Daily Current Affairs: 04 March 2014

1) Sheila Dikshit appointed new Kerala governor: Former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit was on Tuesday named as governor of Kerala. She replaces Nikhil Kumar, who has held the post since March 2013. Dikshit's appointment as governor of the southern state came after Kumar stepped down amid speculation that he may contest the Lok Sabha poll from Bihar. Dikshit served as Delhi's chief minister from 1998 to 2013 before she lost to Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in the December 2013 assembly polls. She lost her assembly seat by over 20,000 votes.

2) Graeme Smith announced shock retirement from cricket: South African cricketer Graeme Smith has announced he will retire from all forms of international cricket at the conclusion of the final Test against Australia in Cape Town. Smith, 33, is playing his 117th Test match - 109 of which have been as captain, a world record - and currently stands on 9257 runs. He won 53 of the matches as captain another world record.

3) Interest rates on FDs offered by post offices hiked, PPF rate unchanged: A day ahead of Lok Sabha polls announcement, the government on Tuesday decided to hike interest rates on fixed deposit schemes offered by post offices by up to 0.2 per cent. The interest rate on popular PPF (public provident fund) has, however, been kept unchanged at 8.7 per cent. New interest rates on small savings schemes will come into effect from April 1, an official release said. The decision to hike interest rates, which is in line with the recommendations of Shyamala Gopinath Committee, will make small savings schemes more attractive and returns would be in sync with market rates.

4) On June 2, Telangana will officially become India's 29th state: The Centre has fixed June 2 as the formation day for Telangana, the country’s 29th state. The Union home ministry is issuing a formal notification late Tuesday night announcing June 2 as the "appointed date" when the states of Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh formally come into existence, splitting the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh. The decision came after a meeting between home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and President Pranab Mukherjee late on Tuesday evening. The central government has already issued a gazette notification on the formation of the 29th state of the country. This came after Parliament gave its approval on February 20 for the creation of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.

5) Bill Gates again declared as most richest man of the world: The surging price of Microsoft shares returned US tech tycoon Bill Gates back to the top of Forbes’s world’s billionaires list, with his $76 billion beating out Mexico’s Carlos Slim’s $72 billion. Gates is back at the top spot after a four-year hiatus, reclaiming the title of world's richest person from Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who had ranked number 1 for the previous four years. With a networth of USD 18.6 billion, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chief Mukesh Ambani leads the pack of 56 billionaires based in India featured on the list.

6) Hockey India granted National Sports Federation status by Government: Hockey India’s (HI) bid to be the sole body of governance for the national sport in the country has got a shot in the arm after the Government of India recently accorded it the status of a National Sports Federation (NSF). HI, which was derecognised by the Union Sports Ministry in 2012 for not adhering to government guidelines, internal disputes and mismanagement, has finally been recognised as the sole body for the promotion of hockey in the country by the government.

7) First Goan woman judge in Bombay High Court: Judge Anuja Prabhudessai has on Monday became the first woman from Goa to be sworn-in as Judge of the (Bombay) High Court. For 52 year-old Ms. Prabhudessai, the journey to this position has been a cumbersome one. She was served a suspension order four years back, which many in legal circles suspected to be a systematic ploy to sideline her and abort her impending elevation as judge of the Bombay High Court, as she was the senior most District and Sessions judge at that juncture.

8) New chief for IREDA: KS Popli has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency. IREDA is Government-owned agency under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy that is mandated to promote, develop and extend financial assistance for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

9) 'Horrendous' two-finger test on rape victims banned: The central government has prohibited the two-finger test performed on rape victims and asked all hospitals to set up a designated room for their forensic and medical examination. These guidelines are among the many announced by the Union health ministry for treating rape victims. The Department of Health Research (DHR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with the help of experts formulated this set of national guidelines for dealing with criminal assault cases.