IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCT 13, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCT 13, 2016

• The 28th India and Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) and Second Bilateral Maritime Exercise have commenced at Belawan, Indonesia in the Andaman Sea. 
• The 17-day-long bilateral exercise will demonstrate India’s commitment to its ties with Indonesia and to maritime security in Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• China and Russia will hold their second anti-missile drills in 2017.
• This comes after South Korea and the US announced their plans to deploy the USTerminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)system in South Korea to protect against any North Korean threats. 
• Note : North Korea conducted its fifth and biggest nuclear test recently.
• The World Health Organisation has asked all countries to introduce a sugary drinks tax (around 20%) as a way of curbing the obesity rate, especially in children. 
• The WHO further said it will help campaigners in countries like Colombia, where the drinks industry succeeded in having an anti-sugar broadcast banned.
• The Russia and Turkey have agreed to intensify military and intelligence contacts. 
• They also have agreed on the need for aid to get to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. 
• Decision in this regard was taken after meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin on sidelines of World Energy Congress in Istanbul.
• The 4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meetingwas held at Jaipur, Rajastan. 
• The purpose of the meeting was to further strengthen the collaboration amongst the BRICS countries in the areas of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar On Oct 12, 2016 announced that the sex ratio in the state has reached 922 as of September 2016. 
• Earlier, the sex ratio in the state was 837. 
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will today (On Oct 12, 2016) formally appoint Portugal's former Prime Minister António Guterres as next Secretary General of United Nations. 
• He is going to replace the retiring Ban Ki-moon on January 1 next year.
• Abdelilah Bekirane was re-appointed as the Prime Minister of Morocco for second term.
• The portfolios held by Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment in hospital, have been transferred to state finance minister O Panneerselvam.
• Note : Panneerselvam has held the CM's office twice, both times when Jayalalithaa was ineligible to hold the office.
• The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) appointed committee has submitted its recommendations. 
• The committee has suggested an overhaul in transmission planning to facilitate transfer of power on economic principles. 
• This committee was headed by : Mata Prasad (power system expert)
• The government has doubled the monetary limit in case of excise duty evasion to ₹2 crore, the Central Board of Excise and Customs has announced On Oct 12, 2016.
• The move aims to maintain uniformity of practice in central excise and service tax. 
• Note : In October 2015, the monetary limit for excise related offences was set at ₹1 crore.
• India’s holdings of the US government bonds touched a high of $123.7 billion in July, making it the 12th largest holder, US Treasury Department's latest data showed. 
• China and Japan were the top two countries with the largest exposure to American government securities at $1.22 trillion and $1.15 trillion, respectively.
• With the increasing role of technology in the global economy, the World Economic Forum is establishing a new center in San Francisco to connect tech companies and policymakers.
• The new facility will focus on bringing government officials and tech companies together to create frameworks for more productive legislative policies that can be implemented worldwide.
• Activist Ilham Tohti who was jailed for life after opposing China's policies in the violence-stricken west, has been announced the winner of the Martin Ennals award for human rights defenders. T
• This award is popularly known as “human rights Nobel”.
• Tohti won this award "for spending two decades trying to foster dialogue between China's Han majority and the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority".
• Indian Test captain Virat Kohli was presented with the ICC Test mace for being the number one-ranked Test side, at the end of the Indore Test against New Zealand On Oct 12, 2016. 
• The team had guaranteed the number one spot, overtaking Pakistan following their victory over New Zealand in the Kolkata Test.
• Ravichandran Ashwin reclaims No.1 spot in Test rankings for bowlers.