Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 August 2014

Parliament adjourned sine die

The Budget session of Parliament, the first of the Narendra Modi Government, ended on reflecting the changed political reality with fewer disruptions and adjournments, and more debates and discussions unlike in the recent past.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die marking the completion of the budget session.
Besides the maiden General Budget and the Railway Budget of the BJP-led NDA coalition, the highlights of the month—long session was the passage of the landmark National Judicial Appointments Commission bill and the SEBI bill.
Several other bills were passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha including the one seeking to clear legal hurdles in the appointment of former TRAI chief Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

A violent crackdown by law enforcement authorities in Ferguson, Missouri, after protests over the shooting of an unarmed teenager by a police officer on August 9, has raised a national furore here, particularly after two journalists of major media outlets were arrested and another television camera crew was hit with tear gas.
After Michael Brown (18), an African-American, was shot multiple times by an unnamed police officer following a scuffle near a squad car, residents of Ferguson took to the streets to protest what they believed to be police brutality, prompting a fierce crackdown by SWAT teams armed with military-style weapons including assault rifles and armoured cars.
Although the President called for Ferguson police to be “open and transparent” about “heart-breaking” death of Mr. Brown, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has already initiated a lawsuit against the police demanding that they release all public records on the case, to which they are entitled under state law.

Rajni Razdan has been appointed the next Union Public Service Commission chairman. She will take the oath of office, replacing Professor D.P. Agrawal.
Ms. Razdan, a 64-year-old former Indian Administrative Service officer from the Haryana cadre, has been a UPSC member since April 19, 2010.