Daily Current Affairs : 14th November 2013

1. World Diabetes Day was observed on 14 November 2013 across the world to raise awareness of diabetes. The theme for period 2009-13 is Education and Prevention. World Diabetes Day is an annual campaign, led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. The date was chosen because it marks the birthday of Frederick Banting, who, along with Charles Best, is credited with the discovery of insulin in 1921.

2. Children's Day was celebrated in India on 14 November 2013 in order to commemorate the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India after Independence.

The day is celebrated to commemorate the affection of Jawaharlal Nehru towards children.

3. Paras Ajmera, Director of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) resigned from the board on 12 November 2013. Paras Ajmera is a nominee of promoter Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) to the board of directors of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX).

4. The Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Yogesh Agarwal resigned from the post of Chairman on 13 November 2013. Anup Wadhawan was appointed as the new Chairman of PFRDA by the Finance Ministry. It is important to note that Yogesh Agarwal had one and half years more as his tenure of the Chairman.

5. Micro-blogging Website Twitter has appointed Parminder Singh as the Managing Director of Asia, North Africa and India. Singh has worked at Google as Managing Director of display solution sales for Asia Pacific region for five years. He is the third person to join Twitter from Google over the last one year after Rishi Jaitly and Shailesh Rao, both hired in November last year.

6. SBI not to merge any associate bank this fiscal. State Bank of India has gone back on its plan to bring one of its associate bank’s under its fold in the current fiscal.

7. Haryana, on 11 November 2013, launched its first food bank in order to give assistance to the different feeding programmes in Gurgaon as well as nearby areas. The food bank received support by global food major Cargill and India Food Banking Network (IFBN), which is initiated by Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations.

8. Preesident Pranab Mukherjee will Friday inaugurate the nuclear waste immobilisation plant (WIP) of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Kalpakkam near here through video conferencing from Mumbai, the research agency said. The president will participate at the graduation function of BARC training school Friday and give the Homi Bhabha Award to the toppers in each discipline.

9. The Minister of Railways Mallikarjun Kharge released a Ruby Jubilee-40th Year Edition of the book titled Indian Railway Track-Design, Construction and Maintenance (Ruby Jubilee-40th Year Edition) on 13 November 2013. The book is authored by a renowned Civil Engineer M.M. Agarwal who served Indian Railways for 33 years and retired from the post of Chief Engineer.

10. Shiraz Naval Minwalla, Professor of Physics in TIFR, Mumbai selected for the 2014 New Horizons in Physics Prize on 5 November 2013. He was awarded "for his pioneering contributions to the study of string theory and quantum field theory; and in particular his work on the connection between the equations of fluid dynamics and Albert Einstein’s equations of general relativity".The New Horizons for Physics Prize awarded to promising junior researchers by Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation. The award carries prize money of 100000 US Dollars.

11. International funding agencies, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, have assured a financial assistance of USD 313 million to Odisha government for restoration and rehabilitation activities in cyclone Phailin hit areas.

12. David Cameron visited India. Seeking broadening of bilateral ties, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said UK and India should be "partners of choice" as both the countries can effectively deal with various challenges like combating terrorism by working closely with each other.

13. NASA in November 2013 released a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible. The panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system was taken by Cassini Spacecraft of the NASA.

14. Wholesale inflation rises to 7% in Oct. The headline inflation number, the wholesale price index or WPI, has increased to 7 per cent in October from 6.46 per cent in September.

15. INS Vikramaditya set to join Indian Navy on Nov. 16. Defence Minister A.K. Antony will induct the long-delayed aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, designed to boost India’s maritime capabilities, at a shipyard in Russia on Saturday. INS Vikramaditya is a Kiev class aircraft carrier which was commissioned by Russian Navy in 1987 under the name Baku.

16. Malayalam film actor-producer Augustine dies in Kozhikode at 56. Augustine, who acted in over 100 films, portrayed several characters that remain etched in the memory of film buffs.

17. Sachin Tendulkar postage stamp released on honour of the Little Master before 200th Test match at the Wankhede Stadium. Milind Deora, Sharad Pawar and Rajeev Shukla released the stamp honouring Tendulkar ahead of the start of second Test between India and West Indies. Even for the toss, the captains used a special commemorative coin featuring the image of the legendary batsman.

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