13th October 2016 Events - Important Current Affairs

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Dear Gr8 Ambitionists, here are today's (13th October 2016) Important Current Affairs updates. Happy Reading :)

International Affairs

Today (13th October) is International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR).
- This day encourages every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations.
- Theme of the year 2016 : “Live to Tell: raising Awareness, Reducing Mortality”.
Today (second Thursday of October) is World Sight Day.
Ahead of the BRICS Summit in Goa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on 15th October 2016.
India is ranked second among countries with the highest growth in their contribution to high-quality scientific research, according to a recent report.
- Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), ranked 16, is the top Indian institute among the 100 best research institutes across the world.
- Note : China topped the rankings with 40 institutes in the top 100 list.
The first World Tsunami Awareness Day will be celebrated on 5th November 2016 at the Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016.

National Affairs

BRICS trade ministers are meeting in New Delhi today to discuss ways to further enhance economic cooperation
Cabinet approves establishment of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Jammu.
- The institute will from a temporary campus at Old Government College of Engineering and Technology from 2016-17 academic year.
- The decision is a part of Prime Minister’s development package for Jammu and Kashmir.

People in News

China-based Dalian Wanda's Chairman, Wang Jianlin, has retained his spot as the country's richest person with a fortune of $32.1 billion, as per Hurun's 'Richest People in China 2016' list.
- Further, e-commerce major Alibaba's Chairman Jack Ma and Internet firm Tencent's President Pony Ma were ranked second and third respectively.
- Note : There are now 754 Chinese billionaires in the world.

Business & Economy

Russian Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov has announced that Russia is ready for a joint venture with India to produce Ka-226T utility helicopters.
- The agreement to build 200 helicopters is expected to be signed next month.
India has imported the first parcel of Iranian oil in order to build an emergency storage in southern India.
- With the move, India is aiming to hold enough oil to meet demand for two weeks.
- Note : The country is attempting to cover against energy risks, as it imports 80% of its oil needs.
Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf is going to retire from both the posts effective immediately.
- Stumpf's end at the US' second largest bank comes after the lender was fined $190 million for a dispute over its sales practices.
- The bank had been accused of opening over 2 million accounts without customer's permission.
State-owned Indian Oil plans to lay India's longest gas pipeline from Gujarat coast to Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, to meet the growing demands of cooking gas in the country.
- The 1,987-kilometre pipeline via Kanpur, Varanasi and Lucknow will carry 3.75 million tons of LPG per annum.

Deaths

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej (88), who was the world's longest reigning monarch, passed away today.
- Note : The 64-year-old Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn is the heir-apparent.
Italian playwright and actor Dario Fo (90), who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1997 passed away.

MOUs & Agreements

India & Brazil will sign agreement on cooperation & facilitation of investment on sidelines of upcoming BRICS Summit in Goa.
Indian Railways will ink a pact with Germany for running high-speed trains in the country.
- The discussions regarding this will be held when German Minister for Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt meets Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu during the former's ongoing visit to India.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Hungary on cooperation in the field of water management.
- The MoU will be signed between Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Interior, Government of Hungary.
- Note : This is for the first time India is entering into a MoU with Hungary with wide-ranging areas on water sector.

New Appointments

The United Nations has named the comic book character Wonder Woman as its new Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls.
- The superhero will be formally designated for the position at a ceremony on October 21, the character’s 75th anniversary.
- The ceremony will also launch a campaign supporting gender equality and women’s empowerment, one of UN’s global goals.

Awards & Honors

American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
- He is known for writing songs like 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'The Times They Are a-Changin'.
- He has won numerous awards, including twelve Grammys and one Academy Award.
Michael Jackson has topped Forbes' annual list of top-earning dead celebrities for the fourth consecutive year.
- The 'King of Pop', who died in 2009, raked in $825 million in earnings in the past year.

Sports

Italian football team skipper Gianluigi Buffon won 2016's Golden Foot award at a ceremony in Monaco.