Daily Current Affairs : 6th & 7th October 2013

1. US scientists James Rothman and Randy Schekman and Thomas Suedhof of Germany have won the Nobel prize in medicine for their discoveries of the "machinery regulating vesicle traffic", a major cellular transport system. The awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics will be announced by other prize juries this week and next. Each prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million). Last year’s medicine award went to Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka for their contributions to stem cell science.

2. World Habitat day is observed across the world on 7 October 2013. The purpose of this day is creation of the global awareness regarding the State of the towns and cities and the basic human right to adequate shelter. First Monday of October every year is designated as the World Habitat Day by the United Nation. The theme of the World Habitat Day 2013 is Urban Mobility to encourage people to shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation.

3. Eid-ul-Azha to be celebrated on Oct 16. This was announced in New Delhi last evening by , Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid, after the new moon was sighted yesterday. Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated by Muslims across the world to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to Allah.

4. Arundhati Bhattacharya assumed charge as Chairperson of State Bank of India (SBI). Immediately prior to taking over as Chairperson, Bhattacharya was the Managing Director & CFO, State Bank of India. Bhattacharya joined SBI as a Probationary Officer in the year 1977 spending 36 years in the state-owned bank.

5.  In another move to ease liquidity for banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Monday eased interest rate on borrowings under the marginal standing facility (MSF) by 50 basis points to 9 per cent. One bps is one hundredth of a percentage point. 

6. The Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh announced that the food subsidy and foodgrain allocation would be doubled for the state of Bihar under the National Food Security Act. Jairam Ramesh announced that Bihar's food subsidy will increase from 5500 crore Rupees to 11500 crore Rupees, under the National Food Security Act. This means that the allocation of foodgrain will increase from 28 lakh tonnes to 56 lakh tonnes. Apart from Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh would be other three major beneficiaries under the new Act.

7. Former Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran was on Monday sworn in the first chief minister of Sri Lanka’s northern province, most of which was under LTTE's control for nearly 30 years. Justice Wigneswaran took oath before President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the chief minister after his party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), won the provincial council elections held Sep 21.

8. President Pranab Mukherjee, who is in turkey as part of his two-nation tours will hold talks with the top leadership of Turkish capital Ankara on Monday. Five inter-document agreements and six MOU's will be signed on Monday. He is in the country on an invitation by the President of Turkey. This is the third visit by an Indian President to Turkey after the visits by the President of India in 1993 and 1998.  Earlier, Mukherjee had visited Belgium where he attended a series of state events including the 'Europalia-India 2013-14', a cultural extravaganza showcasing India. 

9. In a setback to N Srinivasan, Supreme Court proposes 3-member panel headed by Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana HC Mukul Mudgal to independently probe into IPL spot-fixing scandal. The Supreme Court rejected BCCI's suggestion for setting up a special committee to probe the IPL spot-fixing scandal and proposed a three-member panel headed by former Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal to examine the issue. 

10. The Supreme Court on Monday decided to appoint former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah to head a committee which has been deliberating on broad guidelines for protection of good Samaritans rendering assistance to accident victims.

11. The World Bank today lowered its 2013 growth forecast for East Asian developing countries to 7.1 per cent. It also warned that a prolonged US fiscal crisis could be damaging to the region.

12. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday reached his constituency Amethi and laid the foundation stone of Mega Food Park in Jagdishpur. The project is aimed to create 2,500 jobs and generate Rs 450 crore revenue. 

13. India test-fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile. India today test-fired its ingenuously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from Chandipur Integrated test range in Odisha. Prithvi is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines.

14. Veteran Malayalam film actor Madhu, who essayed memorable roles in various films, including the National award winner 'Chemmeen', will be presented the Pravsi Doha Basheer award at a function in Kochi on Friday. The award, in memory of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Malayalam novelist and short story writer, will be presented by eminent novelist M T Vasudevan Nair. 

15. Acclaimed Cambodian director Rithy Panh, whose family died in the Khmer Rouge genocide, received the “Asian Filmmaker of the Year award” at the Busan International Film Festival on Friday for his efforts to save his country's cinematic heritage.

16. Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) is organising a five-day environmental film festival titled 'Reel Earth: Environmental Film Fest' in Kochi from October 7. This is the third edition of the festival, which aims to increase awareness on key environmental issues by promoting and screening short and medium length films and videos, focusing on environmental issues produced in different parts of the world. 

17.  World's highest-altitude civilian airport has started operating in Sichuan provinve neighbouring Tibet, dramatically cutting travel time in the remote region in southwestern China. Daocheng Yading Airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level in Daocheng county in Garzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, began operations on Monday. 

18. South Super star Kamal Hassan announced that Vishwaroopam-2 is ready for release and this film is a sequel to the his most controversial film Vishwaroopam - which stirred political controversy in Tamil Nadu.

19. Spain’s Rafael Nadal returned to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time in more than two years on Monday, overtaking Serbian Novak Djokovic, who dropped to second.

20. The Disciplinary Committee of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on 5 October 2013 recommended a life-ban on Jwala Gutta for her role in delaying the Indian Badminton League (IBL) fixture between Delhi Smashers and Banga Beats in Bangalore on 25 August 2013.

21. Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal who will replace him as the men's new world number one on Monday.

22.  Serena Williams beats Jelena Jankovic 6-2,6-2 to win China Open.

23. Top seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentine defeated third seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to win the ATP Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on 6 October 2013. 

24. Mumbai Indians clinched the Champions League Twenty-20 title by defeating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in New Delhi. Harbhajan Singh was adjudged Man of the match as he bagged 4 wickets by giving 32 runs while Dwayne Smith was declared Champion of the series. This was the last T-20 match of Sachin Tendulkar and Royals skipper Rahul Dravid as both players announced their retirement from T-20 format.

25. Iran wins the 17th Asia Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship.

26.  Pakistan defeated India in the final of the Under-19 Asian Rugby Championship 2013 in Lahore. Suraj Veer Sharma was the captain of Indian team while Daud Gull was the captain of Pakistan team.

27. Kalapana Devi won bronze medal at the Judo tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was India’s first IJF Grand Prix medal. Competing in 52kg weight category, Kalpana defeated Zarifa Sultonova of Uzbekistan but lost to Gili Cohen of Israel.

Note : If any important news left, you may add on in comment :)