SNIPPETS
December 1-10
The desert state of Rajasthan recorded almost 75 per cent voter turnout on December 1, 2013— its
highest-ever — as the fate of 2,087 candidates were sealed in 199 out of 200 seats in the Assembly
elections.
India's maiden mission to Mars left Earth's orbit, and successfully entered the second phase of its 10month-long voyage to the Red Planet after performing a crucial manoeuvre described as "mother of all
slingshots". Clearing a critical hurdle to achieve a major milestone in the country's space history, ISRO's
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft or 'Mangalyaan' was placed in the designated Mars Transfer Trajectory in a 22minute manoeuvre almost an hour past midnight without any hitch to tear itself away from Earth's
gravitational pull.
Thailand’s anti-government leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, said that he met embattled Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra demanding that she return ruling mandate to the people while at least five persons
were killed as protestors launched a “people’s coup” against the regime. He told Ms Yingluck that his
group would not stop the week-long protests until it achieved the goal of drafting new rules for the
country.
China successfully landed its first unmanned lunar probe on the moon, in the latest milestone for the
budding superpower's space ambitions. The Chang'e-3 lunar probe landed on the surface of the moon
shortly after 9 p.m. Beijing time on Dec.1, 2013. The probe included the lander and a lunar rover called
Yutu, or "Jade Rabbit" in English.
The central Congress leadership dropped sufficient hints on Dec. 2, 2013 that an expanded “RayalaTelangana”, with 12 districts, including Kurnool and Anantapur from the Rayalaseema region, is a distinct
possibility. There are indications that the Telangana Bill will not make it to Parliament by December 20,
the last day of the Winter Session as of now. A special session will then have to be called.
The main purpose of Emperor Akihito’s visit to India was to add more ballast to the bilateral relationship.
One of the elements that would add greater depth to the ties would be a civil nuclear agreement. “We are
close to a bilateral deal on the peaceful use of nuclear energy,’’ said senior Japanese diplomats
accompanying the Emperor, who was on a six-day visit to India. India and Japan share the goal of total
elimination of nuclear weapons and Parliaments of both countries pay tributes to the victims of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. But a section of Japanese opinion, including senior Ministers, wants India to sign the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India has been averse to this idea and wants to sign a civil nuclear
deal with Japan on the basis of its existing strong anti-proliferation credentials.
Bangladesh’s 18-party opposition coalition (Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its 17 smaller allies)
confirmed that it would boycott a general election scheduled for January 5th, just hours before a final
deadline for nominations, plunging the volatile country into political uncertainty.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says she will not give into opposition demands she resign, despite
two days of large anti-government protests in Bangkok. Mrs. Shinawatra told reporters that she has a
constitutional duty to stay on as prime minister, and that only cooperation and dialogue can resolve the
country's months-long political deadlock.
Emboldened by its nuclear deal with the West, Iranian oil negotiators led again by Iranian oil minister, Mr
Bijan Zanganeh, will seek to reassert Tehran’s authority at OPEC’s Dec. 4, 2013 meeting.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to introduce increased capital requirements by 2016 for banks
regarded as too big to fail, and make them subject to greater regulatory oversight. The RBI released a
draft of the new guidelines on the very same day as it issued proposals for counter-cyclical buffers, which
would require banks to build reserves during periods of stability in order to weather more difficult times.
India has decided to give $1 million to Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at
The Hague for the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons and related facilities. This is expected to
strengthen its case for inclusion in Geneva-II talks next month.
Asia's rising economic success has helped China's hi-tech corridor to take a clear lead in the latest OECD
international education rankings. The results of the OECD's programme for international student
assessment – a triennial exam for 15-year-olds known as Pisa – show that China's Shanghai region easily
tops the rest of the world in maths, reading and science. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea
made up the rest of the top five for maths, followed by the Chinese island of Macao.
Thailand's government ordered police to stop confronting protesters demanding the resignation of the
prime minister, raising hope that days of political violence may end, but the leader of the campaign said
the fight would go on.
The national capital registered its highest-ever voter turnout of 65.86 per cent in the keenly contested
Assembly
polls
with
men
and
women
coming
out
in
almost
equal
numbers
to
vote.
Delhi's Election Commission said that out of 1.19 crore eligible voters, over 78.1 lakh people exercised
their franchise. In an unprecedented exercise, voting went on till 9.30 PM --four-and-a-half hours past the
5 PM voting deadline.
Asaram's absconding son, Narayan Sai, has been arrested by the police from the Delhi-Haryana border in
the rape and sexually assault cases. He has been arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi police. He had
been absconding for the past 59 days.
China accused Washington of taking Japan's side in a tense clash over disputed islands in the East China
Sea, underscoring rising regional friction as visiting Vice President Joe Biden met with Beijing's leaders.
A group of leading EU antitrust regulators fined six financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Royal
Bank of Scotland and Citigroup a record total of euro 1.71 billion ($2.3 billion) for rigging financial
benchmarks. The penalty is the biggest yet to be handed down to banks for rigging the benchmarks used
to determine the cost of lending, one of the most brazen violations of conduct since the financial crisis.
The Union Cabinet approved a bill for the creation of a Telangana state with 10 districts, paving the way
for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to give birth to the country’s 29th state.
FIFA, the international football body, awarded India the right to host the Under-17 World Cup in 2017.
India beat stiff competition from Ireland, 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa and Uzbekistan to get the
final nod from FIFA's executive committee
The United States warned China yesterday against any move to declare a new air defence zone over parts
of the South China Sea including disputed islands.
Freedom fighter, and South Africa's symbol of the struggle against racial oppression, Nelson Mandela who
emerged from prison after 27 years to lead his country out of decades of apartheid, died on Dec 5 at the
age of 95.
No hasty decision will be taken by the government on creation of a post of “permanent” chairman of the
Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) and all aspects will be examined before a final decision is taken on the
matter.
The government is aware that any hasty decision in this regard could cause a flutter among the Army top
brass.
In an attempt to resolve the crisis in the sugar industry, an informal group of ministers headed by
Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, decided to provide interest-free loans to sugar mills to start operations
this season. The scheme will be achieved by 12 per cent interest subvention for loans to the tune of Rs
7,200 crore.
Shanghai smog hits crisis point: Children ordered indoors and visibility limited to a few dozen metres with
air pollution 24 times WHO safety levels. Harmful PM 2.5 particles hit 602.5 micrograms per cubic meter.
World Health Organisation safety guideline sets limit of 25 micrograms. Authorities order halt to
construction in China's financial hub.
The Centre has finally decided not to withdraw the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act from
Jammu and Kashmir till the end of 2014. Even the possibility of a partial withdrawal of AFSPA from some
districts, as suggested by the state government, has also been ruled out. The government has agreed
with the contention of security and intelligence agencies that India should wait for the withdrawal of
international forces from Afghanistan in 2014 and see its impact on Kashmir before taking any decisions
related to the Valley.
India’s first heritage transport museum opens near Gurgaon. The unique facility is spread across a
massive area of 90,000 square feet and located off NH-8 in Taoru, around 35km from Gurgaon. It was
inaugurated by Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The UN General Assembly elected Jordan to the Security Council to replace Saudi Arabia, which had
rejected the seat in an unprecedented act to protest the council's failure to end the Syrian and IsraeliPalestinian conflicts.
Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian
officials on bilateral cooperation, Press TV reported on Saturday.
IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of Department of Safeguards, Tero Tapio Varjoranta, and two
other officials arrived in Tehran, Behrouz Kamalvandi. Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, and
Tapio Varjoranta will preside over the talks, which aim to determine the next step of cooperation between
the two sides.
Assembly election results 2013: Congress wins in Mizoram; BJP win MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while
Delhi is hung.
The first unit of the 700 MW super-critical (2x700 MW) Rajpura thermal power plant at Nalash village in
Patiala district became operational. The plant was inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal. Developed by Larsen & Toubro, the project involved capital outlay of Rs 9,600 crore for setting up
the coal-fired power plant.
As per the electoral mandate of the people, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML are required to forge a
coalition for the formation of the new government in Nepal at the earliest so that they may concentrate on
constitution writing. The Nepali Congress has the right to lead the government whereas the CPN-UML
must play a supporting role. Technically the CPN-UML is the second largest party, but its strength is
almost equal to that of the Nepali Congress. Thus, the CPN-UML should not be treated as a junior partner.
The Congress and UML must strike a power sharing deal so that both the parties enjoy a dignified share
and say in the cabinet as well as in the entire political process.
The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, told American troops that he supported a NATO force playing a
role in Afghanistan after 2014, as Washington and Kabul wrangle over a stalled security pact.
This is for the fifth time that the Congress has come to power in the north-eastern state of Mizoram,
which shares borders with Burma and Bangladesh. In the outgoing Assembly, the Congress had 32 seats.
The controversial Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam
was tabled in the Lok Sabha amidst uproar. While CPI (M), CPI and BJP members called the report a
“fraud”, DMK — which had been demanding that its leader A. Raja, who was indicted by the report, should
be questioned by the parliamentary panel — staged a walkout.
President Vladimir Putin tightened his control over Russia's media by dissolving the main state news
agency ‘RIA Novosti’ and replacing it with an organization that is to promote Moscow's image abroad. The
move to create a news agency by the name of ‘Rossiya Segodnya’ will help Putin strengthen his hold on
the media as he tries to reassert his authority after protests against his rule.
A 1,600-strong French force has been sent into the CAR, deployed after days of communal fighting
claimed 400 lives. The CAR has been in turmoil since March when an alliance of rebels, known as Seleka,
seized power. Following a request from France, the US is to help fly African Union peacekeeping troops
into the Central African Republic (CAR). Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered US forces to begin
transporting forces from Burundi to the Central African Republic.
Thailand's premier called a snap election on December 9, to try to defuse the kingdom's political crisis, but
protesters kept up their fight to topple the government with an estimated 140,000 demonstrators flooding
the streets of Bangkok.
The Supreme Court dealt a cruel blow to lakhs of homosexuals, many of whom had started living together
after the Delhi high court decriminalized same-sex relationships four years ago, by making it a crime
again, even if it is consensual and done between adults in private. The 'crime' will attract a maximum
punishment of life imprisonment.
Anna Hazare accused the Centre of "betrayal" and going back on its promise on Jan Lokpal Bill and said he
will sit on an indefinite hunger strike in Ralegan Sidhi for passage of the anti-graft law in Parliament.
In what has been billed as one of the largest gatherings of global leaders in recent history, representatives
from around the world joined street sweepers, actors and religious figures to pay tribute to Nelson
Mandela.
Nepal's Election Commission extended till December 18 the deadline for political parties to submit their list
of proportional representation candidates chosen on the basis of results of the recent Constituent
Assembly polls.
December 11- December 20
Three MiG-27 aircrafts performed the Trishul Break manoeuvre at the Kalaikunda airbase in West
Midnapore, as a salute to a MiG-21 type 77 (FL) aircraft that was towed to the hangar for the last time.
The operational conversion unit here bade a final farewell to its oldest workhorse after five decades of
service as the fleet of MiG-21 FL fighters was officially phased out.
Bangladesh’s top court put on hold Abdul Quader Mollah’s execution which was dramatically stayed in a
last-minute reprieve, as the hearing on a review petition filed by the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islaami
leader was adjourned till the next day.
Pakistan's longest serving Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry retired, ending an era marked
by aggressive judicial activism that even snared a serving Prime Minister.
More than six years after the Union health ministry finalised the draft of the HIV/AIDS bill, the Union
Cabinet cleared the legislation. After the Cabinet nod, the bill is likely to come before Parliament for its
passage. Under the proposed law, among other things, HIV/AIDS-infected persons will be provided
protection against discrimination in employment, healthcare, education, travel and insurance, in both the
public and private sectors.
The Delhi High Court accepted an appeal by Nokia to release its local factory after it was seized by
authorities in a tax dispute, removing a hurdle to the sale of the company's mobile phone business to
Microsoft.
Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Australia’s highest court struck down a landmark law that had begun allowing the country’s first gay
marriages, shattering the dreams of more than two dozen same-sex newlyweds whose marriages will now
be annulled less than a week after their weddings.
The much-awaited amended Lokpal Bill was moved by the government in the Rajya Sabha, but it could
not be passed due to continuous disruptions that led to the House being adjourned till Monday. The
disruptions came as the Samajwadi Party (SP) demanded a discussion on price rise and the principal
Opposition BJP said the episode was a “friendly match” between the ruling Congress and its supporting
parties.
In a relief to Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, the Supreme Court granted him bail in a fodder
scam case in which he was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for five years by a trial court in
Jharkhand. He was lodged in a Ranchi jail on September 30.
Vasundhara Raje took oath as the chief minister of Rajasthan, five days after the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) swept to power, crushing the Congress.
Kim Jong-un is believed to have ordered the total elimination of his uncle’s biological relatives to
demonstrate decisiveness and to clamp down on mutiny with an iron fist. Once all powerful, Jang Songthaek was the ‘regent’ while Kim was still too young to govern after Kim Jong-il’s death. He was executed
on December 12, 2013 at the age of 67, after making an alleged attempt to stage a military coup and
dethrone his nephew.
Chemical weapons were likely used in five out of seven attacks investigated by U.N. experts in Syria,
where a 2 1/2-year civil war has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the final report of a U.N.
inquiry.
Lal Thanhawla was sworn in as the Mizoram Chief Minister by Governor Vakkom Purushothaman at the Raj
Bhawan in Aizawl. Eleven Congress legislators were also sworn in as ministers. Mr. Thanhawla has become
Chief Minister for a consecutive term for the second time and a record fifth term in his political career.
The Madras high court is the first to form internal committees for itself as well as all subordinate courts in
Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, empowering them to deal with all forms of sexual harassment complaints
and award appropriate punishment.
Iran has canceled a planned $500 million loan to Pakistan to build part of a pipeline to bring natural gas
from the Islamic Republic.
Sri Lanka have retained their status as the world's top Twenty20 team by beating Pakistan by 24 runs in a
thrilling finish to the second game in Dubai.
Armed with new powers to act against fraudsters and market manipulators, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha says
the regulator has already begun utilising them in a big way and a process has been initiated to set up a
special court to hear Sebi-related matters for faster prosecution.
Narendra Modi led a marathon 'run for unity' organised by BJP across the country to mark death
anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose legacy he has sought to espouse in the campaign for 2014
General Election.
Niklas Wellen slammed a brilliant hat-trick to guide defending champions Germany to their record sixth
world title, beating unheralded France 5-2 in the summit clash of the Junior World Cup hockey at the
floodlit Major Dhyan Chand.
Delhi LG Najeeb Jung has sent a report to the Centre communicating the inability of both BJP and Aam
Admi Party to form the government in the state for now, and recommending President's rule as a way out
of the deadlock.
Turkey and the European Union signed agreements starting talks for a possible deal that would lift visa
restrictions for Turkish citizens traveling to Europe and which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called
a 'milestone' in relations between his country and the 28-member bloc.
The Election Commission (EC) has extended the deadline for submitting the final lists of candidates under
the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system till Dec. 30.
The Indian government went on the diplomatic offensive, hitting out at the United States by cancelling
some special privileges accorded to its diplomats in this country after an Indian diplomat was humiliated in
New York recently. Some people in the government warned of more retaliatory action unless there was an
unconditional apology by the Americans swiftly. It emerged that Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy
consul-general in New York, had been even subjected to an embarrassing cavity search by the US
authorities, besides a strip search, after she was handcuffed while being arrested late last week.
Politicians and top bureaucrats will face the heat as the Lokpal Bill, to set up a strong anti-corruption
ombudsman to probe corruption in high places, received the overwhelming approval of the Rajya Sabha.
Angela Merkel sworn in as German Chancellor for a rare third term to govern Europe's top economy.
Prime Minister David Cameron's plan to reshape Britain's ties with the European Union has opened a rift
with his junior coalition partner who accused his party of promoting illegal and economically disastrous
reforms.
The historic Lokpal Bill was finally passed by Lok Sabha after a 46-year wait. Gandhian activist Anna
Hazare and his supporters celebrated the passing of the Bill at his Ralegan Sidhi village in Maharashtra.
The 76-year-old Lokpal crusader ended his nine-day fast.
A British crackdown on "benefit tourism" will begin on January 1 when migrants from the European Union
will be banned from claiming unemployment handouts until three months after arrival, Prime Minister
David Cameron announced.
Singapore on Wednesday extended by six months the ban on alcohol consumption in public during
weekends and holidays at Little India, the scene of the country’s worst riot in 40 years.
The United States sought to end a row with close ally India over the arrest of a diplomat, with the State
Department’s top officials calling their Indian counterparts for the third time in two days.
The Election Commission is likely to issue a letter to Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) this week
recognising it as a “State Party” in view of the party fulfilling the eligibility conditions set by the EC for
granting such honour.
China is expanding its presence at the South Pole, with construction workers leaving its Zhongshan
Station to build the Taishan summer field camp, the country's fourth Antarctic base.
South Africa's government cleared President Jacob Zuma of any wrongdoing during a controversial $20million revamp at his private home, in a move criticised as a whitewash.
The Union government moved the Supreme Court seeking re-examination of its ruling last week upholding
the validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, making homosexuality once again a criminal act in
India.
The Adarsh Commission report, tabled in the legislative assembly, the last day of the winter session, has
said that former chief minister Ashok Chavan gave permissions to the cooperative housing society as quid
pro quo for two flats allotted to his relatives. The report has also named three other former chief
ministers, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushil Kumar Shinde — who is now the union home minister — and
Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar for extending political patronage to Adarsh.
Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry is likely to be appointed as Pakistan's Foreign Secretary.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but that wasn’t enough for the socially conservative country’s
lawmakers who have just passed a long-shelved law toughening the penalties for gay acts. The draconian
anti-gay bill, which Ugandan politicians hailed as a victory against “evil,” punishes anyone caught
engaging in homosexual acts for a second time with life imprisonment.
December 21 onwards
Recent satellite imagery appears to have “clearly” revealed that Pakistan has completed the external
construction of its fourth nuclear reactor building at the Khushab nuclear site located 200 kilometers south
of Islamabad.
Jayanthi Natarajan tendered her resignation from the post of Minister of State for Environment and
Forests with Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily being handed over the additional charge of the Environment
Ministry. Natarajan (59) resigned from the Union Cabinet as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wants
her to help the party ahead of the 2014 General Elections.
Relatives and friends of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing will gather at memorial services in
Britain and America to mark the 25th anniversary of the atrocity.
As India celebrates its victory over polio — completing three years without any case of the debilitating
infection — the nation becomes entitled to polio-free certification by the World Health Organisation in
March.
NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid), the ambitious counter- terror mechanism envisaged post 26/11,
has discreetly begun churning out vital information for Indian security agencies even as high-level security
arrangements have been put in place to aggressively guard the system against any breach in its platform.
Special envoys from the US and Nigeria are flying to South Sudan in effort to avert all-out civil war.
Tens of thousands of opposition-backed protesters have marched through the Thai capital in their
continuing campaign to bring down the government. Rallies were held outside the Bangkok home of Prime
Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as well as the city's main shopping areas and intersections.
Vinod Kumar Duggal, former Union Home Secretary, was appointed as Governor of Manipur.
Thousands of people thronged Japan's Imperial Palace to celebrate Emperor Akihito's 80th birthday.
The Indian and Pakistani armies vowed to maintain the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC) as well as the
ceasefire agreement at the meeting between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both
countries — the first since the 1999 Kargil war.
Nepal’s main Maoist party agreed to join the Constituent Assembly and participate in writing the final
chapters of the country’s constitution.
Egypt's military-backed interim government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group,
criminalising all its activities, its financing and even membership to the group from which the country's
ousted president hails.
With the stapled visa issue with China remaining a sore point, India has decided to go slow on its move to
ease visa norms for Chinese nationals visiting the country to participate in conferences and seminars.
The Delhi high court has rapped the Central government over its failure to abide by the policy for selection
of persons below officer rank (PBOR) of the Indian Army for being sent on a United Nations (UN) mission
or an overseas tenure.
Setting aside separate statehood demand in Darjeeling, GJM supremo Bimal Gurung took oath as the new
Chief Executive of the hill council in Darjeeling, from where he had resigned in July agitating for a
separate state.
Nepal’s Election Commission gave political parties another week to name members who would fill the
remaining 335 proportional seats in the body that will be tasked with writing the country’s constitution.
Narendra Modi gets clean chit in 2002 Gulbarg society case as metropolitan magistrate rejects Zakia
Jafri's plea against SIT's clean chit. A magistrate court in Ahmedabad pronounced its order on Zakia Jafri's
petition against Special Investigation Team (SIT) closure report that gave a clean chit to Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi and others in 2002 Gujarat riots.
Amid demands by jurists and BJP, the Union cabinet on Thursday cleared the Law Ministry's proposal to
grant constitutional status to the proposed Judicial Appointments Commission for appointing and
transferring judges of the higher judiciary, to ensure that its composition cannot be altered through an
ordinary legislation.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has replaced nearly half of his cabinet in a reshuffle
prompted by a spiralling corruption scandal.
After being widely criticised for its poor management of relief camps housing victims of the Muzaffarnagar
riots, the Uttar Pradesh government has begun evicting people living in these temporary shelters even as
they struggled to cope with the extreme cold weather.
US President Barack Obama signed into law the compromise US budget bill recently negotiated by feuding
lawmakers and a massive defense bill that takes a step toward ultimate closure of Guantanamo.
The president of South Sudan is ready to order his troops to lay down their arms, African leader urged his
rival to seize this “window of opportunity” to bring an end to two weeks of heavy fighting in the world’s
youngest country.
Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal will become Delhi's seventh and the youngest chief minister
after the swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan.
China formally approved easing its decades-long one-child policy and the abolition of a controversial labor
camp system.
A major hurdle in the way of setting up of a nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad {the 2800MW Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna (GHAVP)} is over as the Environment Ministry has finally
granted a conditional green clearance to the project.
A suicide attacker set off a bomb in a Russian train station, killing at least 16 people in the second deadly
attack in the space of three days as the country prepares to host the Winter Olympics. More than 40
people were wounded in the blast that blew out the windows of the lower floors of the imposing columned
building in Volgograd.
South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis surpassed Rahul Dravid as the third highest run-getter in Test
cricket after a 115-run knock against India in his farewell match in Durban.
The Reserve Bank has warned that any political instability after May 2014, post-results, will drag the
beleaguered economy further down, and that a stable new government would be desirable. RBI governor
Raghuram Rajan said in his foreword to the eighth edition of the RBI's Financial Stability Report 2013 that
a potential additional source of uncertainty was the coming general elections. A stable new government
would be positive for the economy.
PEOPLE IN NEWS
Pakistan appointed career diplomat Abdul Basit as its new High Commissioner to India.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cleared the appointment of career diplomat Aizaz Chaudhry, one of the key officials
who handled the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as Pakistan’s new Foreign Secretary.
Germany's Parliament elected Angela Merkel as Chancellor for a third term on December 16, ending nearly three
months of uncertainty since elections that forced her to seek a 'grand coalition' with her rivals.
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Mishra has been appointed the new Asia-pacific Regional Director
of UN body International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Arvind Ranjan, a 1977-batch IPS officer of Kerala Cadre, assumed charge as 24th Director-General of the Central
Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the force’s headquarters in New Delhi on December 26.
The ministry of civil aviation on 26 December 2013 appointed Ashok Lavasa, a Haryana cadre IAS officer of 1980
batch as new Civil Aviation Secretary .He would take his new post on 1 January 2014.He will take charge from
incumbent K.N.Srivastava.
CVR Rajendran, on December 13, took charge of Andhra Bank Chairman and Managing Director. Prior to this, he
was Executive Director of Bank of Maharashtra.
Veteran Bollywood actor, Farooq Sheikh, who began his bollywood career with a role in Garm Hava and then
acted in some classic movies, like Umrao Jaan, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Chashme Buddoor, Saath Saath and Noorie
and also anchored a popular TV programme Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, died in Dubai on December 27. His last film
to hit the screens was Club 60.
Harsh Kumar Bhanwala has taken charge as Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD). He succeeds Prakash Bakshi, who retired in September.
Ida Pollock, world's oldest romantic novelist from England, who went on to write scores of novels under almost a
dozen pseudonyms and sold over a million books in her prolific career, died on December 3
in south-west
England.
Environment and Forest minister Jayanthi Natarajan resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on December
21 to work for the party in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Jayshree Mehta was elected unopposed president of the Medical Council of India (MCI) at the general body
meeting of the apex body in New Delhi. Dr Mehta is the first woman president of MCI in 80 years of its existence.
Jean Todt unanimously won a second term as president of motorsports governing body, running unopposed. The
Frenchman's main rival, David Ward of Britain, pulled out of the race because of a lack of backing. Todt detailed
the platform for his second mandate in a brochure entitled "The Road Forward." It emphasized the creation of a
Motor Sport Development Fund, the growth of motorsports at the grassroots level, and reducing carbon emissions
at particular racing events.
Joan Fontaine, Oscar-winning Hollywood actress from US who rose to fame during Hollywood's golden age as
the star of several Alfred Hitchcock classics and won Oscar for her role in Suspicion, becoming the first and
only actress to earn it for a Hitchcock film, died in California, USA on December 15. She with her sister Olivia
de Havilland remain the only siblings to have won lead actress honors at the Academy Awards.
Lt Gen Aniruddha Chakravarty, VSM, took over the reins of National Cadet Corps as the director general of this
premier youth organisation on December 1, 2013.
Lt. Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, the arms designer credited by the Soviet Union with creating the AK-47, the
first in a series of rifles and machine guns that would indelibly associate his name with modern war and become
the most abundant firearms ever made, died in Izhevsk, the capital of the Russian republic of Udmurtia, where he
lived. He was 94.
Pran Chopra, veteran journalist and the former editor of The Statesman, who in the course of his over sixdecade-old career, was associated with many newspapers, including The Hindu and The Tribune and also brought
out his own magazines, The Citizen and The Weekend Review died on December 22 in New Delhi. He was among
the few pre-partition journalists who reported the Second World War as well as the pre-partition trauma. He began
his career in the All India Radio and did commentary for the AIR during the country's first Republic Day
celebrations.
Sachin Tendulkar became the first brand ambassador of the United Nations International Children's Emergency
Fund (UNICEF) for South Asia, to promote hygiene and sanitation in the region. He was named its ambassador for
two years.
Sis Ram Ola, senior Congress leader, a champion of girls' education and Union Labour Minister, who was an
influential Jat leader hailing from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, was conferred Padma Shri for social service
in 1968 and whose efforts to promote girl's education brought Jhunjhunu district to third rank in literacy in the
desert State, died on December 15 in Gurgaon.
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family and the last descendant of
the Wodeyar dynasty, who had remained the titular head of the erstwhile royalty during the famous Dusshera
festivities after succeeding as heir to his father in 1974 that left him with a palace but without a kingdom, had
served as Lok Sabha member for four terms representing Mysore constituency, died on December 10 in
Bengaluru.
Revenue secretary Sumit Bose was appointed as finance secretary. A 1976 batch IAS officer of the Madhya
Pradesh cadre, Bose is the senior most secretary in the finance ministry after expenditure secretary RS Gujral
retired. Bose,who is scheduled to retire in March 2014,is also tipped to be one of the top contenders for the post of
PFRDA chairman.
President Pranab Mukherjee on December 19 administered the oath of office to former IAS officer Sushma Singh
as Chief Information Commissioner at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Ms. Singh, who is the fifth Chief Information
Commissioner of CIC, is the second woman to be appointed to the post after Deep Sandhu, whose term ended on
December 18. She had joined the CIC as Information Commissioner on September 23, 2009.
Tassaduq Hussain Jillani was sworn in as Pakistan's new chief justice, replacing activist judge Iftikhar Chaudhry
who led a crusade against corruption and misgovernance.
Vinod Kumar Duggal, former Union Home Secretary, was on December 23 appointed as governor of Manipur.
Duggal, 68 of the 1968 batch becomes the first IAS officer of the UT cadre to be appointed as a governor of a
northeastern state.
AWARDS & HONOURS
Grammy Awards
Legendary music maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar has received a posthumous nomination at 56th Grammy Awards
with his album 'The Living Room Sessions Part 2' in the World Music section. The sitar master, who died last
December at the age of 92, won the World Music album award last year for the first part of the album 'The Living
Room Sessions Part 1', besides being given the lifetime achievement honour, which was received by his daughters
Anushka Shankar and Norah Jones. The album consists of three tracks Raga Mishra Kafi, Raga Sindhi Bhairavi and
Raga Bhairavi. Others nominees of the World Music Album category are Gipsy Kings' for 'Savor Flamenco', Femi
Kuti for 'No Place For My Dream' and Ladysmith Black Mambazo for 'Live: Singing For Peace Around The World'.
ICC People’s Choice Awards
Mahendra Singh Dhoni on December 3 added another feather to his cap when he became only the second Indian
after Sachin Tendulkar to win the LG ICC People’s Choice Award for 2013. The India captain was also named
skipper of the ICC ODI Team for the fourth time in five years by the game’s governing body at an announcement
function in Mumbai.
IFFI Awards
The 44th International Film Festival of India was held at Panaji, Goa from November 20 to 30. Susan Sarandon, an
American actress was the chief guest at the opening ceremony and Michelle Yeoh was the chief guest at the
closing ceremony on November 30.
Czech film director Jiri Menzel was conferred with a Lifetime Achievement
Award. Indian Film Actress Waheeda Rehman was conferred with Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of
the Year. The IFFI 2013 witnessed several things for the first time, including a film produced and directed by an
Afghan director and a film from the north-eastern states of India.
The list of awards given at IFFI 2013 is as follows:
Golden Peacock Award: Beatriz’s War
Best Director: Kaushik Ganguli
Special Jury Award: Thou Gild’st The Even
Best Actor (Male): Alon Moni Aboutboul
Best Actor (Female): Boczarska Magdalena
Special Centenary Award: Meghe Dhaka Tara
Miss Earth 2013, the 13th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on December 7, 2013 at the Versailles
Palace, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Philippines. Miss Earth 2012 Tereza Fajksová from Czech Republic crowned Alyz
Henrich from Venezuela as the new Miss Earth.
Miss International Beauty Pageant
Miss Philippines Bea Rose Santiago was declared the winner of the 53rd Miss International beauty pageant, held in
Tokyo, Japan on December 17. Miss Netherlands Nathalie den Dekker was named first runner-up while Miss New
Zealand Lorena Hermida was named second runner-up.
Oscar Nominations
The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on January 16, 2014 and the award ceremony will
take place on March 2, 2014. In 2013, 289 films are eligible for the 2013 Academy Awards. Five songs from
Kerala-based film-maker Rupesh Paul's multilingual film Kamasutra 3D, which has already released in the US, is
also in contention for nomination in the list for best motion picture and original score. Gyan Correa's Gujarati film
"The Good Road" is out of the best foreign film Oscar race after it failed to qualify in the Academy's latest shortlist
Sahitya Akademi Awards 2013
Poetry writers dominated the Sahitya Akademi awards for 2013. Among the award winning poets are Subodh
Sarkar (Bengali), Anil Boro (Bodo), Sitaram Sapolia (Dogri), Ambika Dutt (Rajasthani), Radhakant Thakur
(Sanskrit), Arjun Charan Hembram (Santali), Namdev Tarachandani (Sindhi) and Javed Akhtar (Urdu).Overall,
eight books of poetry, four of essays, three of novels, two each of short stories and travelogues, one each of
autobiography, memoirs and play have won the Sahitya Akademi award this year. The novelists who won awards
are Mridula Garg for Miljul Man in Hindi, Manmohan for Nirvaan in Punjabi and R.N. Joe D’ Cruz for Korkai in Tamil.
The only playwright who has won the award is Bijoy Misra for Banaprastha in Odia.
Stree Shakti Award
Social Justice Minister Kumari Selja presented the annual Stree Shakti Awards to achievers in the field of women’s
empowerment and medicine on November 29 in New Delhi. While the Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman was
presented to Rashmi Singh, executive director of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women, the Stree
Shakti Science Samman went to Jaya S Tyagi, a professor at AIMS.
Time Magazine’s Person of the year
Time magazine selected Pope Francis as its Person of the year on December 11, saying the Catholic Church’s new
leader has changed the perception of the 2000 year old institution in an extraordinary way in a short time. The
pope beat out NSA leaker Edward Snowden for the distinction, which the newsmagazine has been giving each year
since 1927. It was the third time that a Catholic people had been Time’s selection. John Paul II was selected in
1994 and John XXIII was chosen in 1962.
UNICEF Award
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) brought together nine brave heart girls in Mumbai on December 13 to
award them with this year’s Navjyoti award. The ceremony is held every year to celebrate the new images of
young girls from rural Maharashtra. This is the 10th year.
Wildlife Conservation Award
A poacher-turned-animal keeper Maheshwar Basumatary, who was working at the Manas National Park of Assam,
has been decorated with this year’s prestigious Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Service Award.
Popularly known as Ontai (rock in Bodo language) among his colleagues, Mr Basumatary has been selected for the
award for his contribution towards the wildlife conservation in the trouble-torn Bodoland Territorial Council. He was
working in association with the International Fund for Animal Welfare — Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI)’s
Greater Manas Conservation Project.
Business & Economy
Apple Inc has acquired social media search and analytics startup Topsy, an unusual purchase for a hardwarefocused company that has made few forays into social networking.
Technology services company Aspire Systems has completed the acquisition of Hyderabad-based software
service firm Versant Technology that specializes in Oracle retain solutions for an undisclosed amount.
BSE launched currency and interest rate derivatives trading on its platform. To encourage participation, BSE will
initially not charge any transaction fee in the currency derivatives segment. Members in the currency derivatives
segment will be charged a one-time contribution of Rs 250, which will go towards the investor protection fund.
BSE will allow trading in contracts like US dollar-Indian rupee, euro-Indian rupee, British pound-Indian rupee and
Japanese Yen-Indian rupee. In the currency options segment, the contracts will be on US dollar-Indian rupee.
Debit card holders from December 1 are required to punch in their PIN numbers every time they use the card, a
move aimed at minimising frauds. In June,
the
Reserve
Bank of India
had
extended
the
deadline
for
implementation of mandatory PIN punching at point-of-sales (PoS) and merchant outlets till November 30
following representation of banks.
General Motors Co. (GM) named Mary Barra to succeed Dan Akerson as chief executive officer, completing the
GM insider’s rise from a factory-floor worker to the industry’s first female CEO after more than a century of global
automaking. Barra, 51, takes over a company that has emerged from near-collapse a half decade ago, after an
infusion of government cash and outside managers. Her elevation was announced a day after the U.S. government
said it had sold its final shares of GM.
HDFC Mutual Fund on December 23 said that it will acquire all the schemes of Morgan Stanley MF in India. This
is the second such deal this year as SBI MF had agreed to buy the schemes of Daiwa Asset Management in June.
Dutch beer maker Heineken International BV, picked up more than 35 lakh shares of Vijay Mallya-led United
Breweries for an estimated Rs 275 crore. According to the information available with the bourses, Heineken
International acquired a total of 35,58,030 shares, amounting to 1.35 per cent stake, of United Breweries through
open market route. The shares were purchased, from Citicorp Finance (India) Ltd on an average price of Rs 772.9,
valuing the transaction at Rs 275 crore.
State-run Indian Oil Corp has emerged as the country's biggest company in terms of annual revenue, followed
by Mukesh Ambani-led private sector giant Reliance Industries at the second place, as per an annual list of
Fortune 500 companies in India. The list of the country's 500 largest corporations compiled by the global business
magazine Fortune's Indian edition, shows that there are as many as seven energy companies in the top 10 list.
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) was the biggest with annual revenue of Rs 4,75,867 crore, followed by Reliance Industries
(RIL) with a full-year revenue of Rs 4,09,883 crore. This is followed by Bharat Petroleum (Rs 2,44,822 crore) at
the third place and Hindustan Petroleum (Rs 2,17,771 crore) at fourth. Other entitiesin the list are State Bank of
India (5th rank), Tata Motors (6th), ONGC (7th), Tata Steel (8th), Essar Oil (9th) and Coal India (10th).
Other companies in the list include Bharti Airtel (12th), ICICI Bank (14th), NTPC (15th), TCS(18th) and Infosys
(27th).
Seeking to improve bilateral cooperation, India and Japan tripled the limit for the currency swap arrangement to $
50 billion. This measure will further strengthen the bilateral financial cooperation between Japan and India.
In keeping with its culture of promoting investor protection and education, MCX-SX, the third and India’s New
Stock Exchange, launched Investor Service Centres (ISCs) at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore and Kanpur, in
addition to its existing centres. With this, MCX-SX, which started capital market operations in February 2013, now
has eight such centres, others being at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
Pepsi Co. has roped in former Nokia senior executive D. Shivakumar to chart the company’s future as Chairman
and CEO of the Indian region. He will report to Sanjeev Chadha, CEO, PepsiCo AMEA (Asia, Middle East and
Africa).Shivakumar was behind Nokia’s dramatic rise, making it one of the largest multinationals in the country
during its heyday between 2007 and 2010.
To make fund raising process easier, market regulator SEBI made the initial public offer (IPO) grading
mechanism
by credit rating agencies voluntary and allowed companies to file shelf prospectus with one-year
validity for multiple issuance of debt securities. The move is part of the regulator's effort to boost the dormant
primary market and reduce the reliance on rating agencies, who have been under the scanner globally for their
role in overall financial sector.
In a major victory for the UPA government, the world’s third largest retailer, Tesco, applied to enter multi
brand retail in India. The UK-based retailer has proposed to pick up 50 per cent stake in Trent Hypermarket Ltd, a
Tata group enterprise, to engage in multi-brand retail trading. This is the first FDI application for multi-brand retail
by an MNC since the Congress staked its government at the Centre to allow foreign investment in the sector.
Tesco has proposed an investment of $110 million. The joint venture “Trent Hypermarket Limited” will initially
have operations in Maharashtra and Karnataka. It plans to open three to five more stores every financial year.
Two months after it dissolved its local partnership with the Bharti Group, US retail giant Walmart has appointed
Krish Iyer to head its India operations. Iyer replaces interim CEO Ramnik Narsey and will report to Walmart’s Asia
Regional President and CEO, Scott Price. Narsey will work under David Cheesewright, the incoming President and
CEO of Walmart International.
Country’s third largest software services firm Wipro on December 2 said it will acquire US-based Opus Capital
Market Consultants for $75 million to strengthen its mortgage business in North America.
China– with the highest number of patents filed and received– was the biggest driver of the intellectual property
growth in 2012, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The World Intellectual
Property Indicators 2013 released by WIPO said the Chinese patent office had received the highest number of
patent applications – 652,777 – from across the world. The Indian patent office was at the eighth position with
43,955 applications received. India’s last position was seventh. China also filed the highest number of patents at
560,681 in 2012 while India filed only 18,020 patents, managing the 14th position. In overall ranking of countries
covering patents, trademarks and industrial designs, China is again ranked first while India is 20th.
China’s yuan overtook the euro to become the second-most used currency in global trade finance after the dollar
in 2013, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The currency had an 8.66
percent share of letters of credit and collections in October, compared with 6.64 percent for the euro. China, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia were the top users of yuan in trade finance, according to the Belgiumbased financial-messaging platform.