The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to Centre on petitions challenging March 3 decision of UPA government to include jats in OBC list for reservation benefits. 

The apex court asked the Centre to bring all relevant records to show there was proper consideration of National Commission for Backward Classes report to reject its recommendation against inclusion of jats as OBC. 

The NCBC had objected to inclusion of jats among OBCs saying they are a forward community mostly of zamindars. 

The court said it will consider the petitioners' plea for stay on inclusion of jats in OBC after examining from records the Centre's application of mind on the issue. 

The petitioners have alleged that a desperate UPA government took this decision only to create vote bank. 

The court has asked the government to present all relevant records in court on April 9. 

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed Centre's petition seeking review of judgment commuting death penalty to life imprisonment of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan. 
The Centre had contended in its petition that the three-judge bench did not consider the merits of the case and also ventured into the domain of government by commuting the death sentence in the case. 

It had further contended the February 18 judgment was passed without jurisdiction by the three-judge bench instead of by a larger bench of five judges as the case involved substantial interpretation of law and provisions of the constitution. 
The apex court order comes as a relief to the three convicts, whose death sentence had been commuted to life in prison. 

Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan had petitioned the apex court against their death sentence, arguing that there had been an exceptional delay in a decision on their mercy pleas. 

Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber at an election rally in Sriperumbedur on May 21, 1991. 

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Asia is facing the brunt of climate change and will see severe stress on water resources and food-grain production in the future, increasing the risk of armed conflict among India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, the latest report of a UN panel has warned.
Key messages from IPCC report 

* Coming years will see more extreme weather events (floods, cyclones, cloud bursts, unseasonal excessive rains and drought etc) in most parts of the globe 

* Maldives, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be among the most affected countries in Asia 

* Severe stress on fresh water resources in South Asia and China (Himalayan river basins) may become a reason for armed conflict in the region by middle of the 21st century 

* Climate change may be a determining factor in national security policies 

* Coastal flooding will not only kill people and cause destruction, it will also affect tourism in India (like in Goa and Kerala) 

* Decline in foodgrain production (wheat in India/Pakistan and wheat and maize in China) 

* Big coastal cites like Mumbai and Kolkata will be affected by sea-level rise in 21st century 

* Some fish and other marine animals will face extinction by 2050, affecting fishing community 

* In many regions, changing precipitation or melting snow and ice are altering hydrological systems, affecting water resources in terms of quantity and quality 

* Glaciers (including Himalayan) continue to shrink almost worldwide due to climate change, affecting run-off and water resources downstream 

* Climate change will impact human health mainly by exacerbating health problems that already exist.

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The Supreme Court on Monday commuted 1993 Delhi blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar's death sentence to life imprisonment. 

Bhullar was convicted for his involvement in 1993 Delhi bomb blast case and his wife Navneet Kaur had sought commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment on grounds of delay in deciding his mercy petition and also on grounds he is suffering from mental illness. 

On March 27, the central government had told the apex court that there was delay in the deciding death row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar's mercy petition and the court could decide on his wife's plea for commutation of death sentence into life imprisonment. 

A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice RM Lodha, Justice HL Dattu and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya was told that the court, by its January 21 verdict, had already decided that inordinate and unexplained delay in deciding the mercy petition by the President is a ground for commuting death sentence into life imprisonment. 

Appreciating the position articulated by the Centre, the SC said that it was a fair stand and reserved its order which was pronounced today. 

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Three terrorists in Army fatigues opened fire at a vehicle in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district on 28th March, killing one person and injuring three others.
The injured have been shifted to Government Medical College Hospital,  adding a high alert has been sounded by the security agencies. 

Security has been stepped up at Army camps and important places in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts. 

This is the second major terror attack in Kathua district. On September 26, 2013, three heavily-armed terrorists had attacked a police station and an Army camp in the border districts of Kathua and Samba, killing ten people, including four policemen and a Army officer. 

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The Supreme Court on 28th March allowed Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals to play in IPL Season 7. The apex court also asked BCCI chief N Srinivasan not to discharge functions till the final orders of the court.

Former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar has been asked to act as chief of the board for all matters relating to the IPL. The BCCI vice-president will function in place of Srinivasan for all other matters of the Board.

Some Judgment of Honorable Supreme Court:

• Gavaskar to be compensated for the job of interim president by BCCI. Sunil Gavaskar to replace N Srinivasan, to discharge function as BCCI president only for IPL 7. For non-IPL BCCI affairs, Shivlal Yadav will take charge. SC asks Gavaskar to get out of contractual obligations with BCCI for commentary.
• IPL matches of season 7 to go on as per schedule. The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals to play in IPL Season 7, ending speculation that they will not be allowed to play this time.
• Except players and commentators, no other employee of India Cements or its subsidiary or associate companies will participate in any duties.
• SC asks Gavaskar whether IPL COO Sundar Raman need to be replaced.
• SC refuses to pass any order for allowing N Srinivasan to participate in activities of ICC.

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Air pollution killed an estimated 7 million people around the world in 2012, making it the biggest environmental health risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) said
The situation was worst in developing and emerging countries in Southern Asia, South-East Asia and East Asia, where a total of 3.3 million deaths were linked to indoor air pollution and 2.6 million to outdoor pollution

Use of wood, coal or dung for cooking is the biggest indoor polluter.

In Europe’s industrialised countries, 279,000 deaths could be traced to air pollution.

The WHO said bad air quality outside was a result of unsustainable policies in the transport, energy and waste sectors, as well as in industry.

Cleaning up the air would reduce risks, especially for vulnerable children and the elderly, the UN health body said.

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The US and top economic powers have cancelled an upcoming G8 summit to build pressure on Russia against its military action in Ukraine.

After the talks on the Ukraine crisis in The Hague, it was announced on Monday that the G8 summit scheduled in Sochi in June would be replaced by a G7 meeting in Brussels, without Russian involvement.

The decision was taken by leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the US, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission following their meeting in The Hague on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

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Supreme Court has asked to BCCI President N. Srinivasan for step down from post if fair probe has to carried into IPL Spot fixing and betting scandal.
After going through the contents of a report filed in a sealed cover by apex court-appointed probe panel into the scandal, a bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik said there are "very very serious" allegations made in the report and unless the BCCI president steps down, no fair probe can be conducted. 
During the hearing, BCCI pleaded before the court not to disclose the contents and names of players mentioned in the report.

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Commission will hold a Combined All India Open Examination for recruitment to the posts ofJunior Hindi Translators (in Subordinate Offices) , Hindi Pradhyapak Pradhyapak in Central HindiTraining Institute and Senior/Junior Translators under Ministry of Defence. The Examination will comprise of a Written Examination followed by Interview.

Closing date for apply: 18th April (5 P.M.)

Link : http://ssc.nic.in/notice/examnotice/NoticeJHTExamination_2014.pdf

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Noted author and journalist Khushwant Singh breathed his last in the national capital on Thursday. Singh was suffering from some breathing problem before he passed away. The writer of several books and recipient of Padma Vibhushan, Singh was not keeping well of late.

His last book The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous was also released by his son Rahul Singh. Other works of the writer include Train to Pakistan, The History of Sikhs, Black Jasmine, Tradition of Punjab and many others.

Singh will be cremated in Lodhi Auditorium, Delhi at 4 pm on Thursday. 

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India and China held their third round of the strategic economic dialogue in Beijing on 18th March focusing on collaboration in a number of areas, including railways and information technology. 

The Indian side at the talks is headed by deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia while Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Reforms Development Commission (NDRC) led the Chinese delegation. 

Ahead of the talks, five working groups covering different areas finalised the details for the high-level economic and trade dialogue between the two countries. 

Besides attending the SED, Ahluwalia would call on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on 19th March. 

The working groups covered areas like infrastructure, mainly the railways and operationalise the agreement for service centres to be set up in India for Chinese power equipment, environment and resources protection, water management and policy coordination, collaboration on planning and urbanisation, cooperation in high technology including the IT sector. 

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The United States and European Union imposed personal sanctions on 17th March on Russian and Crimean officials involved in the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the region as a sovereign state.
The moves heightened the most serious East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War, following a disputed referendum in the Black Sea peninsula on Sunday in which Crimea's leaders declared a Soviet-style, 97-per cent vote to secede from Ukraine.
Putin will on 18th March address a special joint session of Russia's State Duma, or parliament, which could take a decision on annexation of the majority ethnic-Russian region.

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The final results of the referendum in Crimea show that 97 per cent of voters have supported leaving Ukraine to join Russia, the head of the referendum election commission said on Monday.

Mikhail Malyshev told a televised news conference that the final tally from Sunday’s vote was 96.8 percent in favour of splitting from Ukraine. He also said that the commission has not registered a single complaint about the vote.

The referendum was widely condemned by Western leaders who were planning to discuss economic sanctions to punish Russia on Monday.

Ukraine’s new government in Kiev called the referendum a “circus” directed at gunpoint by Moscow.

The Crimean peninsula has been seized for two weeks now by troops under apparent Russian command.

Russia raised the stakes on Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armoured vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby — the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people.

The Russian forces later withdrew from the village but kept control of the gas plant. On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches and erecting barricades between the village and the gas plant.

The Crimean parliament planned to meet on Monday to formally ask Moscow to be annexed, and Crimean lawmakers were to fly to Moscow later in the day for talks, Crimea’s Prime Minister said on Twitter.

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SSC Will conduct Re-Exam for Its Combined Higher secondary Level Exam 2013 for Recruitment to the Posts of Data Entry Operator (DEO) and Lower Division Clerks (LDC) in various departments/Ministries under the government of India. Written test was held on 20th & 27th October and 10th November, 2013.

Now SSC has announced Results for this test along with Names of shortlisted Candidates, Cut Off Marks and Marks Obtained by them. However, Few Candidates will have to appear for Re-Exam  due to certain Administrative reasons.

Such candidates are being notified Individually about Re-Exam in form of an Official Call Letter that can be Obtained Online now from the Facility Provided by Concerned SSC Regional Office.

Candidates Must Follow the Instructions Mentioned in the Call Letter to avoid any issues at the time of Re-Exam.

We will update as  Various Regional SSC Offices issue any Updates regarding the same.

LINK

• Central Region
• North West Region
• Western Region
• North East Region – Admit card | Candidate List

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