January 2015 Current Affairs

JANUARY 2015
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Union Government releases Commemorative Postage

Stamps on Swachh Bharat Mission
Union Government has released set of three Commemorative Postage Stamps on Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean
India Mission).
This set of 3 stamps was released by Union Ministry for Communications & Information Technology and issued by
Department of Posts.
These stamps were released to in order to achieve the vision of Clean and Healthy India.
Department of Posts has selected the design for the stamps through a competition among the children on the theme of
Swachh Bharat Mission.
Swachh Bharat Mission
It was launched by the Prime Minister on the 2nd October, 2014 on the occasion of Birth Anniversary of
Father of the Nation- Mahatma Gandhi.
This mission seeks to achieve Clean India and aims to provide access to toilets to all households in the
country.
It also seeks to provide adequate arrangements for Solid and Liquid Waste Management.
Sergio Mattarella elected as President of Italy

Italys parliament has elected constitutional court judge Sergio Mattarella as the countrys president.
He will Italys 12th president and succeed Giorgio Napolitano who had resigned earlier in January 2015 citing
reason of poor health before his 2020 expiry term.
President of Italy: His role is mainly ceremonial but can declare legislation unconstitutional. He also has the
power to dissolve parliament, nominate prime ministers and call early elections. He has tenure of 7 years.
Serena Williams wins Australian Open 2015 Womens

Singles title
Serena Williams of United States has won Australian Open 2015 Womens Singles title.
In the finals she defeated Russias Maria Sharapova by score of 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.
With this win Serena Williams has won 6th Australian Open title and 19th Grand Slam title.
Serena Williams
Currently she is ranked No. 1 in womens singles tennis.
She also has won 4 Olympic gold medals, 1 in womens singles and 3 in womens doubles.
Her 19 singles title includes:
6 Australian Open Titles -2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015.
2 French Open Titles- 2002, 2013.
5 Wimbledon Titles- 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012.
6 US Open Titles- 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014.
RBI constitutes high level panel on urban cooperative

banks (UCB)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a high-powered panel on urban cooperative banks (UCB).
It will be headed by RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi and comprise of eight member who will be experienced bankers.
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They will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting.
This high-powered panel will re-examine and recommend appropriate set of businesses, size, conversion and
licensing terms for the UCB sector.
The Terms of Reference of the high level panel are:
Businesses: Examine the line of businesses that UCBs may be permitted to undertake and their benchmark in
terms of size of business, capital requirement, regulatory regime etc.
Size of UCB: Suggest the appropriate size up to which a UCB may be able to grow without undue risk to the
system.
Conversion Criteria & licensing terms : Suggest the criteria for allowing voluntary conversion by a UCB
and examine whether the time is opportune to give license to new UCBs.
Determine the modalities of implementing the suggestion of the Malegam Committee. Especially, whether the
50 per cent in value of deposits should be held by voting members. Thus, propose a feasible structure that puts
majority voting in the hands of contributors of funds in UCB.
Maharashtra government gives nod for GM food trials

Maharashtra government has given nod to confined genetically modified (GM) food trails in state.
In this regard, state government has granted no-objection certificates (NOC) for open field trials of 5 genetically
modified (GM) crops. They are rice, chana (chickpeas), maize, brinjal and cotton.
NOC was granted by state government after state-level Committee, headed by Anil Kakodkar had given clearance for
field test of these five GM crops.
Based upon the results of these trials, government take further steps.
With this decision, Maharashtra has become the fourth state after Punjab, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh to approve open
field trials in GM crops.
Confined trials: It is typically carried out in small plots of one hectare or less. It is primarily meant to collect data on
the potential bio-safety impact of the GM crop lines.
Why state governments NOC are required for GM food trails?
Earlier, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the previous UPA Environment Ministry
had permitted field trials of GM food in India.
But GEAC had inserted mandatory condition of separate NOCs from states for such trials.
So, states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have banned such research activities.
First Canister-based Agni-V missile successfully testfired

For the first time, a canisterised version of Agni-V missile was successfully test-fired on 31 January 2015 from
Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.
This was the third successful flight test of the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and the first canister trial.
Test: The missile was launched from sealed canister, mounted on a TATRA truck. It was carrying dummy payload.
Test showed that dummy payload withstand temperatures more than 3,000 0 C and hit the target at pre-designated
point in the Indian Ocean.
Implication: A canister-launch system of Agni-V missile will give the forces the requisite operational flexibility.
With this system, ballistic missile can be transported and can launched from any place.
Agni-V missile
Agni-V ICBM is indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO).
It is Part of the Agni series of missiles, one of the missile systems under the original Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme.
Range: 5,5005,800 km. It will allow India to strike targets across Asia and into Europe
It is a 3 stage solid fuelled missile with composite motor casing in the second and third stage.
It carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV) payloads. A single MIRV equipped
missile, that can deliver multiple warheads at different targets.
Incorporate advanced technologies involving ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer for navigation and
guidance.
First successfully test-fired by DRDO from Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa on April 19, 2012. With
this, India joined an elite nuclear club that also included China, Russia, France, the US, the UK and possibly
Israel.
Scientist V K Saraswat joins as full-time member of

NITI Aayog
Former DRDO chief Vijay Kumar Saraswat has taken charge as full time-member of National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
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V K Saraswat
He had played a very significant role in the development of the countrys first Liquid Propulsion Engine,
DEVIL.
He was Project Director of Prithvi and had steered the design, development, production and induction of the
first indigenous Surface-to-Surface missile system into the armed forces.
He was Secretary of Defence (Research & Development) and Director General of Defence Research &
Development Organisation (DRDO).
Awards: He was conferred the Padma Shri (1998) and Padma Bhusan (2013).
Background
Earlier on 1 January 2015, Union Government had announced the replacement of 6 decade year old Planning
Commission with new age NITI Aayog to function as both a think-tank and a policy forum for government.
On 5 January 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Chairman of NITI Aayog had appointed V K Saraswat along
with eminent economist Bibek Debroy as its full time members and Arvind Panagariya as its first Vice-Chairman.
Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary appointed as

new ITBP DG
Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary has been appointed the new Director General (DG) of the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP).
His name was announced by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and will be in office till June 2017.
Krishna Chaudhary is 1979-batch Bihar cadre officer. Before this appointment he was working as the Director
General of the Railway Protection Force.
Background
The post of ITBP DG has been vacant since 1 January 2015 after the retirement of Subhas Goswami on 31
December 2014.
Till the vacant time, CRPF DG Prakash Mishra was holding the additional charge of the ITBP chief.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
It is one of the eight statutory Central Armed Police Forces of India and was established on 24 October 1962,
under the CRPF Act, in the wake of India- China War of 1962.
Later Parliament enacted the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992 to provide full autonomy to ITBP.
At present ITBP has about 50,000 personnel strong force, to secure the 3,488 km border with China along
Tibet Autonomous Region and operates under Ministry of Home Affairs.
ITBP force also render in a variety of internal security tasks in the country including civil Medical Camp,
disaster management, nuclear, biological and chemical disasters and UN peacekeeping missions around the
world.
Gujarat government launches Taluka Planning Atlas project

January 30,
Gujarat government has launched Taluka Planning Atlas (TPA) project.
It was launched by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel at a function held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Taluka Planning Atlas (TPA) project
This project has been undertaken by the state planning department with the help of director of Economics and
Statistics, Gujarat and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG).
TPA aims to help the local administration in taking effective decisions about the development in respective
regions.
In this regard, TPA will provide the maps that will give precise information about the current status of various
facilities and schemes.
Under this project, an atlas of 100 maps will be compiled to showcase various facilities as well as government
schemes at village level in each taluka.
It will include precise information about facilities such as number of primary and secondary schools, health
centres, dairies, cold storages, post offices, banks, etc.
It will be implemented in phases. In the first phase, atlas for one taluka each in 33 districts will be prepared
and put on state government portal Gswan.
This atlas has used the information consisting of village profile provided by every village in state as well as
taluka panchayat based on various indicators of development since 2010.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe appointed as

Chairman of African Union
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January 30,
Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe has been appointed as Chairman of African Union (AU).
He will be 13th Chairman of African Union (AU) and succeed Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz for a
one-year term. The position of chairman of the AU is a rotating one on yearly basis and largely ceremonial.
Robert Mugabe: He has ruled Zimbabwe since independence. He is Zimbabwes longest serving President and had
assumed office in December 1987. Currently, he is also chairman of the 15-nation Southern African Development
Community.
African Union (AU)
It is the successor of Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and came into existence in 2002 at Durban
summit in South Africa.
Headquarters: It is located at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Motto: A United and Strong Africa.
Objective: As pan-African organization, AU aims at promoting unity and cooperation among African nations.
It also strives to spread democracy and good governance in the continent.
Members: At present the African Union has a total of 54 members. Morocco is the only African country
which is not the part of the Union.
IIT Bombay launches Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC)

January 30,
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has launched Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC) in three subjects,
computer programming, thermodynamics, and signals and systems.
It aims to provide mass online education programme that will provide free online courses by giving access to high
quality, IIT-style education to Indian students in Indian language.
Key features of Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC)
It is launched as part of institutes IITBombayX platform developed in collaboration with edX, a not-for-profit
initiative by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.
It will provide 16-week Computer Programming course in two parts aimed at computer programming
students.
The course on Thermodynamics is designed for mechanical engineering students and will last 12 weeks.
Signals and Systems will be a 16-week course in two parts designed for electrical engineering students.
The students will get an honour certificate of achievement certifying successful completion of the course after
they have qualified in the tests.
It will also offer training workshops for invited teachers on effective teaching for each of these three subjects
under the Train 10,000 Teachers or T10KT programme of the institute.
India tops Credit Suisse emerging consumer scorecard 2015

India has topped in the list of Credit Suisse emerging consumer scorecard 2015, among the 9 emerging economies.
This scorecard was prepared by fifth annual Emerging Consumer Survey by the Credit Suisse Research Institute.
Key facts
The survey had interviewed consumers across nine emerging economies including Brazil, China, India,
Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
Ranking of other countries: Brazil (2nd), Indonesia (3rd), Saudi Arabia (4th), China (5th), Turkey (6th),
Mexico (7th), Russia (8th) and South Africa (9th).
This survey had profiled the consumer sentiment and its drivers across the emerging world. Thus, providing
insights regarding consumer sentiment and future consumption patterns in emerging economies.
As per the survey, the formation of a strong government at the centre in India had triggered a major revival of
consumer sentiment in 2014.
It also mentioned that, e-commerce share in India have increased to 32 per cent from 20 per cent in 2013.
In 2014 survey, India was placed at fourth position.
Zomato buys Turkeys restaurant search company Mekanist

Indias online restaurant search and discovery service provider Zomato has announced the acquisition of Turkeys
restaurant search company Mekanist.
With this acquisition, Zomato has increased its coverage from about 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to
more than 50,000 restaurants across Turkey.
Now, Mekanists traffic and restaurant-related content will be shifted to Zomato. While, Turkish restaurants now will
be able to make use of Zomatos hyperlocal advertising model to reach out to target customers.
Over the past year, Zomato has acquired five restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Italy.
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Earlier in January 2015, it had taken over Urbanspoon for about $52 million, which enabled Zomato to enter US and
Australian markets.
About Zomato
It was founded in 2008. Since, then it has expanded to global market on its own. At present it has its presence in India
and 21 other countries.
Zomatos founder is Deepinder Goyal and he is current CEO. Its Headquarter is in New Delhi.
World Bank Report on Himachal Pradesh released

The World Bank has released report Scaling the Heights: Social inclusion and sustainable development on
Himachal Pradesh.
It was released by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil in Shimla.
This was first of its kind report prepared by the World Bank for Himachal Pradesh. The report reveals that state has
effectively balanced economic growth with social inclusion.
Some facts from report
Himachal Pradesh has emerged as one of the states with the best human development outcomes in the country.
The performance in poverty reduction, education, women employment and health sectors was much better as
compared to other states in India.
The state had also taken lead in implementation of various national programmes and had given special
emphasis on infrastructural development.
The state had prepared a plan to mitigate the natural disasters which had been well appreciated by the
government of India.
But female child sex ratio, under-nutrition in children and an ageing population still remain issues of concern
in the state.
GNLF founder Subhash Ghisingh passes away

Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) founder Subhash Ghisingh has passed away in New Delhi. He was 78.
He had spearheaded the Gorkhaland movement in the 1980s for a separate state for ethnic Gorkha people living in
Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
Subhash Ghisingh
He was born on 22 June 1936 at Manju Tea Estate in Darjeeling, West Bengal.
In 1954, he had joined the Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army as a soldier but quit in 1960.
In 1968, he formed a political organisation called Nilo Jhanda to protect rights of the ethnic Gorkhas. Later, in
April 1979, he raised the demand for a separate state for the Nepali-speaking people of the Darjeeling hills.
In 1980, he had founded GNLF and led the movement, which disrupted the Darjeeling district with massive
violence between 1986 and 1988.
Later in 1988, this issue was resolved and resulted in setting up of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a semiautonomous
body.
He was first chairman of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council after winning the first council elections and was its
chairman from 1988 to 2008.
Eminent singer Shekhar Sen appointed as Chairman of

Sangeet Natak Akademi
Eminent singer, composer, lyricist and actor Shekhar Sen has been appointed as the chairman of the Sangeet Natak
Akademi (SNA).
His appointment was announced by Union Ministry of Culture and will have term five years with immediate effect.
This post was vacant since September 2014, after then Chairman Leela Samson had resigned.
Shekhar Sen
Since 1983, as a singer, lyricist and composer, he has done many research oriented musical programmes
including Dushyant Ne Kaha Tha, Madhya Yugeen Kaavya, Pakistan Ka Hindi Kavya, Meera Se Mahadevi
Tak.
He also has rendered many significant bhajan albums.
He is famous for his mono act musical plays Tulsi, Kabeer, Vivekananda, Sanmanti, Saahab and Soordas.
His performances have been acclaimed in India and abroad where he has performed.
Awards: He has received prestigious awards including the Padma Shri (2015), Safdar Hashmi Puraskaar
(2001) by Sangeet Natak Academy of Uttar Pradesh, Shantaram Samman (2008) by Rajya Hindi Sahitya
Academy of Maharashtra.
You may read more about Sangeet Natak Akademi here
India to host ICC World Twenty20 in 2016

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India is going to host International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 in 2016.
It was announced by ICC Board meeting chaired by Chairman N. Srinivasan held in Dubai. ICC Board meeting also
scheduled the ICC events during the period 2015-2019.
Following schedule was announced
India will host the World Twenty20 from 11 March to 3 April 2016. While, Ireland and Scotland will host the
qualifiers between 6-26 July, 2015.
England will host three ICC events in the next four-year period.
In 2017, England will host two events- the Champions Trophy from 1 to 19 June and Womens World Cup
from 4 to 27 August and 2019 ICC World Cup from 30 May to 15 July 2019.
2018 Womens World Twenty20 will be organised in the West Indies between November 2 and 25.
Packaging of foodgrains & sugar in jute material

mandatory: CCEA
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has made packaging of foodgrains & sugar in jute material
mandatory for jute year 2014-15.
In this regard CCEA mentioned that packaging with jute material will be mandatory for minimum 90 per cent of
production in case of food grains and 20 per cent in case of sugar production.
With this decision, government is seeking to help the jute sector which generates a lot of livelihoods for farmers and
workers.
CCEA also has approved providing financial support to the Jute Corporation of India (JCI). In this regard,
government will provide subsidy to JCI on a continuous basis to off-set the losses on account of Minimum Support
Price (MSP) operations.
The quantum of subsidy will include the difference between the Purchase and Sale Price of MSP Raw Jute.
Union Government to sell up to 10% stake in Coal

India Limited (CIL)
Union government has announced to sell up to 10 per cent stake in state owned Coal India Limited (CIL) on 30
January 2015.
This decision was cleared by high-powered ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
It will help the government to raise revenue of 24,000 crore rupees at the current market price and meet the fiscal
deficit.
Government is planning to divest 5 per cent stake in the company via share sale and the remaining 5 per cent through
the green-shoe option.
Currently, the government holds 89.65 per cent stake in CIL. As per the minimum shareholding norms for listed
companies, the government needs to lower its stake to 75 percent.
Coal India Limited (CIL)
It is a state-controlled coal mining company, headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.
It is the largest coal producer company in the world and contributes around 81% of the coal production in
India.
Union Government of India owns 90% of the shares in CIL and controls the operations of CIL through
Ministry of Coal.
In April 2011, CIL was conferred the Maharatna status by Government of India. It is Indias 5th most valuable
company in terms of market value.
Nation pays tributes to Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th

birth anniversary
On 28 January 2015, nation paid tributes to national martyr of freedom movement, Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th
birth anniversary.
Events marking this day: Various seminars and symposia were organised at many places in Punjab to remember
Lala Lajpat Rai. Special programme and sports meet was organised in his ancestral village Dhudi ke of Moga district
where thousands of people paid their tributes to national martyr at the memorial. While, intellectuals apprised young
generation about Lala and his sacrifice for the nation.
About Lala Lajpat Rai
He was born on 28 January 1865 in Dhudike (now Moga district) of Punjab.
He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari meaning The Lion of Punjab also known as Sher-E- Punjab in
Punjabi for his contribution to the freedom movement.
He was part of the Lal Bal Pal trio i.e. assertive nationalists Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin
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Chandra Pal from 1905 to 1918. Lal Bal Pal trio had advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott
of all imported items and the use of Indian-made goods in 1907 during the anti-Partition agitation in Bengal
which began in 1905.
He was lawyer by profession and had practiced his legal profession for few years but later curtailed it to focus
on all his efforts to the freedom struggle.
He was also associated with the foundation of Punjab National Bank in 1895 and later Lakshmi Insurance
Company.
He also had helped to establish the nationalistic Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School and became a follower of
Dayanand Saraswati (founder of the Arya Samaj).
In 1888 and 1889 he was a delegate to the annual sessions of Indian National Congress (INC) and was elected
as its President in the Calcutta Special Session of 1920.
In 1921, he had founded Servants of the People Society, a non-profit welfare organisation, in Lahore, which
shifted based to Delhi after partition, and has branches in many parts of India.
His books: As an author he had written many books which includes The Story of My Deportation (1908),
Arya Samaj (1915), The United States of America: A Hindus Impression (1916), Unhappy India (1928) etc.
Death: He died on 17 November 1928 after sustaining serious injuries in lathi charge carried by the police
when he leading a non-violent protest against the Simon Commission.
US tech giant Apple reports largest quarterly profit in history

US technology giant Apple, has reported the biggest quarterly profit of 18 billion US dollar.
It is the biggest quarterly profit ever made by any public company in World and broke the previous record of
ExxonMobil which had earlier topped by making $15.9 billion profit in 2012.
Apples revenue had grown to $74.6 billion in 2014 from $57.6 billion in 2013 i.e. reporting 30% increase in profit.
The main reason for Apples profit is record sale of iPhones. The company has sold 74.5 million iPhones in quarter
ending December 2014 with 39.9% profit per product.
Apples impressive profit comes after it shifted towards the massive untapped potential of Chinese market and
partnering with China Mobile Limited the largest global mobile carrier.
Company sales in China had hit $16 billion in 2014- a 70% increase from 2013 and almost equalling the $17 billion
in sales the company recorded in Europe 2013.
Hike Messenger introduces free voice calling service to its users

Hike Messenger, a home-grown chat application has introduced free voice-calling feature called Hike Calls to its
users.
This feature will allow its users to call each other for free, over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi and across the globe in over 200
countries.
Hike Messenger has introduced this service, after it had acquired free calling application company Zip Phone earlier
in January 2015.
This feature has been launched in beta on Android operating system, which contributes to over 90 percent of Hikes
user base. While, the iOS and Windows versions will be released later.
About Hike Messenger
It was launched on 12th December 2012 and is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Softbank.
User base: In August 2014, Hike had hit 35 million users.
SC directs search engines to block sex determination

advertisements
Supreme Court (SC) has directed search engines like Google India, Yahoo and Micrsofts Bing to block
advertisements on sex determination and strictly comply with the laws.
This ruling was given by SC bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant on public interest
litigation (PIL) filed by Dr. Sabu Mathew George in 2008.
PIL had highlighted that the use of Internet and popular search engines to promote sex determination technologies
violates laws.
SC directions to search engines
Withdraw advertisements on sex determination as it violates Section 22 of the Pre-Conception and PreNatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act,1994.
Search engines must upload this order on their policy page and also the page containing terms and conditions
of service to serve as a warning for persons intending to put up such advertisements.
Background
Though sex determination is illegal India, it is still practiced which has a severe effects on male-female ratio.
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As per UN data, Indias child sex ratio has dropped from 964 in 1971 to a low of 918 in 2011.
While between 2001 and 2011, child sex ratio has declined in more than two-thirds of the districts in the
country and this problem is worse in urban areas.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar appointed as new Foreign Secretary

Union Government has appointed Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as the new Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs
(i.e. Foreign Secretary).
His name was cleared by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He will be replacing incumbent Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh whose tenure was curtailed with immediate effect.
She had assumed office in August 2013 and was due to retire in August 2015.
About Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
He was born 9 January 1955 and is son of Indian foreign policy doyen K Subhramanyam.
He is Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1977 batch and was one of the key officials who negotiated in
the Indias nuclear deal with the US in 2009.
Before this appointment, he was Indias Ambassador to United States and was appointed in September 2013.
Previously he had served as Indias Ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China from 2009 to 2013. High
Commissioner to Singapore from 2007 to 2009 and Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2001 to 2004.
Maharashtra government issues Letter of Intent to buy

B R Ambedkars London house
Maharashtra government has issued Letter of Intent (LoI) to buy Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkars London house to the
Indian High Commission in United Kingdom(UK).
This is the house where architect of the Indian Constitution Ambedkar had lived in 1920 during his stint with the
London School of Economics.
State government is buying this 2050 square feet three-storey house on 10, King Henry Road, NW3 of London and
has finalised at a sum of 35 crore rupees.
This house is of cultural and national importance and pride of millions of people of India as Dr. Ambedkar had stayed
in it when he was completing higher studies at the London School of Economics in 1920-21.
State government after buying the house will convert it into a memorial-cum-museum and open it to public from 14
April, 2015 i.e. on the 124 birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian constitution.
Sri Lankas new government reinstates impeached

chief justice Shirani Bhandaranayake
Sri Lankas new government led by President Maithiripala Sirisena has reinstated former Chief Justice Shirani
Bhandaranayake to her former position.
She was impeached by the previous government of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
With this move, countrys new government is attempting to deliver on election promises assuring independence of the
judiciary.
Shirani Bhandaranayake was 43rd and first woman Chief Justice of Sri Lanka appointed in May 2011.
In 2013, she was unceremoniously removed from this post after she was impeached in late 2012.
Earlier in January 2015, Sri Lankas new government had reinstated the rank of former army Chief General Sarath
Fonseka, who was stripped of all ranks and sentenced to jail by Rajapaksa.
General Sarath Fonseka was Sri Lankas only four-star general who had led the Army to defeat the Tamil Tigers in
2009. In 2010, he had fallen out with Rajapaksa and challenged him in the election of 2010. Thereafter Fonseka was
arrested, court martialled and jailed for corruption.
Kalyan Singh sworn in as Himachal Pradesh Governor

Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has sworn in as the 26th Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
He was administered oath of office by Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir at oath
taking ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Shimla.
He was given an additional charge of Himachal Pradesh after then governor Urmila Singh, completed the full five
year term on January 24.
About Kalyan Singh
Kalyan Singh was born on 5 January 1932 in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh.
He was elected as member of Uttar Pradesh legislative Assembly for six times consecutively from 1967.
He has served two terms as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. First term from 24 Jun 1991 to 6 Dec 1992.
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Second term from 21 Sep 1997 to 12 Nov 1999.
In 1977, he was Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was also Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2014.
He is 20th Governor of Rajasthan and was appointed on 26 August 2014.
Article 153: It says that there shall be Governor for each state. But 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956
facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.
Veteran Malayalam actor Mala Aravindan passes away

Veteran Malayalam actor Mala Aravindan has passed away in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was 76.
He was best known for his work as a comedian, character artist in Malayalam films and was also noted theatre
personality. He was also the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
About Mala Aravindan
He was born in 1941 at Vadavucode in Ernakulam, Kerala.
Career: He had started his career as a tabla artist with the vibrant travelling professional theatre groups.
He began his acting career in the plays of National Theatres, Kottayam, and later associated with theatre
groups such as Natakasala and Suryasoma.
His made debut as actor in 1968 by acting in film Sindhooram, directed by Balakrishnan. Since then he has
acted in over 400 films.
Awards: He has won the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademis award for the best actor for his role in
Sooryasomas play Nidhi.
Ancient star with five Earth size planets discovered by

astronomers
Astronomers have discovered a star that is 11.2 billion years old and has at least five Earth-size planets.
It was discovered by team of astronomers after analyzing data from NASAs planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft for
over four years.
Key findings
This star is named as Kepler-444. It is 25 percent smaller than our Sun and is 117 light years from Earth.
It belongs to the first generation of stars and considered as part of one of the oldest systems in the galaxy.
This star has five known planets which have sizes that fall between Mercury and Venus.
These 5 planets are so close to their star that they complete their orbits in fewer than 10 days.
This discovery is going to help astronomers learn more about the history of our solar system- Milky Wa
Gujarat Technological University launches e-Raksha

centre to fight cybercrime
Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has launched e-Raksha Research Centre to curb rising menace of
cybercrimes.
This research Centre will provide solution for issues related to cyber security by encouraging research and enhance
capability in this field.
Key facts e-Raksha Research Centre
This centre is established by GTU in collaboration with Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF).
Its goal is to establish a peaceful and harmonious cyber space through research in this area.
Various activities like research on latest techniques of cybercrime and capacity building on this issue to the
faculties, students and government officers will be undertaken by this centre.
It will also support Union governments Make in India campaign by manufacturing routers, switches,
firewalls, UTMs (Unified Threat Management) and other network appliances.
This centre will also train students in areas of cyber security and enhance their capability to provide solution
for issues related to it.
It will support government in protecting critical infrastructure and mission critical services including research
on malwares such as botnet by setting up malware analysis test bed.
Gujarat Technological University (GTU): It is headed by the state government and came into existence on the 16th
of May, 2007.
Maharashtra to observe Industries Day on September 17

Maharashtra government has announced that, September 17 (on Vishwakarma Jayanti) will be observed as Industries
Day in each district.
Significance of Day
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It will be observed as part of State governments effort to provide balanced growth to existing small, medium
and large scale enterprises.
It will also render assistance to state government for setting up new industries to boost the states financial
health.
On this day, all districts in state will exhibit their growth potential and opportunities received for their
development in the year.
It will provide state government single platform to ensure that its policies benefit people at the grass-root level
with regards to industrial growth as well as provide employment opportunities.
In each district of state, a committee will be set up under district collectors for holding the Industries Day
celebrations.
On this day, awards to industries at the district level will be given for their exemplary performance.
India challenges WTO panels ruling in US poultry case to DSB

India has challenged a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panels ruling that challenges countrys ban on United
States (US) poultry product imports.
In this regard, India has appealed to the Dispute Settlement Board (DSB) of the WTO.
Background
In 2007, India had banned imports of various agriculture products including poultry meat and eggs from the
US. They were banned as a precautionary measure to prevent outbreaks of Avian Influenza.
In March 2012, US had dragged India to the WTO for banning these products.
WTO ruling: WTO panels ruling in October 2014 in this regard had said that Indias measures are arbitrarily
and unjustifiably discrimination on international trade and constitutes a disguised restriction on it.
US Stance: US also had contended that Indias Avian Influenza measures amounted to an import prohibition
was not based on the relevant international standard or on a scientific risk assessment.
Indias Stance: While, India has claimed that the panel ruling is committed with several legal errors in its
interpretation and application of numerous articles of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
agreement.
Why US is focusing on Indias poultry business?
US is one of the worlds largest exporters of chicken meat. It is looking India as one of its potential markets
poultry exports.
While, in past few years Indias broiler meat consumption has increased and has touched to 3.72 million
tonnes in 2014 from 3.45 million tonnes in 2013.
Australian cricketer Sean Abbott wins Bradman young

cricketer of the year award
Australian cricketer Sean Abbott has won Bradman young cricketer of the year award 2015.
While, Steve Smith was awarded the Allan Border Medal and being named both Test and one day player of the year.
Sean Abbott is the bowler, who was unwittingly at the centre of the tragic death of Phillip Hughes. In November
2014, he had delivered bouncer to Hughes that hit him in head during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG against
South Australia.
Bradman young cricketer of the year award: It was instituted in 1990. It is bestowed annually by Cricket Australia
to best player under the age of 24. The recipient is presented with a bat personally signed by Sir Donald Bradman (He
had signed 100 bats in 1989 for this award)
RBI signs an information sharing agreement with

Brazils Central Bank
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Supervisory Cooperation and
Exchange of Supervisory Information with Brazils Central Bank- Banco Central do Brasil (BCB).
This MoU was signed by Anthero de Moraes Meirelles, Deputy Governor for Supervision, BCB and S.S. Mundra,
Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
RBI by signing such MoU with supervisors of other countries is seeking to promote greater co-operation and
share supervisory information among the authorities.
In this regard, RBI in total has signed 23 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one
Statement of Co-operation (SoC), with different Central Banks of other countries and overseas
regulators/supervisors.
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DP Sinha appointed as secretary (security) in the

cabinet secretariat
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Divya Prakash Sinha as secretary (security) in the
cabinet secretariat.
Since November 2013, this post was lying vacant after Yashovardhan Azad who was holding the post then, was
appointed information commissioner.
Divya Prakash Sinha
He is IPS officer, belonging to 1979 batch of the Manipur-Tripura cadre.
Before this appointment he was special director with Intelligence Bureau (IB).
He is associated with IB for several years handling operations in key regions such as the northeast and even
Delhi.
He known to be instrumental in neutralization of banned terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) and various
extremists groups in North east India.
K Durga Prasad appointed as Special DG of CRPF

January 27,
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed K Durga Prasad as the special director general (DG)
of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
He will be in office for next three years or till further orders, whichever is earlier.
K Durga Prasad
He is IPS officer of 1981 batch from Andhra Pradesh cadre.
Before this appointed, he was director of the Special Protection Group (SPG), but was removed from this post
in November 2014.
It should be noted that SPG provides security to the prime minister, former prime ministers and their family
members.
About Central Reserve Police Force (CRFP)
CRPF is the largest Central Armed Police Forces in India. It operates under the aegis of Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA).
It was established in 1939, under Crown Representatives Police but after independence it was made statutory
Central Reserve Police Force after the enactment of the CRPF Act, 1949.
At present CRPF is the worlds largest paramilitary force with 228 battalions and over three lakh personnel.
Function: Its primary role is to assist States/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order
and contain insurgency.
Barack Obama becomes first US President to be Chief

Guest at Republic-Day
January 27,
US President Barack Obama has become the first American President to be Chief Guest on Republic Day
celebrations.
He is also the first American President to visit India twice (earlier he had visited India in November 2010).
Key highlights of 66th Republic Day celebrations
In this Parade, US President witnessed Indias military might and cultural diversity. This years parade was
more based on cultural diversity rather than showing on military might.
For the parade, Barack Obama arrived in his own vehicle named cadillac one (The Beast) and not with
President Pranab Mukherjee. Thus, breaking the traditional practice, as the Chief Guest usually comes to the
venue with the President, the Head of the State.
Several States displayed tableaux depicting their local flavor and traditions.
While, some Union government departments displayed tableaux related to government initiatives like Make in
India and save the girl child.
For first time in history, all women contingents of the three services Army, Navy and Air Force marched in
the parade.
Some of Indias latest military arsenal was displayed in this years parade. However, Nuclear-capable Agni
missiles- a highlight for the past several years was not displayed this year.
Libby Lane, first female bishop of England consecrated

January 27,
Church of England has consecrated Reverend Libby Lane as its first female bishop in a ceremony held at York
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Minster (a Gothic cathedral) in northern England.
With this consecration, Church of England ended its 500 year old male dominated tradition and considered as a
historic move towards widening female participation in the Church.
Background
Earlier in December 2014, she was appointed Bishop after Church formally had adopted legislation to allow women
bishops.
In this regard General Synod- the law-making body of the Church of England had given nod to this legislation in
November 2014 which was passed by UK Parliament in October 2014.
Reverend Libby Lane
Since April 2007, she was Vicar of St Peters Hale and St Elizabeths Ashley, in Greater Manchester,
England.
In 1993, she was ordained as deacon and later in 1994, as priest.
In January 2010, she was appointed as Dean of Women in Ministry for the Diocese of Chester.
Famous Greek singer Demis Roussos passes away

January 27,
Famous Greek singer Demis Roussos passed away in Athens, Greek. He was 68.
He was best known for his hit operatic pop ballads in the 1970s and 1980s and for his high-pitched voice and
melodies inspired by Greek folklore which sold about 60 million records worldwide.
About Demis Roussos
He was born as Artemios Ventouris Roussos in Alexandria, Egypt in 1946.
He had started his music career at age of 17, when he joined band called The Idols.
He was best known for his solo hits in the 1970s and 80s, including Forever and Ever, Goodbye and Quand je
taime.
He was also a member of progressive rock group Aphrodites Child.
Eminent cartoonist RK Laxman passes away

January 26,
Eminent cartoonist, illustrator and humorist Rasipuram Laxman passed away in Pune. He was 94.
About Rasipuram Laxman
Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (famously known as RK Laxman) was born on 24 October 1921 in Mysore,
Karnataka. Famous novelist R. K. Narayan was his older brother.
His creation:
He is best known for creation of iconic character The Common Man, for his daily cartoon strip, You Said It
in The Times of India(TOI). It was started in 1951. This character held a mirror to the society and targeted
politicians for more than five decades.
In 1988, commemorative postage stamp of The Common Man was released by the Indian Postal Service on
the 150th anniversary TOI.
He also created a popular mascot for the Asian Paints group called Gattu in 1954.
Other Works:
His cartoons have appeared in Hindi films such as Mr. & Mrs. in 1955 and a Tamil film Kamaraj.
His creations also include the sketches drawn for the television adaptation of Malgudi Days (written by his
elder brother R K Narayan and directed by Shankar Nag).
Awards: He is recipient of Padma Bhushan (1971), Padma Vibhushan (2005) and Ramon Magsaysay Award
for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts (1984).
His Autobiography: The Tunnel of Time: An Autobiography.
Books: He had published numerous short stories, essays, and travel articles, some of which were collected in
The Distorted Mirror (2003). His novels include The Hotel Riviera, The Messenger and the short story
collection Servants of India.
For first time all-women contingent marches on 66th

Republic Day parade
January 26,
For the first time in the history of Indias Republic Day, all-women contingent from the three forces Army, Air Force
and Navy marched down in the parade.
Army contingent was led by Capt Divya Ajith.
Navy contingent was led by Lieutenant Commander Priya Jeyakumar.
Air Force contingent was led by Squadron Leader Sneha Shekhawat.
Each contingent had 148 women personnel. In previous Republic Day parades, women officers were just
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participating.
Some facts
Capt Divya Ajith who had led Army contingent is a graduate from the prestigious Officers Training Academy
(OTA) in Chennai.
Earlier, in 2010 she had created history by becoming the first woman in the army to receive the coveted Sword
of Honour (which is awarded to the best cadet of a course).
Currently, Indian army does not have women in combat roles.
Colombias Paulina Vega crowned Miss Universe 2015

Colombias Paulina Vega was crowned 63rd Miss Universe after beating out contenders from the United States,
Ukraine, Jamaica and Netherlands.
Miss USA Nia Sanchez from Las Vegas was named a runner-up, along with Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha.
Paulina Vega- She is granddaughter of celebrated Colombian singer Gastn Vega. Currently, she is a student of
business from the northern Colombia city of Barranquilla.
Miss Universe
It is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the Miss Universe Organization.
Along with the Miss World and Miss Earth contests, Miss Universe is one of the three largest beauty pageants
in the world and one of the most anticipated beauty pageants worldwide.
It was founded in 1952 by the California clothing company Pacific Mills.
Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar

Singh awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously
Two army personnel, Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh were awarded the highest
peacetime military honour, the Ashok Chakra posthumously by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The awards were received by their wives at the 66th Republic Day celebrations.
Both the army men had laid down their lives while battling groups of militants in separate operations in Shopian and
Kupwara districts of Kashmir.
In April 2014, Major Mukund Varadarajan who was an officer in the Rajput Regiment of the Indian Army had
killed three terrorists in an encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
While in August 2014, Naik Neeraj Singh was leading a search operation in general area Gurdaji of Kupwara
district, he died after heavy fire from terrorists.
About Ashok Chakra
It is Indias highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away
from the battlefield
It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the most conspicuous bravery or
some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice other than in the face of the enemy.
Anti-austerity Syriza party wins Greeces general elections

In Greece, anti-austerity Syriza party has won general election.
In this election Syriza party has won about half the seats in Parliament.
While the earlier ruling government led by outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of centre-right New Democracy
party has been placed second.
Syriza party
It was formed in 2004 as an umbrella group. Syriza- an acronym means the Radical Coalition of the Left.
It is led by Alexis Tsipras and first came to prominence following the 2008 Greek riots.
In this general election, Syriza Party has promised to end Greeces painful austerity measures and wants to
renegotiate its debt.
Padma Awards 2015

President Pranab Mukherjee has announced the names of Recipients of this years Padma awards. He approved
conferment of 104 Padma Awards.
Padma Awards, the countrys highest civilian awards, are conferred in three Categories viz. Padma
Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
This years list comprises 9 Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. Among these
awardees 17 are women and equal number are in category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs. While, 4 are posthumous
awardees.
The Awards are given in various disciplines- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and
industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
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2015 Padma Vibhushan Awards
It is the second highest civilian award. It is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.
Sr No Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile
1 L. K. Advani Public Affairs Gujarat
2 Amitabh Bachchan Art Maharashtra
3 Prakash Singh Badal Public Affairs Punjab
4 Dr.D.Veerendra Heggade Social Work Karnataka
5 Dilip Kumar Art Maharashtra
6 Swami Rambhadracharya Others Uttar Pradesh
7 Prof. Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan Science & Engineering Tamil Nadu
8 Shri Kottayan K. Venugopal Public Affairs Delhi
9 Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner) Trade & Industry France/UK
2015 Padma Bhushan Awards
It is the third highest civilian award. It is awarded for distinguished service of high order.
Sr No Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile
1 Jahnu Barua Art Assam
2 Dr. Vijay Bhatkar Science & Engineering Maharashtra
3 Swapan Dasgupta Literature & Education Delhi
4 Swami Satyamitranand Giri Others Uttar Pradesh
5 N. Gopalaswami Civil Service Tamil Nadu
6 Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap Public Affairs Delhi
7 Dr. (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj Art Madhya Pradesh
8 Dr. Ambrish Mithal Medicine Delhi
9 Sudha Ragunathan Art Tamil Nadu
10 Harish Salve Public Affairs Delhi
11 Dr. Ashok Seth Medicine Delhi
12 Rajat Sharma Literature & Education Delhi
13 Satpal Sports Delhi
14 Shivakumara Swami Others Karnataka
15 Dr. Kharag Singh Valdiya Science & Engineering Karnataka
16 Prof. Manjul Bhargava(NRI/PIO) Science & Engineering USA
17 David Frawley (Vamadeva)(Foreigner) Others USA
18 Bill Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA
19 Melinda Gates (Foreigner) Social Work USA
20 Saichiro Misumi(Foreigner) Others Japan
These Padma Awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan around March/
April every year
India, U.S. sign three MoUs on smart cities

India and United States (US) have signed three Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) on smart cities.
These MoUs were signed by the representatives of United States Trade and Development Agency (USTAD) and the
respective Chief Secretaries of State Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh in the presence of
Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.
These MoUs seeks to give a boost to Union governments flagship smart cities scheme, by building smart cities in
Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Ajmer in Rajasthan.
Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
US will help each respective state to conduct feasibility studies, finding investors, ways to use the best technology and
formulating the plan for building three smart cities.
While, respective state Governments will provide resources like technical information and data related to smart cities
planning; staff, logistical and travel support and budgetary resources.
Parupalli Kashyap Wins Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold

Title 2015
Indias Parupalli Kashyap has won $120,000 Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton title 2015.
In the final match he defeated Kidambi Srikanth to win the mens singles title held at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor
Stadium, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Kashyap won the final match by score of 23-21, 23-21.
About Syed Modi International India Open Grand Prix championship
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It is named after a famous Indian badminton player Syed Modi, an eight-time National Badminton champion.
After his death, a badminton tournament was constituted in his memory, Syed Modi Memorial and All India
Syed Modi badminton championship hosted each year at Lucknow.
Saina Nehwal wins Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold

badminton tournament 2015
Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has clinched the Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton title
2015 in the womens singles category.
In the final match she defeated world champion Carolina Marin (Spain) by score of 19-21, 25-23, 21-16 held at
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
With this win she has retained this title which she had won in 2014.
About Syed Modi International India Open Grand Prix championship
It is named after a famous Indian badminton player Syed Modi, an eight-time National Badminton champion.
After his death, a badminton tournament was constituted in his memory, Syed Modi Memorial and All India
Syed Modi badminton championship hosted each year at Lucknow.
India funds Nepals Pancheshwar project to counter

Kheri floods
India will provide fund of Rs 1500 crore to Nepals Pancheshwar multi-purpose project on Mahakali river for
countering the Kheri floods in Uttar Pradesh.
This move of Union government comes after a delegation of MPs visited Nepal and had submitted their report to
government.
Pancheshwar multi-purpose project
It is located at Narayan Ghat of Dharchula on Mahakali River( also known as Kali Ganga in Uttarakhand ) in
Nepal. The height of dam is the 315 meters.
After completion dam will be the second largest dam in the world with a capacity of 6720 Mega Watt (MW)
power production.
In case of power sharing, India has reached into an agreement with Nepal to procure additional electricity
produced by project.
This project will regulate and control the free flow of Karnali and Mohana rivers which cause floods in Kheri,
Pilibhit of Uttar Pradesh and other Terai districts of northern India.
Renowned Marathi writer MD Hatkananglekar passes away

Renowned Marathi literary critic, writer and translator Madhukar Dattatreya Hatakananglekar passed away in
Sangli district of Maharashtra. He was 89.
Madhukar Dattatreya Hatakananglekar
He was born in 1927 in Hatkanangale, a town in Ichalkaranji of Kolhapur district in Maharashtra.
Earlier in 2008, he was president of Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at Sangli.
In 1956, he started his career as Professor of Marathi language in Willindon College, Sangli. In 1973, he was
promoted as Principal and retired in 1978.
He had written several books in Marathi. He also had translated many Marathi short stories in English and was
associated with a number of literary institutions in Maharashtra.
He had written many articles in Satyakatha ( ) magazine. In 1986, he founded Ugawai
( ) magazine.
Pooja Thakur- first woman officer to lead guard of

honour at Rashtrapathi Bhavan
Wing Commander Pooja Thakur has become the first woman officer to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour at
Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
On 25 January 2015, she led the ceremonial Guard of Honour which was inspected by the U.S. President Barack
Obama at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
President Barack Obama is on 3 day visit to India. He is first American President to be Chief Guest of Indias
Republic Day celebrations 2015.
Pooja Thakur
She hails from Rajasthan.
She belongs to the administrative branch of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
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Currently she is posted at Disha- the publicity cell under the Directorate of Personnel Officers at the Air Force
Headquarters.
As a sportsperson she is active in para-jumping and adventure sports.
TRAI issues draft rules for full mobile number portability

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued draft regulations to facilitate full mobile number portability
(MNP).
In this regard, TRAI has issued draft amendment to the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulation,
2009. It will enable mobile subscribers to retain their numbers when they shift to other states or telecom service areas.
TRAI has sought public comments on the subject by 6 February 2015.
Key highlights of draft amendment
It insets a clause in current rules in order to safeguard interest of post-paid mobile service users. It was
necessary as these users were facing disconnection in new network even after clearing all their dues of their
old telecom service provider.
It also fixed a time line for both the old or donor service providers and new or recipient service provider. This
time line will clarify dues regarding the any with their subscribers to ensure continuity of service.
What is Mobile Number Portability?
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when
changing from one mobile network operator to another.
Currently, MNP norms allow users to retain their numbers while changing their operators within the same service
area. It should be noted that India has 22 telecom circles or service areas.
National Voters Day observed on 25th January every year

January 25, Every year National Voters Day (NVD) is observed on 25th January.
This year i.e. 2015 is fifth National Voters Day and theme of this year is Easy Registration, Easy Correction.
Functions: On this occasion, awards for best electoral practices are given to Chief Electoral Officers and District
Election Officers. Media houses and civil society organisations are also given awards for best campaign in Voters
Education and Awareness.
Background
It was initiated in 2011 to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The ECIs aim behind National Voters Day is to enhance registration of voters, particularly of the spring
chickens, by using this social occasion to make Universal Adult Suffrage a complete reality, and thus increase
the worth of Indian democracy.
Arundhathi Subramaniam wins inaugural Khushwant

Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry
January 25,
Poetess Arundhathi Subramaniam has won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry.
She has been conferred this prize for her work When God is a Traveller. Her name was announced at a prize
ceremony held at Jaipur Literature Festival.
The jury, which included Ashok Vajpeyi, Jeet Thayil, Namita Gokhale, Pavan K. Varma and Soli Sorabjee had
chosen her work When God is a Traveller from among the nominated books of poetry by a single author published
between September 15, 2013 and 2014.
Arundhathi Subramaniam
She is a poetess and a writer on spirituality and culture.
Work- She has authored three books of poems: Where I live (2005), Sadhguru- More Than A Life (2009), Pilgrims
India (2011).
Award: She has received the Raza Award for Poetry (2009)
Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry
It was established in 2014 by Suhel Seth in memory of the late Khushwant Singh.
It is conferred to Indian poets writing in English or Indian language translation. The award is carrying a cash prize of
Rs. 2 lakh.
Queen Elizabeth II Now Oldest Living Monarch in World

January 25,
Britains Queen Elizabeth II is now the worlds oldest living monarch. Currently she is 88 years old.
Earlier, Saudi Arabias King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was oldest living monarch but he died on 23 January 2015.
It should be noted that, Queen Elizabeth II is one of the eight octogenarian monarchs in the world. Others include the
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King of Thailand and the Emperor of Japan.
Queen Elizabeth II
She was born on 21 April 1926.
She acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952 after her father, King George VI died.
In 1945, she had actively joined World War II as a driver in the Womens Auxiliary Territorial Service
(WATS).
She is also the second longest reigning monarch in British history, behind her great-great grandmother Queen
Victoria.
She is Queen of 16 of the 53 member states in the Commonwealth of Nations. She is also Head of the
Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
RBI lifts ban on carrying 1,000, 500 bank notes to and

from Nepal, Bhutan
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted ban on carrying Indian bank notes of Rs 1,000 and 500 denominations to and
from Nepal, Bhutan.
In this regard RBI has issued a circular that eased the restriction on export and import of bank notes of 1,000 and 500
denominations for Nepal and Bhutan.
However, RBI has put a limit of carrying such notes at Rs 25,000 per person.
Earlier in May 2000, RBI had imposed ban following the request of Union government to curb smuggling of
counterfeit currency.
Implication: It will provide a great relief to workers from both nations as well as Indian tourists travelling to Nepal
and Bhutan.
Shanta Kumar Committee on Restructuring of FCI

submits report to PM
The High Level Committee (HLC) for Restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI) chaired by Shanta Kumar
has submitted its report to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Some Recommendations of Shanta Kumar Committee
On procurement related issues:
FCI should hand over all procurement operations of wheat, paddy and rice to Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab as they have sufficient experience and reasonable infrastructure
for procurement.
FCI procurement should focus on eastern belt, where farmers do not get minimum support price.
On stocking and movement related issues:
FCI should outsource its stocking operations to various agencies such as Central Warehousing Corporation
(CWC), State Warehousing Corporation (SWC), Private Sector under Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG)
scheme.
It should be done on competitive bidding basis, inviting various stakeholders and creating competition to bring
down costs of storage.
Movement of grains should be containerized in order to reduce transit losses. While, railways should have
faster turn-around-time by having more mechanized facilities.
NFSA and PDS related issues
Restructuring the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by virtually diluting its scope and coverage from 67 per
cent of population to about 40 per cent population.
In order to curtail leakages in PDS, government should defer implementation of NFSA in states that have not
done end to end computerization.
End to end computerization:
It recommends end to end computerization of the entire food management system, starting from procurement
from farmers, to stocking, movement and finally distribution through PDS.
It will help for real time basis monitoring in order to curb leakages.
Background
In August 2014, Union government had set up 8 members High Level Committee (HLC) on FCI restructuring. It was
restructuring chaired by Shanta Kumar.
Other members are: FCI Chairman-cum-Managing Director C Viswanath, Electronic and IT Secretary Ram Sewak
Sharma, Former Chairman of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) Ashok Gulati, Chief Secretaries
of Punjab and Chhattisgarh; and Academicians G Raghuram and Gunmadi Nancharaiah of IIM-Ahmedabad.
Thailand impeaches former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

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Thailands military-appointed legislature has voted to impeach former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
She was impeached for her role in overseeing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars.
More than three-fifths i.e. 190 legislatures voted against Yingluck in the legislature of 220 members. It should be
noted that, for this impeachment more than three-fifths votes of the legislatures was required.
Most members of the legislature who voted against her are part of the military or political opponents her government
and past governments allied with her brother Thaksin Shinawatra (former Prime Minister who was ousted in a 2006
coup).
This impeachment means she will be banned from politics for five years.
While, Thailands military government is also planning to indict criminal charges on her for negligence related to
losses and alleged corruption in the rice scheme. If she is convicted, she could face 10 years in jail.
Saraswathi Menon named on Panel to Review UN

Peace-Building Architecture
Saraswathi Menon, an eminent Indian academician has been named on advisory panel to Review UN Peace-Building
Architecture.
She is among seven experts nominated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to conduct a policy and institutional
review on UNs peace-building architecture and make recommendations.
The other 6 experts are: Anis Bajwa (Pakistan), Funmi Olonisakin (Nigeria), Sahel Sahara Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah
(Mauritania), Charles Petrie (France), Gert Rosenthal (Guatemala) and Edith Grace Ssempala (Uganda).
7 experts advisory group function:
It will undertake studies in countries like Burundi, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and
Timor-Leste in order to conduct a policy and institutional review of the UN peace-building architecture.
It will also develop findings and recommendations based on this work.
The group will submit a report to the General Assembly and the Security Council for further consideration
through an inter-governmental process.
Background
Earlier in December 2014, the Presidents of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council had asked the
Secretary-General to nominate up to seven experts to form an Advisory Group on the review of the peace-building
architecture.
About Saraswathi Menon
She is former Director of the Policy Division in UN-Women and has extensive experience as a researcher and
academician as well as in the UN system.
Earlier she was Director of UN Development Programmes (UNDP) Evaluation Office.
Her UN career includes experience in both policy and programme areas. She has served in UNDP as Resident
Coordinator, Deputy Resident Representative in various countries.
Before joining the UNDP, she was lecturer in sociology at the Madras University, Tamil Nadu.
SBI signs 100 mn euro loan pact with EIB

Indias largest bank State Bank of India (SBI), has signed a loan agreement for 100 million euro (about Rs 700 crore)
with European Investment Bank (EIB).
This agreement was facilitated by SBI Capital Markets, a subsidiary of SBI.
It is the third tranche of a total sanctioned loan of 200 million euro by EIB to SBI for lending it to private businesses
in the country.
SBI will utilize this loan to support the development of private sector in country in particular for small and mediumsized
enterprises (SMEs). It will be also utilized social and economic infrastructure as well as climate change
mitigation and adaptation.
Earlier on 25 June and 28 November 2014, first tranche of Euro 55 and second tranche of Euro 45 million was signed
between both banks.
India, US inks pact to cooperate in ICTE to facilitate

Digital India programme
India and United States have agreed to cooperate in the field of Information and Communications Technology and
Electronics (ICTE) to facilitate Union governments ambitious Digital India programme(DIP).
In this regard, Joint Declaration of Intent for cooperation was signed by Secretary in the Department of Electronics
and IT- RS Sharma and US Ambassador to India- Richard Rahul Verma.
Key highlights of Joint Declaration
It will facilitate Union governments flagship DIP, including electronic manufacturing and cyber security and
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several other such related fields between the two countries.
Within period of next five years, it will help in strengthening industrial, technological, research and innovation
and economic cooperation between India and the US.
Under the umbrella of the ongoing India-US ICT Dialogue, it will also provide platform to US companies for
exploring opportunities to collaborate in DIP, electronics manufacturing and human resource development
Jhumpa Lahiri wins DSC Prize for South Asian

Literature 2015
Indian American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri has won prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature 2015. Fifth edition of this prize was announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
She has received the prestigious $50,000 DSC Prize for her book The Lowland. Her book was chosen by 5 judges
from 75 books.
The Lowland is a tale of two Indian brothers during time of 1950s in Calcutta. It depicts story of both brothers one
who get involved in the Naxalite movement in the late 1960s and the other leaves for the United States.
Jhumpa Lahiri
Her original name is Nilanjana Sudeshna.
Works- Her debut short story collection Interpreter of Maladies (1999) has won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction.
Her first novel was Namesake (2003) was adapted in a movie with the same name which was directed by Mira
Nair. Suresh Kalpenn acted in this movie. The Lowland (2013).
Currently, she is a member of US Presidents Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
It is awarded annually to writers of any ethnicity or nationality writing about South Asia such as culture,
politics, history, or people. It was instituted in 2011.
It is funded by infrastructure company the DSC Group.
Other recipients are: Pakistani author H.M. Naqvi (Homeboy)- 2011, Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka
(Chinaman)-2012, Jeet Thayil(Narcopolis) 2013 and Cyrus Mistry (Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer)-2014.
US scientists make safe GMO

US scientists have taken the first step towards making safe genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by using
synthetic biology so they cannot spread in the wild.
Using synthetic biology, scientists have re-written the genetic code of bacteria by using synthetic chemicals to grow
them. In this case, scientists have engineered organisms so that they require synthetic amino acids for survival or for
life.
Key characteristic of these GM bacteria is that they die if escaped into nature as they fed synthetic amino acids for
survival.
Implication of this research
Currently, genetically engineered micro-organisms are used in Europe, the US and China to produce drugs or
fuels under contained industrial conditions.
With this GMOs scientist can build safety measures so that their spread could be controlled and can be used in
the outside world.
Now the future challenge is to re-engineer the code of other lifeforms.
Vodafone appoints Sunil Sood as India CEO

Vodafone has appointed Sunil Sood as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its India operations. He will be first
Indian CEO of Vodafone.
He will replace Martin Pieters will step down on 1 April 2015. Presently, he is Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the
company
Martin Pieters was the longest serving CEO of a telecom firm in the country and was CEO since 2009.
Under Pieters leadership, Vodafone India had doubled its revenues and added more than 100 million customers. He
also played important role in increasing market share of Vodafone India and launched data services which is used by
more than 57 million customers.
About Sunil Sood
He is graduate with a B Tech from IIT Delhi and PGDM from IIM Kolkata. He is also a graduate of Harvard
Business School Advanced Management Program.
In 2000, he had joined Vodafone Indias predecessor business, Hutch and has held roles leading the
companys operations in Gujarat, Kolkata and Chennai.
He had previously worked for Pepsi in a range of Indian and international leadership roles.
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Telugu comedian and director M.S.Narayana passes away

Popular Telugu comedian and director Mylavarapu Surya Narayana has passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana. He
was 63.
He is noted for his comic timing and facial expressions with witty dialogues in Telugu Cinema.
About Mylavarapu Surya Narayana
He was born on 16 April, 1951 in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
He is popularly known as M.S.Narayana and had acted in over 700 Telugu movies.
He had started his career as a teacher and later graduated into acting.
He had won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor- Telugu film Dookudu. He also had won Andhra
Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian five times for the films Maa Nanna ki Pelli,
Ramsakkanodu, Sardukupodam Randi,Shivamani and Dookudu.
S. Narayana had made his debut as director in the film Koduku with his son Vikram in 2007.
Yemen government resigns under pressure from Shia

Houthi rebels
President Mansour Hadi of Yemen along with Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and his cabinet have resigned.
Yemen governments resignation comes after the President agreed to the demands of Shia Houthi rebels, who had
stormed his palace and private home in Sanaa (Capital of Yemen) earlier.
However parliament speaker Yahia al-Rai refused to accept the Presidents resignation.
Who are Shia Houthi rebels of Yemen?
This rebel group takes its name from Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, their former commander, who was killed
by Yemeni army forces in September 2004.
They adhere to a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism (a sect of Islam exclusively present in Yemen).
These rebels are members of a group also known as Ansar Allah (Partisans of God). They are fighting to win
greater autonomy for their heartland of Saada province, and also to protect Zaidi religious and cultural
traditions from perceived encroachment by Sunni Islamists.
It should be noted that Zaidis make up one-third of the population of Yemen. They had ruled North Yemen
under a system known as the imamate for almost 1,000 years which came to end in 1962.
After death of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, his successors had led five uprisings. But in 2010, ceasefire was
signed between Yemeni government and Houthi rebels.
But current crisis began after President Hadi had declared that Yemen will be federation of six regions by
drafting constitution in February 2014.
Houthi rebels have rejected this draft constitution creating federation of six regions in Yemen.
Saudi Arabias King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz passes away

Saudi Arabias King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has passed away. He was 93-year old patriarch.
Abdullahs brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is his successor and new King of Saudi Arabia. Salman in turn, has
named his half-brother Muqrin as the new crown prince and his heir.
Earlier, king Salman was the Crown Prince and defence minister since 2012. He was also the Governor of Riyadh
province for five decades before that.
About Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
He was born in Riyadh in August 1924 (although actual date is disputed).
In 1962, he was appointed commander of the Saudi National Guard.
In 1982, he became crown prince and first deputy prime minister when King Fahd succeeded King Khalid.
In August 2005, he succeeded to the throne following the death of then King Fahd. He had handled the affairs
of the country for a decade, before when his predecessor King Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke.
He played important role in introducing the cautious changes in ultraconservative Muslim kingdom by
bringing significant reforms in the country. These include increased womens rights and economic
deregulation.
Under his leadership Saudi Kingdom joined hand with its powerful ally U.S. to fight against al-Qaida.
King Abdullah had been the guiding force behind Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
as the Head of worlds largest crude oil producer and exporter.
Supreme Court bars N Srinivasan from contesting

BCCI elections
Supreme Court (SC) has barred Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President-in-exile N Srinivasan, from
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contesting any BCCI election on grounds of conflict of interest.
This judgment was given by two-member SC bench of Justices T S Thakur and F M I Khalifulla.
SC judgment in case BCCI elections
It struck down the Amendment in the BCCI rules that allowed Srinivasan to own IPL team. It mentioned the
Amendment is bad as conflict of interest in cricket leads to great confusion.
No one who has commercial interest including N Srinivasan shall be eligible for any post in the BCCI and so
he is disqualified on the ground of commercial interest.
The Bench directed BCCI to hold fresh elections of office bearers within six weeks.
The SC bench also held that charges against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team official Gurunath Meiyappan (son in
law of Srinivasan) and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra stands proved in the 2013 IPL betting scam. However,
charges against Srinivasan were not proved.
Along with judgment, SC also set up a judges committee under a former Chief Justice of India to decide on the
punishment in the 2013 IPL betting scam.
Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki sworn-in as governor of Punjab

Haryana governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki took over the additional charge of Governor of Punjab. He will be
34th governor of Punjab.
He was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Shiavax Jal Vazifdar at
Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.
He was given the additional charge of Punjab after the tenure of then governor Shivraj V Patil retired on 21 January
2015 after his tenure came to an end.
Constitutional provisions of Governor
Article 156: Governor is appointed by President and hold office during the pleasure of President. It should be
also noted that this article also mentions tenure of Governor. In this regard it says that Governor shall hold
office for the term of 5 years from date he enters office.
Union Government launches Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign

Union Government has launched ambitious Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao(BBBP) campaign to save and empower girl
child.
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Panipat in Haryana.
Why Haryana was chosen to launch Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign?
Haryana was chosen to launch the nation-wide Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao initiative because of the skewed sex
ratio in the state.
It has one of the lowest Child Sex Ratio in country which stands at 879 girls per 1,000 boys as against the
national child sex ratio of 918 girls per 1000 boys.
Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao (BBBP)campaign
It aims to spread awareness about the declining trend of Child Sex Ratio in the country.
Objective: To prevent gender biased sex selective elimination by strict enforcement of laws with stringent
punishment to violators.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), is the nodal agency for the implementation of the
scheme. While, Centre has provided initial corpus of 100 crore rupees for it.
It will be implemented in 100 districts of the country, including 12 districts of Haryana.
In this regard, union government will try to ensure access and availability of essential requirements related to
nutrition, health-care, education, protection and elimination of discrimination of girl child.
This scheme will also generate awareness and improve the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for
women.
Keralas Periyar tiger reserve wins NTCA biennial award

Periyar Tiger Reserve located in Kerala has won the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award
for encouraging local public participation in managing the reserve.
Public participation in managing the Periyar Tiger Reserve
India Eco-Development project (IEDP): Peoples participation started in the reserve in December 1996 by
establishing India Eco-Development project (IEDP). It was a community-based eco-tourism initiative, which
promoted tourism activities which helped visitors. It also promoted pepper growing in this region and
marketing it.
Periyar Foundation: Later in 2006, reserve set up the Periyar Foundation which was a model for other
reserves in biodiversity conservation and community participation in managing natural resources. It involved
75 communities living around the reserve, including tribal people.
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There are around 19 different eco-tourism programmes apart from village eco-development programmes for
public participation in managing the reserve.
Union Budget Session will begin on February 23

The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on 23 February 2015.
Railway Budget will be presented on 26 February, while Economic Survey on 27 February.
It will be first full-year General Budget of the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. It will be presented on 28 February 2015.
These dates were announced by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs that met under the chairmanship of
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.
Some facts
Budget is a statement of the estimates receipts and expenditure of Union Government in a financial year.
Constitutional provisions of Budget are mentioned Article 112. It should be noted that word Budget is not
mentioned in Constitution rather it is referred as Annual Financial Statement.
Budget is presented in two parts namely: The Railway Budget and the General Budget.
Railway Budget: It is estimates of receipts and expenditure of Ministry of Railways only .
General Budget: It is estimates of receipts and expenditure of all Ministries of Union Government.
Microsoft unveils virtual assistant Cortana for

Windows handsets
Technology giant Microsoft has unveiled virtual assistant- Cortana for Windows Phone handsets.
Cortana is female voice-controlled application. It uses Microsofts search engine Bing and data stored on the handsets
to make personalised recommendations and carry out tasks.
It is named after AI system in the firms Halo video game franchise.
Initially, it will be made available in US, then in UK and China and finally other markets as part of a wider Windows
Phone 8.1 system software update.
It should be noted that Apple and Google already offer comparable facilities on their iOS and Android platforms.
Economist Bibek Debroy takes over as member of NITI Aayog

Economist Bibek Debroy has taken over as the full-time member of National Institution for Transforming India
(NITI) Aayog.
Bibek Debroy
He has been working as a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.
Previously he has worked as Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies and as a
Consultant in Finance Ministry in various capacities.
He was also the Chairman of High Powered Committee of the restructuring on Railways.
He has been associated with a number of prestigious institutes in the field of academics. It includes Presidency
College Kolkata Delhi School of Economics Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, the Indian Institute
of Foreign Trade, the National Council of Applied Economic Research, Trinity College, Cambridge, and
institute for South Asian Studies , Singapore.
He has authored several books, papers and articles on Economic issues. He also has authored a ten-volume
unabridged English translation of the Hindu epic the Mahabharata.
Background
Earlier on 5 January 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appointed Bibek Debroy along with Scientist V K
Saraswat as full time member of NITI Aayog.
Union Government launches HRIDAY scheme

Union government has launched a Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme to
preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country.
Union governments ambitious Rs 500 crore HRIDAY project was launched by Urban Development Minister
Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.
In the initial phase, 12 heritage cities have been identified which will be rejuvenated and developed under HRIDAY.
The 12 cities are: Amritsar, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Ajmer, Mathura, Dwarka, Badami, Velankanni, Kanchipuram,
Warangal and Amaravati.
HRIDAY- Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
It aims to bring urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation together for heritage cities.
It also seeks beautification in an inclusive and integrated manner with focus on cleanliness, livelihoods, skills,
safety, security, accessibility and faster service delivery of heritage cities.
Heritage management plan (HMP) will be prepared for the identified cities which will outline heritage
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resources and develop policies to guide their conservation, restoration, future use and development.
It will seek to improve last-mile connectivity heritage sites by documentation, conservation of areas, providing
more facilities for women, senior citizens and differently abled citizens.
HRIDAY will be dovetailed with the Tourism Ministrys Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual
Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme which has an outlay of Rs 100 crore for augmentation of
infrastructure at pilgrimage sites across the country.
Cyberabad CP awarded by ECI for Best Electoral

Practices-2014
Cyberabad Police Commissioner (PC) CV Anand has been conferred with the Election Commission of Indias
(ECIs) National Special Category Award for the Best Electoral Practices- 2014.
He has been bestowed this award for the commendable election related measures taken by him in the area of
Expenditure Monitoring and Tackling Money Power during the General Elections of 2014.
He will receive the award in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on January 25 on the occasion of National Voters Day
Function.
ECIs National Special Category Award
It was instituted in 2011.
It recognises the efforts and innovations of the officers and to commend and encourage individual and team
accomplishments in diverse fields of election management.
It carries a cash reward of Rs 50,000 along with a plaque and citation.
Lok Sabha election 2014 was the first General Election after Institution of the award.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana features into

Guinness book of World Records
NDA governments flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has entered into Guinness book
of World Records.
Guinness book of World Records has given certificate stating it as most bank accounts opened in one week.
In one week, 18,096,130 bank accounts were opened as part of the financial inclusion campaign from 23rd to 29th
August, 2014. It was achieved by the Department of Financial Services (Government of India).
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the goal of eradicating financial untouchability of the
poor by opening at least one bank account for every family in the country in less than six months.
It seeks to financially empower the poor by providing them access to formal banking system.
It also seeks to provide platform for Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) which will curb leakages in government
subsidies and thus saving government exchequer.
Initially, after its launch the scheme had a target of opening 7.5 crore bank accounts by 26 January, 2015, but
later it was revised and raised to 10 crore bank accounts.
As on 17th January 2015, PMJDY has achieved feat of opening of 11.50 crore bank accounts under it in the
short span of 5 months since it was launched.
Japanese automaker Toyota tops in global vehicle sales

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. has topped in global vehicle sales in 2014 by selling 10.23 million
vehicles, beating Volkswagen and General Motors.
While, Germen automaker Volkswagen AG is second in global vehicle sales list and has sold 10.14 million vehicles
in 2014.
Detroit-based General Motors (GM) is third in the list and has sold at 9.92 million vehicles.
Some facts
In 2014, Toyotas sales grew 6 per cent in the U.S, 13 per cent in China, and 10 per cent in Brazil compared to
year 2013.
But in 2011, company had suffered a setback in top position rank, when its production was hit by the
earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan but it made a comeback as No. 1 in 2012.
It should be noted that, GM was top-selling automaker for more than seven decades. But in 2008, it was
surpassed by Toyota.
Twitter buys Indian start-up ZipDial

Leading social networking website Twitter has bought Indian mobile marketing start-up ZipDial. It will be first Indian
technology product startup to be bought by Twitter.
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This deal is expected to cost Twitter around $34-35 million (Rs 215 crore).
About ZipDial
It is Bengaluru based startup, founded in 2011. It is co-founded by Valerie Wagoner, an American origin
entrepreneur who graduated from Stanford University.
ZipDials mobile marketing platform gives information about businesses to users when they place a missed
call.
This interaction information is useful in areas where people arent always connected to the Internet or can
access data only through intermittent Wi-Fi networks
Its mobile mobile marketing platform has nearly 60 million users, which includes the worlds leading brands
and media companies.
EU decides to lift ban on import of mangoes from India

European Union (EU) has decided to lift seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India. In this regard, a
European Commission committee unanimously voted to lift the ban.
The ban was lifted after an audit carried out by the European Commissions Food and Veterinary Office in India in
September 2014.
This audit had showed that India worlds biggest producer of mangoes have made significant improvements in the
phytosanitary export certification system of mangoes.
Background
EU had imposed temporary ban on import of mangoes from in 1 May 2014 after authorities in Brussels found
consignments of the premium Alphonso mangoes infested with fruit flies.
Along with Alphonso mangoes they also had banned import of 4 vegetables- aubergines, bitter gourds, snake
gourds and patra leaves.
They had imposed ban citing the reason that fruit flies from these consignments may damage European salad
crops.
However, it should be noted that EU has not lifted ban on these 4 vegetables and will be reviewed at later stage after
collecting more evidence.
India ranks 78th globally in Global Talent

Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2014
India ranked 78th globally in Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2014 list of 93 countries in terms of
talent competitiveness of its human capital.
This GTCI list was compiled by INSEAD business school in partnership with Adecco and Human Capital Leadership
Institute of Singapore (HCLI).
GTCI measures a nations competitiveness based on the quality of talent it can produce, attract and retain.
Key facts of Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2014 list
Top twenty scoring countries in the GTCI 2014 are all high-income countries. While, the top rankings were
dominated by European countries, with only six non-European countries in the top 20 which included
Singapore (2nd), the United States (4th), Canada (5th), Australia (9th), New-Zealand (16th) and Japan (20th).
Rich countries were able to top in the list, since they tend to have better universities and a greater ability to
attract foreign talents through higher quality of life and remuneration, making them more talent competitive.
Top 10 in GTCI list: Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), Luxembourg (3rd), United States (4th) and Canada
(5th), Sweden (6th), United Kingdom (7th), Denmark (8th), Australia (9th) and Ireland (10th).
Indias lower position indicates acute shortage of skilled workforce. It also ranks at last among BRICS
members.
Indias neighbuors in GTCI list: China (41th), Sri Lanka (76th), Pakistan (89th), Bangladesh (90th).
Union Government launches monitoring system for

skill development scheme
Union Government has launched Management Information System (MIS) to check progress and implementation of
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) scheme in different states.
MIS aims to check real time progress on skill development and enhancing livelihood opportunities for urban poor
under DAY scheme.
It was launched by Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
Key facts about Management Information System (MIS)
This system is developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) at a cost of Rs 2.24 crore.
It enables real time and regular monitoring of the progress of DAY scheme and its seven components which
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include employment through skill training and placement, self-employment groups, shelters for urban
homeless and support to urban vendors.
It will help to remove the deficiencies in the present manual submission of monthly progress reports which are
submitted by states.
Punjab government launches e-stamping project

Punjab government has launched e-stamping project in the state. It was launched by state Deputy Chief Minister
Sukhbir Singh Badal.
This project seeks to computarise revenue departments of the state in order to remove malpractices and end leakage of
government revenue. It also seeks to make revenue transactions safe and secure.
Key facts
At present, e-stamping has been initiated as a pilot project in five districts of state. They are Mohali, Amritsar,
Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda.
All districts of state will be covered under this project by 31 March 2015.
This project will help citizens to pay the exact fee through a wire transfer, a draft or even a cheque for stamp
instead of buying it from middlemen at higher cost.
E-stamps have various safety features which includes a unique ID generated by computer and could be
verified online and also UV, ultra violet, micro film and thermal fixtures besides an encrypted 2 D bar code.
Maharashtra government declares Chandrapur as dry

district
Maharashtra Government has declared mineral rich Chandrapur district (in Vidarbha region) as dry district.
Thus imposing ban on the sale, purchase, production and consumption of liquor in the district.
In this regard, state government has cancelled all alcohol permits in Chandrapur district and henceforth will be shifted
to other districts.
Chandrapur district is third district in state to be declared dry district. The demand for banning liquor in Chandrapur
was made in late 2010, following which a committee was set up by state government. Thus, this decision was taken
that in the interest of health of the people of Chandrapur, liquor consumption must be prohibited.
Earlier, Wardha and Gadchiroli districts from same region were declared dry districts.
Wardha was declared dry district as it is closely linked to Mahatma Gandhi with his ashram situated in Sevagram.
While, in the case of Gadchiroli the decision to declare it as a dry district was taken in 1992 owing to a public outcry
to ban alcohol in view of growing Naxal movement.
Indias Tigers population increases by 30% since 2011

As per tiger census report 2014, the population of tigers in India has increased from 1,706 in 2011 to 2,226 in 2014.
This tiger census report was released by Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar.
Key facts of tiger census report 2014
It shows an increase of 30 per cent in countrys tiger population compared to 2011 tiger census report.
The latest tiger census figures show that Karnataka has the highest number of tigers in the age group of 1.5
years and more. It has 408 tigers in that age group.
While census figures show that 340 tigers are in Uttarakhand, 308 in Madhya Pradesh, 229 in Tamil Nadu,
190 in Maharashtra, 167 in Assam, 136 in Kerala and 117 in Uttar Pradesh.
As per new census, India is estimated to be home to around 70% of the worlds tigers.
For census, total of 3,78,118 sq km of forest area in 18 tiger states was surveyed with a total of 1,540 unique
tiger photo captures.
Tiger census
In India, tiger census is carried out after a gap of every three years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA).
2008 tiger census: Tiger population estimated was 1,411.
2011 tiger census: Tiger population estimated was 1,706.
First successful organ donation from newborn takes

place in UK
Doctors from United Kingdom (UK) have carried out the first successful organ donation from a newborn baby.
It is considered as a milestone in neonatal care after donors kidneys and liver were used to save the lives of two
patients.
Successful organ donation involved
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Kidneys, which were transplanted into a patient with renal failure.
Liver cells (hepatocytes), which were transfused into a further recipient.
The donor was six-day-old baby girl who had died after she was born in extremely poor health. After donors death,
her parents had given their consent for organ donation in order to benefit of other sick patients.
Implication: In future organ donation from newborns will play significant role in saving the lives sick
newborns dying due to organ failure.
Indias growth to reach 6.3 per cent in 2016: UN WESP report

According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2015 report, Indias growth
in terms of GDP is expected to reach 5.9 per cent in 2015 and 6.3 per cent in 2016.
Key highlights of report
India: Its growth recovery is partly the result of improved market sentiment after the new government took
office in the second quarter of 2014 and had announced plans to reform the bureaucracy, labour laws and
public subsidies.
South Asia: Economic growth in South Asia is set to gradually pick up from an estimated 4.9 percent in 2014
to 5.4 percent in 2015 and 5.7 percent in 2016. India, will account for about 70 percent of regional output in
South Asia.
Average inflation in this region is expected remain moderate at 7.8 percent in 2015 and 7.2 percent in 2016, as
commodity prices are likely remain subdued and domestic demand picks up gradually.
Global economy: It is expected to grow at 3.1 percent in 2015 and 3.3 percent in 2016, compared with an
estimated growth of 2.6 percent in 2014.
About United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report
This report is published at the beginning of each year by the combined efforts of
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
5 UN regional commissions.
World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
Australian cricketer David Warner fined over speak

English incident
Australian cricketer David Warner was fined by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over speak in English spat
with Indian counterpart Rohit Sharma.
He was fined 50 per cent of his match fee over the incident.
Incident: David Warner had demanded Sharma speak English instead of his native Hindi during India- Australias
tri-series ODI match held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The incident was sparked after India batsman Rohit Sharma ran a contentious single off an overthrow the Australians
believed came after Warners return deflected off Sharma. It should be noted that Cricket etiquette dictates that
batsmen do not run when a throw deflects off their body or bat.
Union Government reconstitutes Central Board of

Film Certification (CBFC)
Union Government has reconstituted Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). In this regard, government has
appointed 1 chairperson and 9 board members.
Chairperson: Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani was appointed chairperson. He will be office in for a period of
three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
9 Members are: BJP leader Vani Tripathi Tikoo, filmmakers Ashoke Pandit and Chandra Prakash Dwivedi,
film writer Mihir Bhuta, Syed Abdul Bari, Ramesh Patange, actor George Baker, actor-filmmaker Jeevitha and
actor- playwright S Ve Shekhar.
Background
Earlier, then Chairperson of CBFC Leela Samson had resigned after Film Certification Appellate Tribunal
(FCAT) cleared the controversial film Messenger of God featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram
Rahim Singh in lead role.
As the Chairperson of Censor Board she had denied the clearance certificate to the film saying that the movie
depicts Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as a God.
Following her resignation, 9 board members also had resigned creating vacancies in the booard.
Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)
It is a statutory body under the aegis of Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
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The Board, consists of non-official members and a Chairman (all of them are appointed by Union Government)
Headquarters: Mumbai.
Its function is to regulate the public exhibition of films in India under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952
by granting them certificate under 4 categories. They are
U: Unrestricted Public Exhibition.
UA: Unrestricted Public Exhibition- but with a word of caution that Parental discretion required for children
below 12 years.
A: Restricted to adults.
S: Restricted to any special class of persons.
Eminent political scientist Rajni Kothari passes away

Eminent political scientist, scholar and former Planning Commission member Rajni Kothari passed away in New
Delhi. He was 86.
About Rajni Kothari
He was born on 16th August, 1928.
He was a well-known political thinker, political theorist, academician and writer.
He had started his career as a lecturer at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (Baroda University). In
1961, for first time he received recognition when his essays series, Form and Substance in Indian Politics
were published in Economic and Political Weekly (then Economic Weekly) over six issues.
In 1963, he had founded Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) a social sciences and
humanities research institute based in New Delhi.
In 1980, he had founded Lokayan (Dialogue of the People), a forum for interaction between activists and
intellectuals.
He was member of the Planning Commission during the national Front Government led by then Prime
Minister V P Singh.
He was also associated with number of prestigious institutions including Indian Council of Social Science
Research (ICSSR), International Foundation for Development Alternatives and Peoples Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL).
Books: His famous published works include Politics in India (1970), Caste in Indian Politics and Rethinking
Democracy (1973), In Search of Humane World Order Poverty: Human Consciousness (1989) and the
Amnesia of Development and Communalism in Indian Politics (1995).
Awards: In 1985 on behalf of Lokayan, he has received the Right Livelihood Award from the Swedish
Parliament in Stockholm (widely referred as the Alternative Nobel Prize). He has also received the UGCs
Swami Pranavananda Award in Political Science.
IIT, ONGC ink MoU to develop indigenous

technologies to enhance oil exploration
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have signed a Memorandum of
Collaboration to develop indigenous technologies to enhance oil exploration.
It was signed in the presence of the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani and the Minister of
State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi.
Key facts
As per Memorandum of Collaboration both parties will work towards a collective Research and Development
Programme.
This programme will aim for developing indigenous technologies to enhance exploration and exploitation of
hydrocarbons and alternate sources of energy.
It is a long-term initiative between both parties for sustained research, development and capacity building.
It will provide a multi-pronged approach that will help to foster research capability and transform experiential
based learning in oil exploration sector.
It will also help to realize full potential of Indias inherent strengths to develop indigenous technologies in
order to make country global leader in this sector.
World Future Energy Summit begins in Abu Dhabi

The World Future Energy Summit 2015 has begun in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
It is eight edition of the summit and will be four day event.
It will provide platform to delegates including world leaders, international policy makers, industry leaders, investors,
experts, academia, intellectuals and journalists from all over the world including India.
Delegates will discuss the future of renewable energy and how to overcome the challenges in tapping potential of it.
Key highlights of World Future Energy Summit
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It will provide a platform for commercial solutions to clean and green energy.
It will include exhibition of first-of-its-kind, fully integrated hybrid product that captures both solar and wind
energy to provide more consistent power generation.
Summit will also display a mobile solar power plant on a trailer with a 4.8 kWp capacity and battery storage
of up to 20 kWh and a new turbine that converts energy from sea waves.
It will also display parabolic sun-dish concentrators combined with a specialized steam generator suitable for
enhanced oil recovery, power generation, water desalination operations and power generations are on display.
United Nation and Mali government declares country

Ebola-free
Mali Government has declared country Ebola free. It was announced after no new case of deadly virus was reported
in last 42-day period (i.e. two incubation periods of 21 days for Ebola virus).
While, United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) has also declared that Mali as Ebola free.
Key facts
Mali was the sixth West African country to record cases of Ebola virus.
First case was reported in October 2014.
As per World Health Organisation (WHO) in Mali, in total 8 cases were reported, killing 6 of them.
According to WHO, it is the worst Ebola (viral haemorrhagic fever) outbreak in history which has infected at least
21,296 people.
Till date deadly Ebola virus has killed more than 8,400 people mostly from West African countries of Guinea, Sierra
Leone and Liberia.
Indian-American Frank Islam presented with Martin

Luther King Award
Frank Islam, an eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist has been presented with the prestigious
Martin Luther King Jr Award.
He was given the award for his contribution to the legacy of the great leader through his efforts in international
service and civil engagement.
About Frank Islam
He was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh to a peasant father. He had moved to US when he was only 15 years
old.
He is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.
In 1993, he had bought a struggling IT company in Maryland. Later in 2007, he sold it to spent rest of his life
in philanthropy, both in India and the US.
Currently, he heads the FI Invest Group a firm that he established after selling his IT Company.
He is also board member of several think tanks, academic and cultural organisations including pretigious
Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts, the Brookings Institute and US Institute of Peace.
Books: He has written two well-regarded books on the American condition. They are Working the Pivot
Points: To Make America Work Again (2013). Renewing the American Dream: A Citizens Guide for
Restoring Our Competitive Advantage (2010).
Martin Luther King Jr Award
It is an annual award started in 1991.
It honors the legacy of noble peace recipient civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr and the legendary
Dorothy I Height and their impacts both at home and abroad.
2014 hottest year on record: US scientists

According to US scientists, year 2014 was the hottest year on record, with global average temperature increasing
about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880.
It was revealed by two separate analyses carried out by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA).
Key outcomes
10 warmest years since records began in the 19th century have all been since 1997.
In 2014, record temperatures were spread around the globe. It included most of Europe stretching into
northern Africa, the western United States, far eastern Russia into western Alaska, parts of interior South
America, parts of eastern and western coastal Australia and elsewhere.
Recent trends of warming have been dominated by human emissions of greenhouse gases.
Earlier, it was thought of chaotic weather patterns. But later it was considered that year-to-year fluctuations in
average global temperature are caused by phenomena such as El Nino or La Nina.
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El Nino or La Nina phenomena generally warm or cool the tropical Pacific oceanic region and are thought to
have played a role in the flattening of the long-term warming trend over the past 15 years.
However, 2014s record warmth occurred during an El Nino-neutral year.
South African cricketer AB de Villiers hits fastest

century in ODIs
South African cricketer AB de Villiers has hit the fastest century and half-century in one-day internationals (ODI).
He achieved the feat in second match as part of the 5-match ODI series against West Indies. Overall in this match, AB
de Villiers made 149 off 44 balls.
Fastest century: He made the century in just 31 balls and broke earlier record of New Zealands Corey
Anderson who had hit the century in 36 balls in 2013-14.
Fastest half-century: He also made fastest half-century, off 16 balls breaking Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath
Jayasuriyas previous record who had made half-century in 17 balls.
Most sixes in an innings: His innings included 16 sixes. It equalled the previous record set by Indias Rohit
Sharma against Australia in Bangalore in 2013/14.
Second Highest innings totals: In this match, South Africa scored 439, which is the second highest total in one-day
internationals. They surpassed their previous record of second highest score of 438 which they had made in a record
run chase against Australia in 2005/06.
It should be noted that, Sri Lanka holds the world record of highest innings. They had made this record by
scoring 443 runs against the Netherlands in 2006.
Andhra Pradesh government signs pact with ICRISAT

to boost sustainable farming
Andhra Pradesh government has signed a pact with the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT) to boost sustainable farming in the state.
In this regard, Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed by state government with ICRISAT.
Key highlights of agreement
It seeks to provide assistance in making agriculture sustainable and profitable in state by increasing
productivity of agriculture and allied sectors.
Strategy paper: ICRISAT will prepare a strategy paper for primary sector mission, hold research and
development (R&D) and establish sites of learning in districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Use of Technology: Best technological tools and scientific practices from across the world will be
incorporated into primary sector activities of state.
International expertise: ICRISAT will bring in international expertise from CGIAR centres. It will include
consortium of international organisations like International Livestock Research Centre (ILRI), International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI), International Water Management (IWMI), Asia Vegetable Research and
Development Centre (AVRDC), International Centre for Improvement of Maize and Development Centre
(AVRDC), World Fish Centre and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
This consortium will also bring in regional and national research institutions for the benefit of farmers.
Pilot sites: It will be established in 13 districts (10,000 hectares each) of state to educate farmers for
increasing productivity, profitability and sustainability through science-led development and climate-smart
agriculture
Quality assurance system for soil analytical laboratories: It will be developed to undertake capacity
building for staff and upgrade existing soil labs for nutrient profile analysis.
Publicprivate partnership (PPP): ICRISAT will assist state government in developing PPP mode
guidelines, mobilise private entrepreneurs and organise a Global Investors Meet.
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani lays Foundation

stone of IIM-Visakhapatnam
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has laid the foundation stone for Indian Institute of Management (IIM)Visakhapatnam at Gambheeram village of Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.
Key facts
It is the first institution among the 11 Central premier institutions to be established in the state as per the
provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
IIM- Visakhapatnam will start its functioning from 2015-16 from the campus of Andhra University till the
construction of campus is completed.
It should be noted that IIM- Visakhapatnam will be fourteenth IIM of the country.
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Union Government is also planning to introduce a bill on Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in Parliament, in
order to empower these public, autonomous institutes to award MBA degrees instead of postgraduate diploma
certificates.
5th General Assembly of IRENA begins in Abu Dhabi

The 5th General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has began in Abu Dhabi.
Government leaders from more than 150 countries including India and representatives from more than 110
international organizations are taking part in this two day meet.
5th meet of IRENA seeks to address global issues like enhancing the share of renewable energy in the overall energy
mix and to tackle global challenges like climate change, energy access and energy security.
About International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
It is an intergovernmental organization to promote adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the global
hub for renewable energy cooperation and information exchange within its member nations.
It was founded in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010.
Headquarters: Abu Dhabi.
Members: In total it has 138 Members. India is one of the 33 Permanent members of IRENA.
Winners of mens & womens single title of Sydney

International Tennis tournament
Mens single title
Viktor Troicki of Serbia has won the mens single title of Sydney International Tennis tournament 2015.
In the finals, he defeated Russias Mikhail Kukushkin by score of 6-2, 6-3.
It is Viktor Troickis 2nd career title. His first title was 2010 Kremlin Cup.
Womens single title
Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic has won the womens single title of Sydney International Tennis tournament 2015.
In the finals, she defeated Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic by score of 7-6, 7-6.
It is Petra Kvitovas 15th career title. She is two times Wimbledon Champion (2011 and 2014) and currently ranked
World no. 4.
Sydney International Tennis Tournament
It is also known as Apia International Sydney, is one of the oldest professional tennis tournaments in the
world, dating to 1885.
It is currently noted as an ATP 250 point event on the mens tour and a WTA Premier event on the womens
tour.
It is played annually at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Homebush, New South Wales, Australia.
Egypts best-known actresses Faten Hamama passes

away
One of Egypts best known actresses Faten Hamama has passed away. She was 83.
She was known as the Lady of the Arabic Screen and was a star of the golden age of Egyptian cinema.
About Faten Hamama
She was born in 1931. She had started her film career in 1939, when she was only 7 years old in Youm Saeed
(Happy Day), alongside legendary singer Mohamed Abdel Wehab.
She was an Arab film icon who had appeared in almost 100 films.
Her film career was at its peak in the 1950s when she met fellow three-time Golden Globe winner actor Omar
Sharif, later whom she married.
She played important role in improving the cinema industry in Egypt and emphasized the importance of
women in cinema and Egyptian society.
She had appeared in films including Struggle in the Valley (1954), The Nightingales Prayer (1959), I Want a
Solution (1974) and The Night of Fatimas Arrest (1985).
She also had appeared on several TV shows, such as 1992s Dameer Abla Hekmat (The Conscience of Mrs.
Hekmat) and 2000s Wagh Al-Qamar (Face of the Moon).
IAF gets first indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft

Tejas
First indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by
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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at ceremony held at Bengaluru, Karanataka.
It was handed over after it was granted Initial Operational Clearance (IOC)-II, which signifies that aircraft is
airworthy to fly in different conditions.
About Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas
Tejas is outcome of Indias LCA programme, which began in the 1983 to replace countrys aging MiG-21
fighters.
It is a lightweight multi-role jet fighter indigenously-built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL).
It is a tailless and having compound delta wing design. It is powered by a single engine.
It is mounted with inbuilt MultiMode Radar (MMR), Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) systems.
As part of LCA programme, 20 aircraft will be built by 2017-2018, to make the first squadron of the aircraft.
IOC-I was granted to the aircraft in January 2011 after it was built by HAL. While, IOC- II was granted in
September 2014, after the aircraft successfully completed its maiden flight.
It is yet to receive the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) and excepted to receive it by the year-end which
includes testing mid-air refuelling and its long-range missiles capabilities.
President launches pulse polio immunization

programme
President Pranab Mukherjee has launched the Pulse Polio Immunization(PPI) Programme by administering polio
drops to children at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It was launched by President ahead of the National Immunization Day which is observed on 18 January.
PPI Programme is a Government drive to sustain polio eradication from the country. As part of it children less than 5
years of age are given polio vaccine drops.
Background
Since 1995, India has been implementing the Pulse Polio Immunization Programme.
On 27 March 2014, India and 7 other Asian countries were declared polio-free by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
7 other Asian countries are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives and
Myanmar.
It should be noted that WHO declares any country polio free if no case is reported for three consecutive years.
Key facts about Polio
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children below age of 5.
Transmission: The virus is transmitted from person-to-person. It mainly spreads through the faecal-oral route
(e.g. contaminated water or food). After entering body, it multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade
the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
Symptoms: Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the
limbs. In some cases, it causes permanent paralysis. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by
immunization.
Tribal Food Festival-2015 begins in New Delhi

Tribal Food Festival-2015 has begun in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram.
It is 3 day event organized by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) on behalf of
the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
The main objective of Tribal Food Festival-2015 is to introduce and create awareness on the varieties of ethnic Tribal
Foods to the people of Delhi. It also seeks to provide additional source of income to the tribals.
In this unique event, tribals from various States including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Nagaland and Odisha have participated.
Sania Mirza, Bethanie Mattek-Sands wins Sydney

doubles title
Indias Sania Mirza along with her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands has won doubles title at the Sydney
International Tennis Tournament 2015.
Indo-American in the finals defeated top-seeded Americans Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones by score of 6-3, 63.
It should be noted that it was fifth WTA title won by Sania and Bethanie together as partner. While, this win is
Sanias first title of the season and 23rd of her career.
Sydney International Tennis Tournament
It is one of the oldest professional tennis tournaments in the world, dating to 1885.
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It is currently noted as an ATP 250 point event on the mens tour and a WTA Premier event on the womens tour.
It is played annually at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Homebush, New South Wales, Australia.
Missing Mars probe Beagle 2 found on Mars after 11

years
A British-built space probe Beagle 2 has been found on the surface of Mars, 11 years after it was thought that it was
lost on Mars.
It was discovered in the high-resolution images taken by HiRISE camera mounted on NASAs Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter (MRO).
Thus, its discovery has ended the decade long mystery of what happened to the mission since 2003.
After the discovery, the Royal Society has announced an award in commemoration of Prof Colin Pillinger (died in
2014) who was Principal Investigator of Beagle2 probe.
About Beagle2
Beagle2 was released to its landing trajectory from its mother craft- European Space Agencys Mars Express
(MEx) orbiter on 19 December 2003.
After its release, it was due to land six days later on Mars surface using parachutes and airbags.
But nothing was heard from probes radio contact after its scheduled touchdown.
It was assumed by many scientists that it had been destroyed in a high-velocity impact during landing.
Veteran freedom fighter Ghelubhai Naik passes away

Veteran Gandhian and freedom fighter Ghelubhai Naik passed away in Dangs district of Gujarat. He was 90.
He was well-known for his social work and tribal development in Dangs district of Gujarat.
About Ghelubhai Naik
Being Gandhian and freedom fighter, he was close to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Following Gandhian principles, he started his social work in Dangs as the Sarvodaya worker in 1948.
He along with Chunilal Vaidya had set up Swaraj ashram in Dangs district for spreading the education among
the tribal.
He also played important role in changing names of thousands of tribal people, who earlier beared names like
Ravio, Thagio, Nariyo etc, in order to bring them in mainstream society.
His lifelong social work played key role in promoting education, de-addiction and spreading awareness about
health and upliftment of Dangi tribe.
J&K wins National e-Governance award 2014-15 for

best district-level initiative
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has been selected for National e-Governance award 2014-15 for its best district level
initiative in the country.
J&K state has been selected for this award by Department of Administrative Reforms for its e-Panchayat project.
This award will be presented during 18th National Conference on e-Governance to be held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat
on January 30-31, 2015.
Background
J&Ks e-Panchayat project was shortlisted among 53 nominees for spot study which was done by PriceWater
Coopers Ltd and officers of Department of Administrative Reforms of PMO in November-December 2014.
Finally it was is selected by the by jury headed by Secretary Administrative Reforms and conferred after
approval of Prime Minister who heads Ministry of Personnel, Department of Administrative Reforms.
J&Ks e-Panchayat project
It was launched in 2013-14 for strengthening 147 panchayats in the state.
This project provided platform for a decentralized regime of panchayats in the state by shifting the service delivery
from block level to panchayat level.
National e-Governance award
It was instituted in 1997. It is given by Department of Administrative Reforms.
Purpose of the award
It recognizes the achievements in the area of e-Governance.
It seeks to disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable eGovernance initiatives.
Encourage incremental innovations in successful e-Governance solutions.
Promote and exchange experiences in solving problems, Mitigating risks, resolving issues and planning for
success.
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It should be noted that J&K state has bagged this award for first time in 18 years since award was instituted.
Haryana government announces yoga guru Ramdev its

brand ambassador
Haryana government has announced yoga guru Ramdev as its brand ambassador.
By appointing the yoga guru as its brand ambassador state aims to promote yoga and Ayurveda in the state.
It was announced by Haryanas minister of sports and health Anil Vij.
In order to promote ayurveda in a big way, state government is planning to to develop a first ever herbal forest with
over 25,000 plants over 1,000 acres of land in the state.
State government also plan to open Vyayamshalas and Yogshalas in 6,500 villages and cities of Haryana.
SEBI notifies stringent insider trading norms

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has notified stringent revamped rules related to the Insider
trading.
Insider trading refers to the trade of a companys stocks or other securities and making unethical profits with access to
the non-public information. This is detrimental to the other / small investors who dont have such information.
In this regard market regulator has issued SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. Thus, revamping
nearly two-decade old regulations on insider trading.
The key facts about new rules are as follows:
It highlights greater clarity on concepts and definitions along with a stronger legal and enforcement
framework for prevention of insider trading.
The new rules has expanded the definition of insider. It says that that anyone who is in contractual, fiduciary
or employment relations with the promoters will be presumed to be insiders. Thus, the new rules include the
immediate relatives of promotes, directors and employees who are in possession or have access to such
information, within the scope of insiders.
The new rules make it mandatory that the perpetual insiders such as promoters and directors will have to
disclose their future trading plan in advance to the stock exchanges. They are required to trade strictly as per
that plan in order to protect the interest of investors
The definition of the unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI) has been broadened. Earlier, it has
reference to only to company but now, it will have reference to company as well as securities.
Background
The rules have been prepared after taking into consideration recommendations of Sodhi panel and other panel
recommendations.
It should be noted that a panel headed by former Justice N K Sodhi (former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala
High Courts) had submitted its report on insider trading norms in December 2013.
Leela Samson resigns as Chairperson of Central Board

of Film Certification
Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Leela Samson has resigned.
She resigned after Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) cleared the controversial film Messenger of God
featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in lead role.
The Censor Board headed by Ms. Samson had earlier denied the clearance certificate to the film saying that the movie
depicts Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as a God.
Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT)
FCAT is a statutory body. It has been constituted under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
It comes under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Headquarters: New Delhi.
The Tribunal has a Secretary to look after its day to day affairs.
Function: It hears the appeals filed as per provisions of Cinematograph Act. Any applicant can file an appeal
before the tribunal for a certificate in respect of a film who is aggrieved by an order of the Central Board of
Film Certification (CBFC).
Leela Samson
She is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor and writer.
She is recipient of the many awards for her contributions to Bharatanatyam. It includes Padma Shri (1990),
Kalaimamani (2005) given by Government of Tamil Nadu, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1999
2000).
HS Brahma appointed as Chief Election Commissioner

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of India
President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Harishankar Brahma as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)
of India.
He will be 19th CEC of India and succeed V S Sampat who had retired after attaining age 65 on 15 January 2015.
He will take charge on 16 January 2015.
About Harishankar Brahma
He is a retired IAS officer of 1975 batch from the Andhra Pradesh cadre.
He hails from the state of Assam. He is second person from North East India to become Chief Election
Commissioner after J. M. Lyngdoh.
He had assumed charge of Election Commissioner on 24 August 2010, after he retired from position of
Secretary in Ministry of Power.
Chief Election Commissioner
As per the provisions of Article 324 of Constitution
Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners are appointed by the President.
They hold office for the term of 6 years or until they attain age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament.
US designates Taliban Chief Mullah Fazlullah as

Global Terrorist
January 15,
United States has designated Maulana Fazlullah, chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)- an outfit of Pakistans
Taliban, as global terrorist and has imposed sanctions against him.
It was announced after US Secretary of State John Kerry had asked Pakistan to target all terror outfits like the
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Taliban and the Haqqani Network that pose a threat to itself, neighbours like India and to US.
What does it means?
Being designated as global terrorist, all the property and interests of Maulana Fazlullah that are in US or that
come within the US, or the possession or control of US persons will be freezed.
It also prohibits US nationals against engaging in transactions with Maulana Fazlullah.
Why Maulana Fazlullah is designated as global terrorist?
In November 2013, he was elected as TTP chief commander after the death of former TTP leader Hakimullah
Mehsud.
Under his leadership, TTP had carried out barbaric attack on army school in Peshawar on 16 December 2014,
killing at least 150 people, mostly children.
In 2012, prior to becoming the leader of TTP, he was behind the killing of Pakistani Army Major General
Sanaullah Niazi as well as ordering the shooting of schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousafzai (later won Nobel
peace prize-2014).
He is also responsible for the beheading of 17 Pakistani soldiers.
It should be noted that United Nations and US already have declared Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as banned
Terrorist Organisation after Al-Qaeda.
RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis point

January 15, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut down repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent from 8 percent, with
immediate effect.
It was announced ahead of the scheduled date of monetary policy announcement on 3rd February 2015 as part of
RBIs 6th bi-monthly monetary policy statement.
RBIs 6th bi-monthly monetary policy statement says that
Repo rate: RBI has reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis
points from 8.0 per cent to 7.75 per cent.
Cash reserve ratio (CRR): RBI has unchanged CRR and kept it at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time
liabilities (NDTL).
Reverse repo rate: RBI has adjusted reverse repo rate under the LAF to 6.75 per cent.
While, RBI has adjusted Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 8.75 per cent with
immediate effect.
Team India unveils new eco-friendly ODI jersey kit

January 15,
Indian cricket team has unveiled new eco-friendly ODI jersey ahead of the triangular series starting in Australia on 16
January 2015. It was unveiled in Melbourne.
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Key facts of Team Indias eco-friendly ODI jersey
It is made out of 100% recycled polyester obtained from 33 recycled plastic bottles.
The new light weight kit combines high performance innovation with sustainability.
The jersey is light, comfortable and packed with innovation.
This eco-friendly jersey kit is made by BCCIs official apparel sponsor Nike.
Army Day is being observed on 15 January

In India, Army Day is being observed every year on 15 January.
Significance of Day: In 1949, on this day Lt. General (later Field Marshal) Kodandera Madappa Cariappa
became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army (of the independent India) by succeeding
British Army General Roy Butcher.
Events: It is celebrated every year at all the Army Command headquarters and national capital by organizing
army parades including many other military shows.
This day inspires the troops to continue to enrich the glorious traditions of the Indian Army with their dedication and
sacrifice.
On 15 January 2015, it will be the 67th Indian Army Day.
Indias Open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma sets

world record in Antarctic Ocean
Indias open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma has set a new world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one
degree temperature in the Antarctic Ocean.
She has bettered the earlier record of British open water swimmer Lewis Pugh and American swimmer Lynne
Cox. She is also the first Asian girl and youngest in the world to achieve this feat.
Hindustan Zinc had sponsored her to achieve this feat and pursue swimming career.
About Bhakti Sharma
She has been pursuing open water swimming for the last 10 years.
She holds the distinction of being the youngest female swimmer in the world to swim in 5 oceans (Indian,
Atlantic, Pacific, Antarctic and Arctic) and 7 seas.
Awards: She is recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award-2010.
Government hands over new Maritime Security

Gadget to Navy, Coast guard
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has handed over Resident Identity Card (RIC) readers to Navy Chief Admiral
R K Dhowan and Coast Guard Director General Vice-Admiral A G Thapliyal.
As part of RIC Scheme, these maritime security gadgets will be used by security agencies to check identity cards of
the residents of coastal areas issued under RIC Scheme.
Government had issued more than 65 lakh people mainly residents of coastal villages with identity cards as per RIC
Scheme under the National Population Registrar.
Key facts of Resident Identity Card (RIC) scheme
It aims to strengthen coastal security measures in 9 states and 4 Union Territories which have a sea-line
running along their borders.
The scheme of issuing Cards is being implemented by the Office of the Registrar General and Census
Commissioner- an office under the aegis of Union Home Ministry.
Under this scheme, Union Government will prepare National Population Registrar (NPR) in 3,331 coastal
villages by issuing Resident Identity Cards (RIC).
RIC readers will be used by coastal security agencies to authenticate an individuals demographic and
biometric authentication without using Internet services.
RIC cards are manufactured indigenously and can be read only when the key present in the RIC readers.
RIC reader is temper-proof and self-destructs itself if it is opened in an unauthorized manner.
Initially, these card readers will be issued to the Navy and Coast Guard. Later it will be given to Maritime
Police stations and state governments.
Italys President Giorgio Napolitano resigns

Italys President Giorgio Napolitano has resigned from office. He has resigned citing reason of poor health ahead of
his 2020 expiry term. He also announced his retirement after stepping down as President.
About Giorgio Napolitano
He was a long-time member of the Italian Communist Party and was elected to Italian parliament for first time
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in 1953.
He was Minister of Interior from 1996 to 1998 under then Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
President: In 2006, he was elected by parliament as President of Italy for first time. He was re-elected as
President in 2013 and was to retire in 2020. He is longest-serving President of Italy and was in office for
around 8 years.
As a President, he was regarded as a guarantor of stability amid of current unstable governments and Italys
longest recession since World War II.
President of Italy: His role is mainly ceremonial but can declare legislation unconstitutional. He also has the power
to dissolve parliament, nominate prime ministers and call early elections. He has tenure of 7 years.
Eminent Sanskrit scholar Prabhu Nath Dwivedi named

for Sahitya Akademi Award 2014
Eminent Sanskrit scholar Prabhu Nath Dwivedi has been conferred with prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award 2014
for Sanskrit language.
He was chosen for his work Kanakalochanaha- a collection of 16 short-stories based upon various social issues
eroding the system.
His book was selected by a three-member jury of the Sahitya Akademi.
Mr Diwedi is Sanskrit teacher and has been teaching in various universities for more than three decades.
Backround
Earlier in December 2014, Sahitya Akademi had announced names of 22 poets and authors for prestigious Sahitya
Akademi Award 2014. But they had not announced the winners of Manipuri and Sanskrit language.
About Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award ( ) is conferred on writers of outstanding
works in one of the twenty-four major Indian languages.
24 major Indian languages are- Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada,
Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthan, Sanskrit,
Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
The award consists of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and a cheque of 1 Lakh rupees.
SHAR director MYS Prasad selected for Vikram

Sarabhai Memorial Award 2014-15
M.Y.S. Prasad, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Range (SHAR), has been selected for the
prestigious Vikram Sarabhai memorial award 2014-15.
He will be presented award by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
He was selected for this award for his outstanding contribution to R&D in the field of space science in his long and
chequered career at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Prior to Dr. Prasad, former ISRO chairmen Dr. Satish Dhawan, Dr. K. Kasturi Rangan, Dr. G. Madhavan Nair and Dr.
K. Radhakrishnan have received this prestigious award.
Vikram Sarabhai memorial award
It was instituted in 1997-98 by ISCA- a premier scientific organization of the country.
Every alternate year it is awarded to distinguished scientist of the country in recognition of their outstanding
contributions.
This award comprises a gold medal and certificate and presented at the inaugural function of the Annual
Session of ISCA.
Pope Francis declares Indian priest Joseph Vaz as saint

in Colombo
January 14,
Pope Francis has declared 17th century Indian priest and missionary Joseph Vaz as saint in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Pope announced it while addressing a holy mass for 5 lakh people at the Gall Face Green in Colombo. Joseph Vaz has
become first priest from Sri Lanka, canonised as saint.
About Joseph Vaz
He was born on 21 April 1651 in Benaulim Goa (then Portuguese India) and was ordained as priest in 1676 in
Goa.
Later in 1687, he moved to Sri Lanka and worked for revival of Catholic Church in a period of Dutch
repression of Catholics.
Since then he had founded several churches and chapels, helping revive the faith of Catholics by Calvinists in
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Sri Lanka.
He died in 1711 and was beatified by Pope John Paull II in Colombo on 21 January 1995.
ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission team wins 2015 Space

Pioneer Award
January 14,
The team of ISROs Mars Mission has been awarded 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering
category by National Space Society (NSS).
They are being conferred with this award for achieving the rare feat of entering Mars orbit in maiden attempt.
Mars Orbiter Programme Team will receive the award during NSS 34th International Space Development Conference
which will be held in Toronto from 20 May 2015.
ISROs Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM)
It was launched on 5 November, 2013. It made history on 24 September 2014 after it entered Mars orbit in
maiden attempt.
It achieved two significant missions. First, entering into orbit around Mars and secondly, taking full-disk
colour imagery of Mars with its onboard high resolution camera.
It should be noted that, the Mars Orbiter programme team is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is headed by
eminent ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai.
About Space Pioneer Award
It recognizes those individuals and teams whose accomplishments have helped to open the space frontier. It was
instituted in 1988.
This prestigious award is be given by the National Space Society (NSS), an American educational and scientific
organization.
Award memento consists of a silvery pewter Moon globe cast. It is casted by the Baker Art Foundry in Placerville,
California. Originally, this sculpture was created by Don Davis, the well-known space and astronomical artist.
Government sacks DRDO Chief Avinash Chander, 16

months before end of his tenure
January 14,
Union Government has sacked chief of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) Avinash
Chander, 16 months before his contract end.
Termination of his contract was approved by Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi with effect from 31 January 2015.
He was appointed as DRDO chief in June 2013. He was to retire on 30 November 2014, but government had
extended his tenure beyond his retirement on contract basis.
About Avinash Chander
In 1972, he had joined DRDO after completing graduation in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi. He is a
fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers.
He is the chief architect of Agni series of ballistic missile systems and considered as Agni man of India.
Indias range of Agni missiles were developed missiles under his technology forecast, perspective planning
and relentless efforts.
Awards: He was awarded Padma Shri for his contribution in the successful development of 5000-km range
Agni-V missile.
USAID, Gates Foundation to partner with government

for Swachchh Bharat Mission
January 14,
Union Urban Development Ministry, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Bill and
Milinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) have agreed to partner in Swachh Bharat programme.
In this regard, USAID has inked a pact with the Urban Development Ministry while BGMF signed a Memorandum of
Cooperation.
The Memoranda were signed in presence of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and US
Ambassador to India, Richard Verma.
Key facts
As a global partner in Swachh Bharat programme, USAID will assist union governments flagship programme
by knowledge exchange and identification and sharing of best practices for water and sanitation services.
It will also provide technical support and promote public private partnership (PPP) and spend about $2.50
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million per year on these activities.
While, BMGF as a partner will provide technical and management support in the implementation of the
mission.
It will provide coordination of decentralised and non-sewered sanitation solutions, implementation and
management through skill development focusing on towns located along the Ganga river at a cost of $2.50
million annually.
Thus it can be said that Governments Swachchh Bharat Mission got global boost, which will take sanitation beyond
construction of toilets and offers holistic solutions towards cleanliness.
Railway Ministry flagged off Indias first CNG train in

Haryana
January 13,
Railway Ministry has flagged off Indias first compressed natural gas (CNG) powered train between Rewari and
Rohtak in Haryana.
It was flagged off by Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu at Rewari junction of the Northern Railway zone.
Some facts about CNG train
It is powered by Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU). It is based on dual fuel system- diesel and CNG.
This train is integrated with 1,400 HP engine to run on dual fuel through fumigation technology.
It is capable of running at a speed of 100 km per hour.
Train comprised of two power cars and six car coaches, manufactured by Integral Coach Factory at Chennai
with the CNG conversion kit supplied by Cummins.
Its successful implementation, marks a major landmark in adoption of green fuel by Indian Railways.
Implications:
It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions of Railways and also the consumption of diesel. Thus, contributing in
environment conservation.
It will help to reduce the operating cost of locomotives by over 50% compared to conventional trains powered
by diesel and electricity.
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan wins Governor of the

Year award
January 13,
A British magazine has named RBI Governor and well-known economist Raghuram Rajan as the Governor of the
Year in the Central Banking Awards for 2015.
It was announced by British magazine Central Banking.
Governor Raghuram Rajan was chosen for this award by magazine for his disciplined and focused approach in
leading the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) during his first year as Governor.
It also mentioned that, RBI Governor deserved the award for his deep understanding of the root causes of Indias
economic problems.
About Raghuram Rajan
He is 23 Governor of RBI and had taken charge in September 2013.
Earlier, he was chief economic adviser (CEA) to Indias Ministry of Finance in 2013.
He was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2003 to 2007.
He is also a celebrity economist known across the globe for predicting the 2008 global meltdown.
He has authored many books on economics and is professor of finance at the graduate business school at the
University of Chicago.
Awards:
Fischer Black Prize- In 2003, he was awarded this award by the American Finance Association for
contributions to the theory and practice of finance.
Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics- In 2013, he was awarded this award for his ground-breaking
research work which influenced financial and macro-economic policies around the world.
Best Central Bank Governor award- In 2014, he was awarded this award by Euromoney magazine.
Kamal Kishore Goyanka selected for Vyas Samman

2014
Well-known Hindi scholar and writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goyanka has been selected for the prestigious Vyas
Samman for the year 2014.
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He has been chosen for this award for his research work Premchand Kee Kahaniyo Kaa Kaalkramanusar
Adhyayan.
Vyas Samman
This award is instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation. It was started in 1991.
It is awarded annually in recognition of the hindi literary work published in past 10 years.
The award carries monetary award of 2.5 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque.
Haryana Government unveils new sports policy

Haryana government has unveiled new sports policy named Haryana Physical Activities and Sports Policy-2015.
It was announced Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at function organized at Rohtak.
Key facts of Haryana Physical Activities and Sports Policy-2015
New sports policy, substantially increases the award money given to winners of international and national sports
events.
Olympic and Paralympic games
Gold medal winners: Will get Rs 6 crore. Earlier they were given Rs 5 crore.
Silver medal winners: Will get Rs 4 crore. Earlier they were given Rs 3 crore.
Bronze medal winners: Will get Rs 2.5 crore. Earlier they were given Rs 2 crore.
Participants: will get Rs 15 lakh cash awards. Earlier they were given Rs 11 lakh earlier.
Asian Games
Gold medal winners: Will get Rs 3 crore. Earlier they were given Rs 2 crore.
Silver medal winners: Will get Rs 1.5 crore. Earlier they were given Rs 1 crore.
Bronze medal winners: Will get Rs 75 lakh .Earlier they were given Rs 50 lakh.
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal winners: Will get Rs 1.5 crore. Earlier they were given Rs 1 crore.
Silver medal winners: Will get Rs 75 lakh. Earlier they were given Rs 50 lakh.
World Cup/World Championship winners
Gold medal winners: Will get Rs 20 lakh. Earlier they were given Rs 10 lakh.
Silver medal winners: Will get Rs 15 lakh. Earlier they were given Rs 8 lakh.
State government also has increased the award money for various other sports competitions including World
University Games, Youth Olympic Games, National School Games, All India University Tournaments, World
Marathon for Mentally Challenged, among other events.
Eligibility and conditions: Cash award will only be given to those sportspersons who has represented the state of
Haryana in any sports. The sportspersons or their parents should be residents of Haryana.
As per the policy, players will be given awards for the performance of preceding financial year only and not for past
performance or achievements.
Government appoints Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar as

ISRO chairman
Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar has been appointed chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
His name was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
He will replace former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan who had retired on 31 December 2014. He will have tenure
of 3 years from the date he take charge.
Previously, Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, was given additional charge of ISRO till the
appointment of a new head following the retirement of K Radhakrishnan.
About Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar
Education: He has an honours degree in Physics from National College, Bangalore University and an M Tech
in Physical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
ISRO career: In 1975, he started his ISRO career with the Space Application Centre.
He had played a key role in developing image sensors for Bhaskara- Indias first remote sensing satellite
launched in 1979.
He also had played important role in developing key components of Indias Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan
missions.
Before this appointment, he was director of Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.
Awards: In 2014, he was awarded Padma Shri.
Border haat to enhance trade between India,

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Bangladesh opens in Tripura

India and Bangladesh inaugurated third border haat in Srinagar-Purba on the Tripura-Bangladesh border.
It was inaugurated by Union Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala along with her Bangladeshi counterpart
Tofail ahmed in the presence of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.
This is the first border haat opened in state Tripura which shares 856-km border with Bangladesh.
Key facts of Border Haat
Haats in India Language means Rural Market. The aim of this border haat is to enhance border trade between
the two countries.
It will also cater to the needs of the people living within a five km radius in this border area.
It will facilitate bilateral trade of 16 locally produced goods between both nations. It includes agricultural and
horticultural crops, spices, poultry, dairy products, cottage industry items, furniture and handicrafts and handlooms.
It will also boost people to people contacts between the two countries.
Background
Border haats along the border of two countries are established under a MOU for Border Trade and Border
Haats. It was signed by the two countries in October 2010.
As per the rules and guidelines of this MOU, traders in communities of both India and Bangladesh can trade
their local produce without any duty.
This bilateral trade will take place once a week in this haat and each trader is allowed to do business of US $
100 per day.
Justice S K Sinha becomes first Hindu Chief Justice of

Bangladesh
Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was appointed Chief Justice of Bangladesh by President Mohammad Abdul Hamid.
With this appointment, he has become the first Hindu to hold highest judicial post in the Muslim-majority country.
He will succeed incumbent Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain as he is retiring on 16 January 2015 and will have a
term of around three years.
About S K Sinha
Legal career: He started his legal career in 1974 as an advocate of the district court, Sylhet after completing
LLB.
He was an advocate of the high court in 1978 and later in the appellate division in 1990.
In 1999, he was appointed as judge of the High Court and later in 2009 as judge of the Appellate Division.
It should be noted that Bangladesh has unitary Supreme Court structure and comprises two divisions the
Appellate Division and the High Court division.
Key judgments: His landmark judgments include on assassination of Bangladeshs first President
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 5th and 13th amendments to the countrys Constitution.
Cristiano Ronaldo wins FIFA Ballon dOr award for

the third time
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the FIFA Ballon dOr award for year 2014.
He has earned this title of worlds best football player for a third time. Earlier he was conferred with award in 2008
and 2013.
He has retained this highest individual honour in football after scoring 61 goals for Real Madrid and Portugal in 2014.
He also had played important role, by making record tally of 17 goals in a Champions League season that helped his
club to win an unprecedented 10th European Cup title.
While in womens section, Germanys midfielder Nadine Kessler has been awarded FIFA Womens World Player of
the Year title.
FIFA Ballon dOr Award
It is an annual football association award given by FIFA to the male player who has performed the best in the
previous calendar year.
This award was instituted in 2010 after France Footballs Ballon dOr and the mens FIFA World Player of the
Year award were merged.
It is awarded to the male player, based upon highest votes secured by him from national team coaches and
captains, as well as journalists from around the world.
Inaugural 2010 FIFA Ballon dOr was awarded to Lionel Messi. Later he won this award for consecutive two
years i.e. 2011 and 2012.
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Arvind Panagariya takes charge as Vice-Chairman of

NITI Aayog
Eminent Economist Arvind Panagariya has taken charge as first Vice-Chairman of the newly-created National
Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on 13 January 2015.
After taking charges, he was briefed about newly created NITI Aayog by its CEO Sindhushree Khuallar and other
senior officials.
About Arvind Panagariya
He is an Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University. He holds a Ph.D.
degree in Economics from prestigious Princeton University.
He was an ex-Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
He has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.
He has written around 10 books and the latest was India: The Emerging Giant published in 2008.
Background
On 5 January 2015, Union government had announced the appointment of Vice- Chairman, 2 full time members, 4
ex-officio members (Union ministers) and 3 special invitees of Aayog.
They were appointed after government on 1 January 2015 had announced that NITI Aayog has replaced the 65-year
old Planning Commission.
It should be noted that Prime Minister is Ex-Officio Chairman of NITI Aayog.
Prime Minister Naredra Modi also had appointed Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat as
full-time members of Aayog.
While, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh were appointed as the
Ex-Officio members of Aayog. Other Union Ministers like Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thawar Chand
Gehlot are Special Invitees in Aayog.
Odhisas Sun Temple gets ASIs Adarsh Monument tag

Sun Temple at Konark, Odhisa has been the coveted with Adarsh Monument tag by the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI).
Along with Sun Temple, three other monuments of eastern India were given Adarsh Monument tag. They are
Hazarduari Palace in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
Vaishali-Kolhua in Bihar.
Rang Ghar in Sibsagar (Sivasagar) district of Assam.
At present, 25 out of 3,680 protected monuments in India have been selected under the Adarsh Smarak Yojana.
It includes monuments like Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, Qutab Minar and Red Fort which have highest number of tourists
visiting them.
By awarding this monument Adarsh Monument tag, Central government gives them special attention in order to boost
international tourism.
Under Adarsh Smarak Yojana, ASI provides amenities of international standards like washrooms, drinking water,
signs, cafeteria, audiovisual centres, Wi-Fi connectivity, interpretation centres and encroachment-free areas around
these monuments.
Konark SunTemple: It is a 13th century temple of Odisha, built by Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
It is also known as Black Pagoda.
Its a World Heritage Site. It is considered as architectural marvel for which Odisha, best known worldwide.
Idukki district of Kerala becomes Indias first district

with rural broadband network
Idukki district of Kerala has become first district in India to have high speed Rural Broadband Network i.e. National
Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) Internet connectivity.
Union Minister of Information Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad commissioned this Hi-speed
rural broadband network under the governments flagship Digital India programme.
In Idukki, 8 block offices and 52 village panchayats out of 53 will benefit from this project.
Facts about National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)
NOFN is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world.
It aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
It seeks to link each of the 2.5 lakh village panchayats in the country spread over 6600 blocks and 631 districts
through broadband optical fibre network in order to provide a minimum bandwidth of 100 Mbps.
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On its completion, NOFN is expected to facilitate Broadband connectivity to over 600 million rural citizens of
the country.
NOFN, is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecom, Ministry
of Communications & IT.
It will offer people with friendly services like e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, public internet
access etc. It will also enable delivery of various government services such as local planning, management,
monitoring and payments of Government schemes at panchayat level.
Thus it will help to provide non-discriminatory telecom infrastructure, in order to bridge the gap of digital divide in
rural internet access.
72nd Golden Globe Awards

72nd edition of Golden Globe Awards was organized at Beverly Hills, California.
The winners of various awards in 72nd Golden Globe Awards are as follows:
Best Motion Picture Drama: Boyhood
Best Motion Picture Musical/Comedy: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Director in Motion Picture-Drama: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Best Actor in Motion Picture-Drama: Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Actress in Motion Picture-Drama: Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Best Actor in Motion Picture or Musical or Comedy: Michael Keaton for Birdman
Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Amy Adams for Big Eyes
Best Actor in a Supporting role in Motion Picture: K. Simmons for Whiplash
Best Actress in a Supporting role in Motion Picture: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Best Original Score Motion Picture: Jhann Jhannsson for The Theory of Everything
Best Foreign Language Film: Leviathan (Russia)
Union Government appoints Pournima Gupte as IRDA

actuary
Union Government has appointed Pournima Gupte as member (actuary) of Insurance Regulatory Authority of India
(IRDA).
With her appointment, IRDA got an actuary after a gap of three years. Since 2011, this post was lying vacant after R
Kannan retired from IRDA.
It should be noted that for the first time a woman has been appointed on the board of IRDA.
Earlier, Pournima Gupte had worked with Life Insurance Corporation and has worked as actuary at Reliance Life
Insurance and IDBI Federal.
About Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA)
IRDA is an apex statutory body that regulates and develops the insurance industry in India.
It was constituted as per provisions of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999.
Headquarters: Hyderabad, Telangana.
Structure and Composition: It is 10 members body consisting of: Chairman, 5 full-time members, 4 parttime
members. All members are appointed by Union Government.
Current chairman of IRDA is T.S. Vijayan.
On 31st December 2014, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was renamed as
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
Union Finance Minister Jaitley adopts 4 Gujarat

villages as part of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has adopted 4 villages in Vadodara district in Gujarat as part of the Sansad
Adarsh Gram Yojana.
He has adopted following 4 villages of Vadodara district:
Karnali village
Pipaliya village
Valida village
Baglipura village
About Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)
SAGY encourages Members of Parliament (MPs) from both Houses to identify and develop one village from their
constituency as a model village
Under this scheme, MPs will be responsible for developing the socio-economic and physical infrastructure of three
villages each by 2019, and a total of eight villages each by 2024.
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Key objectives of the Yojana include:
The development of model villages, called Adarsh Grams, through the implementation of existing schemes,
and certain new initiatives to be designed for the local context, which may vary from village to village.
Creating models of local development which can be replicated in other villages.
Under this SAGY, the first Adarsh Gram must be developed by 2016, and two more by 2019.
From 2019 to 2024, five more Adarsh Grams must be developed by each MP, one each year. This implies that a total
of 6,433 Adarsh Grams, of the 2,65,000 gram panchayats, will be created by 2024.
Thus, SAGY aims to transform lives of many for whom economic development never happened and also bring about
a sense of pride, volunteerism, and self-reliance in villages.
Roger Federer records 1000th win after winning

Brisbane title
January 12, Tennis living legend Roger Federer has recorded 1000 titles wins in mens professional circuit career.
He made his 1000 win after winning Brisbane International Tennis title. In his 1,000 career match, he defeated Milos
Raonic with score of 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.
It should be noted that Roger Federer is third tennis player to win more than 1000 titles. Other two tennis player
are Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl.
About Roger Federer
He is a Swiss professional tennis player.
Currently, he is ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
He has won the most prize money of any player in history of tennis.
In 2008 Olympic Games, he has won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas
Wawrinka and the Olympic silver medal in singles at the 2012 Olympic Games.
He also holds record of winning 17 Grand Slam singles titles and reaching each Grand Slam Final at least five
times.
January 12 being observed as National Youth Day

In India, January 12 is being observed as National Youth Day.
This day marks birth anniversary of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda.
On this day, numbers of functions are being organised nationwide to celebrate the birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda.
Background
Union Government in 1984 had declared and decided to observe the birthday of Swami Vivekananda i.e. 12 January
as a National Youth Day every year from 1985 onwards.
Significance of day: It will help to propagate the philosophy and the ideals of Swami Vivekananda for which he lived
and worked. It will also help and act as a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.
About Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863 and died on 4 July 1902.
He was born Narendranath Dutta and was chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and the
founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
He was one of the most prominent figures of India who introduced Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the
Western World.
His inspiring speech given at Worlds Religions Parliament held at Chicago in 1893 is famous.
UN chief Ban Ki Moon inaugurates Gujarats second

canal-top 10-MW solar power project
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon inaugurated Gujarats second canal-top 10-MW solar power
project.
It is located on 5.5 km stretch of Vadodara branch of Sardar Sarovar project canal. It is implemented by Hyderabadbased
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL)
Key facts of Gujarats Canal-top solar power project
It is considered as first-of-its-kind project in the world to generate power.
This project is brain child of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier in April 2012, one-MW pilot project was
commissioned on the Sanand canal when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.
The project comprises around 33,000 to 36,000 solar panels and financed by the State government.
Platform for these panels has been designed in such a manner it can sustain a wind velocity of 150 km/hr.
Power generated from it is fed into the State grid and also to operate pumping stations on the canal.
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Advantages: It saves land and also prevents evaporation losses from the canal. It generates clean source of
energy without any kind of pollution.
First China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting

concludes in Beijing
January 11,
First ministerial meeting of the Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
(CELAC) concluded in Beijing.
It was two-day meeting and was co-chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Costa Rican counterpart,
Manuel Gonzalez Sanz.
First China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting passed three major documents:
Beijing Declaration.
Five-year cooperation plan.
Regulations on the China-CELAC forum.
Both sides also reached a consensus on deepening political mutual trust, expanding cooperation and promoting
development of the forum.
On the concluding day it was announced that forums next meeting will be held in Chile in 2018.
Implication of this forum: It is considered as historical meeting as it launched to improve overall cooperation
between China and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region. It will also build a closer CELAC-China
relationship and benefit people from both sides.
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
CELAC is a regional bloc of Latin American and Caribbean countries. It was outcome of Rio GroupCaribbean
Community Unity Summit.
It was created in 2011, in Caracas, Venezuela, with the signature of The Declaration of Caracas.
This bloc consists of 33 sovereign countries as its members in the southern American region representing around 600
million people.
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 7th vibrant Gujarat

summit
January 11,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 7th Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar.
Key facts
Inaugural ceremony was attended by United Nations General Secretary and US State Secretary John Kerry.
Apart from them, several ministers from Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada and over 50 CEOs of top Indian
as well as international companies attended it.
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Ben Patel earlier had welcomed all head of states dignitaries, diplomats and
deligates to the summit.
This edition will be 3 day event, starting from 11 January and conclude on 13 January 2015.
For the first time, eight countries Canada, Japan, China, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa
and U.S. have become partner for the summit with State.
This event is expected to bring in record investments to Gujarat. State government expects to sign over 20,000
Expression of Interest during the summit.
About Vibrant Gujarat Summit
This mega business event is brainchild of PM Narendra Modi and had started it when he was Chief Minister of
State.
It is biennial event and started in 2003.
The summit is advertised as a platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of
Gujarat.
It aims to provide single window platform to bring together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought
leaders, policy and opinion makers.
In previous six Vibrant Gujarat Summits, state government had signed MoUs worth Rs. 48 lakh crore.
People from 11 countries take part in First Buddha

Heritage Walk in Bihar
January 11,
People from 11 countries have taken part in First Buddha Heritage Walk in Bihar.
In this heritage walk over 500 pilgrims from 11 countries walked through a 13-km-long forest trail.
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They walked through the trail which Lord Gautam Buddha had taken to reach Rajgir from Bodh Gaya around 2,543
years ago.
It was organized by Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC).
Buddhist monks from Japan, China, South Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Brazil, and India took part in it.
Some facts about this route
As per scholars, this well documented route is among such several routes taken by Buddha during his 45 years
of preaching in various parts of India.
It passes through lush green forest, hills and valleys and several ancient Stupas can be seen in the along the
route.
It is also believed that Bimibsara (emperor of the Magadha Empire from 542 BC till 492 BC) took Lord
Buddha to Venu Van near Rajgir on this route and offered him place to stay as a gift. Buddha had stayed there
during his visit.
DRDO successfully tests advance EW suite in TejasPV1 Aircraft

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully tested an advanced electronic warfare
(EW) suite.
It was tested onboard of the countrys Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas-PV1.
Key facts about Electronic Warfare (EW) suite
It is developed by Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) of DRDO.
EW suite consists of Radar Warner and Jammer.
This suit gives pilot an additional capability of nullifying the effect of detected radar threat by appropriate
mode of jamming.
It will replace existing EW systems, which are fitted on various combat aircraft as they consist of basic
equipment Radar Warner Receiver. It only has capability to provide warning to the aircraft pilot in case of
detection of a radar threat.
Union Government unblocks 32 websites

Union Government has unblocked 32 websites which were blocked earlier in November 2014.
These websites were unblocked after they had promised to cooperate with the authorities and remove objectionable
content.
They were blocked for carrying anti-India views and spreading banned terrorist outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syrias
(ISIS) propaganda.
Background
Earlier in November 2014, these websites were blocked following complaint of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad
(ATS).
They were blocked by Department of Telecom (DoT) under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and
Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009.
These rules give powers to government to block access to information on websites if it threatens the interest of
Sovereignty and integrity of the country.
Defence of India.
Security of the state.
Friendly relations with foreign states or public order.
For preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence.
World Hindi Day is being observed on 10 January

every year
Every year 10 January is being observed World Hindi Day. Objective of this day is to promote use of Hindi language
abroad.
To mark the occasion, special functions are being organized. It is usually, observed by Union Ministry of External
Affairs (MoEF) and Indian Missions abroad.
Background of World Hindi Day
On this day in 1975, the First World Hindi Conference was organized in Nagpur by then Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi. It was held from 10 to 12 January 1975.
In first conference, then Prime Minister of Mauritius Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was Chief Guest. This conference was
attended by 122 delegates from 30 countries.
Since then every year 10th January is being observed as the World Hindi Day.
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Sindhushree Khullar appointed as Chief Executive

Officer of NITI Aayog
Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has appointed senior bureaucrat Sindhushree Khullar as the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
She will serve in the post for one year starting from 1st January.
She is 1975-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) Union Territories cadre. She had retired from
the service in March 2013. Earlier, she was member-secretary of Planning Commission.
Background
Union Government had replaced 6 decade year old Planning Commission with a new institution named National
Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) on 1st January.
This new institution aims to serve as Think Tank of the Government. Noted Economist Arvind Panagariya was
appointed Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog.
3 day Flamingo Festival begins near Pulicat Lake in

Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh
3 day Flamingo Festival has begun at the famous brackish water of Lake Pulicat in Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary located
at Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. It will be hosted in Doravari Satram mandal, in Nellore district.
This festival provides a unique opportunity for people, particularly ornithologists, environmentalists, bird watchers,
forest and tourism officials
To study the bio-diversity of Pulicat and Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary
To initiate measure to conserve the bio-zones for future generations in this area.
It also promotes eco-tourism in the district. In this three day festival, several cultural and entertainment programmes
will take place.
Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary
The Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, considered one of the biggest habitats for some hundreds of pelicans and other
birds.
It is located about 20 km north of the Pulicat Lake on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border.
This sanctuary spread in an area about 459 hectares.
Every year from October to March, different species of migratory birds, roosting migrants and some rare and
endangered species from various parts of the world visit the habitat.
This sanctuary plays important role in nesting of various birds especially migratory birds.
Birds found in this sanctuary are: Flamingos, Pelicans, Siberian Storks, Open Billed Storks, Night Herons,
Egrets, Little Cormorant, Golden Backed Wood Pecker, Spotted and Ring Doves, King Fishers, Painted
Storks, White Necked Storks, Spoon Bills and other species of birds.
The villagers in area nearby to this sanctuary treat the migratory birds with affection and provide protection to
them.
Tatas Vistara airline starts domestic flight operation

Tatas Vistara airline has started domestic flight operation in India. Vistara started its flight operation after first flight
took off from Delhi to Mumbai on 9 January 2015.
Vistara airline is a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA). Earlier in 2014, Tata Group had to
launch a full-service carrier in India with the help of SIA.
Some facts about Vistara airline
As part of joint venture Tata group owns 51 percent stake of Vistara airline, while Singapore Airlines holds 49
percent of stake.
In the first year of their service, they will operate flights from Delhi to Goa, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad,
Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu and Patna.
To start full-service, Vistara has leased two A320s air crafts.
It will be the third full-service airlines in India, after state-run Air India and private carrier Jet Airways.
This is the second time the Tata group, has entered the full service airline business in India. First time in 1932, they
had started Tata Airlines, which was later renamed Air India in 1946, and was nationalised in 1953.
Chinese Physicist Yu Min awarded State Preeminent

Science and Technology Award 2014
Prominent Chinese theoretical physicist Yu Min has been awarded State Preeminent Science and Technology Award
for 2014.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping gave him the award in the ceremony held at Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
He was awarded for his groundbreaking research which led to the development of Chinas first hydrogen bomb in
1967. It was tested after Chinas first successful atomic weapons test. He is famously known as Chinas Father of
Hydrogen bomb.
About Yu Min
He was a researcher at the Modern Physics Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
His work on nuclear weapon theory played a critical role in the design of the nuclear weapons of China and number
of high-tech research projects.
He has also won Chinas national scientific progress prizes three time and was honored as a national labor model, and
in 1992 was awarded the Guanghua Special Prize.
About State Preeminent Science and Technology Award of China
It is Chinas highest prize, awarded annually by the State president to countrys scientists. It is also referred to as
the State Supreme Science and Technology Award and considered as the Chinas Nobel Prize.
It was started in 2000 and declared in month of January of every year.
This award consists of monetary sum of 5 million Renminbi (official currency China). Out of this total sum, 10% is
given to the awarded scientist, and 90% is given as the fund for his scientific research project.
Union Government merges PIO and OCI cards

Union Government has merged Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card-holders with Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)
card-holders.
Union Home Ministry in this regard has issued notification mentioning that all PIO card-holders henceforth are
deemed to be OCI card-holders with effect from 9th January 2015.
Thus, withdrawing PIO cards with immediate an effect. Now only OCI cards facility with enhanced benefits will exist
to provide maximum possible benefits to Indian Diaspora.
This notification was announced on the concluding day of 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas.
Background
Earlier on January 6, 2015 Government had promulgated Ordinance to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.
This amendment changed the eligibility and provided additional benefits of PIO Card holders that have been
incorporated in OCI Card and certain other relaxation to OCI Card holders.
Governments this decision comes in lines with Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously made announcement in
USA and Australia visits.
During this visit he had announced that PIO and OCI cards will be merged and the Indian Diaspora will be given
maximum possible benefits.
Aziz Qureshi sworn in as Governor of Mizoram

Aziz Qureshi has sworn-in as the Governor of Mizoram. Justice Michael Zothankhuma, Judge of the Gauhati High
Court, administered the oath of office to Qureshi.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan in Aizawl. It was attended by the s
Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla and some of his cabinet colleagues.
Earlier Aziz Qureshi was governor of Uttarakhand. But in December 2014, he was transferred from Uttarakhand and
was appointed as the Mizoram Governor.
Constitutional provisions of Governor
Article 156: Governor is appointed by President and hold office during the pleasure of President. It should be
also noted that this article also mentions tenure of Governor. In this regard it says that Governor shall hold
office for the term of 5 years from date he enters office.
15 NRIs awarded Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2015

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2015 has been awarded to 15 prominent non-resident Indians (NRIs) on the concluding
day of 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas.
They have been conferred with award for their contribution in various fields. The awards were presented by VicePresident Hamid Ansari at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Recipients of awards are
Satyanarayan Nadella- CEO of tech giant Microsoft.
Donald Rabindernauth Ramaotar- He is President of Guyana and awarded for his work for the Indian
diaspora in Guyana.
Mala Mehta- For her contribution to Hindi language. She is founder of Indo- Australian Bal Bharatiya
Vidyalaya in Thornleigh suburb in Sydney. Since its establishment, she has been pursuing the growth of Hindi
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in Australia.
Rajaram Sanjaya- He is India-born Mexican scientist. He is winner of the 2014 World Food Prize for
developing 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries.
Kanwaljit Singh Bakhshi- He is Member of Parliament (MP) from New Zealand. He is also known for work
he had done for the Indian diaspora in New Zealand.
Essop Goolam Pahad- He is a South African politician. He was Minister in the Presidency from 1999 to
September 2008 in South Africa.
Mahendra Nanji Mehta- Uganda-based businessman of Indian origin.
Professor Nathuram Poori -He is founder of Purico Group are also chosen for their contribution to Indian
diaspora.
Lord Raj Lumba- He is a philanthropist and founder of clothing company Rinku Group. He is a Liberal
Democrat member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom.
Kamlesh Lulla- He is chief scientist for Earth observation in the Human Exploration Science Office at the
Johnson Space Centre at NASA. He has named for the award for his exceptional service to the space science.
Nandini Tandon- She has been given this award for her work in life sciences and Healthcare and IT in USA
and India along with other emerging markets.
Rajmal Parakh
Duraikannu Karunakaran
Shah Bharatkumar Jayantilal
Ashraf Palarkunnummal
About Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
It is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians. As a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), this award is
conferred by the President of India on
Non-Resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin (PIO) or
An organization or institution established and run by the Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin.
This award carries a bilingual Sanad (certificate) under the hand and the seal of the President. In addition, it includes a
citation, a gold medallion and a miniature of the medallion in the form of a lapel pin.
About Pravasi Bhartiya Divas
Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is a programme organized by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to foster greater interaction
between the Indian Diaspora and Indian government. It provides the Diaspora a platform to put forth their issues and
grievances before the government. At the same time, the government also uses this occasion to showcase
opportunities for investment in India to the expatriate community.
Started in 2003 by the then NDA Government, it is held every year for 3 days between Jan 7-9.
Mahatma Gandhi had returned from South Africa to India on Jan 9th in 1915, this event inspires the dates of this
programme.
Maithripala Sirisena sworn-in as 7th President of Sri

Lanka
Maithiripala Sirisena has sworn-in as 7th President of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankas Supreme Court Judge K. Sri Pawan administered the oath of office to Maithiripala Sirisena at a oath
taking function held at the Independence Square in Colombo.
While, United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickramasinghe was sworn-in as Sri Lankas Prime Minister.
Election verdict: Maithiripala Sirisena was declared elected in Presidential elections after he had defeated incumbent
President Mahinda Rajapaksa by more than 4 and a half lakh votes. In this election he had secured 51.28 per cent of
total votes casted.
Summary on Sri Lankas 2015 Presidential Election
After the result was declared, incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa had conceded defeat. It should be
noted that for the first time in Sri Lanka, an incumbent President was defeated.
Mahinda Rajapaksa was President for one decade and had played important role to end LTTE militancy in
2009.
He also played important in huge development projects in the island nation, but failed to address the political
aspirations of the minority Tamil community, protect the Muslims from Buddhist hardliners and secure a
better economic deal for the poor.
Maithiripala Sirisena was Health Minister Rajapaksas government. But after Presidential were declared in
November 2014 he opposed Mahinda Rajapaksa by contesting the elections.
In this Presidential election, Maithiripala Sirisena got huge support of rainbow coalition of several parties and
minority communities as he had promised constitutional, electoral and administrative reforms within a
hundred days of coming to power.
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He also had promised to abolish Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka and hand over political power to the Prime
Minister and the Parliament.
Maithripala Sirisena
He was born on 3 September 1951 and is son of a World War II veteran.
Political career: He had joined mainstream politics in 1989 through the Sri Lankan Freedom Party. He was
first elected to Sri Lankan Parliament in 1989. He has held several ministries in Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga government. He was Minister of Agriculture in the first Rajapakas government elected in 2005.
He was reelected in 2010 and appointed Minister of Health.
In 1971, he was arrested on suspicion of leading a revolt against the government and was in jail for almost two
years.
Governors rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir

Governors rule has been imposed in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
It was imposed after President Pranab Mukherjee approved the recommendation of J&K Governor N. N. Vohra as
there is deadlock in the State over formation of a new government after state assembly election.
Earlier, Governor had submitted a report to the President, after caretaker Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had resigned.
Background
Jammu Kashmir State assembly election held in December 2014 had given hung verdict as no party has majority to
form government in State.
In this election, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87
members House. While Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has emerged second largest party winning 25 seats. But both
parties failed to get the magic figure of 44 to form a government.
Other parties like National Conference (NC) have 15 MLAs while Indian National Congress (INC) has 12 MLAs.
What is Governor Rule in Jammu & Kashmir?
In case of failure of constitutional machinery in any other state of India, the Presidents Rule is imposed under
Article 356 of the Constitution.
But in case of J&K, as per Section 92 of state Constitution, the Governors Rule can be imposed in the state
for a period of six months only after the consent of the President of India in case of failure of constitutional
machinery. During the Governors rule, State Assembly is either suspended or dissolved.
If the Constitutional machinery is not restored before the expiry of this six month period, the provision of
Article 356 of the Constitution of India are extended to J&K and the Presidents rule is imposed in the State.
It should be noted that, Governors rule has been imposed in the state for the 6 time since 1977.
M. Karunanidhi re-elected as DMK Chief for 11th time

M. Karunanidhi has been re-elected as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Partys President for the 11th time.
He was elected by the newly constituted general council of party.
Facts about Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Party
It is a state political party in South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory (UT) Puducherry.
It was founded in 1949 in then Madras Presidency by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the
Dravidar Kazhagam (known as Justice Party till 1944) headed by Periyar.
It was a former member of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Karunanidhi was elected President of the Party on July 27, 1969 after C.N. Annadurais death. Since then he is
President of Party.
This party also holds the distinction of being the first party in India other than the Indian National Congress
(INC) to win state-level elections with a clear majority on its own in any state.
Chief Ministers of DMK in Tamil Nadu
N Annadurai- He was first CM of DMK. He was in office from 1967-69.
M. Karunanidhi- He was CM on five separate occasions. They are 1969-71, 1971-76, 1989-91, 1996-2001,
2006-11.
NASAs Kepler Telescope achieves big milestone with

1,000th exoplanet discovery
NASAs Kepler Space Telescope has achieved a big milestone after it had discovered 1000 exoplanet.
In order to achieve this milestone, planet hunting telescope had continuously monitored more than 150,000 stars
beyond our solar system.
It has offered scientists an assortment of more than 4,000 candidate planets for further study and recently,
1,000 exoplanet was verified among these monitored stars.
Key facts
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Using Keplers data, scientists have reached this millenary milestone after validating 8 more planet candidates
that were spotted by the telescope.
Kepler team also has added another 554 candidates to the roll of potential planets. Among them 6 are nearEarth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of stars similar to our Sun.
As per Kepler team, 3 of the newly-validated planets are located in their distant suns habitable zone. They are
in the range of distances from the host star where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet.
Of the three planets, two are likely made of rock like Earth. They were named as Kepler-438b and Kepler442b.
Both Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b orbit stars smaller and cooler than our Sun. Thus making the habitable
zone closer to their parent star, in the direction of the constellation Lyra.
Exoplanet: It is is a planet that does not orbit the Sun and instead orbits a different star, stellar remnant, or brown
dwarf. It is also termed as extrasolar planet.
Japanese automaker Honda pays $ 70 million fine to

US after failing to report safety issues
Japanese automaker Honda has agreed to pay US 70 million dollars in fines to the US authorities for failing to report
safety issues involving its cars.
It was announced by the US regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after Honda had
accepted liability for the breach on safety issues.
As per NHTSA, Honda failed to report more than 1,700 death and injury claims involving its cars between July 2003
and June 2014.
In this regard, Honda will pay two $35 million fines, making it as the largest amount ever paid by any automaker.
Background
Honda was under investigation for violations of NHTSAs Early Warning Reporting regulations.
As per the NHTSA rules, it is necessary for the automakers to report quickly any information about possible defects,
deaths and injuries or damage and warranty claims made by consumers.
But Honda failed to reveal and report 1,729 cases involving deaths or injuries between July 2003 and June 2014 to the
NHTSA.
NHTSA earlier had reported that, few incidents of Honda cars involved Takata Corp air bags that had ruptured and
had been the subject of massive recalls.
But, Honda attributed this incident to its data entry and computer programming errors. Thus, failing to comply
NHTSA rules and regulations. So the fine was imposed by US regulator.
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Dandi Kutir museum

in Gujarat
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Dandi Kutir museum in Gujarats capital of Gandhinagar.
It is a state-of-the-art three-storey museum, based upon the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi.
It was inaugurated on the occasion of the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) and 7th edition of Vibrant Gujarat.
Key facts about Dandi Kutir museum
It is the biggest permanent museum in the world based on life of one person- Mahatma Gandhi.
It traces the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi through various faces as barrister, his struggles in South Africa,
return to India and successfully leading the freedom struggle.
Each and every aspect of Gandhis life is portrayed in the form of sculptures in the salt-mound at Mahatma
Mandir.
Dandi Kutir is located inside a 41-metre high salt-mound. This salt-mound depicts Gandhijis famous Dandi
march of 1930 against the salt tax provisions imposed by the British regime.
Through number of exhibits that are displayed in museum, key concepts of Gandhian thoughts like
Satyagraha, non-violence, self-reliance, Gram Swaraj are elaborately explained.
This museum also showcases 3D short film and also an audio-visual presentation of milestone incidents of the
Indian Independence Movement.
19th National Youth Festival begins in Guwahati,

Assam
The 19th National Youth Festival has begun in Guwahati, Assam. This festival coincides with the 152nd birth
anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
Theme of this edition of youth festival is Youth for Clean, Green and Progressive India. It aims to spread to spread
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national integration and harmony.
Events: It is 5 day event, which will provide platform to the young talents to perform their level best in music and
cultural events.
During this festival, different competitions, exhibitions, cultural programs, and seminars will be held.
In this festival sports persons including Virender Sehwag, Sushil Kumar and Mary Kom along with several young
MPs are participating to motivate the young minds towards nation building. This youth festival is also likely to give a
boost to the tourism industry of the state.
It will showcase various shades of youth talent through Yuva Kriti, Food Festival, Young Artist Camp, Youth
Convention, Suvichar and Adventure activities.
Besides these there will be other competitive and non-competitive events between youths of different states.
Opening ceremony: It was attended by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Union Sports Minister Sarbananda
Sonowal and Minister of State for Home state Kiren Rijiju at Nehru Stadium in Guwahati.
About National Youth Festival
It is an annual gathering of youth during National Youth Week i.e. from 12 to 16 January. It is celebrated to mark
birth anniversary of youth icon Swami Vivekananda.
It is organized by Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with one of the State Governments.
President signs ordinance to pave way for e-rickshaws

on Delhi roads
President Pranab Mukherjee has signed an ordinance to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 as per Article 123 of
Constitution. This ordinance will pave the way for plying of e-rickshaws on roads of Delhi.
Earlier, in December 2014 Union Cabinet had approved promulgation of the ordinance as a bill in this regard was not
able to pass in the recently concluded winter session of Parliament due to logjam in Upper House (Rajya Sabha).
Background
Previously in July 2014, Delhi High Court had banned E-rickshaws or battery-operated three-wheeler vehicles on
safety concerns.
Union government had brought Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2014 to amend to parent Act in order to legalize Erickshaws.
It was passed by the Lok Sabha.
Article 123 of Constitution: It gives legislative power to President. He can issue ordinances when Parliament is in
recess i.e. not in session if there is urgent need to have a law on some urgent public matter. The ordinance has similar
effect to an act of parliament.
However, every ordinance must be laid and approved by both houses of the parliament within 6 weeks from the
reassembling. If not placed and approved by both houses of the parliament after reassembling it becomes invalid.
Kotak Mahindra-ING Vysya merger gets shareholders

nod
January 8,
Private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank has received its shareholders nod for merger of Bengalaru-headquartered ING
Vysya Bank with itself.
It was approved by the 99.30 per cent in number representing 99.93 per cent in value of the shareholders present.
This approval is considered as important step for merging of two banks to form new entity. Now this merger is
subject to the final approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Competition Commission of India (CCI) and such
other approvals.
Background
In November 2014, Kotak Mahindra Bank had announced that it is acquiring ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal.
This merger will make Kotak the fourth-largest private bank in India in terms of total business. The biggest three
private banks are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.
The management of these banks are expecting that the new merged entity will be operational by April 1, 2015.
The acquisition will help Kotak Mahindra Bank to widen its reach in South Indian market and also help in acquiring
SME customers as ING Vysya Bank was having stronghold in SME customers.
After merger the combined banking entity will have a widespread network of 1,214 branches across pan India.
Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthis Prize for Display at

Rashtrapati Bhavan museum
January 8, 2015
Kailash Satyarthis Nobel Prize has been put up for display at Rashtrapati Bhavan museum.
It was put for display, after Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi dedicated his prize to the nation. He presented
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his medal to President Pranab Mukherjee in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Now, visitors to Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be able to get a glimpse of the Nobel Peace Prize received by him.
The medal made up of 18 carats gold and weighing 196 grams will be kept at Rashtrapati Bhavan museum for
display.
Rashtrapati Bhavan museum: It was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee in July 2014. This museum
provides public an inside view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan along with its art, architecture and lives of past presidents.
About Kailash Satyarthi
He is the eighth Nobel laureate to have been born in India. He is an adherent of Gandhian philosophy. He has upheld
Mahatma Gandhis practice of engaging and conducting peaceful protests against the exploitation of children for
financial gain. He is the founder of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement). Through his
NGO, he campaigns for protection of child rights and to abolish illegal human trafficking.
Indian diplomat Atul Khare named as UN Under

Secretary-General for Field Support
January 8,
Indian diplomat Atul Khare is named as UN Under Secretary-General for Field Support, Department of Field
Support (DFS). It was announced by Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon.
He will succeed Bangladeshs Ameerah Haq. This appointment makes him as one of the highest ranking Indian
officials in UN.
UN Department of Field Support (DFS)
This department provides dedicated support to peacekeeping field missions and political field missions around the
world.
It also provides support in the areas of finance, logistics, Information, communication and technology (ICT), human
resources and general administration to help missions promote peace and security.
His appointment to this position will bring strategic management and innovative reform expertise in both
headquarters and field perspective of UNs DFS.
About Atul Khare
He belongs to 1984 cadre of Indian Foreign Service (IFS).
Diplomat career: As Indian diplomat, he has served in Indian Missions in Paris, Dakar, Port Louis and London as
well as the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.
He is Former Director of The Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture), High Commission of India in London (20052006).
United Nations career: Previously, he was Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and
Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) at the level of Under Secretary-General
(2006-2009).
Earlier he also has worked as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the
United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).
He also has served as Assistant Secretary-General leading the Change Management Team (2011-2012) and Assistant
Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Deputy Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in
New York (2010-2011).
Pakistan enacts new law to create constitutional

military courts to try terrorists
January 8,
Pakistan government has enacted new law, to create constitutional military courts to try and punish terrorists.
This new law came into effect after it was signed by Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.
Earlier, Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and 21st Constitution Amendment Bill, 2015 was passed by
Pakistans National Assembly and the Senate.
Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2015 aims to set up Constitutionally protected military courts to try and punish
terrorists.
While, 21st Constitution Amendment Bill, 2015 provides constitutional cover for the establishment of military courts
in Pakistan.
Background
For past few years, Pakistan is struggling to come up with an adequate response to deal with the increasing menace of
militancy.
Pakistans ruling government was under pressure after Peshawar School attack that had killed around 150 people
including 132 children. So there was need of strict law to deal with the militants.
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Summary
The law will give a tough message to militants who often are wriggled out of ordinary courts. Thus it will help to
curb and eliminate militancy in Pakistan. Presently, Pakistan has already lifted moratorium on death penalty and
hanged seven convicted militants.
Dinesh Oraon elected as Speaker of Jharkhand

Assembly
January 8,
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Dinesh Oraon was unanimously elected as the Speaker of Jharkhand Legislative
Assembly.
It was announced by the Protem Speaker Stephen Marandi. His name for the post was proposed by the Chief Minister
Raghubar Das.
He is the 10th Speaker of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly since the state was granted statehood status after
bifurcating from Bihar on 15 November 2000.
About Dinesh Oraon
He is a member of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly from Sisai constituency of Gumla district. He has represented this
constituency twice, first time in 2000 and for second time in 2014. He has studied M A. and was lecturer in Ranchi
University.
ICICI Bank launches Indias first contactless credit

and debit cards
January 8,
Indias largest private sector bank Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank has
launched countrys first contactless debit and credit cards.
These cards will provide its customers to make electronic payments by waving the cards near the merchant terminal
instead of dipping or swiping.
Facts about ICICI Banks contactless cards
These cards are based on the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and powered by MasterCard
contactless and Visa payWave technologies.
It provide customers with the improved convenience of speed as these cards require significantly less time
than traditional cards to complete a transaction.
It also enhances security features for the customer.
Presently, bank has introduced these cards in cities like Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Mumbai. ICICI Bank also has
provided with over 1200 Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machines that are capable of accepting contactless payments
in these cities.
Amitabh Bachchan appointed as Brand Ambassador of

Andhra Pradesh health sector
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is appointed as the brand ambassador for health sector in Andhra Pradesh.
His name was announced by the Andhra Pradesh state Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas.
As a brand ambassador actor Amitabh Bachchan will participate in various health-related campaigns to be taken up
by the state government without taking any remuneration for the services.
Implication: It will help bifurcated state to boost and improve its health sector as it worst hit due to bifurcation. At
present, state does not have proper health sector facilities due major corporate hospitals and medical and health
institutions are located in then capital of undivided state Hyderabad (now capital of Telangana).
Some facts
It should be also noted that, actor Amitabh Bachchan is also brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism since 1 February
2010.
While in 2002, he was brand ambassador for the Polio Eradication Campaign.
Punjab bans sale of loose cigarettes and tobacco

Punjab has become first state in India, to completely ban the sale of loose cigarettes (even as single sticks) and loose
tobacco.
State government had banned the sale of loose cigarettes and tobacco under Section 7 of the Cigarettes and Other
Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA Act, 2003).
Section 7 of COTPA bans sale of these products if they are traded, supplied or distributed without specified warning
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including pictorial warning on it.
State government notification in this regard clearly mentions that loose cigarettes and tobacco products do not carry a
pictorial or a written warning so they are banned.
Earlier state government had banned sale of nicotine in the form of e-cigarette.
About COTPA Act, 2003
It was enacted by Parliament in 2003. It prohibits advertisement and regulates tobacco business in India.
This Act has put restriction on tobacco products which includes cigarettes, gutka, panmasala (containing tobacco),
cigar, cheroot, Beedi, Snuff, chewing tobacco, hookah, tooth powder containing tobacco.
BCCI announces Indias squad for the ICC Cricket

World Cup 2015
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
It was announced by the BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, after the meeting of the selection committee of BCCI.
Indian squad for the ICC CWC 2015
MS Dhoni (Captain & Wicket Keeper), Virat Kohli (Vice Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma,
Stuart Binny, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md.
Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.
ICC Cricket world cup 2015
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be the 11th edition and in total 49 matches will be played across 14 venues.
It will start on 14th February 2015 in Christchurch and co-host New Zealand team will play against Sri Lanka.
On the same day in Melbourne, Australia will play against England.
Tulsi Gabbard and Ami Bera take oath for their second
term
January 7, 2015
Tulsi Gabbard and Dr. Ami Bera have been sworn in for their second consecutive term in US House of
Representatives.
Both of them belong to Democratic Party. They were sworn in after the 114th session of the US Congress began.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is the first Hindu lawmaker in US to take her oath on Bhagavad-Gita. She was
administered the oath of office by re-elected Speaker of US House of Representatives John Boehner.
She is representing Hawaiis second congressional district since 2013. In 2013, she also had taken her oath on Gita.
While Dr. Ami Bera, is only serving Indian-American in the current Congress. He has been elected as co-chair of the
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans which is the largest country- specific caucus in the House of
Representatives.
He is representing, Californias 7th congressional district since 2013 and is third Indian-American elected to the
House of Representatives after Dalip Singh Thind and Bobby Jindal.
Some facts
In 114th session of the US Congress, Republicans have formally taken control of both chambers the House of
Representative and Senate for the first time since the 109th Congress (2005-2006).
Government gives nod to Neutrino project in Tamil

Nadu
January 7, 2015
Union cabinet meeting has approved setting up of India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project in Bodi West
Hills, Tamil Nadu. This cabinet meeting was headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Key facts about India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project
It is an underground project, jointly supported by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the
Department of Science and Technology (DST).
It will comprise a complex of caverns the main cavern, which will house detector which is 130 metres long,
26 metres wide and 30 metre high.
Along with main cavern, there will be two smaller caverns that will be used for setting up experiments for
neutrino double detector and dark matters.
This underground complex will be approached by a 2-kms long tunnel.
It will host experiments such as the neutrino-less double beta decay and the search for dark matter.
It also involves Inter-Institutional Centre for High Energy Physics (IICHEP) and Iron Calorimeter Detector
(ICAL).
Along with project, government has also approved the construction of a 50,000 tonne magnetised iron calorimeter
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detector (ICAL). It will study the properties of the neutrino, in particular the mass hierarchy among different types of
neutrino.
Neutrino
It is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with half-integer spin. It belongs to the
lepton family.
There are three types of neutrinos: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos.
President signs ordinance amending Citizenship Act,

1955
January 7, 2015
President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the ordinance that amends Citizenship Act, 1955.
Earlier, union government had promulgated this ordinance in order to merge Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes. Thus, providing life-long Indian visa facility to PIOs.
It was signed on the eve of the opening of the three-days meet of Indian diaspora i.e. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015
held in Gujarat.
Key amendments
Citizenship Act amendments will benefit PIO and will give them benefits like life-long visa and exemption
from appearing before the local police station on every visit etc.
It will also change the clause of parent Act which says that foreigners who marry Indians must continuously
stay in the country for a period of one year before they get an Indian citizenship. In this regards they will get
relief of 30 days in a year when they can travel outside the country.
The amendment also clears the way for relaxed visa norms for minor children of OCI cardholders.
PM releases commemorative coins to honour late

industrialist Jamsetji Tata
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released commemorative coins to honour Tata Group founder Jamsetji
Nusserwanji Tata.
PM released coins in the denomination of 100 and five rupee to mark Jamsetji Tatas 175th birth anniversary.
Thus, Jamsetji will be the first industrialist in India to be felicitated by the government in such a manner.
He was chosen by the government because he is a legendary figure and the government wants to encourage Indian
businesses through this initiative.
So far government has minted coins in honour of artists, freedom fighters, scientists, institutions and organisations.
Earlier, government had honoured Jamsetji twice by releasing his postal stamps one in 1958 and another in 1965.
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata
He was pioneer industrialist who had founded Tata Group- Indias biggest conglomerate company. He is regarded as
Father of Indian Industry.
He was born on 3 March 1839 in Navsari then part of the princely state of Baroda (Now in Gujarat).
His successors work led to achieve:
Tata Steel: formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO ) is Asias first and Indias
largest steel company. It is also worlds fifth largest steel company.
Indian Institute of Science (IISc): Located in Bengaluru, it is pre-eminent Indian institution for research and
education in Science and Engineering.
Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Company: later it was renamed Tata Power Company Limited, currently
Indias largest private electricity company.
It should be also noted that present Jamshedpur district in Jharkhand is named after him. Earlier it was known as
Sakchi.
Government launches subsidised 5 kg LPG Cylinder

scheme for BPL families
Field Code Changed
Central government has launched the sale of subsidised 5-kg LPG cylinders scheme for Below Poverty Line (BPL)
families and others.
It was launched by Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Bhubaneswar, Odhisa.
This scheme was launched as part of the oil companies Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to cover BPL
population in urban areas.
Under this pilot scheme, a BPL family would be provided with LPG connection. In this case customers not need to
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pay security deposit and cost of pressure regulator.
Government by launching this scheme is aiming to promote LPG as it a cleaner fuel which will help in creating better
and smoke less cooking environment and help in improvement of womens health.
Petroleum Minister also launched the sale of 5-kg cylinders under Free Trade LPG scheme in Bhubaneswar, Odhisa.
Free Trade LPG scheme: It will cater the LPG requirement of all sections of the society including the economically
weaker section, student, migrant labourers who do not have proof of address due to their short stay in a particular
place.
This scheme is aims at increasing the usage of LPG by providing customers with more affordable facilities.
PM launches National Programme for LED-based

Home and Street Lighting for energy conservation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched National Programme for LED-based Home and Street Lighting in
New Delhi for energy conservation by reducing energy consumption.
Along with this programme, PM launched scheme for Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulb distribution under the
Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) and a web-based system to enable consumers in Delhi to register
requests for procuring LED bulbs under DELP.
National Programme for LED-based Home and Street Lighting
It aims to install LED bulbs for domestic and street-lighting in 100 cities across India by March 2016.
Under this programme, LED bulbs will be distributed in a phased manner from March 2015 onwards.
The initiative is part of the Governments efforts to spread the message of energy efficiency in the country.
LED bulbs have a very long life, almost 50 times more than ordinary bulbs, and 8-10 times that of CFLs, and
therefore provide both energy and cost savings in the medium term.
It will help in saving of energy around 24 crore units every year.
Sutirtha Bhattacharya takes charge as Coal India

Limiteds full-time CMD
Sutirtha Bhattacharya has taken charge as full-time Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Coal India Limited
(CIL).
He is a 1985 batch IAS officer and for this post his name was cleared by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet after
it was recommended by the Public Enterprises Services Board (PESB).
Prior to this appointment, he was the CMD of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company.
Background
The post of full time CMD was vacant for past six months after then full-time CMD S Narsing Rao had resigned from
the post in May, 2014 to join Telangana government.
Till this vacant time, Additional Secretary Coal A K Dubey was given the additional charge as CMD of CIL from
June 26, 2014.
About Coal India Limited (CIL)
It is a state-controlled coal mining company. It is headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.
It is the largest coal producer company in the world and contributes around 81% of the coal production in India.
Union Government of India owns 90% of the shares in CIL and controls the operations of CIL through Ministry of
Coal.
In April 2011, CIL was conferred the Maharatna status by Government of India. It is Indias 5th most valuable
company in terms of market value.
Eminent Economist Arvind Panagariya appointed as

NITI Aayog vice-chairman
Eminent free-market economist Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as Vice-chairman of National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
NITI Aayog is established by government to function as both a think tank and a policy forum and replaces decades
year old Planning Commission.
As a vice chairman, he will play a pivotal role in coordinating economic strategy and hold position similar to cabinet
rank minister.
About Arvind Panagariya
He is an Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University. He holds a Ph.D.
degree in Economics from prestigious Princeton University.
He was an ex-Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
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He has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.
He has written around 10 books and the latest was India: The Emerging Giant published in 2008.
Other Appointments of NITI Aayog
Full-Time Members:
Bibek Debroy- Economist.
V.K. Saraswat- Former Secretary Defence R&D.
Ex-officio members:
Rajnath Singh- Union Home Minister.
Arun Jaitley- Union Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Minister.
Suresh Prabhu- Union Minister of Railways.
Radha Mohan Singh- Union Minister of Agriculture.
Special Invitees:
Nitin Gadkari- Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping.
Thawar Chand Gehlot-Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Smriti Zubin Irani- Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD).
International Hindi Conference 2015 will be hosted in

New Jersey
International Hindi Conference-2015 ( -2015) will be hosted by
New Jersey, United States in April 2015.
Theme of 2015 edition of this conference is Expanding World of Hindi: Possibilities and Challenges.
Key facts of International Hindi Conference 2015
This conference seeks to provide a platform for participants to get together and identify challenges and find
solutions for the advancement of the Hindi language in North America and the Caribbean region.
In this conference, Hindi scholars from various parts of the world, particularly from United States and India
will participate.
Participants are expected to discuss individual and organisational partnerships and leadership and field
capacity building and infrastructure building skills and topics.
In this case they are going to discuss topics such as material selection and development funding, professional
development of teachers, and volunteer management.
This conference will also hold sessions on topics such as, Hindi in higher education, expanding the use of
Hindi in businesses and commerce, Community support for Hindi, Current status of the teaching and learning
of Hindi etc.
Union Sports Ministry recommends Saina Nehwals

name for Padma Bhushan award
Union Sports Ministry has recommended badminton player Saina Nehwals name for Padma Bhushan award. As
per Sports ministry, recommending her name is a special case.
Earlier, she had expressed anger for not being nominated for this years award.
However, Sports ministry earlier did not nominate her citing reason that Badminton Association of India (BAI) did
not apply for Sainas name for award on time. Later on 3rd January 2015, BAI had acknowledged Sainas name to
Sports ministry paving way for her nomination.
About Saina Nehwal
She was born 17 March 1990 in Hisar, Haryana.
She is the first Indian to win Olympics medal in Badminton and had achieved this feat by winning the Bronze
medal at the London Olympics 2012.
She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships and was also the first Indian to win
a Super Series tournament, by winning Indonesia Open in 2009.
She also has won the China Open Super Series Premier-2014.
She is only Indian badminton player who attained a career best ranking of number 2 in December 2010 by
Badminton World Federation.
Awards: Government has awarded her with Arjuna Award (2009), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (20092010) and
Padma Shri (2010).
About Padma Bhushan award
It is the third highest civilian award in India, after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan. It was established on 2
January 1954 by President and is awarded to recognized person for their distinguished service of a high order to the
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nation, in any field
Every year it is announced on the occasion of Republic Day. It is conferred to recipient by the President at a function
held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Edward Brooke, first black elected US senator passes

away
Edward Brooke, the first elected black US senator passed away on 3rd January 2015. He was 95.
He belonged to USs Republican Party.
About Edward Brooke
He was elected to US Congress in 1966 by voters of Massachusetts State at a time of widespread racial unrest
in the country.
He was also the first African-American to hold the post of attorney general of any state in US. He was
attorney general Massachusetts State.
He had served as Congressmen in the US Senate till 1979 and was one of only nine African-Americans to do
so, including US President Barack Obama.
His name i.e. the Brooke amendment was given to US federal housing act, passed in 1969, which limited to 25
percent the amount of income a family must pay for rent in public housing.
He lost his bid for the third term to Congress in 1978. After this defeat he returned to private law practice.
In 2004, he was awarded US Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2009, he was also awarded Congressional
Gold Medal, the highest award Congress has to honor civilians.
National Flag designer Pingali Venkayya honoured

Freedom fighter and National Flag designer Pingali Venkayya was honoured by naming All India Radio(AIR)
Vijayawada (in Andhra Pradesh) building after him.
In this regard, Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs, M. Venkaiah Naidu unveiled the
statue of Pingali Venkaiah, in the premises of AIR Vijayawada.
On this occasion, minister also released a book on the biography of Pingali Venkayya, translated into Hindi by
Mr.Venna Vallabha Rao.
About Pingali Venkayya
He was born in Bhatlapenumarru, near Masulipatnam district in Andhra Pradesh.
In the National Conference of Indian National Congress (INC) held in Kakinada (in Andhra Pradesh) 1921, he
had suggested that India should have a flag of its own that impressed Mahatma Gandhi.
After Mahatma Gandis request, he had designed the flag which initially had saffron and green colours, but in
the course of time, modifications were made with additions like a spinning wheel at the centre and a third
colour- white, Chakra i.e Dharma Chakra which depicts the wheel of the law.
It should be noted that Indias present flag was adopted during the meeting of Constituent Assembly held on
the 22 July 1947, a few days before Indias independence from the British.
He was also an educationist who had set up an educational institution in Machilipatnam district of Andhra
Pradesh and was an authority in geology, agriculture.
He died in 1963.
CICI Bank Launches Digital Village Project in

Akodara Village of Gujarat
Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank has launched its own version of Digital
Village Project by adopting entire Akodara Village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat.
It was launched presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar to mark
60-year-celebration of the ICICI groups existence.
Key facts about ICICI Banks Digital Village Project
It is launched in lines with Governments flagship programme of Digital India.
It seeks to provide entire village with services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching.
As part of this project, banking platform at rural part will be digitized by covering all aspects of banking like
opening an account to sale of goods to purchase of products including milk from the vendors or local kirana
stores.
In case of school teaching, it will digitized all school records alongwith the Gujarat syllabus and even teaching
methods and tools.
It will also provide necessary infrastructure needed for digisiting entire village in order to provide villager
with the access required to data and information in a digital format.
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Besides basic banking facilities like ATMs and other digital banking services, other services like e-health, emilk
producer group, Wi-Fi connectivity and schools with digital black boards in the village, along with a host
of other digital facilities will be provided under this project.
About ICICI Bank
It was established in 1955 as ICICI Ltd.
Originally it was set up as an Indian financial institution as the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India
and representatives of Indian industry to provide project financing to Indian businesses.
Later in 1994, it got merged to form ICICI Bank.
UNICEF to prepare a Tea Atlas in Assam

United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has decided to prepare a Tea Atlas in Indias North Eastern State Assam.
This atlas seeks to create a comprehensive database of the tea gardens and socio-economic condition of its workers in
state.
Key facts
It will cover all aspects of the Tea industry, including garden workers who comprise nearly 20 percent of the
state population by mapping tea community database, graphs and maps.
It will also provide features like geographical locations of the gardens, proprietorship, various indicators like
implementation of Plantations Labour Act and government schemes meant for the tea community.
In this case, tea communities have been identified as the focus of UNICEF Assams Social Inclusion and
Equity Programming which addresses the issues like early marriage, alcoholism and child labour among them.
Andy Murray wins ATP World Tennis Championship

in Abu Dhabi
Andy Murray has won the ATP World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.
His win comes after world number one Novak Djokovic withdrew from the final match citing reason of illness.
In the Semi-finals, Andy Murray had defeated Rafael Nadal by score of 6-2, 6-0 in straight sets to enter in finals.
While, in another semi-final match Novak Djokovic had defeated Australian Open Champion Stanislas Wawarinka by
score of 6-1, 6-2.
RBI relaxes KYC norms for Non-Banking Financial

Companies (NBFCs)
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January 4, 2015No comments
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed Know-Your-Customers (KYC) norms for Non-Banking Financial
Companies (NBFCs).
In this regard, RBI has amended the KYC norms in order to remove the practical difficulties and constraints being
faced by NBFCs in getting KYC documents at frequent intervals.
Previously, as per the norms it was necessary for NBFCs to undertake KYC once in every 5 years for low risk
category customers and once in two years for both high and medium risk categories.
But as per new norms, full KYC exercise will be required to be done at least every 10 years for low risk and at least
every 8 years for medium risk individuals and entities.
While for the high-risk individuals and entities, it should be done in at least every 2 years.
This full KYC exercise will be done by taking into account whether and when client due diligence measures have
previously been undertaken and the adequacy of data obtained.
However, the new norm does not mention physical presence of clients for such periodic updations.
RBI signs an information sharing agreement with US

banking regulators
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January 3, 20151 Comment
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed an information sharing agreement with United States (US) banking regulators
for better coordination with them in supervising financial institutions.
Earlier in December 2014, RBI had concluded a Statement of Co-operation (SoC) on Supervisory Cooperation and
Exchange of Supervisory Information with the US banking regulators like Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System(FRB), Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC).
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SoC was signed by Michael S Gibson- Director, FRB; Martin Pfinsgraff, Senior Deputy Comptroller-OCC; Doreen R
Eberley, Director-FDIC and Indian counterpart P R Ravi Mohan, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of
Banking Supervision, RBI.
RBI by signing such MoU/SoC with supervisors of other countries is seeking to promote greater co-operation
and share supervisory information among the authorities.
In this regard, RBI in total has signed 22 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one SoC,
with overseas regulators/supervisors.
Background
In September 2014, during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the US, both countries had issued a joint
statement to boost the efforts of the RBI and American banking regulators and supervisors for exchange of
information to enhance the effectiveness of cross border supervision.
Union Government extends AFSPA for another one

year in Assam
Union Government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 for another one year in Assam and
has declared the entire state of Assam as a Disturbed Area.
As per government notification, this extension will for another one year beyond 03 November 2014 which is presently
in force.
Besides Assam, government has declared the area falling within 20 km wide belt along the border of Assam with
Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya as Disturbed Area.
In these disturbed areas, Army is empowered to take action for counter Insurgency (CI) operations against the
underground (UG) outfits under the provisions of AF (SP) Act, 1958.
Thus it seeks to control the violent incidents caused by the UGs which has direct disturbances to general law and
order of the state.
Background
This extension comes after the law and order situation had worsen in the North eastern state of Assam and its border
areas due to the violent incidents caused by the underground banned outfits like ULFA(I), NDFB(S), KPLT, UALA,
NSCN(IM) and NSCN(K) etc.
Facts about Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
It was enacted by Parliament on September 11, 1958.
It conferred special powers upon the armed forces in disturbed areas in the states of Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. The act was introduced in Jammu and
Kashmir in 1990.
AFSPA was enacted to provide army officers and jawans legal immunity for their actions in disturbed areas.
Under this act, a member of the Indian armed forces cannot be prosecuted or tried in any criminal or civil
court for any act committed by him or her while performing duty in a disturbed area. Moreover, no court or
quasi-judicial body can question the governments decision to declare any area disturbed.
The provisions of AFSPA are very objectionable as it requires the following:
All that is necessary for a part of the State to be handed over to the armed forces is for the Governor or the
Central Government to notify it to be in a disturbed and dangerous condition.
Even a non-commissioned officer of the armed forces is free, on the mere suspicion of violation of the law or
commission of an offence, to fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any
person.
He can also without any warrant, arrest any person and enter and search any premises.
No prosecution of anyone indulging in excesses purporting to act under AFSPA is possible except with the
previous sanction of the Government.
PM inaugurates 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015

at Mumbai University
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Indian Science Congress 2015 at the Mumbai University. It is
the 102nd edition of this congress and Mumbai is hosting it again after the gap of 45 years.
The theme of 102nd Congress is Science and Technology for Human Development.
The Congress sessions aims to bring together eminent scientists, research scholars to popularize science and foster a
scientific temperament.
Key facts
It is 5 day event and will witness deliberations and presentation of papers by the scientific fraternity from
across the globe. More than 12 thousand delegates are going to participate in the session.
In this congress several symposia on relevant themes such as Womens Science Congress, Children Science
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Congress and Science Exhibition etc will be also organized.
This edition will cover a wide variety of topics like: Agriculture and forestry, veterinary science, earth science,
environment, engineering, information & communication, computer sciences, mathematics, medicine, biology,
physics and plant sciences among others.
Other themes of interest include science & technology in SAARC countries, biodiversity conservation, space
application, GM crops and the use of modern biotechnology in agriculture, clean energy systems for the
future.
Boxing India (BI) gets nod from Union Sports Ministry

Union Sports Ministry has given nod to Boxing India (BI) as the new governing body for the sport.
In this regard, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (Department of Sports) Government of India has given the nod as
it is a recognised member of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
It will help BI to expedite the administrative formalities and streamlining the overall functioning and activities
boxing.
Boxing India President: Sandeep Jajodia
Indian company IRCON restores JaffnaKankasanthurai rail track in Sri Lanka

Indian Railways construction company (IRCON) has restored the rail track between Jaffna and Kankasanthurai
in North Sri Lanka.
This restored commercial Yal Devi Express service was formally inaugurated by Sri Lankas Transport Minister
Kumara Welgama.
This 18 kilometer track passes through the high security zone which was freed from the control of Tamil tigers in
2009.
Background
The entire rail line between Colombo and the Northern part of Sri Lanka was destroyed in the late 1980s by the
LTTE.
Indias IRCON is playing important role in rebuilding the 252 km railway track on this route. Indian government had
provided a line of credit of 800 million dollars for these projects. In 2014, the line upto Jaffna was made operational
after it was restored.
Facts about Indian Railways construction company (IRCON)
It was established in 1976 by Union Government under the Companies Act, 1956. It is wholly owned by
the Ministry of Railways. In 1995, it was renamed as IRCON International Limited.
Since its establishment, this company had undertaken construction of railway projects in India and abroad
especially in difficult terrains.
It has completed more than 300 major infrastructure projects in India and over 121 major projects globally in
more than 21 countries.
Indian-origin man J Y Pillay reappointed as top

advisor to Singapore President
Veteran Indian-origin civil servant Joseph Yubaraj Manuel Pillay was reappointed as the Chairman of the
Presidential Council of Advisers (CPA) by Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam.
He was sworn in as top advisor to Singapores President for a period of next four years.
As Chairman of the CPA, he will exercise the functions of the Presidents office in the absence of President. If he is
unavailable, the Speaker of Parliament would act as the head of state.
Presidential Council of Advisers (CPA): This council was formed in 1992. It advises Singapores President in
various areas, including safeguarding the past reserves of the Government and key appointments in the public
services.
About J Y Pillay
He has served in a number of senior civil service positions in Singapore. He was first appointed to the CPA on
January 2, 2001 and served its Chairman since September 2, 2005.
He is one of the pioneers who helped build the Singapore economy after its separation from Malaysia in 1965.
He also had served as Chairman of Singapore Airlines from 1972 until 1976.
In 2012, for his public service, Pillay was awarded the Order of Nila Utama (First Class) award- one of
Singapores most prestigious National Day Awards.
Former ISRO chief and Renowned Scientist Dr V R

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Gowarikar passes away

Former ISRO chief and renowned Scientist Dr. Vasant Ranchod Gowarikar passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He
was 81.
He is considered as the Father of the Indian Monsoon Model.
About Dr. Vasant Gowarikar
Dr. Vasant Gowarikar was born in Pune on 25th March, 1933.
He was renowned scientist and his significant contribution includes in field of space research, weather and
population study and Polymer Chemistry.
In 1965, Dr Gowarikar along with Vikram Sarabhai started working on satellite technology in the Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research. Both of them played important role in laying foundation stone for Indias
space technology and space programmes.
He also headed Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). On 17th April 1983, under his leadership
Satellite launcher SLV-3 became successfully operational in orbit.
He was the scientific advisor to late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao from 1991 to 1993. For some time,
he was Vice Chancellor of Pune University.
He was also chairman of Marathi Vidnyan Parishad from 1994 to 2000.
Books: Many books and scientific essays are credited to his name. His book I Predict, an essay on the
Indian population, has become famous.
Awards: He was honoured with the Padmashree Award, Padma Bhushan (2008), Fie Foundation Award,
Nayak Gold Medal and Doctorates from many prestigious universities.
The Fertilizer Encyclopedia: Dr. Gowarikar, along with his associates in 2008 had compiled the massive
The Fertilizer Encyclopedia that featured 4,500 entries of chemical composition of fertilizers. It contains
collection of information related to fertilizers consisting of their manufacturing, application and environmental
considerations.
Current Affairs January 2015

IAS officer R K Srivastava takes charges as AAI
Chairman
IAS officer R K Srivastava took over as the new chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Earlier in December, Srivastava was appointed as chairman of AAI by the government for 5 years.
He is a 1984-batch Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer and has replaced Sudheer Raheja who was charge of the post since
late August 2014.
Airports Authority of India (AAI)
AAI is statutory body under the aegis of Ministry of Civil Aviation. It is responsible for creating, upgrading,
maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India.
It also provides Air traffic management (ATM) services over Indian airspace and adjoining oceanic areas.
AAI manages around 125 airports in India, which include 18 International Airport, 07 Customs Airports, 78 Domestic
Airports and 26 Civil Enclaves at Defense airfields.
Greece dissolves parliament ahead of snap elections

Greeces Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has dissolved the countrys parliament ahead of snap elections to be held
on 25 January.
Dissolution of Parliament comes after it failed to elect the President in the third and final round of voting.
In the third and final round for electing President, ruling governments candidate Stavros Dimas (former European
Commissioner) was defeated by 180 votes, resulting in dissolution of the Parliament.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras ruling coalition government had came into power in 2012 after the General
Elections.
In 2012 General elections, Prime Minister Samaras-led New Democratic Party had won the elections and formed the
government.
Central Government appoints A.K. Mittal as

Chairman of Railway Board
January 2, 2015No
Central Government has appointed A.K. Mittal as Chairman of Railway Board. His name was cleared by the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister.
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He will succeed incumbent chief Arunendra Kumar whose term had ended on 31st December 2014.
About A.K. Mittal
He is an officer of the Indian Railway Stores Service of the 1976 batch. He has become first-ever officer from
the Stores service to be Chairman of Railway Board.
Before this appointment A.K. Mittal was Member Staff of Railway Board and ex-officio Secretary to the
Government of India.
He has also served as General Manager of South Western Railway (SWR). He also had held additional charge
of General Manager, South Central Railway (SCR).
Gujarat government announces new industrial policy

for 2015
January 2, 2015
Gujarat government has announced its new industrial policy for 2015. It was announced by Gujarat Chief Minister
Anandiben Patel ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit which begins from January 11, 2015.
This industrial policy aims to make state a global manufacturing hub by playing a pivotal role in realising Prime
Minister Narendra Modis Make in India dream.
Key facts of Gujarat Governments industrial policy for 2015
This policy will focus on key areas like infrastructure development, simplification of labour laws and
motivation of new innovations through technology transfer.
It seeks to cater and provide opportunities to around 60 per cent of Gujarats population which is between the
age group of 15 years and 59 years.
It aims to create a business friendly environment and motivate start-ups through this new policy. It will
prepare these people to start their own businesses instead of merely looking for job opportunities.
Besides, it will also give special focus on incentives for youth, women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and
handicapped entrepreneurs.
It will also provide assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector for upgrading
technology.
It focuses to reduce pollution by promoting use of clean and green energy as well as setting up zero-effluent
discharge plants.
This policy seeks to boost value addition in these existing resources, which will create new jobs and reduce
imports as industries like auto components, engineering, drugs, cement and chemicals already have flourished
in state.
Special incentives will be given to set up new businesses in sectors like garments, apparel, agro and food
processing.
French Economist Thomas Piketty turns down

Frances top award
January 2, 2015
French economist Thomas Piketty has turned down Frances top award, the Legion DHonneur.
He is the bestselling author of book Capital in the 21st Century which examines income inequality in society.
Earlier in 2014, cartoonist Jacques Tardi had turned down this award. Others who have refused this award include
philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and radiology pioneers Pierre and Marie Curie.
Officier de la Legion dHonneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour) is the highest award among Civilians and
Military conferred by France upon French citizen as well as foreigners.
Some facts: Indian luminaries who have been decorated with France highest honor are Satyajit Ray, Lata
Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan.
Former MoS for External Affairs Kamala Sinha passes

away
January 1, 2015
Former Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kamala Sinha passed away in Syracuse, New York in US. She
was 82.
About Kamala Sinha
She was born in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh) on 30 September 1932. She is grandniece of Jan Sangh founder
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.
She was married to freedom fighter and Bihar minister Late Basawan Singh, a native of Vaishali district,
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Bihar. She was initiated into politics by her husband.
She was twice elected a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1972 to 1984 and also had served as the Indian
Ambassador to Suriname and Barbados.
For several times, she was elected as the national President of Hind Mazdoor Sabha of the socialists. During
the socialist movement of led by Jaya Prakash Narayan in 1974, she was imprisoned under Maintenance of
Internal Security Act (MISA).
She was a member of former Prime Minister I K Gujrals cabinet from 1997-98.
Delhi Police launches women safety mobile app

Himmat
January 1, 2015
Delhi police has launched women safety mobile application Himmat. It was launched by the Union home minister
Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
It is an android based mobile app, which aims to cater employed women who have smartphones and travel alone late
in the night.
This application will allow women to send a distress call to Police Control Room (PCR) and their relatives in case of
any emergency.
Key facts of women safety mobile app Himmat
In case to use this app, user has to download this app on their smartphone.
After downloading the app, new user has to register them with the Delhi Police website by sharing their name,
mobile number and that of a minimum of two relatives/friends.
In case of emergency, user can send an alert by shaking her phone or by pressing the power button/soft button.
As soon as the distress button is pressed, it will trigger a 30-second audio and video recording on the phone
which will be relayed to the PCR. The victim will get a call back from the PCR.
After distress button is pressed, SMS alert consisting of all the details of the victim, including her location,
time will be forwarded to the PCR. Then from PCR, SMS alert it will be forwarded to the police patrol cars in
the area and the local station house officer (SHO) through the Delhi Police cyber highway.
In case of emergency, SMS alert will also be sent to minimum of 5 friends and relatives of the user. It will also
post a status on the victims Facebook and Twitter accounts.
In order to tackle false SOS alerts/ alarms the app is provided with inbuilt feature which cancels the
registration after 3 such (False SOS alerts) incidents. But, the user can re-register to re-activate the facility.
India and Pakistan exchange list of nuclear facilities

January 1, 2015
India and Pakistan on 1st January 2015 have exchanged the list of their nuclear installations and facilities under the
agreement on Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between India and Pakistan.
The exchange of list was done through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad.
It is the 24th consecutive exchange of such list between the two neighbouring countries which bars them from
attacking each others atomic facilities.
Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between India and Pakistan
This bilateral agreement bars both nations from carrying out any surprise attack (or to assist foreign power to attack)
on each others nuclear installations and facilities.
It was signed on 31st December 1988 and entered into force on 27 January 1991. It was signed by then Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his Pakistani counterpart Benazir Bhutto.
Both countries inform each other about their nuclear installations and facilities that need to be covered under the
Agreement on 1 January every year.
Union Government renames Planning Commission as

Neeti Ayog
January 1, 2015
Union government has renamed Planning commission as National Institution for Transforming India (NITI)
Aayog.
The renaming of the Planning Commission is being seen as the first step towards replacing it with a new-age
institution.
Key Facts about National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog
It will serve as a Think Tank of the government i.e. a directional and policy dynamo.
It will also provide governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice
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across the spectrum of key elements of policy formulation.
This includes matters of national and international import on the economic front, dissemination of best
practices from within the country as well as from other nations, the infusion of new policy ideas and specific
issue-based support
It will work towards the following objectives
Evolve a shared vision of national development priorities
Foster cooperative federalism
Develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level
Focus on technology upgradation, among other things.
Composition
Chairperson- Prime Minister.
Governing Council- It will consist of- Chief Ministers (of States) and Lt. Governors (of Union Territories).
Regional Council- It will be formed on need basis. It will compromise Chief Ministers (of States) and Lt.
Governors (of Union Territories).
Vice-Chairperson- To be appointed by the Prime Minister.
Members- Full time Basis.
Part time members- Maximum of 2. They will from leading universities research organizations and other
relevant institutions on a rotational basis.
Ex Officio members- Maximum of 4 members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the
Prime Minister.
Special invitees- They will be nominated by the Prime Minister and will be experts, specialists and
practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees.
Chief Executive Officer- Appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the
Government of India.
Secretariat- If deemed necessary.
Background
Governments decision comes after the Prime Minister Narendra Modis 2014 Independence Day announcement that
the Planning Commission would be replaced with a new-age institution.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th December 2014 had held consultation meeting with Chief Ministers of
states, where most CMs had favoured restructuring of the Socialist-era planning body. However, some Congress
Chief Ministers opposed disbanding of the existing set-up.
Tropical storm Jangmi hits Philippines

January 1, 2015
Tropical storm Jangmi has hit Surigao del Sur province on northern Mindanao in Philippines. This tropical storm is
locally is known as Seniang.
This storm had approached the land with gusts wind of 100 kph resulting heavy rain. This heavy rain has triggered
flash floods and landslides in the country.
Jangmi storm has also affected several parts of neighbouring countries of Philippines like Malaysia and Thailand.
In 2014, in total 30 storms had occurred in the Northwest Pacific, 16 of them have affected the Philippines. Among 16
storms, 6 were strong enough to be classified as typhoons. Earlier in December 2014, Super Typhoon Hagupit had
lashed central parts of Philippines with winds of 215 kph.
Union government blocks 32 websites for spreading

anti-India views and ISIS propaganda
January 1, 2015
Union government has blocked access to 32 websites for carrying anti-India views and spreading banned terrorist
outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syrias (ISIS) propaganda. These websites were blocked after following an advisory
given by an anti-terrorism team.
The blocked uniform resource locators(URLs) include files, videos and source code-sharing websites.
They were blocked by Department of Telecom(DoT) under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and
under Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules,
2009.
These rules give powers to the central government to block access to information on websites if it threatens the
interest of the sovereignty and integrity of the country, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with
foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence.
Government signs $ 75 million loan deal with Asian

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Development Bank for KIUWMIP

January 1, 2015
Government has signed a loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 75 million dollars and 1.8 million
dollar grant for Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program (KIUWMIP).
This loan fund will be used in the three towns of Byadagi, Davanagere and Harihar of Karnataka under the
KIUWMIP.
This loan seeks to expand and upgrade: urban water supply and sanitation infrastructure, improve water resource
planning, monitoring and service delivery, and strengthen operational and administrative capacity in these towns.
As per this agreement, the loan has a 25 year term including a grace period of five years.
Implications: This project by utilizing the loan fund will help these urban towns to increase water treatment capacity
by 15,000 cubic meters per day. It will also help expand and upgrade more than 1,000 kilometers of water pipelines
and increase sewage treatment capacity by 48,000 cubic meters per day, thereby promoting water efficiency and
environmental protection.
About Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program (KIUWMIP)
KIUWMIP- is an investment program that aims to improve water resource management in urban areas of
Karnataka State in a holistic and sustainable.
It seeks to modernize and expand urban water supply and sanitation (UWSS) by strengthening relevant
institutions related to it in order to enhance their efficiency, productivity and sustainability in water use.
It takes help of innovative social instruments like as public-private partnership (PPP) or reform oriented
incentive funds.
This Program also aims to improve the condition of more fragile environments located in North Karnataka that
are increasingly affected by water resource degradation by promoting climate-resilient development, capacitydevelopment
techniques for conducive adaptation.
Government splits Chairman & MD post in PSU banks

and names chiefs for 4 PSU banks
January 1, 2015
Government has decided to separate the post of Chairman and Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) in public sector banks.
With this decision government is breaking the tradition of having the heads of state-run banks act as both chairman
and managing director.
As per the Finance Ministry, the Chairman in public sector banks other than State Bank of India (SBI) will be a parttime
board member. He will preside over the board meetings and will not be an Executive Chairman.
This means that for the first time, PSU banks will have a non-Executive Chairman, giving operational responsibility
to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
In pursuance of the decision, the government has appointed four Managing Directors and CEOs of following 4 PSU
banks
Koteeswaran was named as MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank.
Srinivas was named as MD and CEO of United Bank of India.
Animesh Chauhan was named MD and CEO of Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Kishore Sansi was named MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank.
Above 4 MDs and CEOs will have tenure of 3 years or till the date of superannuation, whichever is earlier. These
appointments were made based on the recommendations of Appointments Board chaired by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) Governor.
Government also has decided to go for a fresh selection procedure for the post of Chairman and MD and CEO in
Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank, which are A category large banks.
Microsoft sues Indian firm C-Cubed Solutions for

technical support scam
January 1, 2015
Microsoft has sued an Indian company C-Cubed Solutions along with other entities for misusing its name and
registered trademarks by providing fraudulent technical support services to unsuspecting consumers.
In this regard, Microsofts Digital Crimes Unit has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court located in the Central District
of California against C-Cubed Solutions for unfair and deceptive business practices and trademark infringement.
As per the lawsuit, C-Cubed Solutions along with other entities had used the Microsoft trademarks to enhance their
credentials and confuse customers without any authorisation from them. Microsoft is demanding a jury trial against
these entities.
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Microsoft is also seeking from jury a permanent injunction to restrain and enjoin these entities for the infringement of
their registered trademarks and directly or indirectly engaging in false advertising regarding the quality or security of
Microsoft software.
It should be noted that, law suit has mentioned C-Cubed as a private company associated under Indian law. Its
directors include Marc Haberman, Rachel Eilat Haberman and Jay Wurzberger. It is a subsidiary of California-based
Customer Focus Services (CFS) and operates the mail server by which CFS.
Microsoft has chosen to sue these entities after they had received more 65,000 customer complaints regarding
fraudulent tech support scams since May 2014.
M Sathiyavathy becomes first woman to be appointed

as Director General DGCA
January 1, 2015
IAS officer M Sathiyavathy has become first woman to be appointed as Director General (DG) of Directorate
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
She will succeed Prabhat Kumar, to become first woman to become the chief aviation regulator for period of three
years till 2017.
She is a 1982-batch UT cadre IAS officer. Earlier she has served in the Civil Aviation Ministry as a Joint
Secretary and Financial Adviser since February 2014.
About Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
DGCA is Indias regulatory body for civil aviation. It comes under the aegis of Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.
As a regulatory body, it seeks to promote
Safe and efficient Air Transportation through regulation and proactive safety oversight system in India.
Enforce civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards in India as per International standards.
13th Pune International Film Festival(PIFF) will begin

on Jan 8 with theme War against War
December 31, 2014
The 13th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) will be held at Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra from
January 8 to 15. This edition of film festival will focus on the theme War against War.
It is jointly organised by the Maharashtra State Government and Pune Film Foundation. In this edition of festival
around 350 will screened with of more than 200 films from 75 countries.
In this festival, films will be screened in 13 sections which include world competition, Marathi competition,
international student competition, MTDC short film competition, country focus, retrospective, Indian Cinema, tribute,
kaleidoscope, Films and documentaries from Films Division, global cinema, films restored by National Film
Development Corporation, war against war and present Marathi Cinema.
Tamu Lhochhar festival being observed in Nepal on

30th December
December 30, 2014
Tamu Lhochhar festival is being observed on 30th December with gaiety and full fervor in Nepal which marks new
year among different communities.
It is the biggest cultural festival of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism and generally being observed by the Gurungs at
different places in Nepal including in the Kathmandu Valley.
The people of Tamang, Sherpa, Gurung, Magar, Thakali, Jirel, Nesyangwa, Bhote, Dura and Lepcha communities
and others celebrates this festival.
The Gurung community mark this festival as Tamu Lhochhar while the Tamangs and other communities celebrate it
as Sonam Lhochhar on the first day of waxing moon in the Nepali month Magh. While Sherpas and Bhotes celebrate
it as Gyalpo Lhochhar.
On this day, the junior members of the community and family receive blessings from seniors and greet each other
wishing for good health, happiness and prosperity.
People of these communities who are living and working abroad also celebrate this festival with exchanging New
Year greetings and joy.
Kerala Government lays foundation stone for Global

Artists Village
December 30, 2014
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Kerala government has laid foundation stone for the first government-run Kalagramam i.e Global Artist village in
the country at Kakkananpara in Kannur district of Kerala.
The foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Key facts of Global Artists Village
Global Artists Village i.e. Kalagramam is a project planned by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi.
This planned facility will provide artists from different parts of the country and abroad to stay and work in the
place surrounded by swathes of scenic beauty.
The art village project will be implemented in phases and the first phase of the project will be completed in
four months.
The art village project envisages construction of four living rooms, mess house, conference hall and other
amenities in the first phase of the project. It will provide accommodation facilities for the artists visiting there.
It is being developed on a 3.5-acre plot. State government has allocated Rs.75 lakh for the project and further
going to extend it to Rs.3 crore.
Central Government to launch scheme for

conservation of heritage and development of 12 cities
December 22, 2014
Central government is planning to launch scheme for conservation of heritage and development of 12 cities across the
country. It was announced by Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
For this scheme government had allocated Rs. 500 crore in the Union Budget 2014 and it will be rolled out in January
2015.
Under this scheme, 12 cities will be covered under the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation
Yojana (HRIDAY).
The 12 cities are: Amritsar, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Ajmer, Mathura, Dwarka, Badami, Velankanni, Kanchipuram,
Warangal and Amaravati.
From Andhra Pradesh and Telangana towns selected are Amaravati from Guntur district and Warangal which have
rich heritage and culture.
Warangal: It was the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty.
Amaravati: It is situated on the banks of river Krishna and was the capital of Satavahanas in the 2nd Century. It is
also a major Buddhist centre.
About Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)
It aims to bring urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation together for heritage cities.
It also seeks beautification in an inclusive and integrated manner with focus on cleanliness, livelihoods, skills,
safety, security, accessibility and faster service delivery of heritage cities.
Heritage management plan (HMP) will be prepared for the identified cities which will outline heritage
resources and develop policies to guide their conservation, restoration, future use and development.
It will seek to improve last-mile connectivity heritage sites by documentation, conservation of areas, providing
more facilities for women, senior citizens and differently abled citizens.
Thus it will help to create improved connectivity platform and access to tourists.
Losar festival beings in Ladakh

December 22, 2014
The festival of Losar has begun in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. 10 day long festival began with
illumination of religious and residential places.
This festival marks the beginning of New Year in Ladakh and it is an important social and religious celebration in
Ladakh. Losar is Tibetan word for new year.
Traditional Celebrations of festival:
Following tradition, people from Ladakh visit graveyards of ancestor family members and pray for peace for
the departed soul.
Special food items during the festival are prepared to mark the occasion. People visit each other for exchange
of Losar greetings.
In India, Losar is also celebrated by Yolmo, Sherpa, Tamang, Gurung, and Bhutia communities residing in different
regions in the country.
5th edition of Gyanodaya Express sets off for NorthEast

December 19, 2014
Delhi Universitys fifth edition of Gyanodaya Express has set off for North-East with 870 students and teachers
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aboard.
Dharohar-Gyanodaya Express was flagged off from Safdarjang Railway Station by Union Minister of State for
Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and Sarbanda Sonowal, MoS Youth Affairs and Sports.
The educational trip started from December 18 and will end on December 29. It aims to enrich students about the
culture and heritage of the North east region and will cover all eight northeastern states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
Besides learning about the culture and heritage of the northeastern states, students as part of trip will also meet
representatives of local universities as well as senior functionaries of the North eastern states during the trip.
As a part preparation for the heritage tour, DU earlier had offered foundation courses in Nepali and Bengali, which
are widely spoken in Sikkim and Tripura.
After the trip, Delhi University is planning to publish a book, Dharohar: The glory of the Northeast on the
experiences of the students on the journey as well as the projects churned out by them.
Gyanodaya Express: It was started by Delhi University in 2012 as the College-on-Wheels project.
Government initiates scheme to protect Endangered

Languages of India
December 18, 2014
Union Government has initiated a Scheme known as Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of
India.
It was announced by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani in a written reply to the
Lok Sabha question.
Key facts of the scheme
As part of this Scheme, all the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 people will be
considered as They will be protected, preserved and documented by the Central Institute of Indian Languages
(CIIL), Mysore.
Technology will play key role in the preservation of endangered languages and it will be an integral part of it.
Dictionaries and basic grammars in all the endangered languages/mother tongues are prepared in digital
format. In addition, talking dictionaries in the endangered languages/mother tongues will be prepared with the
help of technology.
The cultural and ethno-linguistic aspects of the languages/mother tongues and indigenous knowledge system
of the communities will be video-graphed and stored electronically for archival and retrieval purposes.
A digital map with linguistic/cultural words with actual pronunciation for accounting variation in speech is
also part of the scheme.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also prepares guidelines in order to provide assistance for
establishment of Centre of Endangered Languages in Central Universities.
In this regard, UGC has accorded approval to 9 Central Universities to establish these centres and allocated Rs.50.00
crore.
PM inaugurates Nagalands Hornbill festival

December 2, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Hornbill festival of Nagaland. PM Modi by wearing a traditional Naga
headgear and by beating the traditional Naga gong three times declared the festival open at the picturesque heritage
village of Kisama, Kohima.
About Hornbill festival of Nagaland
Hornbill (name of a bird) Festival is celebrated in Nagaland every year in the first week of December. This festival is
10-day tourism promotional extravaganza which showcases rich culture of Naga tribes which includes shows of
music and dance.
It was established on 1st December 1963 and was inaugurated by the then President Dr. S Radhakrishnan. The festival
is organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about
12 km from Kohima the state capital. Notably, it is also supported by the Centre as one of the biggest indigenous
festivals of the country.
The Hornbill Festival provides a colourful mixture of dances, performances, crafts, parades, games, sports, food fairs
and religious ceremonies. The festival both exposes the culture and tradition of tribal peoples, and reinforces
Nagalands identity as a unique state in Indias federal union.
Martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur observed on 24

November
70
November 24, 2014
Martyrdom Day of 9th Sikh guru, Guru Teg Bahadur was being observed on 24th November 2014. It was on this day
in 1675, Guru Teg Bahadur had sacrificed his life in Chandni Chowk, Delhi on the orders of the sixth Mughal
Emperor Aurangzeb.
Events organised to observe Martyrdom Day of Guru Teg Bahadur
In Punjab, main religious congregations were being organised at Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district where
Gurus head was cremated and in the Gurudwaras which are related to the memory of Guru.
Community kitchens have been set up at many places. Devotees visited the Gurudwaras since morning and
continuous gurbani recitation took place.
A special journey known as Rin Uttar Yatra to pay gratitude to great guru has started from Anandpur Sahib,
Rupnagar district, Punjab on 23rd November 2014 and it will conclude at Gurudwara Sis Ganj Delhi.
Seminars were organized at many places in Punjab and Haryana by the Sikh scholars to apprise younger
generation about gurus sacrifice.
About Guru Tegh Bahadur
Guru Teg Bahadur is also known as Hind Di Chadder- Protector of India. He had sacrificed his life for the unity of
the society of that period and to stop religious tyranny under the rule of sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. He
became the 9th Guru of Sikhs on 16 April 1664, a position earlier occupied by his grand-nephew, Guru Har Krishan.
He had travelled in different parts of the country, including Dhaka and Assam, to preach the teachings of Guru Nanak,
the first Sikh guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for
resisting the forced conversions of Hindus in Kashmir.
Chhatpuja Celebrated
October 29, 2014
Chhatpuja is an ancient festival celebrated by Hindus and Jains alike. It is believed to be the only Vedic
Festival dedicated to the Hindu Sun God, Surya, and Chhathi Maiya, a Vedic Goddess. The Chhat Puja is performed
to thank the Sun God for sustaining life and providing energy. The worshippers request the Sun God for prosperity
and progress. People also invoke Chhathi Maiya, also known as Usha in the Vedas. She is believed to be the consort
or wife of the Sun God. People pray to her asking for salvation.
Celebrations
Worshippers pray to the Gods, perform religious rituals and make offerings to the Gods. It is also customary to
undergo a fast and bathe in the Ganges. All the rituals are observed over a span of four days. The Chhat Puja rituals
find mention in the Mahabharata.
The festival is observed most diligently in Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern UP and the Terai regions of Nepal. The day of
Chhath Puja is a public holiday in Delhi.
Apple Festival begins in Himachal Pradesh

September 26, 2014
The Himachal Pradesh State Tourism Department has launched an Apple Festival to showcase and promote locally
produced apples and apple made products among tourist. The Tourism Departments also plans to take the tourists to
the apple orchards itself so that they may have a more hands-on experience of the plucking, packaging and marketing
processes involved. The department also conducted a competition for farmers growing exotic varieties of apples.
Various local hotels and food chains have also set up stalls selling apple based products.
Apart from being an impetus to tourism, the festival is also expected to promote the horticulture industry in the state.
The horticulture industry is a major source of revenue for the state, with apple being the most important horticultural
crop.

January 2015 Current Affairs

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