Current Affairs - December 17, 2013

Current Affairs

December 17, 2013 

Global

1. Mandela 9-metre bronze statue unveiled in Pretoria

i. A nine-metre gigantic bronze statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled in Pretoria on Monday, a day after the anti-apartheid icon was laid to rest in his childhood village of Qunu.

ii. A 21-gun salute and a fly-past by military aircraft signalled the official unveiling of Mandela’s statue by President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings as part of commemorating Reconciliation Day on December 16.

iii. Mandela’s eldest grandson Mandla Mandela was among the dignitaries there to witness the occasion. Mandela stands tall on the Southern Lawns, where the statue of former Prime Minister Barry Hertzog was mounted.

iv. The Union Buildings, which is marking its centenary, was also the place where Mandela was inaugurated as the country’s first democratically-elected President in 1994.

2. Merkel begins third innings as German chancellor

i. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was voted in for the third time as the country’s head of government on Tuesday, following a vote by parliamentarians officially returning her to the position.

ii. A third term was practically a given for the 59-year-old, who has been working since the September 22, 2013 election to negotiate an agreement between her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

iii. Once Ms. Merkel has formally accepted the vote, she will be presented with a certificate of appointment by German President Joachim Gauck at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace — the President’s official residence.

iv. The event marks the beginning of the third so-called grand coalition in Germany’s post-war history. The last such government was in place between 2005 and 2009, also an alliance between the CDU-CSU and the SPD.

3. The world’s largest private equity firm Blackstone Group, managing assets worth more than USD 240 billion, has appointed Mathew Cyriac and Amit Dixit as co-heads of the Indian private equity operations. Former Reliance Industries executive Akhil Gupta, who spearheaded Blackstone since its entry into India eight years ago, will remain as nonexecutive chairman. Blackstone manages USD 2.8 billion across 20 companies in India.

4. Australian Cricket team won the Ashes for the first time in seven years after completing a 150-run win against England in Perth to take 3-0 lead in the five-match series. England were all out for 353 on the final day at the WACA Ground to hand the home side an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

5. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended West Indies offspinner Shane Shillingford from bowling in international matches because of illegal action. Shillingford will be unable to bowl in international matches until such time that he has submitted to a fresh analysis, which concludes that he has remedied his bowling action. The ICC has also banned Shillingford’s teammate and fellow-offspinner, Marlon Samuels, from bowling his quicker deliveries on similar grounds though he is allowed to bowl his normal off-break deliveries in international matches.

6. Teen sensation Mahesh Mangaonkar became the first Indian squash player to win the IMET Open, in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. The 19-year-old World No.98 from Mumbai downed defending champion Greg Lobban, the No.2 seed from Scotland 7-11 11-8 11-4 6-11 11-7 to take the title.

7. Australia have the Ashes for the first time in seven years after sealing a deserved 150-run win in Perth to take an impregnable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. England were all out for 353 on the final day at the WACA Ground to hand the home side an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

8. French auto firm Renault SA on Monday signed a deal to build a joint-venture plant costing 7.76 billion yuan ($1.28 billion) to produce cars in the central Chinese province of Hubei. Renault agreed to build the 50:50 joint-venture plant with the Dongfeng Motor Group Co, which is based in the provincial capital of Wuhan, the French company said.

National

1. RBI likely to raise repo rate by 0.25 per cent to tame inflation

i. RBI likely to raise repo rate by 0.25 per cent to tame inflation.

ii. Wholesale Price Index inflation in November climbed to a 14-month high of 7.52 per cent as prices of food items such as onions and potatoes surged. Consumer price inflation touched a nine-month high of 11.24 per cent last month.

iii. Factory output shrank 1.8 per cent in October, the first contraction in the Index ofIndustrial Production ( IIP) in four months.

iv. “Crucially, core inflation as well as non-food manufacturing inflation rose marginally in November. As a result of rising price pressures, v. RBI is likely to raise the repo rate by 0.25 per cent to 8 per cent on December 18 in its monetary policy review, despite a still-shrinking industrial sector,” Crisil said.

vi. RBI Governor Rajan, who delivered two repo rate hikes of 0.25 per cent each in as many policy reviews since he took over on September 4, had mentioned that he considered fighting inflation as the central bank’s “key responsibility.”

2. Devyani Khobragade arrest: India launches massive diplomatic backlash

i. In an escalating diplomatic row, India has asked the US to return IDs issued to all its consular officers posted in the country. This follows growing protests in the country on the treatment meted out to India’s Deputy Consul General in New York, Devyani Khobragade.

ii. Government has asked the US to return the ID cards given to their consular officers posted in India,” Government sources told .

iii. The government stopped all import clearances for the US embassy including liquor even as it looked set to remove all traffic barricades near the embassy on Nyaya Marg in Delhi. The picket, however, would stay.

iv. What’s more, the government also sought visa and other details of all teachers at US schools and pay and bank accounts of Indians in these schools.

v. Khobragade was strip-searched, confined to a cell with drug addicts and also subjected to DNA swabbing, sources confirmed to IANS.
vi. External affairs minister Salman Khurshid termed the treatment meted out to Khobragade “completely unacceptable”.

Note: i.Devyani Khobragade, 39, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was taken into custody last week on a street in New York as she was dropping her daughter to school and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges before being released on a $250,000 (Rs 1.5 crore) bond after pleading not guilty in court.
ii. Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, was accused by Manhattan’s Indian American US Attorney Preet Bharara of visa fraud and exploiting her babysitter and housekeeper.

3. The Rajya Sabha passed the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 by a voice vote today after Samajwadi Party members staged a walkout saying that the proposed legislation is not in the interest of the country. Now, the Bill will be taken up in the Lok Sabha tomorrow. The bill provides for the setting up of a Lokpal at the Centre and will consist of a Chairperson and not more than eight members. The Chairperson may be either a serving or retired Chief Justice of India, or a Judge of the Supreme Court or an eminent person. Fifty per cent of the total members shall be from the higher judiciary.

4. The Union Cabinet has approved the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill 2013 yesterday. The bill aimed to prevent and tackle the communal violence in the country and punish the perpetrators of the violence. The Bill has been named as The Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013. The Bill has the provision of creating an institutional arrangement for speedy investigation, disposal of cases and for providing relief and rehabilitation to victims of communal violence.

5. Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes has been given additional charge of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, following death of Minister Sis Ram Ola. Earlier, President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the passing away of Ola, a veteran Congress leader from Rajasthan.

6. Over 2,200 youth from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are getting trained under ‘Project Udaan’ by 29 corporates across the country. The project, an initiative of the Prime Minister, the National Skills Development Corporation and the Ministry of Home Affairs and industry, was started with the aim of providing skills to 40,000 youth over a period of five years, according to an NSDC release.

7. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has appointed Sayee Srinivasan will serve as an acting Chief Economist of the US commodities market regulator. In his new role, Srinivasan will be responsible for leading the Commission’s efforts in drafting policy and rule-making, advising the Commission on industry practices and policy implications, among others.

8. The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has appointed M. K. Goel as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC). Currently Goel is the Director (Commercial) and acting Chairman and Managing Director of the public sector finance company.

9. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved USA retail giant Walmart Stores Inc’s proposal to acquire Bharti Group’s nearly 50% stake in their Indian wholesale stores joint venture. Walmart and Bharti Group had started the joint venture in 2007 but Walmart Stores decided to acquire the entire stake in 2013.

10. Global pharma major GlaxoSmith-Kline Plc announced a USD1-billion open offer to increase its stake in its publicly listed pharma entity in the country GSK India from 50.7% to up to 75%. The potential total value of the transaction at the offer price is approximately Rs 6,400 crore. GSK had increased its stake in its listed consumer healthcare subsidiary, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to 72.5% from 43.2% for USD 901 million in February this year.

11. Mumbai University, on Monday launched a book titled ‘Nirbhaya: Ek Atmachintan’ to mark a year since the brutal gangrape of a Delhi paramedic student. The book is a compilation of thoughts and inputs on issues related to women’s empowerment along with issues related to their safety. Notable writers and thinkers have contributed for this book.

12. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today released a postage stamp of former Chief Minister of Punjab ,Sardar Beant Singh. After releasing the stamp in New Delhi, Dr Singh said, it is a small token of gratitude to a great leader who is best remembered for providing strong and determined leadership to Punjab in very troubled times.

13. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved implementation of various schemes related to agriculture, including continuation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), in the 12th Plan with a combined outlay of over Rs 80,000 crore. The RKVY is a State plan scheme that provides ‘considerable flexibility’ and autonomy to states in planning and executing programmes for incentivising investment in agriculture and allied sectors. The CCEA has also approved the implementation of the central sector integrated scheme on agricultural cooperation with an outlay of Rs 920.088 crore during the 12th plan period (2012-13 to 2016-17).