Current Affairs for Exams - September - Brush up

Current Affairs for Exams - September - Brush up

01 September 2015 Current Affairs

Union Government recognizes Yoga as Sports discipline

On 1 September 2015, Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports decided to recognize yoga as a sports discipline and put it in the priority category.

Kerala Temple won the UNESCO Award 2015

India has won the top UNESCO ‘Award of Excellence’ 2015 for Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala. The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from Vastu Sastra focusing on architecture and construction. Xieng Thong Temple of Thailand received the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award.

India win Test Series with Sri Lanka

India on 1 September win the Test Series with Sri Lanka. After 22 years India won the series in Sri Lanka. This

is the second time for India to won the series with Sri Lanka. In 1993 at the time of Md. Azharuddin India defeated Sri Lanka for the first time. In this test series the pacer Ishant Sharma created a record by taking eight wickets in the series. The captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Virat Kohli won the top rank in ICC T20 rankings with 861 rating points.

Sanjeev chaturvedi and Anshu Gupta received the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2015

Indian Forest Officer Sanjeev Chturvedi and founder of NGO Goonj Anshu Gupta are the two Indians selected for the most prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2015. They conferred the award on 31 August at the cultural centre in Philippines. Anshu Gupta left his corporate job and started Goonj in 1999. The award winners got the ceretificate, gold medal and cash prize from the Philippines President Benigno Aquino III.

02 September 2015 Current Affairs

Levan Aronian of Armenia won the Sinquefield Cup Chess Tournament

Levan Aronian of Armenia won the Sinquefield Cup International Chess Tournament which held at St. Louis (USA) on 2 September, 2015.Indian Grand Master Viswanathan Anand is at 9th place in the tournament. Anand ended his game with a draw against world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and finished at ninth position. Among 10 Grand Masters who participated in the tournament, the Indian Grand Master Vishwanathan Anand is at 9th position with 3.5 points. Levan Aronian of Armenia won the tournament with six points and Magnus Carlsen as runner up with five points.

Kenya at first place in World Athletic Championship

In the 15th World Athletic Championship which was held at Beijing, the African country Kenya is at first place by winning seven gold medals in the championship. This is the first time for an African country to get the top place in the World Championship. Another North American country Jamaica is at second place as runnerup. Among 206 countries participated in the championship, India is at 65th place. 17 members from India are participated in the championship but no one get a single medal. The Jamaican Athlete Usain Bolt won three gold medals in this championship. In his career of world championship he won total 11 gold medals.

Women’s Hockey Team for Rio Olympics

The Indian Womens Hockey team selected for the 2016 Olympics which are gioing to be held in Rio de Janerio of Brazil. The Federation of International Hockey (FIH) announced this on 2 september. The fifth place at the Hockey World League semifinals which were held at Belgium in July,2015 is the reason for the team to select for Olympics. After 36 years Indian women hockey team is going to participate in the Olympics. In 1980 at Moscow Olympics Indian team got the fourth place.

India Post to release Stamps on Ramayana and Mahabharata

Central Government is going to releasse Postal stamps on freedom fighters like Chandra Sekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev, Bhatukeshwar Dutt, Ashfaqullah Khan and legendary singers such as Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Along with these, India Post is going to release postal stamps on Ramayana and Mahabharata also.

03 September 2015 Current Affairs

Global Hindu Buddhist Initiative

Global Hindu-Buddhist Initiative, a three day summit on conflict avoidance and environment consciousness was started on 3 September, 2015 in New Delhi. The conference is being organised by the Think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation. Deligates from different buddhist countries such as Japan, Sri Lanka, Mangolia, Combodia along with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are participated in the seminar. The last day seminar will be held in Bodh Gaya. The spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and former President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga are also participated in the summit.

China celebrated 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War-II

On 3 September, 2015 China celebrated the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War-II. China also presented a Military Parade in the event of celebrations held in Beijing. The J-15 newly developed aircraft carrier also took part in the parade. Chinese President announced that the size of the People’s Liberation ARmy (PLA) would be reduced by 300,000. This will be the fourth reduction of forces for China. Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korea President Park Guen Hye, United Nations SEcretary General Ban KI Moon, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs general V.K. Singh are participated in the celebrations along with deligates from nearly 30 different countries.

04 September 2015 Current Affairs

900 million active users for ‘WhatsApp’ around the world

Mobile messaging App ‘WhatsApp’ now has 900 million regular and active users around the world, following the addition of 100 million users in last five months. In November, WhatApp had said India accounted for 70 million of its active users. In India WhatsApp is mostly used along with other messaging Apps such as Line, Viber and Hike.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Rs. 125 and Rs.10 coins in honour of Dr. S. Radha Krishnan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 September, 2015 released two commemorative coins of Rs. 125 and Rs.10 coins in the memory of former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan. On the eve of Teacher’s Day Modi released the coins in New Delhi. Teacher’s Day celebrates the birthday of India’s second President and scholar Dr. S.Radhakrishnan.

A stadium with the name of Sachin in Kerala

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) decided to name a newly built cricket stadium in the name of Sachin Tendulkar. There is already a pavilion in the name of Sachin at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi. Sachin Tendulkar act as brand ambassador for the National Games of 2015 which were held in Kerala.

4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament

The fourth World Conference of speakers of Parliament has been held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 31 August to 2 September, 2015. This summit is a unique forum for dialogue and cooperation between parliaments at the highest level. The overall theme of conference focus on peace, democracy and development seen through the parliamentary lens. More than 170 speakers and deputy speakers are attended the conference.

05 September 2015 Current Affairs

Central Government accepted One Rank- One Pension (OROP) Scheme

The Central Government on 5 September announced the acceptance of 40 year old demand of ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme for the retired military personnels. The scheme will be effective from July 1, 2014. New pensions will be fixed with 2013 as the base year. The scheme expected to benefit three million pensioners retiring i n the same rank with the same length of the service, regardless of the date of retirement. The Governement will engage a one member committee on this issue.

The third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in Ankara

G 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors third meeting was held in Turkish Presidency Ankara on 4-5 September , 2015. The meeting was attended by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 members, invited countries and the heads and senior representatives of the international organizations. The theme of the meeting is to submit Finance Track deliverables to G20 leaders at the Antalya Summit and discuss actions required to achieve G20 ‘s ambitions of this year. G20 ministers and Governors exchanged views on the recent global economic developments, challenges and collective measures to address them. The agreed communique of the meeting was released at the end of the meeting.

06 September 2015 Current Affairs

Hamilton wins Italian Formula One Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain win the Italian Formula One Grand Prix on 6 September. The win was the 40th Hamilton’s career and seventh of the season. Hamilton completed his race of 53 lamps in 1 hour 18 minutes 00.688 seconds. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took second place and Brazilian Felipe Massa took third for Williams. Indian Formula One drivers of ‘Force India’, Sergio Perez with sixth place and Hulken Berg with seventh place are among the top 10 positions.

NSCI Open Squash Tournament Title winner Joshna Chinnappa

Indian Squash player Joshna Chinnappa win the women’s open tournament on 6 September. In the women’s singles tournament world’s 24 ranker Joshna beat top seed 19 ranker Habiba Mohmad of Egypt with 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 and win the title. In the men’s singles Adrian Waller of England win the title of NSCI Open tournament which held in New Delhi.

Austalian Cricketer Watson retires from Test Cricket

Australian cricketer Shane Watson on 6 September announced his retirement from test cricket. Watson’s test retirement was announced on Cricket Australia’s offcial website. Watson played 59 tests, scoring 3,731 runs and taking 75 wickets in the test matches in his test career.

07 September 2015 Current Affairs

6th Indo-Maldives Joint Military Exercise begins in Thiruvananthapuram

The sixth Indo-Maldives joint Training Exercise with tha name “EKUVRIN 2015″ has commenced at Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. Aim of the Joint Exercise is to acquaint forces of both countries with each other’s operating procedure and increase understanding and interoperability between Armies of both countries.In this edition of joint exercise, total of 45 soldiers each from Indian Army (BIHAR Regiment) and the Maldivian National Defence Force will take part.

Hariprasad Churasia to be felicitated with Kopparapu Kavula National Eminence Award 2015 

The Kopparapu kavula National Eminence award 2015 will be given to the classical flutist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia in Vishakapatnam on 9 September, 2015. On earlier occassions the award has been received by talented personalities like Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, SP Balasubramanyam, Veturi Sundarrama Murthy, Malladi Chandra Sekhara Shastry and others. In the year 2014, Hindustani maestro Pandit Jasraj was awarded with this National award of Kopparapu Kavula Peetham.

08 September 2015 Current Affairs

7 Indians in Forbes Asia’s list of Philanthropists

Seven Indians , including three Infosys cofounders and a Dubai based education entrepreneur feature in the latest Forbe’s Asia’s 9th list of Philanthropists in the Asia Pacific region for their individual contributions to health and education sector. Forbe’s magazine recently released a list of new group of philanthropists from 13 countries for their noteworthy contributions. Infosys cofounders Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and S.D. Shibulal feature in the list. Rohan, son of another Infosys cofounder N.R. Narayana Murthy also feature in the list. He donated 5.2 million dollars to Harvard University Press for promoting ancient Indian literacy classics. Kerala born entrepreneur Sunny Verkey , the founder of GEMS education, a chain of 70 private schools in 14 countries and India-born brothers Suresh Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan of London based entrepreneurs are also feature in the Forbe’s list.

Queen Elizabeth-II set a record to become the longest reigning Monarch of British Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth-II set a record to become the longest reigning Monarch in British history. She beat the record of 63 years and 7 months set by Queen Victory more than a century ago. Only four other British Kings and Queens have reigned 50 years or more. The only Monarch most living Britans have ever known, Elizabeth has been the constant heart of British life. She came to the throne as a young woman at the age of 25.

09 September 2015 Current Affairs

Gandhi Peace Prize-2014 for ISRO

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) won the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014. The ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar on behalf of ISRO received the Prize from the President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on 9 September, 2015.

J. Manjula as the first Woman Director General at DRDO

J. Manjula has been appointed as the first Woman Director General (DG), Electronics and Communication Systems Cluster at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). She has assumed charge from distinguished scientist and Director General Dr. K.D. Nayak on 9 September, 2015. Manjula has the honour of being the first woman DG of DRDO cluster. Manjula is a receipient of DRDO award for ‘Performance Excellence’ and ‘Scientist of the Year 2011′.

Indian-origin Mahesh Ramanujam as new CEO of America’s Green Council

Indian-origin Mahesh Ramanujam has been named as the new CEO of the prestigious ‘US Green Building Council’ (USGBC), a non-profit organisation that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built and operated. Ramanujam is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. In 2009, he joined the company as senior vice-president, in 2011 he become the COO of the company and in December 2012 he become the president of GBCI.

10 September 2015 Current Affairs

The 10th World Hindi Conference held in Bhopal

The 10th World Hindi Conference (WHC) is being organized from 10-12 September, 2015 in the city of Bhopal by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in partnership of Government of Madhya Pradesh. The main theme of the conference is ‘Hindi Jagat: Vistar avam Sambhavani’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaguarated the Vishwa Hindi Sammelan and also called for steps to promote endangered languages. For this conference deligates from 40 countries are participated. Along with Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraz, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chowhan and many other ministers and important deligates are participated in the conference. Prime Minister Modi called this conference as ‘Hindi Mahakhumb’ and in the memory of this conference he launched the Postal Stamps.

New Species of ancient humans discovered in South Africa

South African scientists have discovered a new species of ancient human. A huge haul of bones found in a cave at Johnnesberg in South Africa. The scientists discovered more than 1500 pieces of bone belonging to at least 15 individuals.The remain appear to be infants, juveniles and one very old adulst. They have named the creature as ‘Homo naledi’. Measurements of the bones show that the creature has a curious bend of ancient ape and modern human like features. It’s brain is tiny, the size of a Gorilla’s.

Indra Nooyi ranks second in the Fortune’s Powerful Business women list

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is the sole Indian-origin executive in Fortune’s list of 50 most powerful women in business. Indra Nooyi ranked 2nd on the list from her third position last year. General Motors CEO Marry Barra ranks first in the list. Nooyi who leads 66.6 billion dollars business is at the top position of Fortune’s list for the ninth time. The list also includes IBM CEO Ginni Rometty on third rank, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (8), Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (18) and others.

11 September 2015 Current Affairs

Singapore ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) win the Parliamentary Elections

Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) won a sweeping victory in the Parliamentary elections held on 11 September. It had taken 83 of 89 seats . The present Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong again will be the Prime Minister with this victory. The ruling Party is in power from 56 years after Singapore got the Independence. The win came six months after the death of present Prime Minister’s father, the independence leader Lee Kuan Yew, plunged Singapore into mourning and generated a wave of patriotism.

India – Australia joint Naval excercises “AUSINDEX-2015″ in Vishakapatnam

The first ever India-Australia joint Naval excercises called “AUSINDEX-2015″ have been started in Vishakapatnam on 11 September upto 19 September. In a significant development that is seen as the tangible sign of the growing defence cooperation between Australia and India , it is noted that the bilateral maritime excercise will be a regular event to be held every two years. Royal Australian Navy (RAN) head Rear Admiral Jonathan Mead and Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet Flag officer Commanding Rear Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh jointly inaguarated the naval excercises. HMAS Syrus, HMAS Arunta Wich and HMAS Sheean from Australian Navy and INS Shivalik, INS Ranvijay and Fleet Tanker INS Shakti from Indian Navy are participated in this event. In addition, one Royal Australian Airforce P3C Orion Surveillance aircraft and Indian Navy’s P8 I maritime Patrol air craft will operate from Chennai during the excercises.

Australia ranks first in Youth Commonwealth Games 

The Youth Commonwealth Games are held in Samoa on 7-11 September for five days. In these games total 40 countries were participated. Australia with 24 Gold medals stood at the first place of the Youth Commonwealth Games. India with 9 gold medals is at fifth place. 24 members from India are participated in these games.

Mukesh Ambani’ is the richest Indian in Hurun Report’s ‘India Rich List-2015′ 

Relience Industries Head Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian as per the Hurun Report’s India Rich List-2015. His assets are valued at Rs. 1,60,951 Crores. As per Hurun Reports there are 124 dollar billionaires in the country. And there are 296 high net-worth individuals (those whose assets are valued above Rs. 1600 Crores). The Pharmaceuticals tycoon Dilip Singhvi of Sun Pharma is the second richest Indian and S.P. Hinduja is the third. This is the fourth year for Hurun Report, a Shanghai based luxury publishing group has come out with the list of Super rich in India.

12 September 2015 Current Affairs

Advisor of Defence Minister Satish Reddy gets Royal Aeronautic Society Medal

Dr. G. Satish Redy, advisor to Defence Minister and Director of Imarat, a research centre of DRDO has been selected for the Royal Aeronautic Society Silver Medal. The Society was awarding these medals since 1909 in the field of Aetonautics. Dr. Reddy is the first defence scientist working in India to be honoured with the medal. The award will be presented to him during the Wilbur and Orville Wright lecture on December 9 in London.

Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won the US Open Mixed Doubles Title

Indian player Leander Paes and Swiss player Martina Hingis won the US Open mixed doubles title on 12 September, 2015. Veteran Indian Tennis star Leander Paes scripted history by winning US Open mixed doubles title with partner Martina Hingis to become the format’s most successful male player in the open era. The fourth seeded Indo-Swiss pair edged past unseeded Americans Bethanie Mattek Sands and Sam Querrey to the third major title in the season. This is the ninth Grand slam title for Paes and for Hingis this is fourth title in Mixed doubles. It was the 17th Grand Slam title overall for Paes and 19th for Hingis. With this win the Pace-Hingis duo, which also won the Australian Open and the Wimbledon titles this season have become the first mixed doubles team since 1969 to win three GrandSlam mixed doubles titles in the same year.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb resigned

Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb resigned on 12 September, 2015, days after a government minister was accused of corruption and detained. Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi accepted the resignation and appointed the minister of petroleum, Sherif Ismail to form a new government. Egyptian Paliamentary elections are scheduled to begin in October and go through November. The results will be announced in December.

Las Vegas declares September 10 as ‘Anupam Kher’s Day’

Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been awarded for his commendable contribution to cinema and art globally in Nevada with the US State’s most populous city Los Vegas declaring September 10 as “Anupam Kher’s Day”. Kher was presented with the ‘Cirtificate of Excellence’ on 10 September, 2015 in Las Vegas by Nevada Senator. He has been honoured with various awards along with cirtificate of Excellence.

13 September 2015 Current Affairs

2000 Year old Ashoka Stupa to be put in China

A 2000 year old stupa constructed by emperor Ashoka in China’s Nangchen which fell into ruin has been restored and is set to be unveiled by spiritual head of Ladakh based Drukpa Buddhism. The renovated stupa enshrined with precious Buddhist relics is a precious structure of the Buddha followers. It underwent a restoration process in the last a few years and would be inaguarated by Gyalwang Drukpa.

Sania – Hingis pair won the US Open women’s doubles title

Indian tennis player Sania and Swiss player Martina Hingis duo won the US Open women’s doubles title held on 13 September. Indian tennis star Sania bagged her second consecutive Grand Slam Title of the season. The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair outplayed the fourth seeded duo of Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shevedova in the finals. It was Sania and Hingis’ second major title in the season. They won the Wimbledon Championship earlier this season. Sania has five GrandSlam titles in her career.

Flavia Pennetta of Italy won the US Open Women’s Singles Title

Flavia Pennetta of Italy won her first Grand Slam Singles Title by defeating Roberta Vinci in US Open finals held on 13 September. Pennetta of 33 years becomes the fourth oldest Grand Slam winner in the Open era. She also become the oldest first time grandslam women’s champion in the open era. After getting the US Open title Flavia Pennetta announced her retirement from tennis.

American Boxing World champion Floyd Mayweather announced his retirement

Floyd Mayweather of America announced his retirement from boxing on 13 September, 2015. He won the WBO Welterweight World Title by defeating Andre Berto of America. Floyd Mayweather defeated Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to equal Rocky Marciano’s legendary 49-0 unbeaten record. And this is the 49th victory for Mayweather. After winning the title he announced his retirement from boxing.

14 September 2015 Current Affairs

Malcolm Turnbull elected as the new Prime Minister of Australia

The Communication minister of Australia Malcom Turnbull has been elected as the new Prime Minister. The present Prime Minister Tony Abbott was ousted in a party vote forced by challenger Malcom Turnbull. Abbott has came to power in 2013 in general elections. Turnbull won the secret party vote and elected as Prime Minister. Turnbull resigned as communication minister after his victory in the party voting. He will take over the reigns after Abbott resigns.

Indian Origin Ashok Sreedharan elected as Mayor of German Town

Indian Origin Ashok Sreedharan, a mayoral candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel led Christian Democratic Union (CMD) has won the election in the town of Bonn, becoming the first person of Indian origin as mayor in German city. His victory marks the end of more than 21 years ruls of the city by the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Sreedharan will take over the reigns on October 21 from Juergen Nymptsch, the outgoing SPD minister. Until now, he served as the treasurer and assistant mayor in the municipal administration of Koenigswinter.

Indian Army organises cycle rally to commemorate 1965 victory over Pakistan in the name of ‘The Victory Car Rally’ 

The Indian army’s Udhampur headquartered Northern Command on 12 September commemorated the victory in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.Thirty-six army officials began a cycle rally from the northern Jammu town to New Delhi on Friday to commemorate the golden jubilee of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1965 war. ‘The Victory Car Rally’ comprises a team of ex-servicemen and serving officers who will traverse 1700 kms over rugged terrain in J&K (Udhampur – New Delhi). The expedition covering 1,211 kilometres will culminate in New Delhi on September 18.

Novak Djokovic won the US Open Tennis Men’s Singles Title

Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the US Open Tennis Men’s Singles Title. In the finals held on 14 September he defeated the 17 time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer of Switzerland. This is the 10th Grand Slam for Djokovic. In his career he has won nine Grand Slams in the last five years. This is the second US OPen title for him. In this season he won three Grand Slams which includes Australian Open, Wimbeldon and US Open. In French Open he stood as the runner up. This is the second time for Djokovic to won three Grand Slams in a season. In his career Djokovic won five Australian, three Wimbeldon and two US Open Trophies.

15 September 2015 Current Affairs

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wins UN Award for Leadership on Climate Change

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been honoured with the United Nations Champions of the Earth award in recognition of her country’s initiatives to address climate change. Sheikh Hasina has proven that investing in climate change is conducive to achieving social and economic development. Ms Hasina has demonstrated “leadership and vision” in both making climate change an issue of national priority and advocating for an ambitious global response.

India ranks 11th place in World Wealth Report-2015

India has become the 11th largest population of millionaires woth 198,000 such high net worth individuals (HNWI). India got the 11 rank in the World Wealth Report- 2015 released by Capsgemini and RBC Welath Management. In 2013, there were 1,56,000 HNWIs in India. The US topped the list with 43,51,000 millionaires followed by Japan with 24,52,000 millionaires , Germany with 11,41,000 millionaires and China with 8,90,000 millionaires in the second, third and fourth places respectively.

Longest chain of Volcanoes “Cosgrove Hotspot Track” found in Australia

The world’s longest chain of continental volcanoes created over the past 33 million years have been found in eastern Australia streching for over 2000 Kilometers. The volcanic chain “Cosgrove Hotspot Track” runs from Cape Hillsborough on the central Queensland coast, south west through central New southwales to Cosgrove in Victoria.

Bharat Dynamics Limited Test Fires Indigenous Anti-tank guided Missile ‘Amogha-1′

Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed second generation, 2.8 km range, anti-tank guided missile called Amogha-1 on September 10 at Babina Army Range in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first ever design and developmental effort in respect of missiles by BDL, Hyderabad. Amogha-I missiles will be offered to the army after due qualification and validation trials.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe three day visit to India

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 15 September came to Delhi on a three day visit to India. In this regard India and Sri Lanka held extensive talks on sticky fishermen issue, ensuring justice to Tamils and ways to deepen trade and defence engagements besides resolving to intensify cooperation in combating terror and securing the maritime neighbourhood. The two nations signed four agreements to deepen cooperation in health care and space science.

Sunjeev Sahota’s novel “The Year of the Runaways” shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize 

Indian-origin British author Sunjeev Sahota shortlisted for the prestigious 2015 ‘Man Booker Prize prize for Fiction’ for his novel “The Year of the Runaways”. The novel is a story of an unlikely family thrown together by circumstances. This is the second year that the prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the UK. Previously the prize was open only to authors from the UK and the Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe.

16 September 2015 Current Affairs

Nepal House passes New Constitution

Nepal’s Parliament passed a new national Constitution on 16 September, 2015, weeks after political leaders reached a historic agreement to create a federal state following an earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people. The new charter will replace an interim constitution in place. The new Constitution will divide the Himalayan nation of 28 million people into seven federal provinces. Work on a new constitution began in 2008.

Hangzhow city of China will host the 2022 Asian Games

The Chinese city of Hangzhow has been confirmed as the host of the 2022 Asian Games. China’s capital city Beijing will host the winter Olympic games in 2022. The 2018 Asian Games will be held in Indonesia.

Vishakapatnam Steel Plant gets CIO-100 Award in IT excellence

For the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in Information Technology shown during the year, RINL, the corporate entity of Vishapatnam Steel Plant was conferred with “CIO-100″ award and it’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) KVSS Rajeswara Rao, General Manager (IT) received it on RINL’s behalf. The award was instituted by International Data Group (IDG), the largest technology media, event and research company in the world to honour 100 companies that demanstrate excellence and achievement in Information Technology. IDG India’s President and CEO, Louis D’Mello gave away the awards.

RBI allows 10 companies to set up Small Finanace Banks (SFBs) 

The Reserve Bank o f India (RBI) on 16 September, 2015 decided to grant ‘in-principle’ approval to 10 companies to set up small Finance Banks under the ‘Guidelines for Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector’ (guidelines) to promote financial inclusion. The minimum paid up equity capital for these small finance banks shall be Rs. 100 crores. The ‘in-principle’ approval granted will be valid for 18 months. The SFBs will offer basic banking services like acceptance of deposits and lending to small busimess units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sesctor entities. The companies include AU financiers (Jaipur), Capital Local Area Bank (Jalandhar), Disa Microfin (Ahmedabad), Euities Holdings (Chennai), ESAF Microfinance (Chennai), Janalakshmi financial services (Bengaluru), RGVN microfinance (Guwahati), Suryoday Microfinance (Mumbai), Ujjivan Financial Services (Bengaluru) and Utkarsh Microfinance (Varanasi).

17 September 2015 Current Affairs

Government of India launches Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

The Central Government on 17 September 2015 announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY). This is a new programme meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be (a) to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central Government; (b) to minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts; and (c) to ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.

Perumanna Grama Panchayat becomes first Panchayat in Kerala to declare a water policy

In Kerala, Perumanna Grama Panchayat in Kozhikode district has become the first Panchayat in the State, to declare a water policy on the lines of the State government’s water policy declared in 2008.The water policy of Perumanna was drafted with the help of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kunnamangalam, after a detailed study of water resources and usage in the Panchayat over the last two years. AIR correspondent reports that the Panchayat has drafted a 13-point action plan to ensure proper utilisation and conservation of water in its 18 wards.

18 September 2015 Current Affairs

West Bengal Government declassified 64 secret files on Subhash Chandra Bose

West Bengal Government on 18 September in Kolkata declassified 64 secret files on ‘Netaji’ Subhash Chandra Bose. The declassified files contained total 12,744 pages. The files were kept under secrecy for 70 years. The files are being kept at Kolkata police museum. It will be open for public from September 21.

Metro’ Sreedharan in UN High Level Advisory Group

“Metro Man” E. Sreedharan has been invited to the United Nations High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG- ST). The service is for a period of three years. At present, Sreedharan is the Principle advisor to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

19 September 2015 Current Affairs

A New Government formed in Egypt

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has sworn in a new Government on 19 September, 2015. The new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, former Petroleum Minister . The 33 member cabinet contains three women and 16 new members. Two of the newcomers, Educatiuon minister Zaki Badr and Tourism minister Hisham Zaazou served in similar posts under Mubarak.

Judicial Grid to monitor pending cases inaguarated in Supreme Court

The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) to monitor the pendency of cases in all the district and lower courts across the country was inagurated in the Supreme Court on 19 September, 2015 by Justice Madan B. Lokur, incharge of e-committee of the apex court. This NJDG public access page as available at ecourts.gov.in/services will give consolidated figures of pendency of cases in district judiciary across the country. This will show case pendency broken into civil and criminal cases segregated into age-wise categories of upto 2 years, between 2 to 5 years, between 5 to 10 years and more than 10 years.

Union Government formed Mihir Shah Committee on restructuring Water Agencies

The Union Ministry of Water Resources on 11 September, 2015 constituted a seven member committee to advice it on restructuring the Central Water Commission (CWC) and The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). The expert committee will be headed by former planning commission member Mihir Shah. The committee was mandated to suggest ways for optimal development of water resources in the country.

20 September 2015 Current Affairs

India as runner up in Korea Open Badminton Superseries

The Indian Badminton player Ajay Jayaram stood as runner up in Korea Open Badminton Superseries finals held in Seoul on 20 September. World No.1 champion Chen Long of China won the Superseries by defeating world No.32 Indian player Ajay Jayaram with 21-04, 21-13 in the final tournament.

Sebastian Vettel win the Singapore Grand Prix 

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany won the Singapore Grand Prix Formula one race held on 20 September. Vettel , four times world champion completed his race in two hours 1 min. 22.118 Seconds. This is the third win of Ferrari in this season. Force India driver belongs to India, Sergio Peraz stood at seventh place in this race.

Yanina Wickmayer’ of Belgium won the Japan Open Tennis Title

Former US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer won the Japan Women’s Open Tennis tournament finals held in Tokyo on 20 September. She defeated Magda Linette of Poland in the finals. With this victory she claimed her first title of the year and fourth of her career.

BCCI Chief, Jagmohan Dalmia Passed away

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmia (75) passed away on 20 September in Kolkata. He was involved with the BCCI for more than three decades, starting his journey as it’s treasurer in 1983 before becoming its secretary. In 1997 he became the President of ICC. From 2001-2004 he was the Chief of BCCI. Again in 2015 he was elected as Chief of BCCI after Srinivasan.

The famous British author Jackie Collins died

Jackie Collins (77), the best selling British born author died on 19 Sesptember in California. She wrote more than 30 books. Her first novel, ‘The World is full of Married Men’ was published in 1968, which was banned in some countries. Her works also included Confessions of a Wild Child, The Stud and Hollywood Wives. Her last novel, ‘The Santangelos’ was published in June, 2015.

21 September 2015 Current Affairs

Japan’s elderly population hits new record

The number of Japanese aged 65 and above has risen to a new record of about 33.8 million people or 26.7 percent of the population. Men accounted for about 14.62 million of the total and women, 19.21 million. Japan’s elderly population account for a record 26.7 percent of Japan’s population, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from last year. The number of Japanese aged 80 and above has raisen by 380,000 from last year to 10.02 million, topping 10 million for the first time.

Novak Djokovic maintains top position in ATP rankings

Serbain Tennis player Novak Djokovic maintains the top position in the latest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings with 16,145 points. Swiss player Roger Federer still in second place followed by Britain’s Andy Murray. Rafel Nadal of Spain is at seventh position.

NASA developing world’s first space shot gun to blast Asteroids

NASA is developing the world’s first space shot gun that can blast asteroids into small pieces for collection as samples when a robotic space craft reaches near one such space rock in the near future. Along with a Brooklyn based company Honey Bee Robotics, the US Space agency is working on a shot gun as part of its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). The ARM aims to chop off a massive chunk of an asteroid and shift it into the moon’s orbit. Then, a manned spacecraft will collect samples and send these back to the Earth for further examination. The US Space agency plans to launch the unmanned ARM in early 2020s.

22 September 2015 Current Affairs

Government cleared multi billion dollar deal with America’s Boeing for military helicopters

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on 22 September cleared a multi billion dollar deal for 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy lift choppers with American aviation giant Boeing. The deal valued to be over USD 2.5 Billion. The 22 Apache AH, 64 D Longbow helicopters are one of the most advanced multi role combat helicopters, featuring all weather and night fighting features, ability to track up to 128 targets in less than a minute and engage with 16. The deal for Apache is a hybrid one. The deals have direct commercial contracts with Boeing as well as a direct government to government component between the two governments.

Golden Jubilee of 1965 War held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan 

The Golden jubilee celebrations of victory over Pakistan in the 1965 War were held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi on 22 September, 2015. Several war veterans were felicitated with the medals by the President Pranab Mukherji. A carnival ‘Indradhanush’, was organised at the India Gate and ‘Shauryanjali’, an exhibition being held by the army on Rajpath. A 96 year old Air Marshal Arjan Singh, the only IAF officer to be promoted to the rank of a Five-star General felicitated by the President. Mr Singh was chief of the Indian Air Force during the 1965 War.

Indra Nooyi and Shobhana Bhartia honoured with USIBC Global Leadership Awards 

Indra Nooyi , Chairman and CEO of PepSi Co., and Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and editorial director of HT media received the USIBC (U.S-India Business Council) Global Leadership Awards on 22 September in Washington. Both were honoured for their contributions and committment to driving a more inclusive global economy and for their roles as women leaders.

23 September 2015 Current Affairs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to Ireland

Narendra Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Ireland after 1959, held talks with the Prime Minister of Ireland Enda Kenny. Modi on 23 September visit Ireland and sought Ireland’s support for India’s membership of UN Security Council and International export control regimes, including NSG, during wide ranging talks with Enda Kenny and also covered global challenges like terror and radicalisation.

Pope’s historic visit to United States

Pope Francis arrived in the United States on 22 September for his first visit- a historic six day trip during which his focus on consumerism, poverty and the marginalised risks appearing as a criticism of American society. Pope Francis will make two key speeches during his visit. The first Pope from the Americas is preparing to elevate to sainthood , an 18th century missionary who brought Catholicism to California.

Japanese centenarian “Golden Bolt” sets Guinness World Record in racing

A fleet-footed Japanese centenarian raced into the Guinness World Records reference book on 23 September and declared him a ‘medical marvel’ as he continues to stalk sprint king Usain Bolt. Hidekichi Miyazaki, dubbed ‘Golden Bolt’ after the fastest man on the planet clocked 42.22 seconds in Kyoto to set a 100 metres world record in the over-105 age category.

24 September 2015 Current Affairs

Sourav Ganguly as new President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)

Former Indian Cricket Team Captain, Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on 24 September in the place of recently died Jagmohan Dalmia. Prior to this Ganguly worked as joint secretary of CAB.

Forbes released list of India’s richest persons

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani retained the tag as India’s richest for the ninth year in a row with a net worth of 18.9 billion dollars in Forbe’s magazine’s India’s 100 rich list. Ambani was followed by Sun Pharma’s Dilip Sanghvi as second richest with a networth of 18 billion dollars while Wipro’s Azim Premji retained third place with 15.9 billion dollars. Only four women feature in the list including OP Jindal Group Chairperson Savitri Jindal (23 rank) and generic drugs maker USV Pharma Chairperson Leena Tewari (54 rank). Wife of Havells founder, Vinod Gupta (74 rank) and Indu Jain of Bennet, Coleman & Co. (57 rank) are the other two women in the list.

ISRO celebrates 1 year of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) marks one year of it’s life around the red planet on 24 September. After successfully completing one year of the mission life around Mars, a large data set has been acquired by all five loads of MOM. ISRO to mark the first anniversary of Mars Orbit Insertion released an atlas containing photos taken by the colour camera on board the space craft and results obtained by other payload results in a form of Scientific atlas. The MOM space craft was designed, built and launched in record period of less than two years.

New postings of Indian Envoys

Key postings of Indian Envoys to Pakistan, China , the UK and the UN have been decided by the government on 24 September. Navtej Sarna, presently Secretary (West) in the ministry will be next High Commissioner to London replacing Mr Ranjan Mathai, Mr Gautam Bambawale, India’s ambassador to Bhutan, will take over as High Commissioner to Pakistan from Mr T.C.A. Raghavan. India’s ambassador to Germany Vijay Gokhale will takeover from Mr Ashok Kantha in Beijing. Harsh vardhan Shringla, present Indian ambassador for Bankok will be the next Indian Ambassador to Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Visit to United States

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a five day visit to United States of America from September 23 to September 28. On 24 September Modi conducted a meeting with eight companies CEOs to attract capital to the country and boost his ‘Make in India’ initiative. On September 26 and 27 Modi will travel to the Silicon Valley to interact with top CEOs of top American companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google and Tesla. On 28 September Modi would meet US President Barack Obama and top leaders of a dozen other countries. In his meeting with Obama, Modi would discuss bilateral, regional and global issues and the decisions taken by the two governments during the recently concluded inaugural strategic and commercial dialogue in Washington DC.

25 September 2015 Current Affairs

China President Xi Jinping at USA

China President Xi Jinping visited USA on 25 September. US President Barack Obama welcomed China’s Xi Jingping to the White House with pointed remarks about human rights, cyber espionage and Beijing’s territorial ambitions. Mr Xi arrived at the White House to a 21 gun salute and full ceremonial military honours, underlining the importance of the state visit. The visit came as the weakness in the Chinese economy is roiling world markets, and discussions of Beijing’s slow move to a market led exchange rate will be tense. The White House hopes for a constructive exchange on at least one subject: Climate Change.

Delhi as the most polluted city as per the World Bank Report

The latest World Bank report on leveraging Urbanisation in South Asia has identified ‘air pollution’ as a big challenge for major cities from developing countries. 19 of the 20 most polluted cities are from South Asia. Karachi, Dhaka and Kabul all feature in the top 20. Delhi is far from unique in South Asia in having dangerously high concentrations of PM 2.5. High concentrations of fine particulate matter, especially that of 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM 2.5), which can penetrate deep into the lungs, increases the likelihood of asthma, lung cancer, severe respiratory illness, and heart disease.

Modi addressed special summit on Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a visit to US addressed a special summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Modi met the United Nations Chief Ban Ki-Moon on 25 September. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussing bilateral ties. Modi attended a meeting with 42 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in New York in the name of ‘Round Table with American Inc’. Modi invited US companies to set up manufacturing units in India. During his visit in US Narendra Modi also met the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

China Successfulluy launched Long March -11 carrier Rocket

China successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket, the Long March-11,on 25 September from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu. The rocket carried four micro-satellites into space, which will be used mainly for testing. The solid propellant rocket was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The rocket will mainly be used for launching micro-satellites.

26 September 2015 Current Affairs

G4 Summit held at NewYork

The G-4 countries of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan on 26 September emphasized that they were legitimate candidates for permanent membership in an expanded and reformed UN Secretary Council and supported each other’s candidature. The four leaders Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff participated in the G-4 Summit held at New York. The G-4 is celebrating 10 years since its formation. The G-4 pledged to work together with all member states and to accelerate outreach towards achieving an early and meaningful reform of the Security Council.

Ex-Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai quits Maoist Party

Senior Maoist leader and former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai resigned on 26 September from the Maoist Party. Bhattarai also quit his seat in Parliament. Bhattarai was head of the People’s Government during the decade long Maoist insurgency that began in 1996. He became the Prime Minister for 19 months-August 2011 to March 2013 and quit after the first constituent assembly failed to deliver the constitution within the promised time frame.

27 September 2015 Current Affairs

Prime Minister Modi boots up ‘Digital India’ in Silicon Valley

The heads of the top tech firms in Silicon Valley supplied a bounty of investment and development plans. In response to Modi’s ‘Digital India’ road show, the committments made include a 150 million dollars investments by Qualcomm into a fund for Indian Startups, an ambitious project to let Google users be able to type in 10 Indian languages, Microsoft’s promise to open up cloud computing services out of Indian Data centres and critical proposals from Tesla and Apple for long term solutions in Solar energy and the app economy.

Fourteenth World Billiards Championship Title for Pankaj Advani 

India’s most successful cueist Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship on 27 September. This is the fourteenth world title for Advani. He won the title by demolishing Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist by 1168 points.

Forward Markets Commission (FMC) merged with SEBI

Over 60 years old FMC (Forward Markets Commission) has been merged with the younger, but much bigger capital markets regulator , Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to create a unified regulatory body. SEBI was set up in 1988 as a non-statutory body for regulating the securities markets, became autonomous body in 1992. FMC has been regulating commodities market since 1953, but lack of powers remaining untamed in this market segment. This is the first major case of two regulators being merged. FMC’s merger with the market regulartor was aimed at streamlining the regulations and curb wild speculations in commodities market. While facilitating further growth of the market.

An expert committee to review Civil Services exam pattern

An expert committee has been formed by the Government to examine various issues related to age relaxation, eligibility, syllabus and pattern of the civil services examination to select the IAS and IPS officers. Based on the report of the committee, further changes in the civil services exam pattern would be considered. The panel would be headed by the former Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer B.S. Baswan and consists of leading academicians, technocrats and senior bureaucrats.

28 September 2015 Current Affairs

US – India bilateral meeting held at NewYork

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 September met the US President Barack Obama in New York during his US visit. Modi held a bilateral meeting with Obama. Indian Prime Minister Modi and US President Obama decided to ‘further refine’ the Indo-US strategic partnership while pushing ahead with cooperation in the areas of security, counter terrorism, defence, economy and climate change. US and India signed final agreement for the purchase of two of the most advanced 22 Apache and 15 Chinook American helicopters in a deal worth about 3 billion dollars. Modi held seperate meetings with his British counterpart David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande during which a host of bilateral, regional and global issues were discussed. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was present during his meeting with Mr Hollande.

Modi visited Headquarters of Google and Face Book 

Modi visited to the campuses of Iconic Tesla, Face Book and Google during his west coast visit. The first day of Modi’s West Coast visit included a visit to Tesla Motors and a meeting with the chief executive, Elon Musk, where the two discussed renewable energy. Modi later met to Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive. Modi visited the Google headquarters and interacted with CEO Sundar Pichai, and Google co-founder Larry Page and former CEO Eric Schmidt.Indian Railways and Google will collaborate to provide wi-fi at 500 railway stations in India.In his visit Modi also visted the headquarters of Face Book . He was set to host an open town hall with Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Face Book.

ISRO successfully launched India’s first Space Observatory “ASTROSAT”

On 28 September, 2015 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the India’s first space observatory “ASTROSAT”. India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) -C30 successfully launched ASTROSAT along with six foreign customer satellites. ASTROSAT was injected into it’s orbit about 22 minutes after the lift off. The seperation of all the six co-passenger satellites was completed in the next three minutes. This was the 30th consecutive success of PSLV. The satellites of international customers included the 76 Kg LAPAN-A2 of Indonesia, 14 Kg NLS-14 (Ev9) of Canada and four identical LEMUR satellites of the US. 51 satellites have been launched by PSLV for customers from abroad.

NASA detects liquid water on MARS 

Liquid water has been observed on the planet Mars by the US Space agency NASA. The rovers found that the soil of the planet us much more moist than anticipated. Scientists in 2008 confirmed the existence of frozen water on Mars. But the latest observations from an instrument abroad NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter support the long time theory that salt water in liquid form flows down certain Martian slopes each summer. Under certain circumstances liquid water has been found on Mars. Major climate change about three billion years ago is believed to be the reason.

29 September 2015 Current Affairs

Centre launches Green Highways policy

The Central government flagged off its Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beuatification and Maintenance) policy 2015 on 29 September. The aim of this policy is to help the environment, help local communities and generate employment by planting trees along all the highways in the country. The target for the first year is to cover 6,000 Km of highways. The Green Highways policy will help in making India pollution free.

Reserve Bank cut Repo rate by 0.5 %

The governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan on 29 September cut the benchmark repurchase rate by 50 basis points. RBI has cut it’s key rate by 0.5 % bringing it down to 6.75%, the lowest in four and half years. Loans will get cheaper and hike consumer spending. CRR remains unchanged at 4%. GDP growth forecast for 2015-16 lowered to 7.4 %. Growth likely to pick up in later part of this fiscal. RBI to issue final guidelines on base rate computation by November end. With the cut in the RBI’s Repo rate, State Bank of India (SBI) reduced its key lending rate by 40 bps to 9.3 percent. Andhra Bank and Bank of India also reduced their base rate by 25 bps. The present rates of RBI are : CRR – 4%, Repo rate – 6.75%, Reverse Repo rate – 5.75%.

30 September 2015 Current Affairs

India to hold G-20 Summit in 2018

India is set to be the G-20 host in 2018. The prestigious annual G-20 Summit in 2018 is going to be held in New Delhi. China is the host of 2016 G-20 Summit and in 2017 Germany will host the summit. The Group of Twenty (G-20) is an international fora for the governments from 20 major economies. One nation holds the chair for the summit, known as ‘G-20 Presidency’.

Government releases postal stamp on B.R. Ambedkar

Government on 30 September, 2015 released a commemorative postal stamp on Dr B R Ambedkar on the occassion of celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar this year. Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad released the stamp. The coin is slated to be released in honour of Ambedkar and approval from the Finance Ministry has already been received.

Indegenously constructed warship INS Kochi commissioned 

An indegenously designed and constructed Naval warship INS Kochi was commissioned by defence minister on 30 September, 2015. It is the second ship of the Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyers. The first of the three destroyers INS Kolkata was commissioned in 2014 and the last ship INS Chennai is expected to join the naval forces later in 2016. INS Kochi has been designed by the Navy’s in-house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design. It has been constructed by Mazagon Dock Ship Builders Ltd. in Mumbai. The weight of this ship is 7,500 tonnes, 164 meters long and measures 17 meters at the beam. The speed of the ship is 30 Knots. INS Kochi is packed with an array of sophisticated weapons and sensors. The weapons include advanced supersonic and long range BrahMos surface to surface missile, the 76 mm Super Rapid Gun Mount and AK 630 Close In Weapon system.