Daily Current Affairs : 22nd & 23rd December 2013

1. Kisan Diwas was observed across the country on 23 December 2013 to celebrate the birthday of Chaudhary Charan Singh. On this occasion, farmer seminars were organised at the divisional, district and block levels.  Political leaders cutting across party lines paid tributes to fifth PM of India on his 11th birth anniversary. Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 Dec 1902 - 29 May 1987) was the fifth Prime Minister of India. He served as the Prime Minister from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980.

2. Arvind Kejriwal to be next Delhi CM, will take oath on December 26. Putting an end to all speculations and rumours, the founder and chief of debutant AAP, Arvind Kejriwal said he will form the government in Delhi. Mr. Kejriwal handed over a formal letter to the Lt. Governor saying a majority of the people are in favour of Aam Aadmi Party forming a government in New Delhi.

3. Reserve Bank of India extended the timeline for banks till March 31 next year to adopt the new messaging standards in Real-time Gross Settlement, RTGS payment platform. A new RTGS system was put in place in October this year, requiring banks to adopt ISO 20022 standard messaging formats. Banks are still relying on temporary solution provided by their IT and service providers for conversion of messages. RTGS systems are funds transfer systems where transfer of money or securities takes place from one bank to another on a real time and on gross basis. The system is meant for large value transactions. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is 2 lakh rupees, while there is no upper ceiling.

4. Government has launched inflation indexed saving bonds, which offer protection to retail investors from price rise. It is open for subscription between December 23-31.The minimum limit for investment is Rs 5,000 and the maximum is Rs 5 lakh per applicant per annum. Interest rate would be linked to Consumer Price Index (CPI).The same will be compounded in the principal on half-yearly basis and paid at the time of maturity. Besides, eligible investors can approach three private sector banks -- HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank -- and Stock Holding Corporation of India. 

5. HDFC Mutual Fund acquired its smaller rival Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund running a total of eight schemes with assets worth Rs 3,290 crore today, in a major consolidation exercise in the highly-dispersed sector. The deal comes at a time when market regulator SEBI has been favoring a consolidation in the mutual fund sector which has been struggling for a long time due to low investors’ interest in mutual funds’ investments and issues with distribution.

6. S. Jaishankar, the new Indian Ambassador to the US, will arrive here tomorrow to take charge amid a raging diplomatic row over the arrest and strip-search of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges. Jaishankar, who till recently was India’s Ambassador to China, arrives in Washington at a time when bilateral ties threaten to hit a low in more than a decade now in the aftermath of the arrest of Khobragade.

7. Abdiweli replaced outgoing Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon. Abdi was ousted in November 2013 by the Parliament following a rift with the Somali President over policy differences. In the voting held for the endorsement of the new Prime Minister in the Parliament, 239 votes out of total 243 were put in favour of Abdiweli.  The result was announced by the Somali Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari on 21 December 2013.

8. Distinguished Kannada poet, writer and researcher G.S. Shivarudrappa (87) passed away on Monday morning at his residence in Bangalore. The writer, who was awarded title of Rashtrakavi by the Government of Karnataka in 2006, November 1, was ailing for some time. He received the Central Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984 for his literary contribution. He has also bagged several awards including the Karnataka State Sahitya Academy and Soviet Land Nehru Award. He presided over the Akhila Bharatiya Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Davanagere in 1992.

9. Veteran journalist Pran Chopra died. Born in 1921 in Lahore, Pran began his journalism in 1941 in civil and military gazette. In 1940s he served All India Radio as a War Correspondent in China and Vietnam. He wrote the foreword of the book If I’m Assassinated a book of former Pakistan Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

10. Dr. Michiaki Takahashi who developed a vaccine for the chicken pox virus died at the age of 85 due to heart failure on 23 December 2013 in Osaka, Japan. Takahashi developed the vaccine for the chicken pox in 1972, within few years Japan and some other countries had begun vaccination programs. The vaccine did not treat the disease, but it prompted immune systems to produce antibodies.

11. US computer giant Apple has signed a deal to bring its iPhone to China Mobile the world's largest carrier. Chine Mobile, which has 760 million customers will make the two largest iPhone models the 5s and 5c available from next month. Last month China Mobile was one of three network to be awarded China's first 4G licences. 

12. Zaheer Khan on 22 December 2013 became the fourth Indian bowler to claim 300 wickets in Test Cricket. Jacques Kallis was his 300th wicket in international test cricket on the fifth day of the first cricket test match against South Africa in Johannesburg at the Wanderers Stadium. With the 300 wickets, Zaheer joined the club of bowlers of India, who has taken 300 wickets namely Kapil Dev (434 wickets), Anil Kumble (619 wickets) and Harbhajan Singh (413 wickets). He also became the most successful left arm fast bowler after Wasim Akram of Pakistan (414 wickets) and Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka (355 Wickets). 

13. The first cricket Test of the 2-match series between India and South Africa ended in a nail-biting draw at Johannesburg on Sunday night. Chasing a mammoth 458 runs, the hosts managed to score 450 runs for the loss of 7 wickets at the close of play. Superb centuries by Faf Du Plessis and AB de Villiers helped South Africa pull off nearly world record run chase. Du Plessis made 134, while De Villiers scored 103. The second and final test of the series will be played at Durban from Thursday.

14. England spinner Graeme Swann announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket with immediate effect in Melbourne today shocking everyone midway through the Ashes tour. His shock decision comes a week after England lost the Ashes to Australia. The 34-year Off-spinner is widely regarded as world cricket's premier spinner, with 255 wickets in 60 Tests.

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