Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 29 November, 2013

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

Ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who recently retired from cricket, has started the second innings of his life as the UNICEF ambassador for South Asia. Tendulkar in the capacity of a good will ambassador will aid UNICEF for the next two years, in promoting hygiene and sanitation in South Asian countries including India.
According to UNICEF, almost half the population in India defecates in the open and 68 lakh people practice open defecation in South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan, defecate in open.
Tendulkar was baffled at the large number of children dying every day due to waterborne diseases. “1600 children die every day due to diarrhoea related infections.

Manchster United and Manchester City recorded convincing wins in the group stage of Champions League football while a 10-man Real Madrid cruised past Turkish side Galatasaray.
David Moyes’ men secured their berth in the knockout stage following a dominant and clinical display on the road at the packed BayArena. Wayne Rooney was clearly the man of the match as he had large shares on victory owing to four assists.
Real Madrid were able to forget the absence of top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo to defeat Turkish side Galatasaray 4-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. The win will assure they will finish top of their Champions League qualifying group and thus assure a theoretically easier draw when the knockout stage of the competition kicks off in the New Year.
There was bad new for Spain’s other representative in the Champions League as Real Sociedad said goodbye to Europe as the result of a 0-4 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine.

Faced with high premiums to secure scarce supplies of gold, relatives and guests at Indian weddings are having their old heirlooms melted down to be reused as traditional presents.
About 1 million couples are expected to marry in the current wedding season which has 71 auspicious wedding days and runs through to May. About 33,000 weddings took place on November 19 alone, the most of any day this year.
Gold is always in demand, with a typical gift of a pendant, earings or a ring, weighing 5-10 grams depending on financial circumstances. Parents of the bride generally give heavier items like a necklace or bangles weighing 50 grams or more.
But a government clampdown on runaway gold imports that fuelled a blow-out in the current account deficit has led to new rules imposing higher duties, limiting imports and making it hard for jewellers to source supplies.
The Indian government will welcome the increased recycling of gold as it tries to rein in the current account deficit to an acceptable range of 3.6 percent to 3.8 percent of GDP, from 4.9 percent in the June quarter, and is unlikely reverse its recent measures any time soon.

Current Account Deficit (CAD) is likely to come down below 3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal on the back of measures taken by government, according to Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan .
He exuded confidence that the Indian economy will grow at 5.3 per cent in 2013-14.
The CAD, which is the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, touched a record high of $88.2 billion or 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 on account of higher gold and oil import.
The government has taken several steps, including hike in gold import duty to 10 per cent and restrictions on import of gold bars and medallions, to restrict CAD. It has also taken measures to boost exports, taking advantage of depreciating rupee.
It hopes that CAD will come down substantially to $56 billion or less.
Noting that the Indian economy is passing through phase of low growth, Rangarajan said that the GDP growth in 2013-14 will be a shade better than last year's growth of 5 per cent.

Tech Mahindra rose 1.13% to Rs 1,710 at 9:44 IST on BSE after the company said its board approved the amalgamation of Mahindra Engineering Services with the company.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 232.18 points, or 1.13%, to 20,767.09.
Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry, majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra. The company serves telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, software vendors and systems integrators.