Daily Current Affairs : 30th October 2013

1. India ranked to the 134th spot in the ease of doing business list according to the annual Doing Business report released on 29 October 2013 by World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

• The top ten nations in the Ease of Doing Business ranking are Singapore (1), Hong Kong (2), New Zealand (3), United States (4), Denmark (5), Malaysia (6), Korea (7), Georgia (8), Norway (9) and the United Kingdom (10).
• Among BRICS grouping, Russia is placed at 92nd spot, Brazil is ranked 116, South Africa is ranked the 41st rank and China ranked at 96th position.
• India is also ranked lowest among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
• Other neighbouring nations of India Nepal (105), Pakistan (110) and Bangladesh (130) are also ranked above India.

2. The Union Cabinet on 30 October 2013 approved certain amendments to the Food Security Bill that includes extension of the deadline to implement the law from six months to one year. 

3. The Finance Ministry has opposed the Kirit Parikh panel’s proposal to hiking the price of diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene. The panel has suggested that diesel prices be increased by Rs 5/litre, subsidised domestic LPG by Rs 250/cylinder, and kerosene being sold under the public distribution system by Rs 4/litre immediately, as well as subsequent phase-out of subsidy on all these products. It also suggested bringing down the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders available to every household annually to six from nine.

4. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 30 October 2013 approved the launch of the new Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS) during the 12th five year plan with an investment of 500 crore rupees. The IPDS was approved for establishment of four to six brown field projects and three to five green field projects that addresses the environmental issues that is faced by the Textile Processing Units. 

5. Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on 29 October 2013 launched the High Speed Rail Corporation of India Ltd (HSRC), a subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL). The main objective of the HSRC is to develop High Speed Rail (HSR) Corridors in India to run passenger trains at speeds up to 350 Kilo Meter per hour.

6. For the 22nd consecutive year at the United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly on 29 October 2013 adopted a resolution calling for an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba.

7. Australia on 29 October 2013 announced the winding down of its military mission in Afghanistan with the withdrawal of most of its troops by the end of 2014. Approximately, 1000 Australian troops are posted at the International Force base in Tarin Kot, the capital of southern Afghan province Uruzgan.

8. Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor on 29 October 2013 was honoured in the House of Commons, London for her contribution to the global entertainment industry. The 33-year old actress was presented a framed golden coloured plaque by NRI MP Keith Vaz, Chairman of Britain’s Home Affairs Committee. Kareena was also honoured by the Asian Sunday Newspaper. Kareena is the only Bollywood artist to be honoured at British Parliament after Amitabh Bachchan and she is the first Bollywood actress to be honoured by UK Parliament.

9. Prime minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 29 october 2013 inaugurated the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Museum at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Museum was established in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was an Indian freedom fighter.

10. Renowned Bharatnatyam exponent Geeta Chandran was on 29 October 2013 honoured with the prestigious Guru Debaprasad Award for outstanding contribution in the field of dance. The award was presented to Geeta Chandran and three others by Odisha Governor S C Jamir at in Bhubaneswar. The others Awardees are:Dr. Anita Ratnam (Contemporary Dance), Guru Shashadhar Acharya (Chhau Dance), Guru Sudhakar Sahu (Odissi).

11. Bollywood actor and talk show host Aamir Khan was among a select group of film personalities honoured here for making a major impact on social issues through cinema. In glittering event held at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington the America Abroad Media (AAM) group feted Aamir Khan along with Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow and 2013 Nobel Prize nominee the International Centre on Nonviolent Conflict.

12. Telecom services provider Vodafone India in association with ICICI Bank has launched M-Pesa, its trademarked mobile money transfer and payment service in Maharashtra. The service, which provides customers who register for it access to financial services through their cell phones, is extended in 286 tehsils in the State through 4,080 trained authorised agents across Vodafone’s 387 exclusive retail stores.

13. All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 30 October 2013 signed an agreement under Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) with Football Federation of Australia (FFA) to support AIFF's Grassroots Programme. The agreement includes financial, administrative and technical support (from FFA) in the form of capacity building within the State Associations who at present are involved in the Grassroots Programme, Grassroots Courses and Grassroots Festivals.

14.  India pulled off a sensational six-wicket victory over Australia in the do-or-die sixth cricket one-dayer, riding on Virat Kohli's brutal unbeaten 115 and Shikhar Dhawan's blistering century to level the seven-match series 2-2 .