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.

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.”

Daily Current Affairs : 28th December 2013

1. Arvind Kejriwal sworn-in as Delhi CM. Arvind Kejriwal, whose AAP has rewritten the grammar of politics in Delhi, on Saturday took oath as Delhi Chief Minister promising a corruption-free govt and new style of governance without arrogance of power. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today allocated portfolios to his six Cabinet colleagues while keeping key departments of Home, Finance, Power and Vigilance with himself. 

Daily Current Affairs : 27th December 2013

1. China is expected to overtake the US in 2028 to become the world's largest economy while India is predicted to overtake Japan that year for the third place in the same league, a London-based economic and business research group has said. The Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said Thursday in its annual report that China's gross domestic product (GDP) in dollars would overtake the US in 2028, the China Daily reported Friday. The annual report issued by the CEBR, a leading economic consultancy in Britain, covers the 30 largest economies in the world.

Full List of BCCI 7th Annual Awards 2012-13

R. Ashwin will receive the Polly Umrigar Award from the BCCI for being India's best international cricketer of the year 2012-13 at the BCCI seventh annual awards on January 11.

Daily Current Affairs : 26th December 2013

1. Narendra Modi gets a clean chit in Gujarat riots case. In a big relief to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, an Ahmedabad court on Thursday rejected a petition filed by Zakia Jafri against the closure report of Special Investigation Team (SIT) which gave a clean chit to the Gujarat Chief Minister in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots case. Zakia Jafri is the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among 69 people killed in the Gulberg Society massacre in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002.

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.

Daily Current Affairs : 24th December 2013

1. Sidharth Birla, Chairman of Xpro India Limited took the charge as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on 21 December 2013. Sidharth Birla succeeded the HSBC India Country Head Naina Lal Kidwai. Chairperson and Managing Director of Bharat Hotels, Joytsna Suri elected as Senior Vice-President of FICCI and Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group, Harshavardhan Neotia as Vice-President of FICCI.

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.

Daily Current Affairs : 21st December 2013

1. Jayanthi Natrajan has resigned from the Union Cabinet as Environment and Forests Minister. She is reportedly to play a bigger role in the Congress party ahead of general elections-2014. Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily has been given additional charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Daily Current Affairs : 20th December 2013

1. Sushma Singh takes oath as New CIC. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Sushma Singh as the new Chief Information Commissioner of India. She is the second woman to become CIC after Deepak Sandhu, whose term comes to an end later this month. A panel comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and Law Minister Kapil Sibal appointed Ms. Singh. The CIC is mandated to resolve appeals and complaints filed by information seekers, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, against government departments or public authorities.

Daily Current Affairs : 19th December 2013

1. Goa is celebrating the 52nd anniversary of liberation day from the Portuguese yoke today. Goa was liberated on nineteenth December 1961 from the Portuguese occupation after a protracted and long freedom struggle and the operation Vijay conducted by the Indian Army. People from all walks of life enthusiastically participated in various programmes organised all over Goa on this occasion. The Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court Justice Shri Mohit S Shah layed the foundation stone of the proposed new building of High Court of Bombay at Goa in a function coinciding the liberation day celebrations.

Daily Current Affairs : 18th December 2013

1. International Migrants Day was observed across the world on 18 December 2013. The number if international migrant worldwide has reached 232 million in 2013. The Secretary General of UN put forward an ambitious eight point agenda in his report to the General Assembly to “make migration work” for all: for all: migrants, societies of origin and societies of destination alike.

Daily Current Affairs : 17th December 2013

1. RBI likely to raise repo rate by 0.25 per cent to tame inflation. Wholesale Price Index inflation in November climbed to a 14-month high of 7.52 per cent as prices of food items such as onions and potatoes surged. Consumer price inflation touched a nine-month high of 11.24 per cent last month. Factory output shrank 1.8 per cent in October, the first contraction in the Index of Industrial Production ( IIP) in four months.

Daily Current Affairs : 16th December 2013

1. Left-wing candidate Michelle Bachelet has been elected Chilean President for a 2nd time. Ms. Bachelet won 62 percent of the votes, easily defeating her conservative rival, Evelyn Matthei, who got only 37 percent in the worst performance by the right in two decades. Chile is the world’s top copper exporter, and its fast-growing economy, low unemployment and stable democracy are the envy of Latin America. But millions of Chileans who have protested in the streets in recent years say more of the copper wealth should be used to reduce income inequality and fix public schools.

Daily Current Affairs : 14th & 15th December 2013

1. India defeat Pakistan to lift Kabaddi World Cup. India beat Pakistan 48-39 to emerge champions of the fourth World Cup Kabaddi played at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Saturday. Defending champion India retained the title fourth consecutive term defeating arch-rival Pakistan with a margin of nine points. Besides, the winner's trophy, the hosts bagged a cash award of Rs two crore while Pakistan got the runners-up trophy and Rs one crore. The best raider and stopper of the game, both from the Indian team, were awarded tractors. In the first-half it was a tiff battle between the two sides.

Daily Current Affairs : 13th December 2013

1. India clinched the women's Kabaddi World Cup championship for the third time in a row, defeating debutant New Zealand 49-21 in the summit clash played at Guru Gobind Singh sports complex in Jalandhar on Thursday. The Indian eves led their New Zealand counterparts for most part of the match and held out a strong challenge by the visitors in the second half, on course to a resounding win. The Indian team took home a first-place prize of Rs one crore. Anu Rani was adjudged the best stopper while Ram Bateri was declared the best raider. Both received a Maruti Alto car each.

Daily Current Affairs : 12th December 2013

1. Pope Francis is Time magazine’s 'Person of the Year. Time magazine selected Pope Francis as its Person of the Year on Wednesday, saying the Catholic Church's new leader has changed the perception of the 2,000-year-old institution in an extraordinary way in a short time. The pope beat out NSA leaker Edward Snowden for the distinction, which the newsmagazine has been giving each year since 1927. The former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected in March as the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit.

Daily Current Affairs : 11th December 2013

1. Homosexuality is a criminal offence: Supreme Court; In a blow to gay rights activists, the Supreme Court today upheld the constitutional validity of the penal provision making gay sex an offence punishable with upto life imprisonment. A bench of justices G.S Singhvi and S.J Mukhopadhaya set aside the Delhi High Court’s verdict which had in 2009 decriminalised gay sex among consenting adults in private. As soon as the verdict was pronounced, gay activists in the court looked visibly upset.

Daily Current Affairs : 10th December 2013

1. Human Rights Day was observed across the world on 10 December 2013 to bring to light the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2013. Theme of the day is 20 Years Working for Your Rights. In his message, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Justice K G Balakrishnan asked people to resolve to help maintain a value-based society and stand up for the promotion and protection of human rights. NHRC is observing the day by organising a programme in New Delhi which was addressed by Vice President Hamid Ansari. The UN Human Rights Prize is given on 10 December to the individuals and organizations in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights. Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai has been awarded the 2013 UN Human Rights Prize.