13th October 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• India has promised USD four million in the total USD 5.4 billion aid that the global donors have pledged at a donor conference aimed at raising funds for rebuilding Gaza Strip that was destroyed by its 50-day conflict with Israel.
• A popular Sri Lankan rail service known as the "Queen of Jaffna" has reopened , linking the capital, Colombo, to Jaffna in the country's north.
• Srilankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated this newly renovated railway line, which was closed 24 years ago during Sri Lanka's bloody civil war.
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on a visit to Israel today to revive the stalled West-Asia peace process.
• President Pranab Mukherjee reaches Oslo on the first leg of six day visit to Norway and Finland; India and Norway expected to ink agreement on nuclear safety measures.

National Affairs

• India is in 55th Position of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2014.
• It has made some progress in reducing poverty level, but still ranks behind neighboring Nepal and Sri Lanka on the Global Hunger Index and its hunger status remains classified as "serious".
• It was at 63rd position in the global hunger index (GHI) last year. The 55th position in 2014 is better than Pakistan (ranked 57) and Bangladesh (57), but trails behind Nepal (44) and Sri Lanka (39).
• The growth of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in the country has increased to 9.2 percent in September this year.
• During the month of September, 4.95 lakh foreign tourist visited the country as compared to 4.54 lakh during the month last year.
• Highest number of tourists visited from Bangladesh followed by USA, UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Japan.
• Prime Minister Modi to visit cyclone ravaged city of Vishakhapatnam tomorrow; Efforts on to restore basic services; Death toll climbs to 21 in Andhra Pradesh.
• The Gujarat government has decided to provide solar-powered water pumps to 1,000 farmers to reduce usage of conventional power and to ease its financial burden due to subsidy on electricity provided for irrigation.

Science & Technology

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) began a 67-hour countdown at 6:32 a.m. today ahead of the launch of the third regional navigation satellite, the IRNSS-1C.

People in News

• The Congress today removed Shashi Tharoor as the party's spokesperson after the party's Kerala unit reprimanded him for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Election Commission today issued a show cause notice to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for his allegedl remarks against non-Maharashtrians and claiming that once his party comes to power, their entry in the state will be barred.

Visitors

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi today received Mr. John Baird, Foreign Minister of Canada and Mr Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade of Canada.
• Mr John Baird is on a visit to India for the 2nd round of Strategic Dialogue between the two countries which is co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister of India.

Business & Economy

• Retail inflation drops to 6.46 per cent in September the lowest since January 2012.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given the go-ahead for a major overhaul of the current monetary policy framework wherein the Centre will specify ‘inflation targets’ for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to achieve.
• Under the proposed new regime, the RBI will set inflation as its top priority in its policy statements.
• In a major blow to DLF, SEBI has barred the realty major as well as its six top executives, including chairman and main promoter K P Singh, from the securities market for three years for "active and deliberate suppression" of material information at the time of its IPO.

Awards & Honors

• French economist Jean Tirole wins Nobel Prize for Economics 2014 for his analysis on market power and regulation. Check full story here.

Sports

• The inaugural Champions Tennis League (CTL) will kick off with a clash between formidable Punjab and Delhi on November 17 at DLTA Complex in New Delhi.
• Grandmaster and former world junior champion D Harika was adjudged the best woman player after she settled for a draw with Alon Mindlin of Israel in the ninth and final round of Poker Masters Isle of Man Chess tournament that concluded in Isle of Man, United Kingdom.
• Olympic bronze medallist M.C. Mary Kom was today chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of India’s Incheon Asian Games campaign.

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