Gist of current affairs from December 2013 megazines

  Gist of  current affairs from December 2013 megazines        

• Kanwardeep singh elected President of Indian Hockey Federation.
• Girish B. Pradhan  appointed  Chairman of CERC Central electricity Regulatory Authority.
• Arundhati Bhattacharya appointed chairman of State Bank of India.
• S. Varadrajan  CMD of BPCL and B.Ashok CMD of  Indian Oil Corporation.
• Ranjan Mathai , ex Foreign Secretary of India appointed as Indian High commissioner in UK.
• N.Srinivasan third time elected as president of BCCI. Board of control for cricket in India.
• Combodia’s parliament  elected Hun Sen  as prime minister. He has been in power since 1985.
• First National Yash chopra memorial award 2013 goes to legendary singer Lata mangeshkar.
• Man Booker Prize 2013 – Eleanor catton for her novel “The Lumanaris” . The novel is the lengthiest (852 pages)  ever and she is (28 years) youngest ever to win this prize.
• Man booker prize has so far been confined to authors from commonwealth nations, but from next year 2014, the award will be opened for writers from all over the world, provided the book is in English language.
• Indira Gandhi award for national integration 2012 is given Dr. M.S.Swaminathan , eminent scientist and is considered as the father of Green revolution.
•  Malala Yosufzai gets European Union’s Sakharov human rights award 2013.
• Megan Young of Philippines becomes Miss world 2013.
• Deutsche bank prize for Financial Economics 2013  given to Raghuram rajan , Governor,RBI.
• Shanti swaroop Bhatnagar awards announced . Given in the field of Sciencce and technology in India. Dr. bhatnagar was eminent scientist and founder director of CSIR. Centre of Scientific and Indurstrial Research.
• Fortune Top 50  business leaders list 2013. Four Indian ladies Chanda Kochar, ICICI, 4^th, Shikha sharma ,Axis bank, 32^nd , Chitra ramkrishna, National stock exchange , 17^th  and Naina Lal Kidwai, HSBC, 42^nd were part of the list.
• Ajit Agarkar retires from all forms of cricket.
• Govt. of Canada announced honorary citizenship to Malala yusufzai. Earlier beneficiaries were Nelson Mandela and Aung San suu kyi of Myanmaar.
• Lalu Prasad yadav convicted in fodder scam. Becomes second parliamentarian to loose his seat after conviction by the court. First such parliamentarian was Rashid Masud.
• Supreme court , in its recent ruling , banned all those legislators who got 2 years or more jail term.
• Ministry of Health and family welfare has appointed Rahul Dravid as the brand ambassador for its National tobacco control campaign.
• Historian and author Ramchandra Guha wrote a book on the early years of Mahatma Gandhi titled “ Gandhi before India”. His other books are India after Indira, Patriots and partisans and makers of modern India.
• Virat Kohli apponted brand ambassador of BSF.
• Five new non-permanent members were elected by United nations security council. They are Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, of which Saudi Arabia has refused to accept the membership in protest against UN’s failure to resolve many issues like Syria , philistine and Nuclear non proliferation.
• China surpassed USA in Oil import , becomes biggest oil importer.
• G-4 nations (Brazil,Germany, Japan, India) group passed a resolution to expedite UNSC United Nations Security council reforms adding  more countries in its permanent and  permanent council, in order to bettter reflect today’s geopolitical realities.
• 14^th India – Russia annual summit.- summit was co-chaired by Dr. Manmohan singh and president of Russia Vladimir Putin. Mascow state institute of international relations, conferred an honorary doctorate to PM shri Manmohan singh.
• Prime minister of Hungary, Victor orban  visited India. Capital Budapest, MOU signed for sharing traditional Indian medicine system.
• Bangla desh signed an extradition treaty with India to enable the handing over of suspects and convicted prisoners between the two countries.
• Prime ministers 4 day visit to Brunei and Indonesia , to attend 11^th ASEAN- India summit and 8^th East asia summit. Highlights -1) Separate mission for ASEAN with a full time ambassador. 2)Free trade agreement with a target of 100 billion dollar trade by 2015.
• Geo-Scientific research vessel RV Samudra Ratnakar (not a defence vehicle) dedicated to the nation.
• Supreme court clarifies that reservation ceiling of 50% does not apply to 3% quota for disabled persons, hence is mandatory in all govt. jobs.
• General election in five states. Chhatisgarh 11^th and 19^th Nov., MP 25 Nov., Rajasthan 1^st Dec, Delhi 4^th Dec, Mizoram 4^th Dec. , results on 8^th Dec.
• Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan RUSA is a centrally sponsored scheme for reforming higher education system in states. 1) During 12^th plan period 80 new universities, 100 new colleges and 54 model degree colleges will be created. 2)Infrastructure grants would be given to 150 universities and 3500 colleges to improve facilities. 3) centre : state funding would be 90:10 for NE states, JK, Himachal Pradesh and uttarakhand and 65:35 for other states.
• Telangana would be 29^th state with 10 districts and a common capital Hyderabad for 10 years.
• Supreme court bench headed by Chief justice P. sadashivam held that right to reject is part of fundamental rights given by the constitution under  article 19 and directed the Election commission to provide a None of the above option in electoral machines.
• Special pincode allotted by department of posts to  Supreme court  110 201.
• Union ministry of tourism launched “777 days of incredible Himalayas” campaign to attract tourist  and to promote mountaineering in Himalayan region.
• Ministry of Minority affairs launched a program JIYO PARSI  to reverse  the declining trend of Parsi population in India. It also launched another skill development program learn and earn for all minorities.
• The Good Road, a Gujrati film by Gyan Correa nominated as official entry to OSCAR in the best foreign film category.
• RBI banned zero % interest rate scheme for purchase of consumer goods to protect consumer interest and to bring transparency in interest rate structure. RBI observed that  interest component is often passed on to the consumers in the form of processing fees and other charges.
• RBI relaxed trade credit norms to raise funds from abroad , allowing all type of companies to avail trade credit facility from overseas for import of capital goods, not exceeding 20 millionUS dollars  for next 5 years. Earlier only infrastructure sector was allowed.
• Financial inclusion committee announced under chairman ship of Dr. Nachiket Mor. 15 member committee to frame a clear and detailed vision for financial inclusion in India .
• LPG portability scheme launched in 24 cities of India. Consumer can switch between the three companies operating in India.
• Government appointed Arvind mayaram committee to define FDI and FII.
• Government notified GAAR General anti avoidance rules to be effective from 1^st April 2016 to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through foreign countries as FII.
• India is largest recipient of foreign remittances. World bank report “Migration and remittance flows “ revealed India emerging as the largest recipient of among developing economies.
• Raghuram rajan panel submitted report on new criterion for measuring backwardness of the status and basis to identify them in special category . Odisha followed by Bihar are most backward states and Goa tops the list on the positive side.
• Tata and Singapore airlines new venture named as Tata SIA airlines ltd. It will offer  full fledged services in domestic and international arena, not be a low cost airline. Tata 51% and SIA 49%.
• Wallmart and Bharat enterprises ended up their business ties.
• Indian railways to set up country’s biggest forged wheel plant in Raibareli.
• Macau open squash title 2013 won by deepika pallikal. First squash player to get Arjun award.
• Aditya Mehta is snooker player , stood runner up in Indian open snooker title.
• China open tennis 2013 Novac DJokovic defeats Rafael Nadal ,Sania mirza with Cara black wins doubles women title.
• Duleep trophy cricket India won jointly by north and south zone.
• Mumbai Indians wins the championship 20-20 defeating Rajasthan Royals.
• ICC Cricket world cup 2015 , Canberra , Australia. Afganistan qualified to become 20 th team .
• 8^th Asia cup women’s Hockey tournament 2013 played in Kualalumpur Malayasia . Indian team settled for bronze. It lost to South Korea in semifinals
• Global competitive report by WEF World economic forum 2013-14 , india’s rank slipped by one rank to 60^th . Switzerland tops.
• World bank report on ease of doing business 2014 . India slipped  to 134 from 131 in 2013 report.
• Hollywood film based on the life of Julian Assange- The Fifth state    
• Recent Cyclone and typhoons     India –Phailin Philippines –Haiyan  China – Usagi , Andhra Pradesh India – Helen , Japan -Wipha
• China  is taking 3 million arable land on lease in UKRAINE.
• World tourism day – 27^th sep.    
• World rabies day – 28^th sept.
• World heart day – 29^th Sept.
• International day of older person – 1^st OCT.
• World post day  -8^th oct
• World mental health day – 10^th oct
• International day of girl child- 11^th Oct.  
• International day for disaster reduction.  -13 oct
• World osteoporosis  day- 20 oct
• United Nations day 24^th Oct.
• Next NATO summit 2014 in England.
• India won the sultan of johor cup hockey under 21 in Malaysia.  
• Gambia decided to leave group of commonwealth nation.
• The first Tamil chief minister of srilankan province is C V Wighneshwaran.
• Two days summit of APEC Asia pacific economic cooperation held in Indonesia.
• The person nominated by US president Barrack Obama to head the American central bank, Federal Reserve, in place of Ben S barnanke is Janet Yellen.
• The retail chain run by Bharti group , which has recently separated from wallmart is Easyday.
•  HEAL is the name of  Government campaign for Leprosy awareness. Full form is Hire, Educate, Accept, Leprosy-affected.
• Indian badminton player facing the threat of lifetime ban from IBA- Jwala Gutta.
• China issues staple visas to Indians living in arunachal Pradesh as china claims it as a part of his country.
• The world biggest oil producer country is now US surpassing Saudi Arabia.
• The first country in the world to have introduced Tobin tax is ITALY. It is a tax levied on foreign investments to avoid overheating of domestic economy.
• New debt ceiling approved by US senate after a long period of shutdown is 17 trillion $.
• Mahatma Gandhi pravasi suraksha yojana is a pension scheme launched by govt. of India for Indians workers in UAE. LIC and Bank of India appointed main service providers. Indians in the age group of 18 to 50 are eligible. Govt. will make a contribution for first 5 years
• Finance ministry distributed the capital inclusion fund to public sector banks. Out of a total allocation of 14000 crores SBI gets 2000 crore and 1800 crore each to IDBI  and Central Bank. After this banks can raise further capital from the market through QIP Qualified institutional placement , FOP Follow on Public offer .
• In a first ever Term repo offer RBI infuses 19000 crore liquidity in the banking system. Under term repo of 7 or 14 days banks can borrow .25 % of net DTL in each tenor 7days and 14 days.
• RBI dy.governor Shri KC Chakravorty revealed that only 40000 of 600000 villages are having bank braches in India.
• Supreme court says that lower courts can not impose more than double the amount of bounced cheque, in lieu of imprisonment. There is a provision of 2years imprisonment or double the amount of cheque or both punishments.
• New policy for foreign banks announced. Foreign banks will get near national treatment if they operate in India through WOS wholly owned subsidiary, means they set up a subsidiary banking company in India and get registered here. They need to follow all Indian banking norms like other domestic banks.
• Instllments under reverse mortgage scheme will be tax free. Scheme is for senior citizens having no other income and mortgages their houses to banks to get a installment loan for their livelihood .
• India post ties up with UAE’s post group company Wall street exchange for international electronic money transfer service. The product  called “Instant cash”
• Justice MB Shah commission has submitted its report on illegal mining across country.
• K. Kasturirangan report on preservation of western ghats suggests prohibition of developmental activities in the area.
• Railway introduces a concessional MST monthly season ticket “IZZAT” for workers of unorganized sector earning up to 1500/- per month and traveling up to 100 km daily to earn their livelihood.
• India marginally improved from 65 to 63 position in Global hunger index 2013 prepared by IFPRI International Food Policy Research institute.
• India –china signed Border defence cooperation agreement. Both PM Dr. Manmohan singh and Li Keqiang signed it.
• Indian  environmentalist Bunker Roy and Pakistan’s Malala were given this years Clinton Global Citizens awards.
• Noble prizes announced.

Peace prize -  Organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons.

Literature – Alice Munro of Canada

Physics    -    Peter Higgs and Francois Englert

Medicine -  Rothman , Schekman and Sudhof

Chemistry – Karplus, levitt and Warshel

Economics – Fama, Hansen and shiller 

• I am malala : A girl who stood up for education and was shut by the Taliban book written by malala.
• “One two eight  three :1283”  Book by PELE , the footballer.