{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 29th & 30th Dec, 2013

· The SEBI Chairman U K Sinha said that it will soon put in place a new set of norms to deal with insider trading menace. This would clearly demarcate innocent mistakes from serious violations committed by top corporate executives and other connected entities while trading in shares of listed companies. It would also provide greater clarity to the company executives, promoters and others on their trading activities. This new set of regulations would replace the nearly two-decade old insider trading norms currently in place and public comments have been invited tillDecember 31 on draft norms suggested by an expert committee set up by Sebi.
· The indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has attained significant milestone by flying the 500th sortie this year (from 300 sorties earlier), the highest achieved in a calendar year, so far. In 2013, the Tejas achieved several milestones including flight envelope expansion, R73E missile firing with radar guidance, Air to ground weapon tests, wet runway trials and demonstration of Swing Role capability during exercise IRON FIST.
· Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today sought ten days time to formulate a system to address grievances and problems of the people in Delhi. He said that he would accept the applications of the people visiting him only after a system is in place. Earlier, at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi yesterday, this was decided that Aam Aadmi Party government will seek a vote of confidence on the 2nd of next month on the floor of Delhi Assembly. The assembly session will begin on 1st January and will come to an end on the 7th. Meanwhile, a Delhi police constable was allegedly beaten to death by suspected liquor mafia during a raid in the city. Two other policemen have also been injured in the attack. Both of them have been hospitalised. The policemen were on deputation with the Excise Department. A case has been registered and police have arrested one person in connection with the case.
· In its 8th Financial Stability Report released today, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said that the current account deficit, CAD is expected to be less than 3 per cent of the GDP during the current financial year. CAD shot up to an all-time high of 4.8 per cent last year on account of a heavy trade deficit and higher gold imports. The high CAD, along with fears of tapering, was one of the reasons for the rupee touching a lifetime low of 68 rupees 85 paise against the dollar in August this year. Further, RBI said that the country is ready for the US Federal Reserve's tapering. The report said, external sector risks have been reduced considerably and the effect of the tapering on the economy is expected to be limited and short-lived. It said, delay in the tapering of the 85 billion dollar-a-month bond buyback programme by the US Federal reserve gave the country time to replenish the forex reserves and rein in the high current account gap. Earlier this month, Ben Shalom Bernanke (chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the US) had announced that it would cut back bond buying by 10 billion US dollars a month to 75 billion dollars from January, on the back of improvement in the world's biggest economy. “Tapering” ultra-simple explanation: In the middle of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the Fed cut interest rates practically to 0% in a bid to stimulate the economy. But even with these ultra-low rates, there's still too much unemployment. So how does the Fed keep stimulating if it can't cut interest rates further? The Fed buys a lot of long-term US Treasuries and Mortgage-backed securities to cut borrowing costs and pump cash into the system. At the moment, it spends $85 billion on these purchases per month. Tapering is the process of reducing the pace of these purchases to, say, $75 billion per month. It's not ending the purchases, it's just slowing down the pace of new purchases.
· Emissions of sulphur dioxide - atmospheric pollutant with health and climate impacts - from power plants (especially coal based) in India increased by over 60 per cent between 2005 and 2012, new data analysed by a Nasa satellite found. In 2010, India surpassed the US as the world's second highest emitter of SO2 after China. While some atmospheric SO2 is produced by volcanoes and other natural processes, a substantial amount is produced by human activities such as the combustion of fuels with sulphur- containing impurities and the smelting of metals such as copper and nickel, researchers said. The gas contributes to the formation of acid rain and, in high concentrations, can cause respiratory problems. It is also a precursor for sulfate aerosols, a type of suspended particle that can affect the properties of clouds - an effect that is difficult to measure and remains a large point of uncertainty in climate models. Measuring Device: The new analysis of sulphur dioxide emissions comes two years after researchers developed a method to observe power plant emissions using measurements captured by an instrument on the Aura satellite. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) measures ozone and other key air quality components - including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide - and collects data over the same locations at the same time daily.
· Consul General of Bahrain, Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Khaja, facing two cases for allegedly molesting and threatening the Manager of a housing society in Mumbai where he stayed, has left India. A senior Police officer said that Khaja left India late last night. He returned to his country apparently before his tenure as the Consul General got over.
· Amidst stepped up pressure to secure the release of over 220 Tamil fishermen detained in Sri Lanka, 22 more were arrested by the island navy yesterday while fishing in the Palk Strait. Meanwhile Nagapattinam fishermen continued their strike for the 18th day today urging the release of fellow fishermen lodged in Lankan jail.
· In Russia, at least 15 people have been killed and 23 others hurt in a suspected terrorist attack on a trolley bus. Moscow has concerns that militant groups could be ramping up violence in the run-up to the 2014 winter Olympic Games in the city of Sochi.
· Seven-time Formula One champion, Michael Schumacher underwent a brain surgery and is in a critical condition. The 44-year old retired German driver struck his head in a ski accident in the French Alps yesterday.
· Ace archer Deepika Kumari created history by clinching her sixth consecutive title at the 34th National Archery Championships held at JRD Tata Stadium, Jamshedpur. With this achievement, Deepika now holds more individual titles at the national meet than Dola Banerjee, who won 5 national titles. However, the record of winning most individual titles is still held by Bengal archer Krishna Ghatak, with seven consecutive titles between 1975 and 1982.