Current Affairs : 17th September 2013

1. Air India has tied up with SBI Cards to launch a co-branded travel credit card that seeks to add value to the travel experience of Indian customers. The offering from this tie-up comprises Platinum as well as a Signature card.

2. YES Bank has become the first bank to raise funds overseas using the swap loan facility provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week.

3. India and China on Monday agreed to initiate steps to include media co-operation as part of the 2014 celebrations being observed to commemorate ‘Friendly Exchanges’.

4. RTI applicants will no longer have to wait to get their applications processed as the Department of Posts is all set to bring out an RTI stamp for sale soon and also set up special counters, according to a senior officer.

5. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was awarded Indira Gandhi Official Language Award for propagation of Rajbhasha ( Official Language) in the company by the Union Government of India on Hindi Divas on 14 September 2013.

6. Datawind has entered into a strategic partnership with TES India, an online community for teachers, to provide a library of ready-to-use teaching material to its end-users.

7. Google has reportedly acquired file-sharing app developer Bump for undisclosed financial terms.

8. Indian Grandmasters Vidit Gujarathi and Sahaj Grover maintained a clean slate, defeating Tomas Laurusas of Lithuania and Vyacheslav Lozhnikov of Kazakhstan respectively in the second round of the World Junior Chess Championship in Kocaeli, Turkey.

9. Bollywood actor John Abraham was on Monday conferred the ‘Pride of the Nation’ award for his attempt to raise the sensitive issue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination through his role as a RAW agent in “Madras Cafe”.

10. Leading IT security solutions provider Quick Heal Technologies today appointed Rajesh Ghonasgi as Chief Financial Officer.

11. India pushed import duty on gold jewellery up by half to 15 per cent, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday, setting it higher than raw gold duty in a move aimed more at protecting the domestic jewellery industry than stemming bullion imports.

12. China opens the world’s highest airport in Daocheng. Yading airport in Daocheng county of Garzi Tibetan autonomous region of China stands at 4,411 metre above sea level. It pipped the Qamdo Bangda airport, which has an altitude of 4,334 metre, to become the highest airport in the world after its inauguration yesterday.

13. Global mining giant Vedanta Resources has appointed Tom Albanese, former Chief Executive of Rio Tinto, as chairman of its subsidiary Vedanta Resources Holdings Ltd. In this role, he will be actively involved in continuing to develop the company’s strategy, policies and growth objectives, as per Vedanta.

14. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived an assassination attempt by a Taliban gunman last year, has been named as the recipient of Amnesty International’shighest award. She will receive Amnesty International’sAmbassador of Conscience Award along with American singer and human rights activist Harry Belafonte at ceremony Tuesday evening in Dublin, Ireland.

15. Asian Champion Amit Kumar settled for silver after going down narrowly in the final of the 55kg category on the opening day of World Wrestling Championships on Monday.

16. India’s Ravindra Jadeja continues to jointly top the bowlers’ list, while Virat Kohli was the highest-ranked Indian batsman at 4th in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued today. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains unchanged at 7th position in the batsmen’s list followed by Suresh Raina with 16th ranking. In the bowling chart, R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar held on to their 18th and joint 20th position respectively.