Daily Current Affairs : 29th & 30th Decemer 2013

1. Reserve Bank of India has said the country is ready for the US Federal Reserve’s tightening, and has pegged the current account deficit at below 3 per cent for this fiscal in its eighth Financial Stability Report. “External sector risks have been considerably reduced and the effect of the tapering on the economy is expected to be limited and short-lived,” the report released today said. “The CAD is expected to be less than 3 per cent of the GDP during the current financial year,” the RBI said in the half-yearly report. “On balance, the country’s external position appears to be manageable and reserves seem adequate.”

2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it had set up a panel under executive director Deepak Mohanty to review the current system of data collection, dissemination and data management processes in the central bank and improve the existing mechanism. The 15-member committee will review the availability, coverage, frequency, timeliness and quality of the existing data/surveys/information used for monetary policy, macro-financial policy and supervision, RBI said in a statement.

3. In keeping with its promise to end VIP culture, the Aam Admi Party government in Delhi decided that red beacon will not be used by ministers and officials. The decision was taken at the first cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday. The cabinet also decided that no Personal Security Officer and escort vehicle will be be provided to any official. 

4. Expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Kamal Farooqui is likely to announce his decision on joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday. The former SP leader had met Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday and said that “everybody” is keen to join AAP. Farooqui was sacked by the SP as its secretary after he made a controversial comment that Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal was arrested because he was a Muslim.

5. Energy major, the Oil India Limited (OIL) signed an agreement with the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) to carry out a feasibility study on dairy production in two districts of Assam. Oil India as a CSR initiative has decided to step into dairy sector. Oil India has a significant presence in Assam and IRMA will prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) after the study in the two districts Dibrugarh and Tinsukia of Assam. It is expected that the study would pave a way for a roadmap for the plan for development of a cooperative dairy project in the two districts.

6. P Pradeep Kumar on 29 December 2013 was appointed as the Managing Director (Corporate Banking) of State Bank of India (SBI), the biggest lender of the country. As one of the four managing Directors, he will look after the corporate banking portfolio of the bank. As per a Government of India’s notification P Pradeep Kumar will be the Managing Director and Group Executive (Corporate Banking) of SBI with effect from 27 December 2013. The position will be occupied by him till the end of October 2015.

7. The Tamil Nadu Government today launched the first phase of the project providing free compact fluorescent light bulbs to over 14 lakh hut-dwellers in the State, an energy saving measure aimed at saving 40 MW of power. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa also launched over Rs 500-crore worth of projects under the Energy Department through video conferencing from her camp office at Kodanadu in the Nilgiris district. The scheme of providing free CFL bulbs was launched with an objective of promoting power-saving, a state government release here said.

8. Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula One champion, is in a coma and remains in a "critical" condition after striking his head in a ski accident in the French Alps on Sunday, the hospital treating him said. The 44-year-old German was "suffering a serious brain trauma with coma on his arrival, which required an immediate neurosurgical operation", the hospital in the southeast French city of Grenoble said in a statement. 

9. Jacques Kallis overtakes Dravid to become 3rd highest Test run-getter. South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis today surpassed Rahul Dravid as the third highest run-getter in Test cricket after a 115-run knock against India in his farewell match here today. Kallis, who would be retiring from Tests at the end of the ongoing second and final game against India, now has 13,289 runs in the longest format.

10. ATP Chennai Open Tennis tournament begins today. Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka is the top seed in the competition, with experienced players like Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Italian Fabio Fognini also taking part. Defending champion Janko Tipseravic had, earlier, pulled out, due to injury. India's top Singles player Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan have already made it to the main draw.

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