Current Affairs of World December 2013
Sachin Tendulkar and C.N.R. Rao selected for Bharat Ratna
While Sachin is the first sportsperson and the youngest winner, eminent material chemist Rao is the third scientist to be chosen for the nation’s highest civilian honor
UN Climate Change talks held in Warsaw
The talks ended without any agreement as developing countries refused to agree to any firm emission reduction targets while the developed countries were unwilling to commit the huge funds required by developing countries to switch from pollution causing to clean energy technologies.
CHOGM organised in Colombo
Prime Minister’s absence at the summit owing to domestic opposition in Tamil Nadu could have adverse impact on India’s relations with Sri Lanka The three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held in Colombo amid international spotlight on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, ended on November 17, 2013
Communist China unveils reforms
China unveiled its boldest set of economic and social reforms in nearly three decades on November 15 in order to put the world’s second-largest economy on a more stable footing and preserve the political hegemony of the communist party.
Bacon sets new art record at $142.4 million. A work by British painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992) fetches $ 142.4 million at auction in New York on November 12, is a new World record for the most expensive piece of art ever sold.
New York opens first World Trade Center tower
The first new office tower at New York city's ground zero opened in New York om November 13 making a rebirth of lower Manhattan site under old World Trade Center Towers were destroyed in September A , 2001.
IAEA reaches deal on inspection of Iranian nuclear facilities: Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed a cooperation deal in Tehran on November 11 enabling the UN nuclear watchdog to have access to more Iranian nuclear facilities for inspection
U.S. to become world’s biggest oil producer by 2015: The United States is set to become the world’s top energy producer by 2015, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The US would even surpass Saudi Arabia to become world’s largest oil producer
India high on Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI): India is among the “extreme risk” countries of the world where economic impacts of climate change will be most keenly felt by 2025, according to the annual release of British risk consultancy Maplecroft’s ‘Climate Change and Environmental Risk Atlas’ on October 30
High & low-risk countries on CCVI: The economic impacts of climate change will be most severely felt by Bangladesh (1st & most at risk), Guinea-Bissau (2nd), Sierra Leone (3rd), Haiti (4th), South Sudan (5th), Nigeria (6th), DR Congo (7th), Cambodia (8th), Philippines (9th) and Ethiopia (10th), which make up the 10 most at risk countries out of the 193 rated by the CCVI.
Olympic torch returns from ISS: A Russian space capsule carrying the Sochi Olympic torch and three astronauts returned to Earth on November 11 from the International Space Station (ISS) in a flawless landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan. The Soyuz capsule landed about three and half hours after unlocking from the station with Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin, American Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of Italy aboard
Bangladesh ministers quit to allow disputed all-party govt.: Bangladesh cabinet ministers submitted their resignations on November 11 to allow Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed to form an all-party government to prepare for polls, a plan rejected by the opposition which wants a neutral caretaker government.
Britain and Iran restore diplomatic ties: The UK and Iran on November 11 named
ambassadors to each other’s capitals in order to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2011. The UK had ordered the closure of Iran’s embassy in London after closing its own in Tehran following the storming of the compound by hundreds of angry Islamist students in November 2011 during a demonstration against sanctions imposed by Britain over its controversial nuclear plans.
Unrest in Thailand over amnesty bill: The House of Representatives, the lower house of Thailand’s Parliament, on November 1 moved a step closer to granting amnesty to people involved in a wrenching political conflict that has divided the country for almost a decade.
2-decades old US-Russian non-proliferation program ends: A 20-year program to convert highly enriched uranium from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons into fuel for US power plants has ended, with the final shipment loaded onto a vessel in St Petersburg’s port on November 14. The agreement, signed in 1993 shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and scheduled to run until 2013, gave Russia the financial incentive to dismantle nuclear weapons
World Islamic Economic Forum 2013 organised in London: The three-day 9th World Islamic Economic Forum, one of the world’s largest gatherings to share knowledge, experience and expertise in Islamic economics, concluded in London on October 31. In another related development, the World Bank launched Islamic Finance Development Center in collaboration with Turkish government at Istanbul on October 31.
WISE organised in Qatar: The three-day World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) was organised in Doha, Qatar from October 29 to 31. The summit organised by the Qatar Foundation gave a monetary award of $20,000 to
each of the six outstanding projects from across the world that have infused innovative ideas into educational projects for the poor
Angelina Jolie receives Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Angelina Jolie has been honored at the fifth Governors Awards ceremony in Hollywood, Los Angeles, November 17 for her tireless humanitarian efforts that has brought credit to the Industry. Jolie who was named UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 2001 and has toured across the World on field emission and meet with refuges and internally displaced in more than 30 countries.
