Daily Current Affairs : 31th December 2013

1. Air Marshal Arup Raha today took over as the Air Force chief succeeding Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. In his address after taking over the charge at Air Headquarters in New Delhi, Mr. Raha said IAF is committed to providing vital support to the security forces deployed in counter-insurgency operations. An ace fighter pilot, Raha has held various command, staff and instructional appointments in his 39-year-old career. Born on 26th December, 1954, 59 year-old Raha is expected to have a tenure of three years as the Chief of Air Staff.

2. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Monday said over Rs 2,000 crore had been transferred to consumers in 184 districts as direct benefits. In these high-Aadhaar coverage districts,
66 million consumers have been benefited, it said. The scheme aims to curb leakages and prevent black-marketing and provide subsidy to consumers in their bank accounts.

3. Brand Amul to spread to America. After saying ‘Khobradaar USA,’ the Utterly Butterly Amul Girl is all set to butter up the Big Apple. Come February, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns and markets the Amul brand of milk products, will start manufacturing ghee (butter oil),paneer (cottage cheese) and shrikhand (a sweet dish made of strained yogurt) from a plant near New York.

4. Chandra Kant Birla, Chairman of Hindustan Motors Limited resigned from the board on 29 December 2013. He also stepped down from the post of director of Hindustan Motors (HM). During the 18- month period, that is April 2012 – September 2013, company incurred a huge loss of 71 crore rupees as compared to a loss of 29 crore rupees in 2011-12.

5. Anurag Bhushan, a career diplomat on 30 December 2013 took charge as the Consul General of India in Dubai and Northern Emirates in the UAE. Before taking the charge as the Consul General, he was serving as the head of the Regional passport office in New Delhi. He is the 14th Consul General of India in Dubai, since 1973 and he is the successor of Sanjay Verma, who has been appointed as the ambassador of India to Ethiopia.

6. B. Mahipal Reddy, Chief Scientist & Head of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, here has been honoured with the Best Scientist Award of Science-Tech Foundation (STF), Bangalore for the year 2013. Reddy has been selected for his efforts which resulted in the development of novel catalysts for air pollution control, bio-mass conversion to value-added products, synthesis of fine chemicals and solar fuels, and the conversion of greenhouse gases to useful chemicals. He is the author of over 220 publications in high-impact international journals and holder of 8 patents, a release from the institute said.

7. Delhi Jal Board will provide 20 kilo litres water per month free of cost to every household in the city from 1st January 2014. A decision in this regard was taken at the Board meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejrwial in Koshambi, Ghaziabad this evening. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Jal Board CEO, Vijay Kumar said that the benefit will be provided to the people who have functional water meter. He, however, said that the household using more than 20 kilo litres water per month will be charged for the entire

consumption.

8. TEJAS attained another significant milestone on 27th Dec 2013, by flying the 500th sortie this year, the highest achieved in a calendar year thus far. The achievement is significant, given that the highest number of sorties attained earlier in a calendar year was less than 300 sorties This feat follows close on the heels of attaining IOC on 20th December 2013. 

9. South Africa defeated India by 10 wickets in the second cricket Test to clinch the two-match series 1-0 in Durban yesterday. Chasing 58 runs to win, the hosts quickly made 59 for no loss. Earlier, India were all out for a paltry total of 223 in their second innings. Ajinkya Rahane's brilliant 96 run went in vein. Jacques Kallis who was playing his farewell Test hit a superb 115 runs in the host's first innings.

Brief Scores: India: 334 and 223 all out, South Africa: 500 and 59 for no loss.

Dale Steyn was adjudged Man of the match and AB De Villiers Man of the series.

10. ICC Test Team Rankings: SA consolidate its lead as Number One. South Africa on Monday strengthened their position as the number-one ranked side on the ICC Test Team Rankings table courtesy their 10-wicket victory over India in the second and final Test in Durban. The 1-0 series win has helped South Africa gain two ratings points to finish on 133, while India have conceded two ratings points to end at 117. 

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