15th October 2014 - Daily Current Affairs

15th October 2014 - Daily Current Affairs



National Affairs

• Today (15th October 2014) is Global Hand Washing Day.
• In Madhya Pradesh, a new world record was created today when over twenty lakh school students in around 20 thousand schools washed their hands simultaneously on the occasion of 'Global Hand Washing Day'.
• India today made it mandatory for tobacco companies to devote 85 per cent space on packets of cigarettes and other tobacco products to warnings against the ill effects of tobacco consumption.
• The guidelines would come into effect from April 1, 2015.
• Haryana today created history clocking an all-time high polling of about 76 per cent, surpassing the previous best of 72.65 per cent in 1967 in the high-stakes battle among top contenders Congress, BJP and INLD amid stray incidents of violence in many parts of the state.
• Karnataka Lokayukta orders enquiry into alleged misuse of funds for afforestation in Gulbarga district.

International Affairs

• In a major breakthrough in India's fight against black money allegedly stashed abroad, Switzerland today said it will examine Indian requests for banking information on a priority basis and provide requested details in a time-bound manner.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani and assured him that India would stand with him, as a friend and a partner, at every step as his government builds a strong and peaceful Afghanistan.
• India and Finland today signed 19 agreements including one for peaceful use of nuclear energy as well as management of radioactive waste from atomic power plants as President Pranab Mukherjee began his two-day visit to the key Scandinavian country.

Awards & Honors

• Reserve Bank governor Raghuram Rajan has been conferred with the Best Central Bank Governor award for 2014 by Euromoney magazine. 
• Euromoney is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance.
• Euromoney Magazine considers governors whose key decisions had directly benefited both the performance and perception of their country’s economic and financial achievements over the previous 12 months for this award.
• It said Raghuram Rajan's tough monetary medicine combatted the storm ravaging the deficit-ridden economy in the recent emerging market crisis.
• Australian author Richard Flanagan wins Man BookerPrize 2014 for his novel, 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'. Read complete story here.

Business & Economy

1. Telecom sector regulator Trai today suggested a 10 per cent higher base price for the next round of spectrum auction in the 1800 Mhz band (2G spectrum) in view of the increasing data usage by consumers.