Daily Current Affairs Updates - 16th November 2013

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International Affairs

• Progressive Party of Maldives’ candidate Abdullah Yameen on Saturday defeated former premier Mohammed Nasheed to win presidential polls in the Indian Ocean archipelago country.
• US President Barack Obama has greeted the Sikh community ahead of its founder Guru Nanak Dev's birth anniversary and called the festival an occasion to reflect on the holy guru's "timeless teachings".
• International Day for Tolerance and Peace (UNESCO) was be observed today
• A large number of Sikh devotees from India and various other countries have arrived in Pakistan to celebrate the 545th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
• The US is set to reduce its dependence on foreign sources of energy as it has produced more oil at home than it imported for the first time in nearly two decades, President Barack Obama said today
• As the withdrwal of NATO troops draws nearer, Afghanistan today said its "very steady" relationship with India is only going to deepen post-2014.
• SriLanka President MahindaRajapaksa rejects UK PM DavidCameron's demand for probe into war crimes.

Sports

• Sachin Tendulkar retired from international cricket after playing his 200th and final Test against the West Indies in Mumbai. The Master Blaster gave an emotional speech that had everyone in tears at the Wankhede Stadium.
• India jumped one place to second on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table after winning the two-Test series against the West Indies 2-0 in Mumbai on Saturday.
• WorldChessChampionship: ViswanathanAnand loses against Magnus Carlsen again, trails 2-4.

National Affairs

• A two day national conference of university VC's to begin in NewDelhi today as part of Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations.
• National Press Day of India observed today.
• Members of Orissa High Court Bar Association have decided to temporarily call off their ongoing boycott of courts and resume work from Monday.
• Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said a mega education city would come up near Chandigarh soon to give further impetus to the quality of higher education in the state.
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that a new housing scheme would be launched to address the problem of housing in rural areas.

Business and Economy

• The "Pink Star", a flawless pink diamond the size of a plum, sold for 76.3 million Swiss francs ($83.02 million) in Geneva on Wednesday, a world record price for a gemstone at auction, Sotheby's said.

Science and Technology

• The long-delayed and much-awaited $ 2.3 billion aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya was today inducted into the Indian Navy here in a strategic boost to India's maritime warfare capabilities.
• ISRO successfully performs last orbit raising manoeuvre on its Mars mission.
• American defence major Boeing has delivered the second P-8I aircraft to India that is likely to boost the Indian Navy’s long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. Boeing, which is building eight P-8I aircrafts for India, delivered the first one in May.

New Appointments

• Justice R Banumathi  takes oath as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.

Awards and Honors

• The Government has decided to confer, the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award on eminent scientist Prof C N R Rao and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
• Seventeen journalists were chosen for the second 'National Awards for Excellence in Journalism' instituted by the Press Council of India.

 

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