Daily Current Affairs Updates: 21 November 2013

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 21 November 2013

1) Virat Kohli becomes fastest to score 5000 runs in ODIs: India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to score 5000 runs in one-day internationals when he scored 86 against West Indies in the first ODI in Kochi. Kohli achieved the feat in just 120 matches and 114 innings. He has so far amassed 5005 runs, which included 17 centuries and 27 fifties in his short career. In terms of innings, Kohli has equalled the record of Sir Viv Richards of West Indies, who also achieved the feat in 114 innings way back in 1987 but it was Viv's 126th match. Before Kohli, former captain Sourav Ganguly was the fastest to achieve the feat among Indian batsmen in 131 matches and 126 innings.

2) Isro's Mars orbiter sends first picture of Earth, 'Helen' captured: Severe cyclonic storm "Helen" hurtling towards Andhra Pradesh coast has been captured by India's Mars orbiter in the first image of the country beamed back in its maiden mission to the red planet. " Mangalyaan" has beamed back the first set of pictures of Earth, capturing the Indian subcontinent and parts of Africa, Isro said.

3) Two of RBI’s 17-member panel favoured status quo on policy rates: Only two of the 17 members of the advisory committee wanted no change in the repo rate in the RBI’s second quarter review of monetary policy 2013-14 on October 29. However, “on monetary policy measures, all members unanimously wanted to restore symmetry in the policy corridor - with the MSF rate at 100 basis points above the policy repo rate,” RBI said in the minutes of the October 23 meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy. The committee was chaired by Governor Raghuram Rajan and among members were four Deputy Governors, other RBI officials.

4) First IAF woman to graduate as Flying Instructor: Squadron leader Shalija Dhami will become the first woman from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to qualify as a Flying Instructor from the Flying Instructors’ School in Chennai on Saturday. Dhami will be among the 44 officers, including 40 from the IAF, three from the Indian Navy and one from the Army, who will graduate from the school, a defence release said.

5) Digital network for monitoring earthquakes launched at INCOIS:  Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services launched a modern network digital project that will make monitoring of earthquakes and seismological research across India easier. Network project, Indian Seismic and GNSS Network, undertaken by the Earth System Sciences Organisation of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is a permanent digital network connecting all standalone and institutional seismic and global positioning system stations spread all over the country on real-time basis.

6) Sachin's farewell Test garners maximum TRPs: Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's 200th Test in his farewell series against the West Indies has emerged as the highest rated Test match on television in India in the past eight years.

7) Tarun Tejpal steps aside as Tehelka Editor for 6 months: Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal accepted “misconduct” against a woman journalist and offered to recuse himself from the post and the office for six months. Tejpal is a founder member of the Tehelka magazine.

8) Anand loses again, Carlsen a draw away from world title: Challenger Magnus Carlsen closed in on the crown after defeating defending champion Viswanathan Anand in the ninth game of the World Chess Championship match. Carlsen now leads 6-3 and needs just half a point from the remaining three games to become the new world champion.

9) Kochi ODI- India beat West Indies by six wickets: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit sparkling half-centuries as a clinical India continued their domination over West Indies by thrashing the visitors by six wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series in Kochi.

10) WhatsApp now available on Nokia Asha platform: WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging service, is now officially available on the Nokia Asha platform. All Nokia Asha 501 users can download the application through a software update. The new software also comes with a smarter camera experience through ‘swipe’ and one-touch social sharing.

11) New chief for pension fund regulator by January: Finance Ministry will finalise a new Chairman for the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) by January, a top Ministry official said. Earlier this month, Yogesh Agarwal resigned as Chairman of PFRDA, ahead of it being reconstituted as a statutory authority. At present, the Government has given Anup Wadhawan, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, additional charge as Chairman of the pension regulator. PFRDA administers the National Pension System (NPS) for Union and State Government employees and the unorganised sector. Currently, NPS has 55 lakh subscribers with a total corpus of Rs 35,000 crore. The scheme has given returns of 12-14 per cent over the last one year.

12) PayU India’s new payment option: PayU India, an online payment company, has launched ‘Release on Delivery’ payment option. This is being touted as a better alternative to the cash-on-delivery (COD) payment option.

13) Subramanian Swamy to get Brahm Gaurav award: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy will be presented Brahm Gaurav award on November 24 by Brahm Foundation.

14) Google launches debit card in US:  Google will offer a prepaid debit card that will allow consumers to purchase goods at stores and to withdraw cash from ATM machines, the internet company said. The card, which is only available in the United States, lets consumers access the funds stored in their Google Wallet accounts.

15) Allahabad high court bans 'Goliyon ki raasleela Ram-Leela' in UP: Allahabad high court on Thursday banned director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic saga " Goliyon ki raasleela Ram-Leela" in Uttar Pradesh. The film starring Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh was released on November 15.The petition had contended that the film was hurting religious sentiments of Hindus and its title 'Ramleela' was giving a wrong message to society as Lord Ram's 'leela' (act) had great impact on Indian society.