Daily Current Affairs: 18 March 2014

1) Russia suspended from G8:  France's foreign minister on Tuesday said that leaders of the Group of Eight world powers have suspended Russia's participation in the club amid tensions over Ukraine and Russia's incursion into Crimea. The other seven members of the group had already suspended preparations for a G8 summit that Russia is scheduled to host in June in Sochi.

2) Lokpal appointment put on hold: The UPA government has put on hold its move to appoint the first Lokpal, following allegations of a flawed selection procedure. Highly placed government sources said that the rules framed under the Lokpal Act would be amended appropriately to ensure that the selection was fair and there was no criticism from any quarter.

3) Western Ghats draft notification spares 3,000 sq km in Kerala: The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) Tuesday issued a draft notification earmarking 56,825 sq km of the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), keeping it out of bounds for mining, quarrying and major construction and thermal projects. Giving in to demands from Kerala it, however, left out over 3,000 sq km from ESA demarcated by the Kasturirangan-led High Level Working Group.

4) Thailand to end state of emergency in Bangkok: Thailand will lift a nearly two-month-old state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas following an easing of political protests in the capital, a senior official said on Tuesday. The emergency decree will be replaced by another special law, the Internal Security Act, with effect from Wednesday until April 30, the prime minister's secretary-general, Suranand Vejjajiva said.

5) Motorola to launch Moto X Wednesday on Flipkart: The Moto X will start at Rs 23999 and is releasing on Wednesday, launching partner Flipkart tweeted on Tuesday. Another tweet said the wood back version will be priced at Rs 25,999. The black and white versions of the MotoX will be in stock on Wednesday. The rest of the variants will be on pre-order, Flipkart tweeted. The Moto X is a long waited smartphone in India. Since Motorola rolled out its Moto G successfully in India from the same platform, it may expect the same response from the Moto X launch. See more about Moto X Click here. 

6) India and China agreed to co-operate on IT: India and China, on Tuesday, signed a memorandum of understanding on IT cooperation, which, officials said, was a ‘formal recognition’ from the Chinese government to promote Indian software companies, which have largely struggled to obtain contracts from Chinese state-run companies. Both countries held their third Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) here on Tuesday.

7) Kevin Pietersen to lead Delhi Daredevils in Indian Premier League 2014: Delhi Daredevils appointed swashbuckling England batsman Kevin Pietersen as their captain for the upcoming IPL with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik as his deputy. “Kevin Pietersen will captain the all new look Delhi Daredevils during the seventh edition of the Pepsi Indian Premier League. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik would be the vice-captain,” the Daredevils said in a statement. The 33-year-old former England skipper was expected to take over as captain given his formidable reputation as a T20s batsman.