Current Affairs News of 19th July,2014

Special Courts for trials of coalgate cases The supreme court ordered setting up of a special court to exclusively hold trials of cases relating to irregular allotment of coal block allocations. A bench of Chief Justice R M Lodha and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph agreed for setting up of a special court where trials of coal scam cases would be conducted. Former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium is being considered for the important role of public prosecutor. Note : Coal allocation scam or Coalgate as referred by the media, is a political scandal concerning the Indian government’s allocation of the nation’s coal deposits to public sector entities (PSEs) and private companies by former Prime Minister . The essence of the CAG’s argument is that the Government had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to. As a result both public sector enterprises (PSEs) and private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. Layoffs in Microsoft Satya Nadella,CEO,Microsoft has announced a 18,000 job cuts in the software giant.He also shut the windows on Google�s Android platform in devices from Nokia,which Microsoft acquired in April. The lay offs which will skim some 15% of Microsoft�s workforce,are the largest in the company�s 39 year history.