Current Affairs – December 2013

1) East Timor film ‘Beatriz’s War’ bagged Golden Peacock award for Best Film at the 44th International Film Festival of India at Panaji, Goa. The film, directed by Bety Reis and Luigi Acquisto, is a passionate story of one woman’s conviction to remain true to the man she loves.

2) World AIDS Day was observed on 1 December every year across the globe to raise awareness about the HIV/ AIDS. The theme for the year 2013 is: Getting to Zero.

3) Tripura introduced for the first time in the country PVC Electoral Photo Identity Card (PVC EPIC) as mandated by the Election Commission of India.

4) International Day for Abolition of Slavery was observed on 2 December 2013 across the world to create awareness about the prevention of human trafficking and the exploitation of human being.
The focus of this day is on eradicating contemporary forms of slavery, such as trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation, and the worst forms of child labour, forced marriage, and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.

5) US actor Paul Walker died in a car accident in Southern California. The incident occurred while he was coming back from his organization’s charity event. The actor is well known for his work in Fast & Furious movie series.

6) India Cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 3 December 2013 won the LG International Cricket Council (ICC) People’s Choice Award for the year 2013. Dhoni also became the second Indian cricketer after SachinTendulkar to get this award.

7) India was ranked 94th out of 177 countries on Global Corruption Perception Index 2013, which was released by Transparency International on 3 December 2013.
In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, Denmark and New Zealandtied for first place with scores of 91. Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia this year make up the worst performers, scoring just 8 points each.

8) International Anti-Corruption Day is observed across the world on 9 December 2013 to raise awareness about the menace of Corruption and what people can do to fight it. The theme for the year 2013 is: Act against Corruption Today.

9) Sheila Dikshit, the Chief Minister of Delhi resigned from her post on 8 December 2013 after Congress party faced a defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls. Sheila Dikshit was defeated in her constituency in New Delhi from Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party by over 5000 votes.

10) Ms. Sushma Singh, a former IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as the next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India and will succeed Ms. Deepak Sandhu, whose term is ending on 31 December 2013. She will become the second woman to be appointed as the CIC after Deepak Sandhu.

11) The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference was concluded on 6 December 2013 at Bali, Indonesia. The Ministerial Conference has agreed on the revised draft of BalArmed Forces Flag Day was observed across India on 7 December 2013. The day is observed to remember the sacrifices made by gallant servicemen of India in defending the integrity of our borders and to salute the martyrs, honour the brave and express solidarity and support towards welfare of widows, children, disabled and sick ex-servicemen.

The day is observed on 7 December every year in India, since 1949.i Package. The Ministerial Conference was held in Bali, Indonesia from 3 to 6 December 2013 and attended by 159 WTO Member countries representatives.

12) UN General Assembly elected Jordan to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member on 6 December 2013 to replace Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia was elected in October 2013 to the Security Council as a non permanent member but it has rejected its seat in protest at the UN council’s failure to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues.

13) International Civil Aviation Day was observed on 7 December 2013 to highlight the importance of civil aviation for social and economic development around the world.
The International Civil Aviation Day is aimed at promoting the safety and efficiency of air transportation and to create awareness about the role of International Civil Aviation Organization in air transport.

14) Miss Venezuela Alyz Henrich was crowned with the pageant of Miss Earth 2013 at the Versailles Palace, Philippines. She was crowned with the pageant of Miss World by Tereza Fajksova, the Miss Earth 2012 from Czech Republic. This was the 13th edition of the annual Miss Earth.

15) Wipro Chairman Azim Premji won the Economic Times Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 for his role in creating India’s third-largest software exporter and also for the impressive scale of his philanthropy. The theme of the awards was Governance.

16) D Shivakumar was appointed as the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo India. The post was lying vacant since Manu Anand quit the US food and beverage maker PepsiCo India in June 2013 to join foods company Cadbury Kraft.

17) Ranjan Mathai, the former Foreign Secretary of India on 9 December 2013 took over as the India’s High Commissioner to the UK. He has succeeded Jaimini Bhagwati, who retired recently from the post.

18) 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.

19) Olympic medal-winning boxer M C Kom’s autobiography, titled Unbreakable was unveiled by the Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

20)  Doha Bank has been granted the license to start its banking operations in India. It has been permitted to open a branch in Mumbai to provide full-scale banking services. Doha bank has become the first Qatari Bank to get a license from Reserve Bank of India to start operations in India. It will offer wholesale banking, retail banking, treasury and trade finance services and will start its operation in Mumbai, its Foreign Bank Branch soon.

21) Waqar Younis, the former captain of Pakistan cricket team was inducted into the ICC Cricket’s Hall of Fame on 11 December 2013 before the start of the first Twenty20 International match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai Sports City.

22) BJP leader Raman Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh for the third consecutive term.

23) Pope Francis was named as the Person of the Year 2013 by Time Magazine. He was named the Person of the Year for changing the perception of the Catholic Church within nine months.

24) The Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code making gay sex an offence punishable with upto life imprisonment.

25) Deepika Kumari won her sixth consecutive title at the 34th National Archery Championships at JRD Tata Stadium of PSPB, Jamshedpur.

26) 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.

27) Mikhail Kalashnikov, who invented the AK47 weapon died at the age of 94 due to ill-health on 23 December 2013 in Izhevsk.

28) Canara Bank announced that it has received a license from the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System to open a branch in New York. Canara Bank wants to expand its global presence.

29) Puneet Kumar, a Kerela cadre IAS officer has been appointed as the Secretary General of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC). Apparel Export Promotion Council is the apex body for apparel exports in the country.

30) The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) organised runs in Kolkata, Patna, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Jammu and Jharkhand on 15 December 2013. The race was organized as part of its nationwide programme to drum up support for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s Statue of Unity project on the 63rd death anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

31) Irrfan Khan on 13 December 2013 won the best actor award for his brilliant performance in his film The Lunchbox at the 10th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)

32) Krishna Iyer was appointed President and CEO of Wal-Mart India.

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