Daily Current Affairs Updates 23 April 2014

1) World Book and Copyright Day observed: World Book and Copyright Day was observed on 23rd April across the world to raise importance of books and promote reading, publishing and copyright.  World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995. 23 April is a symbolic date for world literature. It is on this date in 1616 that Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

>> It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those, who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. 

2) DGCA allows in-flight use of mobiles, laptops on flight mode: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday has lifted the ban on the use of personal electronic devices like cell phones at all times during a flight, provided they are used in a non-transmitting or "Airplane" mode. The regulator has amended the civil aviation requirements or CAR to bring it in line with regulations of the US' Federal Aviation Administration and European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The regulator added that the decision was taken after airlines raised the demand for letting passengers use cellphones and other devices during all phases of a flight in the flight/airplane mode.

3) Modi, Kejriwal become Time's 'most influential': A closely-watched TIME magazine poll of the 100 most-influential people in the world was flooded by around 5 million and 3 million votes respectively for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, dwarfing the votes received by others in the poll but also putting BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the red with the largest proportion of ‘no’ votes. While the AAP leader has received 71.5 per cent ‘yes’ votes, the BJP prime ministerial candidate has the largest percentage of ‘no’ votes than any other personality in the running.

4) Lupita Nyong'o named People's most beautiful woman: It's been a big year for Lupita Nyong'o. After winning an Oscar and a lucrative advertising deal the actress was named on Wednesday as the world's most beautiful woman for 2014 by People magazine. Nyong'o, who took home this year's Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role as the slave Patsey in director Steve McQueen's acclaimed film 12 Years A Slave, said she "never dreamed" she would be praised for her looks and land on the cover of the weekly magazine.

5) Sri Lanka appointed Lasith Malinga as new T20 captain: ri Lanka has reportedly named star fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the new Twenty20 captain after sacking Dinesh Chandimal, although they have retained Angelo Mathews as the Test and one-day skipper.

6) WhatsApp now has half billion active users; 48 million in India alone: Popular messaging app WhatsApp has now crossed 500 million users. The company which was bought by Facebook in February this year  - for a gigantic amount of $19 billion – has been steadily adding to its growing list of users.

7) Supreme Court constituted a committee to prevent misuse of public money: Supreme Court constituted a committee to prevent misuse of public money by the Government for politically motivated advertisements in print and electronic media. The three-member committee, chaired by NR Madhava Menon, is mandated to frame guidelines and submit that within three months.

8) Benfica lifts the 33rd Portuguese Football league title by defeating the Olhanense by 2-0

9) Chitra Won World Women's Senior snooker title: Chitra Magimairaj showed tremendous grit and determination to pocket the Senior snooker title in her first appearance, in Leeds,UK, on Tuesday.

10) India successfully test fired indigenous Akash missile: India on Wednesday test fired its Akash surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha. The indigenously developed missile, with a 27-km range and an effective ceiling of 15 km, was test fired from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in the coastal district of Balasore.