1939, he started his career in the tinsel world as a cinematographer and later went onto direct some of the most memorable movies including the award winningMoondram Pirai and Veedu.


4. He recently released his directorial venture Thalai Muraigal which depicts the relationship between a grandfather and his grandson, in which he played the role of a protagonist.


5. Balu Mahendra started his career in the industry as a cinematographer for the Malayalam movie ‘Nellu’ in 1974.

India ranked 8th in demand for digital governance

1. India was ranked 8th in the list of ten countries in terms of digital governance. The report on digital governance was released by Accenture on 11 February 2014.


2. The list was topped by Singapore followed by Norway and UAE at second and third place respectively.


3. The report revealed the demand for the digital governance is rising in India and emerging economies which will enhance efficiency and output. In India the Government embarked on e- Governance model and the infrastructure which would pay the dividends in the long run.


4. The report is based on survey of 5000 respondents in ten countries including Brazil, Germany, India, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Unitied Kingdom and the United States.

Ex-JK minister arrested in sexual assault case, freed on bail

Former Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Shabir Ahmad Khan was on Thursday arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a woman doctor and released on bail soon after he appeared at a police station here.