23rd October 2014 - Daily Current Affairs

23rd October 2014 - Daily Current Affairs 

National Affairs

• Deepavali / Diwali, The festival of lights is being celebrated with traditional fervour in various parts of the country.
• The festival is devoid of any celebrations in north coastal Andhra which was battered by very severe cyclonic storm 'Hudhud' 12-days ago.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his Diwali day with soldiers in Siachen-the world's highest battlefield, where he made an unannounced and rare visit to boost the morale of the troops guarding the icy peaks.
• In his address to the soldiers, he praised their valour and courage of the soldiers.
• Modi announced Rs. 745-crore package
• Rs 175 crore for renovation of six major hospitals and
• Rs 570 crore for the rebuilding homes damaged in the recent floods in Jammu & Kashmir
• Chhattisgarh government has decided to set up district-level committees (headed by Collectors or Additional Collectors) for the effective implementation of its schemes for the third-gender community.
• These committees will ensure that the benefits of the welfare schemes for transgenders reach them

International Affairs

• In a new update, WHO said there have been 9,936 probable, suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
• The virus has already killed 4,877 people globally .
• A gunman with a scarf over his face shot to death a Canadian soldier standing guard at the nation’s war memorial yesterday, then stormed Parliament in a hail of gunfire before he was killed by the usually ceremonial sergeant-at-arms, authorities and witnesses said.
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vows to intensify anti-terror efforts after this shooting incident in Parliament.
• Libyan Army troops pushed into Benghazi, the first time in two months that government forces had entered the eastern city, which has been under control of Islamist militias.

Visitors

• A 40-member Japanese business delegation will be on a three-day visit to Kerala from 6th November 2014 to identify areas of cooperation with the state, especially Kochi.
• This is going to be the biggest ever visit by officials from any country to the state.
• This event is being organized by Sanin India Association of Japan in association with Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce Kerala.
• Five mayors - Masataka Matsuura, Yasuo Nozaka, Hideto Nagaoka, Hiroki Kondo and Katsugi Nakamura - from the two provinces of Tottri and Shimana are among the delegates.

Business & Economy

• Google Inc launched an email service called 'Inbox' that will better organize emails and display information such as appointments, flight bookings and package deliveries in a more user-friendly way.
• The US tech giant Microsoft is set to drop the brand name Nokia from its future mobile phones and it could happen by year end. It is rebranding Nokia Lumia and calling it 'Microsoft Lumia'.

Sports

• The International Olympic Committee accepted Kosovo into the Olympic fold, clearing the way for it to send a team to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
• Kosovo is a partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe that declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo.
• The move was opposed by Serbian Olympic officials.
• Former England captain and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who retired from international cricket in 2009, confirmed that he will play for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League (BBL) this summer.