October 1st
1. Today, the International Day of Older Persons is being celebrated. The day is celebrated by raising awareness about issues affecting the elderly and to appreciate the contributions that they make to society. The day’s theme for 2013 is ‘The Future we want: What older persons are saying’.2. Former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai appointed as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He will succeed noted economist and veteran diplomat Dr Jaimini Bhagwati.
3. A senior Indian journalist, Ravi Shankar Narsimhan, on 29 September 2013 was presented with Friendship award by China-the highest honor given to foreigners. Narsimhan is the executive editor in the overseas edition of the Beijing based China Daily. Ravi Shankar hails from Andhra Pradesh.
4. Finance Ministry on Tuesday said economy will grow by over 5 percent in the current fiscal on back of high farm productivity and investments and promised more steps to boost growth.
5. Former Indian President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and ex-Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda were posthumously conferred with the ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour’ on Tuesday in recognition of their outstanding support to the country’s struggle for independence from Pakistan.
6. Trade between India and Mozambique could double to $3 billion by 2016 from the current level of $1.28 billion. This was stated by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma during his meeting with Mozambique’s Industry and Trade Minister Armando Inroga in the Mozambique capital Maputo. India has extendedLines of Credit (LoC) worth $640 million to Mozambique. India is the 8th largest foreign investor inMozambique with total investments estimated at more than $500 million.
7. The Reserve Bank of India will infuse 10 thousand crore rupees by purchasing government securities on 7 October, to ease liquidity in the market. Open market operations refer to the sale or purchase of government securities with the objective of adjusting rupee liquidity conditions in the market.
8. The CBI has filed a case against the then Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and BSNL officials for allegedly allotting 300 high-speed telephone lines to Maran’s residence in Chennai which were extended to his brother’s channel.
9. Aga Khan, a Swiss-Born Philanthropist and Muslim Spiritual Leader visited India. During the official visit, Aga Khan the unveiled restored Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi on 18 September 2013.
10. The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari released a commemorative postage stamp in the memory of Baba Jumdev at a function in Gondia, Maharashtra on 30 September 2013. Baba Jumdev was a prominent spiritual leader and revered social activist.
11. Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader, Rasheed Masood, was sentenced to four years in jail by a Delhi court in a corruption case, becoming the first MP to lose his seat after a recent Supreme Courtjudgement had removed the immunity for convicted lawmakers.
12. In Tennis Somdev Devvarman qualifies for Singles event at china Open.
13. Indian basketball team has won bronze medal at KFC under-21 3ON3 International Challenge in Beijing. Lovneet also secured a gold medal for India in KFC 3ON3 International Challenge 3-Pointer shooting competition.
14. The Czech Republican tennis player Petra Kvitova defeated Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final to win singles title at WTA Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo. It was her 11th WTA title and evened her tournament finals appearances at 2-2 in 2013.
October 2nd And 3rd
1. 109th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri celebrated across the country. Several functions including symposia and discussions organised to mark the occassion. Leaders of different political parties paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at his memorial Vijayghat in Delhi.
2. The Centre given its approval for creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hydrabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
3. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday sharply lowered its forecast on India’s economic growth to 4.7 percent for this year from its earlier projection of 6 percent.
4. Government of India appointed on 2 October 2013 a four member committee headed by Arvind Mayaram, Economic Affairs Secretary setup to clear the ambiguity between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII). The committee will look into the difference between them and it will also give definition of FDI and FII.
5. The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation Among the Nations of the World has nominated President Putin as a candidate for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
6. President Pranab Mukherji will meet the Prime Minister of Belgium Elio De Rupo in Brussles today. After the plenary meeting between the two leaders, delegation level talks will take place during which some agreements are likely to be signed between the two countries.
7. Special CBI court in Ranchi has sentenced RJD Chief and former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to 5 years in jail in fodder scam case. The court also imposed a fine of 25 lakh rupees on him. The sentencing by special CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh disqualifies Prasad from Parliament and renders him ineligible for contesting elections for 11 years.
8. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries India’s biggest drug maker by market capital and USA based Intrexon Corporation, a leading player in synthetic biology announced on 2 October 2013 to establish a joint venture to develop controllable gene-based therapies for the treatment of eye diseases. The joint venture will helpful for Sun Pharma’s to increase their global capabilities and experience in developing and manufacturing complex dosage forms .It will also enhance their specialty pharmaceuticals for niche therapy areas.
9. The goverment today launched a unique project to put 100 most important Indian heritage sites online. The sites include theTaj Mahal, Khajuraho and the Ajanta and Ellora caves. An agreement to this effect was reached at between the Archaeological Survey of India and Google in New Delhi today in presence of Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch.
10. Meghalaya Government to provide all School and college classrooms with Wi-Fi connection to aid their learning process. The announcement was made by CM Mukul Sangma after distributing free tablet computers to 11,000 class XII students as a part of state government’s Digital Learning Aid for Students scheme.
11. The book titled Haunted by Fire: Essays on Caste, Class, Exploitation and Emancipation authored by Mythily Sivaraman released in International Centre in New Delhi on 1 October 2013. Mythili Sivaraman is a Women Rights Activist. She is currently one of the Vice Presidents of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (Women’s wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist)).
12. A multinational company plans to launch the world’s largest man-made lagoon costing a whopping $7 billion. Crystal Lagoons Corp., developer of patented technology for giant crystalline lagoons, has signed a deal to construct the lagoon, covering 40 hectares, almost four-times bigger than the world’s largest existing lagoon.
13. 3M Healthcare, the healthcare division of 3M India, has won the “Sterilization Services Company of the Year award” at the Frost & Sullivan’s fifth annual India Healthcare Excellence Awards 2013. These coveted Awards recognized innovative growth strategies and solutions adopted by top companies in the healthcare industry for 2012-13.
14. Yashasvini Cooperative Farmers’ Health Care Scheme, launched in Karnataka in June 2003, has successfully completed 10 years benefiting lakhs of farmers in co-operative sector. The Yashasvini Cooperative Farmers’ Health Care Trust was formed under the principle “One for all and all for one” has made healthcare affordable to farmers in co-operative sector.
15. Airtel is the only telecom company from India featuring on the list of top ten global brands admired most in Africa, according to a survey. Airtel was placed at ninth on the list, beating Japanese car manufacturer Honda, the survey conducted by the African Business Awards said. The list was headed by US-based Coca Cola, and dominated by other US and European brands, the only other Asian brands were Japan’s Toyota and Samsung Electronics of Korea.
The full list is:
1. Coca Cola—US,
2. Shell—Netherlands
3. Samsung—South Korea
4. Vodafone—UK
5. Nike—US
6. Toyota—Japan
7. McDonald’s—US
8. Pepsi Cola—US
9. Airtel—India
10. Honda—Japan.
16. Tata Power today has commenced construction work for the first phase of its joint venture 400-MW hydro power project in Georgia. The hydel project would be jointly developed by Tata Power along with Clean Energy Invest AS, Norway (Clean Energy) and IFC InfraVentures (IFC).
17. Private insurer SBI Life Insurance on Thursday launched ‘Smart Power Insurance’ plan, which is designed to care for investor’s twin needs of insurance and investment. SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif, the insurance arm of BNP Paribas.
18. The Gambian Government on 2 October 2013 announced that it is pulling out of the Commonwealth with immediate effect. Gambian, a West African country joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1965. The last country to be withdrawn from the Commonwealth group was Zimbabwe in 2003.
19. The BCCI awarded the title sponsorship for all international series and the domestic tournaments in India for the year 2013-14 to Star Private Ltd and ESPN at the base price of Rs. two crore per fixture, considerably low compared to their previous deal with Airtel. Sponsorship rights will extend to domestic events such as Irani Cup, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare, Deodhar Trophy and Raj Singh Dungarpur Trophy.
20. Former national table tennis champion Uttam Chandarana, who dominated the sport during 1940s and 50s, passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday morning due to old age, family sources said. Chandarana is remembered for defeating world champion Ivan Andreadis in 1954.
21. Balaji Motion Pictures, the film production unit of Balaji Telefilms, has acquired the film adaptation rights to the book, The Devotion of Suspect X. ii. Director Sujoy Ghosh, whose previous release was the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani, has been signed to direct the Hindi feature film.
22. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has again been named the world’s top university by the Times Higher Education Global Ranking.
October 4th
1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 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. Other members are Usha Thorat (former RBI Deputy Governor), C B Bhave (Former SEBI Chairman) and Nachiket Mor (Financial Sector Expert).
2. The 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.
3. India has once again emerged as the largest recipient of foreign remittances. Non-Resident Indians or NRIs sent a record 71 billion dollars home compared to 70 billion dollars last year. According to a Word Bank report on recent trends and outlook on Migration and Remittance Flows, NRIs are estimated to remit up to 85 billion dollars a year by 2015.
4. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for reforming the state higher education system. As per this, during the 12th Plan period, 80 new universities would be created by converting autonomous colleges or colleges in a cluster to State universities. Many colleges, including professional and technical colleges would be set up and existing colleges would be upgraded. Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan would also support 5000 faculty positions.
5. Assembly elections will be held in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh from 11th November, the Election Commission announced on Friday. While Chhattisgarh will have a two-phase polling on 11th November and 19th November, the remaining states will have a single-phase poll. For the first time, voters will have an option of ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) in these polls where they can decide not to vote any of the candidates in the fray.
6. President Mukherjee, in his opening remarks at the talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupa, said India attaches great importance to its relations with Belgium and hoped that the two countries strengthen economic ties. President Mukherjee, the first Indian Head of the State to visit Belgium, also thanked the country for its support of India’s candidature to a permanent seat in an expanded United Nations Security Council.
7. 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. The vocational training course will provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the beneficiaries.
8. S. Varadarajan took over charge as chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). S.Varadarajan has succeeded R.K. Singh. Prior to his appointment as the CMD, Varadarajan was serving as the Director (finance) of the company.
9. The Indian Railways on 3 October 2013 signed a pact with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to set up the country’s biggest Forged Wheel plant at Lalganj, Raebarelli in Uttar Pradesh. The Plant to be set with an investment of about 1100 crore Rupees will produce one lakh numbers of Forged Wheels per annum in the First phase for Locos and High speed trains.
10. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 3 October 2013 cleared Jet Airways proposed sale of 24 per cent equity to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, paving the way for the biggest ever foreign investment in the Indian aviation sector. Jet-Etihad deal was already approved by SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) on 1 October 2013.
11. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Barclays Investments and Loans(India) Limited, for violation of certain insurance norms.
12. India unveiled its first indigenously developed vaccine for treating Japanese Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects the brain. The manufacturer of the vaccine named JENVAC claims that the highly purified inactivated vaccine can be administered during epidemics without the fear of adverse effects. It is available in both single dose and five dose presentations.Japanese Encephalitis, which is prevalent in 171 districts of 19 States, affects mostly children below 15 years.
13. General Vo Nguyen Giap, a key figure in securing Vietnam’s independence and winning the Vietnam War, died at 102. The general had been in hospital for several years because of ill health. Gen. Giap was also known as the initiator of the final offensive against South Vietnam in 1975.
14. Afghanistan Cricket team on 4 October 2013 qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven wickets at World Cricket League Championship in Sharjah. With this win Afghanistha also became the 20th team to gain entry into the tournament overall.
15. The pair of India’s Sania Mirza and Zimbabwe’s Cara Black has entered the women’s doubles final of the China Open tennis tournament. In the semi-final played in Beijing today, the pair shocked top seeded Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 12 minutes.
16. Portugal’s Luis Leao Pinto won 9th Himalaya Bicycle Rally.
October 5th
1. Indo-Bangladesh cooperation in the power sector entered a new phase, with the two countries breaking ground for a 1,320-MW coal-fired power plant and inaugurating a joint transmission line that will export 500 MW from India. A memorandum of understanding had been signed during Ms Hasina’s 2010 Delhi visit for import of power from India. The ‘Maitri’ thermal power project is being developed by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, a joint venture between NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board.
2. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned Rs 40.35 crore for rural water supply scheme in the Union Territory of Puducherry under Nabard’s Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
3. Ushering in a new regime for overseas investments in Indian capital markets, Sebi today announced new foreign portfolio investor (FPI) regulations to put in place easier registration process and operating framework for such entities. The new class of investors, FPIs, would encompass all FIIs (foreign institutional investors), their sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors (QFIs), and would be divided in three categories as per their risk profile. The KYC (know your client) requirements and other registration procedures would be much simpler for FPIs compared to current practices.
4. India’s leading industrialist Ratan Tata will be formally inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering in the US on Sunday for his “outstanding contributions” to industrial development in India and the world over. Eight Indian-Americans also had been elected to the body earlier, considered among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.
5. Seeking to reduce the incidence of mortality from growing number of heart attacks in India and the US, a prominent body of Indian-American physicians has joined hands with a leading NGO fostering cardiac care in US.
6. India was re-elected in the new Council of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as one of the states making the largest contribution to the provision of facilities for international civil air navigation.The 38th session of the Assembly of ICAO completed the election of the Council in Montreal on 1October 2013. The 36- member Council is the governing body of the Organization and is elected for a three-year term.
7. Janalakshmi Financial Services , a microfinance institution, has signed a five-year agreement with Accenture to scale-up operations and expand services to the urban poor. Under the agreement, Accenture will manage the microfinance body’s customer and account master data, provide processing, reconciliation and reporting services. It will also manage Janalakshmi’s core banking system, customer relationship management software, employee portal and Web site.
8. Corporation Bank has a new Chairman and Managing Director in S.R. Bansal. Prior to this elevation, Bansal was an Executive Director at Punjab National Bank.
9. All-women Sharia Court starts functioning in Pune with an aim to redress the grievances of Muslim women. Set up here by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), the first all-women Sharia Court will deal with various family issues, including marital discord, divorce as well as property related disputes.
10. An Indian-American Sikh lawyer Gurbir Grewal has been nominated as a county prosecutor in New Jersey.Gurbir Grewal was formally nominated by Governor Chris Christie to be the next Bergen county prosecutor., a local media report said.
11. An Indian engineering student “Ashutosh Pathak” from the University of Nottingham fought off stiff worldwide competition to be awarded the overall prize at a British government-backed entrepreneurial contest. Ashutosh Pathak is working on developing a much cheaper, more efficient pipe inspection and leakage detection system.
12. Veteran director Shyam Benegal will head the accomplished jury for the Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) to be held in Brisbane on December 12.The announcement was made by the APSA executive chairman Michael Hawkins in Busan on Friday.
13. Much-awaited pilgrimage for holy shrine Kedarnath resumed today
14. Bopanna, Roger-Vasselin in Japan Open final
October 6th And 7th
1. US scientists James Rothman and Randy Schekman and Thomas Suedhof of Germany have won the Nobel prize in medicine for their discoveries of the “machinery regulating vesicle traffic”, a major cellular transport system. The awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics will be announced by other prize juries this week and next. Each prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million). Last year’s medicine award went to Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka for their contributions to stem cell science.
2. World Habitat day is observed across the world on 7 October 2013. The purpose of this day is creation of the global awareness regarding the State of the towns and cities and the basic human right to adequate shelter. First Monday of October every year is designated as the World Habitat Day by the United Nation. The theme of the World Habitat Day 2013 is Urban Mobility to encourage people to shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation.
3. Eid-ul-Azha to be celebrated on Oct 16. This was announced in New Delhi last evening by , Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid, after the new moon was sighted yesterday. Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated by Muslims across the world to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to Allah.
4. Arundhati Bhattacharya assumed charge as Chairperson of State Bank of India (SBI). Immediately prior to taking over as Chairperson, Bhattacharya was the Managing Director & CFO, State Bank of India. Bhattacharya joined SBI as a Probationary Officer in the year 1977 spending 36 years in the state-owned bank.
5. In another move to ease liquidity for banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Monday eased interest rate on borrowings under the marginal standing facility (MSF) by 50 basis points to 9 per cent. One bps is one hundredth of a percentage point.
6. The Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh announced that the food subsidy and foodgrain allocation would be doubled for the state of Bihar under the National Food Security Act. Jairam Ramesh announced that Bihar’s food subsidy will increase from 5500 crore Rupees to 11500 crore Rupees, under the National Food Security Act. This means that the allocation of foodgrain will increase from 28 lakh tonnes to 56 lakh tonnes. Apart from Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh would be other three major beneficiaries under the new Act.
7. Former Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran was on Monday sworn in the first chief minister of Sri Lanka’s northern province, most of which was under LTTE’s control for nearly 30 years. Justice Wigneswaran took oath before President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the chief minister after his party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), won the provincial council elections held Sep 21.
8. President Pranab Mukherjee, who is in turkey as part of his two-nation tours will hold talks with the top leadership of Turkish capital Ankara on Monday. Five inter-document agreements and six MOU’s will be signed on Monday. He is in the country on an invitation by the President of Turkey. This is the third visit by an Indian President to Turkey after the visits by the President of India in 1993 and 1998. Earlier, Mukherjee had visited Belgium where he attended a series of state events including the ‘Europalia-India 2013-14′, a cultural extravaganza showcasing India.
9. In a setback to N Srinivasan, Supreme Court proposes 3-member panel headed by Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana HC Mukul Mudgal to independently probe into IPL spot-fixing scandal. The Supreme Court rejected BCCI’s suggestion for setting up a special committee to probe the IPL spot-fixing scandal and proposed a three-member panel headed by former Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal to examine the issue.
10. The Supreme Court on Monday decided to appoint former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah to head a committee which has been deliberating on broad guidelines for protection of good Samaritans rendering assistance to accident victims.
11. The World Bank today lowered its 2013 growth forecast for East Asian developing countries to 7.1 per cent. It also warned that a prolonged US fiscal crisis could be damaging to the region.
12. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday reached his constituency Amethi and laid the foundation stone of Mega Food Park in Jagdishpur. The project is aimed to create 2,500 jobs and generate Rs 450 crore revenue.
13. India test-fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile. India today test-fired its ingenuously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from Chandipur Integrated test range in Odisha. Prithvi is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines.
14. Veteran Malayalam film actor Madhu, who essayed memorable roles in various films, including the National award winner ‘Chemmeen’, will be presented the Pravsi Doha Basheer award at a function in Kochi on Friday. The award, in memory of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Malayalam novelist and short story writer, will be presented by eminent novelist M T Vasudevan Nair.
15. Acclaimed Cambodian director Rithy Panh, whose family died in the Khmer Rouge genocide, received the “Asian Filmmaker of the Year award” at the Busan International Film Festival on Friday for his efforts to save his country’s cinematic heritage.
16. Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) is organising a five-day environmental film festival titled ‘Reel Earth: Environmental Film Fest’ in Kochi from October 7. This is the third edition of the festival, which aims to increase awareness on key environmental issues by promoting and screening short and medium length films and videos, focusing on environmental issues produced in different parts of the world.
17. World’s highest-altitude civilian airport has started operating in Sichuan provinve neighbouring Tibet, dramatically cutting travel time in the remote region in southwestern China. Daocheng Yading Airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level in Daocheng county in Garzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, began operations on Monday.
18. South Super star Kamal Hassan announced that Vishwaroopam-2 is ready for release and this film is a sequel to the his most controversial film Vishwaroopam – which stirred political controversy in Tamil Nadu.
19. Spain’s Rafael Nadal returned to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time in more than two years on Monday, overtaking Serbian Novak Djokovic, who dropped to second.
20. The Disciplinary Committee of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on 5 October 2013 recommended a life-ban on Jwala Gutta for her role in delaying the Indian Badminton League (IBL) fixture between Delhi Smashers and Banga Beats in Bangalore on 25 August 2013.
21. Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal who will replace him as the men’s new world number one on Monday.
22. Serena Williams beats Jelena Jankovic 6-2,6-2 to win China Open.
23. Top seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentine defeated third seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to win the ATP Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on 6 October 2013.
24. Mumbai Indians clinched the Champions League Twenty-20 title by defeating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in New Delhi. Harbhajan Singh was adjudged Man of the match as he bagged 4 wickets by giving 32 runs while Dwayne Smith was declared Champion of the series. This was the last T-20 match of Sachin Tendulkar and Royals skipper Rahul Dravid as both players announced their retirement from T-20 format.
25. Iran wins the 17th Asia Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship.
26. Pakistan defeated India in the final of the Under-19 Asian Rugby Championship 2013 in Lahore. Suraj Veer Sharma was the captain of Indian team while Daud Gull was the captain of Pakistan team.
27. Kalapana Devi won bronze medal at the Judo tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was India’s first IJF Grand Prix medal. Competing in 52kg weight category, Kalpana defeated Zarifa Sultonova of Uzbekistan but lost to Gili Cohen of Israel.
October 8th
1. The Indian Air Force Day is celebrated on 8 October 2013. It is the 81st anniversary of the Indian Air Force. On this day, various celebrations are organised across the country along with parades at the airbases all over India. The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire. Therefore, every year 8 October is celebrated as the Indian Air Force Day.
2. Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium won the Nobel Physics Prize today for the discovery of the “God particle”. The pair were honoured for “the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles. This was recently confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle,” the jury said.
3. Ethiopia’s parliament elected Mulatu Teshome to be the country’s new president on Monday, for a six-year term in a largely symbolic and ceremonial post.
4. The Union Cabinet today approved official amendments to the UIDAI Bill. This will give statutory status to UIDAI which is responsible for issuing the Aadhar number. Besides giving statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the Bill seeks to provide legal backing to Aadhaar, which is used to disburse subsidies.
5. Turkey has assured India of backing its bid for full membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and would take up the issue with other members of the 47-nation grouping, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. In the recent past, Turkey has made it clear that it does not object to India’s quest for membership in the NSG but would like to see it joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a prerequisite for being part of the NSG.
6. Supreme Court has directed Central and the state governments to provide 3 percent jobs to the disabled. In its landmark order the apex court has asked the centre and states to implement reservation for disabled within three months in all government departments, companies and institutions.
8. Industry lobby All-India Association of Industries, AIAI today entered into an agreement with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote trade between the two countries. The memorandum of understanding signed in Mumbai today aims to enhance trade and investments between the two nations.
9. Finance Minister P Chidambaram will leave for the US on Tuesday to attend the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. The world leaders will deliberate on prevailing uncertainty in global economy. Discussions will also focus on the much-awaited quota reforms that will benefit emerging economies including India. Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan and Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, among others, will also be attending the annual meetings. The visit comes against the backdrop of external sector pressure with the country’s foreign exchange reserves dipping by over 15 billion dollars since March 2013 to 276 billion dollars as on September 27.
10. Tata Power has inked a deal to acquire AES Saurashtra Windfarms, a subsidiary of US-based AES Corp, which owns a 39.2 MW wind energy farm in Gujarat. The purchase was made through the Tata Power subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy, for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, Tata Power’s total generation capacity now stands at 8,560 MW of which 437 MW capacity is from wind energy.
11. Canara Bank and Apollo Munich Health Insurance (AMHI) have entered into a bancassurance tie-up. This is the first such tie-up for the insurance company in its six years of existence. Bancassurance is distribution of insurance products through a bank’s network.
12. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), one of the largest banks in United Arab Emirates, has put in place an Indian IT solution that would enable real-time analysis and enrichment of revenue streams, its developer said Tuesday. The enterprise IT solution by Kerala capital headquartered SunTec, a leading provider of revenue management and business assurance solutions, is the first to be implemented in the Middle East market.
13. Tata Power has forayed into Myanmar and has begun feasibility studies to set up a coal-fired power station there. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2019-20. This would be the first project by the Tata Group Company in the South-East Asian nation. Tata Power has executed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Myanmar for setting up an imported coal-based power plant. In Myanmar, the power plant is proposed to be located in Ngayok Kaung, Ayeyarwaddy region, and would have captive coal berthing arrangements.
14. Karan Thapar, television journalist chosen for the International Press Institute (IPI) – India award for excellence in journalism 2013 on 8 October 2013 for his interviews on the Devil’s Advocate programme on CNN IBN. He was selected by a distinguished jury of editors and publishers headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A. S. Anand. The members of the jury included IPI-India Chairman and The Hindu Editor N Ravi, PTI Editor-in-Chief M K Razdan, Business Standard Chairman and Chief Editor T N Ninan and Malyala Manorama Senior Assistant Editor Riyad Mathew.
15. The International Cricket Council has announced that the final stages of the ICC World Twenty 20 Qualifier 2013 will be held at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
16. Indian cyclist Deborah on 7 October 2013 won a gold medal in the women’s junior individual sprint at Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Track Asia Cup in Thailand. Teen cyclist Deborah from Andaman Nicobar Island had earlier grabbed gold in 500m Time Trial event.
17. Union HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju, who has tendered his resignation over the Telangana issue, on Tuesday skipped the Union Cabinet meeting.
October 9th
1. World Post Day(9th October) celebrated across the world to raise awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries. It is the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital, Berne. It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1969.
2. 23rd ASEAN Summit starts today in Brunei Darussalam. Brunei Darussalam also chair the 22nd ASEAN Summit on 24-25 April 2013 . This is the fourth time that Brunei Darussalam has chaired ASEAN, having previously been the Chair in 1989, 1995 and 2001. Brunei Darussalam’s theme for the Chairmanship is “Our People, Our Future Together”. This theme stresses the role of the people in ASEAN Member States in advancing cooperation in the areas of political-security, economic and socio-cultural. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
3. Michael Levitt, a British and US citizen of Stanford University, US-Austrian Martin Karplus of Strasbourg University and US-Israeli Arieh Warshel of the University of Southern California share The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 on 9 October 2013. They were awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 for the development of multi scale models for complex chemical systems. The trio devised computer simulations to understand chemical processes.
4. Britain is to host next year’s Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Org.) summit for the first time since the end of the cold war in 1990. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
NATO is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries. India is not a member of NATO.
5. The autobiography of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for supporting girls’ education was released yesterday in London. He auto biography “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban” was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.
6. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered the growth projection for India to 3.8 per cent in 2013-14. This is sharply lower than the 5.6 per cent growth projection it had made in July.
7. The Finance Ministry expects the economic growth in the current fiscal to improve to 5.5 per cent from 5 per cent last year on back of likely pick up in agricultural output on account of good monsoon rains.
8. Aadhaar cards for availing subsidies, market regulator SEBI accepted the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (the agency responsible for making the cards) e-KYC services. Earlier in August 2012, SEBI had said it would accept Aadhaar for proof of address. Prior to that, Aadhaar was recognised by the regulator only as proof of identity.
9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today restricted foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to purchase shares in Great Eastern Shipping Company and Kajaria Ceramics as the foreign equity shareholding have reached the trigger limit of 24 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), Non—Resident Indians (NRIs), and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) are allowed to invest in the primary and secondary capital markets in India through the portfolio investment scheme (PIS). Under the scheme, FIIs/NRIs can acquire shares/debentures of Indian companies through the stock exchanges in India.
10. World’s largest retail chain Walmart Stores Inc and Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Group have called off their six-year old alliance in India and will own and operate separate businesses in the country going forward. As per the agreement, Walmart would acquire Bharti’s stake in Bharti Walmart Pvt Ltd a joint venture between Bharti and Walmart, giving Walmart 100% ownership of the best price modern wholesale cash and carry business. Bharti Retail will continue to operate ‘easyday’ retail stores across all formats and invest in and grow the business.
11. The Government of India on 9 October 2013 proposed to support setting up of Plastic Parks for the promotion of downstream plastic processing industries. The Scheme to be implemented by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals envisages setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which would provide infrastructure and common facilities for the industries. State Government or its agency, which would set up such SPV, will have to mandatorily have equity participation in it.
12. Global payments solutions provider Visa today announced its partnership with Micro Pension Foundation to launch pension scheme for low-income groups in the rural areas to save for their future.
13. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi and Birmingham Airport, UK on 7 October 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalise a working relationship and commit to developing links between the two cities (Birmingham and Delhi). The MoU will allow the sharing information and best practice to enhance links between Birmingham and Delhi and promote tourism and business opportunities at both ends of the route.
14. Queen’s Baton Relay for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games is all set to get under way in London. The baton will travel to all 70 nations and territories of the Commonwealth during its journey of around 248 days. The baton will contain the Queen’s hand-written message to the Commonwealth. The 248-day relay starts from Buckingham Palace in London.
15. The Ahmedabad-based Sankalp Group, which twice entered Guinness Book of World Records by making 25 and 32-feet-long dosas in 1997 and 2006, respectively, has broken its own record by preparing a 53-feet-long dosa here on Monday. The 53-ft-long dosa was prepared by a team of 32 chefs who used 80 kg of flour,30 kg of pure ghee and 300 kg of cooking gas to make it in just 10 minutes.
16. Buckingham Palace held its first official football match to mark FA’s (Football Association’s) 150th anniversary on 7 October 2013.
17. Embattled Shuttler Jwala Gutta moved the Delhi High Court against the Badminton Association of India (BAI) after its disciplinary committee recommended a life ban on her for an alleged code of conduct breach in the Indian Badminton League.
October 10th
1. The World Mental Health Day Observed on 10 October 2013 across the world to raise awareness about mental illness and its effects on people. The theme for the year 2013 is Mental health and older adults. World Mental Health Day is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries.
2. Alice Munro won Nobel Prize 2013 in literature and became the first Canadian woman to take the Nobel Prize since its launch in 1901. Canada’s Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for her short stories that focus on the frailties of the human condition. Munro is just the 13th woman to win the Nobel Literature Prize since it was first awarded in 1901. Munro is the author of 14 story collections; her latest is “Dear Life,” which includes four autobiographical tales. Earlier this year, the 82-year-old writer announced plans to put down her pen and retire. Munro is the 17th Nobel laureate born in Canada.
3. Eminent agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, known as the father of Green Revolution, will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, it was announced today. The Award for the year 2012 consisting of a citation and Rs five lakh will be presented to the 88-year-old scientist by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at a function here on October 31, the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, Member Secretary of the award committee Motilal Vora said.
4. To boost mobile banking, the Reserve Bank of India has formed a technical committee to examine the feasibility of encrypted SMS-based fund transfers. Transfers that can be facilitated using an application that can run on any mobile handset. B. Sambamurthy, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology, will chair the committee and Vijay Chugh, Chief General Manager at RBI will be the member secretary.
5. The UN owes $80 million to India, the most it has to pay to any country, for costs relating to peacekeeping operations, a top official said. Apart from India, among the largest troop contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions, the other top countries which are owed outstanding payments for such operations are Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Rwanda and Nigeria.
6. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has launched a $1-billion offshore bond programme, touted as the largest of its kind in the offshore rupee market, to strengthen India’s capital markets and attract greater foreign investment. Under the programme, IFC will issue rupee-linked bonds and use the proceeds to finance private sector investment in the country.
7. Janet Yellen to be first woman to head U.S. Fed Reserve. The U. S. Federal Reserve is going to exit the list of top power institutions in the country where the top position has never been held by a woman. President Barack Obama’s administration has nominated Janet Yellen to run the central bank She is going to be the first woman to be the chairperson of the Federal Reserve. But, she is not the world’s first woman to head a central bank.
8. Pakistan’s teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban for fighting girls’ rights to education, was today awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize. The 16-year-old who has become an emblem of the fight against the most radical forms of Islamism has also been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.
9. The government’s ambitious rural job scheme MNREGA has not only unleashed a revolution in rural India but has also established the country as a model of inclusive development worldwide : World Bank.
10. Star batsman Jayasurya among new Ministers in Lanka cabinet. Sri Lanka’s cabinet was expanded today with the inclusion of nine new Deputy Ministers, including former star batsman and Chairman of the Selection Committee, Sanath Jayasuriya.
11. Wilfried Martens, nine-times Prime Minister of Belgium and who led the European Union’s Christian Democrat group, died at Lokeren, in East Flanders. He was 77 years old.
13. Well-known Telugu film actor, Srihari died on 9 October 2013 at a private hospital in Mumbai. He was shooting for a Hindi film Rambo Rajkumar being directed by Prabhu Deva with Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. Srihari, was suffering from a liver ailment for some time.
14. Leprosy awareness campaign “Heal INDIA” launched today by the Leprosy Mission Trust of India in an effort to remove the stigma attached to leprosy. The campaign Hire Educate Accept Leprosy-affected (HEAL) will be reaching out to people through 40,000 children in schools across Delhi, NCR, and also colleges through workshops, films and music.
15. Today is the birth anniversary of one of India’s most loved authors, R K Narayan. R K Narayan whose works gave the generation one of its most cherished tele-serials, Malgudi Days, and Bollywood, one of its most celebrated movies, ‘Guide’. R. K. Narayan, full name Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, is one of three leading figures of early Indian literature in English (alongside Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao), and is credited with bringing the genre to the rest of the world.
16. Jignesh Shah, Vice-Chairman and Shareholder Director of the MCX-SX, and Joseph Massey, Managing Director and CEO, have resigned from the board of the exchange. According to a press release, market regulator SEBI has nominated Thomas Mathew, a former Chairman of LIC, as Public Interest Director of the exchange.
17. Akshay Kumar’s upcoming film “Boss” has entered the Guinness World Records for having the largest poster in the world. The width of the poster is 193 feet and 1 inch while its height is 180 feet and 2 inches. Boss” broke the record of Michael Jackson’s “This Is It”, a documentary-concert film.
18. Sachin Tendulkar, regarded as the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket, today called it quits from Test cricket, announcing his retirement after his 200th match against the West Indies next month, bringing the curtains down on an extraordinary career spanning a marathon 24 years. Tendulkar, who has scored a monumental 15,837 runs in 198 Tests at an average of 53.86, said it was hard to imagine a life without playing cricket.
19. Widely-popular fast-food chain McDonald on Wednesday announced its decision to launch its international coffee format McCafe in India. McDonald’s Indian arm, WestLife Development Ltd. (WDL), will first launch McCafe in western and southern parts of India, followed by an expansion of the new coffee format in the remaining parts of the country by Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd.
October 11th And 12th
1. International Day of the Girl Child observed on 11 October 2013 across the world to recognise the girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. Theme for the year 2013 is Innovating for Girls’ Education. The United Nations General Assembly on 19 December 19, 2011 adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
2. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize today “for its extensive efforts” to rid the world of such arsenals, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. “The conventions and the work of the OPCW have defined the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law,” the committee said. The organisation is overseeing the destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria. Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the OPCW was formed in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons.
3. Government of India on 10 October 2013 signed agreements with seven countries, who pledged their commitment to the Nalanda University project in Bihar. The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Lao PDR and Myanmar in the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Brunei. These MoUs are important to India’s plans to establish Nalanda University in Bihar as an institution of international repute. Nalanda University will be constructed at Rajgir, which is situated around 100 km away from Patna, Bihar. The construction of the University will take place on 446-acre plot, which is situated 12 km away from the ruins of ancient seat of learning.
4. PM meets Indonesian President in Jakarta; 6 bilateral pacts on technology, trade, anti-corruption and anti-narcotics measures signed between India and Indonesia.
5. China on 10 October 2013 signed a 350 Billion Yuan (45 billion Euro) currency swap agreement with the European Union, marking a major step in internationalising its currency. The agreement signed between the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The pact aimed to support bilateral trade and protect financial stability. The agreement lasts three years and can be extended if both parties agree.
6. The Empowered Committee led by Retired Chief Justice (High Court of Punjab and Haryana) Mukul Mudgal submitted its report on issues concerning the Cinematograph Act to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The committee has given its suggestions regarding issues such as advisory panels, guidelines for certification and issues such as portrayal of women, obscenity and communal disharmony. Other issues which the committee has revisited and given its recommendations on include classification of films, piracy and jurisdiction of appellate tribunal, among others. It has also proposed a draft Cinematograph Bill.
7. Prime Minister of Libya, Ali Zeidan was abducted by gunmen on 10 October 2013. They held him captive for several hours. Ali Zeidan was later rescued. The incident underscored the lawlessness gripping Libya two years after the ouster of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi. Ali Zeidan is the Prime Minister of Libya. He was appointed by the General National Congress on 14 October 2012, and took office on 14 November after Congress approved his cabinet nominees.
8. The Tata group has launched the third edition of ‘Tata First Dot powered by NEN,’ a platform for student entrepreneurship. Tata First Dot workshops will be held across 20 cities this year, adding five – Raipur, Guwahati, Ranchi, Nagpur and Srinagar – to the list, said Atul Agrawal, vice-president, corporate Affairs, Tata Services.
9. The eleventh annual international life sciences conference, BioAsia 2014, will kick off in Hyderabad from February 17-19. “Innovate and Evolve”— this will be the theme for the new edition of the international meet, as it involves the entire life sciences industry. The meet’s focus on innovation will address the increasing disease burden and the growing need for more efficacious and affordable healthcare solutions.
10. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will co-chair the sixth India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) meeting during his visit to Brazil beginning October 14. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that during the meeting, both sides will discuss the entire gamut of India-Brazil Strategic Partnership, including political, economic and commercial, agriculture, science and technology, defence, cultural and hydrocarbon.
11. The cyclonic storm Phailin in the second week of October 2013 hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands and moved northwestwards early this morning and presently lay centred about 800 km South East of Paradip in Odisha. It is expected to reach the coast of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the next 48 to 72 hours. The system will intensify into a severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. Fishermen have been asked not to venture into sea and those gone deep inside the sea have been asked to return to the coast.
12. India recorded a convincing six wicket victory over Australia in the one-off Twenty-20 International cricket match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot last night. Set to score 202 runs for a win, India achieved victory in 19.4 overs. Man of the Match Yuvraj Singh remained unbeaten on 77 which came off only 35 balls. Skipper M.S. Dhoni was not out on 24. Earlier, put in to bat, Australia made 201 for seven in their 20 overs.
13. Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium is set to host the farewell Test for Sachin Tendulkar after the legendary batsman expressed a wish to play his landmark 200th match against the West Indies next month in front of his home crowd.
October 13th And 14th
1. International Day for Disaster Reduction(13th Cotober). It’s objective is to raise awareness of how people are taking action to reduce their risk to disasters. The theme of the day this year is “Living with Disability and Disasters”. Persons living with disabilities are among the most excluded in the society and their plight is magnified when a disaster strikes. This year, the focus is on some one billion people around the world who live with some form of disability.
2. World Standards Day(14th October).It is celebrated internationally each year on October 14. This year’s theme is “International standards ensure positive change”. International standards represent the consensus view of the world’s leading experts in industry sectors ranging from energy utilities and energy efficiency to transportation, management systems, climate change, healthcare, safety and information and communication technology (ICT).
3. Eugene F. Fama, Robert J. Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their research on how the market prices of assets such as stocks move. The three laureates, all Americans, “laid the foundation for the current understanding of asset prices,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which selects the winner, said today in Stockholm.
4. The head of the United Nations named “Sigrid Kaag” to lead the UN’s joint mission with the chemical weapons watchdog tasked with eliminating Syria’s arsenal. The UN Security Council, which is set to vote on Kaag’s nomination Wednesday, has formally approved a first joint mission with the Nobel Peace Prize-winning (OPCW) Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Kaag is charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile by 30th June, in line with a resolution passed by the Security Council last month.
5. Gold loan company Muthoot Finance Ltd has been bestowed with Golden Peacock Award for ‘HR Excellence for 2013’ at a function in London. Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, Government of United Kingdom, presented the award to George M. Jacob, Director, Muthoot Group.
6. ING Vysya Bank has entered into a business tie-up with Indian Railways’ IRCTC to offer online train ticketing services to its customers. This facility enables ING Vysya Bank’s customers to book train tickets using ING Net Banking or ING debit cards. Over 1 lakh tickets were booked during the first month of the launch, the bank said in a statement.
7. National Housing Bank (NHB) has joined hands with UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to launch an affordable housing project that will operate in eight low-income States. This is the first time that NHB has come up with a project that caters to specified States, said R.V. Verma, Chairman & Managing Director of NHB here today. The project will operate in the eight States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
8. Private sector insurer Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) today launched a participating traditional plan, BSLI Savings Plan, with guaranteed additions for the first five years of the policy term. The plan is a savings-cum-insurance option that aims to provide secured growth to savings and comprehensive financial protection from the risk of unfortunate death. BSLI is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc, a leading international financial services organisation from Canada.
9. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has won two onland oil blocks in Myanmar, strengthening its presence in the south-east Asian nation. OVL, which has stakes in the A-1 and A-3 gas discovery blocks and three other offshore acreages in Myanmar, was last week awarded two oil and gas exploration blocks in that country’s Onshore Blocks Second Bidding Round – 2013. The firm got Blocks B-2 (Zebyutaung-Nandaw) and EP-3 (Thegon-Shwegu), according to the list of winners released by Myanmar’s Energy Ministry.
10. Retail inflation rose marginally to 9.84 per cent in September, mainly due to a hike in food prices, particularly of vegetables. Retail inflation measured in terms of consumer price index (CPI) was at 9.52 per cent in August. Retail inflation for rural and urban areas in September stood at 9.71 per cent and 9.93 per cent, respectively. The same was 8.93 per cent and 10.32 per cent (revised figures) in August. For CPI inflation, price data are collected from select towns by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and from select villages by the Department of Posts.
11. Former Union minister, freedom fighter and environmentalist Mohan Dharia, who quit the Indira Gandhi government against imposition of Emergency, died here today of chronic kidney failure. He was 89. A recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the highest Padma award, in 2005, Dharia retired from active politics in 1982 and formed “Vanrai”, an organisation dedicated to the cause of conservation and social forestry. Interestingly,even though a bitter critic of Indira Gandhi, Dharia was conferred the prestigious Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 2011, by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
12. The Indian tennis pair Sanam Singh and Vijayant Malik on 12 October 2013 won the doubles title in the 15000 US dollars ITF Men’s Futures Tennis Tournament at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston, USA. In the final match, they defeated fourth seeded pair of Evan King (USA) and Costin Paval (Romania) in two sets 7-6 (5), 6-4.
13. Varun Arora, a young innovator from India on 10 October 2013 selected for United Nations 10 Young Innovators Competition 2013. Varun Arora is among 10 people from around the world selected for a prestigious United Nations award in recognition of their work as entrepreneurs and use of technology to change the world. Varun Arora awarded for his creation Open Curriculum, an online platform for local educational material for standard, primary and secondary schooling.
14. Many People Killed and Several Injured near a Temple in Madhya Pradesh. Approximately, 115 people were feared killed and over 100 injured in a stampede on 13 October 2013 near a temple at Ratangarh in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia district. The stampede was caused by rumours that a bridge they were crossing was about to collapse.
15. Indian Wrestler Satyavrat on 12 October 2013 won the 9th Roustam-E-International Indian Style wrestling title at Vivekanand Sports Stadium, Katra after he defeated wrestler Mykhalio Datsemko of Ukrain in the final bout. Wrestler Satyavart was awarded Silver Gurj, Patta and cash prize of one lakh rupees and the runner up got cash of 50000 rupees.
October 15th
1. “International Day of Rural women” was observed on 15 October 2013 across the world to recognize the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty. The Day recognizes rural women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide.
2. CBI registers case against Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parekh in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks.It is the 14th FIR in its ongoing coal scam, along with raids at several places.
3. In a first-of-its-kind initiative to promote use of clean technology, India on Tuesday signed an agreement with Finland to produce indigenous ethanol and reduce country’s dependence on its import. The agreement was inked between Finnish Minister for European Affairs Alexander Stubb and India’s Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaka Lakshmi in New Delhi.
4. Tourism Ministry launches an innovative website to make it easy for tourists to walk or drive through the most-visited cities in India by providing all tourism-related information at one place. The Ministry join hands with IT firm Genesys for launching Walking Tours at www.wonobo.com.
5. President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday conferred the Presidential Award for Classical Tamil 2009-10 and 2010-11 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Dr. Iravathram Mahadevan received prestigious Tolkappiyar award for his immense contribution in the area of Epigraphy. President also conferred Young Scholar Awards to Dr. T. Suresh, Dr. S. Kalpana, Dr. R. Chandrasekhar , Dr. Vaani Arivaalan and Dr. C. Muthamizhselvan for showing excellence in Tamil studies.
6. The Indian Navy on 15 October 2013 inducted into service its largest offshore patrol vessel (OPV), INS Sunayna, at the Southern Naval Command. The ship was designed and built by the public sector Goa Shipyard. The ship is equipped with the most advanced communication, navigation and electronic warfare equipment besides a 76-mm SRGM (Super Rapid Gun Mount), and close-in weapon system (CIWS). INS Sunayna will strengthen the Indian Navy capability to safeguard the maritime interests.
7. The Election Commission of India ordered on 13 October 2013 the Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union territories to provide for None of the Above (NOTA) option in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and ballot papers. The None of the Above option will be provided at the bottom of the panel on the EVMs or as the last row in the ballot paper after all the candidates have been listed with their respective symbols in the same language used to list the candidates.
8. Australian Terry Walsh is set to be appointed as head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team after the Sports Authority of India recommended his name to the Sports Ministry. Walsh’s name has been forwarded to the Sports Ministry and his appointment will be cleared in a week’s time.
9. Indian actor Kumar Pallana, who played the memorable role of a janitor in Tom Hanks starrer ‘The Terminal’ and worked in many Wes Anderson movies, has died. He was 94. Pallana was a scene stealer as an Indian janitor who enjoyed watching people slip on his freshly cleaned floors in the Steven Spielberg directed movie.
10. Novak Djokovic on 15 October 2013 defeated Juan Del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) to win a second straight trophy at the Shanghai Masters in China. Djokovic earned victory on the first of three match points in the third-set tiebreaker after Del Potro saved two Djokovic match-winners in the tenth game of the set. Novak Djokovic won a fourth Beijing trophy over the past five years when he beat Nadal last week. Djokovic is from Serbia. Djokovic, at present owns five titles this season and 39 in his career.
11. Oscar Hijuelos, the Cuban-American writer died on 13 October 2013 in New York City. He was 62 years old and died because of heart attack. He was the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize. He is survived by his wife.
12. BCCI confirms Sachin Tendulkar will play his 200th and farewell Test at the Wankhede Stadium in his home town Mumbai.
October 16th
1. “World Food Day” celebrated on 16 October every year across the world since 1981. The main objective of the World Food Day is to strengthen national and international solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food security and agricultural development. The Theme of the World Food Day 2013 is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition”. World Food Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1979.
2. New Zealand’ Eleanor Catton won the Man Booker Award for her novel ”The Luminaries”. She is not only the youngest novelist to win the coveted literary prize, but has set a new record for the longest winning novel. The Luminaries is 852 pages.
3. The Railways today appointed acting Chairman of the Railway Board Arunendra Kumar as the head of the Board. Kumar, the Mechanical Member, was holding additional charge of Chairman, Railway Board (CRB) after the retirement of Vinay Mittal on June 30.
4. The Reserve Bank of India has rejected IIFCL’s proposal to provide takeout finance at the latter’s wholly-owned London subsidiary. This is despite the Centre giving its nod to IIFCL’s London arm to operate in the takeout finance segment.
5. The World Bank has revised downwards India’s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 4.7 per cent. This is down from 6.1 per cent economic growth projected in April this year. The World Bank’s latest India GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal is higher than the International Monetary Fund’s recent downward revised projection of 4.25 per cent for 2013-14.
6. The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released on 14 October 2013 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide- revealed that 842 million people were chronically under nourished across the world. The 2013 GHI is calculated for 120 countries, its scores are based on three equally weighted indicators. India has moved from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index, making a marginal improvement since 2012, but continues to suffering far behind other emerging economies. The score for India has improved slightly from 22.9 in 2012 to 21.3 in 2013. Within SAARC countries also, India continued to trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on the index.
The GHI combines three equally weighted indicators into one score:
-The proportion of people who are undernourished.
-The proportion of children under five who are underweight.
-The mortality rate of children younger than age five.
7. Justice M B Shah Commission, appointed to probe illegal mining across the country, has submitted its third and final report which is mainly on the menace in Goa. The Commission has made a thorough probe into the bank transactions of exporters, traders and mining lease owners to track down the exact financial transaction, the source added. The term of the Commission expires on Wednesday.
8. The Government is considering a proposal to rename the public distribution system after Indira Gandhi to prevent Opposition parties from taking credit for implementing the National Food Security Act.
9. The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) has elected Mahindra group Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra as its Chairperson for a term of three years. Mahindra succeeds NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder, Executive Chairman, who has held the position since July 2011. Established in 2006 as a public-private initiative, PHFI is an independent foundation headquartered in New Delhi.
10. A powerful typhoon Wipha on 16 October 2013 caused landslides and flooding on Izu Oshima Island, South of Tokyo. The storm brought strong winds and record rainfall – 122mm (4.8 inches) in one hour to Izu Oshima Island, which lies some 120km (75 miles) south of Tokyo. It caused damage to property and human lives. Wipha is the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane. Wipha is the 12th typhoon and 26th named storm of the west Pacific typhoon season. It was the strongest storm to impact the region since Typhoon Tokage in October, 2004.
11. Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar announced retirement from all forms of after 16-year of career during which he played in 26 Tests and 191 ODIs besides leading Mumbai to their 40th Ranji Trophy title last season. He took 58 test wickets and 288 in ODI wickets. He scored 571 runs in Tests between 1998 and 2006 and 1269 in ODIs from 1998 to 2007, which included the then fastest 50 in 21 balls against Zimbabwe.
12. India vs Aus(2nd ODI): India won by 9 wickets Virat Kohli becomes the fastest Indian to score an ODI hundred.He did it in just 52 balls thus breaking Sehwag’s record.
October 17th
1. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed on 17 October 2013 to promote people’s awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Theme for the year 2013 is: Working together towards a world without discrimination: Building on the experience and knowledge of people in extreme poverty.
2. Canada will offer honorary citizenship to Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai. Malala will become just the sixth person to be granted honorary Canadian citizenship after South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama British business magnate Aga Khan and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday. Malala was the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
3. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 October 2013 enhanced the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat by 50 rupees per quintal to 1400 rupees for the fiscal, starting April 2014. The CCEA accepted the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. The MSP of red gram and mustard was also hiked by hundred rupees per quintal each. MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers. The government took this step to encourage farmers to cover more area under the crop in the ongoing rabi season.
4. Violin that was played to help calm passengers as the Titanic sank, has gone on display in Britain before being sold at a auction. The instrument belong to the band leader, Wallace Hartley who died along with 1500 others, when the ship went down in 1912.
5. The Union cabinet of India approved on 17 October 2013 the appointment of a three-member supervisory committee headed by a representative of the Central Water Commission on construction of Babhli Barrage issue. The other two members of the committee were including one representative from the state of Andhra Pradesh and one representative from the Maharashtra. The Babhli project / barrage is a controversial reservoir project being constructed by Maharashtra state across the river Godavari. The project brought dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states.
6. Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri has been named finalist for the prestigious US National Book Award 2013 in the fiction category for her new book ‘The Lowland’, an intimate portrayal of two brothers set in Kolkata of the 1960s.
7. Hilary Clinton was awarded the first founders’ award from the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York on 15 October 2013 for her work to help HIV/AIDS victims. John’s foundation is celebrating its 21 year in USA. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, serving under President Barack Obama. The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by rock musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV/AIDS prevention, education programs, direct care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS. It has raised over 200 million US dollars to support HIV/AIDS programs in fifty-five nations.
8. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh today released the book Walking With Giants — a lesson in modern Indian history a memoir written by former Finance Secretary G. Ramachandran. Ramachandran’s book “strikes the middle path” in representing the views of politicians and bureaucrats. The book is a “deep discussion” of the issues that shaped India’s history during the times when leaders such as Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh at the Centre, and Rajaji, Kamaraj and Anna Durai at the State level were in power. The “foreword” to the book is written by Y. V. Reddy, chairman, 14th Finance Commission, and a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
9. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police today arrested former managing director and chief executive of the beleaguered National Spot Exchange (NSEL) Anjani Sinha. Sinha was arrested for his role in the Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis at the NSEL which has affected 13,000 investors across the country, police said. This is the third arrest in the case; earlier the police had arrested Amit Mukherjee, a former assistant vice-president of the exchange on October 9, while Jay Bahukhundi, another former assistant vice-president, was arrested the next day.
10. Top English Premier League side Liverpool on 16 October 2013 launched a residential football academy in Pune in partnership with city-based DSK Shivajians FC. The academy was named as LFC International Football Academy DSK. It will have a world class residential complex, full size pitches, practice areas, classrooms, residential, medical facilities, lecture theatre and canteen. This is the first time an English football club has partnered with an Indian team to help them bring through local talent.
11. Photographer Greg du Toit was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 by the panel of international judges. The winners of 2013 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition were announced on 17 October 2013 at the awards ceremony held at Natural History Museum in London. He was given the award for his image Essence of elephants-an energetic and lively portrait of African elephants in the Northern Tuli Games Reserve in Botswana. Greg du Toit is from South Africa. He won the award beating almost 43000 contestants from across 96 countries. Chair of the judging panel was wildlife photographer Jim Brandenburg.
12. Fourteen-year-old photographer from India Udayan Rao Pawar won the award as Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 for his image Mother’s little headful.
13. Private sector lender Yes Bank and credit rating company Care Ratings have entered into an agreement to offer services and products in the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment. The collaboration will also work towards creating awareness on the importance of external ratings for SMEs, and funding avenues through knowledge dissemination workshops.
14. Noted Marathi playwright and political thinker Govind P Deshpande died on 16 October 2013 due to age-related ailments. He was 75. G P Deshpande won acclaim for his plays including Udhvasta Dharmashala and Satyashodhak. (His famous Satyashodhak centred on the mission of pioneering social reformer Mahatma Phule). His most well known plays are Udhwastha Dharamshala , Raastey , Andhar Yatra and Satyashodhak .
October 18th
1. Brazil and India will work together to devise internet regulations in order to protect online privacy from snooping by other countries. The partnership was announced in Brazilian capital Brasilia on Tuesday, after a meeting between foreign ministers of Brazil and India, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo and Salman Khurshid.
2. India and Hungary signed the bilateral agreement for the promotion and development of traditional systems of medicine on 17 October 2013. The main objective of this MoU is to strengthen, promote and develop cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefits. The MoU encourages and promotes cooperation to enhance the use of traditional systems of medicine, exchange of regulatory information on operational licensing to practice traditional medicine.
3. India and Russian Armies began a joint exercise INDRA 2013 in Mahajan Field Firing Range in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. The Exercise is aimed at improving bilateral defence cooperation between the two armies and enhance their ability to operate as integrated forces in a well-coordinated manner within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations. This is the seventh India-Russia joint army exercise which will continue till 28th October.
4. Saudi Arabia has turned down membership of the UN Security Council, a day after it won the seat. Accusing the powerful body of double-standards, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the country has no other option but to turn down Security Council membership until it is reformed and given the means to accomplish its duties and assumes its responsibilities in preserving the world’s peace and security. It said the Security Council had failed in its duties towards Syria as well as in other world conflict.
5. The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh on 18 October 2013 released a book on Indian painting written by Prof. B.N. Goswami in New Delhi. Prof. B.N. Goswami is a distinguished art historian, and a leading authority on Indian art and is Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Punjab University, Chandigarh.
6. The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination banknotes with rupee symbol bearing the signature of new governor Raghuram Rajan. As per RBI notification, it will issue these bank notes incorporating rupee symbol on the obverse and reverse, without inset letter in both the numbering panels, in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 bearing the signature of Rajan. RBI said that the year of printing – ’2013′, will be printed on the reverse of the banknote.
7. Union Government of India appointed on 17 October 2013 Gireesh B. Pradhan, former Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Gireesh B. Pradhan , a Maharashtra Cadre IAS officer of the 1977 batch. He retired from the post of Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in June 2013.
8. Maya Angelou accepts Mailer Center award. The 85—year—old author, poet, dancer and actress was honored during a benefit gala at the New York Public Library, the annual gathering organized by the Mailer Center and writers colony.
9. Alleged middleman in the Agusta Westland VVIP Helicopter deal,Guido Ralph Haschke arrested by Swiss authorities. According to Italian news website, La Repubblica, Haschke could be brought to Italy by next week in case he prefers not to appeal against extradition proceedings before the Swiss Federal court.
10. Micromax’s new face is Hugh Jackman. New Delhi-based smartphone manufacturer Micromax has stepped outside Indian borders to rope in its brand ambassador. Academy Award winner Hugh Jackman, best-known for the movies Les Miserables, X-Men and Wolverine, will be associated with the Indian consumer electronics company, a Micromax statement said on Friday.
11. Microsoft rolled out Windows 8.1 to customers yesterday. The update, which is free to users around the world who already have Windows 8 on their PCs, will allow traditionalists to boot their computers in the familiar old desktop mode rather than the tiled start page introduced with Windows 8. Windows 8.1 also boasts tighter integration with Microsoft’s Cloud services, a beefed-up Bing search app, and more potent multitasking.
12. Manipur Defeated Haryana to Lift 54th Subroto Cup Football Tournament. Radha Madhav Sanskrit Vidhyalaya, Nambol, Bishnupur (Manipur) lifted the Girls’ title of the 54th Subroto Cup football tournament on 17 October 2013. The final match was held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The Subroto Cup Football Tournament is primarily an inter-school football tournament in India, which is named after Indian Air Force Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. The tournament was started in the year 1960 and since then, it is conducted every year.It is conducted by the Indian Air Force, with support from India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
13. Sarojini Varadappan, the renowned social worker died on 17 October 2013 in Chennai following a brief illness. She was 92 years old. Sarojini Varadappan was a daughter of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Bhakthavatsalam. She was the President of the Women India Association, an NGO working on women-related issues.
14. Online payment facility PayUPaisa announced the launch of all-in-one payment settlement solution, which addresses problems of money settlement and helps marketplaces achieve higher efficiency by providing better control over fund disbursements mechanisms. PayUPaisa takes care of nodal account registration and other regulatory requirements for the sellers, helping marketplaces cut huge cost on seller on boarding. PayUPaisa is part of PayU India, an online payment firm.It serves businesses like Goibibo, Snapdeal, Bookmyshow, Jabong, Ferns n Petals, Zomato, Tradus, Micromax Mobiles, Groupon India among others.
15. Aditya Mehta becomes first Indian to enter into the semifinals of a Snooker Ranking event. After ousting world No 18 Mark Williams in the pre-quarter-finals, Aditya Mehta beats Pankaj Advani in the quarterfinals of Indian Open Snooker tournament.
16. Pujara drops to 8th in ICC Test rankings. Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers’ chart of the ICC Test rankings issued on Friday.
October 19th
1. International Tourism Mart (ITM) Started in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
2. The Largest Air Traffic Control Tower of India Inaugurated at Mumbai Airport.
3. An international team of scientists in the month of discovered a new species of dragon tree (Dracaena Kaweesakii) in Thailand.
4. Ding Junhui of China won the 2013 Indian Open Snooker title with a 5-0 victory over Aditya Mehta of India in New Delhi.
5. Delhi bowler Pradeep Sangwan was banned by Anti Doping Tribunal of BCCI.
6. Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) constituted an expert committee to study the impact of Hydel Projects in Uttarakhand.
7. The Sixth India- Brazil Joint Commission Meeting was held in Brasilia.
8. Saudi Arabia turned down a coveted seat on the United Nations Security Council.
9. Union Ministry of Environment & Forests approved a proposal for Western Ghats development prepared by K Kasturirangan-led panel.
10. US Agreed on a Deal with Romania to Use Its Air Base for Afghan Pullout.
October 20th
1. India’s top squash player Dipika Pallikal upstaged former World No.1 Rachael Grinham of Australia to win the Macau Open on Sunday, the seventh Women’s Squash Association (WSA) title of her career.
2. India’s plans to wrap up a quick nuclear deal with Russia on the setting up of two new units at Kudankulam have received a jolt with a commercial agreement on it unlikely to be signed tomorrow.
3. World Osteoporosis Day is observed annually on 20 October. The day marks the launch of a year-long campaign dedicated to raising global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.
4. Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been conferred with the first Yash Chopra Memorial Award.
5. Israel has allowed 899 Indian Jews from Manipur and Mizoram, the members of the “lost” Bnei Menashe tribe, to immigrate to the Jewish state.
6. Four Indians led by ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar have made to Fortune magazine’s global list of top-50 women business leaders, while PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi has been ranked second in a similar list for the US.
7. JPMorgan Chase & Co has reached a tentative $13 billion deal with the US justice department and other government agencies to settle investigations into bad mortgage loans the bank sold to Investors before the financial crisis, a source familiar with the talks said on Saturday.
8. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Italy and Portugal on Saturday to protest against budget cuts and the social cost of the economic crisis, amid concern over possible clashes in Rome.
9. India’s first rubber park yet to achieve tensile strength. Nearly a decade after it was commissioned, Rubber Park India Limited at Irapuram —which claims to be the first industrial park in the world exclusively for rubber-based units — still looks a work in progress.
10. Reserve bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan on Saturday said the new real time gross settlement (RTGS) system for fund transfers will improve the efficiency of the country’s financial markets.
October 21st:
1. World Osteoporosis Day observed on 20th October across the world. Osteoporosis occurs when there is a loss in the peak bone mass and loss of calcium leading to hip, knee and shoulder fractures. It is estimated that there will be around 36 million people in the world suffering from the disease by the end of this year.
2. Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia elected to seats as non-permanent members by the United Nations Security Council in the 15-member Council on 17 October 2013. These members have been elected for two-year term which would start from January 2014. The New Council members will replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo. There are six principal organisations of UN which maintains peace and security of the world.
1. The Organisations are-General Assembly. 2. The Security Council. 3. The Economic and Social Council. 4. The Trusteeship Council. 5. The International Court of Justice and 6. The Secretariat.
3. Canara Bank, Pune Circle has launched a CASA Carnival in all its branches in Pune and in 14 districts of Maharashtra, to mobilise Savings and Current Accounts through door-to-door and shop-to-shop campaign.
4. Private life insurer PNB MetLife appointed Tarun Chugh as Managing Director of the company. Chugh joins PNB MetLife from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance where he served as their Chief of Distribution, Operations and Marketing for India and was responsible for day-to-day management of all the business functions.
5. The proposed aviation venture of TATA with Singapore Airlines(SIA) has got corporate Affairs Ministry’s approval to use the name “Tata SIA Airlines Ltd. which plans to offer full-service passengers sevices on domestic and international routes. Tata Group had applied on the ministry’s electronic platform,MCA21, to register this name. Tata Group will hold 51% stake in the company while Singapore Airline would have 49%. The two Partners are making the initial investment of USD 100 million to launch the airline,which may take off next year, after getting all clearances.
6. India will launch its ambitious pension scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana for over five million overseas workers in Dubai next week. The scheme will be formally launched by Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi at the Indian Consulate in Dubai on Monday.
7. India and Russia have made substantial progress in reaching an agreement on units 3 and 4 for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, and deliberations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Rosatom are currently in the final phase.
8. The bilateral talks between India and Bangladesh on Customs Co-operation begin today. India’s Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose and Chairman of Bangladesh National Revenue Board Muhammad Ghulam Hossain are leading the respective sides. The 2-day talks constitute the ninth round under the Joint Group of Customs, a bilateral framework between the two countries.
9. Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been conferred with the first Yash Chopra Memorial Award for her contribution to cinema. She was presented the award by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Saturday, at a function in Mumbai. Lata Mangeshkar is the first recipient of the award constituted by TSR Foundation of T Subbarami Reddy. Yash Chopra (80) died in Mumbai on October 21 last year.
10. Google-owned online ad-placing service DoubleClick announced that the way has been cleared to include space at Facebook. Google had previously been shut out of the social network’s advertising network, with no reasons given for the exclusion or the change of heart. DoubleClick Bid Manager is a way for marketers to buy online ad space at websites across the Internet.
11. Shreekant Javalgekar resigned as the Managing Director and CEO of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on 19 October 2013. Multi Commodity Exchange is the only commodity exchange in India which is listed on a stock exchange.
12. Four Indians, Chanda Kochhar, Chitra Ramkrishna, Shikha Sharma, Naina Lal Kidwai have made to 2013 Fortune magazine’s global list of top-50 women business leaders. The list was released on 20 October 2013 by Fortune magazine, US. ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been ranked 4th, followed by National Stock Exchange chief Chitra Ramkrishna at 17th, Axis Bank’s Shikha Sharma at 32nd and HSBC’s Naina Lal Kidwai at 42nd place among the Indians on the international list of most powerful women in business. This list is topped by Brazilian energy giant Petrobras’ CEO Maria Das Gracas Foster.
13. One of Mahatma Gandhi’s most prized possessions, the ‘charkha’ he used in Yerwada Jail, will go under the hammer at a prestigious British auction house on November 5 with the minimum bid set at 60,000 pounds. The charkha (spinning wheel) used by Gandhi while he was in the prison at Pune during India’s freedom struggle, was given to the American Free Methodist missionary Revd Floyd A Puffer. Puffer was a pioneer in Indian educational and industrial cooperatives. He invented a bamboo plow that was later adopted by Gandhi. Gandhi presented the charkha to Puffer for his work in Colonial India.
14. Convicted Congress leader Rashid Masood today became the first MP to lose his seat after the Supreme Court struck down a provision that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts. 66-year-old Masood was held guilty in a case of corruption and other offences in September.
15. Renowned musician Madhuri Chattopadhyay died on 19 October 2013. She breathed her last at her Kolkata residence after suffering for a prolonged period. She was 73. Apart from film songs she had innumerable records. She was from West Bengal. She contributed immensely in the field of Bangla music.
16. Renowned music director K Raghavan, who brought originality and local flavour to Malayalam cinema music, in a career spanning over five decades, died in a hospital on Saturday. He was 99. He was a recipient of several honours, including Padma Shree and Kerala Government’s highest film honour J C Daniel award.
17. Scientists have developed the world’s first robot human made entirely of prosthetic parts and he can walk, talk and even has a beating heart. The robot, which cost almost USD 1 million to build, was assembled from prosthetic body parts and artificial organs donated by laboratories around the world. Roboticists Rich Walker and Matthew Godden of Shadow Robot Co in England put together the bionic man.
18. North Zone and South Zone were declared joint winners of the Duleep Trophy this year after the fifth day’s play of the final match was also called off without a ball being bowled in Kochi on Monday. It was the fourth instance in the history of Duleep Trophy when the title has been shared.
19. India’s ace Squash player Dipika Pallikal on 20 October 2013 won the Macau Open title at Macau, China. This was Dipika Pallikal’s seventh Women’s Squash Association title. The Macau Open 2013 is a squash tournament held in Macau, China on 15 to 20 October 2013. It is part of the PSA World Tour and the WSA World Tour. The prize money for the Macau Open is 35000 Dollars. Dipika Pallikal (Born on 21 September 1991 at Chennai) is an Indian squash player. She is the first Indian woman to break into the top 10 in the WSA rankings.
20. Jorge Lorenzo won the Australian Grand Prix on 20 October 2013 at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Phillip Island
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