Daily Current Affairs Updates - 20th June 2013

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International Affairs

• Moscow and Beijing have reached agreement on a $60 billion contract to ramp up Russian oil supplies to China, part of the two countries' strategy to tighten their energy partnership, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
• Ahead of talks between India and China on the boundary question, CPI (M) chief Prakash Karat said the new Chinese leadership is interested in speeding up efforts to resolve the differences on the issue.
• India and Iraq agreed to revive bilateral ties and intensify cooperation by taking the relations beyond that of a buyer and seller, with Baghdad inviting New Delhi to invest more in the oil-rich Arab country, scarred by years of conflict.
• Indians' money in Swiss banks has fallen to a record low level of about Rs 9,000 crore (1.42 billion Swiss francs), as a global clampdown against the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland banking system made it unattractive for their global clients.

National Affairs

• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday contributed Rs five crore for relief work among the victims of the Uttarakhand flash flood.
• The Aligarh Muslim University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Wisconsin for Student Exchange Programme between the two universities for a period of three years.
• President Pranab Mukherjee expressed deep concern at the deteriorating standard of education in the country, regretting that not a single university or IIT or NIT found place in the list of top 200 universities of the world.
• An extraordinary cast of the death mask of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, which spent years gathering dust in a family attic, has fetched a whopping 169,250 pounds - almost three times its presale estimate - at an auction here.
• Sensex plunged by over 526-points, its biggest fall in nearly 2 years, to end at 18,719.29.
• Unesco on Thursday added six ancient sites in Syria including a fortress of Saladin and a Crusader castle to the endangered world heritage list, warning that more than two years of civil war had inflicted heavy damage.
• Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth held a review meeting with top central and Uttarakhand government officials and issued directions to speed up rescue operations in the flood-ravaged state.
• President Pranab Mukherjee said that terrorism has no place in a democratic system because it cannot deliver any good.
• James Gandolfini, best known for his role as an anxiety-ridden mob boss on HBO's "The Sopranos," died Wednesday while on vacation in Italy. He was 51.
• With the rupee dipping to an unprecedented low level, the government is ready to take step to curb volatility, Chief Economic Advisor to the Finance Ministry Raghuram Rajan said.

Sports

• Abhinav Lohan, playing in his first season on the Asian Tour, carded an even par 71 to end as the best Indian in tied 19th spot at the end of the first round in the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters golf tournament.
• SriLanka sets target of 182 runs for India to win in the 2nd semi-finals.
• Saina Nehwal came from a game down to beat Eriko Hirose and enter the women's singles quarterfinals at Singapore Open Superseries badminton event .
• Indian women`s hockey team continued their disappointing show in the FIH World League Round 3, losing 0-4 to Japan in the classification match,
• Playing their first tournament together in five months, third seeds Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek suffered an upset defeat against Jamie Murray and John Peers in the quarter-finals of the Aegon International.
• Four Indians assured themselves of a bronze medal each after reaching semifinals in their respective categories in the 3rd China Open boxing tournament at Guiyang.