Current Affairs - December 4 2013

International Affairs

1. Oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have gathered in Vienna for a conference set against the backdrop of regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia

2. Kashmir is a flashpoint that can trigger a fourth war between Pakistan and India anytime, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said, seeking an early settlement of the issue.

3. The legendary American singer Bob Dylan is being asked to apologise for remarks he made in an interview that have ran afoul of French anti-racism laws.

4. US issues a travel alert to its citizens travelling to or living in Bangladesh in view of protests in country ahead of general elections.

5. Obama Administration’s Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia has said that both India and Pakistan want a stable and secure Afghanistan and praised New Delhi’s role in development of the war-torn country.

6. US will provide a USD 525,000 for the construction of a new hospital in the former LTTE territory in Sri Lanka's north.

National Affairs

7. Delhi votes today, triangular contest with AAP's debut. 65 % polling recorded even as long queues of people were seen at booths past the voting deadline of 5 PM.

8. No scope of Pakistan winning war in my lifetime, says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

9. Group of ministers clears proposal for bigger‎Telangana

10. Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif among the most searched personalities of 2013 says Microsoft's search engine, Bing.

11. Birth anniversary of former Pime Minister of India IKGujral and former President of India RVenkataraman being observed today.

12. In a development that has increased the risk of collapse of Bali talks, India on Wednesday in a strongly-worded message to the WTO members said the food security issue is “non-negotiable” for New Delhi.

13. The Election Commission has directed for re-polling at three polling booths in Madhya Pradesh (MP). The re-poll was ordered following complaints of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the three polling booths in Bhopal and Dhar districts, sources in the state election office said on Wednesday.

14. Election Commission announced to hold repoll in seven booths of Rajasthan on December 6 after some complaints were received on election day.

15. Stringent Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Bill (ESMA) 2013 passed in Karnataka Assembly.

Deaths

16. K M Govi (85), bibliographer & former Editor of the National Library in Kolkata, died at his residence at Thalassery near Kannur.

Science and Technology

17. In an encouraging sign of life beyond earth, NASA scientists have found faint signatures of water in atmospheres of five distant planets.

18. A satellite which will provide TV services to countries such as India & China has been successfully launched by private US company SpaceX

Appointments

19. Rajasthan Chief Minister AshokGehlot was elected unopposed recently president of the Scout and Guide Organisation for a 3-year term.

Business and Economy

20. Bharti Airtel today mopped up euro 50 million from an international bond sale as it readies for the spectrum auction next month.

21. Assocham suggested formation of a committee headed by UP CM Akhilesh Yadav to draft an effective policy to accelerate growth.

22. EuropeanCommission has fined a group of banks USD 2.3 billion for colluding to profit from derivatives linked to rigged interest rates.

23. Keen to sell more crude oil to India, Iran's Industry Min Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh sought resolution of payment issues to promote trade.

Sports

24. Ross Taylor smashed a maiden double century against the West Indies on Wednesday as New Zealand racked up an imposing 609-9 declared, taking a vice-like grip on the first Test in Dunedin.

25. Indian women cueists Chitra M, Neena Praveen and Varshaa Sanjeev win in IBSF World Snooker.

26. 9th Ministerial WTO Meet kicked off in Bali, Indonesia

• 4 day Ministerial WTO Meet started from 3 ^rd December, 2013 and will continue will 6^th December, 2013.
• US Trade Representative: Michael Froman
• India Commerce Minister: Mr. Anand Sharma
• WTO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• WTO is headed by Mr. Roberto Azavedo. He hails from Brazil.
• The main focus will be impact on India-US after Bali package on agricultural subsidies.
• 1 ^st Ministerial WTO Meeting started in December, 1996 in Singapore.

27. Rajpal Yadav jailed for 10 days for contempt of court.

• He was held guilty for contempt of court in connection with a pending suit of recovery of Rs. 5 Crore along with his wife.

28. Uttar Pradesh Government grants pension to Muzaffarnagar violence victims.

• Rs. 400/- to be granted to the seriously injured people in violence that stuck Muzaffarnagar and nearby districts in September, 2013.
• The monthly pension would be given under Rani Laxmi Bai Pension Scheme.

29. No outgoing calls from BSNL Network.

A technical snag in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh stopped pre paid subscribers from making outgoing calls from their BSNL network for around 8 hours on Tuesday.

30. Supreme Court sets March 31, 2014 as the deadline for all states to draft rules for sale of acids.

31. EGoM approves Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Norms for Telecom Sector

• The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Union Finance Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram approved guidelines on Mergers and Acquisition for Telecom Sector, which states that market share of a merged entity, should not exceed 50% of the subscriber base.
• He also cleared the sale of over 400 MHz of 2 G Spectrum that would help immensely the cellular phone market in our country.

32. India Telecom 2013 to be inaugurated by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

• Three day international exhibition cum conference will start from December 5, 2013 in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
• It’s organized by Department of Telecommunications in collaboration with FICCI Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

33. Rs. 600 Crore penalty on Idea Cellular by DoT.

• Department of Telecommunications has imposed this hefty fine due to violation of license condition in its merger deal with Spice Communications.
• The amount to be paid in next 15 days.

34. Titan launches helmet under FASTRACK brand.

35. CIC or Core Investment Companies can raise fund via ECB.

• Reserve Bank of India allowed CIC’s to raise funds through External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) for project use in Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV’s) involved in infrastructure sector.
• ECB can be used either for fresh capital expenditure or for refinancing of existing rupee loans from domestic banking system.
• Conditions: a) Maximum 25% of ECB raised by the infrastructure company can be utilized for refinancing of the rupee loans availed from the domestic banking system. It will be 40% in case of power sector. b) The ECB for SPV can be raised for 3 years.

36. China’s currency Yuan is the second most used currency in trade finance.

• Yuan overtook Euro in October to become the second most used currency in trade finance as per SWIFT.
• US Dollar tops the list with 81.08%.
• Top 5 countries using Yuan are China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia.
• SWIFT stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, headquartered in Belgium. SWIFT Chairman is Mr. Yawar Shah from Pakistan and CEO is Mr. Gottfried Leibbrandt from Netherlands.

37. Indian Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the winner of ICC’s LG People’s Choice Award.

• Second Indian to win this award after Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
• 3 Indians were also included in ICC ODI team of the year.- Shikhar Dhawan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.
• Cheteshwar Pujara and Mahendra Singh Dhoni finds spot in ICC Test Team of the year where as Ravichandran Ashwin kept as 12 ^th man.

38. 4 ^th December is observed as Navy Day in India.