Daily Current Affairs : 24th August 2013

1. Hun Sen, 61, who has been in power for 28 years, was sworn in Tuesday as Cambodian prime minister for another five-year term. Hun Sen took office after parliament re-elected him as the prime minister amid a boycott by the opposition party.

2. A high-level panel, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, on Monday submitted to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram its report on the alleged irregularities at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL). NSEL, part of Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies group, is facing a crisis in settling dues worth Rs 5,600 crore.

3. ICICI Bank has launched a new Facebook app that will enable its customers to transact directly from the social networking site. Primarily targeted at young customers, the new app 'Pockets' will enable customers of the bank to transfer money, recharge mobile phones and book movie tickets from their Facebook pages. There will be no additional charge for using the application.

4. Moody’s has lowered its outlook for India's GDP growth to 4.5 per cent for 2013-14 from 5.5 per cent.

5. New HIV infections drop by a third since 2001 and more than halved among children: UNAIDS. In its annual report on the state of the global pandemic, the UNAIDS said globally, 2.3 million people contracted the AIDS virus last year, which is down 33% from 2001. Last year, 1.6 million people died of AIDS-related deaths, down from 1.8 million in 2011.

6. Joint military exercises in general combat and mountain warfare between India and Nepal began in Pithoragarh today in Uttrakhand. The exercise includes anti-insurgency operations in hilly terrains and relief and rescue operations at the time of natural disasters.

7. India Navy is conducting 3-day joint military exercises ‘Naseem Al Bahr” or the Breeze from the Sea, with the royal Oman Navy from September 23-26. The joint military exercise is part of ongoing collaboration between the navies of the two countries to enhance maritime capabilities.

8. Paper Arabia 2013, a 3-day long exhibition and conference of the leading manufacturers and exporters of paper and pulp industry gets underway at Dubai World trade center today. 132 exhibitors from 22 countries including India are taking part in the conference. India is a leading exporter and currently produces 12 tonnes of paper and paper products out of which 10 percent is exported.

9. Rising shuttler P V Sindhu was conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. Sindhu had missed the opportunity to receive the award from President Pranab Mukhejee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 31 as she was busy playing in the final of the Indian Badminton league (IBL). Jitendra Singh today presented the shuttler with a statuette, citation and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh during the governing body meeting of Sports Authority of India.

10. India environmentalist Bunker Roy and Pakistan's teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai were declared winners of this year's of the prestigious 'Clinton Global Citizens Awards'. Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has been providing solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40 years.

11. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in partnership with GE and Saudi Aramco Tuesday launched first all-female business process outsourcing (BPO) centre in Saudi Arabia that will create nearly 3,000 jobs in the Gulf kingdom.

12. Bo Xilai, China’s disgraced former Communist Party leader has appealed against his life sentence conviction. The move came after a court in eastern China sentenced Bo to life in prison on Sunday for bribe-taking, embezzlement and abuse of power.

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