Daily Current Affairs : 22nd & 23rd September 2013

1. Remembering 'Dinkar' on his 105th birth anniversary on 23rd September. Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' was an Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic. He is considered as one of the most important modern Hindi poets. Dinkar was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1972 for Urvashi. He also became a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, in 1952.

2. Angela Merkel is heading for a third term as Germany’s chancellor, as exit polls showed she could even be on course for the historic achievement of an absolute majority in the country’s parliament.

3. Deutsche Bank has become the first bank in India to use the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s window to swap fresh foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR (B), dollar funds. Deutsche Bank has raised about $450 million FCNR (B) deposits from about 10 non-resident Indians and swapped it with the central bank, 

4. Tata and EESL have signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to carry out collaborative activities and partnerships in the field of Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management ( DSM), Tata Power said in a statement. EESL ( Energy Efficiency Services Ltd) is a joint venture of public sector units of the Ministry of Power. 

5. Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was appointed as the brand ambassador of the Border Security Force (BSF) on 22 September 2013. It is important to note that any central force in India has appointed its brand ambassador. BSF is the second largest paramilitary force of India that guards two crucial Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

6. Beverage and snacks maker PepsiCo on Monday named company veteran Sanjeev Chadha as its CEO, Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, effective immediately. Chadha will report to chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi and oversee all aspects of PepsiCo's business in the AMEA region, the company announced from its headquarters in New York.

7. All new credit card swipe machines and automated teller machines (ATMs) will be required to have a mechanism for Aadhaar authentication using biometrics. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is understood to be preparing such a directive to improve security and promote financial inclusion.

8. 7th India Russia meeting on trade and investment was held at St. Petersburg , Russia on 20 September 2013. A high level delegation of 120 Indian business leaders led by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry participated in the meeting. It discussed various business opportunities with their Russian counterparts. The special focus was on Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, Tourism and Medical Tourism and Trade in goods, services and innovative products.

9. Seekho Aur Kamao (Learn and Earn) Progrmme Launched by Union Government of India. Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India on 23 September 2013 launched a central sector scheme for Skill Development of Minorities.

10. Bharat Nirman- a Public Information Campaign launched at Viramgam block of Ahmedabad District in Gujarat on 23 September 2013 to spread the information of Government flagship programmes like MGNREGA, NRHM etc.

11. Justice Darmar Murugesan, the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 21 September 2013 appointed as member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for a five-year term.

12. Durga Sakthi Nagpal reinstated. A day after she met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Uttar Pradesh government today revoked the suspension of woman IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal.

13. South Africa and India will jointly hold an inter-ministerial conference as well as a business meet later this month to enhance bilateral trade relations, officials said, here today.

14. Australia is keen to collaborate with ISRO for scientific space data to guard its 59,736-km-long coastline against tsunami and storms.Australia has shown interest in getting data from Indian satellite Oceansat-2, which can measure ocean colour.

15.  Disgraced top Communist Party leader Bo Xilai sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court for bribery, embezzlement of power.

16. The AITA has appointed former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj as the new non-playing captain of the Davis Cup team, which will take on Chinese Taipei in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie next year.

17. Russia would hand over 1,000 Megawatt Bushehr nuclear reactor to Iran today. The project under IAEA Control, began 35 years ago with Germany’s help and was finished by Russia. Iran’s Atomic agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi said he expected work to start soon on a second plant upon completion of talks with Moscow.

18. Sandeep Tulsi Yadav has created history by winning India's first-ever medal in the 66kg Greco-Roman category at the Senior World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

19. Deepika Kumari wins Silver at Archery World Cup in Paris. In the finals, the 19-year-old Deepika lost to the Korean Olympic champion Ok-Hee Yun.

20. Alvaro Mutis, an award-winning Colombian poet, essayist and novelist influential throughout the Spanish-speaking world, died on Monday in Mexico City, officials said. Mutis, who was 90, won the prestigious Principe de Asturias award in 1997 and the Cervantes award in 2001, two of the top Spanish language literature prizes. 

21. Samajwadi Party general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Mohan Singh, who was recently removed from the post of party national spokesman over differences with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, passed away at AIIMS on Sunday after a prolonged battle with cancer.

22. Nepalese Army Chief General Gaurav Shamsher J B Rana will undertake a week-long visit to India from 29th September to strengthen military-to-military ties, including supply of hardware to Nepal Army. This is Rana's third visit to India after assuming charge as Army Chief and second official visit to the country this year. 

23. A powerful typhoon Usagi hit Hong Kong and the southern China coast on Monday, killing at least 20 people on the mainland, crippling power lines and causing flooding and gale force winds.

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