Daily Current Affairs August 2013

Daily Current Affairs August 2013

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31 August:

1) Petrol price hiked by Rs 2.35 per litre, diesel by 50 paise.

2) Delhi gang-rape case: Juvenile held guilty for rape and murder, awarded 3-year sentence by Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). This is the first judgement in the gang-rape case that created a nationwide outrage.

3) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed issues of mutual interest with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay who is on avisit to India.

4) New Companies Bill has received President's assent, that will make it into a law replacing the nearly six-decade old regulations that govern corporates in the country.

5) Somdev Devvarman, Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out of US Open.

4)  National Sports Awards were presented to the country's top athletes and coaches with shooter Ronjan Sodhi getting the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- the country's highest sporting honour -- while cricketer Virat Kohli was among the Arjuna awardees.

5) Edward Snowden awarded with German 'whistleblower prize'.
6) Saina Nehwal-led Hyderabad Hotshots won the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL)

30 August:

1) India's first defense satellite GSAT-7 launched successfully from Kourou in South America on a European Ariane 5 launcher.

2) India reached finals of 9th Asia Cup Hockey tournament after defeating Malaysia 2-0 in the semifinal. India will play South Korea in the summit clash on 01 September 2013.  With this win India assured of a berth in next year's World Hockey Cup in Netherland. With the loss to Korea in semi, it will also be the first time Pakistan will not feature in the World Cup since it started in Barcelona back in 1971.

3) Dinesh K Sarraf appointed as new Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation).

4) Federal Bank becomes the first bank to launch Electronic Passbook. This helps the customers to view their transactions in smart phones.

5) India's economy grew at 4.4 per cent in the April-June 2013 quarter, the slowest quarterly rate in last 4 years.

6)  N R Narayana Murthy has stepped down as chairman of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) after taking charge as executive chairman of Infosys.

7) India became the first nation to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Australia as Air India's first commercial flight landed in Australia.

8) Bayern Munich clinches UEFA Super Cup beating Chelsea 5-4 on penalties.

29 August:

1) National Sports Day celebrated across India. It was celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Indian hockey legend Dhyan Chand.

2) The Land Acquisition Bill passed in Lok Sabha. Most important feature of the bill is that it requires developers to get the consent of up to 80 per cent of people whose land is acquired for private projects. For public-private partnerships, the approval of 70 per cent of landowners is mandatory.

2) Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal arrested near India-Nepal Border.

3) Government has set up a 7-member Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) which will be headed by Parthasarathi Shome.

4) Human Resources Development Minister M M Pallam Raju launched the Right to Education, RTE, anthem to make education for children interesting and friendly.

5) Using data collected by India’s Chandrayaan mission, NASA has detected magmatic water locked under the surface of the Moon.

6)  Hyderabad Hotshots enters IBL final.

7) 55th Birthday of Pop Star Michael Jackson.

28 August:

1) The inaugural Mahathir Award for Global Peace prize has been awarded to former South African President Nelson Mandela.

2) Prime Minister Approved Deepak Sandhu as Chief Information Commissioner. Now the file will be sent to the President for final approval. Earlier she acted as Media Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Currently Satyanand Mishra is the CIC.

3) Nation celebrated Janmashtami (birthday of Lord Krishna) with religious fervour.

4) 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.

5) India’s first defence satellite GSAT-7 all set for launch. GSAT-7 is India’s first dedicated spacecraft for Defence applications.

6) Indian rupee nosedived to new all-time low of 68.85 against US dollar.

27 August:

1) Rupee hit record low of 66.30 against dollar and this was its biggest single-day fall in nearly 18 years.

2) Malala Yousafzai awarded 2013 International Children's Peace Prize.

26 August:

1)     Food Security Bill passed in Lok Sabha after nine hours of debate.

2) The Union Government has extended the monsoon session of parliament till September 6.

3) India reached the semi final of Asia Cup hockey after defeating South Korea 2-0.

4) Joe King was appointed as New Head of Audi India.

5) 103rd Birth Day of Mother Theresa celebrated.

6) Leading Biotechnology company Bharat Biotech launched New Vaccine for Typhoid.

7) Fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open Tennis tournament, kicked off in New York.

25 August:

1) The Indian under-23 team wins the ACC Emerging Trophy tournament after defeating Pakistan by nine wickets in the final.

2) England wins the 5 match Ashes Series 3-0 against Australia. Final test ends in a thrilling draw.

3) Sebastian Vettel won Belgian Grand Prix.

4) Rimil Buriuly, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Deepika Kumari won Gold Medal in the Archery World Cup in Wroclaw.

5) April 6 declared International Sports Day. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed April 6 as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

6) Indian classical singer and music director, Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi passed away

7) 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. 

24 August:

1) Karnataka by-polls: Striking a heavy blow to the JDS, the ruling Congress in Karnataka won the Mandya and Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seats from it with impressive margins in the fiercely fought bypolls.

2) Reserve Bank has directed banks to adopt a uniform holiday’s calender to streamline cheque clearing system for Cheque Truncation System (CTS) centres in New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

3) Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that he will retire within 12 month from post.

4) Somdev Devvarman qualifies for US Open main draw

5) India's first National Media Centre inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

6)  Men's Asia Cup hockey tournament kicked off at Ipoh in Malaysia. India beat Oman 8-0 to start their 9th Asia Cup Hockey Championship campaign on a perfect note.

23 August:

1) Government announced National E Mail Policy with the intension to protect privacy of email users.

2) 19th Delhi Book Fair started at Pragati Maidan

3) India surpass Japan to become third largest Internet population.

4) 12 Lok Sabha MPs from Andhra suspended for disrupting House proceedings.

5) Ranjit Rae to take over as Nepal’s new Indian ambassador.

6) 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 to long distances and landing on rough and unprepared surfaces.

22 August:

1) Robert Mugabe sworn in for 7th term as Zimbabwe President.

2) Nokia Lumia 625 and Nokia Lumia 925 Launched in India.

3) Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak released from prison.

4) Rupee hits record low of 65.56.

21 August:

1) Maharashtra state government clears anti-superstition ordinance.

2) Online RTI portal launched by V Narayanasamy, Minister of state for personnel Public Grievances and Pensions. Website Address is www.rtionline.gov.in

3) The Reserve Bank of India, RBI has further relaxed the Statutory Liquidity Ratio, SLR to provide more funds to banks for lending.

4) Indian Rupee crashed to record low of 64.55 against dollar.

5) Virat Kohli placed in 6th position in the latest ICC T20 Rankings.

20 August:

1) Country remembered Rajiv Gandhi on 69th birth anniversary.  He served as the sixth Prime Minister of India from 1984--1989.

2) Three bills relating to the first national women's university, an aviation university and an aviation authority were introduced in the Lok Sabha. Both the Women's University and the Aviation University will be setup in Rae Bareli.

3) Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan Received Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award.

4) Ambitious Food security scheme launch by Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on the occasion of Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Birthday.  Delhi became the first state to clear the scheme.

19 August:

1) Rupee breached 63-mark a dollar to end at record low of 63.13, recording the decade's worst single-day fall of 148 paise.

2) ISRO called off GSLV-D5 launch with just an hour to go before the launch as a "leak" had been detected in fuel tank. GSLV-D5, powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, was to launch telecommunication satellite GSAT-14 from Sriharikota.

3) A train killed at least 35 pilgrims crossing a railway track in Dhamara station, 180 km east of Patna, the capital of Bihar.

18 August:

1) Countdown for launch of GSLV-D5 begins. It will be launched at 4.50pm on 19 August 2013 and will carry telecommunication satellite GSAT-14. The launch is crucial for the nation due to use of an indigenous cryogenic engine as the upper stage. The first attempt to use an indigenous cryogenic engine on April 15, 2010 to power GSLV-D3 was a failure.

2) Online transfer of PF accounts service in last week of August.

3) Usain Bolt won his third gold medal of the 14th IAAF World Championships when he led Jamaica to the gold in the 4 x100 metres relay.

4) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's new book “My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions”, published by Rupa. In his new book he says that he failed in his dream of becoming pilot.

5) Usain Bolt equalled the record for the most gold medals in world championship.  It was his eighth world gold medal when he anchored the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to victory. It means Bolt has joined American women’s 200m specialist Allyson Felix, and retired US track stars Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson who, including relays, have all won eight world championship gold medals.

17 August:

1) Senior IPS officer Dilip Trivedi appointed as new CRPF chief. CRPF is country's largest paramilitary force.

2) English Premier League (EPL) starts today.

3) Usain Bolt won third successive world 200m title at the World Athletics Championships in 19.66 seconds at Moscow.

4) Gold scales to eight-month high at Rs 31,525 per ten gram.

5) M&M to launch its brand new SUV platform in 2 years.

16 August:

1) After 14 yrs, Pak troops violate ceasefire in Kargil.

2) Sensex crashed 769.41 points, the biggest fall in 4 years.

3) Rupee plunged to lifetime low of 62.03 before recovering to close at a record low of 61.65 against the dollar.

15 August:

1) India celebrated 67th Independence Day.

2) Korea, Congo, Bahrain also celebrated their Independence Day.  Independence Dates: North Korea achieved on 15th August 1945, South Korea achieved on 15th August 1945, Congo achieved on 15th August 1960, and Bahrain achieved independence on 15th August 1971.

3) Marion Bartoli, Wimbledon Women’s Singles 2013 winner, announced her retirement from lawn tennis.

4) The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has given clearance for the unit 1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) to produce 500MW of power.

14 August:

1) Indian submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank with 18 crewmen after explosion early in the morning at the high-security naval dockyard in Mumbai.

2) First season of Indian badminton League (IBL) starts from today. 6 Teams will participate in the event. Matches are scheduled from 14th August 2013 to 31st August 2013. Brand ambassadors of IBL are Aamir Khan and Deepika Padukone.

3) P.Kilemsungla appointed by President of India as New Union Public Service Commission Member.

4) India ‘A’ clinched the cricket tri-series title defeating Australia ‘A' by 50 runs in final.

13 August 2013:

1) Ace shooter Ronjan Sodhi picked for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Virat Kohli among Arjuna Awardees

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award: Ronjan Sodhi.

The Arjuna awardees: Virat Kohli (Cricket), Chekrovolu Swuro (Archery), Renjith Maheshwary (Athletics), PV Sindhu (Badminton), Kavita Chahal (Boxing), Rupesh Shah (Snooker), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Golf), Saba Anjum (Hockey), Rajkumari Rathore (Shooting), Joshna Chinappa (Squash), Mouma Das (Table Tennis), Neha Rathi (Wrestling), Dharmendra Dalal (Wrestling), Amit Kumar Saroha (Parasports).

2) Ibrahim Boubacar Keita elected as the new President of Mali.

3) The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports that the Indian Government had failed to follow defense procurement policy rules in awarding a 560 million euros luxury helicopter deal to AgustaWestland.

12 August:

1)India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike range of 350 km.

2) India launches first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant

3) Usain Bolt regains 100m title at World Athletics with season's best 9.77 seconds.

11 August:

1) India will launch its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on 12 August 2013(Monday).

2) Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand wins Badminton World Championship, 2013 in Women Singles after defeating Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the women's singles 22-20 18-21 21-14 in Guangzhou, China.

3) Lin Dan Wins Record Fifth Badminton World Championship, 2013 in Men's Singles.

4) Real Madrid wins Champions Cup after defeating Chelsea 3-1 in MIAMI, USA.

5) Subramanian Swamy’s Janata Party Merges with BJP

10 August:

1) Reactor of India's first indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant becomes active

2) Indian Shuttler PV Sindhu Won Bronze at World Badminton Championship- She also created history by becoming the first Indian woman singles player to won a medal at the Championship history.

3) 61st Nehru Trophy Boat Race held in Kerala won by Sri Ganesh of St.Francis Boat Club

4) Britain's Mo Farah wins men's 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow.

9 August:

1) India celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr with fervour, prayers

2) Indian shuttler P. V. Sindhu enter the semifinals of World Badminton Championships after defeating Shixian Wang of China. She became the first Indian woman singles player to ensure a medal at the World Badminton Championships.

3) Government approved setting up of all-women bank (Bhartiya Mahila Bank Ltd) with an initial capital of Rs 1,000 crore.

4) Nagasaki marks 68th anniversary of US nuclear bombing

8 August:

1) Companies Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha which aimed at protecting the interest of employees and small investors. Lok Sabha had passed the Companies Bill in 2012.

2) Ministry of Communications and Information Technology inaugurated Data portal of India, www.data.gov.in which gives access to 3,500 govt data banks.

7 August:

1) First public sector breast milk bank inaugurated in Kolkata.

2)US President Barack Obama has cancelled plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a retribution for Russia's decision to grant temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

 3)Maria Sharapova tops Forbes rich female athletes list for 9th straight year.

6 August:

1) India’s chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan appointed as 23rd governor of Reserve Bank of India.

2)Five Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan in Poonch area of Jammu and Kashmir/

5 August:

1) National Green Tribunal ordered a stay on sand mining from riverbeds across the country

2) Monsoon session of Parliament begins. Sachin Tendulkar who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member in April last year also attended the first day in Rajya Sabha.

3) Ravindra Jadeja becomes first Indian since Anil Kumble to top ICC ODI bowler’s rankings

4) England retained Ashes after rain-hit third Test ends in draw. 

4 August:

1) India wins historic bronze at junior women hockey World Cup defeating England 3-2 in penalties.

2) Airtel likely to launch 4G services in Delhi by September 2013

3) International Friendship Day observed.

4) Arundhati Bhattacharya appointed as Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI).

3 August:

1) India completed 5-0 whitewash over Zimbabwe in the fifth one-day international at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Amit Mishra declared as Man of the series. This was also India’s first-ever ODI series whitewash on foreign soil.

2) Hassan Rouhani took office as Iran's president.

2 August:

1) Aditya Mehta wins snooker gold in World Games at Cali, Columbia.

2) Seven TDP MPs resign over Telangana issue.

3) Cate Campbell of Australia won gold in the women's 100 meters freestyle at the World Championships in Barcelona.

1 August:

1) The Cabinet cleared crucial changes to the Right to Information Act to block political parties from being covered under RTI which will exempt parties from being obliged to share details of their funding or how they choose their candidates.

2) Bhim Sain Bassi appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner.

3) Sujatha Singh takes charge as India’s new foreign secretary.