DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS - 28.01.2015 TO 29.01.2015 DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS National  CBI has filed a progress report with the statement of various people in the coal block allocation case before the special court.  The first meeting of the NITI Ayog will be held on 6th February and its governing council on 8th February to spell out the functional road map.  President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to Odisha Lokayukta Bill 2014 passed by the State Assembly in February 2014 making it an Act.  Dr. S. Jaishankar replaced Sujatha Singh as the new Foreign Secretary of India. He played a prominent role in improving Indo-USA relation & the nuclear deal.  BJP and PDP have almost finalised the alliance to form govt. in coalition in J & K.  As part of its election campaign Congress party in Delhi will push for Right to Shelter for the people of Delhi.  The Indian govt. plans to introduce a “Wage Code” that will replace Central laws pertaining to wage related matters and cover both organised and unorganised sectors. Bilateral  USA has agreed to facilitate Indian membership at the APEC Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.  USA President pledged $ 4 billion in loans to boost business ties between the two countries and launch a new Indian Diasphora Initiative meant to help Indian Americans fund local business.  Indian & Germany agreed to set up two working groups – one on circular economy and other on water management. International  UN agency on Palestine refugees said that it cannot afford to repair Gaza home damaged in last year’s war with Israel because donors have failed to pay.  Pakistan govt. has decided to arm the teachers in the North-west Pakistan.  Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has sacked Supreme Court Chief Justice Mohan Peiris and reinstated the latter’s Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC    predecessor Sherani Bandaranayak who was impeached illegally by the previous govt of Rajpakshe. Islamic State militant group has appointed Hafiz Saied Khan as the new IS Chief in Khurasan an area covering Afghanistan. Pakistan and part of India. Jordan offered to set free a female ISIS Jahadist for the Pilot held hostage by the ISIS militant. Israel strike in Lebanon against the Hizbullah militant. Economy & Banking  Wipro has won a $ 150 million IT out sourcing deal from the Allied Irish Bank (AIB) of Ireland.  Easing Current Account Deficithelped the Finance Minister to Focus on Tax reforms.  Yes Bank signed a MOU with OPIC on agency of the US govt’s development finance institution for $ 220 million loan for on lending to micro, small and medium enterprises. USA declared $ 1 billion OPIC assistance to India.  Corporate Bond Sale increased due to the fall in Repo rate by RBI which may raise to Rs. 3 lakh cr. during this financial year.  To bolster the financial position & attract more FDI the Indian govt. has taken a slew of measures to raise nearly Rs. 1.25 lakh cr. through Spectrum sale and Coal India disinvestment and ending fruitless litigation.  The 14th Finance Commission under Y.V. Reddy, former RBI Governor has recommended a major increase in the Quantum of Funds that flew from the centre to the states.  Govt. target to get Rs. 24,000 cr. from 10% share sale in Coal India Ltd.  SBI which accounts for almost 1/4th of Indian banking seek shareholders’ permission for raising Rs. 15,000 cr. by saling shares to local or overseas investors.  To insure hassle free credit to small borrowers the RBI has directed banks to do away with the obtaining No Due Certificate from individual loan takers.  Govt. target to raise Rs. 1 lakh cr. from sale of spectrum and has fixed the base B – 61 A & B, (2nd floor) Janpath, Opp. R.D. Women’s College, Saheed Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 1 DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS - 28.01.2015 TO 29.01.2015    price of 3G auction at Rs. 3705 per mega hertz. Maruti-Suzuki will set up 3 plants in Gujarat as part of Make in India programme. India has appealed to the Dispute Settlement Board of WTO for a panel discussion on its issues with the USA over agricultural imports. RBI has signed a MOU on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information with Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) of Brazil, with this the RBI has signed 23 such MOU with overseal resulations. Appointments  Union Government has appointed Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as the new Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs (i.e. Foreign Secretary). Before this appointment, he was India’s Ambassador to United States and was appointed in September 2013.  Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has sworn in as the 26th Governor of Himachal Pradesh. He succed Urmila Singh, who completed the full five year term as HP Governor on January 24.  K Durga Prasad an IPS officer of 1981 batch from Andhra Pradesh cadre appointed as the Special DG of CRPF  Alexix Tsipras became the first prime minister in Greek history to be sworn in without the traditional oath on a Bible and blessing of basil and water from the Greek Archbishop. Sports  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.  Two-time gold medal winning hockey Olympian Jaswant Singh Rajput passed away on 28th January 2015 following a prolonged illness  Saina Nehwal won women’s single Syed Modi grand pix trophy 2015 by defeating World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC  Kelvin David George Nagle, winner of British Open in 1960 died on 29 January 2015 in Sydney at the age of 94. He held a record of winning 61 tournaments on the Australasian PGA tour. Awards  Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize carrying a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh for Poetry for her work When God is a Traveller. Miscellaneous  Famous cartoonist R.K. Laxman died.  India’s Team Indus won the Google Lunar Prize – a global competition to land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon by December 2016.  Commanding officer ColonelM.M. Rai who got a military medal on Republic Day was killed while fighting the Hizbul Mujahidin militant in J & K.  Infosys co-founder Narayan Murty and has his family have donated 200,000 pound towards the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament street in London.  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.  Maharashtra government has announced that, September 17 (on Vishwakarma Jayanti) will be observed as Industries Day in each district.  Chandigara lunch smart city app named Smart Chandigara to create awareness on consumer rights and responsibilities and provide all types of citizen-centric and public utility services and information to the residents.  Maharastra government decided to buy a house in London where B.R. Ambedkar stayed during his Higher Studies.  India Shastra is a book by Shashi Tharoor.  For the first time a Woman Officer Wing Commander Pooja Thakur led the Ceremonial Guard of Honour for Obama. B – 61 A & B, (2nd floor) Janpath, Opp. R.D. Women’s College, Saheed Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 2