*CURRENT AFFAIRS (29:03:2014)

1. China (estimated) executed most people in the world in 2013
followed by Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US as per a report by
Amnesty International.
- Data of public executions in China, being a state secret, is not made public.
- Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia make up 80 per cent of all global (minus
China) executions in 2013.
- There is a growth of 15% in the number of known executions across
the world in 2013.
India
- Mohammad Afzal Guru was the sole person executed by India in that period.
- At least 400 people are supposed to be on death row at the end of
the year 2013.
2. NATO designates Jens Stoltenberg, the former Prime Minister of
Norway, as its new Secretary-General.
- He succeeds Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
3. The newly inducted Super Hercules C-130J transport aircraft of
Indian Air Force crashes near Gwalior killing all five aboard.
- The super costly (1000 cr) and advance aircraft was one of the six
such procured from the US
4. RBI, in a major repreive to the banking sector, defers the deadline
for full implementation of the Basel III capital regulations by a
year.
- The banks are now required to comply with the Basel III norms by 31
March 2019.
5. Sunil Gavaskar appointed as the interim President of BCCI by the
Supreme Court.
- The apex court directed the incumbent president N Srinivasan to
remain out till the IPL spot fixing probe concludes.
- Shivlal Yadav, the senior most Vice-President of the Board, to look
after the non-IPL affairs of BCCI.
6. Ajay S Shriram to replace S Gopalakrishnan as the President of CII
(Confederation of Indian Industry) for 2014-15.
- He is the Chairman and Sr. Managing Director of DCM Shriram Limited.
7. Acclaimed Malayalam director P Ramdas breathes his last at 83.
- He is credited with ushering the neo-realistic wave in Malayalam
cinema during the 1950s through his path breaking movie "Newspaper
Boy".
- He was honoured with the 'JC Daniel Award' by the government of
Kerala in 2007.