Important Daily Current Affairs from 30 September 2013

Important Daily Current Affairs from 30 September 2013

National

1) Petrol cheaper by Rs 3.05/litre, diesel hiked by 50 paise: After seven successive hikes since June, the petrol price has been reduced by Rs 3.05 a litre, excluding local taxes. However, diesel prices have been hiked by 50 paise a litre, excluding State levies. The revised prices are effective Monday midnight.

2) Lalu Prasad convicted in fodder scam, faces disqualification as MP: In a body blow to the Rashtriya Janata Dal before next year’s Lok Sabha polls, its President Lalu Prasad was today convicted by a special CBI court here in the fodder scam corruption case that disqualifies him from Parliament and renders him ineligible for contesting elections for at least six years. Later he was was today taken to jail.

3) Jayalalithaa seeks to put on hold phase-II of DBT scheme for LPG customers: Reiterating her Government’s opposition to direct benefit transfer scheme for LPG consumers, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to put on hold the roll-out of proposed Phase-II of the project.

4) Zero landless programme of Kerala State Government launched by Sonia Gandhi.

5) Aam Aadmi Party gets Rs 12 cr as donations: Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed to have received donations ranging from Rs 10 to lakhs from rickshaw pullers to traders to NRIs to help it fight the Delhi assembly polls and bring a ‘corruption-free’ administration.

Awards/Achievements

1)  Shahrukh Khan may soon become the “goodwill ambassador” of the Republic of Korea. According to Joon-gyu Lee, Ambassador of Republic of Korea to India, Khan has accepted a proposal from the country in this regard.

International

1) Landmark Indonesia-EU timber trade pact comes into force: A trade agreement between Indonesia and the European Union aimed at curbing illegal logging was to come into effect on Monday, the first such deal involving an Asian country. Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) is designed to help the European Union identify unlicensed Indonesian products and prevent them from entering the region’s markets.

2) Manmohan Singh concludes US visit, leaves for India: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concluded his visit to America on Monday where he held talks with US President Barack Obama and met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for the first time, besides addressing the UN general assembly.

Science

1) Russia successfully launched Proton-M rocket: 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 launch from the Baikonur space centre, that Russia leases from the neighbouring Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, had been originally scheduled for July 21.

2) NASA preparing to launch 3-D printer into space: NASA is preparing to launch a 3-D printer into space next year, a toaster-sized game changer that greatly reduces the need for astronauts to load up with every tool, spare part or supply they might ever need.

3) SpaceX launches Canadian satellite from California: SpaceX rocket carrying a Canadian satellite intended to track space weather launched from the California coast yesterday in what was billed as a test flight.

Sports

1) N. Srinivasan will continue as BCCI President: Apex court:- Supreme Court today said that N. Srinivasan will continue as BCCI President but will not participate in any IPL issue.

2) Yuvraj makes a comeback in Indian squad for Australia series: In-form senior batsman Yuvraj Singh was recalled in the  15-member Indian cricket team announced today for the first Twenty20 International and three ODIs against Australia starting October 10 in Rajkot.

3) Somdev qualified for China Open: Somdev Devvarman recorded yet another come-from-behind victory as he defeated higher-ranked Italian Paolo Lorenzi to qualify for the ATP China Open singles event.

4)  Sunrisers Hyderabad have been eliminated from the 2013 Champions League Twenty20.

Appointments

1) Rupshikha Saikia Borah today took over as Director (Finance) of Oil India Ltd.

Technology

1) Bharti Airtel upgrades Africa network with satellite, optical fibre: elecom major Bharti Airtel today launched a mix of satellite and optical fibre cable based new network, Africa Connect, for enhancing connectivity within Africa and with the rest of the world.

Banking/Economy

1) Bank of Baroda raises FD rates by up to 0.50%: State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) today raised fixed deposit rates on select maturities by 0.50 per cent, reflecting the tightening of liquidity conditions.

2) IRDA extends deadline for re-filing life insurance products to Jan 2014.

3) Pratip Chaudhuri stepped down as Chairman of State Bank of India.

4) Rupee fell further by nine paise today to an almost one-week low of 62.60 against the dollar.

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