Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 07 April, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

China has cautioned the United States not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs after Vice President Joseph Biden met two prominent pro-democracy advocates who have warned of Beijing's tightening control of the territory. A former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong enjoys considerable autonomy and broad freedoms as a capitalist hub.
But it has been locked in a lengthy battle with Beijing's leaders to push through reforms that could culminate in a direct election of its leader in 2017.
Tension has grown over China's meddling in Hong Kong affairs as well as a proposal that all candidates in the 2017 poll be vetted by a panel stacked with Beijing loyalists, which would essentially keep opposition candidates out of the running.
China has agreed to let Hong Kong elect its next leader in 2017 in what promises to be the most extensive exercise of democracy on Chinese soil. Specific arrangements, however, have yet to be hammered out, including whether public nominations of candidates will be allowed.
A group of pro-democracy activists has threatened to shut down the city's central business district in a campaign of civil disobedience called "Occupy Central", should Beijing bar a fully democratic poll in line with international norms.

Non-resident Indians may be able to cast their votes through Internet from overseas as the Election Commission recently told the Supreme Court that it is exploring such a possibility.
The Commission, however, told a bench headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan that it is almost impossible to make any such arrangement for NRI to cast their votes from overseas in the ongoing general election as electoral rolls have been concluded in almost all the constituencies.

His side may have lost in the final but Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of the 2014 ICC World Team of the Tournament that figures four Indians, including star batsman Virat Kohli.
Opener Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin are the other two Indian players who feature in the team that was announced by the ICC.
Kohli was adjudged Player of the Tournament for amassing 319 runs with the help of four half centuries, including knocks of 72 and 77 in the semifinal and final of the showpiece event.
Besides Indians, the team has two players from both South Africa and West Indies, and one representative each from Australia, the Netherlands and champions Sri Lanka.
Chosen by a select group of experts, the team was aimed at being suited for Bangladesh conditions, on the basis of performances in the tournament only. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections.

This month, the Red Planet (Mars) looks bigger and brighter than it has for the past six years.
That may sound like the Great Mars Hoax — the occasional (and totally false) claim that Mars will loom as big as the moon in the night sky. But in this case, the claim is totally true. This month, Mars will have its closest encounter with Earth since December 2007.
The reason has to do with orbital mechanics. As Earth and Mars trace their elliptical orbits around the sun, the distance between the two planets varies dramatically. There are times when the separation amounts to almost 250 million miles (400 million kilometers). On April 14, that separation narrows to a mere 57 million miles (92 million kilometers).