Daily Current Affairs Updates: 04 October 2013

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 04 October 2013

National

1) Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh to be held from Nov 25 to Dec 4: Assembly elections will be held in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh from November 11, the Election Commission announced today. There will be single-phase elections to four State Assemblies – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Mizoram. Madhya Pradesh will be the first to go to polls on November 25, followed by Rajasthan on December 1, while voting in and Delhi and Mizoram will be held on December 4. In Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh, however, elections will be held in two phases, on - November 11 and 19. Model code of conduct comes into immediate effect, EC added. Counting of votes will be done on December 8 in all 630 constituencies across five States, with a total electorate of about 11 crore.

2) Election Commission to give voters the NOTA (none of the above) option in upcoming Assembly Elections in the five States: In keeping with the Supreme Court order on September 27, the Election Commission will also give voters the NOTA (none of the above) option in the five States and was taking steps to educate polling officers as well as voters, the Chief Election Commissioner, V S Sampath, said at a press conference.

3) HRD Minister Pallam Raju to submit resignation on Telangana issue: Brushing aside the Prime Minister’s advice, HRD Minister Pallam Raju today decided to resign from the Cabinet opposing the decision to split Andhra Pradesh. Last Day, Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi and Textiles Minister K.S Rao had also offered their resignation.

4) Jagan to go on indefinite fast against AP bifurcation issue: YSR Congress President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy today said that he would undertake an indefinite fast here from tomorrow against the Centre’s decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.

5) Centre moves apex court for modification of order on Aadhaar card:  Centre today moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of an earlier order which said the Aadhaar card is not mandatory and no person should be deprived of any Government schemes for want it.

6) Chiranjeevi resigned from Union Cabinet: Union Minister of State with Independent charge of Tourism, K. Chiranjeevi today resigned from the Manmohan Singh Cabinet.

7) Telangana GoM to have 10 members; Bill likely in winter session:  Ministers of Home, Finance, Law and Water Resources will be part of the 10-member GoM set up to go into the issues arising out of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, like determination of boundary, sharing of assets and river water, among others.

8) Railways to increase passenger fare, freight tariff by 2 per cent: Railways has decided to increase passenger fare and freight tariff by about 2 per cent from next week to offset the financial burden arising out of increased input cost.

International

1) US President cancels Asia trip due to shutdown: US President Barack Obama has cancelled a trip to Asia this week-end because of the ongoing Government shutdown, it was announced today.

2) Twitter files for $1-billion IPO: Twitter has unveiled plans to pump up the globally popular one-to-many messaging service with a $1-billion stock market debut.

Economy/Banking

1) Neerja Mathur likely to be first woman chairperson of CEA: Neerja Mathur is likely to be appointed as the first woman Chairperson of Central Electricity Authority. According to sources, Mathur is likely to be the next Chairperson of CEA as the Appointments Committee of Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is believed to have approved her name for the post.

2) India to start power supply to Bangladesh from today: On Saturday history will be made in Bherama, a remote Bangladeshi village bordering Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate electricity trade between the two countries.

3) ICICI Bank opens skill training academy in Jaipur: As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, ICICI Bank today opened skill training academy to provide vocational training to youth from economically weaker section of the society.

4) RBI expects 5 - 5.5% growth in current fiscal: Reserve Bank on Friday said the economy would grow by 5 to 5.5% in the current fiscal, pinning its hopes on good farm output and improved exports.

5) RBI nominates three members to bank licence panel: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today nominated three members to the high level advisory committee formed to recommend granting new licenses to the private banks. The committee is headed by the former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan. The RBI today finalised the names of the other members in the external committee that would seal the fate of 26 applicants willing to start private banks.  Other members are  Usha Thorat (former RBI Deputy Governor), C B Bhave (former SEBI chairman) and Nachiket Mor (financial sector expert).

6) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves National AIDS Control Programme Phase-IV.

Technology

1) India gets first radio station dedicated to gay community: Country's lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual (LGTB) community can now celebrate freedom of

airwaves with a round-the-clock radio station dedicated specifically to them. 'Q Radio' which started operating from Bangalore this September claims to be the first radio station in India that is tailored for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender audience.

Sports

1) Afghanistan Qualified for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Afghanistan Cricket team on 4 October 2013 qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven wickets.

2) Pallikal beats Brown to enter quarters in New York squash: Indian squash star Dipika Pallikal played one of the best games of her life in the opening round of the Carol Weymuller Open where she recovered from two games down and saved a match-ball in the third to upset Australia's No.8 seed Kasey Brown and reach the quarterfinals of the Women's Squash Association ( WSA) Gold 50 event celebrating its 40th anniversary at The Heights Casino in Brooklyn.

3) Sania-Cara upset top seeds to reach China Open final: India's Sania Mirza and Cara Black of Zimbabwe swung their way to a 6-4, 6-4 win over the world No. 1 pairing of Italians Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani to move into the title round of the China Open.