Current Affairs Updates: 20 October 2013

Current Affairs Updates: 20 October 2013

Sports

1) Dipika Pallikal beats former World No. 1 to win Macau Open:  India's top squash player Dipika Pallikal upstaged former World No.1 Rachael Grinham of Australia to win the Macau Open on Sunday, the seventh Women's Squash Association (WSA) title of her career.

2) Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through tough contests to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the World Boxing Championships.

3) India cricket tour of South Africa likely in December: India’s much-anticipated tour of South Africa is all set to go ahead in December with BCCI President, N. Srinivasan, and his CSA counterpart Chris Nenzani agreeing “in principle” for the series during discussions on the sidelines of the ICC Board meeting.

Days

1) World Osteoporosis Day: World Osteoporosis Day is observed annually on 20 October. The day marks the launch of a year-long campaign dedicated to raising global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.

Awards/Achievements

1) Four Indians in Fortune’s ‘power women’ list: Four Indians led by ICICI Bank CEO, Chanda Kochhar, have made it to Fortune magazine’s global list of top-50 women business leaders, while PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi has been ranked second in a similar list for the US. Kochhar has been ranked fourth, 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.

2)  Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been conferred with the first Yash Chopra Memorial Award.

3) Eram Scientific Solutions, manufacturers of electronic public toilets (eToilets), has won the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards, 2013.

National

1) Senior CPI(M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan from Kerala turned 90: Most noticed politician in contemporary Kerala, V.S. Achuthanandan – senior CPI(M) leader, former Chief Minister and current Leader of the Opposition – turned 90 on Sunday. The birthday bash, originally planned to be a simple ceremony, turned out to be a huge media event.

2) India's plans to wrap up a quick nuclear deal with Russia on the setting up of two new units at Kudankulam have received a jolt with a commercial agreement on it unlikely to be signed tomorrow.

3)  Indian Space Research Organization completed integration of its Mars mission satellite on Sunday with the rocket while the heat shield is expected to be closed in couple of days, an official said. Radhakrishnan said as the launch window is between October 28 to November 19, the revised launch date will be decided October 22 after the ship reaches Fiji.

International

1) Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Italy and Portugal on Saturday to protest against budget cuts and the social cost of the economic crisis, amid concern over possible clashes in Rome.

Banking

1) Indian banks have enough capital to absorb losses until the delayed projects revive and start generating revenues to repay loans, said Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.

2) Dept of Posts cuts banking fund proposal to Rs 623 cr: The Department of Posts (DoP) has lowered its estimate of funds that it needs to start banking operations to about Rs 623 crore from its earlier projection of about Rs 1,900 crore, sources said.

3) Tata, SIA get govt approval for airline venture’s name: Tatas’ proposed aviation venture with Singapore Airlines has got Corporate Affairs Ministry’s approval to use the name ‘Tata SIA Airlines Limited’, which plans to offer full-service passenger services on domestic and international routes.