Daily Current Affairs : 1st & 2nd December 2013

1. World AIDS Day was observed on 1 December 2013 across the globe to raise awareness about the HIV/ AIDS. HIV/AIDS remains a major global issue, having claimed more than 36 million lives so far since the discovery of the virus more than 20 years ago. According to the World Health Organisation, there were approximately 35.3 million people living with HIV in 2012. The theme for this year is “Getting to Zero”- means zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

2. International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is being observed on 2 December 2013 across the world to create awareness about the prevention of human trafficking and the exploitation of human being. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, it is vital to give special consideration to ending modern-day slavery and servitude which affects the poorest, most socially excluded groups like migrants, women, minorities and indigenous peoples.

3. M.V. Tanksale, former Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India, has taken over as Chief Executive of the Indian Banks’ Association. Tanksale succeeds K. Ramakrishnan, who was at the helm of the Association for five years up to November 30, 2013. IBA, which has 176 members comprising public sector banks, private sector banks, foreign banks and urban co-operative banks, was established in 1946 to promote sound and progressive banking principles, practices and conventions in the country.

4. J S Saharia, a 1978 batch IAS officer, took over as the new Chief Secretary of Maharashtra on Saturday. He succeeds Jayant Kumar Banthia, a 1977 batch IAS officer, who was the Chief Secretary since June 2012 and retired on Saturday.

5. US actor Paul Walker died in a car accident in Southern California on 30 November 2013. He was 40. The incident occurred while he was coming back from his organization's charity event. Paul Walker was working on the latest “Fast & Furious” movie at the time of his death. He also starred in the suspense drama, “Hours”, a movie that is set for release in December 2013.

6. The French Ambassador to India, Francois Richier, has embarked on a three-day visit to Bihar starting today. This trip is part of a series of travels throughout India to expand the scope of Indo-French cooperation and develop joint, forward-looking projects in various fields, notably economic exchanges, education, science and culture.

7. Social networking giant Facebook is in talks to acquire Bangalore-based product start-up Little Eye Labs. Sources close to the development said the deal was expected to be announced in the next few weeks. It will be Facebook's first acquisition of a product firm in India. It will also be a first for software product think-tank Indian Software Products Industry Roundtable (iSpirt), which has facilitated the deal through its M&A Connect programme, which helps Indian product companies find global buyers. Little Eye Labs builds performance analysis and monitoring tools that identify and fix performance problems for Android app developers.

8. The Department of Posts has launched Express Parcel and Business Parcel Service in 20 cities at a function in New Delhi on Monday. Launching the service, Secretary, Department of Posts, P. Gopinath said, the Express Parcel Service is a premium service available for retail as well as bulk customers. This service is aimed at promoting e-Commerce market in the country by offering reliable and cost efficient service solutions.

9. East Timor film ‘Beatriz’s War’ bagged Golden Peacock award for Best Film at the 44th International Film Festival of India at Panaji, Goa. The film, directed by Bety Reis and Luigi Acquisto, is a passionate story of one woman’s conviction to remain true to the man she loves. The award carries a Golden Peacock, a certificate and a Cash Prize of 40 lakh Rupees. Indian Director Kaushik Ganguli bags the award for Best Director for his Bengali film ‘Apur Panchali’. The award carries a Silver Peacock, a certificate and a cash prize of 15 lakh Rupees.

10. India has retained its top position in the latest ICC ODI rankings and second position in the Test cricket rankings. Virat Kohli is the top batsman in ODI list while R. Ashwin is the top All rounder in the Test rankings. Both the lists were released by the International Cricket Council in Dubai today.

11. The Indian cricket team continued to be second in the ICC Test rankings with R Ashwin topping the all-rounders' chart in the latest list issued on Sunday. India placed behind South Africa with 119 points, which is just 12 less than the Proteas' tally. The teams are set to clash in a two-Test and thee ODI series starting 5th December in South Africa. Cheteshwar Pujara is the best-placed Indian batsman at sixth with Virat Kohli following him at a distant 20th spot.

12. Ethiopian runners dominate 28th Pune International Marathon. Runners from Ethiopia regained their supremacy by outwitting their arch rivals Kenya as they captured top honours in both the men's and women's events in the 28th edition of the Pune International Marathon today. Belachew Endale Abayneh won the men's 42.195 km race in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 52 seconds, while Aberu Zewude Tesema claimed the top spot in the women's half distance race clocking 1 hour, 16 minutes and 54 seconds.

13. Indian shuttler PV Sindhu won the Women's Singles trophy at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament. In the title clash, Sindhu, defeated seventh seed Li Michelle of Canada in straight games, 21-15, 21-12. With this victory, Sindhu has bagged yet another Tier-III title this season, after her triumph at the Malaysia Open Grand Prix in May 2013. Besides the Malaysia Open triumph, she also became India's first women's singles medallist at the World Championship in August 2013. This was India's first singles medal at the World Championships since Prakash Padukone won a bronze in the 1983 edition. 

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