Daily Current Affairs : 25th October 2013

1. Global financial services major HSBC today lowered India’s current account deficit (CAD) forecast for this financial year to 3.4 per cent of GDP from 4.1 per cent earlier. CAD, the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, had declined to 3.6 per cent in the January-March quarter after touching a record high of 6.5 per cent in the October-December quarter.

2. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is going ahead and launching new services even as the decision on whether the Aadhaar card is mandatory for getting government subsidies is pending before the Supreme Court. In a new initiative, Axis Bank entered into a tie up with the UIDAI that will enable the bank to open accounts by using the 12-digit Aadhaar number of the customer.

3. Centra sanctions 1,260 crore rupees to upgrade jawans' facilities in far-flung Indo-Tibetan Border Police , ITBP posts.

4. Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood actor, was on 23 October 2013 appointed as the goodwill ambassador for South Korea. He was appointed as the public diplomat as well as an ambassador of India’s soft power. Shah Rukh Khan will visit South Korea before the maiden visit to The President of South Korea- Park Geun-hye.

5. According to the China-based Hurun India Rich List, Ambani retained the top position for the second year even after a wealth decrease of 2 percent. Ambani is followed by London-based steel baron LN Mittal with assets of USD 15.9 billion. Mittal's wealth declined 6 percent from in 2012. Sun Pharmaceuticals' founder Dilip Shanghvi broke into the top three for the first time with a 66 percent surge in his wealth.

6. British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro passed away on 23 October 2013. He was 89 years old. He died after a heart attack. He was the renowned British sculptor of his generation and also worked as the assistant to Henry Moore in the 1950s.

7. Simona Halep of Romania defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to win the Kremlin Cup on 20 October 2013 at Moscow, Russia. It was the fifth WTA singles championship for Simona Halep.

8. The Government of India will appoint Hockey India’s Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director for Indian Hockey. He is all set to be appointed till Rio Olympics 2016 keeping in view all the major events taking place in the next three years.

9. The committee probing the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing episode sought information from the public regarding allegations of betting against Gurunath Meiyappan and the other accused in the scandal on Thursday. The Supreme Court appointed committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and including Additional Solicitor General L. Nageshwar Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, had its first meeting on Thursday after being appointed early this month. 

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