Current Affairs

International

• NASA Selects Boeing, SpaceX To Ferry US Astronauts To ISS
  With a goal to end the US' sole reliance on the Russian Space Shuttle in 2017, NASA selected two American firms to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
  The space agency chose the US multinational Boeing Co and California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) for the multi-billion dollar contract to carry astronauts in space taxis to and from orbit using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively.


• World's First Swimming Dinosaur Found In Morocco
  In a surprise find, palaeontologists have discovered the world's first known swimming dinosaur – a 15-metre-long behemoth with a crocodile-like face.The creature called Spinosaurus aegyptiacus had feet well suited to paddling and a sail-like structure rising from its spine.It also had unusually dense bones, possibly to help weigh it down as it hunted its underwater prey.


• Modi Seeks Japan's Help In Skill Development
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday sought Japan's help for skill development in India. Stating that 65 percent of India's population was young, Modi said: "In 2020, when the world would need a workforce, we are preparing for it from now itself, so that we can match the global workforce."
  "India is a youthful nation. We want to give importance to skill development. Be it quality, zero defect, discipline, we give importance to it," Modi said while addressing business leaders here.


• World's first lab grown stem cells implanted
  Japanese researchers have successfully implanted lab-grown retinal tissue from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) into a woman in her 70s – the world's first recipient of stem cells.
  In a two-hour procedure, a team of three eye specialists led by Yasuo Kurimoto of the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital transplanted a 1.3 by 3.0 millimetre sheet of retinal pigment epithelium cells into an eye of the woman who was suffering from an age-related macular degeneration.

National

• Modi starts Clean India drive, says India can do it
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday (Oct 1,2014) symbolically wielded the broom in Dalit colony where Mahatma Gandhi once stayed to launch a unique nationwide campaign which seeks to change Indians' mindset vis-a-vis hygiene and clean up the country in five years.
  In a spirited speech near the India Gate monument a short while later, Modi told a huge gathering that Indians had a responsibility to fulfill Gandhi's dream by ridding the country of dirt and filth by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation.


• Modi Launches 'Make In India' Campaign, Portal And Logo
  Narendra Modi launched his pet "Make in India" campaign on Sep 25, 2014 (Thursday) to put India prominently on the global manufacturing map and, in turn, facilitate the inflow of new technology and capital, while creating millions of jobs.
  The ambitious scheme, that also puts in place the logistics and systems to address in a timely manner queries of potential investors, was unveiled along with a logo, a portal and brochures on 25 identified growth sectors before Who's Who of the corporate world from India and abroad at the Vigyan Bhavan conference complex here.
• India enters Mars orbit, makes history
  India made history by becoming the first country in the world to enter the Martian orbit in its maiden attempt on Sep 24,2014 (Wednesday).
  "The spacecraft (Orbiter) was successfully inserted into the Martian orbit at 515 km away from the red planet's surface and 215 million km away from the earth in radio distance," a senior space official told at the mission's control centre here.
• India, Japan Will Steer The 21st Century; Modi
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said India and Japan's friendship will determine the course of the 21st century.
  "There is no doubt that the 21st century belongs to Asia. But India and Japan's friendship will determine how it will actually look like," Modi told the Indian community in Japan after inaugurating the Vivekananda Cultural Centre here.
• India, China Cooperation Will Help Develop The World: Modi
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted at the immense possibilities that could open with a free trade agreement between India and China and the creation of such a market.
  "India and China today constitute almost 35 percent of the world's population. From a purely arithmetic point of view, the betterment of 35 percent of the world's population and that they decide to work together will open big gates for progress and development in the world," Modi told Chinese journalists here ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to India.
• Justice Dattu sworn-in as new Chief Justice of India
  Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was Sunday (Sep 28, 2014) sworn-in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India.
  Administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukherjee, Chief Justice Dattu will hold office till Dec 2, 2015. He succeeds Chief Justice R.M. Lodha who demitted office Sep 27.

Sports

• Hockey team win gold after 16 years, women's relay team champions again
  The national anthem was played twice during the day as the men's hockey won the gold medal after 16 long years and the women's 4x400m relay team emerged champions for the fourth consecutive time taking India back into top-10 at the ninth spot again in the 17th Asian Games here Thursday.
  Besides the two gold medals, India also got three bronze medals in the day from boxers Satish Kumar, Vikas Krishan and shotputter Inderjit Singh and took the tally to 54 medals, including nine gold, nine silver and 36 bronze. China is the runaway leader with 321 medals followed by hosts South Korea (211) and Japan (184).


• Mary Kom strikes Asiad boxing gold
  India's M.C. Mary Kom clinched the gold medal in the women's flyweight (48-51kg) boxing competition of the 17th Asian Games here Wednesday.
  Mary, a five-time World Champion, defeated Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova 2-0, with one judge scoring the bout 38-38.


• Yogeshwar ends India's 28-year wait for wrestling gold in Asian Games
  Indian Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt ended India's 28-year-old wait for an Asian Games gold medal but his compatriots Babita Kumari and Satywart Kadian missed out on the bronze at the Dowon Gymnasium here.
  Yogeshwar, Olympic bronze medallist, put on a stupendous show in winning 3-0 in the title-clash against Zalimkhan Yusupov of Tajikistan. Yogeshwar's gold in men's 65kg freestyle was India's first since 1986, when Kartar Singh had won the yellow metal in the Seoul Games.


• Arjuna Award for boxer Manoj Kumar: Sports ministry
  Indian boxer Manoj Kumar, who was forced to drag the sports ministry to the court after he was controversially denied the Arjuna Award, will finally get the prestigious award, an official said Wednesday (sep 17, 2014).
  Sports secretary Ajit Sharan told IANS that the government had decided to bestow the Arjuna Award upon Manoj, a 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, after the Incheon Asian Games.

Business and Economy

• Indian Enterprise Will Deliver Sustained 8-9 Percent Growth: Modi
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, the entrepreneurial nature of over a million Indians is the basis of his belief that the country will be able to consistently achieve growth rates of 8-9 percent over a sustained period, and for which he has a clear road map.
  "It is my absolute belief that Indians have unlimited talent. I have a lot of faith in the entrepreneurial nature of our 1.25 billion people. There is a lot of capability. And I have a clear road-map to channel it," Modi said in an exclusive interview to CNN's Fareed Zakaria.
• SBI celebrated 150 years of its operations in Colombo
  State Bank of India celebrated 150 years of its operations in Sri Lanka on 13 September 2014. SBI Colombo is operational since 1864. It was earlier a branch of Bank of Hindustan, which was taken over by Bank of Madras in 1867.
  SBI Managing Director Krishna Kumar reaffirmed the bank's commitment to partner in Sri Lanka's efforts in developing its economy.

Defence

• Indian Navy has transformed from buyer to builder: Naval chief
  The Indian Navy has transformed from a "buyer's navy to a builder's navy", Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R.K. Dhowan said here Thursday.
  "The blue print for the future Indian Navy is firmly anchored on self-reliance and indigenisation and currently we have 41 ships and submarines under construction in various public and private shipyards within the country," Admiral Dhowan said after commissioning the 2,200 tonnes INS Sumitra patrol vessel at a ceremony here.