Daily Current Affairs : 18th October 2013

1. Brazil and India will work together to devise internet regulations in order to protect online privacy from snooping by other countries. The partnership was announced in Brazilian capital Brasilia on Tuesday, after a meeting between foreign ministers of Brazil and India, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo and Salman Khurshid. 

2. India and Hungary signed the bilateral agreement for the promotion and development of traditional systems of medicine on 17 October 2013. The main objective of this MoU is to strengthen, promote and develop cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefits. The MoU encourages and promotes cooperation to enhance the use of traditional systems of medicine, exchange of regulatory information on operational licensing to practice traditional medicine. 

 
3. India and Russian Armies began a joint exercise INDRA 2013 in Mahajan Field Firing Range in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. The Exercise is aimed at improving bilateral defence cooperation between the two armies and enhance their ability to operate as integrated forces in a well-coordinated manner within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations. This is the seventh India-Russia joint army exercise which will continue till 28th October.

4. Saudi Arabia has turned down membership of the UN Security Council, a day after it won the seat. Accusing the powerful body of double-standards, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the country has no other option but to turn down Security Council membership until it is reformed and given the means to accomplish its duties and assumes its responsibilities in preserving the world's peace and security. It said the Security Council had failed in its duties towards Syria as well as in other world conflict.

5. The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh on 18 October 2013 released a book on Indian painting written by Prof. B.N. Goswami in New Delhi. Prof. B.N. Goswami is a distinguished art historian, and a leading authority on Indian art and is Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Punjab University, Chandigarh. 

6. The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination banknotes with rupee symbol bearing the signature of new governor Raghuram Rajan. As per RBI notification, it will issue these bank notes incorporating rupee symbol on the obverse and reverse, without inset letter in both the numbering panels, in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 bearing the signature of Rajan. RBI said that the year of printing - '2013', will be printed on the reverse of the banknote.

7. Union Government of India appointed on 17 October 2013 Gireesh B. Pradhan, former Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Gireesh B. Pradhan , a Maharashtra Cadre IAS officer of the 1977 batch. He retired from the post of Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in June 2013.

8. Maya Angelou accepts Mailer Center award. The 85—year—old author, poet, dancer and actress was honored during a benefit gala at the New York Public Library, the annual gathering organized by the Mailer Center and writers colony.

9. Alleged middleman in the Agusta Westland VVIP Helicopter deal,Guido Ralph Haschke arrested by Swiss authorities. According to Italian news website, La Repubblica, Haschke could be brought to Italy by next week in case he prefers not to appeal against extradition proceedings before the Swiss Federal court.

10. Micromax’s new face is Hugh Jackman. New Delhi-based smartphone manufacturer Micromax has stepped outside Indian borders to rope in its brand ambassador. Academy Award winner Hugh Jackman, best-known for the movies Les Miserables, X-Men and Wolverine, will be associated with the Indian consumer electronics company, a Micromax statement said on Friday.
 
11. Microsoft rolled out Windows 8.1 to customers yesterday. The update, which is free to users around the world who already have Windows 8 on their PCs, will allow traditionalists to boot their computers in the familiar old desktop mode rather than the tiled start page introduced with Windows 8. Windows 8.1 also boasts tighter integration with Microsoft’s Cloud services, a beefed-up Bing search app, and more potent multitasking.

12. Manipur Defeated Haryana to Lift 54th Subroto Cup Football Tournament. Radha Madhav Sanskrit Vidhyalaya, Nambol, Bishnupur (Manipur) lifted the Girls' title of the 54th Subroto Cup football tournament on 17 October 2013. The final match was held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The Subroto Cup Football Tournament is primarily an inter-school football tournament in India, which is named after Indian Air Force Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. The tournament was started in the year 1960 and since then, it is conducted every year.It is conducted by the Indian Air Force, with support from India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

13. Sarojini Varadappan, the renowned social worker died on 17 October 2013 in Chennai following a brief illness. She was 92 years old. Sarojini Varadappan was a daughter of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Bhakthavatsalam. She was the President of the Women India Association, an NGO working on women-related issues.

14. Online payment facility PayUPaisa announced the launch of all-in-one payment settlement solution, which addresses problems of money settlement and helps marketplaces achieve higher efficiency by providing better control over fund disbursements mechanisms. PayUPaisa takes care of nodal account registration and other regulatory requirements for the sellers, helping marketplaces cut huge cost on seller on boarding. PayUPaisa is part of PayU India, an online payment firm.It serves businesses like Goibibo, Snapdeal, Bookmyshow, Jabong, Ferns n Petals, Zomato, Tradus, Micromax Mobiles, Groupon India among others.

15. Aditya Mehta becomes first Indian to enter into the semifinals of a Snooker Ranking event. After ousting world No 18 Mark Williams in the pre-quarter-finals, Aditya Mehta beats Pankaj Advani in the quarterfinals of Indian Open Snooker tournament.

16. Pujara drops to 8th in ICC Test rankings. Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers' chart of the ICC Test rankings issued on Friday.

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