Current Affairs : 15th September 2013

1. Engineer’s day is celebrated today (15th September) across the country. This day is celebrated in the honor of “Sir Dr. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya” who was born on the same day in 1860.

2. Kerala: CM Oommen Chandy inaugurates week-long Onam festivities organised by Tourism Department in Thiruvananthapuram.

3. India holds Guinness World Record for both world’s tallest and shortest woman. Siddiqa Parveen was measured to be atleast 7 feet 3.5 inches. The doctor estimates her standing height to be atleast 7 feet 8 inches. Jyoti Amge’s standing height is 24.7 inches.

4. China is likely to achieve its growth target of 7.5 per cent this year despite planned structural reforms to re balance the world’s second largest economy, the World Bank president said.

5. The United Nations has formally accepted Syria’s application to join the chemical weapons convention, a spokesperson said. The UN welcomed Syria joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, after it received the formal instrument of accession to it by the Assad regime.

6. Syria’s opposition National Coalition on 14 September 2013 elected “Ahmad Toameh” as its interim Prime Minister to run the regions in the country under rebel control.

7. India on Sunday conducted a second test flight of its indigenously developed nuclear- capable ‘Agni-V’(surface to surface) long-range ballistic missile, which has a strike range of more than 5000 km, from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. The three stage, solid propellant missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8:50 AM, defence sources said on Sunday.

8. The move will leave the world’s third largest economy without atomic energy for the second time since the Fukushima crisis erupted in March 2011.

9. Japan to be nuclear free as last reactor switched off.

10. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 14 September 2013 inaugurated the train service, built by the Indian Railways, to the Northern Province.

11. After low-cost tiffin centres, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday launched a scheme to provide 1 litre mineral water at Rs. 10 a bottle, to ensure quality and affordable drinking water to the poor and middle class. She inaugurated the state-run ‘Amma Drinking Water’ plant with a daily capacity of three lakh litres at Gummidipoondy, about 50 km from Chennai.

12. Drugmakers from India, the biggest overseas source of medicines sold in the US, have got more than 100 generic drug approvals from the American health regulator FDA this year so far. This has taken India’s share in the Original Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals to nearly 40 per cent in the US market so far in 2013.

13. Japan earned a berth in the Davis Cup World Group with a 3-2 win over Colombia.

14. Miss India 2012 finalist Purva Rana was crowned Vice-Queen at the Miss United Continent 2013 held in Guayaquil, Ecuador on September.

15. Yuvraj Singh staked his claim for national team selection as he struck a brutal 89-ball 123 to lead India ‘A’ to a thumping 77-run victory over West Indies ‘A’ in the first of the three-match one-day series on Sunday.

16. India has retained its third position in the latest ICC Test rankings after South Africa and England.

17. Taking note of some of its staffers wearing clothes “that did not bring any repute”, the Karnataka Government has prescribed a “decent” dress code for them — pant and shirt or ‘pyjama/kurta’ for men and saree or ’churidar’ for women.