Daily Current Affairs : 14th & 15th December 2013

1. India defeat Pakistan to lift Kabaddi World Cup. India beat Pakistan 48-39 to emerge champions of the fourth World Cup Kabaddi played at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Saturday. Defending champion India retained the title fourth consecutive term defeating arch-rival Pakistan with a margin of nine points. Besides, the winner's trophy, the hosts bagged a cash award of Rs two crore while Pakistan got the runners-up trophy and Rs one crore. The best raider and stopper of the game, both from the Indian team, were awarded tractors. In the first-half it was a tiff battle between the two sides.

2. The Centre has appointed Harsh Kumar Bhanwala as Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard). Bhanwala succeeded Prakash Bakshi, who retired as Nabard Chairman in September. Prior to this appointment, Bhanwala was an Executive Director at India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), a state-owned infrastructure lender.

3. Shivraj Chouhan, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party Legislative Party in Madhya Pradesh, was sworn in Chief Minister by Governor Ram Naresh Yadav at Bhopal’s Jamboree Grounds on Saturday. This is Mr. Chouhan’s third term in office. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by most senior BJP leaders and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was also present.

4. Lal Thanhawla of Congress party has sworn in as the Chief Minister of Mizoram for the second successive term on 14 December 2013. Governor of Mizoram, Vakkom B. Purushothaman administered the oath of office and secrecy to Lal Thanhawla and his Cabinet colleagues at Raj Bhavan in Aizawl. The first session of the seventh Mizoram Assembly will commence on 16 December 2013. Lal Thanhawla was formally elected as its leader by Congress Legislature Party on 11 December 2013.

5. UNAIDS has urged Indian Government to repeal Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises gay sex. The call is against the backdrop of last week’s Supreme Court ruling upholding Section 377 and striking down the Delhi High Court’s verdict decriminalising gay sex. UNAIDS urged all Governments to protect the human rights of gay people, through repealing criminal laws against adult consensual same sex sexual conduct; implementing laws to protect them from violence and discrimination; promoting campaigns that address homophobia and transphobia; and ensuring that adequate health services are provided to address their needs.

6. China's first lunar rover named Jade Rabbit landed on Moon. The first lunar rover of China, which was carried by an unmanned remotely piloted spacecraft Chang'e-3 was deployed successfully on moon on 14 December 2013. The lunar rover has been named Jade Rabbit (called Yutu in Chinese). Chang'e-3 was blasted off on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

7. Irrfan Khan on 13 December 2013 won the best actor award for his brilliant performance in his film The Lunchbox at the 10th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). Ritesh Batra, the Writer-Director of the film The Lunchbox, got a special mention for screenplay for the film in the same category. Irrfan won the award in the Muhr Asia Africa Feature Category. Dubai International Film Festival was held from 6 December to 14 December 2013. The jury at the DIFF was headed by renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

8. Oscar-winning actor Joan Fontaine has died at the age of 96. Long-time friend Noel Beutel said she died in her sleep in her Carmel home on Sunday morning. Fontaine won an Academy Award as a naive wife in Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillerSuspicion and also starred in Hitchcock’s Rebecca. Her other films included The Women, Jane Eyre and Born to be Bad.

9. The former footballer of India, Babul Phukan on 14 December 2013 died at a hospital in Guwahati, Assam after a prolong illness. The footballer was of 49 years in age. He is survived by his wife and a minor daughter. He represented Assam nine times in the Santosh trophy.

10. Union Labour and Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola died at a Gurgaon hospital on Sunday after a prolonger illness. The 86-year-old Congress leader had been suffering from various ailments, sources in Medanta Medicity said. Born on 30 July, 1927, the Jat leader represented the Jhunjhunu constituency of Rajasthan and was a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from 1957 to 1990, and from 1980 to 1990 he was a cabinet minister in the Government of Rajasthan.

11. Junior Hockey World Cup: Germany beat France, register record sixth world title. Germany’s stoic defence withstood a series of raids by French forwards to retain their men’s Junior Hockey World Cup title by carving out a 5-2 victory in the final here on Sunday. It was a befitting end to the tournament as both Germany and France dished out splendid hockey much to the delight of the sparse crowd present on a chilly night.

12. India meet Pakistan in opening match of ICC U-19 World Cup. India will open its Under-19 Cricket World Cup title defence against traditional rivals and two-time former champions Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) here Feb 15, 2014. The tournament will be staged across seven venues in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Feb 14 to March 1, and will also have teams from Afghanistan, Canada, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and the UAE besides the 10 Full Members.

13. At the 57th National Shooting Championship being held at Tughlakabad on 14 December 2013, Malaika Goel of Punjab and Prakash Nanjappa of Karnataka won Gold in their respective categories. Malaika won the Gold in women’s 10-meter air pistol whereas Prakash won Gold in 50-meter free pistol. The 16-year-old Malaika beat seasoned Harveen Srao by 5.3 points in the final to win the gold. Earlier she beat Olympians Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh to make the final.

Note : if any important news left, you may add on in comment :)