Daily Current Affairs: 24 November 2013

Daily Current Affairs: 24 November 2013

1) Vettel ends season on record high winning Brazilian Grand Prix: Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to chalk up a record ninth victory in a row and 13th of the year. Vettel is the first Formula One driver to win nine successive races in a single season although Italian Alberto Ascari strung together nine in a row over two campaigns in 1952-53. Vettel’s victory equalled compatriot Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record with Ferrari of 13 wins in a season.

2) Iran signs landmark nuclear deal with West:  Iran has struck a historic agreement with the U.S. and five other world powers, accepting strict constraints on its nuclear programme for the first time in a decade in exchange for partial relief from sanctions. The deal, signed at 4.30 a.m. on Sunday, marks arguably the most significant foreign policy achievement of Barack Obama’s presidency, amounting to the most significant agreement between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

3) World’s first green helicopter tested in Germany: The world’s first green helicopter which is noiseless and emission-free has been successfully tested in Germany. The two-seat prototype of the ‘Volocopter’, by the company e-volo, made its maiden voyage on November 17 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Volocopter is an environmentally friendly and emission-free private helicopter. Instead of one combustion engine, eighteen electrically driven rotors propel it.

4) Scotland sets proposed ‘independence day’ in 2016: Scotland today set March 24, 2016 as its independence day, if voters back leaving the UK in a “landmark” referendum to break up the 300-year union. The “white paper” on Scottish independence will be unveiled by the regional government in Edinburgh ahead of a historic referendum on September 18, 2014.

5) Tata DoCoMo ad platform:  Tata DoCoMo has launched a mobile advertising service platform GET (GetEasyTalktime) in partnership with mAdcall, a provider of mobile video advertising solution and managed services. Users need just SMS keyword “GET” to 52323 or by give a missed call to 52323, says Harsh Saxena, Head marketing, Non-voice services, Tata DoCoMo. It enables video advertising and allows users to choose when or where they want to view a video commercial on their phone with one free voice minute for local or national calling to landlines or mobiles for each advertisement that they choose to view. It is currently compatible with Android, Java, Symbian and Blackberry and can also be accessed over Wi-Fi.

6) Ireland, Afghanistan qualified for 2014 World T20: Ireland and Afghanistan on Sunday qualified for next year’s ICC World Twenty20 after winning their respective matches in the Qualifiers.

7) Ashes 1st Test- England crumbles to big defeat: England suffered one of its heaviest Ashes Test defeats on Sunday when Australia trounced it by 381 runs at the Gabba and went one-up in the series with a day to spare. Mitchell Johnson who took  nine wickets for 103 for the match was adjudged the Man of the Match.

8) Visakhapatanam 2nd ODI-West Indies defeat India by two wickets: Darren Sammy’s brilliant effort helped West Indies win the second ODI of the Starplus One-Day International series at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy stadium in Visakhapatanam on Sunday with three balls to spare.

9) Central Bank’s new credit card:  Central Bank of India has launched Aspire, a platinum credit card. The card is targeted at its deposit customers who aspire to own a credit card but are unable to do so on account of various factors such as retirement from service, inadequate income, and so on. The card offers interest-free credit facility for 55 days against fixed deposits.