Daily Current Affairs Updates - 11th October 2013

International Affairs

• Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousafzai says she wants to become the Prime Minister, following in the footsteps of her role model late Benazir Bhutto, and aspires to use that position to serve her nation.
• India and Indonesia today strengthened bilateral cooperation by inking six pacts in diverse areas, ranging from health and disaster management to combating illicit trafficking of drugs.
• External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will visit Brazil from October 14-17 to co-chair the Sixth India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with his counterpart Luiz Alberto Figueiredo in Brasilia.

National Affairs

• Queen Elizabeth II's Baton for next year's Commonwealth Games will arrive in India on Friday night following a grand launch by her at Buckingham Palace earlier this week.
• International Day of the GirlChild was being observed.
• Dengue figure in the capital has crossed the alarming 3,000-mark, with about 400 new cases being detected in the last few days. 3,298 cases have been reported in the city so far with North Delhi alone accounting for over 1,500 cases, a report released by the MCD said.
• First meeting of GoM headed by HM SushilKumarShinde, to look into bifurcation of AndhraPradesh to be held in NewDelhi.
• Odisha and Andhra Pradesh today braced for the "very severe" cyclone that is expected to hit the east coast with winds gusting up to 220 kmph tomorrow evening, as lakhs of people were being evacuated to safer places and the military kept on standby.

Science and Technology

• 8th century AD cave temple discovered in TamilNadu by ASI, inscription of 11th century Chola period donating land to the temple also found.

Business and Economy

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has sent out a clear message when he told a media channel that India is not facing any economic crisis and won't approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for funds in the next five years.
• The Indian economy is expected to recover significantly by next year on account of the series of policy decisions taken by the government, a top IMF official said today.
•  New RTGS (real-time gross settlement), a mechanism that transfers money from one bank to another, will be operational from 19th October.

Awards and Honors

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 is to be awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.
• Indian boy Varun Arora wins Young Innovators Competition by United Nations along with 9 others from across the world.

Sports

• Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium is set to host the farewell Test for Sachin Tendulkar after the legendary batsman expressed a wish to play his landmark 200th match against the West Indies next month in front of his home crowd.