Current Affairs - December 24, 2013

Current Affairs

December 24, 2013

International Affairs

1. A United Nations peacekeeper from the Republic of Congo has been killed in the Central African Republic by a militia, underscoring the growing peril that international forces are facing in the troubled nation.

2. A suspected suicide bomber set off a car packed with explosives outside an Egyptian police headquarters Tuesday, killing at least 13 people in one of the worst attacks since president Mohamed Morsi's overthrow.

3. Election Commission signs MoU with Yemen

i. India has offered its expertise to Yemen in election management and electoral rollpreparations.

ii. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between the two nations during a visit by India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) V.S. Sampath to Yemen.

iii. He is currently on a visit to the country at the invitation of Judge Mohammed Hussain Al-Hakimi, President of the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) of Yemen.

iv. “India being the largest functional democracy in the world and, given India’s vast experience in the conduct of free and fair elections over a period of 6 decades, and also in putting to use successfully modern technologies in conduct of elections and declaration of election results, Yemen had sought India’s expertise and cooperation,” the statement said.

4. The president of Central African Republic Michel Djotodia made a new appeal for peace to stop the sectarian killings that have terrorised the country, while Burundian and Chadian troops sent to help restore calm traded fire in Bangui.

5. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday commended the bravery of Indian peacekeepers who fought nearly 2,000 rebels in an attack on a UN base in South Sudan and vowed to investigate incidents of grave human rights violations.

6. Pakistan to sign electricity import deal with India

i. Pakistan is set to sign an initial deal for import of electricity from India to overcome a crippling power crisis.

ii. At a time when the international court has allowed India to divert water from the Neelum Jhelum River for the Kishanganga Dam in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

iii. According to The Express Tribune, the Ministry of Water and Power had sent draft of amemorandum of understanding (MoU) to the Law Division for vetting, before signing it to pave the way for electricity import.

iv. India has offered to supply about 500MW of electricity in the beginning and this plan could be implemented within a year by laying a transmission line, it added.

v. A senior government official said Pakistan felt that it could import 2,000-2,500MW of power from India to tackle the acute shortage

7. Russia’s Kalashnikov, designer of AK-47, dies: Official

i. Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of fabled AK-47 automatic rifle, died on Monday, the office of the presidency in the Udmurtia region where he worked said. He was 94.

ii. Kalashnikov designed a weapon that became synonymous with killing on a sometimes indiscriminate scale but was seen in the Soviet Union as a national hero and symbol of Moscow’s proud military past.
iii. AK-47′s name stands for “Kalashnikov’s Automatic” and the year it was designed, 1947.
iv. Also called the “Kalashnikov”, the rifle and its variants are the weapons of choice for dozens of armies and guerrilla groups around the world.

v. Born in a Siberian village as the 17th child of family on 10th November 1919, Kalashnikovhad a tragic childhood during which his father was deported under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1930

National Affairs

8. Nation celebrated National Consumer Day 2013 today.

9. The much anticipated meeting between Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan (Lt General Vinod Bhatia represents India while Major Gen Aamer Riaz represents Pakistan)began on Tuesday along the Wagah-Attari border to work out a mechanism to ease tension and ensure peace at the Line of Control.

10. The social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of poor people suffering from leprosy Dr Baba Amte's Birth Anniversary today.

11. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Manish Tewari released the annual report "Press in India", published by the RNI, in New Delhi on December 24, 2013.

12. Debutant MLA Arvind Kejriwal is all set to take over as the seventh Chief Minister of Delhi, he will be the youngest Chief Minister of Delhi at 45 years of age, while his predecessor Dikshit will take the crown of India's longest serving woman chief minister so far.

13. Kejriwal recommends to Lt Governor names of 6 MLAs for Ministership. Those are Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla, Girish Soni, Saurav Bhardwaj, Satender Jain and Somnath Bharti.

Business and Economy

14. To ensure greater efficacy in exercise of its new powers, market regulator Sebi's board today cleared new norms for its search and seizure operations, settlement proceedings, refund to investors and crackdown on illicit money-pooling schemes.

15. A three-way joint venture between SAIL, RINL and MOIL to produce ferro alloys is on the cards with the earlier two separately proposed between SAIL-MOIL and MOIL-RINL having virtually been scrapped.

16. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport of Hyderabad received Sword of Honour award

i. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Ltd is operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) and it is first airport in India to receive this award.

ii. The airport received award in recognition of its effective implementation of occupationalhealth and safety management systems from the British Safety Council for health and safety works at the airport.

iii. The Sword of Honour is considered to be Oscar of the Safety World. The Organization has achieved 5-star certification in the British Safety Council’s audit Programme.

Science and Technology

17. Indonesia is set to open the first sanctuary for the critically endangered Javan rhino in a bid to revive the population.

18. AGNI-III missile test fired successfully from Wheeler Island

i. Agni-III the nuclear capable ballistic missile was successfully test-fired by India on 23 December 2013. It was test-fired for its full range of 3000 kilometer from the Wheeler Island of Odisha Coast.

ii. The test fire of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted by Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army with the logistic support from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

iii. The missile was flight-tested from a mobile launcher at launch complex number 4 of the Integrated Test Range. The Agni-III missile is powered by a two-stage solid propellant system.

19. Centre launches e-inclusion project to spread e-literacy

i. The Centre has launched e-inclusion project to make people e-literate. Communication and IT Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in New Delhi today that the project is an initiative to make at least one individual in every household e-literate. He said, under the project, economically weaker sections of the society including rural SC, ST and women will receive IT training.

ii. The Minister said, this will allow them to actively participate in knowledge based activities and also access financial, social and government services by using Internet. He expressed confidence that the project will improve the quality of life of people particularly those living in rural India.

iii. Initially around 45 thousand people will be trained under the programme.

iv. The Centre is implementing the national e-governance plan with the objective of creating a transparent and accountable governance model for enabling service delivery at the doorsteps of citizens.

Appointments

20. Siddarth Birla took charges as President of FICCI

i. Sidharth Birla, Chairman of Xpro India Limited took the charge as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on 21 December 2013.
ii. Sidharth Birla succeeded the HSBC India Country Head Naina Lal Kidwai.

iii. Chairperson and Managing Director of Bharat Hotels, Joytsna Suri elected as Senior Vice-President of FICCI and Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group, Harshavardhan Neotia as Vice-President of FICCI.

About Sidharth Birla:
Birla did Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1980 from International Institute for Management Development (now known as IMD), Switzerland.
About FICCI:
FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organization in India and established in 1927.
FICCI is a non-government, non-profit organization and the voice of India’s business and industry.

21. Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas M.Veerappa Moily took additional charge of Ministry of Environment & Forests in New Delhi today.

22. Vinod Kumar Duggal, the former Home Secretary appointed as the Governor of Manipur

i. Vinod Kumar Duggal, the former Home Secretary has been appointed the new Governor of Manipur on 23 December 2013.

ii. His appointment will come into effect from the date on which, he will assume the charge of the office.

iii. . He will replace the present Governor of the state, Ashwani Kumar, who was given an additional charge of Manipur, while being a Governor of Nagaland.

iv. The post of Manipur Governor had fallen vacant in July 2013, when former Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief Gurbachan Singh Jagat’s tenure of five years had ended. Ashwani Kumar was given the additional charge till Duggal appointment.

Sports

23. Top ranked woman recurve archer Deepika Kumari of Jharkhand created another national record when she shot 346 points in women's 50m round in the 34th Senior National Archery Championship at JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur Today.

24. Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra shot 208.9 to win gold in the 10 meter air rifle event while Vijay Kumar had to be content with silver in the center fire event on the concluding day of the 57th National Shooting championship, at Delhi today.

25. Sindhu and Shrikant won singles titles in National Badminton Championship

i. Srikanth won the men’s singles crown of the Senior National Badminton Championship by defeating M V Guru Sai Dutt 21-13, 22-20 in the finals. In the Women’s singles, PV Sindhu defeated the Junior National Champion Rituparna Das 21-17, 21-11 in the finals to win the title.
ii. In the men’s doubles the second seeded Pranav Chopra and Akshay Devalkar beat the top seeds Munnu Atri and Sumit Reddy 21-19, 21-17 to lift the title.

iii. Women’s doubles title was won by Jwala Gutta and Ashwani Punnappa. Jwala and Punnappa regained the women’s doubles crown for the first time, since 2009.
iv. Defending mixed doubles champions Aparna Balan and Arun Vishnu retained their title by defeating Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa 21-10 21-

v. The second seeded pair of Jwala and Ashwini prevailed over top seeds Pradnya Gadre and Siki Reddy N 21-17 21-16.