Daily Current Affairs : 7th November 2013

1. Tarla Dalal, one of the first celebrity chefs of India as well as prolific cookbook writer died on 6 November 2013 due to heart attack in Mumbai. She was 77 years old and is survived by three children. She authored more than 100 cookbooks which sold three million copies. Her website tarladalal.com is the largest food website of Asia. 2. India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on 6 November 2013 increased its lending rates by 0.20 percent with effect from 7 November 2013. The bank increased the base rate or the minimum lending rate to 10 per cent from 9.80 percent. The Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) was also increased by 0.20 per cent from 14.55 per cent to 14.75 per cent. SBI increased fixed deposit rate by 0.2 per cent on select maturity. 3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 November 2013 permitted the Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) of the foreign banks to acquire the domestic private sector banks. RBI also permitted the banks to set up branches anywhere in the country. As per the permission given by RBI, the foreign banks will have to seek permission of RBI to open branches in certain sensitive locations. The foreign bank subsidiaries have also been allowed to list on the local stock exchanges. Although, they will not be allowed to hold more than 74 percent in the private banks they may acquire. 4. India home to 103 billionaires; 6th largest globally. India has more number of billionaires than France, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Hong Kong and is home to the sixth largest group of super rich population in the world, says a report. Moreover, the country's financial capital Mumbai with 30 billionaire, is among the top 5 'billionaire cities' globally, which was topped by New York that is home to 96 billionaires. 5. Sunita Sharma was on 6 November 2013 appointed as the managing director and chief executive director of the LIC Housing Finance. She is the first women MD and CEO of the company since its inception in 1989. She succeeded V K Sharma who was elevated to the post of managing director of LIC. 6. The government today appointed Prem Narain as the Secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry in place of Rajiv Mehrishi, who is now new Fertilisers Secretary. 7. Yogesh Malik resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of Uninor, Norwegian telecom giant Telenor’s India unit on 7 November 2013. Sigve Brekke, Executive Vice President and Head of the Telenor Asia operations appointed as the acting CEO of Uninor.

8. Central Election Commission (CEC) of Tajikistan on 6 November 2013 declared that Imomali Rakhmon was re-elected as the President of Tajikistan. Imomali Rakhmon belongs to People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT). The President of Tajikistan is elected by popular vote. The term of the office is 7 years. 9. Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi. The MoU helps to undertake joint research activities, training and capacity building programmes, consultancy assignments, access to documentation centre of each other, development of new academic and training programmes and enable students to have practical exposure through internship programmes etc. 10. The US and India have launched the third India-US-Africa triangular agricultural training programme at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE). This partnership, supported by the US Government’s global hunger and food security initiative ‘Feed the Future’, aims to improve agricultural productivity and support market institutions in Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi. 11. The Minister of Railways Mallikarjun Kharge flagged off the first ever Dual Cab 4500 HP Freight Diesel locomotive called Vijay from Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), Varanasi, a production unit of Indian Railways, on 6 November 2013. At the same time, the Minister announced to stop the Swatantrata Senani Express at Bhulanpur Railway Station, Sub-way at DLW administration. 12. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India reconstituted the Medical Council of India (MCI) on 6 November 2013 with 68 members. The reconstitution has been done following the provisions contained in sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013. 13. K Rahman Khan, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs inaugurated the National Conference on the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2013 in New Delhi on 6 November 2013. The conference was organised to update and sensitize Chairmen and CEOs of State Wakf Boards across the country. 14. Scientists discovered a black hole in a collection of stars in the constellation Ophiuchus, which is about 22000 light years from Earth. The globular cluster in which black hole was spotted is known as M62. The globular cluster M62 is located in the constellation Ophiuchus. The discovery was done by the team of astronomers led by a Michigan State University professor. 15. Hawk 132 inducted into the Indian Navy. Indian Navy on 6 November 2013 inducted the fourth generation advanced jet trainer aircraft Hawk 132 at a ceremony held at the Naval Air Station INS Dega at Visakhapatnam. Hawk 132 is an aircraft operating with over 24 countries around the world. The aircraft was built by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with Transfer of Technology from M/s British Aerospace, UK.

16. Gross Direct Tax Collections during April-October in 2013-14 up by 11.58 Percent. The Gross Direct Tax of India during the April to October 2013-14 financial year in the same period in 2012-13 financial year the gross direct tax was 302844 crore rupees. Whereas, the Gross Collection of Corporate taxes from April to October 2013-2014 financial year has increased by 8.23 percent and stood at 209622 crore rupees. 17. Russia launched the Olympic torch into space on Thursday, as part of the flame’s journey ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics. The Sochi Winter Olympics are due to begin on February 7 next year.

Daily Current Affairs : 6th November 2013

1. Swedish Embassy celebrates 100 years of Tagore’s Nobel Prize. Rabindranath Tagore, the first Indian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature will be at the centre of celebrations of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week in the country. Organised by the Swedish Embassy, the seventh edition of the week is dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore to mark the centenary of his Nobel Prize in Literature. 2. India and China started a 10 day joint training exercise 'Hand in Hand’, aimed at enhancing counter terrorism skills in Miao ergang, China. 3. Jammu and Kashmir Bank has reappointed Mushtaq Ahmad as its Chairman and CEO for a period of another three years. Ahmed’s term with the private sector bank ended on October 6 this year. He has been the Chairman and CEO of the bank since October 2010. 4. LIC Housing Finance Ltd has appointed Sunita Sharma as Managing Director and CEO with effect from November 5, 2013. Prior to this, Sunita was Executive Director of Investments at Life Insurance Corporation and was looking after the areas of equity research and risk management. She takes over from the incumbent MD & CEO, V.K. Sharma. 5. Nirupama Rao, Indian envoy to the US, bid farewell to her career of diplomacy, as members of the American diplomatic corps and her counterparts from countries like China and Brazil gathered at a reception hosted in her honour by the State Department. Rao will be succeeded by S Jaishankar, currently India's Ambassador to China.

6. Mahatma Gandhi's Charkha was sold for £110000 (1.1 crore rupees approximately) at UK Auction. The charkha of Mahatma Gandhi is about eight decades old. His last/final will was also auctioned over £20000 (19 lakh rupees approximately) for historical documents and artefacts by the Mullock’s Auction house in Shropshire, England. 7. Pakistan Successfully Test Fired Surface-to-Surface Missile Hatf IX (Nasr) with a range of 60 km. The test fire was conducted with successive launches of 4 x missiles (Salvo) from a state of the art multi tube launcher. Nasr is designed specifically to defeat Anti-Tactical Missile Defence Systems of all kinds. The missile has the capability to carry nuclear weapons. 8. Mark Schwarzer, Australia Goalkeeper Retired from International Football. Mark Schwarzer (41 years old) represented Australia at international level on 109 occasions since his debut in 1993, and one of the key players in qualifying for three consecutive World Cups. Mark Schwarzer is the key player in Socceroos team (Australia National football team) for twenty years. 9. British Paralympic powerlifter Ali Jawad on 5 November 2013 won gold at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Asian Open Championshipswith a world-record lift. Ali lifted 185.5kg in the 59kg class in Malaysia to better his record by 10.5kg. The championship was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ali Jawad is 24 years old. 10. Ishwar Das Rohani, the Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Assembly, died due to cardiac arrest at Jabalpur. He was the speaker of the assembly of Madhya Pradesh from 2003. He was 67. 11. Bill de Blasio was elected New York City's first Democratic mayor in two decades on Tuesday, running on an unabashedly liberal, tax-the-rich platform that contrasted sharply with billionaire Michael Bloomberg's record during 12 years in office. 12. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will deliver this year's Penguin Lecture, which has featured some of the world's most respected leaders, thinkers and writers over the years. 13. Assamese music director Sher Choudhury passed away on 6 November 2013 at B. Baruah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, Assam. He was 69. Sher Choudhury received National Award for best music director for the Gautam Bora directed film 'Wosobipo' in 1990. 14. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday flagged off the test run of the rolling stock of the Chennai Metro Rail system, marking an important milestone in the execution of the Metro Rail project. Chennai Metro Rail Limited Managing Director K. Rajaraman explained to her features of the train car.

Daily Current Affairs : 5th November 2013

1. ISRO successfully launched its historic mission to Mars from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 100 from Chennai. It was India’s first mission to the red planet. The mission follows India’s successful 2008-2009 Chandrayaan-1 moon probe, which discovered water molecules in the lunar soil. The total cost of the Mars mission is 73 million US dollars. 2. As per the data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 4 November 2013, Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the service sector declined by 47.5 percent to 1.19 billion US dollars during the April-August 2013 period. The service sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received FDI (foreign direct investment) worth 2.28 billion US dollars in April-August 2012 period. The services sector contributes over 60 percent to India’s GDP.

3. The Government of India on 4 November 2013 decided to extend the sale of the non-subsidized 5 kg cooking gas (LPG) cylinders at petrol pumps across the country. The proposal to extend the scope of the scheme was approved by M. Veerappa Moily, the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Earlier, the scheme was in operation in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. 4. The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, recently received over 50 samples for detection of chemical weapons from the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The IICT was one of the 21 labs in 17 countries that were designated by OPCW for off-site analysis of chemical weapons. 5. A Bangladeshi court on 5 November 2013 sentenced to death 152 soldiers for their role in a 2009 mutiny. The life includes massacre of 74 people, including top army officers. The trial is considered one of the world’s biggest ever mass criminal trials. 6. US software company Microsoft recently developed a new cost-effective sign language translator that converts signs into spoken and written language - and vice versa. In collaboration with researchers in China, Microsoft created the Kinect Sign Language Translator, a prototype system that

understands the gestures of sign language and converts them to spoken and written languageand vice versa. 7. Bharti Airtel on 5 November 2013 entered into an agreement with the Warid Group to acquire its Congo operations with the objective of strengthening its stronghold in the African market. The acquisition will make Airtel the largest mobile operator in the Republic of Congo with around 2.6 million customers. At present, Airtel is the second largest operator in that country with over 1.6 million customers, while Warid is the third largest with around one million customers. 8. The 12th edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be held in New Delhi from 7th to 9th of January 2014. This was announced by Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs on 5 Novemeber 2013 in New Delhi. The theme of the convention is -Engaging Diaspora - Connecting across Generations- with a special focus on the younger generation. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever. 9. Indian Weightlifting Federation Joint Secretary Abraham K Techi appointed as an international Weightlifting referee. Budapest–based International Weightlifting Federation issued the honour to Abraham, making him the fourth international referee from North East India. Abraham K Techi, President of the Arunachal Weightlifting Association (AWA), is the first international referee from Arunachal Pradesh and fourth from the North East. 10. Yuki Bhambri on 4 November 2013 won the ATP men’s singles title of Traralgon event in Australia. He defeated Bradely Klahn of America in the summit clash that was hit by rain. This is the second win of his career. 11. India won the series 3-2 against Australia on 2 November 2013 by beating Australia in the seventh match by 57 runs at Bangalore. In the seventh One Day International (ODI) match India scored Score 383/6 in 50 over and Australia scored 326 in 45.1 over. • Man of the Match in the seventh match: Rohit Sharma • Man of the Series: Rohit Sharma

Daily Current Affairs : 2nd-3rd-4th November 2013

1. Festival of Lights, Diwali celebrated across the nation. The festival marks the triumph of good over evil, of righteousness over treachery, of truth over falsehood, and of light over darkness. 2. India won a crucial election to the UN Board of Auditors with its nominee Shashi Kant Sharma, the Comptroller and Auditor General- by 124 votes out of the total 186. Shashi Kant Sharma won 124 votes out of the total 186 cast in the General Assembly's Fifth Committee on Administrative and Budgetary questions. India won by a comfortable margin against its closest contender the Philippines, which got 62 votes.

3. Legendary Pakistani folk singer Reshma passed away in Lahore, Pakistan on 3 November 2013 after a long battle with throat cancer. She was 66 years old. She is known for her popular songs such as Lambi Judai and Dama Dam Mast Kalandar. She is survived by a son and a daughter. 4. Kannur Declared First Zero Landless District in the Country. Announcing this in New Delhi, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh urged all states to emulate the example of Kerala in distribution of land. He said the beneficiaries have already been identified under the programme and the Centre will extend all support to the state government to enable it to construct houses under the Indira Awaas Yojana. Kerala will also become the first big state in the country to become an ‘open defecation free’ state. 5. China on 31 October 2013 opened a new highway that links Medog to Zhamog-located near the border with Arunachal Pradesh. The highway linking Medog, the last roadless county in China, with neighboring Bome county in Tibet formally opened to traffic, ending the county's isolation from the outside world. The 117-km highway, which cost 950 million yuan (155 million U.S. dollars), links Zhamog Township, the county seat of Bome, and Medog in Nyingchi Prefecture in southeastern Tibet. 6. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad

released the 7th edition of Indian Pharmacopoeia 2014 – a book of Drug Standards at the Nirman Bhawan on 4 November 2013. The Indian Pharmacopoeia 2014 will be able to fulfill the mission of the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission to promote public health, both in India and other countries using drugs manufactured in India. 7. Nitish Sengupta, the former Lok Sabha and Revenue Secretary died on 3 November 2013 due to the cardiac arrest. He was of 80 years. Now he is survived by two daughters. 8. Bangladesh became the First South Asian Country to Approve Commercial Cultivation of Bt Brinjal. National Committee on Biosafety (NCB), the highest regulatory body for GM crops in Bangladesh, officially approved the Bt brinjal varieties. With this step, Bangladesh becomes the 29th country in the world to grow GM crop. In South Asia, India, Pakistan and Myanmar grow GM crop cotton. With the NCB nod, Bangladesh becomes the first in the region to grow a GM food crop 9. IRCON International Limited on 29 October 2013 was selected as the top infrastructure company under the category construction infrastructure development - mid at the Dun and Bradstreet Infra Awards 2013 for delivering exemplary performance by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). IRCON is a Public Sector Undertaking in construction sector under the Ministry of Railways.The award was received by Mohan Tiwari, the Chairman and Managing Director of IRCON at ITC Maratha Mumbai. 10. India and Vietnam signed a treaty on transfer of sentenced prisoners in the jails in the two countries. The treaty would allow prisoners of the two countries to be near their families and they will have to serve the remaining part of their sentences. This process will help to facilitate the process of their social rehabilitation. The treaty was signed from Sushilkumar Shinde, the Union Home Minister and Tran Dai Quang, the Minister of Public Security of Vietnam. 11. Russia and Japan on 2 November 2013 held their first joint Defence and Foreign Ministers meeting and agreed to expand their defense and security cooperation. With this agreement, Russia became the third country in the world to establish the two-plus-two mechanism of bilateral interaction at the ministerial level with Japan after US and Australia. On the other side, Japan became the first Asian country to have the arrangement with Russia.

12. Jignesh Shah, founder, vice-chairman and a Director of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), resigned from the board on 31 October 2013. The MCX was promoted by Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies India Ltd

(FTIL), which is also promoted the now-defunct National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL). (MCX is 26 percent owned by Financial Technologies, of which Jignesh Shah is founder, chairman and CEO). 13. Countdown for India's maiden mission to Mars began at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. During the countdown, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) - a giant 45-metre rocket - will be fuelled and its health checked. The PSLV carrying Mangalyaan will blast off from Sriharikota, which is about 80 kilometres from Chennai. The Mangalyaan mission will cost Rs. 450 crores and will study the Martian atmosphere. If India succeeds in the 450-crore rupee mission, it would be the fourth in the world, after the US, Russia and Europe to do so. 14. The 'None Of The Above' (NOTA) option that will be exercised for the first time in the country, will be printed in Pink colour on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and ballot papers in the forthcoming Assembly polls in five states. 15. Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsud killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan. Hakimullah Mehsud was a powerful and ruthless leader who presided over campaign of violence including suicide bombings and shootings which killed and injured thousands of people across the country. 16. Rohit Sharma, the Indian batsman on 2 November 2013 became the third cricketer in the world to score a double hundred in an ODI match. He scored 209 runs off 158 balls against Australia in seventh and final ODI (One-Day International) match at Bangalore's M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Records broken by Rohit Sharma • The highest scorer against Australia. • Highest number of sixes in the ODI innings • Second highest ODI score (209) after Virendra Sehwag (219) 17. Virat Kohli became the number one batsman in One-day cricket after a superb batting show against Australia in the just-concluded series, in which he scored 344 runs. Kohli has now become the third India batsman to hold the number-one batting rank in ODI cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. He has achieved the number-one spot for the first time in his career, just a few days before his 25th birthday.

18. Formula 1 racing driver, Sebastian Vettel on 3 November 2013 won the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit, Abu Dhabi. Sebastian Vettel clocked 1 minute 43.893 seconds to finish at the top of the table. Sebastian Vettel won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the second time in his career. (First time is in 2009). This victory has drawn Vettel level with compatriot Michael Schumacher's mark of seven successive wins. 19. Novak Djokovic of Serbia on 3 November 2013 won the BNP Paribas Masters Tennis tournament at Paris, France. In the title clash, Novak Djokovic defeated defending champion David Ferrer of Spain in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5. 20. Indian men's hockey team on 3 November 2013 officially qualified for the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014. International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed the India’s berth in a official press release at Switzerland. Australia success at Oceania Cup on 3 November 2013 confirmed latest teams for world cup 2014.

Daily Current Affairs : 31st October 2013

1. Nation pays tribute to the veteran freedom fighter and first Home Minister of Independent India, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel on his 137th birth anniversary. Born on 31st October, 1875 in Gujarat, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel is also known as the Iron Man Of India. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was awarded Bharat Ratna in the year 1999. He expired on 15th december, 1950 at the age of 76. His ideology continues to guide the nation.

2. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today laid foundation stone of Statute of Unity, a 182-metre tall statue of "iron man" Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 138th birth anniversary. The statue will be raised on a small rocky island in the middle of the Narmada riverbed facing Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia. The Statue Of Unity will be double the height of the Statue of Liberty in the USA.

3. The world’s first Bitcoin ATM machine which can exchange digital currency - Bitcoins -for any official currency has launched in Vancouver, Canada on 29 October 2013. The ATM machine, named Robocoin, installed at Waves Coffee Shop at Howe and Smithe, allows users to buy or sell the digital currency known as bitcoins. The ATM in Vancouver is operated by Las Vegas-based Robocoin and Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs.

4. Srishti Rana of India on 30 October 2013 was crowned Miss Asia Pacific World 2013 in Busan, South Korea. Srishti Rana, 21, is the second Indian in a row to win the oldest Miss Asia Pacific World 2013. Earlier, Zeenat Aman (1970), Tara Anne Fonseca (1973), Dia Mirza(2000) and Himangini Singh Yadu(2012) won Miss Asia Pacific World titles. Srishti Rana is born in Haryana. 5. S. Masood Ahmed, chief scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), here has won the K.K. Menon Award for 2013. The award instituted by the Geological Society of India recognised his contributions in sedimentary geology. Earlier, Ahmed also won the National Geoscience Award for the year 2009. He is Indian leader of the International Geoscience Programme on ‘Evolution of Asian River Systems’. He has published more than 50 research papers in international and national journals. 6. Utpal Bhadra, senior scientist and group leader, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), has been selected for the Radhakrishnan Gold Medal for the year 2013 by the Global Economic Progress & Research Association (GEPRA), a Chennai-based research organisation engaged in academic research in economics and finance. 7. Bharat Joshi is the new British Deputy High Commissioner to be based in Chennai, replacing Mike Nithavrianakis. Born in Croydon in the UK in 1969, Joshi joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1995 and has had diplomatic postings to Gambia, Dhaka, Qatar and Cameroon, it said. 8. Subhas Goswami, director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy appointed as the Director General (DG) of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on 30 October 2013. He will succeed Ajay Chadha, IPS. Subhas Goswami is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He was decorated with the Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2001 and the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Services in 2007.

9. Pankaj Razdan was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), life insurance arm of Aditya Birla Group on 30 October 2013. He has 20 years of financial services industry experience across various functions and multiple lines of business. He acted as the managing director of ICICI Prudential. He joined in Aditya Birla Financial Services Group in 2007. 10. The Supreme Court today directed the Centre and State governments to pass an order within three months, on giving fixed tenure to civil servants. A bench headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan said that fixed tenure of bureaucrats will promote professionalism, efficiency and good governance. 11. India has given Bhutan one hundred crore rupees as assistance for the new government ’s stimulus plan. India’s Ambassador to Bhutan V. P Haran handed over the cheque to Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay in Thimhpu. 12. Bharti Airtel has signed a managed Value Added Services (VAS) agreement with Mahindra Comviva for its Bangladesh operations. Under the three-year deal, Mahindra Comviva will manage Bharti Airtel’s service delivery platform inclusive of Mahindra Comviva’s deployed products like Messaging Service Delivery Platform (MSDP), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Bulk Messaging Gateway (BMG) and dBILL VAS Charging solution. 13. India and Cuba on 30 October 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in broadcasting between Prasar Bharati and Cuban Radio and Television Institute (ICRT). The MoU was signed by India's ambassador to Cuba Chinthapalli Rajasekhar and vice-president of the ICRT Emillio Moises Garcia Borroto. Under the agreement both countries will explore co-production opportunites on matters of mutual interest. The MoU was signed during the official visit of India’s vice President Hamid Ansari to Cuba. 14. British Prime Minister David Cameron will come on his third visit to India in last two years on November 14 and will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on key bilateral and regional issues. This will be third visit by Cameron, who visited India in 2010 immediately after assuming charge as UK's Prime Minister.The second visit was in February this year. 15. Bhubaneswar and Imphal airports were Declared as International Airports. The Union Cabinet of India on 30 October 2013 gave its approval for declaring the Bhubaneswar and Imphal airports as international airports to fulfill the long pending demand of people as well as the State Governments of Odisha and Manipur. Declaration of these airports as international airports will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of services at competitive cost to the air travelers resulting in boosting international tourism and economic development of the region and the country. 16. Russian President Vladimir Putin was ranked as the world's most powerful leader by Forbes after Russia managed to put US threat of an attack on Syria at bay. Russia also gave asylum to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who spilled the bins on US intelligence for the first time.

17. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been listed the third most powerful woman as Russian President Vladimir Putin beat President Barack Obama to the top spot on Forbes' list of "The World's Most Powerful People". Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 81, takes the 28th spot with two other Indians, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, 56, ranked 38th, and ArcelorMittal chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal, 63, in the 51st position. 18. Saina Nehwal slips to 7th spot in BWF ranking. The second-round exit from French Open Super Series proved costly for Saina Nehwal as the Indian badminton ace continued her downward slide, slipping one more spot to be placed at world number seven in the latest BWF ranking released today. Among others, P.V Sindhu has improved one place to be back at her 10th spot with 52352 ranking points, while men’s singles player Parupalli Kashyap lost one place to slip to world number 12.

Daily Current Affairs : 30th October 2013

1. India ranked to the 134th spot in the ease of doing business list according to the annual Doing Business report released on 29 October 2013 by World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

• The top ten nations in the Ease of Doing Business ranking are Singapore (1), Hong Kong (2), New Zealand (3), United States (4), Denmark (5), Malaysia (6), Korea (7), Georgia (8), Norway (9) and the United Kingdom (10).

• Among BRICS grouping, Russia is placed at 92nd spot, Brazil is ranked 116, South Africa is ranked the 41st rank and China ranked at 96th position.

• India is also ranked lowest among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

• Other neighbouring nations of India Nepal (105), Pakistan (110) and Bangladesh (130) are also ranked above India.

2. The Union Cabinet on 30 October 2013 approved certain amendments to the Food Security Bill that includes extension of the deadline to implement the law from six months to one year.

3. The Finance Ministry has opposed the Kirit Parikh panel’s proposal to hiking the price of diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene. The panel has suggested that diesel prices be increased by Rs 5/litre, subsidised domestic LPG by Rs 250/cylinder, and kerosene being sold under the public distribution system by Rs 4/litre immediately, as well as subsequent phase-out of subsidy on all these products. It also suggested bringing down the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders available to every household annually to six from nine. 4. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 30 October 2013 approved the launch of the new Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS) during the 12th five year plan with an investment of 500 crore rupees. The IPDS was approved for establishment of four to six brown field projects and three to five green field projects that addresses the environmental issues that is faced by the Textile Processing Units.

5. Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on 29 October 2013 launched the High Speed Rail Corporation of India Ltd (HSRC), a subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL). The main objective of the HSRC is to develop High Speed Rail (HSR) Corridors in India to run passenger trains at speeds up to 350 Kilo Meter per hour. 6. For the 22nd consecutive year at the United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly on 29 October 2013 adopted a resolution calling for an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba. 7. Australia on 29 October 2013 announced the winding down of its military mission in Afghanistan with the withdrawal of most of its troops by the end of 2014. Approximately, 1000 Australian troops are posted at the International Force base in Tarin Kot, the capital of southern Afghan province Uruzgan.

8. Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor on 29 October 2013 was honoured in the House of Commons, London for her contribution to the global entertainment industry. The 33-year old actress was presented a framed golden coloured plaque by NRI MP Keith Vaz, Chairman of Britain’s Home Affairs Committee. Kareena was also honoured by the Asian Sunday Newspaper. Kareena is the only Bollywood artist to be honoured at British Parliament after Amitabh Bachchan and she is the first Bollywood actress to be honoured by UK Parliament. 9. Prime minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 29 october 2013 inaugurated the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Museum at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Museum was established in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was an Indian freedom fighter. 10. Renowned Bharatnatyam exponent Geeta Chandran was on 29 October 2013 honoured with the prestigious Guru Debaprasad Award for outstanding contribution in the field of dance. The award was presented to Geeta Chandran and three others by Odisha Governor S C Jamir at in Bhubaneswar. The others Awardees are:Dr. Anita Ratnam (Contemporary Dance), Guru Shashadhar Acharya (Chhau Dance), Guru Sudhakar Sahu (Odissi). 11. Bollywood actor and talk show host Aamir Khan was among a select group of film personalities honoured here for making a major impact on social issues through cinema. In glittering event held at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington the America Abroad Media (AAM) group feted Aamir Khan along with Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow and 2013 Nobel Prize nominee the International Centre on Nonviolent Conflict.

12. Telecom services provider Vodafone India in association with ICICI Bank has launched M-Pesa, its trademarked mobile money transfer and payment service in Maharashtra. The service, which provides customers who register for it access to financial services through their cell phones, is extended in 286 tehsils in the State through 4,080 trained authorised agents across Vodafone’s 387 exclusive retail stores.

13. All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 30 October 2013 signed an agreement under Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) with Football Federation of Australia (FFA) to support AIFF's Grassroots Programme. The agreement includes financial, administrative and technical support (from FFA) in the form of capacity building within the State Associations who at present are involved in the Grassroots Programme, Grassroots Courses and Grassroots Festivals. 14. India pulled off a sensational six-wicket victory over Australia in the do-or-die sixth cricket one-dayer, riding on Virat Kohli's brutal unbeaten 115 and Shikhar Dhawan's blistering century to level the seven-match series 2-2 .

Daily Current Affairs : 29th October 2013

1. Along expected lines, the Reserve Bank of India Governor hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points in the October monetary policy review today. The repo rate is now at 7.75 per cent. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow short term funds from RBI. The Governor has also cut the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 25 bps to 8.75 per cent. The MSF is an emergency window that banks borrow from when faced with a funds crunch. The RBI has kept cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4.0 per cent of deposits and increased the liquidity provided through term repos of 7-day and 14-day tenor from 0.25 per cent of deposits of the banking system to 0.5 per cent with immediate effect.

Current Rates:

1. Repo Rate – 7.75%

2. Reverse Repo Rate – 6.75%

3. CRR – 4%

4.SLR – 23%

5. Bank Rate – 8.75%

6. MSF – 8.75%

RBI cuts economic growth forecast for this fiscal to 5 per cent from 5.5 per cent projected earlier.

2. P.S. Raghvan was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Russia on 28 October 2013. At present, Raghvan, the IFS of 1979 batch is serving as the current Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will succeed Ajai Malhotra, who will retire on 30 November 2013. 3. Tennis player-producer Ashok Amritraj, who has produced 109 Hollywood films, was presented with the 'Soul of India Award' for his outstanding achievements in the film industry. Mrs Paul, wife of Dr Virendra Paul, formally launched Amritraj's book 'Advantage Hollywood' on the occasion. Amritraj has produced 109 Hollywood films. His hits, starting with 'Double Impact' in 1991, have included 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance', 'Bandits', 'Machete and Premonition'.

4. India and Peru signed 4 documents/Mous on during the official visit of the Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari to Peru on 29 October 2013. The Vice President of India visited Peru to celebrate the 50th year of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. India and Peru signed documents in the field of education, defence cooperation, in the fields of Museum Development, Conversation of Movable Cultural Property and Dissemination and Promotion of Cultural Heritage.

5. The Government of India on 29 October 2013 decided to appoint Air Marshal Arup Raha as the next Chief of the Air Staff. He will take the charge after the retirement of present Chief of the Air Staff NAK Browne on 31 December 2013. Air Marshal Arup Raha is presently the Vice Chief of Air Staff.

6. The Centre has constituted a high-level committee headed by former CRPF Chief, K Vijay Kumar, to look at the division of assets and the administrative framework which would be required when Telangana is created upon bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

7. With a networth of $21 billion, Mukesh Ambani has retained his title as India’s wealthiest for the sixth year in a row, while the country’s 100 richest persons saw their

collective wealth grow by a modest 3 per cent in a year. NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal (USD 16 billion) also continues to hold the second position.

8. The country’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, inducted as a minister in the Haryana cabinet by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This is the second time that she has become a minister in the Hooda government. She was earlier a minister of state in the 2005-09 Hooda government. She was listed by a leading business publication as the country’s richest woman as she lords over a multi-billion rupee steel and power sector empire and is the chairperson of the Jindal Group. Her name also figures in the Top-100 richest people in the world.

9. Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood actress became the global brand ambassador of American fashion brand Guess in the last week of October 2013. She will endorse the brand from 2014. With this, Priyanka Chopra, who started her filmy career with the Tamil film Thamizhan, joined the league of Paris Hilton, Drew Barrymore and Claudia Schiffer as the brand ambassadors of Guess.

10. Rajendra Yadav, the noted Hindi writer passed away on 28 October 2013 at Mayur Vihar, Delhi because of prolonged illness. He was 84 years old. He was a pioneer of Hindi literary movement known as Nayi Kahani in the 60s. He re-launched Munshi Premchand's magazine HANS, which he himself had been editing since 1986.

11. Lou Reed, the poet of rock ‘n’ roll, passed away on 27 October 2013 at Southampton, New York, United States. He was 71 years old. He died because of an illness associated to liver transplant which took place recently. Lou Reed was known popularly for his unique deadpan voice, poetic lyrics as well as for pioneering and coining the term called Ostrich Guitar Tuning.

12. India retains number one spot in latest ICC ODI ranking, Australia at second. India’s Ravindra Jadeja is at No. 1 spot in ODI bowlers. Among batsmen, South Africa’s Hashim Amla leads the table. India's Virat Kohli is at No.4 followed by skipper Dhoni at No.7.

Daily Current Affairs : 27th-28th October 2013

1. Today is 146th birth Anniversary of social worker, author, teacher, Sister Nivedita. Her original name was Margaret Elizabeth Noble. She was a Scots-Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda. she took active interest in promoting Indian history, culture and science. She actively encouraged Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bose, the epoch-making Indian scientist and seminal philosopher of science who is credited to have discovered the wireless radio, to pursue original scientific research and helped him financially as well in getting due recognition when he was faced by an indifferent attitude of the British Government.

2. Today is International Animation Day, proclaimed in 2002 by ASIFA as the main global event to celebrate art of animation. 3. 5th South Asian Conference on Sanitation begins in Nepal to promote hygienic practices and enhance the quality of life in South Asian countries. Conference has been inaugurated by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav. 4. A radio documentary about domestic violence and other related issues in the Australian Indian community has won a prestigious United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) media award. The documentary was awarded this year in the category of "increasing understanding and awareness of women’s' rights and issues". 5. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conferred an Honorary Doctorate by the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Founded in 1944, it is the oldest and the most renowned school in Russia for preparing specialists in international relations and diplomacy.

6. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan received the third Hridaynath Mangeshkar award for his contribution to the film industry. The prestigious Hridaynath Mangeshkar award was supposed to be presented by melody queen Lata Mangeshkar to Bachchan, but due to health issues she could not make it and filmmaker Subhash Ghai did the honours. 7. Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen has been awarded the Mother Teresa International Award by NGO “The Harmony Foundation” for her efforts towards achieving social justice. 8. Mexican drama 'La Jaula De Oro' (The Golden Cage) won the best film award by a debutante director on the closing day of 15th Mumbai Film Festival that also recognised Singapore's 'Ilo Ilo' and Indian films 'Fandry', 'Katiyabaaz' and 'Qissa'. Directed by Diego Quemada-Diaz, 'The Golden Cage' was honoured with the Golden Gateway of India award and a cash prize by the jury headed by director Bruce Beresford. The best actor prize was given to French actor Vincent Macaigne for his role in French film. 9. GAIL India and Paradip Port Trust on 26 October 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding for setting up an offshore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at Paradip Port, Odisha. The MoU envisages setting up of the project with a capacity of 4 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMPTA) in Phase-I with a storage capacity of 170000 cubic metres. This will entail a total investment of 3108 crore rupees. 10. SC directs Sahara Group to hand over title deeds of its properties worth Rs 20,000 crores to SEBI within three weeks. 11. A team of astronomers discovered the most distant galaxy in the universe which is estimated to be 30 billion light years away from the Earth. The results of the latest findings were published in the most prestigious international journal the Nature. 12. Vijay Soni, a noted painter and theatre personality died on 27 October 2013 in New Delhi. The 76 year old Vijay Soni was battling with Parkinson disease for past 12 years. He is survived by his wife Aanita Soni, two daughters and three grandsons. 13. Anjali Gopalan on 25 October 2013 was awarded with French highest civilian award Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur. She was awarded for her work on transgenders and HIV positive patients.

14. Sebastian Vettel wins 3rd Indian Grand Prix, becomes youngest to win four straight world drivers' championships. With this victory, Vettel became the quadruple champion and joined the group of legends like Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alain Prost. He is only the third to do it in a row after Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. 15. Serena Williams beats Li Na for WTA title. Serena Williams ended her best season in suitable style, coming from behind to beat Li Na 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday for her second straight WTA Championships title. Williams' titles this year included the French and U.S. Opens for a total of 17 Grand Slam crowns. 16. Indian Oil Corporation on 27 October 2013 defeated Air India 5-3 to win the 48th Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament at the MHA stadium, Mumbai. Sunil was given the man of the tournament award and received a cheque for 5000 rupees from newly appointed chief national coach Terry Walsh at the end of the tournament.

Daily Current Affairs : 26th October 2013

1. Global Gender Gap Report 2013, which was published on 25 October 2013 by World Economic Forum- India was ranked 101 out of 136 countries on Gender Gap index. The worst performing countries are Yemen (136), Pakisthan (135) and Chad (134). Top 5 country: 1. Iceland 2. Finland 3. Norway 4. Sweden 5. Philippines 2. Government of India on 25 October 2013 signed an agreement with World Bank for credit of 360 million US Dollar for the second phase of Uttar Pradesh Water Sector Restructuring Project. The agreement was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Country Director of the World Bank, Onno Ruhl. Similarly the Project

Agreement was signed by Deepak Singhal, Principal Secretary, Department of Irrigation on behalf of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. 3. The World Bank has approved $250-million assistance for Uttarakhand, which was hit hard by rains and landslides in June that killed 580 people, to help the State undertake rehabilitation work and strengthen its capacity for disaster management. 4. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has assigned Corporation Bank No. 1 rank under the ‘National Awards for Excellence in MSE (micro and small enterprises) Lending’ for 2012-13. 5. Himachal Pradesh on 26 October 2013 became the second state after Haryana to introduce Union National Vocational Qualitative Framework (NVQF) Scheme. The scheme has been implemented by the All India Technical Education Council and the National Skill Development Council. As per the scheme, 70 skill development councils will be established and each council will be given specific trades. The scheme was being implemented for students of Class IX to Class XI and every student has to clear four levels to get the certificate. 6. Ethiopia's government on 24 October 2013 temporarily banned its citizens from travelling abroad to look for work. The government took this decision because many Ethiopians had lost their lives or undergone untold physical and psychological trauma due to illegal human trafficking. 7. A four-day World Agricultural Forum Congress (WAF) will be organized at Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh from 4th of November this year. The theme is re-shaping agriculture for sustainable future focus on small farm holders. 8. The Uttar Pradesh Government on 25 October 2013 appointed retired Justice Tarun Chaterjee as the new chairman of the state Human Rights Commission. State government also nominated Justice UK Dhawan and Asha Tiwari as the members of the Commission. Tarun Chaterjee (68-year-old) was the chief justice at the Allahabad high court in 2003 and retired as a Supreme Court judge in 2010. 9. Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers on 25 October 2013 sanctioned setting up of a Plastic Park at Siju Village, Kujanga Tehsil of Jagatsinghpur District in Odisha. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Paradeep Plastic Park Limited would set up the Plastic Park. The project will receive a grant of 40 crore rupees by the Government of India of which 8 crore rupees will be released sooner. 10. The working committee of the Board of Cricket Control of India has terminated the contract of the Indian Premier League team Pune Warriors for non-payment of franchise fee. The team did not pay a bank guarantee of 174 crore rupees. 11. The world's oldest national football body, the English Football Association, or FA is marking its 150th anniversary today. It was

established at a meeting in a London Tavern on the 26th of October, 1863 as eleven football clubs and schools associations agreed to a set of common rules for the sport. 12. Indian cueist Alok Kumar claims at World Billiards trophy to his cabinet as he lost in the final to local favourite David Causier to settle for the silver medal at the mega-event here.

Daily Current Affairs : 25th October 2013

1. Global financial services major HSBC today lowered India’s current account deficit (CAD) forecast for this financial year to 3.4 per cent of GDP from 4.1 per cent earlier. CAD, the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, had declined to 3.6 per cent in the January-March quarter after touching a record high of 6.5 per cent in the October-December quarter. 2. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is going ahead and launching new services even as the decision on whether the Aadhaar card is mandatory for getting government subsidies is pending before the Supreme Court. In a new initiative, Axis Bank entered into a tie up with the UIDAI that will enable the bank to open accounts by using the 12-digit Aadhaar number of the customer. 3. Centra sanctions 1,260 crore rupees to upgrade jawans' facilities in far-flung Indo-Tibetan Border Police , ITBP posts.

4. Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood actor, was on 23 October 2013 appointed as the goodwill ambassador for South Korea. He was appointed as the public diplomat as well as an ambassador of India’s soft power. Shah Rukh Khan will visit South Korea before the maiden visit to The President of South Korea- Park Geun-hye. 5. According to the China-based Hurun India Rich List, Ambani retained the top position for the second year even after a wealth decrease of 2 percent. Ambani is followed by London-based steel baron LN Mittal with assets of USD 15.9 billion. Mittal's wealth declined 6 percent from in 2012. Sun Pharmaceuticals' founder Dilip Shanghvi broke into the top three for the first time with a 66 percent surge in his wealth.

6. British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro passed away on 23 October 2013. He was 89 years old. He died after a heart attack. He was the renowned British sculptor of his generation and also worked as the assistant to Henry Moore in the 1950s. 7. Simona Halep of Romania defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to win the Kremlin Cup on 20 October 2013 at Moscow, Russia. It was the fifth WTA singles championship for Simona Halep.

8. The Government of India will appoint Hockey India’s Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director for Indian Hockey. He is all set to be appointed till Rio Olympics 2016 keeping in view all the major events taking place in the next three years. 9. The committee probing the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing episode sought information from the public regarding allegations of betting against Gurunath Meiyappan and the other accused in the scandal on Thursday. The Supreme Court appointed committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and including Additional Solicitor General L. Nageshwar Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, had its first meeting on Thursday after being appointed early this month.

Daily Current Affairs : 24th October 2013

1. Today is the United Nations' Day. The day is celebrated to commemorate the launch of UN Charter in 1945. The theme of this year is partnerships for global progress. The UN is known for its important role in combating poverty and vaccinating about 58 per cent of the world's children.

2. World Polio Day is being observed today. The day is observed to raise public awareness of the ravages of polio and garner support for eradication efforts. Global eradication programmes, since 1988, have significantly reduced the worldwide occurrence of polio by 99%. Polio is a disease which had plagued many nation. 3. A Bihar woman health official is set to share stage with Malala Yousufzai. Martha Dodray, in her mid-40s, is an auxiliary nursing midwife posted at Kusheshwarsthan primary health centre in the state's Darbhanga district. She was selected by the United Nations Foundation (UNF) for her extraordinary work to eradicate polio. 4. The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a GIRO Advisory Group (GAG) to implement a national Indian Bill Payment System so that households will be able to use bank accounts to pay school fees, utilities, medical bills and make remittances electronically. 5. The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and YES Bank on Wednesday entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore avenues for mutually beneficial knowledge sharing in food processing and agricultural sectors. According to the MoU, Austrade and YES Bank have agreed to jointly organise workshops across India to create awareness about Australian capabilities in the food and agri-business sectors. 6. A CBI court here yesterday sentenced former Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Bank M Gopalakrishnan and four others to one year imprisonment for defrauding various branches of the bank to the tune of about Rs 6.5 crore. 7. Internet giant Google has emerged as the world’s best multinational company to work for, followed by software developer SAS Institute and network storage provider NetApp in the second and third place, respectively.

8. Manna Dey, the legendary singer died on 23 October 2013 in Bangalore hospital. He was 94 years old. He was treated for respiratory illness died of cardiac arrest. He is survived by his daughters Shuroma and Sumita.

He was born in the year 1919. His original name was Prabodh Chandra Dey but he was nicknamed Manna. 9. Delhi Electoral Office launched a theme campaign- Dil Mein Hai Dilli Vote Karenge for the upcoming Delhi Assembly Elections with a view to motivate people to exercise their franchise. Launching the theme at a function in the national capital, Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, Vijay Deo said, the objective behind it to ensure maximum turnout during election. 10. Actor Ranbir Kapoor named as the brand ambassador for Philips, the country's leading lighting company. 11. The Supreme Court on Thursday awarded Rs 5.96 crore as compensation to be paid by Kolkata-based AMRI Hospital and three doctors to a US-based Indian-origin doctor for medical negligence which led to the death of his wife in 1998. 12. Market regulator Sebi has disqualified Cals Refineries from issuing equity shares and any other security for a further eight years, as the company was found guilty in a case involving irregularities in issuance of Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). 13. The US comedian Carol Burnett was on 20 October 2013 honoured with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Three artists- Dame Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett and Tina Fey performed specifically in the honour of Carol Burnett at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. she also acted on Broadway and appeared on The Garry Moore Show. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is the foremost award for humour in America. It was first awarded in the year 1988 by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 14. India's retiring batsman Sachin Tendulkar has been named in the Wisden all-time World Test XI. Tendulkar was named at number four spot in the team announced to mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanac in London. The team captained by legendary Australian batsman Don Bradman has four Englishmen, three West Indians, two Australians, one Indian and a Pakistani. 15. The Sports Ministry and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have launched 'India Sports 2014' at the 5th Global Sports Summit to promote sports among youth in the country. The event will be an umbrella programme, focusing on all aspects of sports and will bring the entire sports fraternity on one platform.

Daily Current Affairs : 23rd October 2013

1. India and China on Wednesday reached a comprehensive agreement to avoid border tensions and army face-offs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by deciding that neither side will use military capability to attack the other side nor tail patrols along the border. The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) was on Wednesday signed after extensive talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People.

2. Reserve Bank on said it has received USD 10.1 billion under two schemes which were announced last month to attract foreign funds. RBI had come out with the special measures to arrest declining value of rupee, which was triggered by widening CAD, that touched a historic high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13. Soon after taking over as RBI Governor on September 4, Raghuram Rajan announced the opening of a swap window facility to encourage banks to lure NRI funds. Under the facility, banks are permitted to swap fresh FCNR(B) dollar funds, mobilised for a minimum tenor of three years, at a fixed rate of 3.5 per cent per annum for the tenor of the deposit. 3. Moscow, the Capital of Russia hosted the 14th India-Russia Annual Summit on 21 October 2013. Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin co-chaired the summit. During the summit both nations discussed priority areas of bilateral cooperation on current international and regional issues. Both nations emphasised their continued commitment to promote and strengthen their special and privileged strategic partnership. 4. GAIL India Ltd on signed an agreement for development of natural gas infrastructure and city gas network in Bihar. GAIL signed a Gas Cooperation Agreement (GCA) with the Department of Industries, Government of Bihar, the company said in a statement here. The agreement was signed in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B.C. Tripathi in Patna. GAIL is laying a 2,050 kilometre gas pipeline from Haldia in West Bengal to Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh, of which about 621 km will pass through 14 districts of Bihar.

5. Canara Bank signed a MoU with industry body CII to facilitate cheaper credit access to micro, small and medium enterprises. Under the MoU, Canara Bank shall extend a concessional credit of 50 basis points on the applicable card rate of interest to MSME units which are members of CII. 6. Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) marked its re-entry into India after five years by opening a branch in Mumbai. The bank was operational in India from 1996 to 2008. In 2008, BII was bought over by Malaysia-based Maybank, which holds 88 per cent in BII. The foreign bank’s India operations became inactive after 2008. 7. India Post on 22 October 2013 released a commemorative postage stamp on the Golden Jubilee of Bhakra Dam. A two-inch stamp marking the 50th anniversary of Bhakra Dam was released in Nangal by Union minister of water resources Harish Rawat. The dam was dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru on 22nd October in 1963. 8. The Finance Ministry decided to pump in Rs 2,000 crore in State Bank of India and Rs 1,800 crore each in IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India as part of the Rs 14,000 crore capital infusion plan for the current fiscal. 9. India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) expects India's GDP growth to remain sluggish at 4.9 per cent in the current financial year, due to a mix of domestic and external factors. 10. India will launch the first interplanetary probe, Mars Orbiter Spacecraft onboard the PSLV C-25 on the fifth of next month from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota. The vehicle will lift off at 2.36 pm on that day. The mission is provided with communications and navigational support from NASA. The Mars orbiter will take around 300 days to reach the targetted mission after the scheduled launch. 11. Lawrence R Klein, Nobel Prize winning economist died on 20 October 2013 in Gladwyne, near Philadelphia. He was 93 years old. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then he joined the Penn faculty in 1958. He developed the statistical models there known as the Wharton Models which got him his Nobel Prize in 1980 in Economics.

12. Aung Suu Kyi on 23 October 2013 received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought at Strasbourg, France. She was choosen by the European Parliament in 1990. The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought announced by the European Parliament in 1990 when she was under house arrest. 13. Singer Noel Harrison has died at his home in Devon, aged 79 on 22 October 2013. He was the son of the actor Rex Harrison. He was best known for recording the hit song The Windmills Of Your Mind on The Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack. It won best song at the 1968 Oscars and was later covered by artists including Dusty Springfield.

Daily Current Affairs : 22nd October 2013

1. Bangalore, known as India’s silicon city, has been ranked as the country’s top business destination, followed by Chennai, Mumbai and Pune in terms of infrastructure, human capital, city culture and basic quality of living, says a survey.The survey, conducted by Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) and real estate consultancy firm DTZ, also found that smaller cities like Indore (5th), Bhubaneswar (6th) and Coimbatore (7th) are competing with top metros in the race to be ideal business destinations. The list includes a total of 21 top business destination in the country. Ahmedabad has been ranked 8th, followed by Nagpur at 9th and Kochi at the 10th place. 2. Tata Steel on 21 October 2013 won a new contract to supply Britain's Network Rail with more than 95 percent of its rails for at least five years. It could supply more than 1 million tonnes of rail under the contract. The company's Scunthorpe plant is the present supplier to Network Rail. 3. The 2nd meeting of the India- Philippines joint commission on bilateral cooperation was held on 21 October 2013 in Manila. The meeting was co-chaired by the Albert F. Del Rosario, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines and the Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs of the of India.

4. Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal (60), the acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court appointed as the regular Chief Justice of Madras High Court on 21 October 2013. The President of India also appointed seven of the eight names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium of judges headed by the Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam as Judges of the Madras High Court.

5. India's ambitious space mission to explore Mars would be launched on November 5 from spaceport of Sriharikota: ISRO 6. Justice Laxmikanta Mahapatra was on 21 October 2013 sworn in as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court at Raj Bhava in Imphal, Manipur. He was appointed by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Governor Ashwani Kumar administered the oath of office to Justice Laxmikanta Mahapatra. Justice Mohapatra would act as acting chief justice of the high court till appointment of a full time chief justice. 7. RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD(U) leader Jagdish Sharma have been disqualified as Lok Sabha members following their conviction in the fodder scam. While Prasad stands disqualified for a total of 11 years — five years of jail term and six years subsequent to his release, Sharma stands disqualified for ten years — four years in jail and six more years after that as per electoral laws. Theirs is the first disqualification from the Lok Sabha after the Supreme Court struck down a provision that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts. Lok Sabha Secretary General S. Bal Shekar has issued the notifications disqualifying Lalu and Sharma. 8. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) on 21 October 2013 unanimously elected Kanwar Deep Singh as the president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) for a four-year term. He was succeeded by Dinesh Reddy, Andhra Pradesh's Director General of Police (DGP). 9. Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza came into the top 10 of the world women's doubles by gaining two spots to ninth place in the latest WTA Team Rankings issued on 21 October 2013. Sania Mirza jumped from 11th spot to 9th spot. The 26-year-old Sania moved up as a result of other players dropping points. 10. Bhavina Hashmukhbhai Patel becomes first Indian to win a silver in the ITTF Asian Table Tennis. Bhavina lost to top-seed Zhang Miao of China 6-11, 9-11, 2-11 in the final of women's singles Class 4 Second Stage, in Beijing.

Daily Current Affairs : 20th & 21st October 2013

1. World Osteoporosis Day observed on 20th October across the world. Osteoporosis occurs when there is a loss in the peak bone mass and loss of calcium leading to hip, knee and shoulder fractures. It is estimated that there will be around 36 million people in the world suffering from the disease by the end of this year.

2. Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia elected to seats as non-permanent members by the United Nations Security Council in the 15-member Council on 17 October 2013. These members have been elected for two-year term which would start from January 2014. The New Council members will replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo. There are six principal organisations of UN which maintains peace and security of the world. 1. The Organisations are-General Assembly. 2. The Security Council. 3. The Economic and Social Council. 4. The Trusteeship Council, 5. The International Court of Justice and 6. The Secretariat.

3. Canara Bank, Pune Circle has launched a CASA Carnival in all its branches in Pune and in 14 districts of Maharashtra, to mobilise Savings and Current Accounts through door-to-door and shop-to-shop campaign. 4. Private life insurer PNB MetLife appointed Tarun Chugh as Managing Director of the company. Chugh joins PNB MetLife from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance where he served as their Chief of Distribution, Operations and Marketing for India and was responsible for day-to-day management of all the business functions. 5. The proposed aviation venture of TATA with Singapore Airlines(SIA) has got corporate Affairs Ministry’s approval to use the name “Tata SIA Airlines Ltd. which plans to offer full-service passengers sevices on domestic and international routes. Tata Group had applied on the ministry’s electronic platform,MCA21, to register this name. Tata Group will hold 51% stake in the company while Singapore Airline would have 49%. The two Partners are making the initial investment of USD 100 million to launch the airline,which may take off next year, after getting all clearances. 6. India will launch its ambitious pension scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana for over five million overseas workers in Dubai next week. The scheme will be formally launched by Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi at the Indian Consulate in Dubai on Monday. 7. India and Russia have made substantial progress in reaching an agreement on units 3 and 4 for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, and deliberations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Rosatom are currently in the final phase. 8. The bilateral talks between India and Bangladesh on Customs Co-operation begin today. India's Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose and Chairman of Bangladesh National Revenue Board Muhammad Ghulam Hossain are leading the respective sides. The 2-day talks constitute the ninth round under the Joint Group of Customs, a bilateral framework between the two countries.

9. Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been conferred with the first Yash Chopra Memorial Award for her contribution to cinema. She was presented the award by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on saturday, at a function in Mumbai. Lata Mangeshkar is the first recipient of the award constituted by TSR Foundation of T Subbarami Reddy. Yash Chopra (80) died in Mumbai on October 21 last year. 10. Google-owned online ad-placing service DoubleClick announced that the way has been cleared to include space at Facebook. Google had previously been shut out of the social network's advertising network, with no reasons given for the exclusion or the change of heart. DoubleClick Bid Manager is a way for marketers to buy online ad space at websites across the Internet. 11. Shreekant Javalgekar resigned as the Managing Director and CEO of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on 19 October 2013. Multi Commodity Exchange is the only commodity exchange in India which is listed on a stock exchange. 12. Four Indians, Chanda Kochhar, Chitra Ramkrishna, Shikha Sharma, Naina Lal Kidwai have made to 2013 Fortune magazine's global list of top-50 women business leaders. The list was released on 20 October 2013 by Fortune magazine, US. ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been ranked 4th, followed by National Stock Exchange chief Chitra Ramkrishna at 17th, Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma at 32nd and HSBC's Naina Lal Kidwai at 42nd place among the Indians on the international list of most powerful women in business. This list is topped by Brazilian energy giant Petrobras' CEO Maria Das Gracas Foster. 13. One of Mahatma Gandhi's most prized possessions, the 'charkha' he used in Yerwada Jail, will go under the hammer at a prestigious British auction house on November 5 with the minimum bid set at 60,000 pounds. The charkha (spinning wheel) used by Gandhi while he was in the prison at Pune during India's freedom struggle, was given to the American Free Methodist missionary Revd Floyd A Puffer. Puffer was a pioneer in Indian educational and industrial cooperatives. He invented a bamboo plow that was later adopted by Gandhi. Gandhi presented the charkha to Puffer for his work in Colonial India. 14. Convicted Congress leader Rashid Masood today became the first MP to lose his seat after the Supreme Court struck down a provision that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts. 66-year-old Masood was held guilty in a case of corruption and other offences in September. 15. Renowned musician Madhuri Chattopadhyay died on 19 October 2013. She breathed her last at her Kolkata residence after suffering for a prolonged period. She was 73. Apart from film songs she had innumerable records. She was from West Bengal. She contributed immensely in the field of Bangla music. 16. Renowned music director K Raghavan, who brought originality and local flavour to Malayalam cinema music, in a career spanning over five decades, died in a hospital on Saturday. He was 99. He was a recipient of

several honours, including Padma Shree and Kerala Government's highest film honour J C Daniel award. 17. Scientists have developed the world's first robot human made entirely of prosthetic parts and he can walk, talk and even has a beating heart. The robot, which cost almost USD 1 million to build, was assembled from prosthetic body parts and artificial organs donated by laboratories around the world. Roboticists Rich Walker and Matthew Godden of Shadow Robot Co in England put together the bionic man. 18. North Zone and South Zone were declared joint winners of the Duleep Trophy this year after the fifth day's play of the final match was also called off without a ball being bowled in Kochi on Monday. It was the fourth instance in the history of Duleep Trophy when the title has been shared. 19. India's ace Squash player Dipika Pallikal on 20 October 2013 won the Macau Open title at Macau, China. This was Dipika Pallikal's seventh Women's Squash Association title. The Macau Open 2013 is a squash tournament held in Macau, China on 15 to 20 October 2013. It is part of the PSA World Tour and the WSA World Tour. The prize money for the Macau Open is 35000 Dollars. Dipika Pallikal (Born on 21 September 1991 at Chennai) is an Indian squash player. She is the first Indian woman to break into the top 10 in the WSA rankings. 20. Jorge Lorenzo won the Australian Grand Prix on 20 October 2013 at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Phillip Island.

Daily Current Affairs : 19th October 2013

1. The Reserve Bank of India launched the new Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system for large-value funds transfer. The system has several new functionalities including advance liquidity features, gridlock resolution mechanism and hybrid settlement facility, facility to accept future value-dated transactions and options to process multi-currency transactions. The Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system is a large-value funds transfer system which banks use to settle inter-bank transfers for their own accounts as well as for their customers. 2. Financial inclusion can be better achieved through self-help groups: Nabard. An SHG is a homogeneous group, comprising 15-20 members (mostly women), where members first pool in their savings and give out small loans to needy members. The Government and the RBI hold 99.50 per cent and 0.50 per cent stake, respectively, in

Nabard. The institution was promoted in 1982 for ensuring sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support, related services, institution development and other innovative initiatives.

3. Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban visited India. During his visit, India and Hungry signed several important agreements to further strengthen cooperation which includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of traditional Indian medicine systems. Earlier this year, India’s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid had visited Hungary where he discussed regional, bilateral and international issues with his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi. 4. IT bellwether Infosys Ltd Friday announced it has won the 'Corporate Sustainability Stewardship' award for efficient management of energy, waste and water resources in its production processes and operations. The Parivartan sustainability leadership awards, instituted by Sustainability Outlook, a not-for-profit social organisation, recognise corporates and their executives who contribute in the field of sustainability every year. 5. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre takes oath as new Chief Justice of Gauhati HC. In Assam, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre today took oath as the new Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court at Rajbhawan in Guwahati. Governor J B Patnaik administered the oath to him. Justice Sapre earlier served as the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court. 6. Noted Malayalam music composer K Raghavan died at Thalassery in Kannur district of Kerala on 19 October 2013. He was 99. Raghavan infused the folk element into Malayalam film music and his rustic melodies replaced the then prevailing trend of imitations of popular Hindi tunes of the day. The music mastero, who is credited with giving a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music, has scored music for over 60 films in a career spanning for about four decades. 7. The largest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower of India was inaugurated outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai on 18 October 2013. The tallest ATC tower stands at the length of 84 metres or around 30 storey building. India is the 9th largest aviation market of the world and has the traffic increasing at 10 percent annually. The designing of the ATC was done by Hong Kong-based architectural firm HOK as well as the international engineering designer ARUP. These were chosen after the global competition.

8. Eminent Telugu writer and Gyanpeeth award recipient, Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja passed away in Hyderabad on 18 October 2013. He was 86. Ravuri Bharadwaja won Gyanpeeth award for the year 2012 for his well known Telugu novel, Paakudu Raallu, which reflected real life behind the silver screen of the film industry. 9. Pacer Pradeep Sangwan was on Saturday slapped with an 18-month ban from cricket after being found guilty of consuming a banned anabolic steroid by the BCCI’s Anti-Doping Tribunal. The ban on the 23-year-old Delhi cricketer has been imposed with retrospective effect from May this year when the IPL took place. Sangwan is only the second cricketer in the history of IPL after Pakistani speedster Mohammed Asif to have been found guilty of consuming banned drugs. 10. Ding Junhui won Indian Open Snooker Title 2013. Ding Junhui of China won the 2013 Indian Open Snooker title with a 5-0 victory over Aditya Mehta of India in New Delhi on 18 October 2013. Aditya Mehta, 72nd in the world, became the first Indian player to make the last four of a major ranking event when he reached the semi-finals on 17 October 2013 and he was also first Indian ever to reach the final of the event. 11. Australia Tour Of India 2013 3rd ODI: Australia beat India by four wickets in the third ODI in Mohali on Saturday. Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni led from the front by smashing an unbeaten 139 as India recovered from a poor start to post a massive 303 for nine against Australia. Australia Leads 7-Match Series 2-1.

Daily Current Affairs : 18th October 2013

1. Brazil and India will work together to devise internet regulations in order to protect online privacy from snooping by other countries. The partnership was announced in Brazilian capital Brasilia on Tuesday, after a meeting between foreign ministers of Brazil and India, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo and Salman Khurshid.

2. India and Hungary signed the bilateral agreement for the promotion and development of traditional systems of medicine on 17 October 2013. The main objective of this MoU is to strengthen, promote and develop cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefits. The MoU encourages and promotes cooperation to enhance the use of traditional systems of medicine, exchange of regulatory information on operational licensing to practice traditional medicine.

3. India and Russian Armies began a joint exercise INDRA 2013 in Mahajan Field Firing Range in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. The Exercise is aimed at improving bilateral defence cooperation between the two armies and enhance their ability to operate as integrated forces in a well-coordinated manner within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations. This is the seventh India-Russia joint army exercise which will continue till 28th October. 4. Saudi Arabia has turned down membership of the UN Security Council, a day after it won the seat. Accusing the powerful body of double-standards, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the country has no other option but to turn down Security Council membership until it is reformed and given the means to accomplish its duties and assumes its responsibilities in preserving the world's peace and security. It said the Security Council had failed in its duties towards Syria as well as in other world conflict. 5. The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh on 18 October 2013 released a book on Indian painting written by Prof. B.N. Goswami in New Delhi. Prof. B.N. Goswami is a distinguished art historian, and a leading authority on Indian art and is Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Punjab University, Chandigarh. 6. The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination banknotes with rupee symbol bearing the signature of new governor Raghuram Rajan. As per RBI notification, it will issue these bank notes incorporating rupee symbol on the obverse and reverse, without inset letter in both the numbering panels, in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 bearing the signature of Rajan. RBI said that the year of printing - '2013', will be printed on the reverse of the banknote. 7. Union Government of India appointed on 17 October 2013 Gireesh B. Pradhan, former Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Gireesh B. Pradhan , a Maharashtra Cadre IAS officer of the 1977 batch. He retired from the post of Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in June 2013. 8. Maya Angelou accepts Mailer Center award. The 85—year—old author, poet, dancer and actress was honored during a benefit gala at the New York Public Library, the annual gathering organized by the Mailer Center and writers colony. 9. Alleged middleman in the Agusta Westland VVIP Helicopter deal,Guido Ralph Haschke arrested by Swiss authorities. According to Italian news website, La

Repubblica, Haschke could be brought to Italy by next week in case he prefers not to appeal against extradition proceedings before the Swiss Federal court. 10. Micromax’s new face is Hugh Jackman. New Delhi-based smartphone manufacturer Micromax has stepped outside Indian borders to rope in its brand ambassador. Academy Award winner Hugh Jackman, best-known for the movies Les Miserables, X-Men and Wolverine, will be associated with the Indian consumer electronics company, a Micromax statement said on Friday.

11. Microsoft rolled out Windows 8.1 to customers yesterday. The update, which is free to users around the world who already have Windows 8 on their PCs, will allow traditionalists to boot their computers in the familiar old desktop mode rather than the tiled start page introduced with Windows 8. Windows 8.1 also boasts tighter integration with Microsoft’s Cloud services, a beefed-up Bing search app, and more potent multitasking. 12. Manipur Defeated Haryana to Lift 54th Subroto Cup Football Tournament. Radha Madhav Sanskrit Vidhyalaya, Nambol, Bishnupur (Manipur) lifted the Girls' title of the 54th Subroto Cup football tournament on 17 October 2013. The final match was held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The Subroto Cup Football Tournament is primarily an inter-school football tournament in India, which is named after Indian Air Force Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. The tournament was started in the year 1960 and since then, it is conducted every year.It is conducted by the Indian Air Force, with support from India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. 13. Sarojini Varadappan, the renowned social worker died on 17 October 2013 in Chennai following a brief illness. She was 92 years old. Sarojini Varadappan was a daughter of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Bhakthavatsalam. She was the President of the Women India Association, an NGO working on women-related issues. 14. Online payment facility PayUPaisa announced the launch of all-in-one payment settlement solution, which addresses problems of money settlement and helps marketplaces achieve higher efficiency by providing better control over fund disbursements mechanisms. PayUPaisa takes care of nodal account registration and other regulatory requirements for the sellers, helping marketplaces cut huge cost on seller on boarding. PayUPaisa is part of PayU India, an online payment firm.It serves businesses like Goibibo, Snapdeal, Bookmyshow, Jabong, Ferns n Petals, Zomato, Tradus, Micromax Mobiles, Groupon India among others. 15. Aditya Mehta becomes first Indian to enter into the semifinals of a Snooker Ranking event. After ousting world No 18 Mark Williams in the pre-quarter-finals, Aditya Mehta beats Pankaj Advani in the quarterfinals of Indian Open Snooker tournament. 16. Pujara drops to 8th in ICC Test rankings. Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers' chart of the ICC Test rankings issued on Friday.

Daily Current Affairs : 17th October 2013

1. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed on 17 October 2013 to promote people’s awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Theme for the year 2013 is: Working together towards a world without discrimination: Building on the experience and knowledge of people in extreme poverty.

2. Canada will offer honorary citizenship to Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai. Malala will become just the sixth person to be granted honorary Canadian citizenship after South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama British business magnate Aga Khan and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday. Malala was the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee. 3. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 October 2013 enhanced the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat by 50 rupees per quintal to 1400 rupees for the fiscal, starting April 2014. The CCEA accepted the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. The MSP of red gram and mustard was also hiked by hundred rupees per quintal each. MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers. The government took this step to encourage farmers to cover more area under the crop in the ongoing rabi season. 4. Violin that was played to help calm passengers as the Titanic sank, has gone on display in Britain before being sold at a auction. The instrument belong to the band leader, Wallace Hartley who died along with 1500 others, when the ship went down in 1912. 5. The Union cabinet of India approved on 17 October 2013 the appointment of a three-member supervisory committee headed by a representative of the Central Water Commission on construction of Babhli Barrage issue. The other two members of the committee were including one representative from the state of Andhra Pradesh and one representative from the

Maharashtra. The Babhli project / barrage is a controversial reservoir project being constructed by Maharashtra state across the river Godavari. The project brought dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states. 6. Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri has been named finalist for the prestigious US National Book Award 2013 in the fiction category for her new book ‘The Lowland', an intimate portrayal of two brothers set in Kolkata of the 1960s. 7. Hilary Clinton was awarded the first founders’ award from the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York on 15 October 2013 for her work to help HIV/AIDS victims. John’s foundation is celebrating its 21 year in USA. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, serving under President Barack Obama. The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by rock musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV/AIDS prevention, education programs, direct care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS. It has raised over 200 million US dollars to support HIV/AIDS programs in fifty-five nations. 8. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh today released the book Walking With Giants — a lesson in modern Indian history a memoir written by former Finance Secretary G. Ramachandran. Ramachandran’s book “strikes the middle path” in representing the views of politicians and bureaucrats. The book is a “deep discussion” of the issues that shaped India’s history during the times when leaders such as Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh at the Centre, and Rajaji, Kamaraj and Anna Durai at the State level were in power. The “foreword” to the book is written by Y. V. Reddy, chairman, 14th Finance Commission, and a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. 9. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police today arrested former managing director and chief executive of the beleaguered National Spot Exchange (NSEL) Anjani Sinha. Sinha was arrested for his role in the Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis at the NSEL which has affected 13,000 investors across the country, police said. This is the third arrest in the case; earlier the police had arrested Amit Mukherjee, a former assistant vice-president of the exchange on October 9, while Jay Bahukhundi, another former assistant vice-president, was arrested the next day. 10. Top English Premier League side Liverpool on 16 October 2013 launched a residential football academy in Pune in partnership with city-based DSK Shivajians FC. The academy was named as LFC International Football Academy DSK. It will have a world class residential complex, full size pitches, practice areas, classrooms, residential, medical facilities, lecture theatre and canteen. This is the first time an English football club has partnered with an Indian team to help them bring through local talent. 11. Photographer Greg du Toit was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 by the panel of international judges. The winners of 2013 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition were announced on 17 October 2013 at the awards ceremony held at Natural History Museum in London. He was given the

award for his image Essence of elephants-an energetic and lively portrait of African elephants in the Northern Tuli Games Reserve in Botswana. Greg du Toit is from South Africa. He won the award beating almost 43000 contestants from across 96 countries. Chair of the judging panel was wildlife photographer Jim Brandenburg. 12. Fourteen-year-old photographer from India Udayan Rao Pawar won the award as Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 for his image Mother’s little headful. 13. Private sector lender Yes Bank and credit rating company Care Ratings have entered into an agreement to offer services and products in the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment. The collaboration will also work towards creating awareness on the importance of external ratings for SMEs, and funding avenues through knowledge dissemination workshops. 14. Noted Marathi playwright and political thinker Govind P Deshpande died on 16 October 2013 due to age-related ailments. He was 75. G P Deshpande won acclaim for his plays including Udhvasta Dharmashala and Satyashodhak. (His famous Satyashodhak centred on the mission of pioneering social reformer Mahatma Phule). His most well known plays are Udhwastha Dharamshala , Raastey , Andhar Yatra and Satyashodhak .

Daily Current Affairs : 16th October 2013

1. "World Food Day" celebrated on 16 October every year across the world since 1981. The main objective of the World Food Day is to strengthen national and international solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food security and agricultural development. The Theme of the World Food Day 2013 is "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition". World Food Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1979.

2. New Zealand' Eleanor Catton won the Man Booker Award for her novel ''The Luminaries''. She is not only the youngest novelist to win the

coveted literary prize, but has set a new record for the longest winning novel. The Luminaries is 852 pages. 3. The Railways today appointed acting Chairman of the Railway Board Arunendra Kumar as the head of the Board. Kumar, the Mechanical Member, was holding additional charge of Chairman, Railway Board (CRB) after the retirement of Vinay Mittal on June 30. 4. The Reserve Bank of India has rejected IIFCL’s proposal to provide takeout finance at the latter’s wholly-owned London subsidiary. This is despite the Centre giving its nod to IIFCL’s London arm to operate in the takeout finance segment. 5. The World Bank has revised downwards India’s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 4.7 per cent. This is down from 6.1 per cent economic growth projected in April this year. The World Bank’s latest India GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal is higher than the International Monetary Fund’s recent downward revised projection of 4.25 per cent for 2013-14. 6. The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released on 14 October 2013 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide- revealed that 842 million people were chronically under nourished across the world. The 2013 GHI is calculated for 120 countries, its scores are based on three equally weighted indicators. India has moved from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index, making a marginal improvement since 2012, but continues to suffering far behind other emerging economies. The score for India has improved slightly from 22.9 in 2012 to 21.3 in 2013. Within SAARC countries also, India continued to trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on the index. The GHI combines three equally weighted indicators into one score:

• The proportion of people who are undernourished. • The proportion of children under five who are underweight. • The mortality rate of children younger than age five.

7. Justice M B Shah Commission, appointed to probe illegal mining across the country, has submitted its third and final report which is mainly on the menace in Goa. The Commission has made a thorough probe into the bank transactions of exporters, traders and mining lease owners to track down the exact financial transaction, the source added. The term of the Commission expires on Wednesday. 8. The Government is considering a proposal to rename the public distribution system after Indira Gandhi to prevent Opposition parties from taking credit for implementing the National Food Security Act. 9. The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) has elected Mahindra group Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra as its Chairperson for a term of three years. Mahindra succeeds NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder, Executive Chairman, who has held the position since July 2011. Established in 2006 as a public-private initiative, PHFI is an independent foundation headquartered in New Delhi. 10. A powerful typhoon Wipha on 16 October 2013 caused landslides and flooding on Izu Oshima Island, South of Tokyo. The storm brought strong winds and record rainfall - 122mm (4.8 inches) in one hour to Izu Oshima Island, which lies some 120km (75 miles) south of Tokyo. It caused damage to property and human lives. Wipha is the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane. Wipha is the 12th typhoon and 26th named storm of the west Pacific typhoon

season. It was the strongest storm to impact the region since Typhoon Tokage in October, 2004. 11. Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar announced retirement from all forms of after 16-year of career during which he played in 26 Tests and 191 ODIs besides leading Mumbai to their 40th Ranji Trophy title last season. He took 58 test wickets and 288 in ODI wickets. He scored 571 runs in Tests between 1998 and 2006 and 1269 in ODIs from 1998 to 2007, which included the then fastest 50 in 21 balls against Zimbabwe. 12. India vs Aus(2nd ODI): India won by 9 wickets Virat Kohli becomes the fastest Indian to score an ODI hundred.He did it in just 52 balls thus breaking Sehwag's record.

Daily Current Affairs : 15th October 2013

1. "International Day of Rural women" was observed on 15 October 2013 across the world to recognize the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty. The Day recognizes rural women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide. 2. CBI registers case against Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parekh in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks.It is the 14th FIR in its ongoing coal scam, along with raids at several places. 3. In a first-of-its-kind initiative to promote use of clean technology, India on Tuesday signed an agreement with Finland to produce indigenous ethanol and reduce country’s dependence on its import. The agreement was inked between Finnish Minister for European Affairs Alexander Stubb and India’s Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaka Lakshmi in New Delhi. 4. Tourism Ministry launches an innovative website to make it easy for tourists to walk or drive through the most-visited cities in India by providing all tourism-related information at one place. The Ministry join hands with IT firm Genesys for launching Walking Tours at www.wonobo.com. 5. President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday conferred the Presidential Award for Classical Tamil 2009-10 and 2010-11 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Dr. Iravathram Mahadevan received prestigious Tolkappiyar award for his immense contribution in the area

of Epigraphy. President also conferred Young Scholar Awards to Dr. T. Suresh, Dr. S. Kalpana, Dr. R. Chandrasekhar , Dr. Vaani Arivaalan and Dr. C. Muthamizhselvan for showing excellence in Tamil studies.

6. The Indian Navy on 15 October 2013 inducted into service its largest offshore patrol vessel (OPV), INS Sunayna, at the Southern Naval Command. The ship was designed and built by the public sector Goa Shipyard. The ship is equipped with the most advanced communication, navigation and electronic warfare equipment besides a 76-mm SRGM (Super Rapid Gun Mount), and close-in weapon system (CIWS). INS Sunayna will strengthen the Indian Navy capability to safeguard the maritime interests. 7. The Election Commission of India ordered on 13 October 2013 the Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union territories to provide for None of the Above (NOTA) option in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and ballot papers. The None of the Above option will be provided at the bottom of the panel on the EVMs or as the last row in the ballot paper after all the candidates have been listed with their respective symbols in the same language used to list the candidates. 8. Australian Terry Walsh is set to be appointed as head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team after the Sports Authority of India recommended his name to the Sports Ministry. Walsh’s name has been forwarded to the Sports Ministry and his appointment will be cleared in a week’s time. 9. Indian actor Kumar Pallana, who played the memorable role of a janitor in Tom Hanks starrer 'The Terminal' and worked in many Wes Anderson movies, has died. He was 94. Pallana was a scene stealer as an Indian janitor who enjoyed watching people slip on his freshly cleaned floors in the Steven Spielberg directed movie. 10. Novak Djokovic on 15 October 2013 defeated Juan Del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) to win a second straight trophy at the Shanghai Masters in China. Djokovic earned victory on the first of three match points in the third-set tiebreaker after Del Potro saved two Djokovic match-winners in the tenth game of the set. Novak Djokovic won a fourth Beijing trophy over the past five years when he beat Nadal last week. Djokovic is from Serbia. Djokovic, at present owns five titles this season and 39 in his career. 11. Oscar Hijuelos, the Cuban-American writer died on 13 October 2013 in New York City. He was 62 years old and died because of heart attack. He was the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize. He is survived by his wife. 12. BCCI confirms Sachin Tendulkar will play his 200th and farewell Test at the Wankhede Stadium in his home town Mumbai.

Daily Current Affairs : 13th-14th October 2013

1. International Day for Disaster Reduction(13th Cotober). It's objective is to raise awareness of how people are taking action to reduce their risk to disasters. The theme of the day this year is "Living with Disability and Disasters". Persons living with disabilities are among the most excluded in the society and their plight is magnified when a disaster strikes. This year, the focus is on some one billion people around the world who live with some form of disability. 2. World Standards Day(14th October).It is celebrated internationally each year on October 14. This year's theme is “International standards ensure positive change”. International standards represent the consensus view of the world’s leading experts in industry sectors ranging from energy utilities and energy efficiency to transportation, management systems, climate change, healthcare, safety and information and communication technology (ICT).

3. Eugene F. Fama, Robert J. Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their research on how the market prices of assets such as stocks move. The three laureates, all Americans, “laid the foundation for the current understanding of asset prices,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which selects the winner, said today in Stockholm.

4. The head of the United Nations named “Sigrid Kaag” to lead the UN's joint mission with the chemical weapons watchdog tasked with eliminating Syria's arsenal. The UN Security Council, which is set to vote on Kaag's nomination Wednesday, has formally approved a first joint mission with the Nobel Peace Prize-winning (OPCW) Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Kaag is charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile by 30th June, in line with a resolution passed by the Security Council last month. 5. Gold loan company Muthoot Finance Ltd has been bestowed with Golden Peacock Award for ‘HR Excellence for 2013’ at a function in London. Baroness Verma,

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, Government of United Kingdom, presented the award to George M. Jacob, Director, Muthoot Group. 6. ING Vysya Bank has entered into a business tie-up with Indian Railways’ IRCTC to offer online train ticketing services to its customers. This facility enables ING Vysya Bank’s customers to book train tickets using ING Net Banking or ING debit cards. Over 1 lakh tickets were booked during the first month of the launch, the bank said in a statement. 7. National Housing Bank (NHB) has joined hands with UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) to launch an affordable housing project that will operate in eight low-income States. This is the first time that NHB has come up with a project that caters to specified States, said R.V. Verma, Chairman & Managing Director of NHB here today. The project will operate in the eight States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. 8. Private sector insurer Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) today launched a participating traditional plan, BSLI Savings Plan, with guaranteed additions for the first five years of the policy term. The plan is a savings-cum-insurance option that aims to provide secured growth to savings and comprehensive financial protection from the risk of unfortunate death. BSLI is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc, a leading international financial services organisation from Canada. 9. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has won two onland oil blocks in Myanmar, strengthening its presence in the south-east Asian nation. OVL, which has stakes in the A-1 and A-3 gas discovery blocks and three other offshore acreages in Myanmar, was last week awarded two oil and gas exploration blocks in that country's Onshore Blocks Second Bidding Round - 2013. The firm got Blocks B-2 (Zebyutaung-Nandaw) and EP-3 (Thegon-Shwegu), according to the list of winners released by Myanmar's Energy Ministry. 10. Retail inflation rose marginally to 9.84 per cent in September, mainly due to a hike in food prices, particularly of vegetables. Retail inflation measured in terms of consumer price index (CPI) was at 9.52 per cent in August. Retail inflation for rural and urban areas in September stood at 9.71 per cent and 9.93 per cent, respectively. The same was 8.93 per cent and 10.32 per cent (revised figures) in August. For CPI inflation, price data are collected from select towns by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and from select villages by the Department of Posts. 11. Former Union minister, freedom fighter and environmentalist Mohan Dharia, who quit the Indira Gandhi government against imposition of Emergency, died here today of chronic kidney failure. He was 89. A recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the highest Padma award, in 2005, Dharia retired from active politics in 1982 and formed “Vanrai”, an organisation dedicated to the cause of conservation and social forestry. Interestingly,even though a bitter critic of Indira Gandhi, Dharia was conferred the prestigious Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 2011, by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

12. The Indian tennis pair Sanam Singh and Vijayant Malik on 12 October 2013 won the doubles title in the 15000 US dollars ITF Men's Futures Tennis Tournament at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston, USA. In the final match, they defeated fourth seeded pair of Evan King (USA) and Costin Paval (Romania) in two sets 7-6 (5), 6-4. 13. Varun Arora, a young innovator from India on 10 October 2013 selected for United Nations 10 Young Innovators Competition 2013. Varun Arora is among 10 people from around the world selected for a prestigious United Nations award in recognition of their work as entrepreneurs and use of technology to change the world. Varun Arora awarded for his creation Open Curriculum, an online platform for local educational material for standard, primary and secondary schooling. 14. Many People Killed and Several Injured near a Temple in Madhya Pradesh. Approximately, 115 people were feared killed and over 100 injured in a stampede on 13 October 2013 near a temple at Ratangarh in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district. The stampede was caused by rumours that a bridge they were crossing was about to collapse. 15. Indian Wrestler Satyavrat on 12 October 2013 won the 9th Roustam-E-International Indian Style wrestling title at Vivekanand Sports Stadium, Katra after he defeated wrestler Mykhalio Datsemko of Ukrain in the final bout. Wrestler Satyavart was awarded Silver Gurj, Patta and cash prize of one lakh rupees and the runner up got cash of 50000 rupees.

Daily Current Affairs : 12th October 2013

1. World Arthritis Day is observed across the world on 12 October 2013 to raise awareness about Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs). The Day is celebrated each year on 12 October to raise awareness of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases amongst the medical community, people with RMDs and the general public. World Arthritis Day was established in 1996 by Arthritis and Rheumatism International (ARI) and is celebrated each year on 12 October. Arthritis means joint inflammation, and it's used to describe different diseases and conditions that affect joints, the tissues that surround joints, and other connective tissues in the body.

2. IMF-World Bank Annual meeting kick off in Washington D.C. (11-13 Oct). The Board of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) normally meet once a year to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness. 3. India has asked World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks to create special windows for ensuring finance for infrastructure development which should include provision to help projects that face a sudden scarcity of funds due to volatile capital flows. The aim of such a provision should be to create mechanisms which can increase the flow of infrastructure financing at times when other investments are slowing down. 4. Goal of Women's Bank is to support women in the country: Usha Ananthasubramanian. The bank will help in supporting women by giving advice and in a sustainable way. When women's income increases, it will improve significantly in the society as well, Usha said. After starting with one branch in each banking region, the bank will expand to 500 branches by the fourth year of operation. Recently, Finance Minister P Chidambaram identifies Usha Ananthasubramanian, executive director of Punjab National Bank, to be the chief executive of Bhartiya Mahila Bank, which will launch its operations from November with six branches. 5. India will be the top export destination for West Asia and North African countries by 2030. According to HSBC's latest Trade Forecast report. By then, the country will be the UAE's top export destination, accounting for 14 percent of exports. It will also become Saudi Arabia's second largest export destination, accounting for 18.5 percent of exports. 6. The Reserve Bank of India infused liquidity aggregating Rs 19,000 crore into the banking system through a seven-day term repo auction on Friday. This is the maiden term repo auction by the central bank. It announced introduction of this auction, whereby banks pledge excess government securities with the regulator to borrow funds for 7 days and 14 days, on October 7. Against the notified auction amount of Rs 19,000 crore, the central bank infused Rs 19,001 crore into the banking system, at the cut-off rate of 8.80 per cent. 7. Bollywood actor Aamir Khan on 11 October 2013 released Mansoor Khan’s book The Third Curve: The End of Growth as We Know It at the India International Centre in New Delhi. Mansoor's book: The Third Curve describes the co-relation between the compulsions of economic growth and the limits imposed on man by nature. The Book also emphasises on the end of growth. Mansoor Khan is an alumnus of IIT-Mumbai, Cornell University and MIT, Boston and Bollywood film Director. Mansoor Khan, son of film maker Nasir Hussain, made his directorial debut with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) which launched the career of his cousin Aamir Khan. 8. The India Post on 11 October 2013 launched instant electronic money transfer service in partnership with Wall Street Exchange, (a company of UAE's Emirates Post Group) in New Delhi. In this regard India Post signed an agreement with Wall Street Exchange for launch of an International Electronic Money Transfer service through Instant Cash product of the Emirates Post Group. The service was launched

by P. Gopinath, Secretary, Department of Posts, by receiving the first payment from United Arab Emirates. The salient features of the service are:

• Recipients will be able to receive their payment at any of the identified 17500 post offices by producing the unique transaction number along with their identity and KYC documents.

• Money will be available for payment immediately. • Safe and secure transactions through established International Financial

System of Universal Postal Union. • The service will be rolled out nationally in a phased manner. • The service will be provided through the International Financial System (IFS)

of Universal Postal Union.

Instant Cash is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirates Post Group, and its services are available in 59 countries through more than 60000 locations. 9. Cyclone Phailin set to hit Odisha and Andhra coasts this evening with a wind speed of 240km/hr. The Meteorological office at Bhubaneswar has warned extensive damage to houses, large scale disruption of power and communication lines, disruption of rail and road traffic, potential threat from flying debris, flooding of escape routes and extensive damage to agricultural crops.

Daily Current Affairs : 11th October 2013

1. International Day of the Girl Child observed on 11 October 2013 across the world to recognise the girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. Theme for the year 2013 is Innovating for Girls’ Education. The United Nations General Assembly on 19 December 19, 2011 adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. 2. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won this year's Nobel Peace Prize today "for its extensive efforts" to rid the world of such arsenals, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. "The conventions and the work of the OPCW have defined the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law," the committee said. The organisation is overseeing the destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria. Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the OPCW was formed in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons. 3. Government of India on 10 October 2013 signed agreements with seven countries, who pledged their commitment to the Nalanda University project in Bihar. The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with Australia, Cambodia,

Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Lao PDR and Myanmar in the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Brunei. These MoUs are important to India's plans to establish Nalanda University in Bihar as an institution of international repute. Nalanda University will be constructed at Rajgir, which is situated around 100 km away from Patna, Bihar. The construction of the University will take place on 446-acre plot, which is situated 12 km away from the ruins of ancient seat of learning. 4. PM meets Indonesian President in Jakarta; 6 bilateral pacts on technology, trade, anti-corruption and anti-narcotics measures signed between India and Indonesia. 5. China on 10 October 2013 signed a 350 Billion Yuan (45 billion Euro) currency swap agreement with the European Union, marking a major step in internationalising its currency. The agreement signed between the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The pact aimed to support bilateral trade and protect financial stability. The agreement lasts three years and can be extended if both parties agree. 6. The Empowered Committee led by Retired Chief Justice (High Court of Punjab and Haryana) Mukul Mudgal submitted its report on issues concerning the Cinematograph Act to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The committee has given its suggestions regarding issues such as advisory panels, guidelines for certification and issues such as portrayal of women, obscenity and communal disharmony. Other issues which the committee has revisited and given its recommendations on include classification of films, piracy and jurisdiction of appellate tribunal, among others. It has also proposed a draft Cinematograph Bill. 7. Prime Minister of Libya, Ali Zeidan was abducted by gunmen on 10 October 2013. They held him captive for several hours. Ali Zeidan was later rescued. The incident underscored the lawlessness gripping Libya two years after the ouster of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi. Ali Zeidan is the Prime Minister of Libya. He was appointed by the General National Congress on 14 October 2012, and took office on 14 November after Congress approved his cabinet nominees. 8. The Tata group has launched the third edition of ‘Tata First Dot powered by NEN,’ a platform for student entrepreneurship. Tata First Dot workshops will be held across 20 cities this year, adding five – Raipur, Guwahati, Ranchi, Nagpur and Srinagar - to the list, said Atul Agrawal, vice-president, corporate Affairs, Tata Services. 9. The eleventh annual international life sciences conference, BioAsia 2014, will kick off in Hyderabad from February 17-19. “Innovate and Evolve”— this will be the theme for the new edition of the international meet, as it involves the entire life sciences industry. The meet’s focus on innovation will address the increasing disease burden and the growing need for more efficacious and affordable healthcare solutions. 10. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will co-chair the sixth India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) meeting during his visit to Brazil beginning October 14. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that during the meeting, both sides will discuss the entire gamut of India-Brazil Strategic

Partnership, including political, economic and commercial, agriculture, science and technology, defence, cultural and hydrocarbon. 11. The cyclonic storm Phailin in the second week of October 2013 hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands and moved northwestwards early this morning and presently lay centred about 800 km South East of Paradip in Odisha. It is expected to reach the coast of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the next 48 to 72 hours. The system will intensify into a severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. Fishermen have been asked not to venture into sea and those gone deep inside the sea have been asked to return to the coast. 12. India recorded a convincing six wicket victory over Australia in the one-off Twenty-20 International cricket match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot last night. Set to score 202 runs for a win, India achieved victory in 19.4 overs. Man of the Match Yuvraj Singh remained unbeaten on 77 which came off only 35 balls. Skipper M.S. Dhoni was not out on 24. Earlier, put in to bat, Australia made 201 for seven in their 20 overs. 13. Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium is set to host the farewell Test for Sachin Tendulkar after the legendary batsman expressed a wish to play his landmark 200th match against the West Indies next month in front of his home crowd.

Daily Current Affairs : 10th October 2013

1. The World Mental Health Day Observed on 10 October 2013 across the world to raise awareness about mental illness and its effects on people. The theme for the year 2013 is Mental health and older adults. World Mental Health Day is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. 2. Alice Munro won Nobel Prize 2013 in literature and became the first Canadian woman to take the Nobel Prize since its launch in 1901. Canada's Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for her short stories that focus on the frailties of the human condition. Munro is just the 13th woman to win the Nobel Literature Prize since it was first awarded in 1901. Munro is the author of 14 story collections; her latest is "Dear Life," which includes four autobiographical tales. Earlier this year, the 82-year-old writer announced plans to put down her pen and retire. Munro is the 17th Nobel laureate born in Canada.

3. Eminent agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, known as the father of Green Revolution, will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, it was announced today. The Award for the year 2012 consisting of a citation and Rs five lakh will be presented to the 88-year-old scientist by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at a function here on October 31, the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, Member Secretary of the award committee Motilal Vora said. 4. To boost mobile banking, the Reserve Bank of India has formed a technical committee to examine the feasibility of encrypted SMS-based fund transfers. Transfers that can be facilitated using an application that can run on any mobile handset. B. Sambamurthy, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology, will chair the committee and Vijay Chugh, Chief General Manager at RBI will be the member secretary. 5. The UN owes $80 million to India, the most it has to pay to any country, for costs relating to peacekeeping operations, a top official said. Apart from India, among the largest troop contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions, the other top countries which are owed outstanding payments for such operations are Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Rwanda and Nigeria. 6. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has launched a $1-billion offshore bond programme, touted as the largest of its kind in the offshore rupee market, to strengthen India’s capital markets and attract greater foreign investment. Under the programme, IFC will issue rupee-linked bonds and use the proceeds to finance private sector investment in the country. 7. Janet Yellen to be first woman to head U.S. Fed Reserve. The U. S. Federal Reserve is going to exit the list of top power institutions in the country where the top position has never been held by a woman. President Barack Obama's administration has nominated Janet Yellen to run the central bank She is going to be the first woman to be the chairperson of the Federal Reserve. But, she is not the world's first woman to head a central bank. 8. Pakistan's teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban for fighting girls' rights to education, was today awarded the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize. The 16-year-old who has become an emblem of the fight against the most radical forms of Islamism has also been nominated for the Nobel peace prize. 9. The government’s ambitious rural job scheme MNREGA has not only unleashed a revolution in rural India but has also established the country as a model of inclusive development worldwide : World Bank. 10. Star batsman Jayasurya among new Ministers in Lanka cabinet. Sri Lanka’s cabinet was expanded today with the inclusion of nine new Deputy Ministers, including former star batsman and Chairman of the Selection Committee, Sanath Jayasuriya. 11. Wilfried Martens, nine-times Prime Minister of Belgium and who led the European Union's Christian Democrat group, died at Lokeren, in East Flanders. He was 77 years old.

13. Well-known Telugu film actor, Srihari died on 9 October 2013 at a private hospital in Mumbai. He was shooting for a Hindi film Rambo Rajkumar being directed by Prabhu Deva with Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. Srihari, was suffering from a liver ailment for some time. 14. Leprosy awareness campaign “Heal INDIA” launched today by the Leprosy Mission Trust of India in an effort to remove the stigma attached to leprosy. The campaign Hire Educate Accept Leprosy-affected (HEAL) will be reaching out to people through 40,000 children in schools across Delhi, NCR, and also colleges through workshops, films and music. 15. Today is the birth anniversary of one of India's most loved authors, R K Narayan. R K Narayan whose works gave the generation one of its most cherished tele-serials, Malgudi Days, and Bollywood, one of its most celebrated movies, 'Guide'. R. K. Narayan, full name Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, is one of three leading figures of early Indian literature in English (alongside Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao), and is credited with bringing the genre to the rest of the world. 16. Jignesh Shah, Vice-Chairman and Shareholder Director of the MCX-SX, and Joseph Massey, Managing Director and CEO, have resigned from the board of the exchange. According to a press release, market regulator SEBI has nominated Thomas Mathew, a former Chairman of LIC, as Public Interest Director of the exchange. 17. Akshay Kumar's upcoming film "Boss" has entered the Guinness World Records for having the largest poster in the world. The width of the poster is 193 feet and 1 inch while its height is 180 feet and 2 inches. Boss" broke the record of Michael Jackson's "This Is It", a documentary-concert film. 18. Sachin Tendulkar, regarded as the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket, today called it quits from Test cricket, announcing his retirement after his 200th match against the West Indies next month, bringing the curtains down on an extraordinary career spanning a marathon 24 years. Tendulkar, who has scored a monumental 15,837 runs in 198 Tests at an average of 53.86, said it was hard to imagine a life without playing cricket. 19. Widely-popular fast-food chain McDonald on Wednesday announced its decision to launch its international coffee format McCafe in India. McDonald's Indian arm, WestLife Development Ltd. (WDL), will first launch McCafe in western and southern parts of India, followed by an expansion of the new coffee format in the remaining parts of the country by Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd.

Daily Current Affairs : 09th October 2013

1. World Post Day(9th October) celebrated across the world to raise awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries. It is the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital, Berne. It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1969. 2. 23rd ASEAN Summit starts today in Brunei Darussalam. Brunei Darussalam also chair the 22nd ASEAN Summit on 24-25 April 2013 . This is the fourth time that Brunei Darussalam has chaired ASEAN, having previously been the Chair in 1989, 1995 and 2001. Brunei Darussalam’s theme for the Chairmanship is “Our People, Our Future Together”. This theme stresses the role of the people in ASEAN Member States in advancing cooperation in the areas of political-security, economic and socio-cultural. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 3. Michael Levitt, a British and US citizen of Stanford University, US-Austrian Martin Karplus of Strasbourg University and US-Israeli Arieh Warshel of the University of Southern California share The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 on 9 October 2013. They were awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 for the development of multi scale models for complex chemical systems. The trio devised computer simulations to understand chemical processes. 4. Britain is to host next year's Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Org.) summit for the first time since the end of the cold war in 1990. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. NATO is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries. India is not a member of NATO. 5. The autobiography of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for supporting girls’ education was released yesterday in London. He auto biography “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban” was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb. 6. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered the growth projection for India to 3.8 per cent in 2013-14. This is sharply lower than the 5.6 per cent growth projection it had made in July.

7. The Finance Ministry expects the economic growth in the current fiscal to improve to 5.5 per cent from 5 per cent last year on back of likely pick up in agricultural output on account of good monsoon rains. 8. Aadhaar cards for availing subsidies, market regulator SEBI accepted the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (the agency responsible for making the cards) e-KYC services. Earlier in August 2012, SEBI had said it would accept Aadhaar for proof of address. Prior to that, Aadhaar was recognised by the regulator only as proof of identity. 9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today restricted foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to purchase shares in Great Eastern Shipping Company and Kajaria Ceramics as the foreign equity shareholding have reached the trigger limit of 24 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), Non—Resident Indians (NRIs), and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) are allowed to invest in the primary and secondary capital markets in India through the portfolio investment scheme (PIS). Under the scheme, FIIs/NRIs can acquire shares/debentures of Indian companies through the stock exchanges in India. 10. World's largest retail chain Walmart Stores Inc and Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Group have called off their six-year old alliance in India and will own and operate separate businesses in the country going forward. As per the agreement, Walmart would acquire Bharti’s stake in Bharti Walmart Pvt Ltd a joint venture between Bharti and Walmart, giving Walmart 100% ownership of the best price modern wholesale cash and carry business. Bharti Retail will continue to operate ‘easyday’ retail stores across all formats and invest in and grow the business. 11. The Government of India on 9 October 2013 proposed to support setting up of Plastic Parks for the promotion of downstream plastic processing industries. The Scheme to be implemented by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals envisages setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which would provide infrastructure and common facilities for the industries. State Government or its agency, which would set up such SPV, will have to mandatorily have equity participation in it. 12. Global payments solutions provider Visa today announced its partnership with Micro Pension Foundation to launch pension scheme for low-income groups in the rural areas to save for their future. 13. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi and Birmingham Airport, UK on 7 October 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalise a working relationship and commit to developing links between the two cities (Birmingham and Delhi). The MoU will allow the sharing information and best practice to enhance links between Birmingham and Delhi and promote tourism and business opportunities at both ends of the route. 14. Queen's Baton Relay for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games is all set to get under way in London. The baton will travel to all 70 nations and territories of the Commonwealth during its journey of around 248 days. The baton will contain the Queen's hand-written message to the Commonwealth. The 248-day relay starts from Buckingham Palace in London.

15. The Ahmedabad-based Sankalp Group, which twice entered Guinness Book of World Records by making 25 and 32-feet-long dosas in 1997 and 2006, respectively, has broken its own record by preparing a 53-feet-long dosa here on Monday. The 53-ft-long dosa was prepared by a team of 32 chefs who used 80 kg of flour,30 kg of pure ghee and 300 kg of cooking gas to make it in just 10 minutes. 16. Buckingham Palace held its first official football match to mark FA's (Football Association’s) 150th anniversary on 7 October 2013. 17. Embattled Shuttler Jwala Gutta moved the Delhi High Court against the Badminton Association of India (BAI) after its disciplinary committee recommended a life ban on her for an alleged code of conduct breach in the Indian Badminton League.

Daily Current Affairs : 08th October 2013

1. The Indian Air Force Day is celebrated on 8 October 2013. It is the 81st anniversary of the Indian Air Force. On this day, various celebrations are organised across the country along with parades at the airbases all over India. The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire. Therefore, every year 8 October is celebrated as the Indian Air Force Day. 2. Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium won the Nobel Physics Prize today for the discovery of the "God particle". The pair were honoured for "the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles. This was recently confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle," the jury said. 3. Ethiopia's parliament elected Mulatu Teshome to be the country's new president on Monday, for a six-year term in a largely symbolic and ceremonial post. 4. The Union Cabinet today approved official amendments to the UIDAI Bill. This will give statutory status to UIDAI which is responsible for issuing the Aadhar number. Besides giving statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the Bill seeks to provide legal backing to Aadhaar, which is used to disburse subsidies.

5. Turkey has assured India of backing its bid for full membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and would take up the issue with other members of the 47-nation grouping, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. In the recent past, Turkey has made it clear that it does not object to India's quest for membership in the NSG but would like to see it joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a prerequisite for being part of the NSG. 6. Supreme Court has directed Central and the state governments to provide 3 percent jobs to the disabled. In its landmark order the apex court has asked the centre and states to implement reservation for disabled within three months in all government departments, companies and institutions. 8. Industry lobby All-India Association of Industries, AIAI today entered into an agreement with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote trade between the two countries. The memorandum of understanding signed in Mumbai today aims to enhance trade and investments between the two nations. 9. Finance Minister P Chidambaram will leave for the US on Tuesday to attend the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. The world leaders will deliberate on prevailing uncertainty in global economy. Discussions will also focus on the much-awaited quota reforms that will benefit emerging economies including India. Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan and Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, among others, will also be attending the annual meetings. The visit comes against the backdrop of external sector pressure with the country's foreign exchange reserves dipping by over 15 billion dollars since March 2013 to 276 billion dollars as on September 27. 10. Tata Power has inked a deal to acquire AES Saurashtra Windfarms, a subsidiary of US-based AES Corp, which owns a 39.2 MW wind energy farm in Gujarat. The purchase was made through the Tata Power subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy, for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, Tata Power's total generation capacity now stands at 8,560 MW of which 437 MW capacity is from wind energy. 11. Canara Bank and Apollo Munich Health Insurance (AMHI) have entered into a bancassurance tie-up. This is the first such tie-up for the insurance company in its six years of existence. Bancassurance is distribution of insurance products through a bank’s network. 12. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), one of the largest banks in United Arab Emirates, has put in place an Indian IT solution that would enable real-time analysis and enrichment of revenue streams, its developer said Tuesday. The enterprise IT solution by Kerala capital headquartered SunTec, a leading provider of revenue management and business assurance solutions, is the first to be implemented in the Middle East market. 13. Tata Power has forayed into Myanmar and has begun feasibility studies to set up a coal-fired power station there. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2019-20. This would be the first project by the Tata Group Company in the South-East

Asian nation. Tata Power has executed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Myanmar for setting up an imported coal-based power plant. In Myanmar, the power plant is proposed to be located in Ngayok Kaung, Ayeyarwaddy region, and would have captive coal berthing arrangements. 14. Karan Thapar, television journalist chosen for the International Press Institute (IPI) – India award for excellence in journalism 2013 on 8 October 2013 for his interviews on the Devil's Advocate programme on CNN IBN. He was selected by a distinguished jury of editors and publishers headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A. S. Anand. The members of the jury included IPI-India Chairman and The Hindu Editor N Ravi, PTI Editor-in-Chief M K Razdan, Business Standard Chairman and Chief Editor T N Ninan and Malyala Manorama Senior Assistant Editor Riyad Mathew. 15. The International Cricket Council has announced that the final stages of the ICC World Twenty 20 Qualifier 2013 will be held at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. 16. Indian cyclist Deborah on 7 October 2013 won a gold medal in the women’s junior individual sprint at Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Track Asia Cup in Thailand. Teen cyclist Deborah from Andaman Nicobar Island had earlier grabbed gold in 500m Time Trial event. 17. Union HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju, who has tendered his resignation over the Telangana issue, on Tuesday skipped the Union Cabinet meeting.

Daily Current Affairs : 6th & 7th October 2013

1. US scientists James Rothman and Randy Schekman and Thomas Suedhof of Germany have won the Nobel prize in medicine for their discoveries of the "machinery regulating vesicle traffic", a major cellular transport system. The awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics will be announced by other prize juries this week and next. Each prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million). Last year’s medicine award went to Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka for their contributions to stem cell science. 2. World Habitat day is observed across the world on 7 October 2013. The purpose of this day is creation of the global awareness regarding the State of the towns and cities

and the basic human right to adequate shelter. First Monday of October every year is designated as the World Habitat Day by the United Nation. The theme of the World Habitat Day 2013 is Urban Mobility to encourage people to shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation. 3. Eid-ul-Azha to be celebrated on Oct 16. This was announced in New Delhi last evening by , Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid, after the new moon was sighted yesterday. Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated by Muslims across the world to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to Allah. 4. Arundhati Bhattacharya assumed charge as Chairperson of State Bank of India (SBI). Immediately prior to taking over as Chairperson, Bhattacharya was the Managing Director & CFO, State Bank of India. Bhattacharya joined SBI as a Probationary Officer in the year 1977 spending 36 years in the state-owned bank. 5. In another move to ease liquidity for banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Monday eased interest rate on borrowings under the marginal standing facility (MSF) by 50 basis points to 9 per cent. One bps is one hundredth of a percentage point. 6. The Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh announced that the food subsidy and foodgrain allocation would be doubled for the state of Bihar under the National Food Security Act. Jairam Ramesh announced that Bihar's food subsidy will increase from 5500 crore Rupees to 11500 crore Rupees, under the National Food Security Act. This means that the allocation of foodgrain will increase from 28 lakh tonnes to 56 lakh tonnes. Apart from Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh would be other three major beneficiaries under the new Act. 7. Former Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran was on Monday sworn in the first chief minister of Sri Lanka’s northern province, most of which was under LTTE's control for nearly 30 years. Justice Wigneswaran took oath before President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the chief minister after his party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), won the provincial council elections held Sep 21. 8. President Pranab Mukherjee, who is in turkey as part of his two-nation tours will hold talks with the top leadership of Turkish capital Ankara on Monday. Five inter-document agreements and six MOU's will be signed on Monday. He is in the country on an invitation by the President of Turkey. This is the third visit by an Indian President to Turkey after the visits by the President of India in 1993 and 1998. Earlier, Mukherjee had visited Belgium where he attended a series of state events including the 'Europalia-India 2013-14', a cultural extravaganza showcasing India. 9. In a setback to N Srinivasan, Supreme Court proposes 3-member panel headed by Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana HC Mukul Mudgal to independently probe into IPL spot-fixing scandal. The Supreme Court rejected BCCI's suggestion for setting up a special committee to probe the IPL spot-fixing scandal and proposed a three-member panel headed by former Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal to examine the issue. 10. The Supreme Court on Monday decided to appoint former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah to head a committee which has been deliberating on broad

guidelines for protection of good Samaritans rendering assistance to accident victims. 11. The World Bank today lowered its 2013 growth forecast for East Asian developing countries to 7.1 per cent. It also warned that a prolonged US fiscal crisis could be damaging to the region. 12. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday reached his constituency Amethi and laid the foundation stone of Mega Food Park in Jagdishpur. The project is aimed to create 2,500 jobs and generate Rs 450 crore revenue. 13. India test-fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile. India today test-fired its ingenuously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from Chandipur Integrated test range in Odisha. Prithvi is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines. 14. Veteran Malayalam film actor Madhu, who essayed memorable roles in various films, including the National award winner 'Chemmeen', will be presented the Pravsi Doha Basheer award at a function in Kochi on Friday. The award, in memory of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Malayalam novelist and short story writer, will be presented by eminent novelist M T Vasudevan Nair. 15. Acclaimed Cambodian director Rithy Panh, whose family died in the Khmer Rouge genocide, received the “Asian Filmmaker of the Year award” at the Busan International Film Festival on Friday for his efforts to save his country's cinematic heritage. 16. Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) is organising a five-day environmental film festival titled 'Reel Earth: Environmental Film Fest' in Kochi from October 7. This is the third edition of the festival, which aims to increase awareness on key environmental issues by promoting and screening short and medium length films and videos, focusing on environmental issues produced in different parts of the world. 17. World's highest-altitude civilian airport has started operating in Sichuan provinve neighbouring Tibet, dramatically cutting travel time in the remote region in southwestern China. Daocheng Yading Airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level in Daocheng county in Garzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, began operations on Monday. 18. South Super star Kamal Hassan announced that Vishwaroopam-2 is ready for release and this film is a sequel to the his most controversial film Vishwaroopam - which stirred political controversy in Tamil Nadu. 19. Spain’s Rafael Nadal returned to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time in more than two years on Monday, overtaking Serbian Novak Djokovic, who dropped to second. 20. The Disciplinary Committee of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on 5 October 2013 recommended a life-ban on Jwala Gutta for her role in delaying

the Indian Badminton League (IBL) fixture between Delhi Smashers and Banga Beats in Bangalore on 25 August 2013. 21. Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal who will replace him as the men's new world number one on Monday. 22. Serena Williams beats Jelena Jankovic 6-2,6-2 to win China Open. 23. Top seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentine defeated third seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to win the ATP Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on 6 October 2013. 24. Mumbai Indians clinched the Champions League Twenty-20 title by defeating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in New Delhi. Harbhajan Singh was adjudged Man of the match as he bagged 4 wickets by giving 32 runs while Dwayne Smith was declared Champion of the series. This was the last T-20 match of Sachin Tendulkar and Royals skipper Rahul Dravid as both players announced their retirement from T-20 format. 25. Iran wins the 17th Asia Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship. 26. Pakistan defeated India in the final of the Under-19 Asian Rugby Championship 2013 in Lahore. Suraj Veer Sharma was the captain of Indian team while Daud Gull was the captain of Pakistan team. 27. Kalapana Devi won bronze medal at the Judo tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was India’s first IJF Grand Prix medal. Competing in 52kg weight category, Kalpana defeated Zarifa Sultonova of Uzbekistan but lost to Gili Cohen of Israel.

Daily Current Affairs : 5th October 2013

1. Indo-Bangladesh cooperation in the power sector entered a new phase, with the two countries breaking ground for a 1,320-MW coal-fired power plant and inaugurating a joint transmission line that will export 500 MW from India. A memorandum of understanding had been signed during Ms Hasina's 2010 Delhi visit for import of power from India. The 'Maitri' thermal power project is being developed by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, a joint venture between NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board.

2. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned Rs 40.35 crore for rural water supply scheme in the Union Territory of Puducherry under Nabard’s Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). 3. Ushering in a new regime for overseas investments in Indian capital markets, Sebi today announced new foreign portfolio investor (FPI) regulations to put in place easier registration process and operating framework for such entities. The new class of investors, FPIs, would encompass all FIIs (foreign institutional investors), their sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors (QFIs), and would be divided in three categories as per their risk profile. The KYC (know your client) requirements and other registration procedures would be much simpler for FPIs compared to current practices. 4. India's leading industrialist Ratan Tata will be formally inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering in the US on Sunday for his "outstanding contributions" to industrial development in India and the world over. Eight Indian-Americans also had been elected to the body earlier, considered among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. 5. Seeking to reduce the incidence of mortality from growing number of heart attacks in India and the US, a prominent body of Indian-American physicians has joined hands with a leading NGO fostering cardiac care in US. 6. India was re-elected in the new Council of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as one of the states making the largest contribution to the provision of facilities for international civil air navigation.The 38th session of the Assembly of ICAO completed the election of the Council in Montreal on 1October 2013. The 36- member Council is the governing body of the Organization and is elected for a three-year term. 7. Janalakshmi Financial Services , a microfinance institution, has signed a five-year agreement with Accenture to scale-up operations and expand services to the urban poor. Under the agreement, Accenture will manage the microfinance body’s customer and account master data, provide processing, reconciliation and reporting services. It will also manage Janalakshmi’s core banking system, customer relationship management software, employee portal and Web site. 8. Corporation Bank has a new Chairman and Managing Director in S.R. Bansal. Prior to this elevation, Bansal was an Executive Director at Punjab National Bank.

9. All-women Sharia Court starts functioning in Pune with an aim to redress the grievances of Muslim women. Set up here by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), the first all-women Sharia Court will deal with various family issues, including marital discord, divorce as well as property related disputes. 10. An Indian-American Sikh lawyer Gurbir Grewal has been nominated as a county prosecutor in New Jersey.Gurbir Grewal was formally nominated by Governor Chris Christie to be the next Bergen county prosecutor., a local media report said. 11. An Indian engineering student “Ashutosh Pathak” from the University of Nottingham fought off stiff worldwide competition to be awarded the overall prize at a British government-backed entrepreneurial contest. Ashutosh Pathak is working on developing a much cheaper, more efficient pipe inspection and leakage detection system. 12. Veteran director Shyam Benegal will head the accomplished jury for the Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) to be held in Brisbane on December 12. The announcement was made by the APSA executive chairman Michael Hawkins in Busan on Friday. 13. Much-awaited pilgrimage for holy shrine Kedarnath resumed today.

Daily Current Affairs : 4th October 2013

1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nominated three members to the high level advisory committee formed to recommend granting new licenses to the private banks. The committee is headed by the former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan. Other members are Usha Thorat (former RBI Deputy Governor), C B Bhave (Former SEBI Chairman) and Nachiket Mor (Financial Sector Expert). 2. The country's lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual (LGTB) community can now celebrate freedom of airwaves with a round-the-clock radio station dedicated specifically to them. 'Q Radio' which started operating from Bangalore this September claims to be the first radio station in India that is tailored for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender audience. 3. India has once again emerged as the largest recipient of foreign remittances. Non-Resident Indians or NRIs sent a record 71 billion dollars home compared to 70

billion dollars last year. According to a Word Bank report on recent trends and outlook on Migration and Remittance Flows, NRIs are estimated to remit up to 85 billion dollars a year by 2015. 4. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for reforming the state higher education system. As per this, during the 12th Plan period, 80 new universities would be created by converting autonomous colleges or colleges in a cluster to State universities. Many colleges, including professional and technical colleges would be set up and existing colleges would be upgraded. Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan would also support 5000 faculty positions. 5. Assembly elections will be held in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh from 11th November, the Election Commission announced on Friday. While Chhattisgarh will have a two-phase polling on 11th November and 19th November, the remaining states will have a single-phase poll. For the first time, voters will have an option of 'none of the above' (NOTA) in these polls where they can decide not to vote any of the candidates in the fray. 6. President Mukherjee, in his opening remarks at the talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupa, said India attaches great importance to its relations with Belgium and hoped that the two countries strengthen economic ties. President Mukherjee, the first Indian Head of the State to visit Belgium, also thanked the country for its support of India's candidature to a permanent seat in an expanded United Nations Security Council. 7. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, ICICI Bank today opened skill training academy to provide vocational training to youth from economically weaker section of the society. The vocational training course will provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the beneficiaries. 8. S. Varadarajan took over charge as chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). S.Varadarajan has succeeded R.K. Singh. Prior to his appointment as the CMD, Varadarajan was serving as the Director (finance) of the company. 9. The Indian Railways on 3 October 2013 signed a pact with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to set up the country's biggest Forged Wheel plant at Lalganj, Raebarelli in Uttar Pradesh. The Plant to be set with an investment of about 1100 crore Rupees will produce one lakh numbers of Forged Wheels per annum in the First phase for Locos and High speed trains. 10. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 3 October 2013 cleared Jet Airways proposed sale of 24 per cent equity to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, paving the way for the biggest ever foreign investment in the Indian aviation sector. Jet-Etihad deal was already approved by SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) on 1 October 2013.

11. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Barclays Investments and Loans(India) Limited, for violation of certain insurance norms. 12. India unveiled its first indigenously developed vaccine for treating Japanese Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects the brain. The manufacturer of the vaccine named JENVAC claims that the highly purified inactivated vaccine can be administered during epidemics without the fear of adverse effects. It is available in both single dose and five dose presentations.Japanese Encephalitis, which is prevalent in 171 districts of 19 States, affects mostly children below 15 years. 13. General Vo Nguyen Giap, a key figure in securing Vietnam’s independence and winning the Vietnam War, died at 102. The general had been in hospital for several years because of ill health. Gen. Giap was also known as the initiator of the final offensive against South Vietnam in 1975. 14. Afghanistan Cricket team on 4 October 2013 qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven wickets at World Cricket League Championship in Sharjah. With this win Afghanistha also became the 20th team to gain entry into the tournament overall. 15. The pair of India's Sania Mirza and Zimbabwe's Cara Black has entered the women's doubles final of the China Open tennis tournament. In the semi-final played in Beijing today, the pair shocked top seeded Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 12 minutes.

Daily Current Affairs : 2nd & 3rd October 2013

1. 109th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri celebrated across the country. Several functions including symposia and discussions organised to mark the occassion. Leaders of different political parties paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at his memorial Vijayghat in Delhi.

2. The Centre given its approval for creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hydrabad will be the joint capital of the two

states for 10 years. 3. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday sharply lowered its forecast on India's economic growth to 4.7 percent for this year from its earlier projection of 6 percent. 4. Government of India appointed on 2 October 2013 a four member committee headed by Arvind Mayaram, Economic Affairs Secretary setup to clear the ambiguity between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII). The committee will look into the difference between them and it will also give definition of FDI and FII. 5. The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation Among the Nations of the World has nominated President Putin as a candidate for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. 6. President Pranab Mukherji will meet the Prime Minister of Belgium Elio De Rupo in Brussles today. After the plenary meeting between the two leaders, delegation level talks will take place during which some agreements are likely to be signed between the two countries. 7. Special CBI court in Ranchi has sentenced RJD Chief and former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to 5 years in jail in fodder scam case. The court also imposed a fine of 25 lakh rupees on him. The sentencing by special CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh disqualifies Prasad from Parliament and renders him ineligible for contesting elections for 11 years. 8. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries India's biggest drug maker by market capital and USA based Intrexon Corporation, a leading player in synthetic biology announced on 2 October 2013 to establish a joint venture to develop controllable gene-based therapies for the treatment of eye diseases. The joint venture will helpful for Sun Pharma's to increase their global capabilities and experience in developing and manufacturing complex dosage forms .It will also enhance their specialty pharmaceuticals for niche therapy areas. 9. The goverment today launched a unique project to put 100 most important Indian heritage sites online. The sites include theTaj Mahal, Khajuraho and the Ajanta and Ellora caves. An agreement to this effect was reached at between the Archaeological Survey of India and Google in New Delhi today in presence of Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch. 10. Meghalaya Government to provide all School and college classrooms with Wi-Fi connection to aid their learning process. The announcement was made by CM Mukul Sangma after distributing free tablet computers to 11,000 class XII students as a part of state government’s Digital Learning Aid for Students scheme. 11. The book titled Haunted by Fire: Essays on Caste, Class, Exploitation and Emancipation authored by Mythily Sivaraman released in International Centre in New Delhi on 1 October 2013. Mythili Sivaraman is a Women Rights Activist. She is currently one of the Vice Presidents of the All India Democratic Women's Association (Women's wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist)).

12. A multinational company plans to launch the world’s largest man-made lagoon costing a whopping $7 billion. Crystal Lagoons Corp., developer of patented technology for giant crystalline lagoons, has signed a deal to construct the lagoon, covering 40 hectares, almost four-times bigger than the world’s largest existing lagoon. 13. 3M Healthcare, the healthcare division of 3M India, has won the “Sterilization Services Company of the Year award” at the Frost & Sullivan’s fifth annual India Healthcare Excellence Awards 2013. These coveted Awards recognized innovative growth strategies and solutions adopted by top companies in the healthcare industry for 2012-13. 14. Yashasvini Cooperative Farmers’ Health Care Scheme, launched in Karnataka in June 2003, has successfully completed 10 years benefiting lakhs of farmers in co-operative sector. The Yashasvini Cooperative Farmers’ Health Care Trust was formed under the principle “One for all and all for one” has made healthcare affordable to farmers in co-operative sector. 15. Airtel is the only telecom company from India featuring on the list of top ten global brands admired most in Africa, according to a survey. Airtel was placed at ninth on the list, beating Japanese car manufacturer Honda, the survey conducted by the African Business Awards said. The list was headed by US-based Coca Cola, and dominated by other US and European brands, the only other Asian brands were Japan’s Toyota and Samsung Electronics of Korea. The full list is: 1. Coca Cola—US, 2. Shell—Netherlands 3. Samsung—South Korea 4. Vodafone—UK 5. Nike—US 6. Toyota—Japan 7. McDonald’s—US 8. Pepsi Cola—US 9. Airtel—India 10. Honda—Japan. 16. Tata Power today has commenced construction work for the first phase of its joint venture 400-MW hydro power project in Georgia. The hydel project would be jointly developed by Tata Power along with Clean Energy Invest AS, Norway (Clean Energy) and IFC InfraVentures (IFC). 17. Private insurer SBI Life Insurance on Thursday launched ‘Smart Power Insurance’ plan, which is designed to care for investor’s twin needs of insurance and investment. SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif, the insurance arm of BNP Paribas. 18. The Gambian Government on 2 October 2013 announced that it is pulling out of the Commonwealth with immediate effect. Gambian, a West African country joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1965. The last country to be withdrawn from the Commonwealth group was Zimbabwe in 2003.

19. The BCCI awarded the title sponsorship for all international series and the domestic tournaments in India for the year 2013-14 to Star Private Ltd and ESPN at the base price of Rs. two crore per fixture, considerably low compared to their previous deal with Airtel. Sponsorship rights will extend to domestic events such as Irani Cup, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare, Deodhar Trophy and Raj Singh Dungarpur Trophy. 20. Former national table tennis champion Uttam Chandarana, who dominated the sport during 1940s and 50s, passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday morning due to old age, family sources said. Chandarana is remembered for defeating world champion Ivan Andreadis in 1954. 21. Balaji Motion Pictures, the film production unit of Balaji Telefilms, has acquired the film adaptation rights to the book, The Devotion of Suspect X. ii. Director Sujoy Ghosh, whose previous release was the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani, has been signed to direct the Hindi feature film. 22. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has again been named the world's top university by the Times Higher Education Global Ranking.

Daily Current Affairs : 1st October 2013

1. Today, the International Day of Older Persons is being celebrated. The day is celebrated by raising awareness about issues affecting the elderly and to appreciate the contributions that they make to society. The day’s theme for 2013 is ‘The Future we want: What older persons are saying’. 2. Former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai appointed as India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He will succeed noted economist and veteran diplomat Dr Jaimini Bhagwati. 3. A senior Indian journalist, Ravi Shankar Narsimhan, on 29 September 2013 was presented with Friendship award by China-the highest honor given to foreigners. Narsimhan is the executive editor in the overseas edition of the Beijing based China Daily. Ravi Shankar hails from Andhra Pradesh. 4. Finance Ministry on Tuesday said economy will grow by over 5 percent in the current fiscal on back of high farm productivity and investments and promised more steps to boost growth.

5. Former Indian President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and ex-Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda were posthumously conferred with the ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour’ on Tuesday in recognition of their outstanding support to the country’s struggle for independence from Pakistan. 6. Trade between India and Mozambique could double to $3 billion by 2016 from the current level of $1.28 billion. This was stated by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma during his meeting with Mozambique's Industry and Trade Minister Armando Inroga in the Mozambique capital Maputo. India has extended Lines of Credit (LoC) worth $640 million to Mozambique. India is the 8th largest foreign investor in Mozambique with total investments estimated at more than $500 million. 7. The Reserve Bank of India will infuse 10 thousand crore rupees by purchasing government securities on 7 October, to ease liquidity in the market. Open market operations refer to the sale or purchase of government securities with the objective of adjusting rupee liquidity conditions in the market. 8. The CBI has filed a case against the then Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and BSNL officials for allegedly allotting 300 high-speed telephone lines to Maran’s residence in Chennai which were extended to his brother’s channel. 9. Aga Khan, a Swiss-Born Philanthropist and Muslim Spiritual Leader visited India. During the official visit, Aga Khan the unveiled restored Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi on 18 September 2013. 10. The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari released a commemorative postage stamp in the memory of Baba Jumdev at a function in Gondia, Maharashtra on 30 September 2013. Baba Jumdev was a prominent spiritual leader and revered social activist. 11. Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader, Rasheed Masood, was sentenced to four years in jail by a Delhi court in a corruption case, becoming the first MP to lose his seat after a recent Supreme Court judgement had removed the immunity for convicted lawmakers. 12. In Tennis Somdev Devvarman qualifies for Singles event at china Open. 13. Indian basketball team has won bronze medal at KFC under-21 3ON3 International Challenge in Beijing. Lovneet also secured a gold medal for India in KFC 3ON3 International Challenge 3-Pointer shooting competition. 14. The Czech Republican tennis player Petra Kvitova defeated Germany's Angelique Kerber in the final to win singles title at WTA Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo. It was her 11th WTA title and evened her tournament finals appearances at 2-2 in 2013.

Daily Current Affairs : 29th & 30th September 2013

1. Every year on 29 September celebrated as the World Heart Day since 1999. The theme of the 2013 World Heart Day is “A life course approach to the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with a focus on women and children because healthy children lead to healthy adults and healthy adults lead to healthy families and communities”. The World Heart Day is organised by World Heart Federation. 2. Ruchira Kamboj was appointed as the Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris with the rank of Ambassador. The government made this announcement on 25 September 2013. She will succeed VS Oberoi. 3. Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief, Lalu Prasad was Monday held guilty in a fodder scam case by a Special CBI court and renders him ineligible for contesting elections for at least six years. . The quantum of sentence will be announced Oct 3. 4. Megan Young of Philippines crowned Miss World 2013 at the Bali Nasa Dua Convention Center in Bali, Indonesia. The second place went to Miss France Marine Lorphelin and third to Miss Ghana Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter. 5. In Andhra Pradesh, a state-of-the-art advanced integration centre for the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory under DRDO was inaugurated in Visakhapatnam on 29th September 2013. 6. The National Green Tribunal banned digging of earth across India for making bricks and roads without prior environment clearance. A bench headed by Justice P Jyothimani directed the Chief Secretaries of all states and union territories to ensure that its interim order is adhered to. 7. Net-enabled cellphones could soon be provided to 2.5 crore people under the MGNREGA scheme. As per proposal, one person per family registered under MGNREGA scheme will be provided with the cellphone for which a recharge of Rs 30 per month will be provided for free for two years. To get the cellphone, the beneficiary will have to pay Rs 300. The scheme will be funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) at a cost of Rs 4,850 crore spread over a period of four years to cover 2.5 crore beneficiaries. 8. The Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC) announced on 29th September 2013 that Khadi will get a new push in context with its brand identity with the introduction of an exclusive mark from 2014 onwards.

9. Indian and Chinese officials held fourth round of talks and discussed various issues like finalising a key border security mechanism expected to be signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposed visit here next month. 10. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday met in New York for the first time and discussed ways to normalise bilateral ties. 11. Leaders of the Brics group of nations on 5 September 2013 announced to set up a 100 billion US dollar fund to steady currency markets destablised by an expected pullback of US monetary stimulus. The announcement was made at the meeting of BRICS leaders. Brazil, India and Russia committed 18 billion dollars each while China announced 41 billion US dollars. South Africa announced 5 billion US dollars. BRICS had earlier planned to set up 240 billion US dollars fund. 12. Germany is ready to give finance and technical support to the international operation to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Sunday. 13. High imports of gold and oil pushed Current Account Deficit (CAD) to 4.9 per cent of GDP to $21.8 billion in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the RBI said today. CAD, the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, was 4.4 per cent or $16.9 billion in the same quarter of last fiscal, 2012-13. 14. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has opened a lending window for private sector for the creation of warehouse space and also to set up cold storages and cold chains in Karnataka. 15. Rajnath Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party President became the campaign committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on 29 September 2013 in New Delhi. 16. Rafiq Kathwari, an Indian-American poet selected for 2013 Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for the collection of his debut poems. Rafiq Kathwari is the first non-Irish person to win the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award. The award was founded by the Patrick Kavanagh Society in 1971 to commemorate the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh. 17. Anti-Corruption Bureau Director General B. Prasada Rao has been appointed as Director General Police in-charge by the State Government in Hyderabad on Monday as the DGP V. Dinesh Reddy retired on reaching superannuation. 18. The facsimile version of 'Harijan', a weekly publication started by Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, to highlight the social and economic problems of India and the world, will be released on Monday. "Harijan” is one of the two main publications of Gandhiji while “Young India” has already been published.

19. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Avahan programme may have prevented over 6 lakh HIV infections in India over 10 years, according to a report in Lancet Global Health. The Avahan India AIDS Initiative was launched in 2003, as a large scale, targeted intervention prevention programme and was implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland. 20. Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy is expected to participate at the 11th edition of the Suminfra 2013, an infrastructure summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here Oct 7-8. he theme of this year's summit is 'Accelerate Infrastructure Growth in the Changing Global Context - Revitalising Growth through Institutional Framework, for Dynamic, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth'. 21. Shahrukh Khan may soon become the “goodwill ambassador” of the Republic of Korea. 22. Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi launched the campaign - '777 days of Incredible Indian Himalayas' on World Tourism Day to promote the virgin peaks of Himalayas and attract both domestic and international tourists during lean summer season. 23. Russia today successfully launched a Proton-M rocket with a European communication satellite on board, marking a return of its most important unmanned space vehicle three months after one exploded on takeoff. The Proton-M rocket is Russia’s most popular for commercial satellite launches. 24. NCA Chairman Ranjib Biswal appointed as chairman of the IPL during the annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at Chennai. Prior to this appointment Ranjib Biswal was manager of the Indian Cricket team during the ICC World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He is also the head of Orissa Cricket Association. He replaced Rajeev Shukla as chairman of IPL. 25. Narayanaswamy Srinivasan re-elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a third term at its 84th annual general meeting (AGM) held at Chennai. 26. Olympian Swaran Singh Virk led the Indian rowers' impressive showing by clinching a gold medal at the 15th Asian Senior Rowing Championship at Luan, China on Sunday. 27. A dominant India triumphed in the 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup with a thumping 3-0 victory over hosts Malaysia in the title clash of the Under-21 hockey tournament here today. 28. United Arab Emirates defeated Namibia in their second crucial match at Sharjah cricket Stadium by 135 runs to keep their hopes alive to qualify directly to the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015.

29. Former Junior World Champion Nikhat Zareen (54kg) came one step short of making it two titles in two World Championships in Albena, Bulgaria on Saturday. 30. Stephen Lee, a snooker player from England banned for 12 years after being found guilty of seven charges of match-fixing on 25th September 2013.

Daily Current Affairs : 28th September 2013

1. The Nation is celebrating the 106th birth anniversary of the great son of the soil, Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, today. Bhagat Singh was born on 28 September, 1907 at Banga, Lyallpur district, in a family which was already involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj. 2. World Rabies Day observed on 28 September 2013 across the world to raise awareness about the impact of rabies disease and to deliver the message that rabies is preventable.The theme for the year 2013 is "Rabies: Understand it to defeat it". The World Rabies Day is observed each year on 28 September- on the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur who developed the first efficacious rabies vaccine with his colleagues. 3. World Bank funded North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) would be executed in four northeastern states - Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, to uplift the economic condition of the rural people, officials said. "Under the NERLP, various livelihood generation schemes including farming would be undertaken in the selected districts of the four northeastern states, 4. Bangladesh, on Friday, began importing electricity from India on an experimental basis, adding 50 MW to the national grid. The import, which took roughly three years to materialise after it was decided in 2010, was part of the country’s plan to help ease the crisis. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2010 regarding import of 500 MW of power from India. 5. The Kirit Parikh panel on fuel pricing has suggested that the diesel prices should be increased by Rs 1-1.50 a litre every month as against the 45-50 paise monthly hike followed currently. The high-level panel headed by former Planning Commission

Member Kirit Parikh has also suggested a draft trade parity mechanism for determining diesel price. 6. The International Monetary Fund approved a standby loan of nearly two billion euros to match a backup loan of the same size requested from the European Union. The IMF loan is a two-year standby arrangement for 1.98 billion euros, to give the government space to continue reforms. 7. Five years after India and the US signed a landmark civil nuclear deal, the two countries have clinched the first commercial agreement on civilian nuclear power cooperation that was stalled over India's nuclear liability law. President Barack Obama announced the agreement on Friday after his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House Oval Office. 8. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner presented with the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award (Harvard Humanitarian of the year) by Harvard University on 27 September 2013. 16 years old Malala received the award by Dr Allen Counter, Director of the Harvard Foundation for her contribution in promoting the education among girls. 9. In Madhya Pradesh, a special court of Mandla district convicted IAS officer Shashi Karnawat in a corruption case and sentenced her to five years in jail and a fine of Rs. 50 lakh. The court also sentenced three others in the case. Karnawat had allegedly misused her official position to benefit a company for purchase of stationary worth about Rs. 35 lakh. 10. A 9-Metre bronze statue of Nelson Mandela will be unveiled in Pretoria in December to kick off celebrations of 20 years of democracy of south Africa. President Jacob Zuma will unveil the statue of the anti-aoartheid icon at the union buldings on Reconcilation Day on December 16. 11. India wasted a two-goal advantage to draw 3-3 against hosts Malaysia in their last inconsequential round-robin match of The Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 hockey tournament, here on Saturday. 12. Tiger Woods was named U.S. PGA Tour player of the year for the 11th time on the strength of his five big wins and return to No. 1 in the world. It was the third time Woods won the Jack Nicklaus Award despite not winning a major. 13. Sania Mirza captured her fourth title of the season and 18th overall with Cara Black of Zimbabwe, recording a come-from-behind win over Liezel Huber and Hao Ching Chan to lift the Pan Pacific Open trophy in Tokyo on Saturday.

Daily Current Affairs : 26th & 27th September 2013

1. World Tourism Day (27 September 2013) is being celebrated today all over the globe. The 2013 theme for World Tourism Day is “Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future”. As the most widely celebrated global day for tourism‚ it represents a unique opportunity to raise awareness of tourism’s role in water access and shine a spotlight on the sector’s contribution to a more sustainable water future. 2. In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Friday gave the citizens of India the right to reject all candidates in elections. Hearing a petition filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, an NGO, the apex court ruled that the Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs should have a button that will allow the voters to choose "none of the above" option. The bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that voters should be allowed to reject all candidates standing in an election in his/her constituency. 3. The Raghuram Rajan panel report has made a case for ending the 'special category' criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states, as it ranked Goa and Kerala as the most advanced state and Odisha and Bihar the least. The committee, headed by the then Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan (now RBI governor) which was set up by the government amid demand for "special category" status by Bihar, suggested a new methodology for devolving funds on states based on a 'Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)'. 4. The controversial GAAR provision, which seeks to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through tax havens, will come into effect from April 1, 2016. The provision of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) will apply to entities availing tax benefit of at least Rs 3 crore, according to the notification dated September 23. The notification is broadly in line with recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome Committee, which was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July last year to address the concerns of investors. 5. RBI governor Raghuram G Rajan has been awarded the Fifth Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013, in recognition of his ground-breaking research work which influenced financial and macro-economic policies around the world. The academic prize is sponsored by the Deutsche Bank Donation Fund and carries an endowment of euro 50,000. 6. Eight eminent scientists have been selected for this year's Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the country's top most award for excellence in Science and Technology. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is named after the founder-Director General of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and carries a cash component of five lakh rupees. It is given annually to young scientists below the age of 45 who have made outstanding contributions in any field of science and technology.

7. India's financial capital Mumbai has been named the world's second-most honest city, according to a survey of 16 cities worldwide. Finland capital Helsinki bagged the top spot for the world's most honest city in the survey, while Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, proved to be the least honest. The survey put hundreds of people to test in four continents to find out just how honest they were by dropping wallets and seeing how many would be returned. 8. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a loan of $500 million (Rs 3,100 crore) to build a power transmission system at the Bhadla park in Rajasthan to deliver clean electricity from wind and solar power projects to the state and national grids, the development financial institution said on Friday. 9. US anti-chemical weapons campaigner Paul Walker, 67, was jointly awarded the Swedish Right Livelihood Award on Thursday honouring those who work to improve the lives of others. 10. The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law on 25 September 2013 presented Anna Hazare with the inaugural Allard Prize for International Integrity at Vancouver, Canada. The Allard prize is one of the world’s largest awards recognizing efforts to combat corruption and to promote human rights. 11. Supreme Court gets dedicated customized pin code. The Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of India allotted Customized Pin Code to the Supreme Court of India for the first time. The Customized Pin Code of the Supreme Court is 110 201. 12. Horticultural mail order company Thompson & Morgan developed a plant called The TomTato, which can produce not just the tomatoes, but also potatoes. The TomTato is described as the veg plot in a pot and it was launched in UK. The TomTato has the capability of growing over 500 sweet cherry tomatoes and also the white potatoes. 13. Anupam Shah has taken over as the new Chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC). Prior to this, he was the Senior Vice-Chairman of EEPC and has also been the past president of the Merchant Chamber, Kolkata. 14. In Uttar Pradesh, the Centrally sponsored National Urban Health Mission will be launched soon. Over 3 crore urban population will be benefitted from the scheme. 15. The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on 26 September 2013 appointed Sundeep Sikka, Reliance MF President and Chief Executive, as its Chairman. In the meanwhile, Sandesh Kirkire, Chief Executive Officer of Kotak Asset Management company was elected as the vice-chairman. 16. The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) was elected Ravindra Kumar, Editor of ‘The Statesman’ newspaper as its president for the year 2013-14. Kumar, who succeeds K N Tilak Kumar of Deccan Herald and Prajavani was chosen at the 74th Annual General Meeting of the society. 17. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has given its no objection certification (NOC) to AirAsia India to start a low-cost carrier. The next step for AirAsia will be to get an Air

Operating Permit and prepare to kick-start its operations in India. AirAsia India, is a three way joint venture between AirAsia, the Malaysia-based low-cost airline, Tata Sons and Telestra Trade place which was formed to start a new low-cost domestic airline. 18. The 18th International Children's Film Festival (ICFFI), popularly known as 'The Golden Elephant', will be held in Hyderabad from November 14-20. The festival will present four competitive sections and the best film would bag the Golden Elephant trophy and Rs 2 lakhs in cash.The second best feature will bag the Golden Elephant Plaque with Rs 1 lakh in cash. 19. Pond's Femina Miss India World 2013 Navneet Kaur Dhillon on 27 September 2013 won the Multimedia Award at the Miss World 2013 in Indonesia. India won this award for the second time in a row. The award was first introduced by the Miss World Organization in 2012 and India's Vanya Mishra was its first winner. 20. Japan will promote "womenomics" -- a theory which asserts that theadvancement of women in society is directly correlated with its growth rate -- and give over $3 billion of official development assistance (ODA) in the next three years targeting women's participation in society and the empowerment of women, says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 21. India will build its first strategic oil storage by January in an effort to insulate itself from supply disruptions. India, which is 79 per cent dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs, is building underground storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil. This is enough to meet nation's oil requirement for 13-14 days. 22. The company launched its latest "Hummingbird" algorithm about a month ago and that it currently affects 90 percent of worldwide searches via Google. "Hummingbird" is the company's effort to match the meaning of queries with that of documents on the Internet, said Singhal from the Menlo Park garage where Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin conceived their now-ubiquitous search engine.

23. Contemporary western wear brand AND has unveiled its first exclusive boutique in Vadodara. It offers diverse collection of western wear like jumpsuits, jeggings, tunics, maxis, and more. "Store in Vadodara is the brand's 39th store in India. 24. Asia Cup Hockey: India lose 2-1 to Korea in SF match. India's dreams of earning a World Cup hockey berth were shattered when they lost 2-1 in a semifinal match of the 8th women's Asia Cup championship in Kuala Lumpur today. 25. Serena Williams has clinched the year-end women`s world number one ranking for the third time in her career after winning two grand slam titles during an excellent 2013. 26. India have entered the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup, Under-21 hockey tournament by virtue of points. India will now face hosts Malaysia in the final match. 27. Former Under-14 World Champion and Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi won the

bronze medal at the World Junior Chess Championship after settling for a quick draw with winner Yu Yangyi of China in the 13th and final round that concluded at Kocaeli in Turkey. 28. Sania Mirza and Cara Black beat the top-seeded duo of Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei and Shuai Peng of China in the semi-finals to reach final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday.

Daily Current Affairs : 25th September 2013

1. The government on Wednesday announced constitution of the Seventh Pay Commission, which will go into the salaries, allowances and pensions of about 80 lakh of its employees and pensioners. The government constitutes Pay Commission almost every ten years to revise the pay scales of its employees and often these are adopted by states after some modification. The sixth Pay Commission was implemented from 1st January, 2006, fifth from 1st January, 1996 and fourth from 1st January, 1986. 2. Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela was honoured with the Humanitarian Achievement Award this year. 3. The RBI on Wednesday banned zero per cent interest rate scheme for purchase of consumer goods; a move intended to protect customers, which may however dampen the festive spirit. 4. The Reserve Bank of India has set up a committee on comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low-income households. The committee will be headed by Nachiket Mor, member on the Central Board of Directors, Reserve Bank of India. The committee has been asked to come out with a set of design principles that will guide the development of institutional frameworks, and regulation for achieving financial inclusion and financial deepening.

5. The Reserve Bank of India set the cut-off price at Rs. 82 on inflation-indexed bonds (yield-to maturity 3.6624 per cent) for a notified amount of Rs. 1,000 crore at the bond auction held on Tuesday. 6. Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd (TCPSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Communications Ltd, today inaugurated Indicash ATMs in Mysore. The company’s first white-label ATM was launched at Chandrapada village in Thane district on June 27. This is in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India’s vision to accelerate growth and improve ATM penetration across the country. 7. Reliance Life Insurance has launched life insurance policies in electronic demat form across all its products. Reliance Life Insurance is among the first few private insurers to offer policy holders the option to hold their insurance policies in electronic demat form. 8. The Bombay Bullion Association, the apex body of all bullion and jewellery associations in India, would host the first-ever India International Bullion Summit, IIBS in Mumbai on October 5th. The IIBS would serve as a platform for industry experts, suppliers and buyers to converge and address concerns of the industry. 9. Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Germany. Gokhale, a 1981- batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, has been India's High Commissioner to Malaysia since 2009. He was previously Joint Secretary ( China and East Asia). 10. Ruchira Kamboj, currently the Chief of Protocol, has been appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris, with the rank of Ambassador. The 1987-batch IFS officer, Kamboj will succeed V S Oberoi. 11. A.J. Tharakan has been elected national president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India. Elias Sait will continue as the secretary general. Other functionaries are: V. Padmnanabham and Kenny Thomas, vice-presidents; and Norbert Karikkassery, treasurer. 12. Mobile telephony and data services provider Aircel has tied up with handset maker Micromax for integrated device sales and activation. As part of the tie-up, customers who purchase Micromax handsets in the retail networks of both the companies would be eligible for a host of bundled offers including Rs 10,000 worth entertainment content free for over three months on 3G phones. 13. Retired IAS officer Ramlubhaya has been appointed Commissioner of Rajasthan State Election Commission. Ramlubhaya, who will succeed incumbent A K Pandey, will take over the post from October 1 for a five-year tenure. 14. ONGC is to explore shale gas in the Cambay Basin. It will spend nearly Rs 150-Rs 200 crore to drill the first set of wells starting next month, N. K. Verma, Director (Exploration) of India’s largest explorer, said on Wednesday.

15. 4G Identity Solutions Private Ltd (4Gid) has won the Red Herring 2013 top 100 Asia Award, one of the industry’s prestigious awards recognising the year’s most promising private technology ventures from the Asian business region. 16. Australia's most powerful super computer, Raijin, was today unveiled in Canberra. Raijin, named after the Japanese God of thunder and rain, has cost $45.2 million to build and will cost USD 10.85 million a year to run, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. 17. The Finance Ministry, on Friday, clarified that ‘auxiliary educational services’ such as hostels, canteen and school buses will not attract 12 per cent service tax. 18. India defeated hosts Malaysia 2-0 to qualify for the semi-finals of the eighth women's Asia Cup hockey tournament on Tuesday. 19. The Board of Cricket Control of India, BCCI, today imposed a life ban on former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi from any of its activities. The decision to this effect was taken at the special general meeting under the chairmanship of BCCI President N.Srinivasan at Chennai. 20. India BEAT Pakistan 4-0 at Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 hockey tournament in Malaysia. 21. India have suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of top seeded Russia in their opening tie of the junior Davis Cup finals. 22. Chinese paddler Liu Shiwen clinched her third women's table tennis World Cup after beating team-mate Wu Yang in four sets.

Daily Current Affairs : 24th August 2013

1. Hun Sen, 61, who has been in power for 28 years, was sworn in Tuesday as Cambodian prime minister for another five-year term. Hun Sen took office after parliament re-elected him as the prime minister amid a boycott by the opposition party.

2. A high-level panel, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, on Monday submitted to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram its report on the alleged irregularities at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL). NSEL, part of Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies group, is facing a crisis in settling dues worth Rs 5,600 crore. 3. ICICI Bank has launched a new Facebook app that will enable its customers to transact directly from the social networking site. Primarily targeted at young customers, the new app 'Pockets' will enable customers of the bank to transfer money, recharge mobile phones and book movie tickets from their Facebook pages. There will be no additional charge for using the application. 4. Moody’s has lowered its outlook for India's GDP growth to 4.5 per cent for 2013-14 from 5.5 per cent. 5. New HIV infections drop by a third since 2001 and more than halved among children: UNAIDS. In its annual report on the state of the global pandemic, the UNAIDS said globally, 2.3 million people contracted the AIDS virus last year, which is down 33% from 2001. Last year, 1.6 million people died of AIDS-related deaths, down from 1.8 million in 2011.

6. Joint military exercises in general combat and mountain warfare between India and Nepal began in Pithoragarh today in Uttrakhand. The exercise includes anti-insurgency operations in hilly terrains and relief and rescue operations at the time of natural disasters. 7. India Navy is conducting 3-day joint military exercises ‘Naseem Al Bahr” or the Breeze from the Sea, with the royal Oman Navy from September 23-26. The joint military exercise is part of ongoing collaboration between the navies of the two countries to enhance maritime capabilities. 8. Paper Arabia 2013, a 3-day long exhibition and conference of the leading manufacturers and exporters of paper and pulp industry gets underway at Dubai World trade center today. 132 exhibitors from 22 countries including India are taking part in the conference. India is a leading exporter and currently produces 12 tonnes of paper and paper products out of which 10 percent is exported. 9. Rising shuttler P V Sindhu was conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. Sindhu had missed the opportunity to receive the award from President Pranab Mukhejee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 31 as she was busy playing in the final of the Indian Badminton league (IBL). Jitendra Singh today presented the shuttler with a statuette, citation and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh during the governing body meeting of Sports Authority of India. 10. India environmentalist Bunker Roy and Pakistan's teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai were declared winners of this year's of the prestigious 'Clinton Global Citizens Awards'. Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has been providing solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40 years.

11. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in partnership with GE and Saudi Aramco Tuesday launched first all-female business process outsourcing (BPO) centre in Saudi Arabia that will create nearly 3,000 jobs in the Gulf kingdom. 12. Bo Xilai, China’s disgraced former Communist Party leader has appealed against his life sentence conviction. The move came after a court in eastern China sentenced Bo to life in prison on Sunday for bribe-taking, embezzlement and abuse of power.

Daily Current Affairs : 22nd & 23rd September 2013

1. Remembering 'Dinkar' on his 105th birth anniversary on 23rd September. Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' was an Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic. He is considered as one of the most important modern Hindi poets. Dinkar was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1972 for Urvashi. He also became a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, in 1952.

2. Angela Merkel is heading for a third term as Germany’s chancellor, as exit polls showed she could even be on course for the historic achievement of an absolute majority in the country’s parliament. 3. Deutsche Bank has become the first bank in India to use the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s window to swap fresh foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR (B), dollar funds. Deutsche Bank has raised about $450 million FCNR (B) deposits from about 10 non-resident Indians and swapped it with the central bank, 4. Tata and EESL have signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to carry out collaborative activities and partnerships in the field of Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management ( DSM), Tata Power said in a statement. EESL ( Energy Efficiency Services Ltd) is a joint venture of public sector units of the Ministry of Power.

5. Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was appointed as the brand ambassador of the Border Security Force (BSF) on 22 September 2013. It is important to note that any central force in India has appointed its brand ambassador. BSF is the second largest paramilitary force of India that guards two crucial Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. 6. Beverage and snacks maker PepsiCo on Monday named company veteran Sanjeev Chadha as its CEO, Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, effective immediately. Chadha will report to chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi and oversee all aspects of PepsiCo's business in the AMEA region, the company announced from its headquarters in New York. 7. All new credit card swipe machines and automated teller machines (ATMs) will be required to have a mechanism for Aadhaar authentication using biometrics. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is understood to be preparing such a directive to improve security and promote financial inclusion. 8. 7th India Russia meeting on trade and investment was held at St. Petersburg , Russia on 20 September 2013. A high level delegation of 120 Indian business leaders led by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry participated in the meeting. It discussed various business opportunities with their Russian counterparts. The special focus was on Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, Tourism and Medical Tourism and Trade in goods, services and innovative products. 9. Seekho Aur Kamao (Learn and Earn) Progrmme Launched by Union Government of India. Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India on 23 September 2013 launched a central sector scheme for Skill Development of Minorities. 10. Bharat Nirman- a Public Information Campaign launched at Viramgam block of Ahmedabad District in Gujarat on 23 September 2013 to spread the information of Government flagship programmes like MGNREGA, NRHM etc. 11. Justice Darmar Murugesan, the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 21 September 2013 appointed as member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for a five-year term. 12. Durga Sakthi Nagpal reinstated. A day after she met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Uttar Pradesh government today revoked the suspension of woman IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal. 13. South Africa and India will jointly hold an inter-ministerial conference as well as a business meet later this month to enhance bilateral trade relations, officials said, here today. 14. Australia is keen to collaborate with ISRO for scientific space data to guard its 59,736-km-long coastline against tsunami and storms.Australia has shown interest in getting data from Indian satellite Oceansat-2, which can measure ocean colour. 15. Disgraced top Communist Party leader Bo Xilai sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court for bribery, embezzlement of power.

16. The AITA has appointed former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj as the new non-playing captain of the Davis Cup team, which will take on Chinese Taipei in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie next year. 17. Russia would hand over 1,000 Megawatt Bushehr nuclear reactor to Iran today. The project under IAEA Control, began 35 years ago with Germany’s help and was finished by Russia. Iran’s Atomic agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi said he expected work to start soon on a second plant upon completion of talks with Moscow. 18. Sandeep Tulsi Yadav has created history by winning India's first-ever medal in the 66kg Greco-Roman category at the Senior World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. 19. Deepika Kumari wins Silver at Archery World Cup in Paris. In the finals, the 19-year-old Deepika lost to the Korean Olympic champion Ok-Hee Yun. 20. Alvaro Mutis, an award-winning Colombian poet, essayist and novelist influential throughout the Spanish-speaking world, died on Monday in Mexico City, officials said. Mutis, who was 90, won the prestigious Principe de Asturias award in 1997 and the Cervantes award in 2001, two of the top Spanish language literature prizes. 21. Samajwadi Party general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Mohan Singh, who was recently removed from the post of party national spokesman over differences with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, passed away at AIIMS on Sunday after a prolonged battle with cancer. 22. Nepalese Army Chief General Gaurav Shamsher J B Rana will undertake a week-long visit to India from 29th September to strengthen military-to-military ties, including supply of hardware to Nepal Army. This is Rana's third visit to India after assuming charge as Army Chief and second official visit to the country this year. 23. A powerful typhoon Usagi hit Hong Kong and the southern China coast on Monday, killing at least 20 people on the mainland, crippling power lines and causing flooding and gale force winds.

Daily Current Affairs : 20th & 21st September 2013

1. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Friday surprised the industry and shocked the stock markets by hiking the short-term policy rate by 0.25 percent to keep worrisome inflation under check, a move that may increase EMIs for home and auto loans in the medium term. New Policy Rates are as Follows:

• Repo Rate – 7.50% • Reverse Repo Rate – 6.50% • CRR – 4% • MSF – 9.50% • Bank Rate - 9.50% • SLR – 23%

2. Gyan Correa’s National award-winning Gujarati film ‘The Good Road’, a lost-and-found story of a small boy, nominated to represent India in the Best Foreign Film category at next year’s Oscars. Produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), ‘The Good Road’ marks 42-year-old Correa’s debut. 3. Govt approves 10% DA hike, to benefit 80 lakh employees, pensioners. DA and dearness relief are revised twice a year, first in January 1 and second from July 1. The revisions are based on the change in the consumer price index for industrial workers (CPI-IW). 4. The Heavy Industries Ministry is planning to set up an ‘Ultra Mega Green Solar Power Project’ in Rajasthan. It will be developed on 23,000 acres of land belonging to Sambhar Salts Ltd. The total capacity of this project will be 4,000 MW, making it the largest solar-based power project in the world. The first phase of the project, which will be 1,000 MW, is likely to be commissioned in three years – end of 2016. 5. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for setting up 9-million-tonne-per-annum (mmtpa) Greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Barmer District in Rajasthan.This will be a joint venture with the Rajasthan State Government and will be named HPCL-Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL). HPCL will own 74 per cent stake while the balance will be with the State Government. 6. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated Phase 1 of the Jaipur Metro Rail on Saturday after he laid the foundation stone of the first airport in Rajasthan's Ajmer district, while informing that small destinations in the country will have air connectivity with a network of more than 100 airports, planned to meet the expected passenger load capacity of 30 crore, by 2020. 7. Jawaid Akhtar, the Chairman of Coffee Board of India, was elected as the Chairperson of the International Coffee Council at the meetings of the International

Coffee Organization which took place on 9 September 2013 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The 111th session of the Council and the meetings took place from 9 September 2013- 12 September 2013. 8. Banks have been given conditional freedom to open branches in tier-I cities without seeking the Reserve Bank of India’s prior approval in each case. 9. Gurgaon's Rapid Metro likely to be inaugurated on 2nd October. Rapid Metro would be the country's first metro rail system developed in the public-private partnership mode, at a cost of about Rs 1,100 crore. The first phase of the Rapid Metro covers 5.1 km long track, with six stations: DLF phase-II, Belvedere Towers, Gateway Towers, Moulsari Avenue, DLF Phase-III and Sikanderpur. A major part of the line is single-track. 10. Assam government launched 'Swavalamban Pension Scheme'. As per the scheme named 'Swavalamban Pension Scheme', a person with a minimum contribution of Rs 1,000 per year will get an equal amount of contribution from the govt. The aggregator for the scheme in the state will be Assam Gramin Vikash Bank and Alankit Assignment, while the fund managers are SBI Pension Fund, LIC and UTI. 11. TV Narendran appointed new Tata Steel MD for India, South East Asia. Narendran will succeed incumbent H M Nerurkar, who is retiring on October 31 upon attaining the age of superannuation. The appointment of Narendran, who is in his late 40s, has surprised many as current group CFO Koushik Chatterjee's name was doing the rounds for the top post. 12. Former secretary of the Indian Cricket Board, Jaywant Yeshwant Lele passed away at his residence in Vadodara following a massive heart attack. Lele breathed his last late Thursday night. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. 13. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly and tennis ace Leander Paes will be conferred Lifetime Achievement Awards, while successful football coach Subhas Bhowmick will be given 'Guru Ratna' by the state government at a function on September 28. 14. Actor Aamir Khan has been selected for a U.S. award for his television show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ along with eminent American director Kathryn Bigelow and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC). They will be honoured at the inaugural awards dinner by the America Abroad Media (AAM) in Washington DC on October 28. 15. Kolkata giants Mohammedan Sporting created history by winning the prestigious Durand Cup Football tournament after a gap of 73 years, defeating ONGC 2-1 in the final in New Delhi. The last time Mohd Sporting won Durand Cup was before Independence in 1940 by defeating Warwickshire Regiment. 16. Indian men earned a maiden World Cup berth on the back of its best-ever sixth-place finish in men’s free-style at the World Championships in Budapest on

Friday. India finished the tournament in the men’s freestyle category with 23 points, which catapulted the country to sixth in rankings behind Iran, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and USA. As per the FILA rules, the top eight teams in the World Championship automatically qualify for the World Cup and Amit Kumar Dahiya’s silver medal in the 55-kg and Bajrang’s bronze in the 60-kg freestyle category ensured India its maiden World Cup appearance next year.

Daily Current Affairs : 19th September 2013

1. Goverment bans new appointments as a part of series of austerity measures; asks all departments to cut down non plan expenditure by 10 per cent.

2. Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola (21) of Nigeria becomes World Muslimah 2013 during the third Annual Award of World Muslimah in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday. 3. A Haryana student has been selected for a three-year astronaut training programme of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US. Ashish Kumar, who belongs to Dhaulera village of Mahendergarh district, was today honoured with ‘Pratibha Samman’ by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for his achievement. 4. WTO lowers growth projection for world trade in 2013 to 2.5% against 3.3 per cent projected in April and 4.3 per cent earlier in the year. 5. The Government will infuse Rs 14,000 crore in public sector banks within next few days, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru said here today. 6. Tata Sons have signed an agreement with Singapore Airlines and applied for necessary regulatory approval to set up a new airline in India, the two companies said in a joint statement. Tata Sons will control the majority 51 percent stake, while Singapore Airlines will own 49 percent in the proposed carrier. 7. US launches unmanned Cygnus cargo ship to ISS. Orbital Sciences Corp launched the first flight of its unmanned Cygnus cargo ship on Wednesday to the International Space Station, as NASA forges ahead with its plan to privatise US space missions. 8. Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant, Judge of the High Court of Uttarakhand was on 19 September 2013 appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. He was appointed by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.

9. Former Nintendo Company Limited President Hiroshi Yamauchi, who built the company into a video game giant from a maker of playing cards during more than half a century at the helm, died on Thursday of pneumonia, the company said. He was 85. 10. Veteran CPI leader Veliyam Bhargavan, who led the party in Kerala for long, died in kerala. 11. Bajrang kumar bags bronze in 60 Kg freestyle at World wrestling Championships in Budapest. 12. Former US heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton, who beat Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 70.

Daily Current Affairs : 18th September 2013

1. Tony Abbott has been sworn-in as the new Prime Ministerof Australia. 55 year-old Abbott took oath at the Government House in Canberra, in front of Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

2. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is likely to maintain his predecessor Duvvuri Subbarao's “hawkish” policy and keep key rates on hold due to continued inflationary pressure and the volatility in rupee, analysts say.

3. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched ICICI Pru Easy Retirement, a unit-linked plan that enables customers to build their retirement corpus. The plan provides customers the flexibility to choose their equity exposure according to their risk appetite. 4. Bhartiya Mahila Bank, the first nationalized bank for women expected to be operational from November, intends to recruit 115 officers initially. 5. Market regulator, SEBI has inked a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with its counterpart in Argentina to promote mutual assistance and exchange information related to securities markets in both the countries. 6. New Zealand has opened its embassy in Myanmar, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced Wednesday.

7. India's impressive show at the World Wrestling Championships continued as Bajrang bagged a bronze medal in the 60kg freestyle category with an overwhelming 9-2 win over Mangolia's Nyam-Ochir Enkhsaikhan in a match which was held in Budapest on Tuesday. 8. Tigmanshu Dhulia was presented the best director award for Paan Singh Tomar at the 11th Norway Bollywood Film Festival at a packed Loreskog cinema center in Oslo on Tuesday. While filmmaker Rahul Mittra bagged the Best Producer award for his last year's hit Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns, Jimmy Sheirgill got the best actor award for the same film. 9. Sebastiaan Bowier, a 23-year-old Dutch cyclist breaks the world land speed record record, hitting more than 133.78kph as he sped through a US desert, to become the planet's fastest cyclist. 10. Himachal Pradesh government is all set to launch the Food Security programme in the state from 20th September. 11. P. Sudhakar took over as the Chairman & Managing Director of the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) on 16 September 2013. 12. Rohan Kokane, a 12 year old Indian roller skating enthusiast, made it into the 2014 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records released on 12 September 2013. He is one of the youngest new record breakers to make it into the Guinness Book. He is from Belgaum in Karnataka. 13. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education, and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have been nominated for the European Parliament's prestigious "Sakharov human rights prize" on 17 September 2013. 14. India continue to occupy the number one position in the latest International Cricket Council, ICC ODI rankings with 123 rating points followed by Australia with 115 and England with 111 points.

Daily Current Affairs : 17th September 2013

1. YES Bank has become the first bank to raise funds overseas using the swap loan facility provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week. 2. Air India has tied up with SBI Cards to launch a co-branded travel credit card that seeks to add value to the travel experience of Indian customers. The offering from this tie-up comprises Platinum as well as a Signature card. 3. India and China on Monday agreed to initiate steps to include media co-operation as part of the 2014 celebrations being observed to commemorate ‘Friendly Exchanges’. 4. RTI applicants will no longer have to wait to get their applications processed as the Department of Posts is all set to bring out an RTI stamp for sale soon and also set up special counters, according to a senior officer. 5. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was awarded Indira Gandhi Official Language Award for propagation of Rajbhasha ( Official Language) in the company by the Union Government of India on Hindi Divas on 14 September 2013. 6. Datawind has entered into a strategic partnership with TES India, an online community for teachers, to provide a library of ready-to-use teaching material to its end-users. 7. Google has reportedly acquired file-sharing app developer Bump for undisclosed financial terms. 8. Indian Grandmasters Vidit Gujarathi and Sahaj Grover maintained a clean slate, defeating Tomas Laurusas of Lithuania and Vyacheslav Lozhnikov of Kazakhstan respectively in the second round of the World Junior Chess Championship in Kocaeli, Turkey. 9. Bollywood actor John Abraham was on Monday conferred the 'Pride of the Nation' award for his attempt to raise the sensitive issue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination through his role as a RAW agent in "Madras Cafe". 10. Leading IT security solutions provider Quick Heal Technologies today appointed Rajesh Ghonasgi as Chief Financial Officer.

11. India pushed import duty on gold jewellery up by half to 15 per cent, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday, setting it higher than raw gold duty in a move aimed more at protecting the domestic jewellery industry than stemming bullion imports. 12. China opens the world’s highest airport in Daocheng. Yading airport in Daocheng county of Garzi Tibetan autonomous region of China stands at 4,411 metre above sea level. It pipped the Qamdo Bangda airport, which has an altitude of 4,334 metre, to become the highest airport in the world after its inauguration yesterday. 13. Global mining giant Vedanta Resources has appointed Tom Albanese, former Chief Executive of Rio Tinto, as chairman of its subsidiary Vedanta Resources Holdings Ltd. In this role, he will be actively involved in continuing to develop the company’s strategy, policies and growth objectives, as per Vedanta. 14. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived an assassination attempt by a Taliban gunman last year, has been named as the recipient of Amnesty International’shighest award. She will receive Amnesty International’sAmbassador of Conscience Award along with American singer and human rights activist Harry Belafonte at ceremony Tuesday evening in Dublin, Ireland. 15. Asian Champion Amit Kumar settled for silver after going down narrowly in the final of the 55kg category on the opening day of World Wrestling Championships on Monday. 16. India’s Ravindra Jadeja continues to jointly top the bowlers' list, while Virat Kohli was the highest-ranked Indian batsman at 4th in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued today. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains unchanged at 7th position in the batsmen's list followed by Suresh Raina with 16th ranking. In the bowling chart, R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar held on to their 18th and joint 20th position respectively.

Daily Current Affairs : 16th September 2013

1. International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed on 16 September 2013 across the world to bring awareness about the depletion of Ozone layer in the atmosphere. This event commemorates the date of the signing of the “Montreal Protocol” on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. The theme for the year 2013 is “A healthy atmosphere, the Future We Want”.

2. 24-year-old Nina Davuluri became the first contestant of Indian heritage to win the Miss America pageant. Nina, who aspires to become a physician like her father, will earn at least 50,000 US Dollars in scholarships. 3. Private life insurer IndiaFirst Life has announced the availability of all its policies in dematerialised format after the formal launch of the insurance repository today. The insurance repository will provide policyholders the facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form and provide a single platform for making any changes in the same. 4. The Left-leaning All India Students Association (AISA) on Monday swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) election, bagging three of the four top posts by huge margins. Akbar Chaudhary was elected the president, Anubhuti Agnes the vice president, Sandeep Saurav the general secretary and Sarfaraz Hamid the joint secretary. 5. India's wholesale price based inflation jumped to 6.1 percent in August as against 5.79 percent in the previous month. 6. South Korean businessmen crossed into North Korea on Monday as the joint Kaesong industrial zone reopened five months after it was closed by soaring military tensions and threats of war. 7. Abhinav Shiv Tiwari's "OASS", a movie on human trafficking, was named the best film at the second edition of the Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF). It also won the best screenplay, and Divya Chhetri was awarded the best actress for the same movie. 8. Saudi Arabia, where cinemas are banned, is to compete for an Oscar for the first time next year with feminist film "Wadjda" directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, a Saudi official announced on Sunday. 9. The Indian duo of N. Sriram Balaji and Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan won the ITF Men's Doubles Title at Sharam-Al-Sheikh, Egypt on 15 September 2013. In the title clash, the top seeded Indian duo defeated the fourth seeded Egyptian pair of Karim Hossam and Karim-Mohamed Maamoun, 6-4, 7-6. 10. Kanoon Lugat, an Urdu law dictionary, a first of its kind in the country was released on 15 September 2013 in Mumbai. The dictionary, encompassing 52000 legal terms, has been translated in Urdu for the first time. Supreme Court advocate Muhammad Irshad Hanif authored the translation of this dictionary. The Urdu legal dictionary has a foreword written by former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir. 11. Serena Williams remained first in an unchanged top 10 of the women’s tennis rankings issued on Monday by the WTA. WTA rankings as of September 16

(i) Serena Williams, United States (ii) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus (iii) Maria Sharapova, Russia,. (iv) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, (v) Sara Errani, Italy, (vi) Li Na, China, . (vii) Marion Bartoli, France, . (viii) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, . (ix) Angelique Kerber, Germany, (x) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 12. Novak Djokovic slightly increased his lead over US Open Champion Rafael Nadal in the latest men’s tennis ranking released on Monday by the ATP. ATP top 10 as of September 16 (i) Novak Djokovic, Serbia (ii Rafael Nadal, Spain, (iii) Andy Murray, Britain (iv) David Ferrer, Spain, (v) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic,. (vi) Roger Federer, Switzerland (vii) Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, (viii) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, (ix) Richard Gasquet, France, (x) Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 13. Typhoon Man-yi hit central Japan today as officials issued a “special warning” of heavy rain, amid fears the storm could go on to hit the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Daily Current Affairs : 15th September 2013

1. Engineer's day is celebrated today (15th September) across the country. This day is celebrated in the honor of "Sir Dr. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya" who was born on the same day in 1860. 2. Kerala: CM Oommen Chandy inaugurates week-long Onam festivities organised by Tourism Department in Thiruvananthapuram.

3. India holds Guinness World Record for both world's tallest and shortest woman. Siddiqa Parveen was measured to be atleast 7 feet 3.5 inches. The doctor estimates her standing height to be atleast 7 feet 8 inches. Jyoti Amge's standing height is 24.7 inches. 4. China is likely to achieve its growth target of 7.5 per cent this year despite planned structural reforms to re balance the world’s second largest economy, the World Bank president said. 5. The United Nations has formally accepted Syria's application to join the chemical weapons convention, a spokesperson said. The UN welcomed Syria joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, after it received the formal instrument of accession to it by the Assad regime. 6. Syria's opposition National Coalition on 14 September 2013 elected "Ahmad Toameh" as its interim Prime Minister to run the regions in the country under rebel control. 7. India on Sunday conducted a second test flight of its indigenously developed nuclear- capable 'Agni-V'(surface to surface) long-range ballistic missile, which has a strike range of more than 5000 km, from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. The three stage, solid propellant missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8:50 AM, defence sources said on Sunday. 8. The move will leave the world's third largest economy without atomic energy for the second time since the Fukushima crisis erupted in March 2011. 9. Japan to be nuclear free as last reactor switched off 10. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 14 September 2013 inaugurated the train service, built by the Indian Railways, to the Northern Province. 11. After low-cost tiffin centres, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday launched a scheme to provide 1 litre mineral water at Rs. 10 a bottle, to ensure quality and affordable drinking water to the poor and middle class. She inaugurated the state-run ‘Amma Drinking Water’ plant with a daily capacity of three lakh litres at Gummidipoondy, about 50 km from Chennai. 12. Drugmakers from India, the biggest overseas source of medicines sold in the US, have got more than 100 generic drug approvals from the American health regulator FDA this year so far. This has taken India's share in the Original Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals to nearly 40 per cent in the US market so far in 2013. 13. Popular actress Drashti Dhami of Colors' Madhubala- Ek Ishq Ek Junoon was declared the winner of 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'.

14. Japan earned a berth in the Davis Cup World Group with a 3-2 win over Colombia. 15. Miss India 2012 finalist Purva Rana was crowned Vice-Queen at the Miss United Continent 2013 held in Guayaquil, Ecuador on September. 16. Yuvraj Singh staked his claim for national team selection as he struck a brutal 89-ball 123 to lead India 'A' to a thumping 77-run victory over West Indies 'A' in the first of the three-match one-day series on Sunday. 17. India has retained its third position in the latest ICC Test rankings after South Africa and England. 18. Taking note of some of its staffers wearing clothes “that did not bring any repute”, the Karnataka Government has prescribed a “decent” dress code for them — pant and shirt or ‘pyjama/kurta’ for men and saree or ’churidar’ for women.

Daily Current Affairs : 14th September 2013

1. Hindi Diwas is being observed all over the country on Saturday as President Pranab Mukherjee gave away Official Language Awards for outstanding contributions made towards promotion of Hindi language. Hindi was adopted as a language for official transaction by the constituent assembly on 14th September 1949.

2. BJP students' wing ABVP has won three out of the four top posts in Delhi University Students Union elections. ABVP candidate Aman Awana was elected President while Utkarsh Chaudhary, Raju Rawat were elected as vice-president and joint secretary respectively. Karishma Thakur of National Students Union of India, NSUI, has been elected as the secretary. The elections were held yesterday. 3. The industrial output for July grew by 2.6 percent over the corresponding month of the previous year, government data showed on Thursday; The factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), however, contracted 2.2 percent in June.

4. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to offer two-day funds to banks through the marginal standing facility (MSF). The MSF window will be open on Saturday between 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. Funds will be repayable on Monday, i.e. on September 16. 5. The government approved the proposal of Rs 700 crore capital infusion in Export-Import Bank of India to support future growth of the lender. 6. Japan successfully launched a new rocket Saturday that it hopes will be a cheaper and more efficient way of sending satellites into space. The three-stage Epsilon lifted off from a space centre on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, following a two-week postponement. The Epsilon is the first new rocket design for Japan since the H2A was introduced in 2001. 7.US and Russia agree that Syria's chemical weapons must be destroyed or removed by mid-2014. 8. The brown Chihuahua named “Miracle Milly” is the world's smallest dog, Guinness World Records announced. She is shorter than a soup can, standing at 3.8 inches (9.65 centimeters) tall when measured from backbone to paw. 9. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has launched a deep ultraviolet (DUV) solid-state laser device, making the country first-ever in the world to possess such technology. 10. The Government has appointed M.K. Goel, who is also the Director (Commercial), as the Chairman and Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC). 11. Hollywood writer-director-actor Woody Allen will be honoured with the Cecil B DeMille Award at the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards to be held in January next year. 12. A project with funds provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would overhaul the entire 53-year-old water supply system in Tripura capital Agartala, officials said here on Saturday. The ADB has recently sanctioned the Rs.130 crore project to replace the 408-km water supply pipelines, commissioned in 1960. 13. Union Minister for Industry and Commerce Anand Sharma has launched the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project in Madhya Pradesh. At a function held in capital Bhopal, he also unveiled the foundation stone of National Institute of Design (NID).

Daily Current Affairs : 13th September 2013

1. The 13th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization opens in the Kyrgyz city of Bishkek today (Friday) to discuss ways and means to enhance cooperation in diverse fields among the member-nations. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev being Chairman of the SCO will open the Summit. 2. Narendra Modi formally named as BJP's prime ministerial candidate. 3. Four convicts in the December 16 gangrape-cum-murder case were on Friday awarded death penalty by a Delhi court which said the gravity of the offence cannot be tolerated. 4. Delhi is the richest state in country with the per capita income of 2,01,083 rupees during 2012-13. It has increased by 27397 rupees as compared to 2011-12. This was revealed in the Delhi Statistical Hand Book-2013 released by Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit in New Delhi on Thursday. 5. Prime Minister's key economic advisor C Rangarajan on Friday lowered the growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5.3 per cent from 6.4 per cent projected earlier and listed out host of measures including further liberalisation of FDI norms to improve economic condition. 6. The government on Thursday announced it decision to invest $4.3 billion (Rs 27,000 crore) the World Bank's special private placement bonds (SPPBs) so that the country could remain eligible for the global lender's low-cost funding for various domestic infrastructure projects. The investment will allow India to borrow $4.3 billion from the World Bank, over & above the single borrower limit of $17.5 billion. 7. The World Health Organisation is set to get its first woman Regional Director, South-East Asia region, in Poonam Khetrapal Singh. Having worked with the World Health Organisation for 15 years, Khetrapal Singh has been nominated as regional head of the WHO’s South-East Asia region. 8. India and Chile on 13 September 2013 agreed to enhance their cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy at Ankara during India’s Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah's visit to Chile. India plans to add over 30 GW of renewable energy to its energy mix in the next 5 years alone. 9. Ray Dolby, the American Engineer and the pioneer of noise reduction in audio recordings died on 12 September 2013. He was the founder of Dolby Laboratories. The 80 year aged Ray Dolby in his end days suffered from Alzheimer disease.

10. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday has handed cricketer Sreesanth a life ban for spot-fixing. Ankeet Chavan, Amit Singh banned for five years, while Siddharth Trivedi gets one year ban. 11. Robert R. Taylor, who revolutionized hand soap by making liquid hand-wash soap, has died at the age of 77 in Newport Beach.

Daily Current Affairs : 12th September 2013

1. Karur Vysya Bank has won Best Banker Growth-Mid Sized award in the second edition of The Sunday Standard Best Bankers’ Awards 2013. K. Venkataraman, Chief Executive, KVB, received the award on behalf of the bank from Minister for Urban Development Mr Kamal Nath in New Delhi on Friday. 2. People belonging to weaker sections in the country can also open zero balance accounts in foreign banks such as HSBC, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank and avail free ATM-cum-debit card facility under the 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) in which any individual, including poor or those from weaker section of the society, can open zero balance account in any bank. 3. India's first individual Olympic Silver Medallist Shooter, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore entered politics to change the perception about the "hated profession" by doing his bit for the nation. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday. 4. In its release of Trade and Development Report 2013, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said the Indian economy is expected grow at 5.2 per cent in calendar year 2013 as against 3.8 per cent in 2012. 5. UN Human Rights forum begins in Beijing. The two-day forum will focus on constructing an environment for sustainable human rights development. Its topics will cover rule of law, the internet and protection of human rights and international cooperation in human rights issues.

6. Religare Health Insurance today has signed a deal with Union Bank of India to market its product and service bouquet through the distribution network of Union Bank of India. With this, Union Bank becomes the first PSB to enter into a tie up for distribution of health insurance products of a standalone health insurer viz., Religare Health Insurance. 7. ICICI Bank launches chip-based credit card. ICICI Bank Ltd, India’s largest private sector bank, has launched ICICI Bank Carbon in partnership with Visa. 8. Central Bank of India and Suvidhaa today launched a prepaid card for retailers that will enable people to pay their utility bills, taxes and book tickets by going to the nearest Suvidhaa outlets. 9. Liberian President and Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was conferred the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development by President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday. 10. Ashok Vemuri was appointed as the President and CEO of the iGate Corporation on 11 September 2013. His term to the office will commence from 16 September 2013. On the other hand, he will also serve the board of the company. iGate Corporation is a software services company headquartered in Fremont, California. 11. Afghanistan beat India to emerge Champions of the 2013 SAFF Championship at the Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu. 12. Puneet Talwar, an Indo American was nominated as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs by the US President Barack Obama on 11 September 2013. 13. Parupalli Kashyap rose a place to 13th in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released Thursday.

Daily Current Affairs : 11th September 2013

1. The World Economic Forum’s “summer Davos” opened in the north-eastern Chinese city of Dalian on Wednesday with a focus on “meeting the innovation imperative” in Asia. 2. India has recorded the largest increase in its Ultra-High Net worth Individual (HNIW) club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country, according to the World Ultra Wealth report 2013 by Wealth-X, a global wealth intelligence and prospecting company, India is home to as many as 7,850 high net worth individuals whose collective net worth is $935 billion. 3. Indonesia on Saturday said the final of Miss World, later this month, would take place on the Hindu-majority holiday island of Bali instead of near the capital, after days of Muslim hard-line protests.

4. The 7th India-Lao Joint Commission Meeting on bilateral cooperation was held in Vientiane on 9 September 2013. 5. Thomas Bach of Germany was elected as the ninth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He is the successor of Jacques Rogge of Belgium, who headed the IOC, since 2001 to 10 September 2013. 6. The much-anticipated shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2013 is out and the Indian-born U.S.-based author Jhumpa Lahiri’s book "The Lowland" finds a place on it. She is one of six writers whose books have made it to the shortlist. 7. Vocalist Bombay Jayashri has been picked for this year's Indira Sivasailam endowment medal and concert. The fourth Indira Sivasailam endowment concert will be held at The Music Academy, Chennai on October 12. 8. The country's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services said it has bagged a five-year multi-million euros deal from SAS Scandinavian Airlines to help transform and optimise its IT infrastructure. 9. Russia lifted the ban on import of non-basmati rice from India on 10 September 2013, which will eventually lead to an increase in the export of non-basmati rise from India. Russia also lifted the ban on the oilseeds apart from non-basmati rice. 10. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was the guest of honour at a reception hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife, Samantha Cameron at their official residence for acharity initiative for diabetes. 11. The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari presented the First Sree Narayan Guru Global Secular & Peace Award 2013 to Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Government of India at a function in Thiruvananthpuram, Kerala on 10 September 2013. 12. Sunila Abeysekera, the Sri Lankan activist who spent over 20 years documenting human rights violations in Sri Lanka, passed away in Colombo on 9 September 2013 due to long illness. She was 61 years of age. 13. Italy and the Netherlands became the first European nations to clinch qualification for the2014 World Cupfinals with victories on a busy night of action on Tuesday. 14. One third of the food produced worldwide is wasted, costing the global economy around $750 billion a year, a new report by the UN food agency said today. 15. SBI not to give car loan if annual income less than Rs 6 lakh.

16. Yuvraj Singh named India A captain against West Indies A. 17. Aditya Birla Group to acquire Gujarat cement for Rs 3,800 crore.

Daily Current Affairs : 10th September 2013

1. India is hosting the 31st meeting of Ministers of Health of countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region and 66th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia at New Delhi from September 10 to 13. 2. WHO today lauded India's efforts in eradicating polio and said the country has not reported a single case of polio in the last 30 months.

3. K N Shanth Kumar and Mahendra Mohan Gupta, two eminent media personalities, were today elected Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Press Trust of India (PTI). 4. Rafael Nadal claimed his second US Open title and 13th Grand Slam crown when he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a lung-busting final. 5. The country’s first ‘Wagah in the East’ post, along the Indo-Bangla border, will be thrown open to the public this Gandhi Jayanti when Home Ministers of both the countries will witness a historic cultural extravaganza between the two neighbours. 6. China and Sri Lanka have agreed to boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation with Beijing encouraging its entrepreneurs to invest in Sri Lanka and to help deepen mutual exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, media and other areas. 7. The West Bengal Government on Monday decided to set up a holding company to bring all state corporations marketing different products under the MSME sector under a single umbrella.The state cabinet took the decision to set up the company which would be named, Brand Bengal Marketing Corporation. 8. In Uttarakhand, prayers to begin tomorrow at the calamity-hit Kedarnath shrine, after flashfloods that left hundreds of people dead. 9. AIR to provide latest news through SMS. People willing to subscribe to the service can simply SMS 'AIRNEWS their name to 08082080820. They can also give a missed call to the number to subscribe to the service. Along with news headlines, a small message regarding public utility schemes of the government will be tagged.

10. Indian-American Manju Goel has announced her bid to seek Republican party nomination to run for a seat in the US Congress, focussing on divisive issues like "Obamacare" and the growing national debt. 11. Britain's Andy Murray joined world number one Novak Djokovic and newly-crowned U.S. Open champion Rafa Nadal as definite qualifiers for the ATP World Tour finals on Tuesday but Roger Federer faces a battle to make the eight-man field. 12. India is among the five nations, who have placed their bids before the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to host the 2018 Hockey World Cup. 13. Sensex zooms over 500 points; Rupee strengthens 99 paise to 64.25 against the dollar.

Daily Current Affairs : 8th & 9th September 2013

1. India's northeastern state of Tripura achieved the first position in literacy with 94.65 percent, beating Kerala (93.91 percent), Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announced in Agartala on Sunday.

2. Chhattisgarh has been selected for this year's prestigious National Literacy Award for the first time since its formation in November 2000. The award was presented on the International Literacy Day celebrated on September eight. 3. The 10-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Ganeshotsav begins today. People of Maharashtra especially Mumbaikars are all set to welcome their favourite Lord Ganesh. 4. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail' (VVPAT) with Electronic Voting Machines for the by-elections to Noksen Assembly Constituency. VVPAT is a device attached with EVMs which leave a verifiable paper trail of votes cast in an election. 5. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday released a commemorative stamp in memory of freedom fighter and veteran journalist Lala Jagat Narain.

6. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased by 6 percent year-on-year to USD 10.87 billion during the first six months of this year/ According to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the country had received USD 10.27 billion of FDI in January-June, 2012. Most of the inflows came from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and the US. 7. Retirement fund body EPFO is likely to announce an interest rate of 8.5 percent on provident fund deposits for 2013-14 to its over five crore subscribers, the same as provided for last fiscal. 8. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Monday announced a huge bonanza for mobile operators with a 50-60 per cent reduction in the reserve price for various spectrum bands. 9. Government will soon launch Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) to make the country Slum Free. Addressing a Press conference in New Delhi today, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Dr. Girija Vyas said that the implementation phase of the Scheme will be run on a mission mode during 2013-2022. 10. North-East Frontier Railway will bring Agartala in the country's broad gauge rail network by 2016. 11. BSP has demanded President's rule in Uttar Pradesh and dismissal of the state government in view of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar. 12. Commissioner and DIG of Saharanpur range transferred following group clashes in Muzaffarnagar district ofUttar Pradesh; Death toll rises to 28. 13. Italian director Gianfranco Rosi's documentary "Holy GRA", which looks into everyday life off a Rome ring road, won the Golden Lion for best movie at the Venice film festival on Saturday. The best actor prize went to Greece's Themis Panou for his role as father to a family which harbours a deep secret in Alexandros Avranas's "Miss Violence". 14. Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek win US Open Men's Doubles title winning 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Leander Paes won his eighth men's doubles Grand Slam title, and 14th overall. 15. World number one Novak Djokovic to clash with Rafael Nadal in the men's singles final of the US Open Tennis tournament.

Daily Current Affairs : 7th September 2013

1. Tony Abbott will be sworn in as the 28th prime minister of Australia after tonight clinching an historic victory and ending six years of Labor rule. 2. In a notification issued from Mumbai on Friday, RBI has said that swap facility will be available to scheduled commercial banks for fresh foreign currency non-resident bank - FCNR(B) deposits mobilized for a minimum tenor of three years. 3. The Reserve Bank of India will issue inflation-indexed savings certificates which will be linked to Consumer Price Index (CPI) by November 2013 as a means to protect households against inflation. Governnor Raghuram Rajan announced this Wednesday, saying the need of the hour is to protect households from inflation. 4. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon set up a committee to examine feasibility of encrypted SMS-based fund transfers: Rajan 5. The Reserve Bank of India on 6 September 2013 allowed the Non-Resident Investors including NRIs to purchase shares of Indian entities Under FDI Scheme. Till now, the FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investor), QFIs (Qualified Foreign Investors) and NRIs were eligible to invest and acquire the shares on the recognized stock exchanges of India in compliance with the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulations. But the NRIs were not allowed to acquire shares on exchange (bourses) under the FDI Scheme. 6. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has cleared gold-loan company Muthoot Finance’s proposal to set up white-label ATMs in the country. Muthoot, which had received the RBI nod for the plan in June, is expected to set up its first batch of ATMs next month in one of the southern States. 7. SEBI has barred 34 entities from the capital market for fraudulent dealings in the shares of 12 companies. It has also restrained the main conspirator of the alleged manipulative trades, Sunil Mehta from accessing the securities market for a period of seven years. 8. World champion Sebastian Vettel captured pole position on Saturday in a Red Bull one-two for the Italian Grand Prix. 9. The Karnataka State government will implement the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) for strengthening gram panchayats and gram

sabhas by providing training to members. A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been allocated for its implementation in this financial year. 10. After Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit in 2003, the very word “vibrant” has gone viral across the State and event organisers continue to tag their programmes with this word to cash in on its appeal. On Friday, actor Karishma Kapoor inaugurated the three-day “Vibrant Vivah”, claimed to be India’s largest wedding festival, in Ahmedabad. State Tourism Secretary Vipul Mittra was the guest of honour on the occasion. 11. Rajya Sabha passes Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers & Rehabilitation Bill-2013. The Lok Sabha had passed it yesterday. The Bill prohibits employment of manual scavengers, manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment and construction of insanitary latrines. 12. Parliament has passed the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Bill 2013 with the Rajya Sabha approving it by a voice vote today. The Lok Sabha had passed it yesterday.The bill is aimed at setting up the first-ever national aviation university in the country. 13. Senior Congree leader and famous lyricist Vithalbhai Patel (78) passed away after prolonged illness. "Jhoot bole kauwa kaate" is among many popular songs penned by him. 14. In Tennis World No.1 Serena Williams storms into the Women's Singles final of the US Open.

Daily Current Affairs : 6th September 2013

1. The International Olympic Committee has asked the Indian Olympic Association to drop charge-sheeted members by October 31 to enable its return to the Olympic family. 2. After a delay of nearly a decade, Parliament on Friday passed a key economic reforms legislation, the Pension Bill, that aims to create a regulator for the sector and allows at least 26 percent FDI. 3. Hari Dutt Pathak, a veteran journalist, died today after a fall from his 12th floor residence in Vaishali locality. 88-year-old Pathak was a senior journalist who had worked with some Hindi newspapers. 4. India and Japan have decided to more than triple their bilateral currency swap arrangement to USD 50 billion, a development that is likely to bring stability in financial markets in the country. 5. India has slipped to 60th position in terms of its competitiveness globally, while Switzerland has retained its top rank. This is India's lowest ever rank and also 31 places below its peer emerging market China.

6. World acclaimed orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta was conferred the prestigious Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony on Friday by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi. He is the second recipient after Sitar maestro late Pandit Ravi Shankar. 7. A Delhi court has issued a summon to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a forgery case. He has been charge sheeted by CBI along with controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma in the case.

8. Indian national Sushmita Banerjee, whose memoir about her dramatic escape from the Taliban was turned into a Bollywood film, was shot dead in Afghanistan by militants, police said today. 9. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) beginning on the 10th of November this year. 10. Angelina Jolie is to receive an Honorary Oscar in recognition of her humanitarian work, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Thursday. 11. Sania Mirza’s US Open campaign ended with a tame semifinal defeat in the women’s doubles with partner Jie Zheng against Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua. 12. World Number Three Andy Murray crashes out of US Open Tennis tournament. 13. Rochus Misch, who served as Adolf Hitler's devoted bodyguard for most of World War II and was the last remaining witness to the Nazi leader's final hours in his Berlin bunker, has died. He was 96.

Daily Current Affairs : 5th September 2013

1. The two-day summit of the Group of Twenty (G-20) has begun at St. Peters burg in Russiaon Thursday (September 5). The summit will focus on issues pertaining to the economic growth throughout the developed world. 2. Teacher’s Day Celebrated across India on the Birth Anniversary of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. On this day, the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee also presented the National Awards to meritorious teachers from all over India. These awards were instituted in 1958 in order to givethe public recognition to the teachers of the country in primary, middle as well as secondary schools. 3. President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday administered oath of office to Deepak Sandhu who became the first woman Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission. 4. New RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has announced the setting up of few committees to look intocritical areas of functioning, like monetary policy and screening of applications for licences to open new bank branches. In his maiden press conference in Mumbai last evening, Rajan announced an external committee, under the chairmanship of former Governor Bimal Jalan, to screen applicants for new bank licences, from January next year. 5. The Union Health Ministry today announced former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid as brand ambassador for its National Tobacco Control Campaign. 6. ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, launched its ‘Branch on Wheels’ to offer basic banking services in remote areas which have so far been devoid of banking facilities. 7. In a big setback for Indian athletes, the International Olympic Committee or IOC has decided that India will remain suspended from the international Olympic movement. 8. The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari released the book titled Ahmev Radha, Ahmev Krishnah at New Delhi on 4 September 2013. The book is written by Gulab Kothari, Chief Editor of Hindi newspaper Rajasthan Patrika. Ahmev Radha, Ahmev Krishnah is the collection of poems in Sanskrit language. 9. Raj Kundra, the millionaire businessman has written a book titled, How Not to Make Money.This is the first book written by Raj Kundra and it narrates a story of three childhood friends – Jai, Mike and Aziz – who made a decision to get rich quick.

10. Indian Author Sushmita Banerjee, who became famous after her best seller book “Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou” (A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife) about her escape from the Taliban in 1995, was shot dead in Afganistan. She was killed outside her home in Paktika province. 11. Unstoppable Rafael Nadal won his 20th straight hardcourt match to storm into the semifinals of the U.S. Open, showing no mercy to Tommy Robredo in a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 beatdown on Wednesday. 12. India’s Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Jie Zheng stormed into the semifinals of the women’s doubles with a straight sets victory over fourth seeds SuWei Hsieh and Shuai Peng. 13. Jamaican track star Usain Bolt is considering retiring after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he said on Wednesday. 14. Yahoo has adopted a new logo for the first time since its founding 18 years ago. The redesigned look was unveiled lateon Wednesday is part of a makeover that Yahoo Inc. has been undergoing since the it hired Google executive Marissa Mayer as its new CEO to turn around the former internet giant.

Daily Current Affairs : 4th September 2013

1. Raghuram G. Rajan took over as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India today. The 50-year-old economist took charge from D. Subbarao.

2. Faced with a tough economy and unstable rupee against the dollar, new RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday stressed the need for monetary stability saying it was a top priority. 3. In order to encourage capital flows, the RBI today eased the External Commercial Borrowing, ECB norms by allowing companies to use funds raised from foreign partners for general corporate purposes. 4. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed Rakesh Sood, India’s former Ambassador to Nepal, Afghanistan and France and the country’s first Ambassador in charge of Disarmament in Geneva, as his new Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

5. Noted Indian homeopath Mukesh Batra has been honoured with Asia's "most promising leader" award at a recent function in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for pioneering work in healthcare, using natural medicine. 6. Ronald Coase, the British-born US economist who was awarded the Nobel prize in 1991, died today in Chicago, the University of Chicago announced. He was 102. He studied at the University of London and London School of Economics and was famed for his 1960 article, “The Problem of Social Cost,” was the basis for the famous Coase Theorem. 7. The HRD Minister Dr. M M Pallam Raju today inaugurated the Sixth Global Skills Summit (GSS) at FICCI today. This two day FICCI annual event is being organized in collaboration with Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Labour and Employment and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). 8. India and Japan on Tuesday agreed to "intensify" their negotiations on the civil nuclear pact towards an early conclusion at a high-level official meeting in Tokyo. 9. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal for setting up of the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) as an independent charitable society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. 10. In yet another victory for the security forces, Hizbul Mujahideen’s self styled commander Talib Lali was arrested from his native Ajas in Bandipore on Wednesday. 11. Tommy Morrison, the former heavy weight champion, who was diagnosed positive for HIV died atthe age of 44. As a boxer, he was nicknamed as The Duke and in his entire boxing career; he played 52 professional fights and lost only 3 of them.

Daily Current Affairs : 3rd September 2013

1. Moscow G-20: Finance and Labour Ministers to meet for first time 2. Software giant Microsoft to acquire Finnish handset maker Nokia's handset business for 5.44 billion euros (USD 7.17 billion) in cash, in an effort to strengthen its position in the smartphone market. 3. The 3rd India-Republic of Korea (ROK) Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue (FPSD) was held in Seoul on 2 September 2013. 4. Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry launched the third All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)-2012-13. 5. Diana Nyad, 64-year old American long-distance swimmer became the first person to cross Florida Straits from Cuba without any shark cage on 2 September 2013. 6. Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was today elected president of ruling Shiromani Akali Dal here for the second time in a row. 7. Anjana Padmanabhan from Bangalore became the first winner of the singing reality show Indian Idol Junior on 1 September 2013. She was crowned by Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan as the winner. The contest was held in Mumbai.

8. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 11th Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) Congress today at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. 9. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani school girl shot in the head in a failed assassination attempt by the Taliban, on Tuesday inaugurated Europe’s biggest public library in Birmingham. 10. Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) today launched its new compact car 'Grand i10' priced between Rs 4.29 lakh and Rs 6.41 lakh as it looks to enhance its position in the country. 11. Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has been selected for a special ‘Century of Centuries Award’ by the Sports Journalists’Association of Mumbai (SJAM).

Daily Current Affairs : 1st & 2nd September 2013

1. HSBC has lowered India’s GDP forecast for the current financial year to 4 per cent from 5.5 per cent earlier saying economic uncertainty is likely to weigh on the growth forecast in the coming months. 2. HDFC Bank Ltd on Monday launched its rural financial literacy initiative in Koteshwar village nearhere under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India, becoming the first bank to translate curriculum into Gujarati language. 3. Assam has emerged as role model in the health sector of the country by implementing the highest number of schemes under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Sunday. 4. The Hyderabad Hotshots won the inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton league (IBL) 2013 played at Sardar Patel Stadium, Mumbai by defeating Awadhe Warriors in the finals. Saina Nehwal was awarded as the player of the tournament, because of her undefeated feat in the complete tournament. She received a prize amount of 1000 US dollars for being the player of the tournament. 5. India announced an aid of 5000 crore rupees to Bhutan. The aid includes economic stimulus package of 500 crore rupees. 6. S Bal Shekar, Secretary in the Lok Sabha secretariat, has been asked to perform the duties of the Lok Sabha Secretary General after TK Vishwanathan relinquished his office on August 31. 7. Delhi’s tops in per capita income in India. As per Delhi Development Report 2013, Delhi’s average per capita income stands at more than Rs 2 lakh per year in 2012-13 which makes it the highest in India. 8. Micromax becomes the number two smartphone vendor in India. Micromax continues to expand its hold in the Indian smartphone market and has now acquired 22 percent of the Indian market share in the second quarter according to the latest IDC numbers.

9. Senegal's president has removed his prime minister and replaced him with the country's justice minister Aminata Toure. 10. Pakistan- China Air Forces to begin joint air exercises today. The exercise has been code-named Shaheen-2. Shaheen-1, a similar drill between the air forces of the two countries, was conducted in Pakistan in March 2011. 11. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has come up with a unique in-flight child care assistance programme in its long haul flights for families who travel with their children. 12. Parliament today gave its seal of approval to the National Highways Authority of India(Amendment) Bill, 2012 with the Lok Sabha agreeing to amendments suggested by the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House had passed it on 13th of last month. 13. Tata group’s IT firm TCS today attained a market valuation of Rs 4 lakh crore, becoming the second company in Indian markets after Reliance Industries to cross this milestone. 14. India have managed to retain their third spot among T20 teams while Virat Kohli has held on to his sixth spot in the ICC rankings for Twenty 20 batsmen issued in Dubai today. 15. South Korea defeated India 4-3 in the final of the Asia Cup Hockey at Ipoh, Malaysia on 1 September 2013. With this, South Korea confirmed its place in the World Cup at The Hague. 16. Pakistan beat Malaysia 3-1 to win bronze in Asia Cup.

Daily Current Affairs : 31st August 2013

1. In the first conviction in the December 16 gang-rape case, the juvenile accused was on Saturday found guilty of murder and rape of the 23-year-old girl but he got away with a maximum of three years imprisonment mandated under the juvenile law. 2. The Reserve Bank of India, RBI, has permitted premature encashment of 8 per cent Savings (Taxable) Bonds for individual investors who are 60 years and above. 3. Gram Panchayats will get broadband speed of up to 100 Mbps under a government project that aims to connect all 2.5 lakh panchayats in the country over the next two years, Parliament was informed on Friday. 4. The Public Enterprises Selection Board on 30 August 2013 recommended Dinesh K Sarraf as the next head of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). He will succeed Sudhir Vasudeva, who superannuates in February 2014. Dinesh K Sarraf is 56-year-old. 5. Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court was on 30 August 2013 appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

6. Smt Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson launches 'Ahimsa Messenger' programme of Ministry of Women & Child Development at Rohini, New Delhi. 7. Over 8,000 Indians sign up for one-way trip to Mars. India stands fourth among other countries of the world with 8,107 applicants. 8. Petrol price hiked by Rs 2.35 per litre, diesel by 50 paise. 9. India's Somdev Devvarman crashes out of US Open Tennis. 10. India storms into the final of Men's Asia Cup Hockey; To meet Korea for the title tomorrow.

Daily Current Affairs : 30th August 2013

1. India's economic growth slumped to 4.4 percent during the quarter ended June 30,due to poor showing of manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors, government data showed Friday. 2. Indonesia and Pakistan have signed a free trade agreement (FTA) and expect to take their bilateral trade to $2 billion by next year. 3. Syndicate Bank has appointed "Sankaran Bhaskar Iyer" as workmen employee director on the board of directors for three years from the date of his taking over charge of the post on or after August 31. 4. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking into the complaint against State Bank of India (SBI) for shaming students and their parents for defaulting on their education loan. 5. The Foreign Minister of Nicaragua, Samuel Santos Lopez paid an official visit to India since 19 August to 23 August 2013. Earlier, he had visited India in June 2008 to participate in the India-SICA (Central American Integration System) Foreign Ministers' meeting. 6. GSAT-7, India’s first full-fledged military communication spacecraft, meant for exclusive use by the Navy, was launched on Friday morning from Kourou in South America on a European Ariane 5 launcher. 7. Melbourne made it three years in a row as the world's most livable city, according to the 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Livability Survey. 8. Riding on PV Sindhu's sensational win over All-England champion Tine Baun and excellent performances by their doubles teams, Awadhe Warriors entered the Indian Badminton League final on Thursday as they edged past Mumbai Masters 3-2 in a nail-biting semi-final here. 9. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has introduced website based students' services, an official statement said Friday.

10. Seamus Heaney, acclaimed by many as the best Irish poet since Yeats, has died aged 74. Heaney was born near Toomebridge, Northern Ireland, but as a child moved to Bellaghy. 11. India beat Malaysia 2-0 to enter the final of Asia Cup and seal World Cup Hockey spot. 12. Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2012/13 ahead of the usual contenders Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. 13. Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt outsprinted fellow Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade and American Justin Gatlin to win the 100 metres at the Zurich Diamond League meeting on Thursday.

Daily Current Affairs : 29th August 2013

1. National Sports Day is being celebrated today marking the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand. 2. To take the pressure off the rupee due to unrelenting demand for the dollar, the RBI has opened a special window to meet the entire daily dollar requirements of three public sector oil marketing companies. 3. The government has set up a 7-member Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) which will be headed by Parthasarathi Shome. 4. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has joined hands with Franchise India to provide financial support to emerging and established franchisors in India. 5. Human Resources Development Minister M M Pallam Raju today launched the Right to Education, RTE, anthem to make education for children interesting and friendly. 6. Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay is to visit India from tomorrow till the 4th of September. This will be the maiden visit of Mr. Tobgay on the invitation of

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after assuming the post of Prime Minister of Bhutan. 7. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 113.70 crore to Karnataka under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). NABARD has also allocated Rs 900 crore for various rural and agricultural infrastructure projects in the state. 8. In an effort to boost forex inflows, the Finance Ministry has worked out a strategy for as many as 10 public sector entities to tap Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) to raise at least Rs 15,000 crore in foreign currency. This will be part of a tax-free bond issue. This is the first time that such funds have been allowed to be part of a tax-free bond issue. 9. Brigalia Bam,former head of South Africa’s election body, received the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation recognizing her commitment to democracy. 10. Famous Pakistani brave girl and activist Malala Yusafzai who was shot in head by Taliban for campaigning for girls’ right to education, has won the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2013. She is currently living in Britain where she was given life-saving treatment. 11. Kapil Parakh, an Indian-origin cardiologist working in Washington area, is among a dozen people chosen by the White House for its prestigious fellowship programme for 2013-14. 12. Using data collected by India’s Chandrayaan mission, NASA has detected magmatic water locked under the surface of the Moon. 13. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has received its third Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, a large,versatile military transport aircraft capable of carrying heavy, oversize loads long distances and landing on rough and unprepared surfaces. 14. Air India is to operate Boeing 787 to Japan. This follows clearance by the International Civil Aviation Organisation which has said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is fully capable of giving clearance for operations. 15. Wipro in partnership with Qatar Airways today announced the launch of a range of information technology products for the aviation industry. 16. England clinched Ashes 2013 series with 3-0 win over arch-rivals Australia. The fifth and last test match played at the Oval stadium ended in a draw.

• Man of the Series (England): Ian Bell • Man of the Series (Australia): Ryan Harris

17. Hyderabad Hotshots storm into IBL final. 18. The International Sepak takraw Super Series 2013 kicks off in New Delhi today.

Daily Current Affairs : 28th August 2013

1. The national capital today celebrated Janmashtami with religious fervour as people thronged the brightly adorned temples and offered prayers to mark the birth of Lord Krishna. 2. Rattled by the continued decline in the value of rupee, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has constituted a task force comprising representatives from the Ministry, Department of Economic Affairs, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SBI, industry bodies FICCI, CII and Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) to work out currency swap arrangements with key trading partners of India. 3. State Bank of India on Tuesday said it may merge one of the five associate banks in the current fiscal.SBI first merged its associate State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later in 2010, State Bank of Indore was merged with SBI. 4. Pakistan and Russia are all set for the first ever Strategic Dialogue that is aimed at upgrading political, diplomatic, economic and defence relations. 5. A two-day summit of the South East Asian Defence Ministers begins in Brunei today. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are expected to top the agenda at the meeting. 6. In its first ever loan to private agri-business in India, Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $18.4 million to Champion Agro to set up cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables focusing on Gujarat. 7. Retired All India Services (IAS, IPS and IFoS) officials will get 20 per cent of additional pension after completing 80 years of age, according to new rules notified by the central government. 8. Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) has opened about 1.5 lakh no-frills accounts in eight districts of the State on a single day as part of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) initiative. 9. PepsiCo’s Chairperson and CEO Indra Nooyi, who is of Indian origin, would be honoured by a charitable body, run by a group of Indian-American women professionals in Manhattan, in October. 10. India’s first defence satellite GSAT-7 all set for launch. GSAT-7 is India’s first dedicated spacecraft for Defence applications. 11. China has begun the countdown for its third lunar mission later this year, during which it plans to land an orbiter on the moon’s surface.

12. Punjab to launch ‘bed and breakfast’ scheme to give a boost to tourism and provide a home-like affordable accommodation to visitors. 13. DHRUVA-3, a high performance computing system developed by Indian defence scientists will be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh on Monday. 14. Former Member of Parliament, veteran Journalist and writer D.C. Prashant has passed away. After prolonged illness Prashant breathed his last at his hometown in Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir last night. 15. National women's premier Chess Championship begins today.

Daily Current Affairs : 27th August, 2013

1. The Honourable President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday greeted the nation on the festival of Shri Krishna Janmashtami, which is being celebrated on Wednesday to mark the birth of Lord Krishna. 2. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today said India needs to seriously look at currency swap arrangements with important trading partners with a view to stabilise the rupee. 3. The two militaries pledged to strengthen defence ties during a meeting between Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan and Bangladesh's Chief of Army Staff Gen Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan on Tuesday. 4. Operators of illegal money-pooling schemes will soon face penalties of up to three times the profit made by them, as against the current provision of a meagre fine of Rs.1 crore. 5. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon on Monday appointed a Pakistani army general as the Military Adviser for United Nations Peace keeping Operations. 6. The rupee tumbled to an all-time intra-day low of 65.72 per dollar today on heavy month-end demand of the US currency from importers and banks amid sharp fall in the local equity market.

7. Gold prices regained Rs 32,000 per 10 gram-level after nine months in the national capital Tuesday on increased stockists buying as rupee plunged to historic low of 66-level. 8. National Sports Day will be celebrated across the country on Thursday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Indian hockey legend Dhyan Chand. 9. The Goa government has assured that most of the infrastructural facilities for the Lusofonia Games will be in place before the October 10 deadline here.

Daily Current Affairs : 25th & 26th August 2013

1. Today(26 Aug) is the 103rd birth anniversary of Mother Teresa. Mother was born on this day in 1910 at Republic of Macedonia. 2. April 6 declared International Sports Day. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed April 6 as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. 3. India-born Satya Nadella may succeed Steve Ballmer as Microsoft CEO. Nadella, 44, as head of Microsoft's USD 19 billion Server and Tools Business, is credited with the transformation of the business and technology from client-server software to cloud infrastructure and services. 4. The roll out of white-label automated teller machines (ATM) may still take a long time as most of the successful applicants are not still ready to start operations, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) official said. 5. Ramya, who was Saturday elected to Lok Sabha from Mandya constituency in Karnataka, is the first female actor from the state toenter parliament. Glamorous Ramya is considered the "golden girl" of Kannada cinema as she has given several hits. 6. The Indian classical singer and music director, Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi passed away on 25 August 2013 in Bhubaneswar. He was 80 years of age. He is known as the vocalist of Jayadeva’s Gita Govind. He died because of cardiac arrest.

7. Taukelina Finikaso, the Foreign Minister of Tuvalu was on an official visit to India from 21 to 25August 2013. This was the first visit of Finikaso to India after taking charge as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade, Tourism, Environment, and Labour, Govt. of Tuvalu. 8. India and Iraq singed MoUs during the visit of Nouri al-Maliki to India. Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Republic of Iraq was on a state visit to India. This was the first visit of Maliki to India. 9. India bagged a Gold medal in the Archery World Cup Stage 4 competition in Wroclaw, Poland yesterday. In the Women's Recurve Team final, the sixth seeded Indian team of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Rimil Buriuly defeated the top seeded South Korean team of Yun Ok-Hee, Ki Bo Bae, and Joo Hyun Jung, 219-215 to clinch the Gold. 10. Bollywood actor and UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) Goodwill Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan on 23 August 2013 joined the UN and its humanitarian partners to promote The World Needs More global campaign. The campaign seeks to turn words into real assistance for communities affected by humanitarian crises. It was launched on 19 August 2013. 11. The Chinese military has launched the first ingenuously developed military attack helicopter WZ-10 successfully for its first air-to-air missile. 12. The fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open Tennis tournament, kicks off in New York today. 13. India qualified for the semifinals of the Asia Cup hockey tournament with a 2-0 win over defending champions South Korea at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh on Monday. 14. Indian tennis player Sania Mirza lifted the women’s doubles trophy at the WTA New Haven Open along with her partner Jie Zheng of China on 24 August 2013.

Daily Current Affairs : 24th August 2013

1. The Nation on Friday pays tribute to Rajguru, one of the greatest Indian revolutionary of modern India, on his 105th birth anniversary. 2. The Reserve Bank has imposed monetary penalty worth 6 crore 50 lakh rupees on six banks for violating Know Your Customer guidelines. 3. India's Foreign Exchange (forex) reserves increased by $205.8 million to $278.80 billion for the week ended Aug 16, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

4. A state-of-the art National Media Centre comparable to those in capitals across the world was inaugurated Saturday, with an impressive conference hall, workplace for the media, a library,cafeteria and high-speed internet. 5. China:Typhoon Trami hits central Hunan Province, affects 3.61 lakh people. 6. Justice RC Gandhi to head one-man Commission to probe Kishtwar Violence in Jammu and Kashmir. 7. Goodwill gesture: Pakistan releases 362 Indian nationals. As a good will gesture amidst tension at the border in Kashmir, Pakistan has repatriated 362 Indian nationals through Wagah-Attari joint check post, today. 8. The ninth Men's Asia Cup Hockey Tournament kicked off at Ipoh in Malaysia today. Young striker Mandeep Singh netted a hat-trick as India hammered Oman 8-0 to start their 9th Asia Cup Hockey Championship campaign on a perfect note at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium.

Daily Current Affairs : 23rd August 2013

1. The use of chemical weapons in Syria would constitute a "crime against humanity", UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Friday, adding there was "no time to lose" in investigating an alleged attack which the opposition says killed hundreds. 2. India and ASEAN on Wednesday decided to set a target of $100 billion turnover for the bilateral trade by 2015. 3. The government today announced that a national e-mail policy to protect privacy of email users in the country will be released. 4. Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has been made the Chairman of the Common Minimum Programme implementation committee for Jharkhand. 5. A United Nations committee has found Australia guilty of nearly 150 violations of international law for indefinite detention of 46 refugees. 6. The 19th Delhi Book Fair started off on 23rd August, 2013 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The theme of the 19th Delhi Book Fair is "Libraries and Readership". The theme will focus on the role of libraries on the Indian society. The book fair will take place till 31st August, 2013. 7. The share of Indian immigrants among all foreign born in the US has grown to almost 5 percent of the country's 40.4 million immigrants in 2011, noted an article published in the Migration Policy Institute's online journal, the Migration Information Source. 8. The Cabinet on Thursday approved the bill which entails replacing the collegium system with a Judicial Appointments Commission wherein it will have asay in appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts.

9. The plane which departed for India on August 20 from Boeing's Long Beach, California, facility joins the first and second India C-17 airlifters, which arrived in June and July, respectively. 10. Kudankulam to start generating 1,000 MW of power by October end. 11. Sushil Kumar, 30, said that he was approached through one of his team's foreign coaches to losethe 66kg-category final against Russia's Alan Gogayev. 12. India surpass Japan to become third largest Internet population. 13. According to ComScore, an American Internet analytics firm, Yahoo has grabbed the top slot among the 50 best US internet properties in the monthly report for July, released on Wednesday. Yahoo has recorded 196,564,000 unique visitors in last month. Google is lagging slightly behind with 192,251,000 visitors. 14. The head of World Football's governing body FIFA says he is increasingly confident that Brazil will host a successful 2014 World Cup.

Daily Current Affairs : 22nd August 2013

1. Veteran leader Robert Mugabe was sworn in as Zimbabwe's president for another five-year term on Thursday. 2. The 5th India-China Strategic Dialogue was held in New Delhi on 20 August 2013. Maintaining peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the border areas figured prominently during the talks. 3. The second South Asian Diaspora Convention (SADC) will be hosted by Singapore. The event will be organised by The Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) on 21-23 November 2013 and it will be on the theme of Connecting Global South Asians. 4. Nearly three months after he had to resign as Union Law minister in a blaze of controversy, Ashwani Kumar has been appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his Special Envoy to visit Japan in the rank of a Cabinet Minister. 5. Tata Steel on 22 August 2013 was adjudged the Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant in the country for the year 2011-12 based on the recommendations made by a Panel of Judges that selected companies for the Prime Minister`s Trophy awards for the year 2011-12. 6. The comprehensive economic partnership agreement between India and ASEAN has inched closer with ministers of both sides endorsing the final text of the pact in Brunei. 7. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on Wednesday imposed a penalty of 3.10 crore rupees on Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for violation of various norms, including those related to early-death claims and group insurance.

8. Russian world number three Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the US Open because of a right shoulder injury, tournament organizers have announced. 9. Sensex surges almost 300 points; Rupee hits all-time low of 65 rupees 12 paise against the dollar.

Daily Current Affairs : 21st August 2013

1. Citizens can now file RTI applications online in all central government ministries and departments through a portal. The facility will be launched by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, V Narayanasamy in New Delhi this evening. At present, it is available only to 40 ministries, departments and commissions. 2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced its decision to buy long-term government bonds worth Rs 80 billion (nearly $1.3bn) to pump more liquidity into the country's banking system. 3. Government has decided to set up a 20 member committee to make in-depth analysis of the reasons for backlog in filling up of reserved vacancies. The committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will suggest measures to enhance the employability of reserved category candidates. 4. The Reserve Bank of India, RBI has further relaxed the Statutory Liquidity Ratio, SLR to provide more funds to banks for lending. 5. Market regulator SEBI has allowed mutual funds to trade directly on debt platforms of recognised stock exchanges. 6. The United States has imposed economic sanctions on a Pakistani Islamic school in Peshawar. The US Treasury describes the Ganj Madrassa in the city as a terrorist training centre which provides support to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. 7. India welcomes BRICS Biz Council pact to partner for African development. 8. The state-owned iron National Mineral Development Corporation Power Ltd. today signed an Mou with the IL&FS Energy Development Ltd to set up a 500-MW power plant at Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. 9. Government says Sex Ratio in country has increased to 943 females per thousand males as per latest Census report. 10. Virat Kohli at sixth position in ICC T20 rankings. At eighth, Suresh Raina is the second Indian batsman in the top-10 with Yuvraj Singh being a distant next best at 16th. but there is no Indian presence in the top-10 of the bowlers' list in the latest ICC Twenty20 Rankings issued on Wednesday. 11. Famed Pakistan Paceman Wasim Akram on Wednesday announced that he had married his Australian girlfriend, Shaniera Thompson, saying he has started a new life on a happy note.

12. Rupee ends at all-time low of 64.11 against dollar.

Daily Current Affairs : 20th August 2013

1. Festival of sacred and unconditional bonding between sisters and brothers Raksha Bandhan is being celebrated today. This day is celebrated on Saravan Purnima. On the day brothers used to give words to protect their beloved sisters. 2. Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Divas is being observed today on the 69th birth anniversary of the former prime minister. 3. Continuing its slide, the rupee on Tuesday breached 64-mark against dollar by falling 98 paise to trade at record low of 64.11 on persistent dollar demand and a weak opening in the domestic equity market. 4. The food security scheme in India is “unparalleled” in the world and aims to feed every poor person in the country, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in New Delhi while launching the ambitious food scheme in Delhi. Delhi was the first State to clear the scheme. 5. The spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, General Guide Mohammed Badie, has been arrested in Cairo according to Egypt authorities. 6. Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been indicted by an anti-terrorism court in the 2007 assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto. 7. Kush Kumar won the first gold for India when he beat Mohammad Syafiq Mohd. Kamal of Malaysia 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7 in the boys’ squash final in the second Asian Youth Games at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre on Monday. 8. Troubled New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder was handed a six month ban on Tuesday after testing positive for outlawed substances contained in a weight-loss supplement, the New Zealand Sports Tribunal said.

Daily Current Affairs : 18th & 19th August 2013

1. Today is World Humanitarian Day. This day is observed on the 19th of August every year to recognise those people who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. The theme for this year is - The World Needs More.

2. World Photography Day Celebrated Across the Globe. The French government announced 19 August as the World Photography Day. 3. First BRICS Business Council meets will be held in South Africa on monday to identify specific measures to eliminate barriers to growing trade and investment. 4. The insurance arm of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has announced its entry into India's agriculture insurance business, saying it would offer farmers insurance cover for their crops against adverse weather conditions. 5. Shri Ratan Thiyam has been appointed as the Chairperson of the National School of Drama Society. The President of India has appointed Shri Thiyam for a period off our years as per the relevant Rules and Regulations of the Society. 6. India and Bangladesh today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further enhance cooperation in the textiles sector. 7. Professor of economics, conservationist and mountaineer Harshwanti Bisht was selected on 12 August 2013 to receive the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal. 8. Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions by former President of India, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (APJ Abdul Kalam, for short) was launched in the month of August 2013 by the Rupa Publication. 9. In Nepal, the private sector power promoters, Independent Power Producers Association (IPPAN) is to host the Power Summit 2013 on the 26th and 27th of this month. 10. India's Satywart Kadian has won a bronze medal in the 96-kg freestyle category at the World Junior Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. 11. Second seed Victoria Azarenka defeated World No. 1 Serena Williams to win her first Western and Southern Open tennis title. 12. At least 35 pilgrims were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday when they were run over by a speeding train in Bihar's Khagaria district. 13. The Indian space agency Monday called off the launch of its heavy rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D5) due to leak in the second-stage engine. 14. UP govt to provide educational assistance to the girls of minority communities under its scheme “Apni Beti-Uska Kal”. 15. World Athletics C'ships: Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt equals world record of eight Gold medals after he anchored his country's 4x100m relay team to victory. He has now joined Allyson Felix, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson. In the event beside The Jamaican relay team winning Gold,The US claimed Silver, while Bronze medal went to Canada.

16. Well aware that it is its last chance to qualify for next year’s World Cup, the Indian men’s hockey team on Friday left for Ipoh, Malaysia to participate in the eight-nation Asia Cup to be held from August 24 to September 1.

Daily Current Affairs : 17th August 2013

1. Senior IPS officer Dilip Trivedi, a 1978-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed as the new chief of the country's largest paramilitary force CRPF. 2. D. Bala Venkatesh Varma, a Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1988 batch, appointed as the next Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. 3. The Export-Import Bank of India has extended a $125 million Line of Credit (LOC) to the Government of Sudan for financing the Mashkour Sugar Project in Sudan. 4. For the first time, Election Commission to use paper trail method in Nagaland by-polls. The system, called the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system (VVPAT),will accompany the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). 5. Delhi Police has arrested "Abdul Karim Tunda" alias Abdul Quddooss, an expert bomb maker of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and one of India’s top 20 wanted terrorists, and mastermind of over 40 bombings in the country, from the India-Nepal border. 6. An Indian-American professor of biological and agricultural engineering has been recognised for lifetime achievement by a top US environmental and water resources institute. 7. The world's top two tennis players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, both suffered shock defeats Friday, while Rafael Nadal stormed back to beat longtime rival Roger Federer at the Cincinnati Masters. 8. Former Bengal Cricketer and Coach Kalyan Mitter passed away on 16 August 2013 in Kolkata. He was 79.

Daily Current Affairs : 15th & 16th August 2013

1. India celebrated its 67th Independence Day on 15th August with enthusiasm. 2. Union Territory of Pudducherry celebrates its 52nd De-Jure or legal merger with Indian Union Day today. It is on this day in 1962 the French Parliament ratified a treaty signed by India and France in this regard. 3. India assured Bhutan of assistance in financing, executing and monitoring its 11th Five Year Plan in a proficient and effective way. 4. UNICEF will conduct a nationwide survey on child trafficking in India. 5. The Central Government raised customs duty on gold, silver and platinum to 10 percent in a bid to curb the surging imports and burgeoning Current Account Deficit.

6. India has signed a loan agreement of 100 million US dollar with the World Bank for its Low Income Housing Finance Project. The objective of the project is to provide access to sustainable housing finance for low income households to purchase, build or upgrade their dwellings. 7. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 14 August 2013 unveiled the second phase of comprehensive multi-media initiative Glimpses of the India Story. 8. Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram launched the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme in New Delhi today. This scheme is likely to benefit about one million young men and women in the next 12 months. 9. 50,000 girl students in Tripura living below the poverty line would get a bicycle each free as an incentive to reduce the school drop out rate, CM Manik Sarkar said. 10. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Minister for Foreign Affairs and African Integration of Republic of Chad, paid an official visit to India. 11. Cracking down on corruption inthe Bangladesh Premier League, the ICC on Tuesday provisionally suspended seven unnamed individuals for match-fixing-related offences while two others were charged for failing to report "corrupt approaches" that were made to them. 12. French Lawn Tennis Player and Wimbledon 2013 (Women’s Singles) winner Marion Bartoli announced her retirement on 14 August 2013, during the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio. 13. India 'A' on Wednesday clinched the cricket tri-series title with a comfortable 50-run victory over Australia 'A' in a low-scoring final,relying on a clinical display by their bowlers. 14. Paralympic Swimmer Sharath Gayakwad has finished seventh inthe 100m breastroke finals at the IPC World Swimming Championships in Montreal, Canada. 15. The Supreme Court today refused to interfere in the case of IAS Officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, whose suspension by the Uttar Pradesh government last month led to widespread outrage across the country. 16. Gold prices breached the psychological Rs. 30,000 barrier in first hour of trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange on Friday. 17. World Bank to provide 100 million dollars loan to India for housing of low income families. 18. Rupee drops to an all-time low of 62 per dollar.

Daily Current Affairs : 14th August 2013

1. Our patience has limits: President Pranab Mukherjee's firm message to Pakistan.

2. Ahead of India's Independence Day celebrations this week, Google announced to launch "Google Impact Challenge in India,"inviting Indian nonprofits to tell how they would use technology to improve people's lives. 3. In one of the worst disasters to have struck the Indian Navy, a series of explosions rocked its submarine INS Sindhurakshak at the dockyard in Mumbai around midnight, sinking it partially in the shallow sea, in which 18 personnel including three officers are feared killed. 4. The government on Tuesday said that Reserve Bank will examine financials of 34,754 non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to ascertain their eligibility. 5. Rising for the second consecutive month, inflation shot up to 5.79 percent in July, driven largely by double digit rise in prices of food articles, mainly vegetables, including onion. 6. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Centre signed an agreement for US $300 million additional loan to upgrade 254 kilometres of deteriorated highways in northern and southern Bihar. 7. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released sample questions of the newly introduced paper on Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for the Civil Services Examination. 8. In Punjab, fearing trouble from some anti-social elements, Stri Shakti, an NGO providing mid-day meal in six districts has decided to wind up their operations. 9. The Minority Development Department of Assam governmenthas achieved grand success in implementing the several development schemes among the poor, rural minority people in Morigaon district of central Assam. 10. Jwala Gutta-led Krrish Delhi Smashers will lock horns with Ashwini Ponnappa's Pune Pistonsin the tournament opener of the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) which kicks off in New Delhi on Wednesday. 11. India's Vikas Gowda settled for a seventh-place finish with a moderate throw in the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow on Tuesday. 12. Ireland's Robert Heffernan today won the 50 kilometres walk title at the Athletics World Championships being held in Moscow.

Daily Current Affairs : 13th August 2013

1. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali's Presidential elections on 12 August 2013 after his opponent Soumalia Cisse conceded defeat before official results were announced. 2. Trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, the first Indian to win two back-to-back World Cup gold medals, was, on Tuesday, recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, while cricketer Virat Kohli was among the 14 sports persons picked for the Arjuna award by the selection committee. 3. Senior IPS officer PP Pandey, accused in Ishrat Jahan encounter case, surrenders before CBI court in Ahmedabad. 4. Fourth seed Rafael Nadal of Spain routed Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2 to capture the ATP Montreal Masters Title on Monday. 5. A team of three Indian-American students defeated teams from 17 other regions to win top honours at the 11th National Geographic World Championship in Russia's St. Petersburg city. 6. England clinched a 3rd straight Ashes series as they won the fourth test by 74 runs following a dramatic Australian batting meltdown in the face of some inspired bowling from paceman Stuart Broad on Monday. 7. Zafar Futehally, (93 years) India’s best known naturalist and ornithologist passed away on 11 August 2013 at Kihim in Maharashtra.

Daily Current Affairs : 11th & 12th August 2013

1. International Youth Day(12 Aug) is being observed today across the globe. The theme this year is -- Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward. 2. Janata Party was merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on11 August 2013 following a meeting of Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy and BJP President Rajnath Singh. 3. India on Monday launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability. Defence Minister A K Antony's wife Elizabeth launched the 37,500-tonne carrier at Kochi shipyard almost four-and-a-half years after its keel was laid by the minister.

4. Govt introduces Bill in Lok Sabha to amend SEBI laws. The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, was introduced by Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena. The Bill is to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996. 5. A bill to amend the Right to Information Act 2005, RTI Amendment 2013 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Personnel Mr. V Narayanasamy. 6. India on 12 August 2013 successfully test-fired indigenously-developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a military base in Odisha. 7. Sowjanya Bavisetti of India has emerged winner in the 10,000 dollar Internalional Tennis Federation (ITF) Women's Tennis Tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. 8. Serena Williams crushed Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-0 in the final of the women's Rogers Cup to capture her 54th WTA singles title.

9. India, on 11 August 2013 named Sardar Singh as the captain of the 18-member squad in the Asia Cup hockey tournament, which is scheduled to take place from 24 August 2013 to 1 September 2013 in Ipoh, Malaysia. 10. Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt lifted track and field out of the doping doldrums as he reclaimed his world 100m title in emphatic style on Sunday. 11. Sagarika Ghosh on 11 August 2013 won the Cadet Girls singles title.

Daily Current Affairs : 10th August 2013

1. The Parliament has passed the historic Companies Bill 2012, moved by Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs. 2. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) liquidity tightening measures may have an adverse impact on the country's already sluggish economic growth, which could fall below 5 per cent, experts warned. 3. Bhutan's new Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay will embark on his maiden visit to India next week during which he would discussed issues like rupee crunch and funds for the Himalayan nation's 11th five-year plan with Indian leadership. 4. India signed a Protocol amending the India – Morocco Double Taxation Avoidance

Convention(DTAC). The Protocol was signed by Dr Sudha Sharma, Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes on behalf of Government of India and Mr. Larbi Reffouh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to India on behalf of Government of the Kingdom of Morocco. 5. In a major step towards completing its nuclear triad, India activated the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant paving the way for its operational deployment by the Navy. 6. Vinod Prakash Sharma an eminent scientist on 9 August 2013 won the Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology 2013. He received the award for his contribution in the field of basic and applied research of Malaria and Vector Biology. 7. Sudhakar Jayant has won gold medal at the IWF World Masters weightlifting championships, held in Turin, Italy. 8. World Badminton Championships: PV Sindhu loses to fourth seed Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in semifinals, finishes with bronze.

Daily Current Affairs : 9th August 2013

1. Eid-ul-Fitr is being celebrated across the country on Friday with religious fervour and gaiety which marks the culmination of the holy month of Ramzan. 2. August 9 is the 71st anniversary of the Quit India Movement, which Mahatma Gandhi called the biggest struggle of his life. In August 1942, Gandhiji launched the Quit India Movement(“Bharat Chhodo Andolan”). 3. Nagasaki’s mayor criticized Japan’s government for a lack of effort on international nuclear disarmament as the country marked the 68th anniversary on Friday of the atomic bombing on the city. 4. Paving the way for setting up of all-women bank, the government on Thursday approved Rs 1,000-crore seed capital for Bhartiya Mahila Bank Ltd. 5. Faced with a weakening rupee, the Reserve Bank on Thursday announced it will sell government bonds worth Rs 22,000 crore every Monday to check volatility in the forex market. 6. LIC Housing Finance Ltd has launched a public deposit scheme‘Sanchay’ whereby it will offer the highest interest rate of 9.5 per cent on five-year deposits. 7. Nirupama Sanjeev (Vaidyanathan), the former Tennis Player from India on 5 August 2013 released her book, The Moonballer. The book was launched by the tennis ace Vijay Amritraj in Chennai. 8. Noted Marathi singer-actor Jaimala Shiledar passed away in Pune on Thursday following a brief illness, her family said.She was 88. 9. In view of increasing instances of physical attacks on women, the DRDO has developed a chilli-spray for protection using the world's hottest chilli grown in Assam, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

10. Bhumi Sena Scheme was launched in Uttar Pradesh on 8 August 2013 by the Chief Minister of the State, Akhilesh Yadav. 11. India's shuttle queen Saina Nehwal and P. Kashyap were knocked out of the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China today. 12. P V Sindhu enters semifinals of World Badminton Championships, ensures a medal for India.

Daily Current Affairs : 8th August 2013

1. In view of a series of chit fund frauds, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to set up a separate forum for coordination and sharing information to rein in such investment schemes. 2. Rakesh Sethi took charge as the Executive Director of the Union Bank of India. 3. India on 7 August 2013 successfully test-fired two rounds of indigenously developed Pinaka rockets from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) from a base at Chandipur-on-sea near Balasore, off the Odisha coast. 4. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova topped the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes for the ninth straight year. 5. Star Sports on Thursday appointed Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as brand ambassador to promote Premier League football in India.

6. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has proposed to launch a “National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM)” in 12th Five Year Plan, which will replace the existing Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY). 7. India's shuttle queen Saina Nehwal today stormed into the quarter finals of the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China.

Daily Current Affairs : 7th August 2013

1. Today is the 72nd death anniversary of ‘Kabiguru’ Rabindranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore, sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali poet, philosopher, artist, playwright, composer and novelist. 2. RBI imposes Rs 5.6 lakh fine on SBI for violation of norms. 3. The Government introduced the National Food Security Bill 2013 inthe Lok Sabha today. It replaces an Ordinance promulgated earlier. 4. Government has not liberalized FDI regime in print and electronic media in view of concerns expressed by the home ministry Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

5. The Ministry of Rural Development on 6 August 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pradan, a non-governmental organization.6. In Gujarat, retired justice R A Mehta has refused to take charge of State Lokayukta of Gujarat despite the clearance from the Supreme Court. 7. Government has launched a National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP),a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme during 12th Plan to give further impetus to the food processing sector. 8. Japan unveiled “Izumo”, its biggest warship since World War IIamid tensions with China following maritime skirmishes between the two nations over disputed islands. The ship is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long,is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. 9. A modern and sophisticated breast milk bank, stated to be the first in India in the public sector, was inaugurated on Wednesday at the premier state-run SSKM hospital by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 10. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova topped the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes for the ninth straight year. According to Forbes, Sharapova earned 29 million US dollars between June 2012 and June 2013. The 26-year-old's earnings came from prize money and endorsement deals. 11. The Union Cabinet has given nod to the proposal to divest 10% government stake in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). 12. Congress constitutes four member committee chaired by A. K. Antony to hear concerns over Telengana statehood. 13. Rupee tumbles 53 paise, to a fresh closing low of 61.30 against the dollar.

Daily Current Affairs : 6th August 2013

1. Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram G Rajan has been appointed as the next Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Mr. Rajan will replace D. Subbarao, who completes his five-year term on September 4, 2013 and will be the 23rd Governor of the central bank. 2. Telecommunication major Vodafone India in association with ICICI bank has started a unique money transfer and payment service “M-Pesa” in Bihar and Jharkhand where banking network and financial penetrationis inadequate, particularly, in rural areas. 3. Japan marked the 68th anniversary today of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a somber ceremony to honour the dead and pledges to seek to eliminate nuclear weapons.

4. Five soldiers killed in an attack by Pak troops on Indian post along LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. 5. Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi, the chess player from India won the Denmark's Politiken Cupat Copenhagen, Denmark by gaining 9 out of the total possible 10 points. 6. England retained the Ashes after rain meant the third Test against Australia at Old Trafford ended in a draw on Monday. 7. Mumbai's D Y Patil Stadium is likely to host the opening match of the inaugural IPL-style football league that commences from 18th January, 2014. 8. Devendra Jhajharia, the first differently-abled Indian to win a gold at the Para Athletics World Championships, will be rewarded Rs five lakh by the Railways for his feat in the recently-held sixth edition of the event in Lyon, France.

Daily Current Affairs : 4th & 5th August 2013

1. Arundhati Bhattacharya on 2 August 2013 was appointed the managing director and chief financial officer of the State Bank of India(SBI). She is the first female managing director at SBI which is India's largest bank. She succeeded Diwakar Gupta who retired a couple of days ago. 2. Samantha Power on 2 August 2013 took oath to the office of US ambassador to United Nations. Vice-President, Joe Biden administered her, the oath to the office in a ceremony at the White House. 3. Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric who was a surprise winner in the recent elections, took oath on Sunday as Iran's seventh President at a ceremony attended by a galaxy of world leaders, including Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India. 4. Poonam Dhull(24), a daughter of a driver employed with the Haryana government has bagged a scholarship of USD 50,000 for pursuing a PhD in Chemistry from University of South Carolina, USA. 5. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja on Sunday became the first Indian bowler to top the bowlers' chart in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings after former captain Anil Kumble claimed the pole position way back in 1996. 6. The BWF World Badminton Championships 2013 kicked off in Guangzhou, China today. World Number 3 Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, P. Kashyap and Ajay Jayaram are the Indian shuttlers who are participating in the 7-day tournament. 7. The Government has decided to set up two new major ports –one each at Sagar in West Bengal and the other at Dugarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. 8. Karnataka became the first state in the country to establish State Natural Calamities Relief fund of 125 crore rupees .

9. Indian girls created history by winning country's first ever bronze medal in the Junior Women Hockey World Cup held in Monchengladbach, Germany on Sunday. 10. Indian chess player Parimarjan Negi has won "Politiken Cup" in Denmark. He had won the same tournament in 2009.

Daily Current Affairs : 3rd August 2013

1. In a bid to allay concerns over issuing new bank licences to companies, RBI Governor D Subbarao on Friday said corporates will bring in large amounts of capital and make the sector more competitive. 2. Veteran music director V Dakshinamoorthy passed away at his residence in Mylapore, Chennai last evening. He was 94. 3. Runa Laila, the SAARC Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS visited India from 31 July 2013 to 2 August 2013. The objective of the visit was to extend support to the cause of HIV/AIDS especially on the issues of Stigma and Discrimination related to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). 4. The Director of Agni Missile Project, Defence Research and Development Organisation- Tessy Thomas announced on 2 August 2013 that the Agni V missile would become operational by 2015, with two or three successful test firings. 5. Rajeev Rishi took over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India on 1 August 2013. His appointment is for a period of five years. 6. USA star Ryan Lochte swam through the pain barrier to win two golds on Friday at the world championships as he followed his 200m backstroke victory with 4x200m freestyle relay gold. 7. India’s DRDO develops Explosive Detection Kit, US to manufacture. In a reverse technology sharing between India and the US, the kit developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation - DRDO - will help in quick detection and identification of combinations of explosives. 8. Soumya Swaminathan has lifted the 40th National Women Challengers Chess championship title in Pune. 9. India have made a clean sweep of the five match ODI cricket series against Zimbabwe.

Daily Current Affairs : 2nd August 2013

1. Dadra and Nagar Haveli celebrated its 60th Liberation Day on 2 August 2013. The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli were liberated from the Portuguese rule. 2. Providing immunity to political parties from Right to Information Act (RTI), the Cabinet gave its nod to amend the transparency law to keep them out of its ambit by declaring that they are not public authorities.

3. In yet another step to rescue the battered rupee, the Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, tightened hedging rules by making it mandatory for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to obtain consent of holders of participatory note (P-Note) and derivative instruments before hedging. 4. Cabinet Approves interest subvention scheme to provide short-term crop loans to farmers at interest rate of 7 per cent per annum. 5. The Union Government of India on 1 August 2013 relaxed the norms for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail. 6. The executive committee of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) on 2 August 2013 approved a proposal to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from 26 percent to 49 percent in print media. 7. Former Maharashtra Minister and leading figure in co-operative movement in Vidarbha region, Chatrapal Anand alias Babasaheb Kedar, passed away in wee hours today at a private hospital after a prolonged illness. 8. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday dedicated two projects of PSU BHEL in Thirumayam at Puthukottai district. Dr. Singh dedicated BHEL's Rs 1,000 crore High Pressure Boiler Plant Unit-II, a greenfield initiative,and the Rs 300 crore power plant piping unit to the Nation. 9. Punjab govt appoints elder daughter of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, Swapandeep Kaur as Naib Tehsildar. CM Mr. Parkash Singh Badal personally handed over the appointment letter to her in Jalandhar. 10. N. Srinivasan has dropped his bid to reinstate himself as BCCI President after the under-fire Board called off its Working Committee meeting in New Delhi. 11. India won four medals, including a gold, at the Asian Grand Prix Archery Championship which concluded at Ulaanbaatar, (Mongolia) on Friday.

Daily Current Affairs : 1st August 2013

1. Bhim Sain Bassi, the 1977-batch IPS officer of AGMU (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories) cadre took over the charge as the next Delhi Police Commissioner on 31 July 2013. He succeeded Neeraj Kumar. 2. The Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar retired from his office on 31 July 2013. He served to the police force for 37 years. His tenure as the Delhi Police commissioner was 13 months. He will be succeeded by Bhim Sain Bassi. 3. Faced with a tight liquidity condition, two leading private sector banks --HDFC Bank and Axis Bank-- have raised fixed deposit rates by up to 4 per cent, a move which may be followed by others. 4. The 1976 batch Indian Foreign Service officer Sujatha Singh today assumed charge

as India’s new foreign secretary. She will have a fixed tenure of two years. 5. The National Teeka Express was launched by Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health &Family Welfare at Alwar, Rajasthan today. It has been launched to protect children from life-threatening childhood diseases. 6. The British government Thursday appointed Kumar Iyer, an Indian origin official, as director general for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in India. 7. French cosmetics giant L'Oreal has appointed Jean-Christophe Letellier as its Managing Director in India. 8. Karnataka CM K Siddaramaiah launches "Ksheera Bhagya Scheme". Over 65 lakh school children in 51,000 Government schools and 39 lakh children in anganwadi centres across the State will now receive 150 ml of milk three times a week under this scheme. 9. India's number one snooker player, Aditya Mehta on 31 July 2013 clinched the gold medal in the World Games, beating China's Liang Wenbo, 3-0, in the final of the quadrennial event at Cali, Columbia.

Daily Current Affairs : 30th July 2013

1. Reserve Bank keeps key interest rates unchanged in its Monetary Policy review and revises growth projection to 5.5 per cent for 2013-14 from 5.7 per cent.

2. Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will be honoured with the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award for promotion of communal harmony peace and goodwill. The award carries a citation and cash prize of 5 lakh rupees. 3. India-born Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawqaz Sharif, was today elected as the 12 th President of Pakistan and will replace the incumbent, Asif Ali Zardari, in September. 4. "Metro Man" E. Sreedharan has been selected for the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak award for 2013 for his outstanding contribution to society. He is considered as the architect of the ambitious Delhi metro project 5. Public sector banks have been asked to set up ATMs in all branches by March, 2014 by Finance minister P Chidambaram.

6. Indian multinational oil and gas company, Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has signed an agreement to explore hiring Reliance Industries' unutilised production facilities on the east to quickly bring to production its gas finds in the Krishna Godavari basin. 7. The second triangular partnership programme involving India, the US and African nations, which aims to improve agricultural productivity and support market institutions in Kenya, Liberia and Malawi was launched in Jaipur on Tuesday. 8. Google India on Tuesday introduced its 'Start Searching India' campaign in Bhopal to help internet users get the most out of the web with its search tool. 9. Angelina Jolie returns to the top of the Forbes' highest paid actress list after a three year break since her last big-budget movie "The Tourist". 10. Lithuanian breast stroke specialist Ruta Meilutyte on Monday became the first swimmer to break a world recordat the 15th FINA World Championships as she won the 100 metres in one minute 04.35 seconds. 11. 15th World Cup Championship 2015 to open with India-Pak clash. 12. India wins South Asian Football Federation Championship defeating Nepal 1-0.

Daily Current Affairs : 28th & 29th July 2013

1. World Hepatitis Day was observed across the world on 28 July 2013. The theme for the year 2013 is "This is Hepatitis, Know it, Confront it".

2. World Tiger Day observed today in the country as elsewhere in the world underlining the need for protecting the endangered tiger species against total extinction. 3. India's Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System , the PINAKA , has undergone successful firing trials at Chandhan area in Pokhran field firing ranges. 4. US President Barack Obama has nominated Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former president John F Kennedy, as his next envoy to Japan.

5. Four Indian-American Professors Kannan Soundararajan, Rajeev Alur, Salil P Vadhan and Senthil Todadri in fourth week of July 2013 won Simons Investigators Awards 2013. 6. India and Senegal have signed athree-year pact to further expand cultural exchanges. 7. Reliance Power on Monday said its 45-MW wind power project at Vashpet in Maharashtra has commenced operations. 8. India women finish 7th in World Junior Squash Championships. 9. Punjab has lifted Federation Cup Hockey title.In a final match played at the Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi today, Punjab defeated Uttar Pradeshin penalty shoot out by 5-4. 10. Trinamool MP K D Singh was on Monday named as president of the Indian Hockey Federation after incumbent Dinesh Reddy opted to resign from the position. 11. The decks were on Sunday cleared for President-in-exile N Srinivasan's possible return to the BCCI top post after a two-judge probe panel found no evidence against his team Chennai Super Kings in the T20 spot-fixing and betting scandal which rocked the sixth edition of the event. 12. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved the Jet-Etihad proposal today. 13. Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to clinch his first victory of a frustrating season. 14. National Sailing Championship: Jasvir Singh clinches crown in Standard section 15. Top-seeded John Isner won the Atlanta Open on Sunday, beating second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) in the tallest final in ATP history.

Daily Current Affairs : 27th July 2013

1. In a bid to make sanitation for all a global development priority, the United Nations General Assembly designated 19 November as "World Toilet Day", urging changes in both behaviour and policy on issues ranging from enhancing water management to ending open-air defecation.

2. Rampur today become the first city of North India where ATM facility will be available for people maintaining accounts in co-operative banks. 3. Delhi government is all set to launch food security programme from 20 August 2013. Delhi will be the first state in India to launch Union government’s food security programme. 4. National Research Professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Obaid Siddiqi, died in a Bangalore hospital 5. Singapore Foreign Minister K Shanmugam will embark on a three-day trip to India tomorrow to meet the top leadership and visit the Nalanda University. archaeological complex in Bihar. 6. US President Barack Obama has nominated an Indian-American legal luminary, Vince Girdhari Chhabria to a key judiciary post in California. 7. Noted producer T.S. Narasimhan, who filled life to the fictional Malgudi created by novelist R.K. Narayan through “Malgudi Days”, directed by Shankar Nag, died here on Saturday. He was ailing for some time. He was 86. 8. Renowned Islamic Scholar Dr. Zakir Naik has been elected as the Islamic Personality of the Year 2013 by the Dubai International Holy Quran Award. Mumbai-based Dr. Naik is a medical doctor by profession and a well known orator on Islam and Comparative religion. 9. 8000 new bank branches will be opened this year. More than 50,000 persons will get job opportunities in banks : Chidambaram 10. India, Zimbabwe to play third ODI in Harare tomorrow. India is currently leading the 5-match series, 2-0. 11. The Indian Badminton League today announced STAR Sports channels as the host broadcaster for the upcoming League, scheduled to be held from August 14 to 31. 12. India will clash with Australia in their opening Group match of the Women's Junior Hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany today. 13. In the ongoing South Asian Football Federation(SAFF) under 16 Football Championship being held in Kathmandu, hosts Nepal take on Bangladesh in the first semi-final tomorrow.

Daily Current Affairs : 26th July 2013

1. The nation on Friday celebrated Kargil Vijay Diwas, Defence Minister AK Antony and the three service chiefs paid homage to Kargil martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate.

2. India's advanced meteorological satellite INSAT-3D was successfully launched by an European rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana early on Friday, giving a boost to weather forecasting and disaster warning services. 3. Former Union Minister Arun Nehru passed away on Thursday night in a hospital in Gurgaon after prolonged illness. He was a powerful figure during the Prime Ministership of Rajiv Gandhi. 4. Paradip Port was conferred with the Major Port of the Year award for its excellent performance in the year 2012-13. The award was received by SS Mishra, Chairman, Paradip Port Trust, at the SCOPE International Conference & Exhibition 2013 held in Chennai. 5. Rating firm Crisil revised downwards its GDP growth forecast to 5.5 pc this fiscal from its earlier estimate of 6 pc, citing reduced likelihood of monetary easing going forward due to falling rupee. 6. The over Rs 50,000 crore deal for supplying 126 Rafale combat aircraft and the security situation in the Af-Pak region are understood to have been discussed during the Defence Minister-level talks between India and France in New Delhi on Friday. 7. Svetlana Romashina has won her third gold medal of the Barcelona world championships, winning the synchronized swimming solo. 8. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO, has started registration of digital signatures of employers for online transfer of Provident Fund accounts. 9. Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today launched a Centre for Adaptation to Climate Change which aims to engage government departments and civil societies to address the issue of climate change. 10. US President nominates Indian American VG Chhabria as District Judge for Northern District of California. 11. Osama bin Laden's AK-47 rifle, found next to his body after he was killed ina daring midnight raid by US Navy SEALs in Pakistan, is on display at an ultra-secret CIA museum.

Daily Current Affairs : 25th July 2013

1. Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri’s "The Lowland" has been listed among 13 novels longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013. 2. Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed the widest US global surveillance operations, was on 25 July 2013 awarded German Whistle blower Prize 2013 worth 3900 Dollars in absentia. 3. India and Belarus signed a protocol on 24 July 2013 to enhance trade ties during

the sixth session of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation held in New Delhi. 4. Assam government said that would roll out Food Security scheme from November to cover about 2.25 crore people in the state. 5. President Pranab Mukherjee marked one year in office today with inaugurating a library and sports ground. He also unveiled a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi near the historic Durbar Hall of the President's house. 6. Chris Froome from Britain has won the 100th edition of the Tourde France. It was Britain's second successive victory in the race. Earlier in year 2012 Sir Bradley Wiggin, Froome's Team Sky colleague became the first Briton to win Tour de France. 7. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange launched his political party on 25 July 2013 in Australia to contest the general elections later this year.The Name of the Party is "Wikileaks Party". 8. India hold on to third spot in ICC T20 rankings.

Daily Current Affairs : 24th July 2013.

1. India has been ranked third in the Global Consumer Confidence Index according to latest survey by the Nielsen. 2. Afghanistan's first and only female governor and a humanitarian worker from the Kachin minority in Myanmar, Habiba Sarabi, is among this year's recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award. 3. Ford Motor Company joined the Voluntary India Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme in India on23 July 2013. Voluntary reporting enables a complete transparency in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions. 4. Former Prime Minister and senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal is scheduled to arrive for a five-day official visit to India on Wednesday. 5. Russian pole vault queen and double Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva has announced that she would be retiring after her home World Athletics Championships, which would take place in Moscow in August. 6. A Mumbai court framed charges against actor Salman Khan on Wednesday, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the 2002 hit-and-run case, for which he may face a jail term upto 10 years. 7. Government has approved Free Trade LPG Scheme for selling five Kilogram LPG cylinders through Company Owned Retail Outlets of Oil Marketing Companies. The scheme will be launched on pilot basis in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

8. A four-day National Fair on Aid and Assistive Devices for Persons With Disabilities to start tomorrow in New Delhi. 9. Low-cost carrier Spice-Jets CEO Neil Mills has resigned following reported differences with the airlines promoter and Sun TV chief Kalanithi Maran.

10. Suresh Chandra Mohanty has been appointed as the new 56th President of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India for the year 2013-14 today. He replaced Rakesh Singh. Also A.S. Durga Prasad has been elected as Vice-President of the Cost Accountants Institute for the year 2013-14. 11. Wipro Chairman Azim Premji has been awarded the Asian Business Leaders Award 2013 for his “impressive business credentials” and service to society by London-based Asia House. The award will be presented at a gala ceremony in London on October. 12. India's K Jennitha Anto has won the 13th IPCA World Women's Individual Chess Championship title for the disabled players.

Daily Current Affiairs : 23rd July 2013

1. Today is 106th birth anniversary of fearless revolutionary and freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad. 2. Poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05. 3. India and China are holding the third meeting on border affairs in New Delhi today. 4. Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has resigned from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board to avoid any conflict of interest as one of his group firm is in the race for a new banking licence, a company spokesperson said Tuesday. 5. India and Nigeria on 22 July 2013 signed an agreement in Abuja to locate sites for solar power plants in Niger state. 6. Arvind Sharma, the Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett, India subcontinent was re-electedas the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI).

7. C.P. Srivastava, who was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan in 1972, died on 22 July 2013 in Genoa, Italy. 8. US Vice President, Joe Biden has arrived New Delhi. 9. The Delhi High Court on Monday introduced online payment of court fee, the first such facility in the country which will save litigants from standing in long queues at the counter. 10. Deeshit Salat, a 24-year-old youth succeeded in applying henna (mehndi) on 420 hands in 27 hours, breaking the existing Guinness world record. 11. The city of Incheon in South Korea has been named World Book Capital for the year 2015 by an international committee of experts representing the book industry and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 12. Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has been elected as the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. 13. Satish Babu, Director, International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS),has been elected to the 2014 Nominating Committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and Names (ICANN). 14. 59 Years old Manjula Vijaya kumar the south India yesteryear actor, died in Chennai on 23 July 2013 followed a brief illness. 15. India are placed second in the latest ICC test cricket team ranking after South Africa. 16. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams remained atop the latest tennis rankings issued on Monday by the ATP and the WTA. 17. There are 6 franchisee teams in the inaugural edition of IBL, which are Hyderabad Hotshots, Mumbai Masters, Delhi Smashers, Banga Beats, Lucknow Warriors and Pune Piston. 18. Lee Chong Wei, the World No. 1 Chinese player came out as the costliest player of IBL in its inaugural players’ auction who was purchased for $ 1,35,000 by Mumbai Masters. 19. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P. Kashyap was picked up by Banga Beats for $ 75,000. 20. On the other hand rising star P.V. Sindhu was netted by Lucknow Warriors for $ 80,000, while Jwala Gutta went to Delhi Smashers at $ 31,000.

Daily Current Affairs : 21st & 22nd July 2013

1. 22 July : Pi Approximation Day is celebrated world wide on 22 July every year. The reason why this day is celebrated on 22 July is because of the value of Pi- 22/7. The fraction 22⁄7 is said to be the common approximation of Pi(π). 2. Film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag got tax exemption by Maharashtra Government for next six months.The film is a biopic on athlete Milkha Singh. 3. Former Kuttanad MLA and Chairman of the Kerala State Farming Corporation, Prof. Oommen Mathew died at a hospital in Kochi. He was 73. 4. India ranked at the top in the list of foreign tourists to visiting Sri Lanka data released by Tourism Development Authority of the country. 5. Securities Law Amendment Ordinance 2013 was promulgated by Pranab Mukherjee to provide powers to SEBI to tackle with fraudulent investment schemes. 6. Khurshed Alam Khan, former Union Minister died. He served at different portfolios like, education, tourism and others during his tenure as an Union Minister. 7. Oil Industry Safety Awards 2011-12 : Maximum number of Awards won by HPCL and BPCL. 8. World's first trip to Moon's South Pole for installation of a Permanent Telescope in 2016. 9. The Israel Antiquities Authorities on 18 July 2013 announced that during a joint excavation programme led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, two of the largest structures rom the Kingdom of Judea was uncovered. 10. The 10-member panel of legal experts, which was appointed by the interim President Adly Mansour started off the work on 21 July 2013 in order to amend the constitution of Egypt. 11. Huawei Technologies, the Chinese equipment maker declared in July 2013 that it was working on the fifth generation (5G) mobile technology, which would possibly be available by 2020. 12. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power, on 18 July 2013 promised financial assistance to provide free one year residential JEE/IIT coaching and mentoring 20 underprivileged meritorious students from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi under the Abhayanand Super 30 initiative. 13. Prince Philippe was sworn-in as the new king of Belgium on 21 July 2013 after the abdication of his father Albert II due to his age and health.53 Years old Philippe took his oath in Belgium's three official languages - Dutch, French and German. 14. The British firm Real VNC was presented MacRobert Award by the Princess Royal for engineering innovation. The technology will enable IT workers to solve problems on other computers without leaving their desks and it will allow MRI scanners to be repaired remotely. 15. The military wing of Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite group, was blacklisted by European Union ministers as a terrorist organization. 16. India finished at fourth Position in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 on 21 July 2013 with Deepika Kumari winning gold and bronze medal on the concluding day, of Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia.

17. L Brojeshori Devi, the Olympian judo player passed away at Coimbatore on 22 July 2013. She was 32 years of age. 18. Serena Williams on 21 July 2013 won Swedish Open title by defeating Johanna Larsson in the final of the Swedish Open at Bastad in Sweden. 19. Purav Raja and Divij Sharan of India on 20 July 2013 clinched their first ever ATP tour doubles title by defeating Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France and Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in the final match of Claro Open in Bogota, Colombia. 20. 32 Year old Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis was inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame on 13 July 2013. With the induction she became the 4th youngest members to be included in the tennis hall of fame. 21. Devendra Jhajharia wins gold medal at the ongoing IPC Athletics World Championships in France. 22. Australian Spin legend Shane Warne announces retirement from all forms of Cricket.

Daily Current Affairs : 20th July 2013

1. Sports Ministry has recommended hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand's name for India's highest civillian honour -- the Bharat Ratna. 2. India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by $21.1 million to $280.188 billion for the week ended July 12, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. 3. China Saturday successfully launched three satellites for scientific experiments, authorities said. The Chuangxin-3, Shiyan-7 and Shijian-15 satellites were boosted by a Long March-4C carrier rocket,according to the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi province. 4. West Indies Test and Twenty20 captain Darren Sammy has etched his name in the history books by becoming the first Caribbean sports personality to be named brand ambassador for German automobile giant BMW. 5. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Nagaland Governor Dr. Ashwani kumar as Governor of Manipur, (with additional charge) when the incumbent,Gurbachan Jagat, Governor of Manipur, completes his tenure. 6. Khurshed Alam Khan, a former Union Minister and father of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, died on Saturday at the age of 95. 7. The South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship began at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi today. 8. American swimmer Haley Anderson won the 5km open water race on Saturday to take the first gold medal of the swimming world championships. 9. Trinidad and Tobago`s Jehue Gordon won the men’s 400 metres hurdles at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League Herculis meeting here.