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Daily Current Affairs updates: 30 December 2013

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Daily Current Affairs updates: 30 December 2013

1) South Africa clinch series 1-0 after Indian batting collapse: India crashed to a humiliating 10-wicket defeat in the second cricket Test after their young batsmen surrendered meekly to give South Africa a 1-0 series triumph in Jacques Kallis' farewell match on Monday. Needing to bat out the entire fifth day's play at the Kingsmead to force a draw, the Indians had the worst possible start by losing Virat Kohli in the very first ball and never really recovered from the jolt to be bundled out for 223.

 2) ATP Open Tennis tournament begins in Chennai : ATP Chennai Open Tennis tournament begins. Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka is the top seed in the competition, with experienced players like Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Italian Fabio Fognini also taking part. 

 3)  Sacked SP leader Kamal Farooqui's decided to join AAP : Expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Kamal Farooqui is likely to announce his decision on joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The former SP leader had met Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday and said that “everybody” is keen to join AAP. 

 4) Major fire at timber factory in Hyderabad: A major fire broke out at a timber factory in Musheerabad area here in the early hours.

 5) TN launches free CFL bulb scheme: The Tamil Nadu Government launched the first phase of the project providing free compact fluorescent light bulbs to over 14 lakh hut-dwellers in the State, an energy saving measure aimed at saving 40 MW of power.

 6) RBI says economy taper-ready; pegs CAD under 3%: Reserve Bank of India has said the country is ready for the US Federal Reserve’s tightening, and has pegged the current account deficit at below 3 per cent for this fiscal in its eighth Financial Stability Report.

 7) RBI set up a committee on Data & information Management: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it had set up a panel under executive director Deepak Mohanty to review the current system of data collection, dissemination and data management processes in the central bank and improve the existing mechanism.

Daily Current Affairs updates: 29 December 2013

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Daily Current Affairs updates: 29 December 2013

1) Pradeep Kumar appointed as MD Corporate Banking of State Bank of India: P Pradeep Kumar on 29 December 2013 was appointed as the Managing Director (Corporate Banking) of State Bank of India (SBI), the biggest lender of the country. As one of the four managing Directors, he will look after the corporate banking portfolio of the bank.

 2) Delhi Ministers, officials won't use red beacon: In keeping with its promise to end VIP culture, the Aam Admi Party government in Delhi decided that red beacon will not be used by ministers and officials.

 3) Schumacher in coma, 'critical' after France ski accident: Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula One champion, is in a coma and remains in a "critical" condition after striking his head in a ski accident in the French Alps on Sunday, the hospital treating him said.

 4) Jacques Kallis overtakes Dravid to become 3rd highest Test run-getter:  South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis on Sunday surpassed Rahul Dravid as the third highest run-getter in Test cricket after a 115-run knock against India in his farewell match played at Durban.

 5) Oil India and IRMA has inked a pact for study on dairy development: Energy major, the Oil India Limited (OIL) on 29 December 2013 signed an agreement with the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) to carry out a feasibility study on dairy production in two districts of Assam. Oil India as a CSR initiative has decided to step into dairy sector.

 6) 32 killed in Bus accident in Phetachbun, Thailand: 32 peoples were killed when a bus fell down in a 50 meter deep ravine in Phetachbun in Thailand on 29 December 2013. The incident happened when the bus carrying passengers crashed into the guard rail of a bridge. 
7) Suicide bomber killed at least 16 at Russian train station: A suicide attacker set off a bomb in the entrance hall of a Russian train station on Sunday, investigators said, killing at least 16 people in the second deadly attack within three days as Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics.

Veteran Bollywood actor Farooq Sheikh is no more

Posted by Admin Saturday, 28 December 2013 0 comments
Obitutaries in December 2013



>> Veteran actor Farooq Sheikh, who is best remembered for his performances in films like 'Garm Hava', 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi', 'Chashme Buddoor' and 'Kissi Se Na Kehna', died after suffering a heart attack in Dubai on 28 December 2013.

>> He was 65. "He has passed away," a family member told , without disclosing any further details.

>> He started his Bollywood career in 1973 with Garam Hawa and his last performance was in'Club 60'. Earlier he was seen in the film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in 2013.


>> He is survived by wife Rupa and daughters Shaista and Sanaa.

Daily Current Affairs updates: 28 December 2013

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Daily Current Affairs updates: 28 December 2013

1) Arvind Kejriwal sworn-in as Delhi CM: Arvind Kejriwal, whose AAP has rewritten the grammar of politics in Delhi, on Saturday took oath as Delhi Chief Minister promising a corruption-free govt and new style of governance without arrogance of power.

2) Kejriwal is second IIT graduate to become CM: Arvind Kejriwal is only the second Chief Minister with a IIT background, after his Goa counterpart Manohar Parrikar and joins a select group of ministers, including Ajit Singh and Jairam Ramesh, whose alma mater is the crown jewel of the country’s higher education. A product of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Khargapur, 45-year-old Kejriwal studied Mechanical Engineering and passed out in 1989.

3) Nine-year old boy from US becomes youngest person to reach the Summit of Aconcagua: A nine-year old boy from the United States has become the youngest person to reach the Summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas.

4) Veteran Hindi actor Farooq Sheikh died: Veteran Hindi actor Farooq Sheikh, who is best remembered for his performances in films like 'Garm Hava', 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi', 'Chashme Buddoor' and 'Kissi Se Na Kehna', died this morning after suffering a heart attack in Dubai.

5)  Microsoft India launched safety application, Guardian: Microsoft India introduced Guardian, a new safety application that enables friends and family of
Windows phone users to track them in real time on 26 December 2013 in Hyderabad.

6) India, US ink Rs 4,000-cr deal for six transport aircraft:  India has signed a Rs 4,000-crore deal with the US for procuring six more C-130J Super Hercules Special Operations aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

7) Star Sports is official broadcaster for Aircel Chennai Open: Tennis enthusiasts are in for a treat. Organisers of the Aircel Chennai Open, which is India’s only ATP World Tour tennis event, has named Star Sports as the official broadcaster of the tournament for the next three editions until 2016.

8)  Egypt declared Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group: The decision came after government officials blamed the Brotherhood for a suicide bombing at a police headquarters in north of Cairo that killed 16 people. 

 9) 26 died in sleep as fire breaks out on train from Bangalore: Twenty six people, including two children, were killed and 12 injured when a fire broke out in the AC 3-tier. B-1 coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express train at Kothacheruvu near Puttaparthi in the early hours of 28 Dec 2013 (Saturday).

 10) Kerala's 'first legislator' Rosamma Punnoose dead: Rosamma Punnoose, who was the first person to be sworn in as legislator soon after the first assembly polls in Kerala in 1957, passed away in the Sultanate of Oman Saturday morning, her family said. She was 100.

Microsoft launches Guardian safety app for Windows Phone users in India

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Technology Current Affairs: December 2013





>> Microsoft India on Thursday said it has introduced Guardian, a new safety application, available exclusively for Windows Phone users in India.

>> Incidents such as 'Nirbhaya' prompted the global IT giant to come out with an app aiming at protecting women, Microsoft IT India Managing Director Raj Biyani said.
>> Explaining its features, Biyani said Guardian enables users to switch on a 'track me' feature in the app that lets friends and family track them in real-time using Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs.
>> Guardian users can call for help through an 'SOS' alert button and also connect to security agencies, police and hospitals easily via this app in times of distress.
>>The app was developed over six months by a group of enthusiastic Microsoft employees in India, within the Microsoft Garage. Microsoft Garage is a global employee innovation initiative that gives Microsoft employees an outlet to explore ideas in their free time, Biyani said.
>>"Our employees wanted to do something to enable people to feel safer in our cities. So they used their spare time to develop Guardian. It is a robust personal security app with more safety features and capabilities than any other comparable app available to Indian smartphone users today," Biyani told reporters after launching the App.
>>To use Guardian effectively, users need to add the names of friends, family members and security groups to the settings and in an emergency situation, the app can be used to alert them, via the SOS button. All the user has to do is tap the SOS button, a Microsoft official said.
>>"The phone then sends a distress SMS to all buddy mobiles, notifying them of the emergency along with location details. At the same time the SOS button also sends emails to buddy email IDs and posts to private Facebook groups, if registered," the press release said.
>> Guardian uses Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs extensively and can help security authorities and medical teams track the user. The phone can be traced even if it is broken. The application is capable of one touch video recording that may be used later as evidence, the press release added.
>> The Guardian app is available exclusively for Windows Phone users. It can be downloaded at here.

Tyler Armstrong (9), California boy, becomes youngest person to scale highest mountain of America (Argentina’s Aconcagua mountain)

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International Current Affairs: December 2013

>> A 9-year-old boy from Southern California has become the youngest person in recorded history to reach the summit of Argentina's Aconcagua mountain, which at 22,841 feet is the tallest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres.


>> Tyler Armstrong of Yorba Linda reached the summit on Christmas Eve with his father Kevin and a Tibetan sherpa, Lhawang Dhondup, who has climbed Mount Everest multiple times. They were in fine spirits Friday as they left Aconcagua, whose sheer precipices and bitter cold have claimed more than 100 climbers' lives.


>> Before Tyler, Matthew Moniz from the United States was the youngest person to climb the mountain at the age of 10 in the year 2008.

Arvind Kejriwal sworn-in as Chief Minister of Delhi

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Latest Current Affairs December 2013

>> Arvind Kejriwal the convener of the newly launched Aam Aadmi Party sworn in as the seventh Chief Minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013 at a function in Ramlila Maidan promising a corruption-free government and new style of governance without arrogance of power.

>> Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kejriwal.

>> 45-year-old Kejriwal, a former revenue service official, who broke from Anna Hazare's campaign for Lokpal and scored a stunning debut in electoral politics winning 28 of the 70 seats, took the oath of office and secrecy at a public ceremony in the historic Ramlila Maidan, the fast venue of the anti-graft campaigners more than two years ago.

>> Along with Kejriwal, six others - Manish Sisodia, Girish Soni, Rakhi Birla, Satyendra Jain, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Somnath Bharti - took oath as ministers.

>> Conscious of the minority status of his government, he appealed to all the parties including the BJP and Congress to support his government in all its right steps. However, he made it clear that he was not bothered about the confidence vote the government has to face by January 3, saying he is ready to face the people if it is defeated.

>> Flaunting his 'aam admi' (common man) credentials, Kejriwal, who lives in a modest flat in Kaushambi in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, took a metro train to Delhi to reach Barakhamba station, a distance of 20 kms from where he drove in his Maruti car to Ramlila Maidan.


>> Born in Siwani in Haryana, Kejriwal becomes the second youngest chief minister of Delhi. Chaudhry Brahm Prakash was the youngest chief minister at 34 when he took over in 1952.

Aruna Bahuguna to become first woman chief of National Police Academy

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>> National Police Academy, better known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) situated at Hyderabad-the alma mater for IPS officers in the country, could soon get a woman chief for the first time in its history.

>> Aruna Bahuguna, a 1979-batch IPS officer, is tipped to be appointed as the new director of the 65-year-old institution, also known as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), which is tasked with the training of police leaders.

>> Bahuguna (56), who belongs to the Andhra Pradesh cadre, is at present posted as the Special Director General in the country's largest paramilitary force, CRPF, at its headquarters in the national capital. In April 2013, she became the first women officer to be appointed to the top position in the hierarchy of CRPF.

>> The orders for Bahuguna's appointment as the new director of the academy would be issued soon, sources said.

>> The post of NPA Director fell vacant after incumbent Subhas Goswami was last month appointed as the DG of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

>>Reputed police officers like Sankar Sen, Trinath Mishra and K Vijay Kumar have earlier headed the NPA. Once appointed, Bahuguna would be the 28th boss of the academy.

>> The high-level board of the NPA comprises senior civil servants, police officers and eminent educationists as its members and is headed by the Union home secretary.

About National Police Academy


Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is the Indian national institute for training of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are sent to their respective state cadres to carry out their duties. The academy is in Hyderabad, India. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy is the premier police training institution in the country. The National Police Academy (NPA) trains officers of the Indian Police Service, who have been selected through the All-India Civil Services Examination. The trained officers will be posted as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) or Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in their respective states under whom the other sub-ranks of police force will be working.

Persons in News December 2013: Shashi Tharoor selected as PETA's 'person of the year'

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Shashi Tharoor selected as PETA's 'person of the year'


>> Union Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor has been chosen as the "Person of the Year" by animal rights campaigner PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for initiating steps for animal protection on 27 December 2013.

>> Tharoor used the power and prestige of his office to advocate for the protection of animals, a PETA release said.

>> He had encouraged the National Council of Educational Research and Training to examine PETA's Central Board of Secondary Education approved - 'Compassionate Citizen humane' - education programme for incorporation into its textbooks.

>> Tharoor, representing Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, is also supporting the use of non-animal methods for teaching students and training teachers, it said.

>> Tharoor's other efforts to help animals include writing a letter to Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad urging him to implement non-animal methods of teaching in medical courses.

>> "In addition, he urged the National Council for Teacher Education to ban the use of animals, such as for dissection, in training teachers," it said.

>> Actors Hema Malini and R Madhavan were previous recipients of PETA India's Person of the Year Award, the release added.

About PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) (stylized PeTA) is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees, it claims to have three million members and supporters and to be the largest animal rights group in the world. Its slogan is "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any way”.

Daily Current Affairs: 27 December 2013

Posted by Admin Friday, 27 December 2013 0 comments
Daily Current Affairs: 27 December 2013


1)  Shashi Tharoor PETA's 'person of the year': Shashi Tharoor Union Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor has been chosen as "Person of the Year" by animal rights campaigner PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for initiating steps for animal protection.

2) Kejriwal welcomes all to Ramlila Maidan: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal Friday said everyone was welcome to the Ramlila Maidan on Saturday when he takes oath as Delhi's chief minister. Meanwhile, Anna Hazare on Thursday said he would not be attending his one time protégé Arvind Kejriwal's swearing-in ceremony in Delhi on Saturday owing to ill-health.

3) National Police Academy set to have first woman boss: National Police Academy, the Hyderabad-based alma mater for IPS officers in the country, could soon get a woman chief for the first time in its history. Aruna Bahuguna, a 1979-batch IPS officer, is tipped to be appointed as the new director of the 65-year-old institution, also known as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), which is tasked with the training of police leaders.

4) China to be world largest economy in 2028: China is expected to overtake the US in 2028 to become the world's largest economy while India is predicted to overtake Japan that year for the third place in the same league, a London-based economic and business research group has said.

5) Airtel offers free Facebook access in 9 regional languages: Bharti Airtel will offer free access to social networking site Facebook in nine regional Indian languages to its pre-paid customers across the country for a limited period.

6) CNG, piped gas prices hiked in Delhi NCR: Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), which supplies compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped cooking gas in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, has hiked prices. The CNG price would be revised by Rs 4.50 a kg in Delhi and Rs 5.15 a kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.


7) Atul Sarpotdar leader of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena died.

Serena voted Associated Press' Female Athlete of Year 2013

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Sports Current Affairs: December 2013

>> Williams was honored as The Associated Press' 2013 Female Athlete of the Year for her outstanding performance throughout the year.


>> It's the third AP award for Williams, following 2002 and 2009. Only two women have been chosen more often as AP Athlete of the Year since the annual awards were first handed out in 1931.

>> Driven as ever, Williams won plenty this year. She went 78-4 with 11 titles, including at the French Open and US Open, raising her Grand Slam championship total to 17. She compiled a 34-match winning streak. She earned more than $12 million in prize money, a record for women's tennis. In February, she became the oldest No. 1 in WTA rankings history and never left that perch.

>> The vote by news organizations was about as lopsided as many of Williams' matches this season. She received 55 of 96 votes, while Brittney Griner, a two-time AP Player of the Year in college basketball and the No. 1 pick in April's WNBA draft, finished second with 14. Swimmer Missy Franklin was next with 10.

Ravichandran Ashwin won Polly Umrigar Award for 2012-13

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Sports Current Affairs December 2013

>> Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will receive the Polly Umrigar Award from the BCCI for being India's best international cricketer of the year 2012-13.
>> India's best performers in the senior and the junior level cricket in a period of 12 months from 1 October 2012 to 30 September 2013, will be honoured at the BCCI's annual Awards ceremony, to be held in Mumbai on January 11.

>> Ashwin took 43 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul in a match. He also scored 263 runs, including two fifties, from eight Tests. In ODIs, he took 24 wickets from 18 matches and three wickets from four T20 Internationals during the period.

>> Polly Umrigar Award comprises a trophy and a cheque for Rs. 5 lakhs. The award has been won in previous years by Sachin Tendulkar (2006-07 and 2009-10), Virender Sehwag (2007-08), Gautam Gambhir (2008-09), Rahul Dravid (2010-11) and Virat Kohli (2011-12).


>> Abhishek Nayar will receive the Lala Amarnath Award, for being the best all-rounder in the 2012-13 edition of the Ranji Trophy.

Deepika Kumari won women individual title at 34th National Archery Championship

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Sports Current Affairs: December 2013



>> Top ranked women recurve archer Deepika Kumari (Jharkhand) retained the individual title, while in the men's section Atanau Das (PSPB) emerged winner in the Individual Olympic Round of the 34th Senior National Archery Championship held at JRD Tata Sports complex Jamshedpur on 25 December 2013.

>> It was her sixth consecutive title.

>> Deepika by winning the sixth National title consecutively has set the record of winning the most individual titles at the national meet. Earlier it was Dola Banerjee who won five national titles.


>> However, the record of winning most individual titles is still held by Bengal archer Krishna Ghatak, with seven consecutive titles between 1975 and 1982.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport of Hyderabad received Sword of Honour award

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>> Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad awarded the Sword of Honour for safety management in London in the second week of December 2013.


>> 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.

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


>> 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.

Daily Current Affairs: 26 December 2013

Posted by Admin Thursday, 26 December 2013 0 comments
Daily Current Affairs: 26 December 2013


1) Narendra Modi gets a clean chit in Gujarat riots case: In a big relief to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, an Ahmedabad court on Thursday rejected a petition filed by Zakia Jafri against the closure report of Special Investigation Team (SIT) which gave a clean chit to the Gujarat Chief Minister in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots case.
2) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Pakistan's richest parliamentarian.
3) Arvind Ranjan  is new CISF chief: Senior IPS officer Arvind Ranjan will take over as the full-time chief of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in place of J N Choudhury.
4) Bitcoin operators shut shop in India amid RBI warning: Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be generated through complex computer software systems with solutions shared on a network, although the process is complex and such 'mining' can be done only on very powerful servers.
5) J N Choudhury  is new Chief of NSG: Senior IPS officer J N Choudhury has been appointed as head of National Security Guard (NSG) in place of Arvind Ranjan who will take over as the full-time chief of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
6)  Cabinet approves pension proposal for MTNL employees: Union Cabinet today approved a pension proposal for 43,000 MTNL employees, who joined the public sector company from Department of Telecom.
7) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal of Axis Bank for increase in foreign investment from 49 percent to 62 percent.
8) India won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa in the second Test being played at Durban. At the end of day One play India were at 181/1 with both Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara hitting half centuries.
9) Deepika Kumari creates national record in women's 50 m archery: Top ranked women recurve archer Deepika Kumari has created a national record in women's 50 metre round in the 34th Senior National Archery Championship in Jamshedpur.

10) Punjab government starts pension scheme for construction workers.

December 2013 Current Affairs Quiz Questions

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Latest Current Affairs Quiz: December 2013

Q1. Who among the following was on 11 December 2013 named as the Person of the Year 2013 by Time Magazine?
(A) Malal Yusufzai
(B) Edward Snowden
(C) Pope Francis
(D) Bashar Al-Assad 
Ans. (C) Pope Francis

 Q2. What is the name of two new parcel service started by the Department of Posts (India Post) on 2 December, 2013? 
(A) Express Paid Parcel and Speed Business Parcel
(B) Speed Parcel and Business Parcel
(C) Registered Parcel and Express Parcel 
(D) Express Parcel and Business Parcel
Ans. (D) Express Parcel and Business Parcel

 Q3. Who has bagged the Emerging Cricketer of the Year trophy at the ICC Annual awards announced in Dubai recently?
(A) Virat Kohli
(B) Quinton Di Kock
(C) Cheteshwar Pujara
(D) Rohit Sharma 
Ans. (C) Cheteshwar Pujara

 Q4. To raise awareness about which disease, South African cricket team wore pink dress and the Wanderers Stadium at Johannesburg during the first match of the ODI series against India on 5 December, 2013?
(A) HIV AIDS
(B) Tuberculosis
(C) Bird Flu
(D) Breast Cancer
Ans. (D) Breast Cancer

 Q5. Who has sworn in as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan for the second time on 13 Dec 2013?
(A) Sheila Dikshit
(B) Jayalalithaa
(C) Vasundhara Raje
(D) Mamata Banerjee 
Ans. (D) Mamata Banerjee 

 Q6. Name the last King of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, who died in Bangalore on 10 December 2013?
(A) Jayachamarajendra Wodiyar
(B) Jayaperiyar Wodiyar
(C) Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar
(D) Jayawanthakumara Wodiyar
Ans. (C) Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar

 Q7. Who among the following was crowned Miss Earth 2013? 
(A)Alyz Henrich 
(B)Catharina Choi 
(C)Katia Wagner 
(D)Pulika Kulsoontornrut
Ans. (A)Alyz Henrich 

 Q8. Name the Olympic medal-winning boxer M C Kom’s autobiography unveiled by the Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan on 9 December 2013?
(A) Unbreakable
(B) Unthinkable
(C) Untouchable
(D) Unstoppable
Ans. (A) Unbreakable

 Q9. Name the official 2014 FIFA World Cup match ball was unveiled on 3 December 2013 by manufacturers Adidas?
(A) Telstar 
(B) Jabulani 
(C) Brazuca
(D) SpeedCell
Ans. (C) Brazuca

 Q10. Which country was selected by FIFA on 5 December 2013 to host Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017?
(A) South Africa
(B) Spain
(C) India
(D) Japan

Ans. (C) India

Know about Inflation Indexed Saving Bonds

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Economy Current Affairs December 2013

 >> Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched an inflation indexed saving bonds on 23 December 2013. 
>>The newly launched indexed savings bonds offer protection to retail investors from price rise. 
>>It will be open for subscription between 23 to 31 December. 
>> The interest rate on these bonds will be pegged to consumer price inflation (CPI) index, thus protecting savings from price rise. 
>> Called the Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative, or IINSS-C, these bonds are designed to lure households away from investment in gold. 

 Here are 10 things to know about IINSS-C:

 1) Who can buy: Indian citizens (in individual capacity or joint basis). They can be bought on behalf of a minor. Non-resident Indians are not allowed to invest in these bonds.

 2) Investment limit: Minimum and maximum limits are Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 5 lakh per applicant per annum.

 3) Issue price: The bonds will be issued at par, which means the issue price will be Rs. 5,000 or in multiples thereof.

 4) How to subscribe: These bonds will be sold through authorised banks like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank. Payment mode could be in the form of cash/drafts/cheques/online.

 5) Interest rate will be 1.5 per cent above the consumer or retail inflation rate. So, if retail inflation is 10 per cent, subscribers can get 11.5 per cent. The interest will be compounded half yearly. The CPI data will be used with a three-month lag for calculating inflation. So, CPI for September will be used as reference CPI for all days of December.

 6) Tradability: The bonds shall not be tradable in the secondary market.

 7) Tenor and repayment: The maturity of the bonds will be 10 years and the interest will be paid out only at maturity. Senior citizens can redeem after one year of holding; others will have to hold for three years for early redemption and will have to pay penalty at the rate of 50 per cent of the last coupon payable.

 8) Loan: The bonds shall be eligible as collateral for loan from banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial company.

 9) Tax treatment: The interest on the bonds will be taxable. For this, the interest will be added to the annual income of the taxpayer and taxed at the applicable slab.

 10) Should you subscribe: The tax treatment of these bonds make them unattractive vis-a-vis tax-free bonds (which have been issued by government institutions like NTPC, IIFL and Hudco) and PPF investments, which are not taxed. Besides, these bonds will lose their attractiveness when retail inflation comes down. 

Ashok Lavasa to be new Civil Aviation Secretary

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 >> Ashok Lavasa, Special Secretary in the Power Ministry, has been appointed as the new Civil Aviation Secretary to take over from incumbent K N Srivastava as announced by ministry of civil aviation on 26 December 2013.


>> Lavasa, a 1980 batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, would take over his new post on January one, a day after Srivastava's retirement.

>> A double-MA and an MBA, Lavasa had earlier served in various capacities in the Power Ministry and the Home Ministry, besides being the Resident Commissioner of Haryana in Delhi.

>> Civil Aviation Ministry would also shortly appoint a Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as the incumbent Arun Mishra has been selected as the head of the UN watchdog International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) new Regional Director for the Asia-Pacific region.

>> Mishra, a 1986-batch West Bengal cadre IAS officer, will replace Pakistani diplomat Mokhtar Awan at the ICAO regional office in Bangkok in January.


>> As this is not an Indian government's posting, Mishra is likely to quit the civil service before taking over his new appointment.

Jacques Kallis, No. 1 all-rounder of his era, quits Tests

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>>  India's tour of South Africa was originally expected to mark the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar. Instead, it will see one of his greatest contemporaries following him into a cricketing sunset, if only in Tests.

>> Jacques Kallis, undoubtedly the supreme all-rounder of his era -- and a strong contender for the title of greatest all-rounder of all time -- on 25 Dec 2013 called time on a remarkable career that saw him amass staggering statistics and propel South Africa to the world no. 1 ranking in Tests.

>> A few months ago, Kallis's coach had declared that he wanted to play for at least two more years and overtake Tendulkar's records for most runs and tons in Tests. Given Kallis's form and fitness at that time, it did not seeem impossible. However, Kallis then suffered a loss of batting form, which may have prompted his decision.

>> The Boxing Day Test, which starts on Thursday, will be Kallis's last. Fittingly, it will be on the same ground where he made his debut, almost exactly 18 years ago. He will thus have one more match to add to his 13,174 runs, 292 wickets and 199 catches.

>> He can be proud of the stats, but will probably derive much more delight from knowing that rival teams often grumbled that playing South Africa was like 11 men playing 12, because Kallis was effectively two players rolled into one -- a world-class batsman coupled with a canny medium-pacer capable of running through any line-up on his day.

>> However, Kallis will still be available for ODIs. "I don't see it as goodbye because I still have a lot of hunger to push South Africa to that World Cup in 2015, if I am fit and performing," Kallis said, indicating that his appetite for cricket is still not sated. 

Kallis: The finest-ever all-rounder?

MRunsHSAve10050CtWktsAve
Tests1651317422455.12445819929232.53
ODIs3251157413944.86178612927331.79
T20Is256667335.05-571227.75
Intl. cricket5152541422449.256114933557732.08

Only three others have scored more Test runs than Kallis

BatsmanMRunsHSAve10050
Sachin Tendulkar20015921248*53.785168
Ricky Ponting1681337825751.854162
Rahul Dravid1641328827052.313663
Top stars who played their last Test vs India

* Hansie Cronje (Bangalore, 2000)
* Steve Waugh (Sydney, 2004)
* Adam Gilchrist (Adelaide, 2008)
* Muttiah Muralitharan (Galle, 2010)
* Ramnaresh Sarwan (Bridgetown, 2011).

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