WBCS Current Affairs 16/01/2015 to 30/01/2015

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1.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.

2.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 semi-autonomous body.
He was first chairman of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council after winning the first council elections and was its chairman from 1988 to 2008.

3.Eminent singer, composer, lyricist and actor Shekhar Sen has been appointed as the chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA).

4.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 Women’s World Cup from 4 to 27 August and 2019 ICC World Cup from 30 May to 15 July 2019.
2018 Women’s World Twenty20 will be organised in the West Indies between November 2 and 25.

5.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.

6.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 India’s 5th most valuable company in terms of market value.

7.On 28 January 2015, nation paid tributes to national martyr of freedom movement, Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th birth anniversary.

8.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.
Apple’s 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 Apple’s 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.
Apple’s 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.

9.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 Hike’s 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.

10.Supreme Court (SC) has directed search engines like Google India, Yahoo and Micrsoft’s 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 Pre-Natal 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.

11.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 India’s nuclear deal with the US in 2009.
Before this appointment, he was India’s Ambassador to United States and was appointed in September 2013.
Previously he had served as India’s Ambassador to the People’s 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.

12.Sri Lanka’s 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, country’s 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.

13.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.

14.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 astronomer’s after analyzing data from NASA’s 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 Way.

15.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 government’s 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.

16.Maharashtra government has announced that, September 17 (on Vishwakarma Jayanti) will be observed as Industries Day in each district.

17.India has challenged a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel’s ruling that challenges country’s 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 panel’s ruling in October 2014 in this regard had said that India’s measures are arbitrarily and unjustifiably discrimination on international trade and constitutes a disguised restriction on it.
US Stance: US also had contended that India’s Avian Influenza measures amounted to an import prohibition was not based on the relevant international standard or on a scientific risk assessment.
India’s 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 India’s poultry business?
US is one of the world’s largest exporters of chicken meat. It is looking India as one of its potential markets poultry exports.
While, in past few years India’s broiler meat consumption has increased and has touched to 3.72 million tonnes in 2014 from 3.45 million tonnes in 2013.

18.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.

19.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information with Brazil’s 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.

20.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.

21.Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed K Durga Prasad as the special director general (DG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

22.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 India’s military might and cultural diversity. This year’s 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 India’s latest military arsenal was displayed in this year’s parade. However, Nuclear-capable Agni missiles- a highlight for the past several years was not displayed this year.

23.Church of England has consecrated Reverend Libby Lane as its first female bishop in a ceremony held at York 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.

24.Famous Greek singer Demis Roussos passed away in Athens, Greek. He was 68.

25.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.

26.For the first time in the history of India’s 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 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.

27.Colombia’s 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 Gastón Vega. Currently, she is a student of business from the northern Colombia city of Barranquilla.

28.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.

29.President Pranab Mukherjee has announced the names of Recipients of this year’s Padma awards. He approved conferment of 104 Padma Awards.
Padma Awards, the country’s 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.
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

30.. Edgar Lungu has sworn in as Zambia’s sixth President.
He was declared elected as President in elections held at 24 January 2015 to replace the late Michael Sata, who died in office in October 2014.Edgar Lungu is former defence minister from the Zambia’s ruling Patriotic Front (PF).

31.ndia 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 MoU’s 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.

32.India’s Parupalli Kashyap has won $120,000 Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton title 2015.
Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has clinched the Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton title 2015 in the women’s singles category.

33. India will provide fund of Rs 1500 crore to Nepal’s 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.

34. Renowned Marathi literary critic, writer and translator Madhukar Dattatreya Hatakananglekar passed away in Sangli district of Maharashtra. He was 89.
Madhukar Dattatreya Hatakananglekar

35. Wing Commander Pooja Thakur has become the first woman officer to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

36.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.
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.

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is now the world’s oldest living monarch. Currently she is 88 years old.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s 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 King of Thailand and the Emperor of Japan.

40. 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.Implication: It will provide a great relief to workers from both nations as well as Indian tourists travelling to Nepal and Bhutan.

41.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.

42. Thailand’s 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.

43. 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 UN’s 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).

44. India’s 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.

45. India and United States have agreed to cooperate in the field of Information and Communications Technology and Electronics (ICTE) to facilitate Union government’s 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.

46. 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 1950’s 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.Her original name is Nilanjana Sudeshna.

47. US scientists have taken the first step towards making safe genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) 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.

48. Vodafone has appointed Sunil Sood as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its India operations. He will be first Indian CEO of Vodafone.

49. Popular Telugu comedian and director Mylavarapu Surya Narayana has passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana. He was 63.

50. President Mansour Hadi of Yemen along with Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and his cabinet have resigned.
Yemen government’s resignation comes after the President agreed to the demands of Shia Houthi rebels, who had stormed his palace and private home in Sana’a (Capital of Yemen) earlier.
However parliament speaker Yahia al-Rai refused to accept the President’s 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).

51. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has passed away. He was 93-year old patriarch.
Abdullah’s 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.

52. Supreme Court (SC) has barred Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President-in-exile N Srinivasan, from 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.

53. Haryana governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki took over the additional charge of Governor of Punjab. He will be 34th governor of Punjab.

54. 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.

55. 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): People’s 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.

56. 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 firm’s 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.

57. Economist Bibek Debroy has taken over as the full-time member of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.

58. 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.

59. Cyberabad Police Commissioner (PC) CV Anand has been conferred with the Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) National Special Category Award for the Best Electoral Practices- 2014.

60. NDA government’s 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.

61. Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. has topped in global vehicle sales in 2014 by selling 10.23 million vehicles, beating Volkswagen and General Motors.

62. 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.
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.
ZipDial’s mobile marketing platform gives information about businesses to users when they place a missed call.
This interaction information is useful in areas where people aren’t 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 world’s leading brands and media companies.

63.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 Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office in India in September 2014.

64. 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 nation’s 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).
India’s lower position indicates acute shortage of skilled workforce. It also ranks at last among BRICS members.
India’s neighbuors in GTCI list: China (41th), Sri Lanka (76th), Pakistan (89th), Bangladesh (90th).

65. 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.

66. 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.

67.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 country’s 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 world’s 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.

68. According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2015 report, India’s growth in terms of GDP is expected to reach 5.9 per cent in 2015 and 6.3 per cent in 2016.

69. 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.

70. Eminent political scientist, scholar and former Planning Commission member Rajni Kothari passed away in New Delhi. He was 86.

71. 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.

72. 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
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.

73. 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).

74. Frank Islam, an eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist has been presented with the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr Award.

75. 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).

76. South African cricketer AB de Villiers has hit the fastest century and half-century in one-day internationals (ODI).

77. 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.

78. 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.

79. First indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 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 India’s LCA programme, which began in the 1983 to replace country’s 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.

80. 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.
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.

81. Union Government has launched Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes Scheme to encourage budding and existing entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes (SCs).
It was launched by Union Social Justice Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot in Delhi.

82. Union Cabinet has given its nod for conducting FM Phase-III auction and renewal of Private FM Radio licenses from Phase-II to Phase-III in 69 existing cities for 135 channels.It was decided in Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

83. 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.

84. India’s Sania Mirza along with her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands has won doubles title at the Sydney International Tennis Tournament 2015.

85. 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 NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

86. 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.

87.Haryana government has announced yoga guru Ramdev as its brand ambassador.

88. 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 company’s stocks or other securities and making unethical profits with access to the non-public information. This is detrimental to the other / small investors who don’t 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.

89. Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Leela Samson has resigned.