1.
Harsh Bhanwala is new Nabard Chairman
i. The Centre has appointed Harsh Kumar Bhanwala as Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).
ii. Bhanwala succeeded Prakash Bakshi, who retired as Nabard Chairman in September.
iii. Prior to this appointment, Bhanwala was an Executive Director at India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), a state-owned infrastructure lender.
iv. Before joining IIFCL, Bhanwala was senior vice president in IL&FS Water Ltd, which was involved in development work in water and waste water projects.
2.
India defeat Pakistan to lift Kabaddi World Cup 
i. India beat Pakistan 48-39 to emerge champions of the fourth World Cup Kabaddi played at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Saturday.
ii. 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.
iii. 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.
iv. However, as the match progressed India slowly started dominating and finally outsmarted the Pakistani outfit.
3.
Shivraj Chouhan sworn in as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
i. Shivraj Chouhan, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party Legislative Party in Madhya Pradesh, was sworn in Chief Minister by Governor Ram Naresh Yadav at Bhopal’s Jamboree Grounds on Saturday. This is Mr. Chouhan’s third term in office.
ii. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by most senior BJP leaders and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was also present.
iii. Mr. Chouhan signed four government orders during his address, departing from the constitutional propriety of approval by the Council of Ministers.
4.
Oscar-winning actor Joan Fontaine dies
i. Oscar-winning actor Joan Fontaine has died at the age of 96.
ii. Long-time friend Noel Beutel said she died in her sleep in her Carmel home on Sunday morning.
iii. Fontaine won an Academy Award as a naive wife in Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillerSuspicion and also starred in Hitchcock’s Rebecca. Her other films included The Women, Jane Eyre and Born to be Bad.
iv. Fontaine was the sister of fellow actress Olivia de Havilland.
5.
Union Minister Sis Ram Ola dead
i. Union Labour and Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola died at a Gurgaon hospital on Sunday after a prolonged illness.
ii. The 86-year-old Congress leader had been suffering from various ailments, sources in Medanta Medicity said.
iii. Born on 30 July, 1927, the Jat leader represented the Jhunjhunu constituency of Rajasthan and was a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from 1957 to 1990, and from 1980 to 1990 he was a cabinet minister in the Government of Rajasthan.
iv. He was Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers (Independent Charge) from 1996 to 1997 and Union Minister of State for Water Resources (Independent Charge) from 1997 to 1998.
v. He was Union Cabinet Minister of Labour and Employment from 23rd May 2004 to 27th November 2004 and was Union Cabinet Minister of Mines in the Manmohan Singh's government.
vi. His son Bijender Ola is a MLA from Jhunjhunu and was a former minster in the Rajasthan government.
vii. A recipient of the Padma Shri award in 1968, Ola started girls education in a remote area in rural Rajasthan with three girls in the school known as Indira Gandhi Balika Niketan Ardawata in 1952.
6.
UNAIDS asks India to decriminalise gay sex
i. UNAIDS has urged Indian Government to repeal Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises gay sex.
ii. The call is against the backdrop of last week’s Supreme Court ruling upholding Section 377 and striking down the Delhi High Court’s verdict decriminalising gay sex.
iii. UNAIDS urged all Governments to protect the human rights of gay people, through repealing criminal laws against adult consensual same sex sexual conduct; implementing laws to protect them from violence and discrimination; promoting campaigns that address homophobia and transphobia; and ensuring that adequate health services are provided to address their needs.
iv. The Delhi High Court had in 2009 found the British-era law criminalising “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” anti-constitutional.
v. But with the Supreme Court striking down the Delhi court ruling, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sexual contacts have become criminal acts that can attract a jail sentence of up to 10 years.
7.
Junior Hockey World Cup: Germany beat France, register record sixth world title
i. Germany’s stoic defence withstood a series of raids by French forwards to retain their men’s Junior Hockey World Cup title by carving out a 5-2 victory in the final here on Sunday.
ii. It was a befitting end to the tournament as both Germany and France dished out splendid hockey much to the delight of the sparse crowd present on a chilly night.
iii. Germany rode on five goals which came from the sticks of Wellen (2nd, 44th, 46th minutes), Jonas Gomoll (60th) and Christopher Ruhr (68th) to pocket their sixth world title, two in a row.
iv. The summit clash between underdogs France and five-time champions was touted as a contest between David versus Goliath but it was not one as the French gave the Germans a run for their money, at least in the opening 35 minutes.
8.
Lal Thanhawla sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Mizoram for second successive term
i. Lal Thanhawla of Congress party has sworn in as the Chief Minister of Mizoram for the second successive term on 14 December 2013. Governor of Mizoram, Vakkom B. Purushothaman administered the oath of office and secrecy to Lal Thanhawla and his Cabinet colleagues at Raj Bhavan in Aizawl.
ii. The first session of the seventh Mizoram Assembly will commence on 16 December 2013. Lal Thanhawla was formally elected as its leader by Congress Legislature Party on 11 December 2013.
iii. In the elections, Congress swept 34 seats of the 40 seats and the main opposition parties, Mizo National Front (MNF) was able to secure only five seats and Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) secured only one berth.
iv. This will be the fifth term of Lal Thanhawalas the Chief Minister of Manipur. For the first time, Thanhawal became the Chief Minister in 1984 after Congress Party led by him swept the poll by defeating the ruling People’s Conference Party, which was led by Thenpjunga Sailo, the then Chief Minister.
9.
Dubai International Film Festival: Irrfan Khan won best actor award
i. 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).
ii. Ritesh Batra, the Writer-Director of the film The Lunchbox, got a special mention for screenplay for the film in the same category. Irrfan won the award in the Muhr Asia Africa Feature Category.
iii. Dubai International Film Festival was held from 6 December to 14 December 2013. The jury at the DIFF was headed by renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.
10.
Former footballer, Babul Phukan died in Guwahati
i. The former footballer of India, Babul Phukan on 14 December 2013 died at a hospital in Guwahati, Assam after a prolong illness. The footballer was of 49 years in age. He is survived by his wife and a minor daughter.
ii. He represented Assam nine times in the Santosh trophy
iii.Babul played for Assam sub junior, junior and Santosh Trophy teams on several occasions He has played several, international matches in England, Germany and Italy
11.
China's first lunar rover named Jade Rabbit landed on Moon
i. The first lunar rover of China, which was carried by an unmanned remotely piloted spacecraft Chang'e-3 was deployed successfully on moon on 14 December 2013.
ii. The lunar rover has been named Jade Rabbit (called Yutu in Chinese). Chang'e-3 was blasted off on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.
iii. The Chinese moon exploration has made it one of the only three nations that have soft landed on the surface of moon after United States and the Soviet Union.
Note: In past three decades, China is the first country to do so. Earlier, Luna 24 Probe of Soviet Union was the last space mission to land on moon in August 1976. It landed after four years after the launch of the manned Apollo 17 mission by United States.
12.
India meet Pakistan in opening match of ICC U-19 World Cup
i. India will open its Under-19 Cricket World Cup title defence against traditional rivals and two-time former champions Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) here Feb 15, 2014.
ii. The tournament will be staged across seven venues in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Feb 14 to March 1, and will also have teams from Afghanistan, Canada, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and the UAE besides the 10 Full Members.
iii. India, which also won the tournament under Mohammad Kaif and Virat Kohli in 2000 and 2008, respectively, defeated Pakistan by one-wicket in an enthralling semi-final before going on to beat Australia by six wickets in the 2012 final in Townsville, Australia.
Note: The first edition took place in 1988 when Australia were the champions before winning again in 2002 and 2010. England were the champions in 1998, India held aloft the trophy in 2000, 2008 and 2012 and Pakistan were the winners in 2004 and 2006
13.
Prakash, Malaika struck Gold at 57th National Shooting Championship
i. At the 57th National Shooting Championship being held at Tughlakabad on 14 December 2013, Malaika Goel of Punjab and Prakash Nanjappa of Karnataka won Gold in their respective categories.
ii. Malaika won the Gold in women’s 10-meter air pistol whereas Prakash won Gold in 50-meter free pistol. The 16-year-old Malaika beat seasoned Harveen Srao by 5.3 points in the final to win the gold. Earlier she beat Olympians Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh to make the final.
iii. Malaika also swept the junior and youth Gold medals as well, on the basis of her qualification score of 385 that had placed her second in qualification for the women’s final.