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Sports
Sports
Ø Sania Mirza(India) - Martina Hingis (Switzerland) wins Australian Open 2016 Women's double title on January 29th . This is there 12th title together and 36th consecutive win.
Ø Indian ace Badminton player PV Sindhu has won the 2016 Malaysia Master Grand Prix Gold Badminton title. In the final match she has defeated Kirsty Gilmour(Scotland) . This is her 2nd Malaysia Grand Prix title which she had also won in 2013
Ø Indian Formula One car driver Jehan Daruvala has won the 2016 Lady Wigram Trophy in New Zealand.
Ø 2016 WTA Apia International title of Tennis has been won by Viktor Troicki of Serbia (World rank: 22) in Men’s Singles category. He defeated Grigor Dimmitrov of Bulgaria in the final match.
Ø Sania Mirza(India) – Martina Hingis(Sweden) pair has won "WTA Apia International Title 2016 "in women’s doubles category. This is there 11th title together and consecutive 30th win .They defeated French pair Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the final match in Sydney( Australia)
Ø Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) won the 2016 Chennai Open title by defeated Borna Coric of Croatia in the finals. This is his 3rd consecutive Chennai title win (2014, 15,16) and also in 2011.
Ø Milos Raonic from Canada has won 2016 WTA Brisbane International Tennis Trophy in the men’s singles category defeated Roger Federer from Switzeralnd.
ØBarcelona FC forward Lionel Messi (Argentina) has won the 2016 FIFA Ballon d’Or Award for being the best foot ball player . It is his 5th time to receive this award . Earlier he had won it in 2010,2011,2012,2013.
Economy
Ø International Monetary Fund(IMF) long pending 2010 Quota and governance reforms have finally became effective on January 29th. With revised reforms India's voting rights increased from 2.3% to 2.6 %(0.3% increase).
Ø USA based software exporter Cognizant Technology solutions (CTS) has acquired cloud based computing firm KBACE Technologies. With this acquisition, KBACE technologies 400 consultants and implementation experts will become part of Cognizant Technologies.
Ø BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) has launched a new service for algorithm trading test facility for investor on its derivatives and equity platform. This will enable all market participants to test their trading algorithms in different trading segments including equity, equity derivatives and currency derivatives.
Ø Economic Emergency state has been declared by France president "Francois Hollande" to redefine its economic and social model, to boost long stagnant economic growth and reduce chronic unemployment.
Ø Online e-commerce giant Flipkart has promoted it’s co-founder Binny Bansal to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and its present CEO is appointed as Executive Chairman of the company.
International
Ø India has overtaken Thailand as World’s largest exporter of Rice for the year 2015 by exporting 10.23 million tonnes {1.023 Crore tonnes) of rice. Thailand ranked second by exporting 9.8 million tonnes of rice while Vietnam in third place with 6.4 million tonnes.
Ø USA based software exporter Cognizant Technology solutions (CTS) has acquired cloud based computing firm KBACE Technologies. With this acquisition, KBACE technologies 400 consultants and implementation experts will become part of Cognizant Technologies.
Ø A 4 day conference of World Economic Forum(WEF) has been organized in Swiss resort of Davos, Switzerland with more than 40 countries business people attending. This year agenda is "Outlook of the global economy and measures to fight terrorism"
ØTsai Ing Wen(59) elected as first female President of Taiwan. She is from Democratic Progressive Party(DPP) and 14th President of Taiwan.
National
Ø Sikkim state has become India’s first fully “Organic state” after its successful implementation of organic farming practices around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land. This formal declaration has been made by Narendra Modi after inaugurating the Sikkim Organic Festival 2016 in Gangtok, Sikkim.
Ø Union Ministry of Urban Development has shortlisted 20 cities in the first batch of Smart Cities Mission.
Ø S.No | Ø State | Ø Cities |
Ø 1 | Ø Andhra Pradesh | Ø Visakapatnam, Kakinada |
Ø 2 | Ø Assam | Ø Guwahati |
Ø 3 | Ø Gujarat | Ø Surat, Ahmedabad |
Ø 4 | Ø Karnataka | Ø Davangere,Belagavi |
Ø 5 | Ø Kerala | Ø Kochi |
Ø 6 | Ø Maharashtra | Ø Solapur, Pune |
Ø 7 | Ø Madhya Pradesh | Ø Jabalpur,Bhopal,Indore |
Ø 8 | Ø Odisha | Ø Bhuvaneswar |
Ø 9 | Ø Punjab | Ø Ludhiana |
Ø 10 | Ø Rajasthan | Ø Udaipur,Jaipur |
Ø 11 | Ø Tamilnadu | Ø Coimbatore,Chennai |
Ø 12 | Ø Union Territory | Ø New Delhi Municipal Corporation |
Ø Akash surface to air missile has been successfully test fired from complex-3 of Integrated Test Range at Chandipuri in Odisha.
Ø Union Cabinet approved raising of 17 Indian Reserve Battalions(IRBs) in Jammu Kashmir and 4 Left Winged Extremism(LWE) affected states. 17 IRB's include 5 in Jammu & Kashmir, 3 in Jharkhand, 3 in Odisha, 2 in Maharashtra.
Ø India celebrated its 67th Republic day on January 26th for which France President Francois Hollande was the chief guest.
Ø First solar power operated Mini Water supply plant has started in Maharashtra which is located in Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in Nagpur District . With this, villages will get pure water supply at very low cost .
Ø "Mumbai Central" has become the first railways in India to have free high-speed Wi-Fi Internet Facility.This service is launched by Union Railway minister Suresh Prabhu on January 23. This project is handled by Google India and RailTel
ØKerala becomes the first state in India to achieve 100% primary education which is declared by Vice president Hamid Ansari during his speech at special ceremony organized at Thiruvananthapuram. “Athulyam Scheme” is Kerala’s flagship primary education drive.
Ø Telangana becomes first State to make gender education compulsory at graduation level. The gender education touches upon subjects like male-female relationships, female-centric history, strands of Women’s movements across world etc.
Ø Indigenously built 3rd generation Anti-Tank missile ‘ Nag’ was successfully test fired at Mahajan Field firing Range in Rajasthan .The missile successfully hit the target 4 km away during a night trial validating capability of Imaging-Infrared Seeker (IIS)
Ø 68th Indian Army Day was celebrated on January 15th . On this day in 1949 Lt.Geneal Kodandera Madppa Cariappa became first Indian commander in chief of Indian Army succeeding British Army General.
Ø Narendra Modi chaired Union cabinet approved Policy on Promotion of City Compost. This policy will help in circulating compost produced from city waste for agriculture and farming purpose
Ø 35% Reservation for women in government jobs has been approved by Bihar Government. There is also 50% reservation for women as primary school teachers and in Panchayat Raj .
Appointments
Ø NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) New Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) is Gurdeep Singh. Previously Gurdeep Singh served as MD of Gujarat State Electricity Company Limited.
ØLeslie Berland has been appointed as CMO(Chief Marketing Officer) of Micro blogging site Twitter. Prior to this appointment she has worked for American Express(AmEx) Ø Atulesh Jindal (Senior IRS officer) has been appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Present chairman Arun Kumar has completed his term.
Ø Tata Motor’s has appointed Guenter Butschek as CEO and MD of the company on January 19th . Prior to this appointment he served as COO (chief operating officer) of plane-maker Airbus Goup.
Ø Dinesh Sharma has been elected as one of the Board of Directors for Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).AIIB provides financial support for Infrastructure development and regional connectivity in v
Agreements/MoU’s
Ø Indian Bureau of Mines(IBM) has signed MoU with National Remote Sensing Center( NRSC) to monitor mining activities in the country through satellite technology (Bhuvan GIS)
Ø Indian Bureau of Mines(IBM) has signed MoU with National Remote Sensing Center( NRSC) to monitor mining activities in the country through satellite technology (Bhuvan GIS)
Ø Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has signed cyber security agreement with its counter parts Malaysia, Singapore Japan. These MoU's are related to cyber security and shall promote closer cooperation for exchange of knowledge and experience.
Ø Rajasthan Government along with its power distribution companies(DISCOMS) has signed a MoU to join UDAY(Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme. By joining the UDAY scheme, discoms in Rajasthan will be able to overcome permanent and sustainable solution for their debt ridden utilities and achieve financial stability and growth.
Ø Indian and Armenia has signed a protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention(DTAC) to curb instances of tax evasion. This protocol has been in existence since September 2014 . The Amendment protocol will enable both countries to exchange information related to banking and financial transactions under DTAC.
Ø MoU between India and Maldives in the field of Health care is approved by Union Cabinet. This MoU facilitates greater cooperation between two countries and to develop human resources in health care.
Ø 31 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) members have signed corporate tax avoidance agreement in a bid to stem fiscal evasion by Multi National Companies
Ø India and France have signed 14 pacts for enchancing bilateral cooperation in various fields including defence, railways, space, education etc after extensive discussions between Prime Minster Narendra Modi and France president Francois Hollande.
Ø First Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation forum was held in Manama, Capital city of Bahrain.
Ø Indian government has signed 25 crore dollar agreement with World Bank for Bihar ‘ Kosi’ Basin development project. This loan has been sanctioned by World Bank lending arm IDA. Kosi river is known as ‘ sorrow of Bihar’ as major floods in state occur from this river.
Ø MoU between Indian ISRO and Kuwait ISR has been approved by Union government. With this both countries enable cooperation for pursuing potential interest in commercial and cooperative areas of space research.
ØCabinet approved MoU between India and UK in the field of Public administration and governance reforms
Ø India inks loan agreement with World Bank for "Neeranchal National Watershed Project" to improve watershed management in rural rain fed areas. The loan would support watershed project activities of Pradhan Mantri Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in 9 states.
Science and Technology
Ø Astronomers have discovered largest known solar system in the form of gas giant located one trillion kilometers away from earth. This solar system has largest planet known as 2MASS J2126-8140.
Ø Zika Virus creates panic over thousands of birth defects in Latin American Countries. Zika virus is mosquito borne transmitted by Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. Pregnant women are warned not to travel to these countries. Infected Babies are reportedly born with abnormally smaller heads which can cause brain damage(Mircrocephaly)
Ø Oceans to have more plastics than fish by 2050 according to WEF(World Economic Forum) report if the ongoing practice of dumping plastic continues.
Ø A new bird species named Himalayan Forest Thrush has been discovered in northeastern India. It has been given name Zoothera Salimalii
Ø ISRO has successfully launched India’s fifth navigation satellite(IRNSS 1 E) in PSLV-C31 rocket from Satish Dhawan Sapce Centre, Sri harikota in Andra Pradesh state.
Ø NASA successfully launched Jason -3 Ocean Monitoring satellite through SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 18 from California Vandenberg Air Force Base on January 19th.
Ø Ebola Outbreak in west Africa has been declared End by World Health Organization(WHO) after known chains of transmissions have been stopped. Liberia was worst hit western African country y this deadly outbreak which killed around 4809 people.
Ranking’s
Ø India ranked 76th out of 168 countries in the Corruption Perception Index for the year 2015 published by Transparency International. India has improved its rank which was in 85th position in the year 2014.
Ø Top 5 countries in Corruption Perception Index are
1.Denmark
2. Finland
3.Sweden
4. New Zealand, Netherlands
5.Norway
Ø Sri Lank tops in 2015 Human Development Index (HDI) in South Asia Region released by UN Development Programme (UNDP) with an HDI value of 0.757.India stood at 130, while Maldives at 104, Bhutan 132 , Bangladesh 142, Nepal 145, Pakistan 147 and Afghanistan 171.
Ø India ranked 89th globally in Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) for the year 2015-2016 in a list of 106 countries published by INSEAD . This is based on the quality of talent a country can produce, attract and retain. Switzerland stood in 1st position followed by Singapore in 2nd position.
Deaths
Ø Marvin Minsky, pioneer of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has passed away on January 24th 2016 in Boston (Age:88) , United States due to cerebral hemorrhage.
Ø American popular actor Abe Vigoda(94) has passed away on January 27th .He is best known for roles in The Godfather, Barney Miller.
Ø Legendary Malayalam Actress Kalpana Ranjani(51) passed away in Hyderabad due to heart attack. She has acted various South Indian films.
Ø Eminent Tabla player Pandit Shankar Ghoshe (80) has passed away on January 25th in Kolkata, West Bengal. In 2000 he has been awarded with prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy Award. He also received ITC Sangeet Research Academy award and Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award.
Ø Former Deputy speaker of Gujarat Assembly Nirmala Gajwani (87) passed away on Jan 22 at Rajkot Gujarat. She was the first lady Deputy Speaker at Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Ø Renowned Classical danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai(97) passed away in Ahmadabad Gujarat on Jan 22nd. She was the wife of Famous Space Scientist ,Vikram Sarabhai who is called Father of Indian space program. She received Padma Bhushan award in 1992, Padma Shri in 1965 .
Ø Senior Journalist Aroon Tikekar(72) passed away in Maharashtra .He was associated with many news papers and has written over 20 books .
Ø Found member of American rock band ‘Eagles’ Glenn Frey(67) passed away due to rheumatoid arthritis in New York.
Ø British best loved actor Alan Rickman(69) passed away in London , England with cancer. He is known famous in movies like Harry Potter, Die Hard and Robin Hood etc. Alan Rickman won Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award , Screen Actors Guild award.
Ø Geethapriya(84) , Renowned Kannada filmmaker and lyricist has passed away with throat cancer in Bengaluru. He has received Puttanna Kanagal Award in 1986 for life time achievement.
Ø Ventrapraga Rama Rao (81), former Sikkim governor has passed away on January 17th in Hyderabad. He worked as governor from 2002 to 2007.
Ø Anil Ganguly(82), noted film maker passed away in Mumbai . His famous films are Kora Kagaz(1974), Tapasya(1975).His daughter Rupali Ganguly is a theater and television actress
Ø Lt Gen JFR Jacob (92), 1971 India-Pakistan war hero passed away on January 13th New Delhi. He is also best known for role in liberation of Bangladesh.
Ø Music Legend David Bowie(69) passed away on 10th January in New York with liver cancer . He was most influential musicians of 1970’s for his creative musicianship . The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust has brought him international fame in 1972. He had won tow grammy awards and 3 Brit Awards.
Ø First Female F1(formula one) driver Maria Teresa de Filippis (86) passed away on 8th January 2016 in Italy. She raced for Maserati team in five world championship Grand Prix titles.
Awards and Honors
Ø Three Indian Origin persons(PIO) have been awarded with “2016 Medal of the order of Australia” which is Australia’s highest civilian honor. They are Chennupati Jagadish for Physics, Jay Chandra medicine, Sanjeev Koshy for dentistry.
Ø Third Edition of Yash Chopra Memorial Award has been awarded to Veteran Bollywood actress Rekha who is also Rajya Sabha MP.
Ø Indian highest peacetime gallantry award Ashok Chakra is awarded to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami(posthumous)
Ø Madhya Pradesh has been selected for “Krishi Karman Award” for the year 2014-2015 in maximum food grains production category. This is the 4th consecutive (continuous) win by Madhya Pradesh. It has produced 328 lakh tones in the period 2014-2015 compared to 280 lakh for 2013-2014.
Ø Ankita Anand won "2015 Lorenzo Natali Media Prize" under Asia Pacific – amateur category. For her article “stirrings beneath the peepul” published in the journal The Equator Linel in which she portrayed life of young women facing the threat of khap panchayats.
Ø Famous Novelist Anuradha Roy won "2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature" for her novel “Sleeping on Jupiter”. Sri Lanka PM Ranil Meickremesinghe has presented the prize worth $50,000 to her. The Novel deals with subject of violence against women .
Ø 61st Britania Film Fare awards event is organized in Mumbai. Hindi film “Bajirao Masthani” has won highest (8) number of awards.
Ø EPFO(Employment Provident Fund Organization) has won the "National Award on e-Governance" for launching Universal Account Number(UAN) for the year 2015-2016 in innovational use of technology in e-Governance category.
Launches/ Inaugurations
Ø Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has launched "Sahaj Scheme" for online booking of LPG Cylinders as part of Government’s 2016 Year of Consumer initiative. Consumers can book LPG cylinders through online web portal www.mylpg.in which will be available in 13 languages.
Ø Andhra Pradesh government has launched "Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam" Scheme to support tribal women in their quest for livelihood. The scheme seeks to reduce rampant infant mortality and child marriages among tribal people .Through this scheme 50,000 rupees will be offered to each tribal women who gets married.
Ø Prime Minister Narendra Modi launced “Start-up India, Stand-up India”action plan in New Delhi to boost the startup ventures in country. The main aim of this is to encourage innovation, bring out talent from young people and remove troublesome government rules.
Ø Indian Institute of Science and Research (IISER) first phase of permanent campus has been inaugurated at Vithura in Thiruvanathapuram,Kerala state by HRD minister Smriti Irani. This institute is dedicated to scientific research and science education of international standards.
Ø BSNL(Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) has launched high speed 4G(4th Generation) telecom services at Chandigarh in Punjab circle. With this launch BSNL became 5th 4G service provider in India after Airtel(1st), Aircel(2nd ), Vodafone(3rd ),Reliance Jio (4th)
Ø Union Cabinet approved “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana”, a new crop insurance scheme to boost farming sector in the country. This scheme aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claim for the full insured sum.
Ø Defense Acquisition Council(DAC) chaired by Union Defense Minister Manohar Parikar has approved major changes in New Defense Procurement Procedure DDP 2016 .These changes aims to streamline defiance acquisitions and indigenization (Self dependent) of defense sector though ‘Make in India’ initiative
Important Day’s
Ø Election Commission of India(ECI) celebrated 6th National Voter’s Day across country with a theme of Inclusive and Qualitative Participation on January 25th .
Conferences
Ø e-Governance 19th National conference begin in Nagpur on January 21st inaugurated by Union Road Transport Highways Nitin Gadkar. It aims at discussing various aspects of e-Governance ranging from Technology Enabled Services to Cyber security framework.
Committees
Ø Expert committee headed by Retired Justice R.V.Easwar has submitted its recommendations on simplification of IT Act, 1961 to Union finance ministry on January 19th . Major recommendations are related to simplifying provisions related to Tax Deduction at Source TDS, Tax refunds and Claims of expenditure for deduction from taxable income.
Ø Central Government constituted Arvind Panagariya committee to fast- track bullet train project in the Mumbai –Ahmdedabad High-speed Rail Corridor meant for connecting two cities with bullet trains. Arvind Panagariya is the vice chairman of NITI Ayog.
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