Daily Current Affairs Updates 26 September 2013

Daily Current Affairs Updates 26 September 2013

National

1) 9 killed in militant attack in Jammu:  At least 9 people, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed and four injured in twin terror attacks by a single suicide squad in J&K's Kathua and Samba districts., casting a shadow on the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

2) Tax account of Dhoni, Shah Rukh hacked: Mumbai Police, which is probing the alleged hacking by a CA student into Anil Ambani’s e-filing of Income-Tax returns account, has stumbled upon another CA student who not only accessed the top industrialist’s account, but also of popular cricketers and film stars including Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.

3) Mumbai, world’s second most honest city: Country’s financial capital Mumbai has been named the world’s second most honest city, according to a survey of 16 cities worldwide. Finnish 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.

4) JPC meet on 2G scam tomorrow: Meeting of the JPC on the 2G scam tomorrow is set to be a stormy affair as the panel readies to adopt its controversial draft report which gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and indicted former Telecom Minister A. Raja.

5) Habibganj—Indore AC double decker train, the first such service in Madhya Pradesh, will be flagged off tomorrow at Habibganj station in Bhopal by Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

6) Odisha, Bihar least developed states; Goa and Kerala top chart: 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.

7) Coal scam: CBI calls Naveen Jindal for questioning: CBI is likely to question Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal tomorrow in connection with a case of alleged cheating and criminal conspiracy in bagging Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Birbhum in 2008.

International

1) Death toll from a powerful earthquake in south-western Pakistan climbed to 355, as rescuers intensified the search for survivors in remote villages. Most people killed by Tuesday’s 7.7 magnitude quake were near the epicentre in Awaran district of Balochistan province.

2) US court issues summons against Manmohan Singh:

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives in US on a four-day visit, a Sikh rights group has secured summons against him from a US court in connection with the alleged human rights violations in the counter-insurgency operations in Punjab in the 1990s.

Awards/Achievements

1) Four men from Congo, Palestine, Switzerland and the US were on Thursday awarded the 2013 Right Livelihood Award over working for human rights, improving food security and combating chemical weapons.

* Paul Walker of the US was cited “for working tirelessly to rid the world of chemical weapons,” a looming threat highlighted by recent events in Syria.

* Denis Mukwege, 58, a doctor from the Democratic Republic of Congo was lauded for “his courageous work healing women survivors of war-time sexual violence and speaking up about its root causes.”

* Palestinian human rights lawyer Raji Sourani, 59, based on the Gaza Strip, was mentioned “for his unwavering dedication to the rule of law and human rights under exceptionally difficult circumstances.”

* Swiss agronomist Hans R. Herren of the Biovision Foundation was credited for “promoting a safe, secure and sustainable global food supply.

The award, often called the ‘Alternative Nobel,’ was announced by the Stockholm-based Right Livelihood Award Foundation. Each winner was to receive 500,000 kronor ($78,000). An award ceremony was due December 2.

Science

1) Scientists build world’s first carbon-nanotube computer: Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, have developed the world’s first computer built entirely with carbon nanotubes, opening the door to a new generation of faster-running digital devices.

Sports

1) IPL-style wrestling league put off yet again: Indian Wrestling League (IWL) has been postponed once again due to mild response from prospective franchises. It was announced after impressive showing by Indian grapplers at the 2012 Olympics and was initially scheduled for January-February this year. It was later postponed to November and now the wait is going to get longer.

2) India thrashed South Korea 6-1 in Sultan of Johor Cup: India thrashed Korea 6-1 in their penultimate round-robin match to virtually seal their place in the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 hockey tournament.

3) Former tennis champ Martina Hingis accused of assaulting husband.

Technology

1) Nokia unveils Lumia 1020 with 41 megapixel camera: Nokia India today unveiled its much-anticipated 41 megapixel camera phone Lumia 1020, which will hit shelves on October 11. Price of the device will be disclosed on October 10 but as per estimates, it will be available in the range of Rs 47,000—Rs 48,000. Lumia 1020 runs on Windows 8 and has 32 GB on board storage. The company has also tied up with Vodafone wherein the customers will get free 2GB of 3G data usage for two months.

2) Samsung announces gold Galaxy S4:  After witnessing the craze for the recently launched gold editions of the iPhone 5S, Samsung has also decided to tread the golden path. The South Korean smartphone giant has announced that it is bringing in two gold colour models of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S4.

3) Twitter launches emergency alerts for smartphones. 

Appointments

1) Personal computer maker Lenovo said here today that it had appointed Bhaskar Choudhuri as head of marketing for its Indian operations. Before joining Lenovo, Choudhuri was Associate Vice-President (Marketing) at Cadbury India.

2) Randall Oliphant appointed as the Chairman of the World Gold Council (WGC).

Economy/Banking

1) All-female BPOs to be launched in Riyadh: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Saudi Aramco and GE Energy Infrastructure have announced the launch of the first all-female business process services centre (BPO) in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh.

2) AirAsia gets NOC from Aviation Ministry: 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.

3) Rupee gains 37 paise to one-week high of 62.07 vs dollar.

4) US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the second quarter, the commerce department said.

Days

1) India’s fourteenth Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who is rightly acclaimed as a thinker and a scholar, turned 81 on Thursday.