Current Affairs - January 22, 2014

Current Affairs

January 22, 2014

International Affairs

1. The annual World Economic Forum 2014 started today at Davos in which business and political leaders gathered to discuss about the strength of the global economic recovery. About 2,500 chief executives, government leaders, economists and scientists started the four-day forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos to discuss not only ways to leave the crisis years behind for good but also how to tackle lingering problems such as growing inequalities, youth unemployment and ageing societies.

2. Bangladesh opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia was allowed to leave her home after house arrest for two weeks.

3. Sheikh Hasina became the new prime minister for Bangladesh for third spell.

4. The ₹ 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal between India and Agusta Westland was cancelled in wake of the allegations of corruption.

5. India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear facilities as a part of a 1998 pact that bars them from attacking each other’s nuclear installation.

6. INS Vikramaditya arrives in India from Russia.

7. Danielle Steel receives the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award.

8. Indian Diplomat Devyani Khobragade arrived at the New Delhi airport from New York following Indo-US diplomatic row.

9. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to New Delhi from January 25-27 and will be the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day celebrations, as per the Ministry of External Affairs. During his visit, Abe will also hold discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

National Affairs

10. Mr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated Terminal 2 at Chhatrapati  Shivaji International.

11. Indian Diplomat Devyani Khobragade arrived at New Delhi Following Indo-US diplomatic row.

12. India would be declared Polio free in march by World Health Organization as it completes three years without any polio case.

13. Sachin PIlot appointed as Congress chief in Rajasthan.

14. Finance Minister P.Chidamaram  announced  that India’s current account defict  this fiscal is around $50 billion.

15. The seventh edition of jaipur Literature Festival started in Jaipur.

16. Sunanda Pushkar,wife of minster of state for human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in a hotel under mysterious circumstances.

17. A stampede occurred in Mumbai as thousands of mourners gathered for the last rites of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin,Spiritual leader of the dawoodi Bohra Muslim community.

18. Aruna Bahuguna appointed as chief of National Police Academy : The Union Government appointed IPS Aruna Bahuguna as chief of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderbad. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) issued the orders for the appointment on 20 January 2014. Aruna Bahuguna is the first woman to be appointed as the chief of the National Police Academy. She is the 28th chief of the academy and will be at its helm till February 2017

19. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Called off his dharna against Delhi Police after his demands were full filled.

AAP has won the trust vote in the Delhi State Legislature.

AAP’s MS Dhir was elected as the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly.

20. The Delhi government has ordered an audit by the Comptroller and Audit General of General of private power companies.

21. Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa formally rejoined the BJP.

22. Gujarati poet Chinu Modi was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 2013 for his poetry book “Khara Zaran”.

23. India test-fired Nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile from Chandipur near Balasore.

24. Indian GSLV-D5 with indigenous cryogenic engine successfully placed GSAT-14 communication satellites on orbit from Srihsrikota.

25. The Election Commission aborted its proposed tie-up with Google over security concerns.

26. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Terminal 2 at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in India.

27. T. Nanda Kumar will be the new Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). He will replace Amrita Patel who has been holding the post since 1998.

He is currently Member of the National Disaster Management Authority, is slated to take over from March 1^st. Nanda Kumar will be the first ever person from the Indian Administrative Service to hold the position of NDDB Chairman. Both Patel and her illustrious predecessor Verghese Kurien, who was chairman from 1965 to 1998, have dairy professional backgrounds.

28. Chilika lagoon has been named ‘destination flyways’ by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) after its inclusion in a list of eight such sites worldwide. It is the only site in Asia to be thus recognized by UNWTO. The lagoon was so named because it is a sustainable and resilient destination for migratory water birds, said official sources. UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of universally accessible tourism. Over the years, Chilika has proved to be the ideal destination for migratory birds, which is the reason why it is also a globally-acclaimed tourist destination.

Banking Affairs

29. The Reserve Bank of India has advised that after 31^st March this year it will completely withdraw from circulation all banknotes issued prior to 2005. From April 1, 2014, the public will be required to approach banks for exchanging these notes and banks will provide exchange facility for these notes until further communication.

The Reserve Bank further stated in an advisory that public can easily identify the notes to be withdrawn as the notes issued before 2005 do not have on them the year of printing on the reverse side.

30. An expert committee, headed by Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Urjit R. Patel, appointed to examine the current monetary policy framework of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has suggested that the apex bank should adopt the new CPI (consumer price index) as the measure of the nominal anchor for policy communication. The nominal anchor or the target for inflation should be set at 4% with a band of +/- 2 per cent around it.

The nominal anchor should be defined in terms of headline CPI inflation, which closely reflects the cost of living and influences inflation expectations relative to other available metrics. Also this target should be set in the frame of a two-year horizon that is consistent with the need to balance the output costs of disinflation against the speed of entrenchment of credibility in policy commitment, as per the report.

As per the suggestions, the government also needs to bring down the fiscal deficit as a ratio of GDP to 3% by 2016-17 which should be consistent with the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Rules 2013. It has suggested two schemes namely Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) and Cash Management Bills (CMBs) may be phased out and the government debt and cash management should be taken over by the Debt Management Office of the government. All fixed income financial products should be treated on par with the bank deposits for the purposes of taxation and TDS. The committee has suggested detachment of Open Market Operations (OMOs) from the fiscal operations and instead linked solely to the liquidity management. OMOs should not be used for managing yields on government on government securities.

Business Affairs

31. Janet Yellen became the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve in its 100 year history.

32. Social networking site Facebook has bought Bangalore based Little Eye Labs as its first take over in India.

Awards and Honors

33. Coimbatore-born scientist and Stanford University Emeritus Professor Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj has been awarded the prestigious 2014 Marconi Society Prize. Paulraj is the only India-born scientist to receive both the Marconi Prize and the Bell Medal, two top global IT technology awards. He was awarded for his invention and advancement of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, which is at the heart of WiFi and 4G technologies that millions worldwide use.

Sports

34. Former cricketer Kapil Dev was honoured with Life time achievement award by BCCI at its seventh annual awards ceremony.

35. Cristiano Ronaldo wins the FIFA Ballon’d Or award for the year 2013 after 4 years.

36. Anju Bobby George Became the first Indian athlete to win Gold Medal at 2005 Monaco World Athletics Final, after her place was upgraded from second position.

37. Virat kohli became the fastest batsman in the world to reach 18 ODI tons in 119 innings.

38. Kenya’s Evan Ruto and Ethiopia’s Dinknesh  Mekash won the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon for men and women respectively.

39. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian and fourth overall to effect 300 dismissals in One Day International.

40. New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson scored the fastest century in ODI history from 36 balls breaking Shahid Afridi’s record.

41. Indian Cricket team won the Under-19 Asia Cup by defeating Pakistan by 40 runs.

42. Spanish tennis start Rafael Nadal won the Qatar Open in Doha by defeating Gael Monfils of France.

43. Australia won the Ashes series by white-washing England 5-0.

44. Aditya Joshi became the first male junior badminton player from India to be ranked top in the world.

Passed away

45. Famous Telegu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, or ANR as he is popularly known, passed away early Wednesday morning. One of the best actors that the country has seen, he leaves behind a rich legacy during his 70-year-career. That the Telugu film industry was born only a decade before he started his career showed how synonymous his name was with the industry.

46. Ariel Sharon, Former minister of Israeli, passed away at the age of 85.

47. Suchitra Sen one of the known faces of Entairment Industry died at the age of 82.

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