Current Affairs Sep 20, 2015

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01. Sebastin Vettel wins F-1 race: Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel from Germany won the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix of Formula One. While, Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished second. The race was held on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, which is the first street circuit in Asia.

02. Alexis Tsipras-led Syriza party won Greece elections: Syriza party led by Alexis Tsipras won the Greece general elections ,by emerging as the largest party in the general elections to the Greece’s Parliament. The party accounted for 35 percent of total votes resulting in 144 seats in the 300-seat Parliament. The snap polls were called after Syriza lost its majority in August 2015 in the Parliament.

03. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away: Jagmohan Dalmiya, President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), passed away in Kolkata. He was 75. Dalmiya ensured that BCCI became a dominant factor in ICC and made India a superpower in cricket. He was associated with BCCI for more than three decades.He was the first Indian and Asian to head the ICC.

04. Petrol, diesel contribute Rs 30,000 cr additional excise in April-August: Petrol and Diesel contributed to an extra Rs 36,500 crore in excise collections from April- August. This was possible on account of the four hikes in excise duty on petrol and diesel between November 2014 and January 2015, which resulted in an additional revenue of Rs 30,000 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal.

05. Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi bags Best Airport Award: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has been adjudged as the Best Airport, under Class X cities category for the year 2013-2014. This award was presented by the President Pranab Mukherjee at Delhi, which was part of the National Tourism Awards.

06. India's merchandise exports drop considerably: India's merchandise exports will be between USD 265-268 billion in 2015-16, significantly lower than USD 310.5 billion in the previous fiscal. This dip will be due to the sharp erosion in commodity prices globally, according to Assocham. The country's outbound shipments stood at around USD 314.4 billion in 2013-14, USD 300.4 billion 2012-13, and USD 306 billion in 2011-12.

07. NRI deposits increase by 48%: Deposits from NRIs increased by 48 per cent in the first four months of this financial year as the rupee's depreciation against the dollar and higher domestic interest rates attracted global Indians. NRI deposits aggregated to $6.97 billion in April-July from $4.71 billion a year earlier.

08. Gujarat bags tourism award: The state of Gujarat was awarded the first prize for comprehensive Tourism Development, while ranking the states in the area of promotion of tourism by the central Government.