Daily Current Affairs : 29th October 2013

1. Along expected lines, the Reserve Bank of India Governor hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points in the October monetary policy review today. The repo rate is now at 7.75 per cent. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow short term funds from RBI. The Governor has also cut the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 25 bps to 8.75 per cent. The MSF is an emergency window that banks borrow from when faced with a funds crunch. The RBI has kept cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4.0 per cent of deposits and increased the liquidity provided through term repos of 7-day and 14-day tenor from 0.25 per cent of deposits of the banking system to 0.5 per cent with immediate effect.

Current Rates:

1. Repo Rate – 7.75%

2. Reverse Repo Rate – 6.75%

3. CRR – 4%

4.SLR – 23%

5. Bank Rate – 8.75%

6. MSF – 8.75%

RBI cuts economic growth forecast for this fiscal to 5 per cent from 5.5 per cent projected earlier. 

2. P.S. Raghvan was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Russia on 28 October 2013. At present, Raghvan, the IFS of 1979 batch is serving as the current Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will succeed Ajai Malhotra, who will retire on 30 November 2013. 

3. Tennis player-producer Ashok Amritraj, who has produced 109 Hollywood films, was presented with the 'Soul of India Award' for his outstanding achievements in the film industry. Mrs Paul, wife of Dr Virendra Paul, formally launched Amritraj's book 'Advantage Hollywood' on the occasion. Amritraj has produced 109 Hollywood films. His hits, starting with 'Double Impact' in 1991, have included 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance', 'Bandits', 'Machete and Premonition'.

4. India and Peru signed 4 documents/Mous on during the official visit of the Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari to Peru on 29 October 2013. The Vice President of India visited Peru to celebrate the 50th year of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. India and Peru signed documents in the field of education, defence cooperation, in the fields of Museum Development, Conversation of Movable Cultural Property and Dissemination and Promotion of Cultural Heritage.

5. The Government of India on 29 October 2013 decided to appoint Air Marshal Arup Raha as the next Chief of the Air Staff. He will take the charge after the retirement of present Chief of the Air Staff NAK Browne on 31 December 2013. Air Marshal Arup Raha is presently the Vice Chief of Air Staff.

6. The Centre has constituted a high-level committee headed by former CRPF Chief, K Vijay Kumar, to look at the division of assets and the administrative framework which would be required when Telangana is created upon bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

7. With a networth of $21 billion, Mukesh Ambani has retained his title as India’s wealthiest for the sixth year in a row, while the country’s 100 richest persons saw their collective wealth grow by a modest 3 per cent in a year. NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal (USD 16 billion) also continues to hold the second position.

8. The country’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, inducted as a minister in the Haryana cabinet by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This is the second time that she has become a minister in the Hooda government. She was earlier a minister of state in the 2005-09 Hooda government. She was listed by a leading business publication as the country’s richest woman as she lords over a multi-billion rupee steel and power sector empire and is the chairperson of the Jindal Group. Her name also figures in the Top-100 richest people in the world.

9. Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood actress became the global brand ambassador of American fashion brand Guess in the last week of October 2013. She will endorse the brand from 2014. With this, Priyanka Chopra, who started her filmy career with the Tamil film Thamizhan, joined the league of Paris Hilton, Drew Barrymore and Claudia Schiffer as the brand ambassadors of Guess. 

10. Rajendra Yadav, the noted Hindi writer passed away on 28 October 2013 at Mayur Vihar, Delhi because of prolonged illness. He was 84 years old. He was a pioneer of Hindi literary movement known as Nayi Kahani in the 60s. He re-launched Munshi Premchand's magazine HANS, which he himself had been editing since 1986.

11. Lou Reed, the poet of rock ‘n’ roll, passed away on 27 October 2013 at Southampton, New York, United States. He was 71 years old. He died because of an illness associated to liver transplant which took place recently. Lou Reed was known popularly for his unique deadpan voice, poetic lyrics as well as for pioneering and coining the term called Ostrich Guitar Tuning.

12. India retains number one spot in latest ICC ODI ranking, Australia at second. India’s Ravindra Jadeja is at No. 1 spot in ODI bowlers. Among batsmen, South Africa’s Hashim Amla leads the table. India's Virat Kohli is at No.4 followed by skipper Dhoni at No.7.

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