CURRENT AFFAIRS - 11 September, 2013

1.The much-anticipated shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2013 is out and the Indian-born U.S.-based author Jhumpa Lahiri’s book "The Lowland" finds a place on it. She is one of six writers whose books have made it to the shortlist. 

2. India on Wednesday extended a US$ 144 million line of credit to Liberia for development of power transmission and distribution projects to reduce the gap of power shortage in Liberia.

3. Indonesia on Saturday said the final of Miss World, later this month, would take place on the Hindu-majority holiday island of Bali instead of near the capital, after days of Muslim hard-line protests.

4. Thomas Bach of Germany was elected as the ninth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He is the successor of Jacques Rogge of Belgium.

5. India has recorded the largest increase in its Ultra-High Net worth Individual (HNIW) club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country, a report says. India has also the highest number of female millionaires in the world as the country boasts of over 1,250 UHNW women with a combined fortune of $95 billion.

6. Vocalist Bombay Jayashri has been picked for this year's Indira Sivasailam endowment medal and concert.

7. The country's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services said it has bagged a five-year multi-million euros deal from SAS Scandinavian Airlines to help transform and optimise its IT infrastructure.

8. Russia lifted the ban on import of non-basmati rice from India on 10 September 2013, which will eventually lead to an increase in the export of non-basmati rise from India. Russia also lifted the ban on the oilseeds apart from non-basmati rice.

9. Italy and the Netherlands became the first European nations to clinch qualification for the 2014 World Cup finals with victories on a busy night of action on Tuesday.

10. A fast track court in New Delhi fixed September 13 for pronouncing the quantum of sentence to be awarded to four convicted persons in the December 16 gangrape case.

11. The World Economic Forum’s “summer Davos” opened in the north-eastern Chinese city of Dalian on Wednesday with a focus on “meeting the innovation imperative” in Asia.

12.The 7th India-Lao Joint Commission Meeting on bilateral cooperation was held in Vientiane on 9 September 2013.

13. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was the guest of honour at a reception hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife, Samantha Cameron at their official residence for acharity initiative for diabetes.

14. The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari presented the First Sree Narayan Guru Global Secular & Peace Award 2013 to Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Government of India at a function in Thiruvananthpuram, Kerala on 10 September 2013.

15. Sunila Abeysekera, the Sri Lankan activist who spent over 20 years documenting human rights violations in Sri Lanka, passed away in Colombo on 9 September 2013 due to long illness. She was 61 years of age.

16. One third of the food produced worldwide is wasted, costing the global economy around $750 billion a year, a new report by the UN food agency said today.

17. SBI not to give car loan if annual income less than Rs 6 lakh.

18. Aditya Birla Group to acquire Gujarat cement for Rs 3,800 crore.