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.

Current Affairs 10 September 2013

1. AIR to provide latest news through SMS. People willing to subscribe to the service can simply SMS ‘AIRNEWS their name to 08082080820. They can also give a missed call to the number to subscribe to the service. Along with news headlines, a small message regarding public utility schemes of the government will be tagged.

2. India is hosting the 31st meeting of Ministers of Health of countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region and 66th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia at New Delhi from September 10 to 13.

3. The country’s first ‘Wagah in the East’ post, along the Indo-Bangla border, will be thrown open to the public this Gandhi Jayanti when Home Ministers of both the countries will witness a historic cultural extravaganza between the two neighbours. The first retreat ceremony between the two countries will be held on the lines of what happens everyday between India and Pakistan along the Wagah post in Punjab.

4. Sensex zooms over 500 points; Rupee strengthens 99 paise to 64.25 against the dollar.

5. India is among the five nations, who have placed their bids before the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to host the 2018 Hockey World Cup.

6. World Number Two, Rafael Nadal of Spain has lifted the Men’s Singles trophy of the US Open Tennis tournament, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, at New York.

7. The government has decided to extend coverage of the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme to include 289 districts, almost half of the country by January next year.

8. India on Tuesday supported a Russian proposal for Syria to put its chemical weapons for destruction, saying any move towards Indian position regarding complete destruction of these weapons was a positive development.

9. India’s launch preparations for the ambitious Rs 450 crore Mars orbiter mission achieved a major milestone with the successful thermo-vacuum test of the spacecraft with its payloads (scientific instruments).

10. India’s exports rose for the second straight month in August, while the trade deficit narrowed as gold imports fell. Exports climbed 12.97 per cent to USD 26.14 billion last month and imports declined 0.68 per cent to USD 37.05 billion. India FDI jumped by 6% to $10.87 billion in six months of 2013.

11. K N Shanth Kumar and Mahendra Mohan Gupta, two eminent media personalities, were today elected Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Press Trust of India (PTI).

12. China and Sri Lanka have agreed to boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation with Beijing encouraging its entrepreneurs to invest in Sri Lanka and to help deepen mutual exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, media and other areas.

13. The West Bengal Government on Monday decided to set up a holding company to bring all state corporations marketing different products under the MSME sector under a single umbrella.The state cabinet took the decision to set up the company which would be named, Brand Bengal Marketing Corporation.

14. In Uttarakhand, prayers to begin tomorrow at the calamity-hit Kedarnath shrine, after flashfloods that left hundreds of people dead.

15. WHO today lauded India’s efforts in eradicating polio and said the country has not reported a single case of polio in the last 30 months.

16. Indian-American Manju Goel has announced her bid to seek Republican party nomination to run for a seat in the US Congress, focussing on divisive issues like “Obamacare” and the growing national debt.

17. Britain’s Andy Murray joined world number one Novak Djokovic and newly-crowned U.S. Open champion Rafa Nadal as definite qualifiers for the ATP World Tour finals on Tuesday but Roger Federer faces a battle to make the eight-man field.

Current Affairs - September 9, 2013

1.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday released a commemorative stamp in memory of freedom fighter and veteran journalist Lala Jagat Narain.

2. India’s northeastern state of Tripura achieved the first position in literacy with 94.65 percent, beating Kerala (93.91 percent), Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announced in Agartala on Sunday.

3. Chhattisgarh has been selected for this year’s prestigious National Literacy Award for the first time since its formation in November 2000. The award was presented on the International Literacy Day celebrated on September eight.

4. The 10-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Ganeshotsav begins today. People of Maharashtra especially Mumbaikars are all set to welcome their favourite Lord Ganesh.

5. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail’ (VVPAT) with Electronic Voting Machines for the by-elections to Noksen Assembly Constituency. VVPAT is a device attached with EVMs which leave a verifiable paper trail of votes cast in an election.

6. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased by 6 percent year-on-year to USD 10.87 billion during the first six months of this year/ According to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the country had received USD 10.27 billion of FDI in January-June, 2012. Most of the inflows came from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and the US.

7. Retirement fund body EPFO is likely to announce an interest rate of 8.5 percent on provident fund deposits for 2013-14 to its over five crore subscribers, the same as provided for last fiscal.

8. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Monday announced a huge bonanza for mobile operators with a 50-60 per cent reduction in the reserve price for various spectrum bands.

9. Government will soon launch Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) to make the country Slum Free. Addressing a Press conference in New Delhi today, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Dr. Girija Vyas said that the implementation phase of the Scheme will be run on a mission mode during 2013-2022.

10. North-East Frontier Railway will bring Agartala in the country’s broad gauge rail network by 2016.

11. BSP has demanded President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh and dismissal of the state government in view of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar.

12. Commissioner and DIG of Saharanpur range transferred following group clashes in Muzaffarnagar district ofUttar Pradesh; Death toll rises to 28.

13. Italian director Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary “Holy GRA”, which looks into everyday life off a Rome ring road, won the Golden Lion for best movie at the Venice film festival on Saturday. The best actor prize went to Greece’s Themis Panou for his role as father to a family which harbours a deep secret in Alexandros Avranas’s “Miss Violence”.

14. Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek win US Open Men’s Doubles title winning 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Leander Paes won his eighth men’s doubles Grand Slam title, and 14th overall.

15. World number one Novak Djokovic to clash with Rafael Nadal in the men’s singles final of the US Open Tennis tournament.

Current Affairs - September 8, 2013

1. September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

2. Tokyo has won the race to host the 2020 Olympic Games after the Japanese prime minister flew in to personally reassure voters that radioactive leaks from the Fukushima power plant would not create a health risk.

3. At least 10 more people were killed in spiralling violence in Muzaffarnagar on Sunday, taking the toll to 21 in the western UP district where the Army staged flag march and thousands of anti-riot police personnel were deployed to restore law and order.

4. The UPA government is staring at yet another massive scandal that has resulted in the state exchequer losing thousands of crores. A test audit by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of the railway's dual policy for transportation of iron ore has confirmed widespread suspicion that exporters have been blatantly misusing the policy.

5. The 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant opened on Sunday after protests by conservative Islamic groups confined the event to Indonesia’s resort island of Bali.

6. NASA has joined the world of Instagram - and has already attracted an incredible 56,374 followers within hours of posting its first pictures on the social media site.

7. Australia's incoming conservative government promised to re-boot a stalled mining boom and revive an appetite for investment on Sunday after leader Tony Abbott swept into office on a platform to scrap a mining tax and run a stable administration.

8. Recognising the risk of economic slowdown and weakening trade posed by protectionism, the G-20 has decided to extend until the end of 2016 its standstill commitment to further progress in removing barriers and impediments to global trade and investment.

9. India's foreign exchange reserves declined by a huge $2.23 billion to $275.49 billion on a sharp dip in the foreign currency assets.

10. A research team from the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Ahmedabad, led by Satadru Bhattacharya, has found evidence of water of volcanic origin — water that has originated from deep within the Moon’s interior — rather than water-bearing igneous surface lunar material detected hitherto by different lunar missions including Chandrayaan-1.

Current Affairs 7 September 2013

07-Sep-2013 India	Gujarat CM to address rally in Chhattisgarh Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, will address a rally in the state of Chhattisgarh with a model of Delhi Red Fort in the backdrop.  The Bharatiya Janata Party's 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign chief will be addressing a rally in Ambikapur which is a division of Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh's state wide “Vikas Yatra”, just before the state assembly elections later this year. The enormous replica of the Red Fort has been fixed up in Ambikapur, where the sixth phase of the “Vikas Yatra” will come to an end. Narendra Modi is the only senior BJP leader who has attended this Vikas Yatra twice.
07-Sep-2013 India	Hyderabad under police siege for Seemandhra Meet The city of Hyderabad has come underneath a tight police siege as Seemandhra employees are ready to hold the “save Andhra Pradesh” meeting in the midst of tight security today as a shutdown in Telangana, has brought normal life to a standstill. The city is on high alert as hundreds of police personnel and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the outlook of threats by a few Telangana groups who plan to disrupt the meeting which is being held by Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers (APNGOs) Association to go up against the proposed division of the state.
07-Sep-2013 Business	Government may auction coal blocks in Dec or Jan As per Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava, the Government will probably auction explored coal blocks this year in December or next year in January. The Coal Secretary at the CII conference said that a "letter of comfort" will be given to the successful bidder from the environment and forests ministry. There will also be an exit route with no penalty after a time period of two years if the necessary clearances failed to turn up. Discussions are being held on payments as well as revenue models and a framework would soon be initiated.
07-Sep-2013 Science and Technology	XOLO enters Tablet market with a new Tab XOLO entered the tablet race in the Indian market with the launch of its first tablet Xolo Tab. This 8 inch tablet is priced at Rs. 13,499 and comes with 3G video calling along with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS. The Tab is powered by 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon Processor and runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2. It comes with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory. It has an Adreno 203 GPU and can playing 720p HD videos. It sports a 2 MP rear camera and a 0.3 MP front camera along with a 4000 mAh battery.
07-Sep-2013 Sports	Saina Nehwal to play in Denmark Open: Pullela Gopichand As per National Coach Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal will skip the Japan Open Super Series this month of September and will play in the Denmark Open which will take place in October this year. Saina Nehwal will be playing in Denmark and France as per the coach. Saina is currently ranked as world number four and at this stage she cannot afford to miss a few tournaments. He also hoped that other players would also put up extraordinary performances in the forthcoming huge tournaments.
07-Sep-2013 Entertainment	Parineeti beats Priyanka at the box office With the release of two movies this Friday, the results between the Priyanka and Parineeti movies were seen on the box office. The much hyped Priyanka Chopra's “Zanjeer”, which is a remake of the 1973 Zanjeer, could not do well at the box office. On the other hand Parineeti Chopra's “Shuddh Desi Romance” has picked up good numbers all thanks to positive word of mouth. Zanjeer managed to acquire approximately Rs. 3.75 to 4 crore on the first day. Then again, Shuddh Desi Romance acquired approximately 7 crore at the box office on the first day. Shuddh Desi Romance managed to woo audience while Zanjeer failed to do so.
07-Sep-2013 India	Bhatkal's aide Akhtar was a deadly suicide bomber in the making Bhatkal has informed the counter terror officials that his aide Akhtar akaHaddi was being trained for a suicide attack. Akhtar also stated he received training from ISI, Pakistan’s spy agency in 2010. Bhatkal and Akhtar were nabbed by Indian and Nepalese officers on August 29 in Pokhra and their formal arrest was done at Indo-Nepal border at Raxaul, Bihar. Bhatkal was behind six major terror attacks in India and his arrest is being viewed as one of the major successes in the country’s fight against terrorism. His attacks led to loss of 200 lives. Akhtar had joined Bhatkal in his hideout some months back at Pokhra in Nepal. They were there as per orders of Riyaz Bhatkal who is the IM chief and incidentally has found shelter in the defence colony of ISI in Karachi. Akhtar was inducted in Azamgarh module of the IM by Atif Ameen who lost his life in Batla House encounter in Delhi in September 2008. Akhtar was instrumental in Mumbai serial blasts in 2011, twin blasts in Hyderabad at Dilsukhnagar as well as Pune’s twin blasts in 2012. There was also a planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Bodh Gaya but IM reportedly was not behind serial in Bodh Gaya on July 7.
07-Sep-2013 India	Uttarakhand tragedy continue to haunt us, 160 bodies found Bodies of 160 persons were found in the disaster hit Uttarakhand in the past 4 days. Police unearthed 71 bodies todayin the higher altitudes which could not be accessed earlier due to inclement weather. The last rites will be performed after the DNA tests and autopsy is done. These people may have gone to higher reaches to save themselves from the Himalayan Tsunami but perished due to cold and hunger. The entire area was detached for many days. As of now cremation of 400 bodies were done in the Kedarnath Valley. Along with this preparations are underway to get the shrine ready for special prayers to begin on September 11. Restoration work will start towards the end of this month and Rs.2.40 crore has been allotted for the first phase.
07-Sep-2013 Business	MFN status to India: Pakistan Pakistan has given the assurance to the International Monetary Fund that it would grant the status of MFN or the most favored nation to India. In a written assurance Pakistan has specified that it was forging ahead to remove all the negativity on the trade list with India. It also stated it was moving to 'sensitive list' under SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Arrangement) regime so that regional trade can be increased. It was announced by Pakistan People's Party Dec 31 2012, that MFN status to India would be assigned but nothing came out after that. In fact the word was that number of issues stopped the grant of the status.
07-Sep-2013 Sports	Abhinav Bindra won't react to IOA President's jibe Abhinav Bindra, the ace shooter has said he will not react to the IOA President Abhay Singh Chautala’s comments as it does not merit retaliation. Chautala had stated that if Bindra thinks a person who was chargesheeted should be removed then he should first ask his father to leave the house. He referred to A S Bindra, Abhinav’s father’s arrest in 2009 for alleged financial anomalies. Chautala is livid with Abhinav’s campaign against the charged IOA officials. Abhinav stated he would work towards ensuring clean environment for sports and transparency in it. The athletes here cannot compete in the Rio Olympics under the national flag due to corruption manifest in IOA which has led to its suspension by the IOC.
07-Sep-2013 Entertainment	Ranbir says Katrina is a special person in his life Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, the pair these days are more in news not for their movies but for the leaked pictures which had the whole country, well almost, going gaga over their affairs. After Katrina’s open letter to media of trespassing in her private space and the sulking over the fact that her features were not enhanced in the picture and that she was caught in a mismatched bikini, we have something to confirm that there is serious relation between them. Ranbir has admitted that she is a special person in her life and named her among the select few for whom he will die for. It seems he thought it more sensible to admit about the relationship than beating round the bush.
07-Sep-2013 Science and Technology	Samsung Note 3 at INR 45000-60000? Samsung had released Galaxy Note 3 on Wednesday but there was no word on price. After few days the price of the phablet was revealed though in USD and as per Indian rupee value which is changing every day it may range from INR 45000-60000 all depending on the fact that there is no further depreciation. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in India will come with Exynos 5240 Octa-core processor,3GB RAM, Android v4.3 Jelly Bean, 3200 mAh battery as well as 5.7” super AMOLED full HD display with 1920x1080p resolution. It has a 13.0 MP primary camera and 2.0 MP secondary camera. The Galaxy 4 feature like smart scroll, stay and pause will be there in Note 3 plus there will be an additional feature 'Find My Phone' app to locate the lost phone.

‘KitKat’: New version of Android software

Google, on its 15^th birthday, revealed that the next version of Android will be called “KitKat” continuing its predilection for naming its software after famous delicacies. Over the years, Google launched several versions of Android naming each of them after a dessert.

The other versions of Android mobile-operating system are:

• Cupcake
• Donut
• Froyo
• Éclair
• Gingerbread
• Honeycomb
• Ice Cream Sandwich
• Jelly Bean

Android software powers more than a billion smartphones or tablets worldwide, according to Google. Android’s share of the smartphone market expanded to 79.3% in the second quarter while that of iPhone fell to 13.2% period.

Which are the main mobile Operating Systems?

As of 2011, the top mobile operating systems marketed as “smartphones” by market share were Android, Symbian, Apple iOS, BlackBerry, MeeGo, Windows Phone and Bada.

Mobile Os and its owner Company

• Android: Google Inc.
• Symbian OS: Nokia and Accenture.
• Bada: Samsung Electronics.
• BlackBerry Tablet OS: QNX Software System/BlackBerry
• Windows Phone: Microsoft
• GridOS: Fusion Garage
• S40 (Series40): Nokia
• webOS: LG
• Asha: Nokia
• Maemo: Nokia

Current Affairs 6th September 2013

Mercedes Benz inaugurated first luxury Car dealership in Rajkot
Mercedes Benz inaugurated first luxury Car dealership in Rajkot. This was built with an investment of Rs.7 crores. Area occupied by this is 21000 sq.ft. 9 cars are displayed in the showroom. Eberhard kern, CEO & MD, Mercedes Benz has stated that in India there are 58 outlets in 33 cities.

Rs.200 crores released by Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited to Greater Hyderabad

For road widening in 3 metro rail corridors, Hyderabad Metro Rail released Rs.200 crores to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Amount was released by Hyderabad Metro Managing Director NVS Reddy. He wrote a letter to MT Krishna Babu, Commissioner to acquire 675 properties on a priority basis.


New website launched by ASCI

New website was launched by ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India). Website address is www.ascionline.org. This was specially designed to resolve the complaints very quickly. This website incorporates OCMS (Online Complaint & Monitoring Service). After the introduction of OCMS, Consumers can register the complaints through new ASCI Website, regular post, toll free phone, Smartphone E mail, ASCI face book page.
Bilateral Agreement between India and Japan expanded

Bilateral Agreement between India and Japan expanded from $ 15 billion to $ 50 billion. Payment will be done in terms of national currencies at the time of imports rather than payment in dollars. Due to such type of agreements demand for the dollar will be reduced and exports will increase.

Humberto Andrade , Latin America BPO Head, quits Infosys

Humberto Andrade, Latin America BPO Head, quits Infosys. Company confirmed his quit from the company. Ankit Manidarkar joined in the place of Humberto Andrade.

New CEO of Reliance communications is Deepak Khanna

New CEO of Reliance communications is Deepak Khanna. In the telecom sector he is having 15 years of experience. He played crucial roles in Tulip Telecom and Bharati Airtel.

New CFO of Ashok Leyland is Gopal Mahadevan

New CFO of Ashok Leyland is Gopal Mahadevan. Earlier he worked as CFO for Thermax. Past experience in Sify, Sanmar Group and Amara Raja Batteries.

Vice President of CA Media Digital (India) ltd is Ashish Joshi

Vice President of CA Media Digital (India) ltd is Ashish Joshi. He is the vice president for Digital and Business head.

New SIAM President is Kirloskar

New president for SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers is Vikram Kirloskar. he is the Vice Chairman Kirloskar Toyota. SIAM stated that Lowell Paddock is the treasurer. He is MD & president of General Motors India. New Vice President is Vinod Dasari who is the MD of ashok Leyland.

Origin of Tuberculosis is in Human Beings

A study made by Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute regarding Tuberculosis. They have discovered that Tuberculosis first discovered in African hunter gatherers who lived 70,000 years ago. Research stated that origin of tuberculosis is not in animals but in human beings.