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Current Affairs January 2015National Affairs

Planning Commission to be renamed „Niti Ayog‟ – Jan

1

I. The Planning Commission will be renamed ‗Niti

Ayog‘ as part of a plan to restructure the institution

Nationwide „save water‟ drive soon

i. The Union Water Resources Ministry will launch a

―Hamara Jal, Hamara Jeewan‖ initiative to be

adopted in every district of the country during the

India Water Week from January 13 to 17

Mittal appointed Railway Board Chairman

i. A.K. Mittal was appointed as the new Chairman of

Railway Board

ii. Pradeep Kumar, who was General Manager of the

North Central Railway holding additional charge of

Northern Railway, has become new Member Staff

succeeding Mr. Mittal

iii. Navin Tondon, General Manager of South Eastern

Central Railways, has been appointed Member

Electrical

iv. V.K. Gupta, Member Engineering, has been given

additional responsibility of Member Mechanical at

the Board

DBT renamed

i. Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG, which has

now been renamed (PAHAL) ‗Pratyaksh Hanstantarit

Labh‘ was rolled out in 54 districts from November 15

Radhakrishnan retires as ISRO chief, Shailesh Nayak in

charge

i. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Chairman K. Radhakrishnan retired

Shailesh Nayak, who is Secretary, Union Earth

Sciences Ministry, will hold additional and interim

charge as Chairman

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu unveils

'smart village' plan

i. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu

Naidu unveiled a draft of 'Smart Village' plan aimed

at making AP, a top state in the country by 2029

Niti Aayog: Arvind Panagariya slated to be Vice

Chairman – Jan 2

i. Renowned economist Arvind Panagariya is likely to

be appointed Vice Chairman of the revamped

Planning Commission, which has now been named

NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog

Banks open 10.3 cr Jan Dhan accounts, issue 7.28 cr

RuPay cards

i. The finance ministry would enter into 'open

challenge mode' for opening accounts under the

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) scheme

ii. 10.3 crore accounts have been opened under the

scheme so far

iii. Banks have issued 7.28 crore RuPay Cards as on

December 22

iv. Anurag Jain is the joint secretary (FI) and mission

director of PMJDY

Modi to seek US President Barack Obama‟s help for

entry in Nuclear Suppliers Group

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek US President

Barack Obama's unequivocal American support to

override opposition from certain European nations

and China for membership of the coveted Nuclear

Suppliers Group (NSG)

ii. Key members of NSG including USA, Russia, France,

Australia and Japan have been supportive of India's

entry

iii. The clean waiver by NSG for India was given in

September 2008 paved the way for several civilian

nuclear pacts that the country signed with the USA,

France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Namibia,

Canada, UK, Argentina and Australia




3

iv. NSG was created in 1975 as a reaction to India's

first nuclear test in 1974 and it has 48 members at

present

R K Srivastava takes over as chief of Airports Authority

of India

i. R K Srivastava took over as the new chairman of

Airports Authority of India (AAI) replacing Sudheer

Raheja

Assam has world‟s highest number of people

internally displaced by conflict

i. A report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights

claims that there are over 3,00,000 internally

displaced persons in Assam, which is the highest in

the world during 2014

Indian-origin man J Y Pillay reappointed as top

advisor to Singapore President

i. Veteran Indian-origin civil servant J Y Pillay was

reappointed as the Chairman of the Presidential

Council of Advisers (CPA) for a period of four years by

Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam

L Narashima Reddy appointed as new Chief Justice of

Patna High Court

Environment Management Directorate is the new

wing of the Railways – Jan 3

I. Environment Management Directorate, the new

wing of the Railways, will be responsible for ensuring

effective utilisation of water resources

ii. The Environment Directorate will be headed by an

Advisor- rank official in the railways

iii. There will be six Executive Directors (ED)

iv. All these six EDs will discharge duties connected

with The Environment Management Directorate

BJP government to promote 600 km of inland

waterways

i. The central government is keen on starting inland

waterways of more than 600 kms connecting Andhra

Pradesh and Puducherry for transportation of

commercial goods

ii. The project estimated to cost Rs 2,400 crore, aims to

connect canals between Kakinada in Andhra

Pradesh's Godavari district to Puducherry

iii. National Waterway 4 (NW-4) is currently under

development and connects Andhra Pradesh, Tamil

Nadu and Puducherry. It is being developed by

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)

iv. NW-4 had been divided into four major cargo belts

namely Kakinada, Krishna, South Andhra Pradesh and

Chennai

Digital connectivity should become as much a right

as access to school: Modi

i. Modi inaugurated the 102nd Indian Science

Congress at Mumbai University and said Digital

connectivity should become as much a basic right as

access to school

Government plans pilot project to produce urea from

coal in Odisha

i. Government is planning to set up a pilot project to

produce urea from coal in Odisha soon, Union

Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Hansraj

Ahir said

ii. The government was also planning to start generic

medical shops. Three thousand such shops would be

set up in the first phase

Payments banks can issue RuPay debit cards

i. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI),

promoted by the RBI, is a major facilitator to

payments banks as its payment backbone will

provide the remittance infrastructure

ii. The NPCI will also register the new institutions as

clearing house members

iii. A P Hota is the MD & CEO of NPCI

iv. The concept of payments banks is an outcome of

the Nachiket Mor committee‘s report on financial

inclusion




4

v. Payments banks can issue RuPay debit cards with

the free insurance cover. But they cannot provide

overdraft facility

Gadkari to launch e-approval for heavy vehicles

i. Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will launch

the web portal, allowing e-approval for Over

Dimensional (OD) and Over Weight Cargo (OWC)

vehicles

Delhi will have country's first smart city

i. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government has

planned to set up 100 'smart cities' and Union Urban

Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that

the first such city will come up in the national capital

ii. The ‗smart city‘ will be a complete sub-city, which

would be located in an area of 20-24 hectares,

zoned out of Dwarka, Rohini and Narela

Smart cards soon for unorganised sector workers –

Jan 4 and 5

i. Every worker in the unorganised sector may soon be

issued a smart card with a unique identification

number for accessing social schemes and benefits

ii.The Gujarat launch of such a card, ―U-WIN,‖ On

December 25 in the State was a pilot for launching

the card in all States

Modi launches scheme for LED bulb in Delhi

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scheme

for LED bulb distribution under domestic efficient

lighting programme (DELP) in Delhi

Govt approves Neutrino Project

i. Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has approved setting up of India-based

Neutrino Observatory (INO) in Bodi West Hills, Tamil

Nadu

ii. The INO Project Director, and Senior Professor at

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, is

Naba Mondal

iii. An Inter-Institutional Centre for High Energy Physics

(IICHEP) will also be established in Madurai

iv. Government of India has also approved the

construction of a 50,000 tonne magnetised iron

calorimeter detector (ICAL) to study the properties of

the neutrino

v. Prof. K.Vijayraghavan is the Secretary, Department

of Science and Technology, Govt. of India

Mysuru hospital goes organic

i. Bharath Hospital and Institute of Oncology will cater

to its inpatients‘ nutritional requirements out of an

organic farm set up on its Hebbal campus premises

ii. The Focus is on vermicompost method to produce

food for patients out of campus farm

255th birth anniversary of Kattabomman

i. The 255th birth anniversary of legendary freedom

fighter, Veerapandia Kattabomman, was observed

at Panchalankurichi, his birth place in Ottapidaram

taluk on Jan 3

Economist Arvind Panagariya has been appointed to

run Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Policy

Commission

Centre implementing massive e-governance project

for ESIC

i. The Centre is implementing a Rs 1,900 crore e-

governance project to automate transactions in the

Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)

ii. Under the project, named 'Panchdeep', a massive

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) would be installed

across the country

iii. The Insured Persons (IP) would get unique biometric

cards under the project

Documentary film to be made by India

i. Subhas Chandra Bose's oldest Japanese associate,

99-yearold Sauchiro Misumi is the subject of a special

documentary film to be made by India

ii. Indian Ambassador to Japan is Deepa Wadhwa

Government to issue commemorative coins in honour

of Jamsetje Tata




5

i. The government will issue commemorative coins in

honour of Tata Group founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji

Tata to mark his 175th birth anniversary

ii. Jamsetji Tata, considered as the father of modern

industry in India, will be the first industrialist to be

felicitated by the Indian government in such a

manner

iii. Previously, the government had honoured Jamsetji

by releasing postal stamps - one in 1958 and another

in 1965.

iv. Jamsetje Tata founded Tata Group, was born on

March 3, 1839 in Navsari, in south Gujarat

Every 3 seconds, „Make in India‟ Facebook page

adds one „like‟

'Digital Village'

i. Joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India'

programme, ICICI Bank has developed Akodara in

Sabarkantha district of Gujarat into a 'Digital Village'

ii. This 'digital village' was dedicated to the nation by

Modi to mark 60-year celebrations of the group since

the erstwhile ICICI Ltd was set up in 1955

iii. ICICI Bank chief is Chanda Kochhar

Satyarthi to hand over Nobel medal to President – Jan

6 and 7

i. The medal being handed over to Mr. Mukherjee by

the Nobel laureate Mr. Satyrathi at Rashtrapati

Bhavan will be put on display in the Museum in

Rashtrapati Bhavan that was opened to public this

past July.

Google keen to be a part of „Digital India‟ project

i. Vinton Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google said

Google is interested in being helpful to the Digital

India project

Ford announces 25 global experiments, one in India

i. The 25 mobility experiments from Ford include a pilot

project in India - Share-Car - that aims to create a

model for easy vehicle sharing among small

communities

Modi had set up the Task Force last year to leverage

the postal network in India

i. The Task Force had suggested that the government

should set up a holding company under the

Department of Posts for immediate roll out of

banking, insurance and e-commerce services by the

1.55 lakh strong postal network

ii. The holding company should have five different

verticals, and three of them -- banking, insurance and

e-commerce

iii. The panel also suggested establishing Post Bank of

India as a separate entity with a branch in each

district in the first three years

iv. Post Bank of India and Prime Minister's Jan Dhan

Yojana can complement each other for financial

inclusion

Narendra Modi inaugurates Pravasi Bharatiya Divas –

Jan 8

i. The 13th edition of 'Pravasi Bharatiya Divas', a day to

mark the contribution of the overseas Indian

community to the development of India, was

inaugurated by PM Modi in Gujarat

Classical status for Marathi soon

i. The Centre is expediting the process to declare

Marathi a classical language, Maharashtra Minister

for Culture and Marathi language Vinod Tawde said

Atul Khare named head of UN Department of Field

Support

i. Senior Indian diplomat Atul Khare has been named

by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as the head of the

UN department that provides dedicated support to

peacekeeping missions around the world, making him

one of the highest ranking Indian officials in the world

body

Jaitley gives up subsidised LPG- Jan 9

i. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has voluntarily given up

use of subsidised LPG, joining a growing list of well-to-




6

do people who have opted to buy cooking gas at

market rate

Governor‟s rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir

i. President's rule was imposed on Jammu and Kashmir

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee approved Governor N.

N. Vohra's recommendation

India home to 2,00,000 refugees in first half of 2014:

UNHCR

i. The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in its new Mid-

Year Trends 2014 report said India was home to over

2,00,000 refugees in the first six months of 2014

ii. UNHCR head is Antonio Guterres

iii. Syrians, for the first time, have become the largest

refugee population under UNHCR's mandate

overtaking Afghans, who had held that position for

more than three decades

iv. Afghan refugees remain the largest protracted

refugee population under UNHCR care at second

place

v. Relative to the sizes of their economies the burdens

carried by Ethiopia and Pakistan are greatest

Dope test be made mandatory for applying for govt

job: Punjab Minister

i. Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Surjit

Kumar Jyani has pitched for making dope test

mandatory for candidates applying for government

jobs

Rear Admiral S R Sarma took over as the Admiral

Superintendent

i. Rear Admiral S R Sarma who is a recipient of the

Vishisht Seva Medal for his distinguished service took

over as the Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard

from Rear Admiral Saxena

ii. Rear Admiral Saxena will now assume duties of the

Chief Staff Officer (Technical) at Headquarters,

Western Naval Command, Mumbai

Agra orders 4,000 trucks to convert to CNG for Taj

Mahal's sake

i. The Agra district administration ordered almost 4,000

diesel-run mini pick-up trucks operating in the city to

convert to CNG by July this year

ii. A study revealed that carbon particles from diesel

vehicles along with burning biomass were causing the

Taj, famous for its pristine white marble, to slowly turn

yellow

India‟s first cow minister is Otaram Devasi

i. In October, 2014, Devasi was made minister of Dairy

and Devasthan

ii. Otaram Devasi, is the Rajasthan's minister in charge

of cow affairs

Government offices may soon be cleaned using

liquid made from bovine urine

i. Gaunyle is the name of the cleaning liquid which

will soon be making the Capital's government office

floors sparkle

ii. The NGO that will be supplying the product is the

Holy Cow Foundation headed by Anuradha Modi

iii. Jagdish Bhatia, managing director of Kendriya

Bhandar

DMRC bicycle scheme for green cause

i. Delhi Metro announced a unique initiative under

which commuters will be able to rent a bicycle from a

residential area to reach the nearest Metro station

ii. The ―public bicycle sharing" scheme is aimed at

promoting the cause of "clean and green India"

iii. The facility was inaugurated at Saket Metro station

iv. It will be a cashless transaction and Commuters

can operate the bicycles with the help of a

rechargeable smart card

v. The users have to pay just Rs 10 an hour

vi. DMRC has been running a similar service at the

Vishwavidyalaya Metro station for the past six years.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to be awarded Pravasi

Bharatiya Samman

i. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has been selected

for a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award along with 15




7

awardees including Guyanese President Donald R

Ramotar and Lord Raj Loomba

PM Modi inaugurated the 'Gandhi Kuteer', a model of

Mahatma Gandhi's residence at Gandhinagar

British High Commissioner to India is Sir James David

Bevan KCMG

Guyana backs India for permanent UN Security

Council seat

i. Guyana pledged its support to India in its bid to

become a permanent member of the powerful

United Nations Security Council

ii. President of Guyana is Donald R Ramotar

100th year of Mahatma Gandhi's return; Department

of Posts released two stamps

i. To commemorate the 100th year of Mahatma

Gandhi's return to India in 1915, the Department of

Posts released two stamps

ii. An album of these stamps would be presented to

Gandhi's former personal assistant Kalyanam during

the event at the Philatelic Bureau on Anna Salai

Meet on International non-communicable diseases

research in Manipal

i. The Department of Internal Medicine and

Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College,

along with the Department of Public Health, Manipal

University would be hosting the Third International

Non-Communicable Diseases Research Meet in

Manipal

An app for women‟s safety – Jan 10

i. The application, ‗m-Indicator,‘ launched by Railway

Minister Suresh Prabhu is a mobile phone application

for women security in Mumbai‘s suburban trains to

avail themselves of immediate help from the Railway

Protection Force with just an SMS.

ii. It does not require GPS or Internet for the RPF to

operate and comes with the automatic location alert

SMS facility that can come in handy during

emergency when the victim is unable to access the

phone

Telecom department to connect 20,000 villages

through optic fibre network by March

i. The telecom department expects to connect 20,000

villages across the country through optic fibre by

March-end under a national broadband network

plan.

ii. Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will

inaugurate the project commercially in Kerala

BJP wants government to buy London house where Dr

Babasaheb Ambedkar once lived

i. The BJP today asked the government to acquire the

2,050 sq ft, three-storey house in London where Dr

Babasaheb Ambedkar once lived.

Maharashtra government mulls launching web portal

to address public grievances

i. The Maharashtra government is planning to launch

a web portal "Aaple Sarkar" by January 26 to address

public grievances

Former Plan Panel secretary Sindhushree Khullar

appointed NITI Aayog‟s CEO

i. Former Planning Commission Secretary Sindhushree

Khullar was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of

the newly formed NITI Aayog

India to host “The 11th Conference on Corporate

Culture Spirituality”

i. The Art of Living and the World Forum for Ethics in

Business will host a unique international Conference-

'The Corporate Culture and Spirituality' at the Art of

Living International centre

DoT may submit plan to levy Swachh Bharat cess

i. The Cabinet has asked the Department of

Telecommunications ( DoT) to examine if a cess can

be imposed on telecom companies to raise funds for

the Swachh Bharat fund




8

Gujarat summit 2015 – Jan 11

i. For the first time in its 10-year history, the Vibrant

Gujarat Summit 2015, will be used as a stage for

business-related diplomacy with the U.S. Secretary of

State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary General

Ban Ki-moon attending the high-profile event

ii. It was started as a brainchild of Mr. Modi in 2003

iii. This year‘s event will see eight countries, Canada,

Japan, China, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore,

South Africa and the U.S. partnering with the State

iv. In the last six Vibrant Gujarat Summits, the States

signed MoUs worth Rs. 48 lakh crore

v. Gujarat a cultural crossover to the world, says Ban

Ki-moon

vi. Aditya Birla Group will invest Rs 20,000 crore in

Gujarat

vii. Reliance announces Rs 1 lakh crore investments

States urged to take over ESIC-run medical colleges

i. The Centre has requested State governments to

take over the Employee State Insurance Corporation-

run medical colleges

Sarabhai award for SHAR director

i. M.Y.S. Prasad, director of Satish Dhawan Space

Centre, Sriharikota Range (SHAR), has been selected

for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial award to be

presented by the Indian Science Congress

Association (ISCA)

ii. The ISCA, which is a premier scientific organization

of the country established in 1914 in Kolkata, has

been giving this award in alternate years

Facebook most popular social network: US study

i. Facebook is by far the most popular social media

website with its large base of "very active" users

visiting the site daily, a new survey of American

internet users has found

ii. The survey was conducted by the Pew Research

Center

It's the sixth time Governor's rule has been imposed in

Jammu and Kashmir

Fourth Bharatiya Sanskriti Utsav in Kolhapur from

January 19

i. Fourth ‗Bharatiya Sanskriti Utsav‘ (Indian Cultural

Festival) to be held from January 19 to 25, in Karvir

tehsil of Kolhapur district

After 200 years, rare Maratha Empire documents

found in UK

i. A document of 1796-1800 vintage in Nana

Fadnavis's own handwriting has been found in

England

ii. The letter is part of a collection of over 200

documents pertaining to the Maratha Empire, lying

unseen at the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) of Great

Britain and Ireland in London

ISRO develops fire-resitant emulsion - Jan 12

i. Indian space agency ISRO has developed a low

cost fire-resistant coating which can be used for

protecting rail coaches and buildings

Hindi should be an official language in UN, says

Nepal vice-president Parmananda Jha

i. Nepal's Vice President Parmananda Jha, suggested

that the Hindi language be added to the list of six

official languages in the United Nations

Chandigarh may be the first Indian smart city

i. Chandigarh may be the first Indian smart city,

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said referring to the

NDA's proposal to set up 100 smart cities in the

country

ii. Several countries like Japan, Germany, Sweden,

Singapore, Israel, UK, US, Hong Kong and the

Netherlands have shown interest in building smart

cities in India

Gautam Adani, Sam Walsh to co-chair Australia-India

CEO Forum

i. Adani group chairman Gautam Adani and

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto's CEO Sam Walsh




9

have been appointed as the co-chair of the

Australia-India CEO Forum

Voting rights to NRIs through postal ballots

i. The EC‘s recommendations to extend voting rights

to NRIs through postal ballots have been

accepted by the Govt.

ii. The proposal was prepared by a 12-member

committee led by Vinod Zutshi, Deputy Election

Commissioner, for ‗Exploring Feasibility of Alternative

Options for Voting by Overseas Electors‘

iii. So far 114 countries have adopted external voting

and among them are 20 Asian countries

230 hotels join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean

India drive

i. a first of-its-kind initiative, 230 hotels, including 170

major ones, under the Hotel Association of India,

have pledged that more than 500 of their employees

will clean about 230 km of road around their hotels

and clean up around 53 monuments in the country

Andhra Pradesh government plans 15 Mbps

broadband service at Rs 150/month

i. Andhra Pradesh government, led by tech-savvy

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, plans to provide

broadband connections with peak speed of 15 Mbps

to twelve million households for as low as Rs

150/month in the first stage of its about Rs 5,000-crore

optical fibre project

Gujarat‟s second canal-top 10-MW solar power

project

i. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dedicated

Gujarat‘s second canal-top 10-MW solar power

project to the nation

ii. The solar panels are arranged on top of the

Vadodara branch of the Sardar Sarovar project

canal, probably a first-of-its-kind project in the world

to generate power

Arvind Panagariya, Vice-chairman of NITI Aayog is an

NRI

Modi said Vivekananda had a great influence on

him

Mars Orbiter team wins US award – Jan 13

i. India's Mars Orbiter programme team has won the

2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and

engineering category from the US based National

Space Society (NSS)

ii. This award will be presented to an ISRO

representative during the National Space Society's

2015 International Space Development Conference,

the 34th ISDC, to be held in Toronto, Canada

Raghuram Rajan conferred central banker of the year

award

i. RBI chief Raghuram Rajan has been named as the

―governor of the year‖ in the Central Banking Awards

for 2015 by a British magazine

ii. Mr. Rajan was the chief economist of IMF

iii. Jacques de Larosiere wins the Lifetime

Achievement Award after a lengthy struggle for

monetary order

iv. Claudio Borio, head of the monetary and

economic department at the Bank for International

Settlements, was handed the inaugural award for

Economics in Central Banking

v. Christopher Jeffery is the chairman of the Central

Banking Awards Committee and editor of Central

Banking Journal

New Space Secretary and ISRO chief

i. A.S. Kiran Kumar is the new Secretary of the

Department of Space and also Chairman of the

Indian Space Research Organisation and the Space

Commission

ii. Mr. Kumar succeeds K. Radhakrishnan (who retired

on December 31, 2014,) as the eighth chief of the

prestigious Space dispensation

World Bank signs pact for Smart Cities

i. The Government of Gujarat, the Government of

India and the World Bank have entered into a

tripartite agreement in support of Gujarat‘s




10

‗swachhta abhiyaan‘ and smart city initiatives, Chief

Minister Anandiben Patel announced

India to hold special programmes in China to attract

tourists

i. India said it will organise a series of special events

across China this year as part of 'Visit India Year'

programme

ii. India's Ambassador to China is Ashok K Kantha

iii. While 2015 will be the 'Visit India Year' in China, next

year will be 'Visit China Year' as part of an

understanding between the two countries

Students to take virtual tour of South Pole

i. Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, in collaboration

with IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory,

Antarctica & Wisconsin ICECUBE Particle Astrophysics

Centre, USA, will host more than 250 students,

teachers and science lovers in a two-hour

programme which will connect Mumbai directly to

South Pole

H.S. Brahma takes over as new Chief Election

Commissioner – Jan 14

i. Hari Shankar Brahma, took over as the 19th Chief

Election Commissioner

Anupam Shrivastava is new BSNL chairman and

managing director – Jan 15

i.b Anupam Shrivastava has been appointed the

chairman and managing director (CMD) of state-run

BSNL

India's first CNG train for the Rewari-Rohtak section

i. The first CNG train has been launched on the

Rewari-Rohtak section of Northern zone

ii. The train will run on dual fuel system - CNG and

diesel - for six days-a-week (except Sunday)

iii. The train comprising of two power cars and six car

coaches has been manufactured by Integral Coach

Factory at Chennai with the CNG conversion kit

being supplied by Cummins

Centre revises buffer norms for foodgrains – Jan 16

i. Norms for buffer stocks had not been revised since

2002

ii. As much as 61.4 million tonnes of foodgrains is

required a year for welfare schemes — Antyodaya

Anna Yojana and for the provision of 5 kg to each

member of a priority household under the National

Food Security Act

iii. The buffer will include five million tonnes of strategic

reserves of wheat and rice

Efforts on to translate Tirukkural into Gujarati language

i. The Central Institute of Classical Tamil has proposed

to translate Tirukkural into Gujarati language

Diwali stamp comes closer to reality

i. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, the Consul

General of India in New York Ambassador

Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Chair of the Diwali Stamp

Project Ranju Batra, and Chair of the National

Advisory Council of South Asian Affairs Ravi Batra

gathered at the Indian Consulate along with

supporters to encourage the U.S. Postal Service to

issue a postage stamp to commemorate the holiday

Diwali

ii. Ms. Maloney also emphasised that USPS had

recognised other major religious and cultural holidays

through stamp issuance including Christmas,

Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Eid

Govt. to notify more than 60 eco-sensitive zones – Jan

17

i. The government aims to notify over 60 sanctuaries

and national parks as ‗eco-sensitive zones‘ this year

ii. Last year, around 40 sanctuaries and national parks

were notified as ‗eco-sensitive zones‘ iii. There are

over 600 sanctuaries and national parks in the country

iv. The government is declaring land falling within 10-

km radius of the boundaries of national parks and

sanctuaries as ‘eco-fragile zones‘ as part of the

action plan envisaged in the ‗Wildlife Conservation

Strategy‘ which was adopted in 2002




11

Apprentices Protsahan Yojana(APY)

i. The scheme aims to support one lakh apprentices

during the period upto March 2017

ii. Faridabad Regional Directorates of Apprenticeship

Training (RDAT) received the highest number of

applications

iii. Under the APY scheme, the government will

subsidise 50 per cent of the stipend paid to

apprentices during the first two years of training

National honour for Mandya police

i. The Mandya police have secured the Centre‘s gold

medal and cash award

ii. The Department of Administrative Reforms and

Public Grievances had chosen the project ‗Effective

vehicles database management to trace the owners

of unclaimed vehicles lying in police stations‘ for the

National e-governance Award in the category of

‗Best district-level initiative in citizen-centric service‘

iii. The 18th National Conference on e-governance will

be held in in Gandhinagar, Gujarat

'Margdarshak Mandal' – Jan 18

i. The Bharatiya Janata Party‘s new leadership

dropped its founding fathers, A.B. Vajpayee, L.K.

Advani and M.M. Joshi from the Parliamentary Board

and elevated them to a new body – the

Margdarshak Mandal

ii. The body named 'Margdarshak Mandal' (guiding

group), would include Narendra Modi, Home Minister

Rajnath Singh, AB Vajpayee, LK Advani and MM Joshi

Odds of escaping poverty in India, U.S. same: World

Bank – Jan 20

i. The report, ―Addressing inequality in South Asia,‖

has found that the probability of a poor person

moving out of poverty in India in 2014 was as good as

that in the U.S

Chandrababu Naidu launched the 'Smart Village-

Smart Ward' programme

i. Andhra Pradesh Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu

inaugurated his 'Smart Village- Smart Ward'

programme at Velivennu village in West Godavari

district

ii. The 'Smart Village- Smart Ward' programme aims at

a thorough participation of people in the inclusive

development of the village

National Award for C V Anand – Jan 21

i. Cyberabad Police Commissioner C V Anand has

been selected by Election Commission of India (ECI)

for ‗National Special Award for Best Electoral

Practices 2014‘

Fortis does a first with rare heart implant

i. Doctors at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute implanted

India‘s first Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-

ICD) on a 48-year-old heart patient from Bihar

National Green Tribunal bans old vehicles on Manali-

Rohtang highway – Jan 22

i. Acting tough against the Himachal Pradesh

government for allowing illegal structures and

deforestation in the area, the National Green Tribunal

(NGT) banned vehicles more than 15 years old from

plying on the Manali-Rohtang highway

Cost of Living Index report 2015: India cheapest

country, Switzerland most expensive

i. A new global report on the cost of living index by

country for the year 2015 has revealed that India is

the cheapest country to be live and Switzerland is the

costliest country to live in

ii. Norway and Denmark were part of the top 5

iii. Iceland has also risen in the ranks to become

number 4 this year, up from 10th in 2013

iv. The report was carried out by Numbeo

The Red Sari: „banned‟ biography on Sonia Gandhi

finally released in India

i. The biography on Sonia Gandhi finally got released

in India in January 2015

ii. The 'Dramatized Biography of Sonia Gandhi' was

originally published in October 2010 in Spanish




12

ii. The Spanish version of the book is called 'El Sari

Rojo‘

Modi gifts to Obama –Jan 22

i. Modi has presented US President Barack Obama a

set of recordings from American singer Marian

Anderson's visit to India in 1957 and a copy of the first

telegram from America to India's Constituent

Assembly

“Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” campaign was launched-

Jan 23

i. ―Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao‖ (Save girl child-Educate

girl child) campaign was launched in Panipat,

Haryana

ii. Evergreen Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit has been

roped in as the brand ambassador

Bengaluru most livable city in India, followed by

Mumbai and Chennai

i. In India, Bangalore, ranked 171st globally, scores

most favourably followed by Mumbai and Chennai

both ranked 182nd

ii. New Delhi (204) is the least livable," according to

Location Ratings for expatriate living conditions

published by ECA International

iii.Singapore is the most livable location in Asia and

the world, followed by Sydney and Adelaide in

Australia

Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama will jointly

address 'Mann Ki Baat‟

i. On January 27, the leaders Prime Minister Narendra

Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama will come

together for a joint address of 'Mann Ki Baat‘, which is

also the first time in the history of public radio

Rajnath to launch website on security apps

i. With an objective to promote innovation in

developing security related web applications, Union

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will soon launch web

portal ‗MySecurity.in‘

ii. The web applications would be made available for

public use

Saraswathi Menon among seven experts nominated

to review UN peace-building architecture

i. Saraswathi Menon, former Director of the Policy

Division in UN Women, nominated by UN chief Ban Ki-

moon will be among the seven expert members of

the Advisory Group to review peace building

architecture

US may help Narendra Modi government achieve

target of 100 gigawatt of solar power

i. The United States may extend funds and supply of

equipment to help India achieve the Narendra Modi

government's target of 100 gigawatt of solar power in

the country by 2022

ii. The recent $4-billion deal was between Indian

Infrastructure Company Adani and America‘s

SunEdison to set up a large photovoltaic

manufacturing facility in the country

India can outpace China in terms of growth, says

Nourel Roubini

i. India has the potential to overtake China in terms of

growth rate in the coming years, provided it

implements reforms in a big way, noted economist

Nourel Roubini said

ITC Maurya to have a platter in Barack Obama's

name – jan 24

i. The iconic Bukhara restaurant at the ITC Maurya

hotel in New Delhi will have a platter in his name

The residence of George Robert Canning, known as

Lord Harris is located in South Mumbai. He was

responsible for introducing cricket in India and was

the Governor of Bombay from 1890 to 1895

Mumbai terror attack mastermind is Hafiz Saeed

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has urged access

to Chittagong Port in Bangladesh




13

Vice-President does not salute when he is not the

principal dignitary – Jan 26

i. Keeping with the protocol, the Vice-President does

not offer a salute when he is not the principal

dignitary , Gurdeep Singh Sappal, officer on special

duty to the Vice-President said

Sahitya Akademi Award

i. The Sahitya Akademi award for the year 2014 has

been given to Prabhu Nath Dwivedi for

'Kanakalochanaha'

Obama and 66th Republic Day in India

i. The first U.S. President to be chief guest at parade

was Barack Obama

ii. In another departure from practice, the U.S.

President arrived in his own motorcade and not with

President Pranab Mukherjee

iii. Nuclear-capable Agni missiles — a highlight for the

past several years — were not being featured in the

parade

iv. Obama is also the first American President to visit

India twice

v. For the first time, an all-women's contingent drawn

from the three services featured at the event, while

the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air

Force also fielded all-women contingents

Pooja Thakur - the first lady officer to lead the Inter-

Service Guard of Honour – Jan 25

i. Wing Commander Pooja Thakur became the first

lady officer to lead the Inter-Service Guard of Honour

which was inspected by US President Barack Obama

at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Michelle Obama chooses Indian origin designer

i. The First Lady of US wore a printed floral dress and

coat by Indian born Designer, Bibhu Mohapatra

Arundhathi Subramaniam wins poetry prize

i. Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam won the inaugural

Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry for her

work When God is a Traveller

Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar decline Padma award

i. Yoga guru Ramdev and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi

Shankar have declined any Padma award for them

India, U.S. sign three MoUs on smart cities

i. India and United States signed three Memoranda of

Understandings (MoUs) to give a boost to the Centre's

flagship 'smart cities' scheme

ii. The U.S. has agreed to partner with India in

developing three smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer,

and Visakhapatnam

No evidence of microcredit successfully alleviating

poverty

i. Six studies in four continents, including one in India,

have shown no evidence of microcredit successfully

alleviating poverty, researchers said

ii. It was conducted by researchers affiliated to

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and The Abdul

Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT

iii. The studies were done in Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Ethiopia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco and India, with

Hyderabad as the site

Aadhaar database to be embedded with that of EPIC

by 2016

i. The Election Commission has initiated an ambitious

plan to "embed" and synchronise the Aadhaar

database with that of the Electoral Photo ID Card

(EPIC) to minimise complaints of duplication or

forgery of the electoral rolls

ii. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is H S Brahma

iii. The Aadhaar's parent body is UIDAI

Kejriwal not invited for Republic Day parade

Modi second Indian Prime Minister to receive Obama

i. Narendra Modi received US President Barack

Obama at the Delhi airport, becoming the second




14

Indian Prime Minister after Manmohan Singh to

extend this special gesture to Obama

West Bengal‟s Nadia does its own „Swachh Bharat‟

i. West Bengal's Nadia district is poised to complete

building toilets for all its residents by next March,

under a programme which has been shortlisted for

the United Nations global award for public service

ii. The scheme "Sobar Souchagar", meaning toilets for

all, was launched a year before Prime Minister

Narendra Modi kickstarted the "Swachh Bharat'

campaign

IRCTC starts e-catering service on 76 trains, including

Jan Shatabdi and Garib Rath

i. The food will be supplied from 80 IRCTC-run food

plazas and fast food restaurants near various stations

ii. IRCTC had earlier launched the food delivery

services on the Delhi-Amritsar section on a trial basis

India‟s biggest incubation hub to come up in

Hyderabad

i. The Telangana government began the work on T-

Hub, which promises to be India's biggest incubation

facility

ii. Telangana Information Technology Minister K.

Tarakarama Rao laid the foundation stone for the

facility at the International Institute of Information

Technology (IIIT) at Gachibowli

iii. The T-Hub is being set up in collaboration with IIIT,

Hyderabad, Indian School of Business (ISB) and

NALSAR University of Law

BSF daredevils draw praise again from Obama – Jan

26 and 27

i. The bike—borne ‗Janbaaz‘ daredevils of the BSF

came in for praise the third time by US President

Barack Obama who fondly called their stunts

―impressive‖

Not deserving of Bharat Ratna: Amitabh Bachchan

i. Amitabh Bachchan politely disagreed with West

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee‘s suggestion

that he should have been honoured with the Bharat

Ratna instead of Padma Vibhushan

ii. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan was chosen for this

year‘s Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian

award of the country

Furore over omission of 'socialist, secular' from Govt.

advertisement

i. The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry‘s

Republic Day print advertisement omitted the words

"socialist, secular" in the image of the Preamble to the

Constitution triggering a furore

Modi to hold first meeting of NITI Aayog on February 6

i. The first meeting of the NITI (National Institution for

Transforming India) Aayog is being scheduled on

February 6

Obama supports India's inclusion in U.N

i. At the Siri Fort auditorium President Barack Obama

said US supports India's inclusion as a permanent

member in the UN Security Council

Modi‟s suit creates waves

i. The pinstripe bandhgala suit Prime Minister Narendra

Modi wore during his talks with U.S. President Barack

Obama in Hyderabad House had his full name,

Narendra Damodardas Modi, embroidered on the

fabric vertically down the stripe

Narayana Murthy donates £200,000 for U.K. Gandhi

statue

i. Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and his family

have donated 200,000 pounds towards the statue of

Mahatma Gandhi planned for Parliament Square in

London, helping in meeting the budget target of

750,000 pounds for the project

Colonel Munindra Nath Rai, died

i. Colonel Munindra Nath Rai, died while battling

fighting terrorists in Kashmir on Jan 27, just 24 hours




15

after he was awarded a Republic Day gallantry

medal

ii. He is the highest-ranking military officer to be killed

in the region in nearly a year

Army names Sainik Institute after martyr Naik Neeraj

Kumar – Jan 28

i. Army named a facility for soldiers and general

public in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir after

Naik Neeraj Kumar, who was awarded Ashok Chakra

posthumously on the occasion of Republic Day

National meet on applied Maths to be held in Haveri

i. As many as 10 sessions on advances in the field of

Applied Mathematics would be held during the UGC

sponsored two-day National Conference on Applied

Mathematics being held in Haveri

Eros, RailTel tie up to provide entertainment content in

trains

i. RailTel Corporation of India is a PSU under the

Ministry of Railway which focuses on providing

broadband and VPN services

ii. Eros Now and RailTel have announced a tie-up

through which former's video streaming services will

be launched on latter's broadband

iii. RailTel has launched high-speed Wi-Fi network on

key railway stations

iv. Eros Now is a video on demand portal of the Eros

Group

New National Textiles policy will be unveiled after

Union Budget

i. The new National Textiles Policy, which aims to

achieve $300 billion exports by 2024-25 and envisages

creation of additional 35 million jobs, will be unveiled

after the Union Budget

Historical telegram gifted to President Pranab

Mukherjee by Barack Obama

i. A facsimile of the first telegram sent by 33rd

American President Harry S Truman to the first Indian

Head of State Rajendra Prasad framed in a

personalised plaque was among the gifts given by US

President Barack Obama to President Pranab

Mukherjee

ii. Truman in his telegram on January 26, 1950 had

wished Prasad and people of India on the country

becoming a Republic

Shekhar Sen named chairman of Sangeet Natak

Akademi – Jan 29

i. Eminent singer and theatre director Shekhar Sen has

been appointed the new chairman of Sangeet Natak

Akademi, the country's premier institution for the

performing arts

ii. The eminent singer and theatre director was

recently awarded the Padma Shri on Republic day

for his contribution to the arts

India Post to launch own e-commerce portal like

Amazon or eBay

i. India post is going to launch its own e-commerce

portal in the shape of those like Amazon or eBay soon

22nd edition of International Guwahati Trade Fair

i. The 22nd edition of International Guwahati Trade Fair

(IGTF) will start at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre in

Guwahati

India, Germany to set up working groups on water

management

i. India and Germany decided to set up working

groups on "circular" economy and water

management for restoration of water bodies, waste

management and more efficient use of water

resources

Maharashtra gives nod for field trial of 5 GM crops –

Jan 30

i. The Maharashtra government has given 'no

objection certificate' for field trial of five genetically

modified (GM) crops - brinjal, maize, rice, chickpea

and cotton - in the state

ii. The Committee-headed by Anil Kakodkar had

given clearance for field test of these five GM crops,




16

while releasing a report on 'Global status of biotech

crops' by international body ISAAA

World Bank to commit $1 bn in clean India

programme

i. World Bank today said it will commit USD 1 billion in

the government's Swachh Bharat (Clean India)

campaign

ii. World Bank's country director in India is Onno Ruhl

Conference on Social Entrepreneurship inaugurated

i. A three-day 7th National Conference on Social

Entrepreneurship was today inaugurated by the

Director of XLRI - SchooI of Business Management, Fr E

Abraham at XLRI campus

Government releases postal stamps on Swachh

Bharat mission

i. Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad,

Urban Development Minister Vankaiah Naidu and

Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh

launched postal stamps for Swachh Bharat mission

Birding fair begins in Jaipur

i. The 18th Indian Birding Fair will be held at the Man

Sagar Lake on January 30

ii. The two-day fair will be dedicated to biodiversity

conservation

iii. The fair aims at conserving the 350-year-old lake

The death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is

celebrated as Martyrs‟ Day on January 30

India is now entering the Asia equation: Former US

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

i. India is now entering the Asia equation currently

dominated by China, former US Secretary of State

Henry Kissinger has said

Coast Guard 38th raising day - Jan 31

i. 38th anniversary of Indian Coast Guard to be

celebrated on February 1, 2015

ii. The Coast Guard was set up Feb 1, 1977

Agni-V missile's maiden canister-based trial

successful

i. The 17-metre-long, thee-stage solid-fuelled missile,

was developed indigenously by the Defence

Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

ii. Agni-V is capable of delivering a 1.1 nuclear

warhead over a distance of 5,000 km and the range

of missile can cover most parts of China and Europe

P Chellapandi takes over as Bharatiya Nabhikiya

Vidyut Nigam Limited chief

i. Senior nuclear scientist P Chellapandi took over as

Chairman & Managing Director of Bharatiya

Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) located at

the nuclear complex at Kalpakkam

Army flags off „Sailab Se Salamati Tak

i. A 19-member cycle expedition team 'Sailab Se

Salamati Tak' (from floods to safety) was flagged off

by the army commemorating the joint effort of

civilians and soldiers during the Kashmir floods last

year

India to commission 5-mt underground oil storages by

October

i. India has decided to commission over 5 million

tonnes of underground crude oil storages by October

to ensure uninterrupted oil supply to the nation for

about two months in the case of disruptions in imports

ii. The first strategic oil reserve of 1.33 million tonnes will

be ready in Visakhapatnam by next month , followed

by two more facilities in Mangalore (1.5 mt) and

Padur (2.5 mt) in the next eight months

iii. Together, the three projects will store crude oil for

13 days

iv. Four more caverns of 12.5 million tonnes capacity

will be built in the second phase, for which the

locations that have been identified include Bikaner,

Rajkot, Chandikhol and Padur

v. The caverns are being developed by Indian

Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), a special

purpose vehicle of the Oil Industry Development




17

Board, a statutory body created for India's energy

security

vi. India — the fourth-biggest energy consumer in the

world after the US, China and Russia — depends on

imports for more than 80% of crude oil

Aadhaar to be used as 'digital identity' for mobile

banking

i. The union government under its ambitious 'Digital

India' programme has decided to use the Aadhaar

number as a "digital identity" for the purpose of

mobile banking

ii. The announcement was made by the secretary,

Department of Electronics & Information Technology,

Government of India, R S Sharma, at the 18th national

conference on e-Governance

Global tenders invited for getting State‟s share of

Tungabhadra waters

i. Global tenders had been invited for expression of

interest to suggest measures for regaining the

legitimate share of the State in the Tungabhadra

reservoir at Hosapate which was flowing unused into

the river

Suvarna Raju is new chairman of Hindustan

Aeronautics Ltd

i. T. Suvarna Raju took over as the 17th chairman of

the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL),

following his predecessor R.K. Tyagi‘s retirement

Business incubation Centre on readymade garment &

handloom in Guwahati

i. Business incubation Centre on Readymade

Garment & Handloom was formally inaugurated by

Union Minister for MSME Kalraj Mishra at Indian

Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE)

International Affairs

Abbas signs onto International Criminal Court after

U.N. loss – Jan 1

i. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed on to

20 international agreements including the Rome

Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a

day after a bid for independence by 2017 failed at

the United Nations Security Council.

The LED display at the Burj Khalifa night broke the

Guinness World Record for the „Largest LED-

Illuminated Façade‟

China builds world's largest coal mine gas unit to

make power – Jan 2

i. China has built the world's largest facility to turn

excess methane gas from coal mines into electricity,

which could help the communist giant reduce its

emissions

ii. Lu'an Group completed the facility at Shanxi

Province in north China

Ecuador tops list of best countries for retirement – Jan

3

i. Ecuador was named the best country to retire in the

annual global retirement index of 25 best countries

Lithuania 'ready to join euro' in 2015

i. Lithuania will become the 19th member of the

eurozone out of 28 countries in the European Union,

and the last of the Baltic states to join

ii. The UK and Denmark are the only EU states with

opt-outs from the euro

iii. Estonia was the first Baltic state to become a

member of the eurozone in 2011, followed by Latvia

on 1 January 2014

Palestinians delivered to U.N. documents on joining

the Rome Statute of the ICC

i. The Palestinians delivered to U.N. headquarters

documents on joining the Rome Statute of the

International Criminal Court and other international

treaties

ii. Palestinian U.N. Ambassador is Riyad Mansour

Kerry signs certification for Pakistan – Jan 4 and 5

i. Kerry signs certification Pakistan has taken ―action‖

against terror groups




18

ii. The certificate is a condition for the U.S. to disburse

funds under the Kerry-Lugar Bill for civilian aid to

Pakistan that was co-authored by Mr. Kerry in 2009

iii. The U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan is Richard Olson

Asia's largest reverse osmosis plant inaugurated in

Pakistan – Jan 6 and 7

i. Asia‘s largest reverse osmosis plant, having a

capacity to produce two million gallons of water

daily, was inaugurated today in Pakistan‘s drought-

ridden Sindh province

Pakistan president inks bill to set up military courts to

try terrorists

i. A new bill to set up military courts in Pakistan to fast-

track terror-related cases came into effect

ii. Pakistan President is Mamnoon Hussain

Ukraine says Russia behind cyber attack on German

government – Jan 8

i. Ukraine's prime minister blamed Russian intelligence

for a hacker attack against German government

websites which is believed to be the first successful

prolonged attack on German government websites

ii. A group calling itself CyberBerkut claimed

responsibility

iii. "Berkut" refers to the riot squads used by the

government of Ukraine's former president, the pro-

Russian President Viktor Yanukovich

iv. Prime Minister of Ukraine is Arseny Yatseniuk

U.N. confirms Palestinians will be ICC member on April

1

i. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has

confirmed the Palestinians will formally become a

member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on

April 1

Kevin Vickers to become envoy to Ireland - Jan 9

i. Kevin Vickers, the head of security who helped kill a

gunman who stormed Canada's parliament last year,

will be appointed ambassador to Ireland, Canadian

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said

Apparent Islamic State backers hack U.S. military

Twitter feed – Jan 13

i. The Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S.

military command that oversees operations in the

Middle East were hacked by people claiming to be

sympathetic toward the Islamic State militant group

Ban Ki-moon asks India to take lead in reaching Paris

climate pact

i. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked India to

take a leadership role in reaching a "meaningful"

climate change pact in Paris

ii. The UN climate conference to be held in Paris from

November 30 to December 11

Singer Sarah Brightman to blast off to space station –

Jan 15

i. British singer Sarah Brightman will become the

eighth tourist and first professional singer to visit the

International Space Station

ii. Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi, made two

trips

World‟s toughest climb conquered – Jan 16

i. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson became the

first to free climb the 3,000-ft Dawn Wall on the

famous El Capitan rock formation in California‘s

Yosemite National Park in a single expedition

Bangladesh blocks Viber, Tango – Jan 18

i. China steps up drive to integrate Africa with

Maritime Silk Road

China has accelerated its drive to draw Africa into

the Maritime Silk Road — Beijing‘s ambitious

transcontinental initiative

Largest satellite network to provide global internet

access – Jan 20

i. A firm backed by Virgin and Qualcomm is planning

to launch the world's largest-ever satellite network to

provide high-speed Internet access around the world




19

Syrian Electronic Army hacks Le Monde Twitter

account – Jan 21

i. French newspaper Le Monde said its Twitter

account and publishing tool were hacked by Syrian

Electronic Army

JFK airport to open a terminal just for animals

i. The world‘s first-ever terminal for animals is set to

open at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in

2016 and it will transport 70,000 animals a year once

the $48 million facility becomes operational

Doomsday Clock moved closer to midnight – Jan 23

i. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved its iconic

Doomsday Clock up two minutes on Thursday.

ii. The clock now stands at three minutes to midnight,

the "latest" it's been since 1984

Atacama desert gets one of the world's biggest solar

plants – Jan 24

i. The newly finished PV Salvador solar plant near El

Salvador, in the Atacama desert, northern Chile is

one of the world's biggest solar plants

"National Voters' Day" obseved in Nagaland – Jan 25

i. Nagaland joined the country in observing the

―National Voters‘ Day‖

US jobless claims approach nearly 15-year low – Jan

29

i. The number of Americans filing new claims for

unemployment benefits tumbled last week to its

lowest level in nearly 15 years

Britain marks 50 years since wartime PM Winston

Churchill's funeral

i. Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965

ii. Britain marked 50 years since the state funeral of

wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill happened

Italy elects senior judge Sergio Mattarella as

president – Jan 31

i. Italian lawmakers elected Sergio Mattarella, a

constitutional court judge and veteran centre-left

politician, as president

ii. He is Italy's 12th president since World War Two

World record of longest distance by a gas-filled

balloon was broken

i. Two balloonists Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev

completed a world record-breaking trans-Pacific

flight

ii. The voyage began in Japan

Business and Economics

LIC International launches co-branded credit card

with UAE's First Gulf Bank – Jan 1

i. India's LIC International and Abu Dhabi -based First

Gulf Bank are planning to introduce a unique co-

branded credit card in the United Arab Emirates

ii. This is the first time that an insurance firm has

entered into a strategic alliance with a bank in the

gulf country

India well on its way to becoming a $5 trillion

economy by 2025

i. India is on its way to become a $5 trillion economy

by 2025 (and thus the third largest on this planet after

China and the US)

ii. By 2018, it will overtake Britain and become the

largest economy in the Commonwealth

iii. Pankaj Ghemawat's Global Connectedness Index

shows India at 126th out of 140 countries ranked

Amul Shatabdi to Flipkart Chandigarh: Govt may

allow corporate houses brand trains and stations

i. The committee headed by former financial services

secretary DK Mittal in its report has said railways can

raise around Rs 8,000 crore through a corporate

branding exercise

ii. This year, may end up boarding Amul Shatabdi to

Flipkart Chandigarh if the railway ministry accepts the

recommendation of a committee set up to improve

the finances of Indian Railways




20

November core growth at 5-month high of 6.7%,

deficit at 99%

i. The fiscal deficit touched 99% of the full-year

budget estimate at the end of November

ii. Core sector growth climbed to a five month high of

6.7% in November

iii. The core sector index has a 38% weight in the Index

of Industrial Production (IIP)

iv. GDP growth slipped to 5.3% in the July-September

period from 5.7% in the preceding quarter

Bharat Forge acquires French firm – Jan 2

i. Auto component maker Bharat Forge said it has

acquired France-based Mecanique Generale

Langroise for 11.8 million euros (around Rs 90 crore)

Finance ministry mulls roping in private professionals

for top job at PSBs

i. The finance ministry is considering a proposal to

rope in professionals from the private sector

ii. The changes can only be made by appointments

committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi

iii. If approved, this would be for the first time that

government would invite applications from private

sector for the top posts of state-owned banks

iv. So far, CMDs of PSU banks were selected from

public sector banks only

Exports to Russia may start after regulatory approvals:

Amul

i. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation

(GCMMF), makers of Amul brand dairy products, had

said it is in discussion with Galactika Group to export

dairy products to Russia and once sealed, Amul

would become the first Indian dairy products maker

to enter into that market

Tata Steel resumes operations at Noamundi iron ore

mine

i. The Noamundi iron ore mine of Tata Steel has

resumed production after a gap of nearly four

months which recently resorted to imports for the first

time in over 100 years of existence

India's manufacturing sector output reaches 2-year

high in Dec: HSBC

i. India's manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace

in two years in December

The HSBC India Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) -- a

composite gauge designed to give a single-figure

snapshot of manufacturing business conditions --

stood at 54.5 in December

RBI cuts repo rates by 25 basis points – Jan 14

i. The RBI decided to cut the benchmark interest rate

by 0.25 per cent to 7.75 per cent with a view to boost

growth

Global economy to expand by 3 per cent this year

i. The World Bank has projected that Global economy

would expand by three per cent this year

Govt allows direct sale of bio-diesel by manufacturers

– Jan 15

i. The government allowed private manufacturers of

bio-diesel to sell it directly to consumers like Indian

Railways

Trade facilitation pact will cut costs: WTO chief

i. The WTO DG noted that the benefits of the TFA

would be visible to Indian industry

ii. The TFA would bring down trade costs by 15 per

cent, and bolster south-south trade

iii. Director-General of the World Trade Organization

Roberto Azevedo, said the remaining issues under the

Doha Development Agenda (DDA) would need to

be refocused before the Ministerial Conference in

Nigeria at the end of the year

Japanese business presence in India on the rise

i. The number of Japanese companies registered in

India had increased by 13 per cent to 1,209 from

1,072




21

ii. Director General of Japan External Trade

Organisation (JETRO) Chennai, Hidehiro Ishiura, said

Maharashtra with 637 establishments toppled Tamil

Nadu (577) from the premier post

AFCONS executes unique float-over system for

ONGC – Jan 21

i. AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd said it has executed a

float-over installation of the HRD Process Platform for

ONGC

ii. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group company has became

the first Indian EPC contractor to install a process

platform under float-over technology on time

iii. This was the second float-over operation to be

carried out in India

SEBI vetting plan to allow banks convert corporate

debt into equity

i. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Chairman U.K. Sinha, said that the regulator was

working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a

formula allowing banks to convert their debt into

equity in corporate

EU lifts ban on Indian mangoes

i. The seven-month ban on Indian mangoes, imposed

last year by the European Union, has been lifted well

in advance of the deadline set for the ban, which

was originally till December 2015.

ii. The EU accounts for more than 50 per cent of total

exports of fruits and vegetables from India

iii. The U.K. is the main destination, followed by the

Netherlands, Germany and Belgium

Petrol costs more than ATF in India

Petrol in India costs more than Aviation Turbine Fuel

(ATF)

i. For the first time, petrol in India costs more than the

superior jet fuel (ATF) used in aeroplanes as the

government has levied a record excise duty on the

fuel used in two-wheelers and cars

Toyota tops in global vehicle sales, beats VW, GM

i. Toyota Motor stayed at the top in global vehicle

sales in 2014, selling 10.23 million vehicles, beating

Volkswagen and General Motors

Facebook's impact on Indian economy pegged at $4

billion

i. Facebook enabled USD 4 billion economic impact

on the Indian economy and contributed to 335,000

jobs in some or the other way during last year,

according to a report by consultancy firm Deloitte

Vodafone appointed Sunil Sood, the first Indian CEO

for the country –Jan 22

i. Vodafone appointed the first Indian CEO, Sunil

Sood, for its India operations

Government to release new series of retail inflation

next month- Jan 23

i. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has been

releasing Consumer Price Indices (CPI) for Rural,

Urban and Combined, at state/UTs and all India level,

since January 2011

ii. Government will release next month a new series of

Consumer Price Index (CPI) with 2012 as base year for

computing retail inflation rate

iii. The first series (revised) would be compiled for

January which will be released on February 12.

iv. From January 2016 onwards, inflation rates would

be compiled using the actual CPI of the revised series

Base year for CPI to be revised this month

i. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most important

price gauge in India, is set to undergo base revision

this month from 2010 to 2012

ii. CPI, which tracks inflation at the consumer level,

has become the key measure of inflation for Reserve

Bank of India to decide on monetary policy action

Indonesia to form infrastructure bank to attract private

investment

i. Indonesia's finance ministry said it plans to inject

$1.63 billion into PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SMI) and

transform the state-owned financing firm into an




22

infrastructure bank to help fund roads, railways and

seaports with private backing

Egypt has signed a gas exploration contract in the

Nile Delta with French energy company Total

Spain's jobless rate falls in 2014 for second straight

year

i. Spain's unemployment rate fell for the second

straight year in 2014 but remains at one of the highest

levels in the European Union

Emami acquires controlling stake in Australia's Fravin

Pty Ltd

i. Emami Ltd has bought 66.67 per cent stake in

Australian company Fravin Pty Ltd, its second

acquisition this fiscal, marking its entry into the organic

products segment

Reserve Bank modifies ECB policy

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed norms for the

External Commercial Borrowing (ECBs) by allowing

banks and companies to restructure and reschedule

the existing borrowings

Forex reserves jump by $2.7 billion to touch all-time

high of $322.14 billion: RBI

i. India's foreign exchange reserves has scaled a new

height of $322.14 billion replacing the previous record

of $320.79 billion seen 40 months ago

ZipDial's Valerie Wagoner - Only foreign lady tech

CEO in India – Jan 24

i. Only foreign lady tech CEO in India is now also the

first woman to have founded a company acquired

by Twitter.

ii. She was named a Top Innovator Under 35 for India

by the MIT Technology Review in 2013

ASEAN to declare single market but delays deeper

integration: Malaysia

i. The Southeast Asian bloc, a market of about 600

million people, had set 2015 as a deadline for

integrating the region's vast economies into a single

European Union-style market, with tariffs abolished

and free movement of skilled workers

ii. Mustapa Mohamed, holds the rotating presidency

of the Southeast Asian bloc this year

iii. ASEAN groups together Brunei, Cambodia,

Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam

RBI asks banks to display loan interest rates on

websites

i. The Reserve Bank asked banks to display loan

interest rates and processing fees on their websites

Kenstar ties up with Amazon – Jan 26

i. In a first, Kenstar has tied up with e-commerce

player Amazon.in to distribute the ACs exclusively

Wipro bags multi-year dealfrom Irish bank

i. Wipro has won a multi-year strategic infrastructure

management contract from Allied Irish Banks plc

(AIB), a leading bank in Ireland

RBI signs MoU with BCB – Jan 27

i. The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said that it

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on

―Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of

Supervisory Information‖ with Banco Central do Brasil

(BCB)

Ashok Leyland unveiled its first zero emissions electric

bus in India, the Ashok Leyland Optare Versa EV, at

the Bus and Special Vehicles show

EBRD chief Sir Suma Chakrabarti to meet FM Arun

Jaitley, RBI governor in India – jan 28

i. The chief of the European Bank for Reconstruction

and Development (EBRD) will travel to India to hold

talks with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI

governor Raghuram Rajan

ii. The visit of Sir Suma Chakrabarti, the Kolkata-born

president of the London-headquartered bank,




23

centres around his address at the Delhi Sustainable

Development Summit between February 5-7

Gramin Bank introduces Rupay cards for minors

i. Pragathi Krishna Gramin Bank, headquartered in

Ballari, with jurisdiction over 11 districts, will be the first

Regional Rural Bank (RRB) and one among a few

commercial banks in the country to launch a new

initiative of introducing banking to schoolchildren

ii. M.G. Bhat is the Chairman of the Bank

iii. The bank will distribute Junior ATM Rupay Debit

Cards to schoolchildren above 10 years of age

Suzuki to set up three Gujarat plants in line with 'Make

in India' initiative

i. Japan's Suzuki group plans to set up three plants in

Gujarat's Hansalpur, which will exclusively supply to

Maruti Suzuki India Limited.

ii. Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel laid the

foundation stone for Suzuki's Gujarat vehicle

manufacturing plant

Larsen & Toubro hopes to build nuclear reactors

i. Larsen & Toubro hopes to build nuclear reactors in

partnership with Westinghouse Electric Company and

is exploring other partnerships after India and the US

cleared the way for implementing a bilateral

agreement signed in 2008

ii. L&T signed an agreement with Toshiba-controlled

Westinghouse to manufacture and sell its AP1000

nuclear reactor that runs on pressurised water

technology

iii. L&T, in partnership with the Nuclear Power

Corporation of India, set up a forging facility at Hazira

in Gujarat at an investment of 2,000 crore for the

nuclear power sector

India best positioned among emerging market

economies: report

i. After the taper tantrum scare in May-2013, the

Indian economy has repositioned itself today as a

winner in the EM space, said the ICICI Bank report

ii. India was followed by Hungary and Poland in the

second and third place respectively

iii. Others in the top ten include, Philippines in the

fourth place, Korea (5th), China (6th), Turkey (7th),

Thailand (8th), South Africa (9th) and Indonesia (10th)

place.

iv. Following the announcement by US Federal

Reserve's quantitative easing taper in May 2013, India

got exposed to macroeconomic vulnerability and

joined the Fragile Five pack (India, Brazil, Indonesia,

South Africa, Turkey)

India invites Czech businesses to partner in

infrastructure, R&D, tech – Jan 29

i. India today invited companies from the Czech

Republic to partner in mega infrastructure projects

and in other sectors like research and development,

technology, power and transportation

ii. Secretary (EPA & ER) in the External Affairs Ministry,

Sujata Mehta, invited Czech businesses when

addressing the Indo-Czech Republic Business Forum

organised by Ficci

iii. Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech

Republic is Jan Mladek

UK‟s CDC to invest $25 million in Pristine Logistics – Jan

29

i. UK‘s development finance institution CDC has

announced that it will make a direct investment of

$25 million in Pristine Logistics which is developing,

constructing and operating Greenfield rail freight

terminals across northern, central and eastern India

India not ready for full capital account liberalisation

i. India is not ready for opening its capital account

fully to foreign investors at this point in time as the pros

and cons of such liberalisation are a "contentious

issue", central bank deputy governor H R Khan

RBI cancels license of Kolkata-based Baranagar Co-

operative Bank

i. Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the licence of

Kolkata-based Baranagar Co-operative Bank Ltd as




24

the bank turned insolvent and all efforts to revive the

bank had failed

India's FDI increased by 26 per cent in 2014: UN – Jan

30

i. India's FDI increased by 26 per cent in 2014 to nearly

$ 35 billion with maximum growth in the services

sector, a UN report has said

ii. China toppled the US in 2014 as the world's largest

recipient of FDI -- a position that the US had been

holding almost consistently since the 1980's -- though

with a modest increase of 3 per cent, said the latest

'Global Investment Trade Monitor' report released by

United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD)

India-US solar issue: WTO's dispute panel to meet next

week

i.The consultations were followed after the US filed a

complaint in the WTO in February last year alleging

discrimination by India's national solar mission against

American products

ii. As per the procedure of the World Trade

Organisation, consultation is the first stage of a

complaint filed with the global trade body

RBI Deputy Governor welcomes Airtel, Kotak

Mahindra Bank tie-up

Government revises up 2013/14 GDP growth to 6.9 per

cent –Jan 31

i. The economic growth rate was revised upwards to

6.9 per cent for 2013-14, as against 4.7 per cent

estimated earlier, after the government updated the

base year for measuring national accounts

ii. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for

2013-14 has gone up following adoption of the new

series with base year 2011-12

iii. The rate of expansion was estimated at 4.7 per

cent under the old series that had 2004-05 as base

year

iv. The base year was last revised in January 2010 and

goes under revision every five years

v. Government also introduced the new concepts like

Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy

ePaisa looks to partner with New India Co-operative

banks, retail chains

i. Startup ePaisa has entered into a partnership with

New India Co-operative Bank, offering its mobile

point-of-sale application to the lender's merchant

customers.

US energy major Chevron Corp to stop its shale gas

exploration in Poland

i. US energy major Chevron Corp said it will stop

exploring for shale gas in Poland

ii. Exxon Mobil, Total and Marathon Oil have also

stopped shale gas exploration in Poland over the past

three years

U.S. regulator sets terms to clear Sun‟s acquisition of

Ranbaxy

i. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries‘ has proposed $4-

billion acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories

ii. Divested assets are to be bought by Torrent Pharma

iii. Ranbaxy is currently one of three suppliers of the

Generic minocycline tablets in U.S

Science and Technology

Mutations causing abnormal heart muscle protein

identified – Jan 14

i. Titin, a protein that is part of the mechanism muscles

use to contract and relax, have been implicated as a

cause for dilated cardiomyopathy

Britain‟s missing spacecraft found on Mars – Jan 15

i. Britain‘s infamous ―Beagle 2‖ spacecraft has been

found on Mars – 11 years after it went missing

China starts clinical trial to repair human spinal cord

injury – Jan 17

i. Chinese scientists and doctors began a landmark

clinical trial using a collagen complex and stem cells

to repair damaged human spinal cord




25

Deadly TB strains emerged in Asia over 6,000 years

ago – Jan 21

i. An evolutionary geneticist from the National

Museum of Natural History in Paris has decoded the

tuberculosis (TB) genome, suggesting that a

pernicious family of the strain emerged in Asia over

6,000 years ago

New anti-radiation drug tested –Jan 26

i. A new drug lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) that

protects mice days after exposure to radiation may

one day treat side effects of cancer therapy scientists

say

NASA satellite to measure soil moisture on Earth

i. NASA is launched a new remote sensing instrument

in space that will measure the moisture lodged in

Earth's soils

ii. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) instrument

has three main parts -radar, a radiometer and the

largest rotating mesh antenna ever deployed in

space

Sports

Sachin Tendulkar is all set to lead mass run in Kerala –

Jan 20

i. Sachin Tendulkar who is the goodwill ambassador

for the games, is going to lead over one crore runners

to the streets as part of 'Run Kerala Run,' a

promotional event for the 35th National Games

Paul van Ass appointed as coach of National Men‟s

Hockey team

i. Former Dutch National Hockey team coach Paul

van Ass was on 30 January 2015 appointed as the

head Coach of Indian men's hockey team

India to host ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2016

i. International Cricket Council (ICC) in its board

meeting in Dubai on 29 January 2015 announced

that India will host the Twenty20 World Cup in 2016

ii. The Twenty20 World Cup will be held in India from

11 March 2016 to 3 April 2016

Russian Popov Ivan won 7th Chennai International

Open Grandmaster Chess title

i. Popov Ivan of Russia on 6 January 2015 won 7th

Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess title

Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d‟Or

Award

i. Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo won the

2014 FIFA Ballon d‘Or award for the best footballer of

the year in the world

ii. It is the third time that Ronaldo has won the Ballon

d‘Or award

Pankaj Advani won National Billiards title for seventh

time

i. Cueist Pankaj Advani won National Billiards

Championship at the Bengal Rowing Club in Kolkata

Viktor Troicki won Men‟s Single title of Sydney

International Tennis Tournament

i. Viktor Troicki of Serbia on 18 January 2015 won

Men‘s Single title of Sydney International Tennis

Tournament

Dwayne Bravo has announced his retirement from

Test cricket

Birth and Death

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose 118th birth anniversary

was on 23 jan – Jan 23

The president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi has

resigned along with his prime minister Khaled Bahah

in protest at the takeover of the capital Sanaa by Shia

Houthi rebels

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz who had

ruled since 2005 died




26

Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz was appointed as the

new king of Saudi

Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965

Iconic cartoonist R K Laxman passes away – Jan 26

Mahatma Gandhi‟s 67th death anniversary on

January 30, 1948 – Jan 30

Awards and Important Days

Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of

the country, are conferred in three categories,

namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and

Padma Shri

This year the President of India has approved

conferment of Padma Awards to 104 persons as per

the list below. The list comprises of 9 Padma

Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri

Awardees. 17 of the awardees are women and the

list also includes 17 persons from the category of

foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 4 Posthumous awardees

Padma Vibhushan

S.

N

o.

Name of the

Awardee

Discipline State/Domi

cile

1 Lal Krishna Advani Public

Affairs

Gujarat

2 Amitabh Bachchan Art Maharashtr

a

3 Prakash Singh

Badal

Public

Affairs

Punjab

4 Dr. D Veerendra

Heggade

Social

Work

Karnataka

5 Mohammad Yusuf

Khan alias Dilip

Kumar

Art Maharashtr

a

6 Jagadguru

Ramanandacharya

Swami

Rambhadracharya

Others Uttar

Pradesh

7 Malur Ramaswamy Science Tamil Nadu

Srinivasan and

Engineerin

g

8 Kottayan K.

Venugopal

Public

Affairs

Delhi

9 Karim Al Hussaini

Aga Khan

(Foreigner)

Trade and

Industry

France/UK

Padma Bhushan

S.

No.

Name of the

Awardees

Discipline State/Do

micile

1

Shri Jahnu

Barua

Art Assam

2

Dr. Vijay Bhatkar Science

and

Engineering

Maharas

htra

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 Others Karnatak




27

Swami a

15

Dr. Kharag

Singh Valdiya

Science

and

Engineering

Karnatak

a

16 Professor Manjul

Bhargava

(NRI/PIO)

USA

17 David Frawley

(Vamadeva)

(Foreigner)

Others USA

18 Bill Gates

(Foreigner)

Social Work USA

19 Melinda

Gates (Foreigne

r)

Social Work USA

20 Saichiro Misumi

(Foreigner)

Others Japan

Padma Shri

S.

No.

Names of the

Awardees

Discipline State/Domicil

e

1 Dr. Manjula

Anagani

Medicine Telangana

2 S. Arunan Science

and Engg

Karnataka

3 Kanyakumari

Avasarala

Art Tamil Nadu

4 Dr. Bettina

Sharada Baumer

Literature &

Education

Jammu and

Kashmir

5 Naresh Bedi Art Delhi

6 Ashok Bhagat Social Work Jharkhand

7 Sanjay Leela

Bhansali

Art Maharashtra

8 Dr. Lakshmi

Nandan Bora

Literature &

Education

Assam

9 Dr. Gyan

Chaturvedi

Literature

and

Education

Madhya

Pradesh

10 Professor Yogesh

Kumar Chawla

Medicine Chandigarh

11 Jayakumari

Chikkala

Medicine Delhi

12 Bibek Debroy Literature & Delhi

Education

13 Dr. Sarungbam

Bimola Kumari

Devi

Medicine Manipur

14 Dr. Ashok Gulati Public

Affairs

Delhi

15 Dr. Randeep

Guleria

Medicine Delhi

16 Dr. K. P. Haridas Medicine Kerala

17 Rahul Jain Art Delhi

18 Ravindra Jain Art Maharashtra

19 Dr. Sunil Jogi Literature

and

Education

Delhi

20 Prasoon Joshi Art Maharashtra

21 Dr. Prafulla Kar Art Odisha

22 Saba Anjum Sports Chhattisgarh

23 Ushakiran Khan Literature &

Education

Bihar

24 Dr. Rajesh

Kotecha

Medicine Rajasthan

25 Professor Alka

Kriplani

Medicine Delhi

26 Dr. Harsh Kumar Medicine Delhi

27 Narayana

Purushothama

Mallaya

Literature

and

Education

Kerala

28 Lambert

Mascarenhas

Literature &

Education

Goa

29 Dr. Janak Palta

McGilligan

Social Work Madhya

Pradesh

30 Veerendra Raj

Mehta

Social Work Delhi

31 Tarak Mehta Art Gujarat

32 Neil Herbert

Nongkynrih

Art Meghalaya

33 Chewang

Norphel

Others Jammu and

Kashmir

34 T. V. Mohandas

Pai

Trade and

Industry

Karnataka

35 Dr.Tejas Patel Medicine Gujarat

36 Jadav Molai Others Assam




28

Peyang

37 Bimla Poddar Other Uttar Pradesh

38 Dr. N. Prabhakar Science

and Engg

Delhi

39 Dr. Prahalada Maharashtra

40 Dr. Narendra

Prasad

Medicine Bihar

41 Ram Bahadur Rai Literature

and

Education

Delhi

42 Mithali Raj Sports Telangana

43 P. V. Rajaraman Civil

Service

Tamil Nadu

44 J. S. Rajput Literature &

Education

Uttar Pradesh

45 Kota Srinivasa

Rao

Art Andhra

Pradesh

46 Bimal Roy Literature &

Education

West Bengal

47 Shekhar Sen Art Maharashtra

48 Gunvant Shah Literature

and

Education

Gujarat

49 Brahmdev

Sharma (Bhaiji)

Delhi

50 Manu Sharma Uttar Pradesh

51 Yog Raj Sharma Medicine Delhi

52 Vasant Shastri Science

and Engg

Karnataka

53 S. K. Shivkumar Karnataka

54 P. V. Sindhu Sports Telangana

55 Sardara Singh Sports Haryana

56 Arunima Sinha Sports Uttar Pradesh

57 Mahesh Raj Soni Art Rajasthan

58 Dr.Nikhil Tandon Medicine Delhi

59 H. Thegtse

Rinpoche

Social Work Arunachal

Pradesh

60 Dr.Hargovind

Laxmishanker

Trivedi

Medicine Gujarat

61 Huang Baosheng

(Foreigner)

Others China

62 Professor Jacques

Blamont

(Foreigner)

Science

and Engg

France

63 Late Syedna

Mohammad

Burhanuddin

(Posthumous)

Others Maharashtra

64 Jean-Claude

Carriere-Foreigner

Literature &

Education

France

65 Dr. Nandrajan Raj

Chetty (NRI/PIO)

Trade and

Industry

USA

66 George L. Hart

(Foreigner)

Others USA

67 Jagat Guru Amrta

Suryananda

Maha Raja

(NRI/PIO)

Others Portugal

68 Late Meetha Lal

Mehta

(Posthumous)

Social Work Rajasthan

69 Tripti Mukherjee

(NRI/PIO)

Art USA

70 Dr. Dattatreyudu

Nori (NRI/PIO)

Medicine USA

71 Dr. Raghu Rama

Pillarisetti

(NRI/PIO)

Medicine USA

72 Dr. Saumitra

Rawat (NRI/PIO)

Medicine UK

73 Annette

Schmiedchen

(Foreigner)

Literature &

Education

Germany

74 Late Pran Kumar

Sharma

(Posthumous)

Art Delhi

75 Late R.

Vasudevan

(Posthumous)

Civil

Service

Tamil Nadu

JANUARY IMPORTANT DAYS

27 January International Day of Commemoration

in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

-------

jan 2015 current affairs

Career

railway board chairman

vice chairman

new chairman of railway

chairman andhra pradesh

niti aayog

niti ayog

niti national institution

dhan accounts