CURRENT AFFAIRS 15-16th Oct., 2014

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 16th Oct., 2014

1. Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India’s position on food security at the World Trade Organisation remains “intact’’ indicating that there has been no softening of its stand. Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting of the WTO is scheduled in Geneva where efforts would be made by the WTO Secretariat and members to break the current deadlock.

2. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has been named the Euromoney magazine's Central Bank Governor of the Year Award, 2014 for successfully tackling the currency crisis. He took several measures to attract capital flows which helped the rupee strengthen to 60-62 per dollar.

3. Government of India has told American authorities that it will not cooperate with the out-of-cycle review (OCR) initiated by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) as part of its annual ‘Special 301 Report’. The report had blamed India's supposedly slack intellectual property rights (IPR) regime. India believes that USTR action is unilateral but it is geared to cooperate with the Indo-US bilateral dialogue mechanisms.

4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram to bring in key reforms in the labour sector. During the launch, Modi will dedicate Shram Suvidha Portal, Labour Inspection Scheme and Portability through Universal Account Number for Employees Provident Fund. The Apprentices Protsahan Yojana, to support one lakh apprentices till March 2017, will also be launched.

5. India and Finland have agreed to double bilateral trade to $2 billion over the next three years. It has signed19 agreements for cooperation across various areas including education, biotechnology, nuclear and radiation safety and renewable energy.

CURRENT AFFAIRS 15th Oct., 2015

1. Fortune released the list of powerful people titled 40 under 40. The list was topped by Uber's 38-year-old co-founder Travis Kalanick, Airbnb's 33-year-old CEO Brian Chesky and Founder and CEO of Facebook, 30-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, at the number two spot.

2. British lawmakers voted in favour to recognise Palestine as an official state. Although the motion was passed with an overwhelming majority but does not signify an official change in Britain’s position regarding the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The government may not officially recognize Palestine as a state.

3. Lok Sabha MP Kapil Krishna Thakur died in Kolkata at the age of 73. He had received the prestigious Sri Sri Thakur Harichand-Guruchand prize for his sustained work to uplift the Matuas.

4. The world's largest online store Amazon and India's largest listed retailer Future Group have signed a deal to jointly sell goods over the Internet. They will also develop a new line of products across categories to be exclusively sold at Amazon and Future Group's retail stores.

5. ” The Narrow Road to the Deep North”, a novel of Australian author Richard Flanagan has won the 2014 Man Booker Prize. The book depicts the disturbing stories of prisoners and captors on the Burma railway.