Daily Current Affairs Updates - 26th August 2013

 Daily Current Affairs Updates - 26th August 2013

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International Affairs

• Afghan President HamidKarzai to visit Pakistan to rebuild frayed bilateral ties and talks on resuscitating peace process with Taliban.
• Finland's Foreign Trade Minister AlexanderStubb to visitIndia in Oct to explore business opportunities to further boost bilateral ties.
• Indonesian clerics call for ban of Miss World pageant scheduled for next month, saying the exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings.

National Affairs

• The non-executive Chairman the National Spot Exchange (NSEL) Shankarlal Guru, has resigned saying some "bad people" have entered the crisis-ridden exchange and were responsible for its woes.
• Goa Handicraft, Rural & Small Scale Industries Development Corporation to subsidise 528 artisans to make eco-friendly Ganesh idols.
• Voting on UPA government's flagship programme, the Food Security Bill has begun in the Lok Sabha. In all likelihood the bill will be passed by the lower house of Parliament on Monday.
• State-run BSNL and the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) are likely to sign a MoU by the end of this month for setting up mobile towers in states affected by naxal violence.
• Aiming to boost honey production in Assam by almost three-fold in the next five years and to imbibe apiculture expertise to farmers-cum-bee keepers, the State Government is gearing up to launch the ‘Chief Minister's Honey Bee Mission’.
•  The Rajya Sabha today passed a bill to amend marriage laws which seeks to provide for irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce, subject to certain safeguards to the wife and affected children.
• 39 medical colleges to be upgraded by HealthMinistry under Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.
• The Uttarakhand High Court today banned all construction within a radius of 200 metre of the rivers in the state.

Deaths :

• Julie Harris (87), one of Broadway’s most honored performers, whose roles ranged from the flamboyant Sally Bowles in “I Am a Camera” to the reclusive Emily Dickinson in “The Belle of Amherst,” died today.

Science & Technology

• Technology giant Google is planning to create a fleet of driverless 'robo-taxis' to pick up and drop off passengers.

Business and Economy

• The Reserve Bank will conduct open market operations to purchase government bonds worth Rs 8,000 crore on August 30 to ease liquidity in the market.

Sports

• US Open Begins Today