Daily Current Affairs - 6 September 2014

1. President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed happiness over bilateral agreement being signed between India and Australia on co-operation in civil nuclear energy and said it will open "a new chapter" in strengthening of relations between the two countries. Mukherjee told this to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott who called on him this evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

2. Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was today appointed as the next Chief Justice of India and will have a tenure of 14 months. The President is pleased to appoint Justice Dattu as CJI with effect from September 28, 2014, the Law Ministry announced here. The present incumbent, Justice R M Lodha retires on September 27. 

3. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the country’s notoriously overcrowded jails to free all inmates who have served half their maximum term without trial, in a landmark ruling with potential implications for hundreds of thousands of prisoners.

4. India Army's Lt Colonel Sudhakar Jayant completed a hat-trick of titles after clinching the gold medal for the third time at the IWF World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Competing in 62kg weight category, the 45-year-old Indian lifted a total of 185kg. In snatch Jayant lifted 85kg while in clean and jerk he came up with a best effort of 100kg.

5. Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza clinched her third mixed doubles Grand Slam title as she and her partner Bruno Soares overcame a few anxiuous moments in the match tie break to win the US Open on Friday. The top seeded Indo-Brazilian pair squandered five straight championship points before scoring a 6-1 2-6 11-9 win over Abigail Spears from the USA and Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico in exactly 60 minutes.

6. The National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) organizes International Literacy Day (ILD) celebrations in the country on 8th September every year. This year too ILD will be celebrated on 8th September at New Delhi. The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chief Guest on the occasion. The function will be presided over by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani.

7. The President Shri Pranab Mukherjee today presented the National Awards to Teachers- 2013. 378 teachers were awarded in this function. 43 awards have been allotted to teachers who promote the education of children with disabilities in regular schools by States/UTs and other school systems. The number of awards allotted to a State depends upon the strength of the teaching community in that State. Each State/U.T. is, however, entitled to at least one Award for the Category of Primary schools teachers and one for the Secondary school teachers. The total number of awards presently, stands at 378. 

8. The U.S. has said it opposes any efforts to impose “extra-constitutional change” to the democratic system in Pakistan and supports Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as the elected leader of the country

9. AirAsia India today launched daily flight services to Chandigarh and Jaipur from its current hub Bangalore, marking its entry in the North Indian market. AirAsia India, the latest budget carrier to enter the domestic airline space, now flies from six airports in the country - Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Goa, Chandigarh and Jaipur.

10. Surplus coal from captive mines should not be transferred to the nearest CIL units as that may lead to disputes over fuel quality and result in transit losses, DIPP has cautioned. The Power Ministry had earlier alleged that the quality of coal supplied by CIL to the power plants is low grade and stones and boulders are being dispatched in supplies even after the introduction of the third party sampling mechanism. 

11. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Saturday in a move to boost Japan's trade and investment in the counties.

12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he will visit Australia after the G20 Summit there in November as there has been no prime ministerial visit from India since 1986.

13. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will arrive in New Delhi next week to hold bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

14. Sania Mirza-Bruno Soares win US Open mixed doubles title.

15.  Serena Williams will fight for an 18th Grand Slam title on Sunday after sweeping past Ekaterina Makarova.