Current Affairs 14 July 2013

1. England wins first Ashes Test in a thriller. England won the first Ashes Test beating Australia by 14 runs in a cricket thriller on the fifth day at Trent Bridge Sunday.

2. ElBaradei sworn in as Egypt’s vice-president. Prominent liberal Egyptian leader Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in on Sunday as Egypt’s interim vice president for foreign relations, the presidency said in a statement.

3. Modi slams UPA’s food security scheme. Taking a dig at UPA government’s ambitious food security programme, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Centre was under the impression that merely bringing in the Bill would lead to food reaching the needy.

4. Ottavio Quattrocchi (74), who was main accused in the Bofors scam, died in Milan on Friday, thus bringing to an end a quarter-century-old saga of political bickering between the Congress and its rivals over the infamous gun deal.


 5. A former president of South Africa says he expects Nelson Mandela to soon be discharged from the hospital to recuperate at home. Mandela has been hospitalised for more than five weeks for a recurring lung infection, sparking an outpouring of support in South Africa and internationally.

6. The first nuclear reactor of the Rs 17,000 crore country’s 21st nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, which attained criticality on Saturday night, is functioning smoothly on Sunday (July 14) and all the parameters are normal, a top official said.

7. Spanish rookie Marc Marquez earned his second win of the season with a victory at the German MotoGP at Sachsenring on Sunday to go top of the championship standings.

8. Private sector Reliance General Insurance today said it plans to roll out a health insurance next month for independent woman and girl child at a discount, as part of its effort to empower women.

9. Petrol price was today hiked by a steep Rs 1.55 a litre, the fourth increase in rates in six weeks, as falling rupee made oil imports costlier. Oil companies raised petrol rates by Rs 1.55 a litre, excluding local sales tax or VAT, with effect from midnight.

10. NASA scientists have discovered a blue planet that possibly rains glass, orbiting a star 63 light years away, marking the first time an exoplanet’s true colour has been determined.