ca october ca 2013

Current

Affairs

October

2013

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October Current Affairs – 2013

Banking Industry

1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 30

September, 2013 came up with a report titled ‘A

Profile of Banks: 2012-13’, which among other

data, reported statistics pertaining to net non-

performing assets (NPA) of the banking sector.

What are the important NPA figures mentioned in

this report?

� The net NPA of all banks increased to 1.68%

of the total loan at the end of 2012-13 (The net

NPA of all banks was 1.28% at the end of 2011-

12. Increase in net NPA reflects deterioration in

economic activities)

� Net NPA of the 26 public sector banks,

including State Bank of India (SBI), rose to

2.02% during the year as compared to 1.53% in

the previous fiscal

� SBI and its five associates recorded a net NPA

of 2.04% against 1.76% in the comparable

period

� Net NPA of new private sector bank rose

marginally to 0.45% as compared to 0.42%

� Tight liquidity situation resulted in increase in

cost of funds of all commercial banks to 6.12%

as against 5.90% in 2011-12

� The cost of funds for state-owned banks rose

to 6.27% from 6.06% in 2011-12

2. Levy of 3% service-tax on all non-unit-linked

products of LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of

India) added as per IRDA guideline. LIC is the

largest life-insurance provider in India with a

market share of around 83%. [1st Oct]

3. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)

[1st Oct]

4. SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India)

approved Jet-Etihad deal. [1st Oct]

5. 12.13 crore is the per employee business

generation average of all Indian banks for 2012-

13 according to the latest data on Indian banking

sector released by the RBI recently. The business

per employee of India’s largest bank SBI was Rs.

9.43 crore, which is much below the aggregate of

all banks

6. World Bank cuts India growth forecast to 4.7

per cent from 6.1 percent for the current fiscal

year. [16th Oct]

7. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor

Raghuram Rajan on 29 October, 2013 hiked the

repo rate by 25 basis points in the October

monetary policy review. The repo rate is now at

7.75%. Increase in inflation during the past few

months was the main reason for increasing the

repo rate

8. India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) for the

April-June quarter of the current fiscal as

declared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on

30 September, 2013 is $21.8 billion (CAD is the

difference between inflow and outflow of foreign

exchange)

� Other important facts pertaining to CAD during

April-June quarter of 2013

� CAD for the quarter was 4.9% of the GDP

(CAD was 4.4% or $16.9 billion in the same

quarter of last fiscal, 2012-13)

� High imports of gold and oil were the main

reasons responsible for pushing up the CAD. Gold

imports increased by $7.3 billion in the first

quarter of current fiscal. Excluding the increase in

gold imports of $7.3 billion in Q1 of 2013-14 over

the corresponding quarter of the preceding year,

CAD would work out to $14.5 billion, which

translates into 3.2% cent of GDP

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� CAD had declined to 3.6% in the January-

March quarter after touching a record high of

6.5% in the October-December quarter

� The government plans to bring down CAD to

3.7% or $70 billion in the 2013-14 fiscal, from

4.8% or $88.2 billion in 2012-13

9. Ashok Reddy Nukala was recently appointed as

new Chairman of Karnataka Vikas Grameena

Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank. KVGB is

sponsored by which public-sector bank? –

Syndicate Bank


October, 2013 set up a four-member committee

under former Governor Bimal Jalan to scrutinize

applications for new bank licences. These licenses

are expected to be awarded by January, 2014.

Who are the other three members of this

committee? –Usha Thorat (former RBI Deputy

Governor), C B Bhave (former SEBI

Chairman) and Nachiket Mor (financial

sector expert)


October, 2013 eased more money into the

system to help banks offer affordable lending

options to retail customers. For this, two steps

were taken by the RBI are:

� Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) was brought

down to 9% by cutting it down by 50 basis points

from 9.5% (MSF is the rate at which banks

borrow funds overnight from RBI against

approved government securities)

� Banks were allowed to borrow money from RBI

for one-week and two-weeks (This new offer of

extended period loans is also expected to further

ease liquidity in the system)

12. SR Bansal took over as the new Chairman &

Managing Director (CMD) of Corporation Bank

during October, 2013. Bansal was Executive

Director of Punjab National Bank (PNB).

13. Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPIs) is the new

class of investors, which was announced by

Indian capital market regulator SEBI during

October, 2013 and which would encompass all

FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors), their sub-

accounts and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs).

14. HDFC Bank, India’s third largest bank, posted

a 27.1% increase in profit to Rs. 1,982 crore for

the quarter ended September 2013,

announcement about which was made on 15

October, 2013. This was HDFC Bank’s slowest

quarterly growth in a decade and it was for the

first time in a decade that bank’s profit growth

fell below 30%

15. Under Financial drive the Finance Ministry

had asked that the public sector banks, which

were required to install onsite ATMs at 34,668

branches by March 31, 2013 had set up 5,726

ATMs at the end of August 2013. Hence In the

remaining days of the financial year, the 26

public sector banks will together have to set up

28,942 ATMs, or an average of 137 every day to

achieve the target of ATM at every branch by 31

March, 2014

16. Bank Internasional Indonesia – BII is the

name of the Indonesian bank whose first branch

in India was opened on 21 October, 2013 at

Mumbai

17. The Finance Ministry on 23 October, 2013

finalised the bank-wise capital allocation, which is

part of the capital infusion plan for 20 public

sector banks which altogether will get Rs 14,000

crore. Rs. 2000 crore capital will be infused into

the State Bank of India (SBI

Important Days

October 1 - International Day for the Elderly

October 2 - International Non-violence Day; World

Wetlands Day

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October 3 - World Habitat Day

October 4 - World Animal Welfare Day

October 8 - Indian Air Force Day

October 9 - World Postal Day

October 10 - National Postal Day

October 10 - World Mental Health Day

October 12 - World Sight Day

October 16 - World Food Day

October 17 - International Poverty Eradication Day

October 24 - United Nations Day

October 30 - World Thrift Day

18. National Voluntary Blood Donation Day

observed. [1st Oct]

19. The Air Force Day was celebrated across the

establishments of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 8

October, 2013. IAF completed 81 years of its

establishment on this day. IAF was established

on 8 October, 1932 with formation of the No.1

Squadron.

Famous Personality

20. S. Varadarajan took over as the new

Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat

Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) [1st Oct]

21. Ranjan Mathai was recently appointed as

India’s new High Commissioner to the United

Kingdom (UK). Mathai will succeed Jaimini

Bhagwati and will take his charge soon. Mathai is

the former Foreign Secretary and he retired on

31 July, 2013)

22. Arundhati Bhattacharya appointed as SBI's

first woman chairperson. [7th Oct]

23. Arunendra Kumar was appointed as the new

Chairman of the Railway Board on 16 October,

2013 by the Indian Railways. Kumar was the

acting chairman of Railway Board and was

overlooking this charge after the retirement of

Vinay Mittal on 30 June, 2013

24. Union Government appoints Air Marshal Arup

Raha as the next Chief of the Air Staff who will

replace Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. [29th Oct]

25. Mukesh Ambani becomes India's richest for

6th year in a row in Forbes' list with a net worth

of $ 21 billion. [29th Oct]

26. The 24th and first woman chairperson of SBI

is Arundhati Bhattacharya

27. Janet Yellen is the first woman to head the

US Federal Reserve, which is the central bank of

the United States

28. Air Marshal Arup Raha will be the new Chief

of Indian Air Force (IAF) as announced by the

Union Govt. on 29 October, 2013. Raha is

presently Vice-Chief of Air Staff and he will take

over after Air Chief Marshal N.A.K Browne retires

on 31 December, 2013.

News from India

29. Indian Election Commission announced

election dates for five states - Madhya Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Delhi. The

Polls in the five states will be start from 11th Dec

to 4th of December and the counting will be on

8th December. [4th Oct]

30. Government hike railway fares by two per

cent for all classes because of a rise in the prices

of diesel and power. Railways had earlier hiked

the freight rate by 5.7 per cent on 1 April, 2013

while linking the FAC with goods tariff. [7th Oct]

31. Supreme Court on 8 October, 2013 directed

the Central Govt. to reserve 3% of govt. jobs for

disabled persons

32. India on 10 October, 2013 signed

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with

Seven countries for the ambitious Nalanda

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University project being built near the ruins of

the ancient academic institution. These seven

countries are – Australia, Cambodia, Singapore,

Brunei, New Zealand, Lao PDR and Myanmar.

33. INS Sunayna inducted into Indian Navy’s

service which is the largest offshore patrol vessel

(OPV). [16th Oct]

34. India’s tallest air traffic control (ATC) tower

with 84-metre structure inaugurated in

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,

Mumbai. [19th Oct]

35. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad

Yadav and JD (U) MP Jagdish Sharma disqualified

from the Lok Sabha as both are convicted in the

Bihar fodder scam. [22nd Oct]

36. The Supreme Court directed the Sahara

Group to hand over title deeds of property worth

Rs. 20,000 crore to market regulator Securities

and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) within three

weeks.

37. According to the newly released census data

of Census 2011 pertaining to slum dwellers, 65

million Indians live in slums in 2011. In the

Census of 2001 the total population of slum

dwellers stood at 52 million.

38. The Gujarat State Assembly on 1 October,

2013 for the second time passed the Gujarat

Lokayukta Aayog Bill, 2013, which was returned

by Governor Dr. Beniwal. In September, 2013 Dr.

Beniwal had returned the Bill, which was passed

by the State Assembly on 2 April. The new bill

empowers the State government with regard to

the appointment of the Lokayukta by doing away

with the role of the High Court Chief Justice. This

bill seeks to replace The Gujarat Lokayukta

Act, 1986 (The State had a Lokayukta till 2003

when the last incumbent retired High Court

judge, S.M. Soni, stepped down from his position.

Unlike the act in force at present, the Gujarat

Lokayukta Aayog Bill, 2013 provides primacy to

the Chief Minister, over the Gujarat High Court

Chief Justice, in appointing the lokayukta)

39. Which five Indian universities/institutes made

to the prestigious Times Higher Education World

University Rankings 2013-14 of the top 400

universities of the World, which was released

recently? – Panjab University (Chandigarh),

IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT

Roorkee(There were only two Indian universities

(IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee) listed in the

rankings for year 2012-13)

40. Which state would become the first in the

country to have the provision of negative voting

for its electorate, as announced by the Election

Commission on 4 October, 2013? –

Chhattisgarh (The Assembly elections in

Chhattisgarh will be conducted in two phases on

11 and 19 November, 2013. It will therefore

become the first state where the option of

negative voting will be introduced. Under this

option a voter can opt to give his/her vote to

none of the candidates featuring in the poll.)

41. The Gorakhpur railway station comes under

North-Eastern Railway (NER) division got the title

of world’s longest platform on 6 October, 2013 as

the remodelled Gorakhpur yard was inaugurated

on this day. This platform measures 1366.33

metres with ramp and it pushed West Bengal’s

Kharagpur to second spot.

42. Indian Army on 8 October, 2013 wrapped-up

its 15-day-long major operation along the Line of

Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir to foil a

massive infiltration bid by terrorists backed by

suspected Pakistani special forces. This bid was

the biggest infiltration bid after the 1999 Kargil

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confrontation. This incident took place at Keran

Sector’s Shaalbhati village in Kashmir

43. Cyclone ‘Phailin’ became the strongest

cyclone to hit India over a decade when it struck

two states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh on the

evening of 12 October, 2013 with speeds of over

200 km per hour. This cyclonic storm struck the

coastal districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda,

Jagatsinghpur in Odisha and Srikakulam in

Andhra Pradesh. Over 20 deaths were reported

due to devastation caused by Phailin.

44. India ranks 63rd in the 2013 Global Hunger

Index (GHI), which was released by the

International Food Policy Research Institute on

14 October, 2013, with a hunger score of 21.3

(India’s rank in last year’s GHI was 67. The

report terms the situation in India as alarming,

even as its hunger score improved from 32.6 in

1990 to 24 in 2005 and 21.3 in 2013. This report

ranks 120 developing countries of the world

according to their hunger scores. China was 6th in

this list whereas India’s neighbours Sri Lanka

(rank 43), Pakistan (rank 57) and Bangladesh

(rank 58) have been placed above India in this

index)

45. MV Seaman Guard Ohio is the name of an

American ship which was detained for carrying

arms and buying diesel in an unauthorized

manner near Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu on 12

October, 2013

46. Indian Railways on 23 October, 2013

announced its decision to increase the speed of

the superfast trains to 160-200 km. With this

decision the existing superfast trains of India like

Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Expresses will

get an increase in the speed. The fastest train of

India is the Bhopal Shatabdi with the top speed

of 150 kmph.

47. Bhakra dam completed 50 years of its

establishment on 24 October, 2013. Bhakra dam

started its operations from 24 October, 1963. It

was one of the tallest straight gravity dams in the

world when its construction was completed in

1963 and it cost Rs. 245 crore. The Bhakra-

Nangal dam complex houses the largest base of

hydro power in India with production capacity of

2900 MW and it shows the cheapest model of

electricity production in India.

48. Patna witnessed maximum unemployment

rate during the five year period ending 2009-10,

as stated in the latest NSSO report released on

26 October, 2013. Patna witnessed

unemployment rate of 13.2% during this period

and it was followed by Kanpur which witnessed

7.7% unemployment

International News

49. The United States government went into a

shutdown from the mid-night of 30 September,

2013. This meant that an estimated 800,000

federal workers faced furloughs (leave without

payment) and most of the space agency and

other government operations remained closed.

What was the reason for this shutdown?

Collusion between Republicans and

Democrats over the flagship healthcare

programme of President Barack Obama in

the US Congress which led to an

interruption in Federal funding

50. The Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India

inaugurated a joint power transmission plant

through which Bangladesh will receive up to 500

megawatts (MW) of electricity.

51. C.V. Wigneswaran took over as the first Chief

Minister of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province on 7

October, 2013

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52. Turkey lifted a ban on women wearing the

Islamic head scarf in state institutions on 8

October, 2013

53. Syed Ibne Abbas was appointed as the new

Pakistan High Commissioner to India on 9

October, 2013. Abbas will replace Salman Bashir.

54. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf

granted bail and free to leave Pakistan after a

decision by a court in Islamabad. [9th Oct]

55. An Italian court ruled that former Italian

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi should be barred

from holding public office for two years following

a conviction for tax fraud. [19th Oct]

56. India ending an eight year ban on military

supplies to Nepal with the supplies of vehicles

and arms. [24th Oct]

57. According to the latest data pertaining to visa

acceptance of various countries released by

Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index, citizens

of Great Britain enjoy the widest range of visa-

free travel in the world. British citizens enjoy the

widest range of visa-free travel in the world,

being able to visit 173 countries with just a

passport. India figures 74th on the list, while

Afghanistan comes at the bottom of the table,

with only 28 countries available for entry without

visa. Iraqi passport holders can go to 31

countries while Pakistan and Somalia are tied at

the third from the bottom with 32

58. China has overtaken the United States to

become the biggest net importer of oil in the

world, according to the latest data released by

the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

59. The Republic of Ireland recently announced

its decision to exit the international bailout

programme by December 2013 and seek funds

from other outside sources.

60. Canada on 17 October, 2013 announced

honorary citizenship for Pakistani teenage activist

Malala Yousafzai, who will become sixth person to

have been granted this honour. Canada has

granted honorary citizenship to five persons till

now – Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, the

Dalai Lama, Aga Khan and Raoul Wallenburg

(Swedish diplomat)

61. On 18 October, 2013 Jeh Johnson was

nominated by US President Barack Obama to

head the Department of Homeland Security. He is

a former top lawyer of the Pentagon

62. Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, 2013: a

new ordinance that was passed by the Pakistani

President on 22 October, 2013 which gives more

teeth to fight terror.

Visits:

63. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in

Moscow to strengthen bilateral strategic

partnership. [20th Oct]

64. India and China signed Border Defence

Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to soothing

tension on their contested border.

65. The 14th Annual India-Russia Summit was

held on 21 October, 2013 on the occasion of

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official two-day

visit to Russia. Five bilateral agreements were

signed between the two countries in this summit.

These agreements were signed on varying

subjects including transfer of sentenced persons,

understanding in the field of energy efficiency,

understanding on standards bureau, cooperation

in the field of science and technology and

cooperation in the field of biotechnology)

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Science and Technology

66. India test-fired its indigenously developed

nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike

range of 350 km from Balasore, Odisha. [7th Oct]

67. India started pumping electricity for the first

time from Kudankulam nuclear power plant,

Tamil Nadu with an initial output of 160 MW.

[22nd Oct]

68. Astronomers have found the most distant

galaxy yet, designated by scientists as

z8_GND_5296, took about 13.1 billion years to

reach the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and

the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, both of which

detected the galaxy in infrared light. [24th Oct]

69. India has developed a new tactical surface-

to-surface missile 'Pragati' with a range between

60-170 km. [29th Oct]

70. Bheem is the India’s first 5,500 horse power

(HP) diesel locomotive that has been

manufactured by Diesel Locomotive Works

(DLW), Varanasi. It is known as WDG-5 in

railway nomenclature. Bheem has been designed

by Research Designs and Standards Organisation

(RDSO), Lucknow

71. JENVAC is the name of India’s first

indigenous vaccine to protect children from

Japanese encephalitis (JE) which was launched

on 4 October, 2013. JENVAC is being

manufactured in the public-private partnership

mode between the Indian Council of Medical

Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech

72. India on 7 October, 2013 successfully test-

fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable

Prithvi-II missile from a test range at Chandipur

in Orissa. Prithvi-II is capable of carrying 500 kg

to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid

propulsion twine engines. strike range of this

missile is 350 km.

73. Juno is the spacecraft launched by NASA in

2011 and is to reach Jupiter in 2016. Using Earth

as a gravitational slingshot is a common trick

since there isn’t a rocket that’s powerful enough

to catapult a spacecraft directly to the outer solar

system. Juno which on 9 October, 2013 swung by

Earth to get the boost it needs to reach the giant

planet in 2016 and it is scheduled to arrive at

Jupiter on 4 July, 2016 after journeying 1.7

billion miles.

74. Scientists from China recently announced

development of the new Li-Fi (Light Fidelity)

technology, which is a new and cheaper way of

getting connected to the internet through light

bulbs instead of radio frequencies. Scientists of

Shanghai’s Fudan University developed the Li-Fi

technology as an alternative to the very popular

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) technology

75. West Bengal has the highest proportion of

Visitor Location Register (VLR) subscribers in

India according to the latest telecom subscription

data (as on 31st July 2013) released by the

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

recently. Which had 88.74% VLR subscribers as

on 31 July, 2013 (West Bengal was followed by

Maharashtra (88.22%) and Madhya Pradesh

(87.64%). On the other hand Tamil Nadu had the

lowest proportion of VLR subscribers (73.33%)

and it includes subscribers of Chennai. A VLR is a

database that contains information about the

subscribers roaming within a mobile switching

center’s (MSC’s) location area. The primary role

of the VLR is to minimize the number of queries

that MSCs have to make to the home location

register (HLR), which holds permanent data

regarding the cellular network’s subscribers)

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76. Opportunity, the Mars rover of US space

agency NASA recently began its expedition to

scale the tallest mountain (Solander Point) it has

yet encountered in nearly 10 years of its

exploration of the red planet. Solander Point is at

the north end of the western-southwestern

ridgeline of Endeavour crater on Mars

Awards and Honours

77. France on 25 October awarded its highest civilian award ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur’ to Anjali Gopalan for her work on transgenders and HIV positive patients.She was awarded at a function, by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the French Cabinet Minister for Women’s Right.Anjali Gopalan is an Indian Human Rights and Animals Rights Activist.She started the Naz Foundation (India) Trust as its executive director, which further changed the lives of the HIV Positive, transgenders and homosexuals .

78. Malala Yousafzai, 16-year-old education

activist from Pakistan wins European Union's

Sakharov human rights award. [10th Oct]

79. M S Swaminathan (renowned agricultural

scientist) will be conferred the Indira Gandhi

Award for National Integration for year 2012 as

announced on 10 October, 2013 by the award

committee. Swaminathan is also known as “The

Father of Green Revolution. He has served as

Director of the Indian Agricultural Research

Institute, New Delhi (1966-72), Director General

of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and

Secretary to the Government of India,

Department of Agricultural Research and

Education (1972-79))

80. New Zealand author Eleanor Catton wins Man

Booker prize for her book "The Luminaries". She

becomes the youngest novelist to win the man

booker prize at the age of 28 years. Also the

book has set a new record for the longest

winning novel with 852 pages. [16th Oct]

81. Lata Mangeshkar presented with the first

national Yash Chopra Memorial Award in Mumbai.

[20th Oct]

82. Amitabh Bachchan received the 3rd

Hridayanath Mangeshkar Award for his

contribution to the film industry. [27th Oct]

83. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was

announced as the first winner of Israel’s $1

million Genesis Prize, an award popularly dubbed

the “Jewish Nobel Prize.”. The Genesis Prize

Foundation on 21 October, 2013 said Mr.

Bloomberg was honoured as the first winner for

his long record of public service and philanthropy

84. The First National Award For Senior Citizens -

Vayoshreshtha Samman, 2013 were given by the

President Pranab Mukherjee in the following

categories:

• National Award for Best Institution for providing

services to senior citizens and Awareness

Generation

• National Award for Best State in implementing

the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and

Senior Citizens (MWPSC) Act, 2007, & providing

services and facilities to senior citizens

• National Award for Centenarian Senior Citizen

• National Award for Iconic Mother

• National Award for Lifetime Achievement

• National Award for Creative Art

• National Award for Sports & Adventure Award

(Male)

• National Award for Sports and Adventure

(Female)

85. Noble Prize 2013:

� Americans James Rothman and Randy

Schekman and German-born researcher

Thomas Suedhof were on 7 October

announced as the winners of the 2013 Nobel

Prize in medicine. They have been awarded

this prize for “Discoveries on how hormones,

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enzymes and other key substances are

transported within cells” discovery done by

them.

� The 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics was

shared among Peter Higgs of Britain and

Francois Englert of Belgium as announced on

8 October, 2013. They were given this prize

for The theoretical discovery of the origin of

mass of subatomic particles, also called the

Boson Theory

� Three American scientists Martin Karplus,

Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt were on 9

October announced as the winners of the

2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They have

been awarded this prize for the development

of multi-scale models for complex chemical

systems contribution in the field of Chemistry

� 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature was

awarded to Canada’s Alice Munro. The

Swedish Academy made this announcement

on 10 October, 2013. With this Munro became

the 13th women to be awarded this

prestigious prize. She is also the first

Canadian to win the prestigious honour. She

was acclaimed as the “master of the

contemporary story” by the Swedish

Academy. Her important works include Dance

of the Happy Shades (1968), Girls and

Women (1971) andThe Beggar Maid: Stories

of Flo and Rose (1978))

� The Organization for the Prohibition of

Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 as announced

on 12 October, 2013. This award was given to

the organization for its extensive efforts to rid

the world of chemical arsenals. The 189-

member OPCW has its headquarters in The

Hague, the Netherlands

� Three American economists – Eugene Fama,

Lars Peter Hansen (both with the University of

Chicago) and Robert Shiller (Yale University)

won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Economics.

This announcement was made by the Royal

Swedish Academy of Sciences on 14 October,

2013. These three economists were awarded

for developing new methods to study trends

in asset markets.

85.A) Eleanor Catton for her novel ‘The

Luminaries’ won the Man Booker Prize 2013 as

announced on 15 October, 2013

Business News

86. Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Bharti Enterprises

breaking up their Indian joint venture. Now Wal-

Mart will independently own and operate

separate businesses in the country. [9th Oct]

87. India's industrial production growth slowed to

0.6 percent in August from an upwardly revised

2.75 percent pace in July. [11th Oct]

88. $ 1 billion is the proposed IPO (initial public

offering) of social-media company Twitter Inc.,

which was revealed by the company on 3

October, 2013

89. 6.46% was the wholesale price index (WPI)-

based inflation during September, 2013 as

announced by the govt. on 14 October, 2013. It

is higher than the 6.1% recorded in the previous

month (August, 2013)

90. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) corporate

company on 14 October, 2013 became the first

Indian corporate to achieve sales of more than Rs

1,00,000 crore in a quarter. RIL’s turnover or

sales soared 14.2% to Rs 1,06,523 crore during

the second quarter (July-September) of 2013-14.

Company’s net profit for the quarter stood at Rs.

Rs 5,490 crore, up 1.5% from Rs. 5,409 crore a

year earlier.

Sports News

91. Afghanistan qualified for its maiden ICC

World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven

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wickets to finish second in the World Cricket

League Championship in Sharjah. [4th Oct]

92. Sania Mirza and Cara Black wins the

Women’s Doubles in China Open tennis

championship trophy. [6th Oct]

93. Mumbai Indians wins the Champions League

Twenty20 for the second time after beating

Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the final at the

Ferozeshah Kotla. It is the last Twenty20 match

for both Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. [6th

Oct]

94. 2014 Commonwealth Games are to be

hosted at? – Glasgow, Scotland

95. Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the

Japanese Grand Prix.

96. Supreme Court lifted the restraints it put on

N Srinivasan from assuming charge as the

elected chief of the Indian cricket board (BCCI).

[8th Oct]

97. Sachin Tendulkar announces retirement from

Test cricket after playing 200th game which is to

be held in Mumbai from November 14. Mumbai’s

Wankhede Stadium will host the farewell Test for

Sachin Tendulkar. [10th Oct]

98. Virat Kohli scores the fastest century by an

Indian batsman in ODI with 52 balls against

Australia. [16th Oct]

99. Australian batsman set a new world record

with their top five compiling individual half

centuries while scoring 359 runs against India in

Jaipur. [16th Oct]

100. EPL club Liverpool launched a residential

football academy in Pune. [16th Oct]

101. Terry Walsh of Australia was appointed as

the new Chief Coach of Indian national hockey

team during October, 2013. [17th Oct]

102. The Board of Control for Cricket in India

(BCCI) has banned Kolkata Knight Riders pacer

Pradeep Sangwan for 18 months after he was

found violating the board's anti-doping

regulations in IPL 2013. [19th Oct]

103. Indian squash player Dipika Pallikal

defeated former World number one Rachael

Grinham of Australia to clinch the Macau Open

title. [20th Oct]

104. BCCI terminated Sahara-owned franchise

Pune Warriors from the IPL after defaulted on its

payments and refused to furnish the bank

guarantee for the next season. [26th Oct]

105. Germany's Sebastian Vettel became

Formula One's youngest four-times world

champion on Sunday after winning the Indian

Grand Prix for Red Bull. [27th Oct]

106. Afghanistan made its maiden entry into the

cricket world cup and will play in the 2015 ICC

World Cup to be jointly hosted by Australia and

New Zealand. Ireland was the first qualifier team

to qualify for this event.

107. Bosnia-Herzegovina qualified for the 2014

FIFA World Cup recently and with it earned its

first berth as an independent nation

108. A newly-released coffee table book on the

great Brazilian footballer Pele, which weighs 15

kg and is worth $1,700 is named ‘1283’ (This

500-page limited edition book about the player,

widely regarded as the greatest ever, is titled

“1283″, the number of goals Pele scored in his

career, and comprises 1283 texts)

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109. Ding Junhui of China won the title of the

Indian Open Snooker 2013, final of which was

held on 19 October, 2013

110. South African test team on 26 October,

2013 achieved its 100th Test match victory since

the formation of a unified national cricket body.

This milestone was achieved in the 207th win

since the United Cricket Board of South Africa

(UCBSA) came into existence in 1991.

Scams

111. A special CBI court at Ranchi on 30

September, 2013 convicted former Bihar Chief

Minster and RJD leader Lalu Prasad and 44 others

(including former Chief Minister Jagannath

Mishra) in the in the multi-crore fodder scam

case of 1990s. The court will pronounce the

quantum of sentence to the convicts on 3

October, 2013.

He was convicted in which case?

Fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from

Chaibasa treasury of Jharkhand (The RJD

chief will face immediate disqualification as a Lok

Sabha member as per a Supreme Court order

that an MP or legislator would stand disqualified

immediately if convicted by a court for crimes

with punishment of two years or more)

112. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Masood

was on 1 October, 2013 sentenced to four years

in jail by a Special CBI Court at New Delhi. What

was the charge against Masood?

Fraudulently nominating undeserving

candidates from across the country to MBBS

seats allotted to Tripura medical colleges

from the central pool in 1990-91 (This case

pertains to the time when he was Union Health

Minister during the National Front Govt. in 1990.

With this Masood became the first MP to lose his

seat after a recent Supreme Court order on

immediate disqualification of convicted

lawmakers)

Abbreviation

113. IGMDP - Integrated Guided Missile

Development Programme

114. ULFA - United Liberation Front of Assam

115. IDRBT - Institute for Development and

Research in Banking Technology

116. NDMA - National Disaster Management

Authority

117. IRDA - Insurance Regulatory and

Development Authority

118. Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate

Tribunal (CESTAT

119. Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

120. Tax Administration Reforms Commission

(TARC

121. Trans-Border River Agreement – TBRA

Passed away

122. U.S. master writer and master of spy thriller

novels Tom Clancy dies at 66. [2nd Oct]

123. The legendary singer Manna Dey died of

cardiac arrest at the age of 94 in Bangalore

hospital where was treated for respiratory illness.

[24th Oct]

124. Pioneer of Nayi Kahani movement and

renowned Hindi writer Rajendra Yadav dies at 84

in New Delhi. [29th Oct]

125. Uttam Chandarana, who passed away on 2

October, 2013, was a sportsman of yesteryears.

He was associated with which sport? – Table

Tennis (He won men’s singles title in 1943

(Hyderabad), in 1948 (Colombo), in 1949

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(Hyderabad) and in 1954 (Baroda). He, however,

also excelled in tennis, athletics, billiards and

snooker and cricket)

126. Senior socialist leader Mohan Dhariya, who

was last of the three ‘Young Turks’ of the 70s,

passed away on 14 October, 2013 at Pune.

Dhariya was a former Union Minister and deputy

chairman of Planning Commission.

Krishnakant (former Vice-President) and

Chandrashekhar (former Prime Minister) was the

two other ‘Young Turks’, who were known for

their radical political thoughts during 70s.

127. Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja, who passed away

on 18 October, 2013, was a renowned

personality associated with Literature field. Dr.

Ravuri Bharadwaja was a noted Telugu writer and

was conferred the Gnanpith Award for 2012,

which is widely perceived as India’s highest

literary award, for his Telugu novel ‘Paakudu

Raallu’

128. Legendary playback singer Manna Dey

(Prabodh Chandra Dey) passed away at the age

of 94 on 24 October, 2013 at Bangalore. Known

for his golden voice and incredible command over

classical singing, he sang in many Indian

languages including Hindi, Bengali, Assamese,

Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi

and Bhojpuri.

ca october ca 2013

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