Current Affairs January 16, 2014

Current Affairs

January 16, 2014

International Affairs

1. South Korea's First women President Park Geun-hye, who is on a four-day state visit to India hold talks over global issues for boosting bilateral relations, received a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi today.

2. In a bid to give new momentum to bilateral ties, India and South Korea on Thursday decided to intensify cooperation in a range of key sectors including trade, investment and defence even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that the work on the long-delayed Posco steel plant will start in coming weeks.

3. Sri Lanka and India agreed to release all fishermen detained for poaching on Thursday following high level talks between the two governments, an official said.

4. American Hustle and Gravity lead 2014 Oscar nominations with 10 nods each, while 12 Years A Slave earns nine.

5. China bagged a healthy USD 117.59 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2013, after registering negative growth in previous year 2012. FDI in China increased 5.25% year on year in 2013 compared to 3.7% drop in 2012. In December 2013 alone, FDI inflow rose 3.3% from a year earlier to USD 12.08 billion. FDI in the service sector rose 14.15% in 2013 to reach USD 61.45 billion while FDI in the manufacturing sector dropped 6.78% to USD 45.56 billion.

National Affairs

6. 113th death anniversary of Indian scholar, social reformer and author Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade observed today.

7. 76th death anniversary of the popular Bengali novelist and story-teller Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay observed today.

8. The Supreme Court on Thursday put the ball in Centre’s court to take a call on providing reservation in appointment for faculty posts in speciality and super speciality posts in medical colleges including the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

9. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry AnandSharma inaugurated 5th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi.

10. The anti-talk faction of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) today claimed it had executed a senior leader Partha Asom alias Partha Gogoi after being convicted of some "serious charges"

11. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar appealed to the central government to sanction adequate funds for the north eastern states to build up proper sports infrastructure.

12. Rahul Gandhi will lead the Congress campaign for the general election, but his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi has decided he will not be the  party's prime ministerial candidate.

13. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today accused the BJP of scripting its rebel legislator Vinod Kumar Binny's public accusations against the party. Mr Binny has accused his AAP of reneging on its promises to people after coming to power, and described party chief Arvind Kejriwal as a 'dictator.'

14. 100 percentile in the Common Admission Test-2013 (CAT) : Three students from the state scored a perfect 100 percentile in the Common Admission Test-2013 (CAT), the results of which were announced on Tuesday.Eight students got 100 percentile In CAT Examinations.Three from AP, three from Mumbai and one each from Delhi and Chennai.The three toppers from AP are Krishna Pillutla, Imaneni Kumar Karthik and Siva Surya Teja.

15. Rajeev Kher appointed India’s new commerce secretary : Rajeev Kher, a 1980 batch IAS officer, was on Wednesday appointed secretary in the department of commerce. The UP cadre officer is currently special secretary in the department in the ministry of commerce and industry.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) named Kher to replace current secretary S.R. Rao, who retires on 31 January, according to an official statement.

Business and Economy

16. Foodgrain production is likely to reach all-time high level this year as a bumper crop is expected in wheat, rice and pulses on the back of good rain, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar recently said.

17. An informal group of ministers (GoM), headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, on Thursday approved incentives to the beleaguered sugar industry for exports of up to 40 lakh tonnes of raw sugar for two years.

18. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram on Thursday approved the sale of IOC’s 10 per cent government stake to state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) which likely to garner Rs. 4800 to 5000 crore.

19. Henrique de Castro, the chief operating officer of Yahoo, will leave the company on Thursday, Yahoo announced yesterday in a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He was responsible for managing Yahoo’s sales, operations, media and business development worldwide. Mayer recruited him in 2012 shortly after she left Google to take the helm at Yahoo. No reason was given for his the abrupt departure of de Castro.

20. In the first disinvestment through block deal this fiscal, a ministerial panel today approved selling 10 per cent government stake in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to ONGC and OIL to rake in Rs 4,800-5,000 crore.

21. Three months after taking over as the CEO of Jet Airways, Gary Kenneth Toomey has resigned from the position. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, the chief financial officer of the airline, will officiate as the "acting chief executive officer" till the board appoints a new chief.

22. World Bank projects India’s growth at over 6% in 2014-15 : The World Bank has projected India’s economy will grow over 6 per cent in 2014-15 and 7.1 per cent by 2016-17 as global demand recovers and domestic investment increases. In China, growth is estimated to stay flat in 2014 at 7.7 per cent, slowing to 7.5 per cent for the next two years, reflecting deleveraging and less reliance on policy-induced investment.

Sports

23. Akhilesh Das Gupta is set to be re-elected President of the Badminton Association of India President as he remained the only candidate for the coveted post at the end of the filing of the nominations, held in Lucknow on Tuesday. General secretary Vijai Sinha would also be re-elected unopposed when the BAI’S annual general meeting takes place here on January 25 during the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Tournament.

24. Sourav Ganguly to be conferred As Doctor of Letters by Bengal varsity: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly would be conferred with an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree by the prestigious Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Shibpur, for his great contribution to Indian cricket.

25. Nadal, Sharapova reach third round at Australian Open : Top-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round at the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis on Thursday while Maria Sharapova survived the intense challenge from Karin Knapp.Nadal won the match in 1 hour, 53 minutes and was rarely troubled under the roof at Rod Laver Arena in a delayed scheduled at Melbourne Park.Sharapova advanced to the third round with a gruelling 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 win in 3 hours, 28 minutes on Thursday.

26. Sri Lanka moves to 133-3 at tea in 3rd test : Kumar Sangakkara hit a chancy 44th test fifty as Sri Lanka prodded to 133-3 at tea in the decisive third test against Pakistan on Thursday.Sri Lanka, leading 1-0 in the series, lost its opener Kaushal Silva for 17 in the first session after captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bat on a grassless wicket.

27. American professional golfer Jimmy Walker won the Sony Open golf tournament held in Hawaii this week. This was his second PGA Tour title. His first PGA Tour title came in October 2013 when he won the Frys.com Open, the first tournament of the new wraparound season. Walker closed with 7-under 63 for a one shot victory over his compatriot Chris Kirk who was placed second. As a result, he won 1.08 million dollars in prize money.

Deaths

28. Richard Shepherd, best known for producing 1961 Audrey Hepburn starrer 'Breakfast At Tiffany's', has passed away at the age of 86.

29. Social anthropologist GeraldDBerreman (83), recognised for socially-responsible anthropology and work on social inequality in India dies.

30. Noted Indian-American economist Adhip Chaudhuri dies at the age of 62 from lung cancer complications.