Current Affairs for 4-dec-2013

1.Anand Sharma , rejecting the proposed Peace Clause (PC) and Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in its present form. Sharma called for immediate reforms even as his stance risked an imminent failure of the ninth ministerial conference (MC9) of World Trade Organisation (WTO). Anand Sharma said, “For India, food security is non-negotiable… a trade agreement must be in harmony with our shared commitments of eliminating hunger and ensuring the right to food.”What India has been seeking is the right to buy and stock huge quantities of foodgrain for distribution at subsidised prices to its nearly 820 million poor.

2. The European Union has fined eight banks a combined 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in a historic accord over alleged collusion to fix two benchmark interest rates,They are Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland ,Deutsche Bank, Barclays, RBS and UBS, J.P. Morgan, Société Géérale

3. Godrej Properties, a real estate development company, has bought back the 49 per cent stake it had sold in a Calcutta subsidiary to private equity firm Red Fort India Real Estate Babur

3. Asaram's son Narayan Sai arrested in sexual assault case

4. The department of telecom (DoT) has slapped a fine of Rs 600 crore on Idea Telecom for allegedly violating licence conditions in its merger deal with Spice Communications.

5.Hero moto corp announced a joint venture of 60:40 with  Italy based component maker Magneti Marelli to make fuel- injection systems & power strains.HMC-MM Auto Limited will invest $27 million over 10 years,$8.5 million will be invested for 3 years.Pawan Munjal- MD & CEO of hero motocorp.MM CEO is Eugenio Razelli.

6.

NASA scientists have found faint signatures of water in the atmospheres of five distant planets. Though the presence of atmospheric water was reported previously on a few exoplanets orbiting stars beyond the solar system, but this is the first study to conclusively measure and compare the profiles and intensities of these signatures on multiple worlds, NASA said.
The five planets - WASP-17b, HD209458b, WASP-12b, WASP-19b and XO-1b - orbit nearby stars

7. Harrison Odjegba Okene begged God for a miracle.The Nigerian survives 3 days at bottom of Atlantic Ocean
8.Cairn India appoints its new Chairman named Mike Yeager.
Odisha news

1.The focus is now on establishment of cold storages across the state, especially in view of the scarcity of potato and other vegetables. provision of capital investment subsidy of 60 per cent for up to 5,000 metric tonne-capacity cold storages to be set up in general area and 75 per cent subsidy for scheduled areas had been made under 2013 state agriculture policy. The state has only 15 government-run cold storages. While six cold storages are being operated under the co-operation department, the horticulture directorate runs five such units. Four others are operational under the state-run Agriculture Promotion and Investment Corporation Limited.

2. The state government today announced a career advancement policy for gana sikshaks (para teachers) in the state based on their qualifications, seniority and training. It will come into effect from April 2014. A gana sikshak with a matriculation degree and having worked for at least six years would be counted as senior and would subsequently be eligible for a monthly salary of Rs 3,700. Those with a matriculation and a certified teacher degree would receive a salary of Rs 4,200 per month. Similarly, trained Plus Two and Plus Three passed gana sikshaks with seniority will get a monthly salary of Rs 5,200.