Daily Current Affairs : 25th December 2013

1. The BJP on Wednesday celebrated the 89th birthday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as National Development Day and urged President Pranab Mukherjee to confer the former prime minister with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.

2. People across the globe celebrated Christmas--the birth of Jesus Christ, with gaiety and religious fervour. The Christians congregated at the churches and the chapels that were tastefully decorated and illuminated on the occasion. Christians attired in new clothes, exchanged greetings with their brethren besides distributing sweets, cakes and chocolates. The festival reflects on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have greeted the people the occasion. 

3. Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi Chief Minister on Saturday at Ramlila Maidan. Kejriwal will take oath alongwith 6 ministers. The Aam Aadmi party has finalised names of six MLAs to be inducted in the Kejriwal cabinet. These are Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla, Satendra Jain, Girish Soni, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Somnath Bharti. 

4. M. Veerappa Moily appointed as the new Environment and Forests Minister. Marpadi Veerappa Moily , the petroleum and natural gas Minister on 24 December 2013 took an additional charge of the Environment and Forests Ministry after the exit of Jayanthi Natarajan. The last Environment minister from congress was Jayanthi Natarajan.  Marpadi Veerappa Moily (born 12 January 1940) is a congress MP from the state of Karnataka, and the current Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

5. HDFC Bank has elevated its current Executive Director, Paresh Sukthankar to the position of Deputy Managing Director in order to make the possible successor of MD Aditya Puri. Sukthankar has been with the bank since its inception in 1994. He has direct or supervisory responsibilities for the bank’s credit and risk management, finance and human resources functions and for various strategic initiatives of the bank.

6. Vodafone launches ‘Safe Drive Campaign’. Aiming to reduce drunken driving during the festive season, Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunication service providers, today launched a unique initiative — ‘Safe Drive Campaign’. The initiative was launched in association with Motors Vehicle Department, a press release said. The campaign will focus on urging motorists to wear helmets, while driving and making helmets must for two-wheeler riders as well as pillion riders, avoid drunken driving, stop using mobile phones while on wheels and avoid over speeding and rash driving.

7. President Pranab Mukherjee is to inaugurate the '86th Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan', an annual convention of Bengali literary personalities of India, in Allahabad today. During his day-long visit to the Sangam city, the president will also inaugurate the new building complex of Jagat Taran Girls Inter College and unveil the statue of late Chintamani Ghosh, the founder of 'Indian Press', in the college premises. 

8. The government of India puts a way ahead to launched  Cash subsidy on kerosene after the successful implementation of cash subsidy on LPG  for BPL (below poverty line) families. The scheme would be known as DTCK (direct transfer of cash subsidy on PDS kerosene). This would be on the lines of DBTL( direct benefit transfer of subsidy on LPG (cooking gas). The mode of implementation would be covered under two phases , In the first phase seven districts of three states would be covered under the subsidy.

9. President Barack Obama has named two Indian-Americans among 102 scientists as recipients of a presidential award. It is the highest honour bestowed by the US on young science and engineering professionals. The winners, including Karunesh Ganguly of San Francisco VA Medical Center and Hardeep Singh of Houston VA Medical Center, will receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers at a ceremony in Washington next year

10. Nepal and India have agreed in principle to allow circulation of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denomination Indian bank notes within Nepalese territory, ending a ban in place for over a decade. Indian bank notes above Rs.100 were banned in Nepal as per India's request to curb unauthorised trade between the two neighbours. During the Nepal-India Inter Governmental Committee (ICG) meeting that concluded in Kathmandu on Sunday, the two sides decided that any Indian national visiting Nepal can carry Indian Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes up to Rs.25,000, said Joint Secretary of Nepal's Commerce Ministry Jeev Raj Koirala. 

11. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was declared a “terrorist organisation” yesterday, hours after a car bomb targeted a police building that left at least 14 people dead and over 100 injured. The condemnation of the Muslim Brotherhood — considered the largest and best-organised political force in Egypt, came weeks ahead of a referendum on a new constitution that is described as a major step towards returning to democracy since the military removed President Mohammed Morsi in July.

12. India has retained its second position in the latest ICC Test rankings while South Africa retained the No 1 position and England at 3rd Position in the latest ICC ranking released in Dubai. South Africa’s A.B.Devilliers is the top batsman followed by fellow countryman Hashim Amla. India’s Cheteshwar Pujara is at 7th while Virat Kohli is at the 11th position in the list.

13. South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander declared on the No. 1 position in the latest ICC Test rankings in bowling and batting. India’s off spinner R Ashwin is at number seven while Pragyan Ojha is at number eight in the latest ranking. Ashwin is the world’s number one test all rounder followed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.

14. South Africa's legendary all-rounder Jacques Kallis will retire from Test cricket after the second Test against India starting at Kingsmead here Thursday. Kallis, 38, however, will be available for the shorter formats of the game. Kallis made his Test debut as a young and humble 20 year-old, and finishes his Test career as one of the greatest cricketers to have played the game. His statistics speak volumes for the illustrious career - 13,174 runs, 292 wickets and 199 catches.

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