19 December 2013

Ø  The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the historic Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2013
Ø  In the light of the revelations by CBI official V. Thiagarajan that he had not recorded verbatim the statement of A.G. Perarivalan, alias Arivu, facing death sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, a fresh mercy plea has been presented to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting commutation of the death penalty into one of life imprisonment.
Ø  Unrepentant till the last, the British criminal Ronnie Biggs who was part of a gang that participated in what came to be known as the Great Train Robbery, died at 84 in London on Wednesday. He made off with £147,000 of the £ 2.6 million, stuffed into 120 bags, that the gang stole in a daring robbery on the Glasgow to London mail train on August 8, 1963.
Ø  Harsh Kumar Bhanwala has taken charge as Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard). Mr. Bhanwala was earlier Executive Director at India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL).

• American business magnate Warren Buffett made a fortunes of about $37 million a day in 2013, according to Wealth-X, making him the billionaire who made the most money this year. With a gain of $12.7 billion in 2013, Buffett’s net worth at the end of the year stands at $59.1 billion. The notable philanthropist had a fortune of $46.4 billion at the beginning of the year. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates added $11.5 billion to his personal fortune in 2013, ending the year with assets totalling $72.6 billion.