23 October 2013: Current Affairs Updates

23 October 2013: Current Affairs Updates

Achievements

1) South Korea appointed SRK as goodwill ambassador: Bollywood superstar  Shah Rukh Khan has been appointed goodwill ambassador for South Korea.  South Korean government had to pursue Khan for over two months before he agreed to officially accept the offer. They ideally want him to visit South Korea before the maiden visit of their president Park Geun-hye to India in January.

International

1) India, China ink border pact; 8 other agreements: India and China today reached a comprehensive agreement to avoid border tensions and army face-offs along the Line of Actual Control by deciding that neither side will use military capability to attack the other side nor tail patrols along the border.

Knowledge Booster:

>> Name the Chinese Premier (Prime Minister)?- Ans. Li Keqiang

2) Nobel Prize-winning economist Lawrence Klein dies: Lawrence R Klein, a longtime University of Pennsylvania Professor who won the Nobel Prize in economics 1980, has died. He was 93.

3) US unemployment rate dips to 5-year low of 7.2%: Unemployment rate in the US dipped to a nearly five-year low of 7.2 per cent in September, according to delayed data released on 22 Oct 2013 by the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

National

1) Delhi polls: Harsh Vardhan is BJP’s CM candidate: Ending uncertainty, BJP President Rajnath Singh today announced former Health Minister Harsh Vardhan as its Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi Assembly polls.

Knowledge Booster:

>> Name the Prime Minster candidate of BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections?- Ans. Narendra Modi

2) Former Army Chief V K Singh was today rapped by the Supreme Court for allegedly making contemptuous remarks on its order on his age row, saying one cannot be allowed to “scandalise” the court and attribute motive to its verdict.

3)  India Post on 22 October 2013 released a commemorative postage stamp on the Golden Jubilee of Bhakra Dam.

Technology

1) MTS launches 3G services across 9 circles: Intensifying competition in the 3G segment MTS on Wednesday launched mobile broadband services promising speeds of up to 9.8Mbps. The service will be available across all its nine circles of operations i.e. Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal.

Knowledge Booster:

>> Which company is operating under the name MTS?- Ans. Sistema Shyam TeleServices

>> Full form of MTS?-  Mobile TeleSystems

2) Google tops world’s best multinational workplaces list: 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.

Knowledge Booster:

>> Name the founders of Google?- Larry Page & Sergey Brin

3) Microsoft to limit support for Windows 8 without update: Users of Windows 8 will have to upgrade to the new 8.1 version within the next two years, as technical support for the older variation will then be terminated, Microsoft has announced.

Economy/Banking

1)  Centre has directed insurance companies to settle within a month all claims under its flagship health insurance programme — Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. The scheme is the world’s largest health insurance initiative, covering 3.58 crore poor families. Since its inception in 2008, the scheme has covered 6 lakh hospitalisation cases.

2) Tatas to roll out 15,000 ATMs in 3 years: Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd plans to roll out 15,000 Indicash white-label ATMs across the country over the next three years. Of these, 100 will be operationalised in Kerala by the end of this year.

Knowledge Booster:

>> What are White Label ATMs?- These are ATMs being rolled out by non-banking companies which allows users Remittance, ticket booking, third-party advertising etc.

3) Country’s second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank today hit the foreign bond market with benchmark US dollar issue as part of the bank’s $2-billion medium-term bond sale programme.

4) Reserve Bank has said it has received USD 10.1 billion under two schemes which were announced last month to attract foreign funds.

5) Canara Bank signed a MoU with industry body CII to facilitate cheaper credit access to micro, small and medium enterprises.

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) 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.

Sports

1) India-Australia 4th ODI played in Ranchi called off due to rain: Chasing 296, India were 27 for no loss in 4.1 overs in when heavens opened up for the second time during the match.

2) Sachin Tendulkar named in Wisden all-time World Test XI: Retiring Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was on Wednesday named in the Wisden all-time World Test XI.

Tendulkar, who will retire from Test cricket after playing against the West Indies in his landmark 200th match next month.

Knowledge Booster:

>> Which city is hosting Sachin's 200th Test?- Mumbai (Sachin's home ground)

3) In the presence of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia on Wednesday joined Congress at a rally in Rajasthan ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections scheduled for December 1.