Current Affairs Daily Updates - 21st May 2013

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International Events

• First American female astronaut Dr.Sally Ride posthumously awarded highest civilian award honor- Presidential medal of freedom.She first traveled on the Space Shuttle in 1983, and left the space program in 1987. Later, she worked on science education with a particular focus on sex equality. She died last July of pancreatic cancer.
• Veteran singer-song writer and The Doors band member RayManzarek, 74, passed away at his home in Rosenheim, Germany.
• Obama to deliver speech on counter-terrorism, drone strikes, terrorism detention policy center at National Defense University on May 23.
• US President Obama to meet chinese President XiJinping in June to discuss bilateral, regional, global issues.

National Events

• Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa asks PM ManmohanSingh to take steps to retrieve Katchatheevu and surrounding areas from Sri Lanka.In her letter to Manmohan Singh, she also urged him to redraw the Indian Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) so that Indian fishermen could fish in their traditional waters.
• Former international sprinter AnandShetty (52) has died in a car accident. He hailed from Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.
• US Ambassador NancyPowell calls for greater economic opening and more foreign investments for India's higher economic growth.
• Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Goa plans to conduct a study on 'yogic farming',an agriculture practice using meditation.
• Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has arrived in Tashkent on a four day visit to Uzbekistan along with the high level delegation.
• RajivGandhi's 22nd death anniversary being observed; Today is marked as Matyrdom and anti-terrorism day.The main aim of observing Anti Terrorism Day is to wean away the Indian youth from such dreadful forces threatening human lives.The main objective is to stay people away from terrorism and voilence.On this day, various symposia, debates, lectures, seminars and discussions are organised in universities, schools and colleges.
• To ensure safety of working women,Gurgaon companies told to equip vehicles used for picking & dropping employees with GPS system in a month.
• Three additional judges namely Nishitendu Chaudhury, Lanusungkum Jamir, Manash Ranjan Pathak will be administered oath in Gauhati HighCourt tomorrow.
• Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma was today named as the new Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG).

Entertainment

• Bollywood star AishwaryaRai Bachchan will join international singing stars Madonna & Beyonce at a mega charity concert in London next month.

Business

• Sensex today fell by over 112 points to close at one-week low  of 20,111.61, mainly due to profit booking in interest rate.

Sports

• Supreme Court slams Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI on spot fixing; no ban on Indian Premier League IPL.
• Kerala's KT Neena qualified for World Youth Championships after winning gold in 5000m race with a new meet mark of 25 mins 13.95 sec on the third and final day of the 10th National Youth Athletics Championship.The World Youth Championships will be held in Ukraine in July.
• Indian twin sisters, Tashi & Nancy Malik from Dehra Dun sucessfully climbed Mount Everest. These are 1st Indian Twins who ever did this feat. 
• Bollywood actor Vindoo Randhawa, son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, was arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal, a Mumbai Crime Branch official said.

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