Current Affairs january 2013

: Current Affairs january 2013 :

: World :

* The Chinese administration decides to go ahead with construction of three more dams on Brahmaputra amidst protests from India

* Egyptian President declares emergency in three cities- Suez, Ismailia and Port Said

* US Senate elects John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as the next US Secretary of States

* Milos Zeman becomes the first elected President of Czech Republic defeating Karel Schwarzenberg in the 2013 elections

* Air India is ranked third worst airline in the world, after China Airlines and TAM Airlines

* Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secures narrow win in the Israel Parliament elections

* Barrack Obama sworn in as the President of United States for the second term at the ceremony held in White House

* India and Bangladesh decides t o speed up works on four rail-link projects to enhance the co-operation between the people of the two countries

* The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued order to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in the Rs 22 billion Rental Power Projects scam

* French troops deployed to counter the rebel attacks in Mali; state of emergency declared across the country

* India and Bangladesh to sign on liberalized visa agreements during Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde‟s visit to Bangladesh

* United States and Russia endorses Geneva Plan which calls for establishment of a governing body as the only solution to Syrian crisis, quashes military solutions

* King Abdulla of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia creates history by appointing 30 women to the previously all-male Shura Council

* World‟s first earthquake-free Hindu temple constructed at a cost of 100 million dollars is opened to public in Los Angeles, United States of America.

* US President Barck Obama signs the Defence bill approving 633 billion dollars defence spending for the current year 2013 .

* Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu ever to be sworn in as a member of the US House of Representatives, has created history by taking the oath of office on the sacred Bhagavad Gita.

* Teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousufzai‟s father Ziauddin is being appointed as Pakistan‟s education attache in Birmigham .

: World Organisations :

* The UN Telecommunications Agency approves the new compression format H.265 which can drastically reduce the size of video files

* The UN Security Council condemns North Korea for its rocket launch of December and decides to extent the already existing sanctions against the country

* The four day Annual summit of the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland

* Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs, Kamal Nath to lead the Indian delegation to World Economic Forum to be held at Davos.

* The World Bank has indicated its inclination to set up a crash analysis centre for the first time in India

* The World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) which was held in Dubai agrees a fresh international treaty called the New Global Telecoms Treaty

* The health ministers meet of BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) decides to set up a Technical Working Group(TWG) to monitor information exchange between the nations

* United Nations officially ends the peace keeping mission under the leadership of Finn Reske-Nielsen in East Timor

: Indian History :

* The Bihar Government to issue new multi-purpose smart card to prisoners, thus becomes the first state in the country to do so

* The Indo-Pakistan secretary level talks on Water sharing scheduled to be held today(28th Jan, 2013)is being postponement

* The city of Kochi in Kerala has the largest number of obese population, as per a national survey conducted over 11 cities in the country

* The Supreme Court of India bans construction of religious structures and statues at public places

* District Court at Patiala House, New Delhi becomes the first district court in the country to implement complete e-stamping facility.

* The Indian and Pakistani armies held Brigade Commander-level flag meeting at Chakan-Da-Bagh in Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir

* The International Kite Festival organized by the Gujarat Tourism Department was held in Ahmedabad on the banks of river Sabarmathi

* A commemorative postage stamp on Silk Letter Movement is being released by Pranab Mukherjee, the Hon President of India

* The Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda lays the foundation stone of the National Data Centre of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) at Maneshar, Gurgaon in Haryana.

* Mantra Airlines launches the first civil aviation service between Jammu and Kargil sectors

* The three day Pravasi Bharathiya Divas(PBD) celebrations being inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh at Kochi, Kerala .

* The first successful Intestine Transplant surgery was held at Medanta Medicity,Gurgaon .

* The State of Kerala announces a new scheme to distribute free iron tablets to school students in order to prevent instances of Anemia .

: Indian Polity:

* Union Cabinet clears the revised Lokpal Bill, giving the power of appointment of Lokayuktas to State Governments

* Justice Verma Committee in its report of recommendations regarding punishment for sex assault victims refuses death penalty; recommends 10 years imprisonment

* The Union Government decides to hike the import duty on gold and platinum from 4% to 6% with immedeiate effect

* Union Cabinet approves imposition of Presidents‟s rule in the State of Jharkhand following resignation of its Chief Minister, Arjun Munda

* The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gives nod to continuation of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

* The first Shariat Panchayat of the state of Punjab to be opened in the Muslim town Malerkotla in Sangrur district

* Civil Aviation Ministry sets up a five-member committee headed by Prof. Ravindra Dholkia to conduct study on cost-cutting and optimal utilization of resources.

* Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir inaugurates the first of the five newly announced fast-track courts in Delhi

* Vasundhara Raje Scindia likely to be appointed as the State President of Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan

* Samajwadi Party(SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav directs party workers not to use his photograph in party banners and posters without party‟s permission

* The Supreme Court of India orders a second look into the earlier order passed by the then UP governer who refused probe against the BSP Chief Mayawati on Taj Corridor case

* Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to be elected to the post of BJP‟s campaign committee for the 2014 Loksabha polls

* The Aam Aadmi party headed by Arvind Kejriwal launches its Uttarakhand unit

* Rajnath Singh is elected as the President of Bharatiya Janata Party, replacing Nitin Gadkari

* Veteran BJP leader Vajubhai Vala to be sworn in as the new Speaker of the Gujarat State Assembly

* Uddhav Thackeray, son of late Bal Thackeray takes charge as the Chief of Shiv Sena

* Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on corruption charges

* Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim has called off his visit to India

* Kalyan Singh’s Jankranti Party (Rashtrawadi) announces merger with Bharatiya Janata Party

* The Congress Working Committee nominates Rahul Gandhi to the post of Congress Vice President

* Union Cabinet imposes President’s rule in Jharkhand

* Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, his son and MLA Ajay Chautala are convicted by a Delhi court on charges of Recruitment scam.

* The Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Arjun Munda submits resignation following JMM’s withdrawal of support to his coalition Ministry

* Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) withdraws support to the BJP-led coalition government in Jharkhand

* 18th National Level meeting between Myanmar and India being held in New Delhi

* US Congress passes the Fiscal cliff bill by huge majority

* Veteran Socialist Trade Union leader Kishore Pawar passed away in Pune at the age of 86 after 1 month of illness

: Education :

* Prema Jeyakumar from Mumbai, daughter of an autorikshaw driver tops the All India Chartered Accountancy Examination

* Technology major IBM enters into an agreement with University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun in imparting sills to students and faculty

* Ved Prakash has been appointed as the new Chairman of the University Grants Commission(UGC)

* Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu has decided to adopt a uniform retirement policy for teaching and non-teaching staff, following financial crisis

* NASSCOM Sector Skills Council(SSC) and NIIT sign pact for providing training to around 1 lakh students over the next 3 years on BPO/KPO and Legal Process Outsourcing jobs

* Dr.A V George is being appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala

: Business :

* Manoj Kohli , the CEO-International Operations and Joint MD of Bharti Airtel to be named as the Managing Director of the company

* Tata Motors launches in Indian market, Vista D90, a diesel version hatchback

* Medical equipment manufacturer Trivitron HealthCare acquires Middle East based ETA Star Healthcare

* Philips Electronics has decided to sell its audio and video business to Japan based Funai Electric Company

* Air carrier SpiceJet to commence flight services to China starting February 2013

* Leading Indian car maker, Maruti Suzuki buys land in Gujarat to establish its new plant

* Toyota Motor Corp surpasses GM and Volkswagen to become the World's top selling Automaker for the year 2012

* The country's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India opens its second branch in China at Tianjin

* Godrej Consumer Products signed pact with Creador in order to divest its stake in the the non-core food business in Indonesia

* Britain’s leading financial sector player Barclays announces its decision to shift hundreds of back office jobs to India as part of cost-reduction measures being undertaken by the firm

* Budget air carrier Indigo has started its low-cost passenger flight service between Thiruvananthapuram and Dubai

* A new advertisement campaign named “Fast Start” is being launched by Volkswagen to promote its Polo and Vento models

* The ONGC Videsh’s De-Kastri oil terminal in Russia, has bagged the Best Oil Terminal Award of Russia for 2012

* Chinese telecom firm Huawei to distribute its enterprise network solutions, infrastructure, data storage services, smart phones, tablets etc., in tie-up with HCL Infosystems

*Eric Haskell is being appointed as the Managing Director of Reebock India Limited

* Hindalco to acquire the Brazilian alumina refinery and bauxite mines, Novelis

* Renault Duster is being awarded the Car of the Year Award 2013

* Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) launches video telephony service in the metrocities of Delhi and Mumbai

* Air carrier Jet Airways signs agreement with CentrumDirect to offer Foreign Exchange Services to its customers

* Automobile major, Mahindra & Mahindra ties up with e-commerce portal, www.snapdeal .com for selling of its new range of two wheelers

* Toyota launches in Indian market, a five-speed automatic version of the SUV, Toyota Fortuner

* Hyundai Motors India announces its decision to replace all top level Korean Executives by Indian counterparts within a span of one year

* Vice President Hamid Ansari signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vietnam towards strengthening the co-operation in micro, small and medium enterprise sectors

* IT major Mahindra Satyam ventures into pharmaceutical business in tie-up with a Japanese firm TechMatrix Corporation

* Welspun Energy to set up a research laboratory in Gujarat for advancement of solar technology in partnership with Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI)

* Japanese company, Tokyo Engineering Corporation signs agreement to set up solar power plant at Rajiv Gandhi Technical University

* The Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Limited (BCPL) announces commissioning of the multi-crore Assam Gas Cracker Project by December 2013

* Credit card company American Express announces its plans to cut 5400 jobs during this year as part of restructuring of its business

* Nishant K Rao appointed as the Country Manager of the professional networking site, LinkedIn

* Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi officially inaugurates the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Meet

* Malaysian Low-cost Airline company AirAsia, Asia‟s largest Budger Airlines plans to establish its presence in India

* Wolfgang Prock-Schauer , the former head of Jet Airways is being appointed as the CEO of Air Berlin

* DM Healthcare with network of healthcare establishments in India and the Middle East has announced Rs 2,300 crore expansion plans in the state of Kerala

* Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles, part of the Mahindra Group, to name its next generation electric car 'Mahindra e20'

* B K Mandal assumes additional charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India(SCI)

* Mahindra Two Wheelers launches two new models into the market-Centuro and Pantero

* NALCO commissions its first Wind power project at Gandikota in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh

* Masaki Asano is appointed as the Deputy Managing Director of India Yamaha Motor

* Qatar based Al Jazeera announces its plan to buy Current TV to establish a news channel tentatively called Al Jazeera America.

* Air carrier Kingfisher Airlines’ flying permit expired on 31st December, 2012

* Keyline Brands, UK based subsidiary of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) acquires Soft and Gentle from Colgate-Palmolive Co.

: Economics :

* Pakistan’s export to India during the period from April to December, 2012 register a 66% growth in comparison with previous year

* As per estimates, Venezuela is being ranked as the country with highest inflation rate in the World-29.8% as on December 2010

* The Reserve Bank of India cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 7.75 per cent and CRR by 25 bps to 4 per cent in its third quarter monetary policy review

* Reserve Bank of India has lowered India’s economic growth for the current fiscal year to 5.5 % from its earlier forecast of 5.8%

* The Chinese Ministry of Commerce decides to levy import duties on two chemicals from the US and European Union for 5 years

* Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) projects Indian economy to grow by 6.7% in the 2013-14 fiscal year

* Singapore-based Spice Global announces its plan to enter into Indian Healthcare Industry by initially setting up 1000 bed hospital

* International Monetary Fund(IMF) forecasts world’s economic growth rate for 2013 to be 3.5%

* International Monetary Fund(IMF) forecasts India’s economic growth rate for India in 2013 to be 5.9% and that for 2014 to be 6.4%

* Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem is appointed as President of the Eurozone's Group of Finance Ministers

* International Labour Organization (ILO) report projects 202 million jobless people around the world by 2013 end.

* The Central Government to infuse a capital of Rs.3004 crores to the largest public sector bank of India, the State Bank of India for the current fiscal year

* World Bank cuts its Global Growth Forecatst for the year 2013 to 2.4 percent from the earlier forecasted 3%

* Lakshmi Vilas Bank has appointed K S R Anjaneyulu as the Additional Director, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect

* Finance Minister P Chidambaram has deferred implementation of GAAR to April 2016 and has announced that FIIs will be exempted from its purview

* Japanese Government announces a $ 226.5 billion stimulus plan to rebuild disaster-hit areas of the country and to beef up the nation’s military resources.

* Rajiv Kumar Goyal is appointed as the Executive Director of Central Bank of India, succeeding R K Dubey

* R K Dubey is being appointed as the Chairman and managing Director of Canara Bank

* Indian Index of Industrial Production (IIP) of November 2012 contracts to a four month low of .1%

* India’s December 2012 Retail Inflation jumps to 10.56% in comparison with 9.90% in the month of November

* India’s overall exports for the month of December registers a drop of 1.92%

* India’s December 2012 headline inflation drops marginally to 7.18% in comparison with 7.24 in the month of November

* Jacob “Jack” Lew to replace Tim Geithner as the US Treasury Secretary

* Rating agency, Fitch maintains its negative rating of India’s Sovereign Rating

* Senior IAS officer Rajiv Thakur is being appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Finance .

*Competition Commission of Indi(CCI) approves the 30% stake purchase by Punjab National Bank(PNB) in Metlife India Insurance Company

* Urjit Patel has been appointed as a Deputy Governer of the Reserve Bank of India(RBI)

* Y V Reddy being appointed as the Chairman of the 14th Finance Commission

* The first phase of Direct Cash Transfer scheme to be launched by the Union Government in 20 districts.

* India’s Forex Reserves decrease by USD 92.8 million for the week ended 21st December, 2012

: Personalities :

* Suchitra K Ella is being nominated as the Founding Chairwoman of the Women’s wing of Confederation of Indian Industry(CII)

* A recent survey conducted by Trust Research Advisory Agency names Anna Hazare as the “Most trusted personality in India”

* Indian Cricket Team captian, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is named Vice President of India Cements Limited

* Pune-based Jasraj Joshi declared the winner of Zee TV's 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012'

* Social scientist, Ashis Nandy in limelight on his alleged remarks against Dalits at the Jaipur Literature Festival venue

* Notorious professional thief Devinder Singh alias Bunty Chor is arrested from a hotel in Pune

* Noted playback singer S. Janaki refuses the prestigious Padma Bhushan award given to her

* Saachi Soni, a 19 year old university student from Delhi is being selected for an expedition to Mount Everest by the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling

* US Court sentences David Headley, the master brain behind the Mumbai terrorist attacks, to 35 years imprisonment

* 21 year old Priya Sachan becomes the first woman train operator for the Gurgaon's Rapid Metro project.

* Pop singer Justin Bieber becomes the most followed person on Twitter, as per latest released statistics

* King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade for the year 2013

* 20-year-old Paras Zutshi from Delhi is the winner of the second season of reality show 'Superdude'.

* Noted Tamil writer and social activist M.S. Udayamurthy passed away at the age of 85, following cardiac arrest

* Rakesh Mishra takes charge as the new General Manager of Southern Railways

* The former ISRO Chairman, Mr.U R Rao to be inducted into the International Satellite Hall of Fame at the ceremony to be held in Washington DC

* Wei Wei is appointed as the new Chinese ambassador to India

* US Court sentences Headley’s aide Tahawwur Rana for 14 years of imprisonment on charges of providing support to Pakistan based militant outfit, LeT

* Jack Ma, Founder CEO of world-famous online shopping and e-commerce portal , Alibaba.com decides to step down

* Self-styled Godman Asaram Bapu accused of 700 crore land grab case

* Tom Albanese, the CEO of Mining giant Rio Tinto resigns; Sal Walsh to take over Albanese

* 58 year old Indian-origin Halimah Yacob elected as the first woman speaker of Singapore

*Balagangadharanatha Swami of Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math in Mandya passed away at the age of 68 following a brief illness

* Award-winning British journalist Yvonne Ridley has accused Indian Government of refusing her a visa to attend the Spring of Islam conference organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH)

* President rejects the mercy petition filed by death-row convict Saibanna Ningappa Natikar.This is the second rejection, the plea by Ajmal Kassab being the first

* Shirani Bandarnayake, the first woman chief justice of Srilanka is being removed from office following charges of corruption

* Supreme Court quashes Chandrashekaraiah’s appointment as Upalokayukta of the State of Karnataka

* Somalia’s notorious pirate leader Mohamed Abdi Hassan, known as “Big Mouth” announces his decision to quit the gang activity

* Developer of the early version of RSS(Rich Site Summary) and the co-founder of  Reditt 26 year old Aaron Swarth commits suicide

* World‟s oldest living lady, Koto Okubo dies at the age of 115

* Senior Congress leader, Brij Bihari Lal Butail is elected as the 12th Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly

* Chandrakanta Rawat, a 37 year old woman from Uttarakhand creates history by becoming the first complete body donor

* Air Marshal Kulwant Singh Gill appointed as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy(NDA)

* Prof K Vijayraghavan, director, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore is appointed as as Secretary, Department of Biotechnology

* Taliban suicide wing chief Wali Muhammad alias Toofan Mehsud killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan, Pakistan

* Sunmeet Kaur Sawhney, a housewife from state of Punjab becomes the first woman to win 5 crore rupees on the popular Gamshow Kaun Banega Crorepathi

* Justice D K Jain is being appointed as the Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India

* The founder member of the National Organization for Women, Gerda Lerner passed away at the age of 92 years

* Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan is re-nominated by the US President as Federal Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit

* Renowned freedom-fighter, Pandit Ram Sanehi Shukla passed away at the age of 98 following illness

* Justice Amitava Roy has sworn in as the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court

* US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announces his plan to leave the post by January 2013 end

* Renowned violinist M S Gopalakrishnan passed away at the age of 82

* Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries is the world’s 18th richest man in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index

* S Ramakrishnan takes charge as the new Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre(VSSC)

* Noted freedom-fighter Annapoorna Maharana passed away in Cuttack at the age of 96

* Syed Asif Ibrahim appointed as the new Director of the Intelligence Bereau(IB)

* Alok Joshi appointed as the new Chief of the Research & Analysis Wing(R& AW)

* Renowned sound editor and winner of Oscar Award, Mike Hopkins dies in an accident in New Zealand

* M S Sahoo, the former member of SEBI has been appointed as the secretary of the Institute of Company Secretaries (ICSI)

* Patrick Suckling is appointed as Australia’s next High Commissioner to India.

: Honours And Awards :

* The National Communal Harmony Award 2012 is awarded to a Delhi based trust named The Foundation for Amity And National Solidarity(FANS)

* Major Abup J Manjali of Rashtriya Rifles in being nominated to receive Kirti Chakra

* Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore,Rahul Dravid and Mary Com are a few notables to receive the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award

* Renowned writer,U R Ananthamoorthy has been shortlisted for the International Man Booker Prize

* Bollywood Actor Shah Rukh Khan tops the Forbes India top 100 Celebreties of India list

* The Election Commission of India nominates Olympic Medalists Saina Nehwal and Mary Com as thye National Icons 2012

* Mahaveer Golechha selected for the Young Investigator Scholarship Award by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation

* The State of Tamil Nadu ranked first in the implementation of schemes by National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

* Renowned nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar was awarded „Maharashtra Bhooshan‟ award by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan

* Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) Lowest Accident Rate Award 2012 being awarded to Delhi Transport Corporation( DTC).

* US President Barrack Obama is the most followed leader on Twitter, as per data released by Digital Policy Council (DPC)

* Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 awarded to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani school girl who was shot by Taliban

* Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan is among the 33 federal judges re-nominated by the US President Barack Obama for the US Court of Appeals.

: Sports :

* Tiger Woods wins the Farmers Insurance PGA Tour Title held at Torrey Pines

* The ICC Women‟s World Cup Tournament 2013 to begin in Mumbai, India

* Serbian Novak Djokovic wins the Australian Open Singles Title, defeating Andy Murray of UK in the finals

* Former Srilankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya is appointed as the Chairman of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team Selection Panel

 Mumbai wins the 40th Ranji Trophy Tournament by beating Saurashtra in the finals by an Innings and 125 runs

* The American pair of Mike and Bob Bryan defeats Dutch Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling in the finals to clinch the Australian Open Doubles Title 2013

* Australians Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden wins the Austalian Open Mixed Doubles beating the Czech-pair Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak .

* Belarus Victora Azarenka wins the Women’s Singles title at the Australian Open Tennis Tournament 2013 defeating Li Na of China

* World’s oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh announces retirement at the age of 101

* Virat Kohli becomes world’s second quickest player to score 4000 ODI Runs after West Indian, Viv Richards

* Cricket IPL Team Mumbai Indians appoint Indian Spinner Anil Kumble as the Chief Mentor of the team, replacing South African Shaun Pollock

* Mercedez has announced launch of its 2013 Formula One car named F1W04 for Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton

* The Dutch Coach Roelant Oltmans is appointed as the High Performance Director for Indian Hockey Team.

* The International Olympics Committee asks 2000 Sydney Games cycling bronze medallist Lance Amstrong who is facing doping charges, to return the medal

* Saina Nehwal climbs up by one position to become the second ranked player as per the latest rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF)

* Bernard Tomic of Australia wins the Sydney International defeating South African Kevin Anderson in the finals to clinch his first ATP Tour title

* Michael Appleton is being appointed as the Venky’s owned second tier English football club Blackburn Rovers

* Umpire Simon Taufel is being selected to deliver the prestigious MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture 2013

* Former cricket all-rounder, popularly known as poor man’s Garry Sobers, Rusi Framroze Surti, died at the age of 76 years at Surat

* Sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce are awarded the Male and Female Athlete of the Year Golden Cleats Awards

* Korean coach Lim Chae Woong to be appointed to train Indian Archers

* Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was named as the best coach of 2012 by the Federation of Football History and Statistics

* South African batsman Hashim Amla tops the latest ICC ODI Player Ranking List released on 7th January, 2013

* Former South African fast bowler Neil Adcock passed away at the age of 81 following prolonged ailments

* Scottish Andy Murray wins the Brisbane International Tennis Title by defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov

* Argentine Striker Lionell Messi wins the FIFA Footballer of the Year award for the fourth consecutive year

* American Abby Wambach is being selected as the FIFA Women‟s footballer of the Year 2012

* Spain's Vicente del Bosque is being named the FIFA Coach of the year for 2012

* Sania Mirza- Bethanie Mattek-Sands pair wins the WTA Brisbane International trophy Women‟s doubles title defeating the pair of Kveta Peschke and Anna-Lena Groenefeld

* Virat Kohli selected as the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year 2011-12

* South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis becomes the 4th test cricketer to reach the 13,000 runs milestone

* Rajastan’s Mahaveer Singh and Maharashtra’s Tejaswini Sawant bags Gold medals in National Shooting Championship 2012 .

*Mithali Raj is being named captain of the Indian Women’s squad for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Women‟s World Cup Tournament

: Technology :

* Microsoft launches “Office 365 Home Premium”, a new version of Office software for home users.

* China successfully carries out its second anti-missile interceptor test

* United States, China, Japan, Canada and India to jointly construct the world’s largest optical telescope “Thirty-Meter Telescope”

* China has successfully conducted a test flight of its biggest-ever indigenously-made long-range strategic military transport aircraft plane, Yun-20

* India successfully test-fires K-15 ballistic missile from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal

* Samsung unveils a new Galaxy Smartphone-Galaxy Xcover2 with enhanced features

* Researchers at Kent State University develops a new application named "Facewash" which can be used to clean up vulgar or embarrassing pages from Facebook profile.

* India to soon have a common emergency number to respond to any emergency-police, fire or ambulance

* Kim Dotcom launches a new file-sharing website named “Mega” after shut down of his earlier site “Megaupload” on charges of racketeering

* HTC to launch the most expensive Android phone named HTC Butterfly in India

* Microsoft announces to shut down the Windows Live Messenger Service (MSN Messenger) from March 15th, 2013 onwards

* The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) schedules the launch of Satellite with Argos and Altika(SARAL) on February 14th, 2013.

* Air India grounds all its six Boeing 787 Dreamliners following the safety hazard warning issued by US Aviation regulator

* The total number of GSM subscriptions in India has dropped by nearly 6 million in comparison with previous year, as per data released by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)

* The country’s first space weather reading centre to be opened in Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) campus, Kolkata

* The antivirus firm Kaspersky Labs study report shows that Russia is the most affected country by the cyber spying campaign termed Red October or Rocra

* The social networking site Facebook launches search engine using “graph search” function for shared content

* India successfully test-fires from Visakhapatanam, a version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos

* The first Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named Aadesh built for the Indian Coast Guard rolls out of Cochin Ship Yard.

* The Chief of the Air Staff, N.A.K. Browne inaugurates the Medium Lift Helicopter Complex at Phalodi, near Jodhpur.

* Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) announces setting up of the world’s largest solar telescope at Ladakh

* One of the world’s leading PC maker, Lenovo Inc to release a 27 inch “Coffee Table PC” which can respond to 10 fingers touching on it simultaneously.

* Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde launches the pilot version of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project

* Bharti Airtel launches mEducation services that will provide facilities of English learning, competitive exam preparation and career counselling on their mobile phones.

* Internet celebrates its 30th birthday

* State Bank of India(SBI) launches mobile wallet “MobiCash Easy” which bundles various facilities such as funds transfer, balance enquiry, mobile top-ups etc.,

: Culture :

* Renowned baul singer Gour Khyapa dies at the age of 65 in a road accident in West Bengal

* Freedom fighter Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’ ancestral home to receive Heritage status

* The 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) to be held at the open-air stage of Sangeeta Nataka Academy in Thrissur

* India to set up a cultural centre in Vietnamese capital, Hanoi to promote greater interaction between India and Vietnam

* Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha inaugurates the memorial building in the name of Colonel John Pennycuick, the chief architect of the Mullapperiyar Dam

* An exhibition of around 250 paintings by West Bengal Chief Minister Ms.Mamata Banerjee is being held at Kolkata Town Hall.

: Constitution :

* The Supreme Court upholds the appointment of R A Mehta as the Lokayukta of Gujarat .

: Environment :

* Delegates from around 140 countries sign on the Minamata Convention on Mercury treaty towards limiting the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury

* The meteorological department has issues yellow alert in the major cities of China including Chengdu and Beijing following high than allowed air pollution levels

* Cyclone Narelle, a Category-4 storm is approaching the northwest coast of Australia

* United Arab Emirates to host the sixth World Future Energy Summit

* Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah to attend the Sixth World Future Energy Summit (WFES), to be held in Abu Dhabi from January 15-17 .

: Goverment Plans And Schemes :

* e-Biz, the Government- to-Business portal(G2B) to serve the country’s investor and business communities is being launched

* Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sets up a seven-member committee headed by Sam Pitroda to suggest measures to strengthen Prasar Bharathi

* Indian Government puts on hold the decision to allow visa-on-arrival to Pakistani senior citizens, on the wake of incidents of violence at the Line of Control

* Ministry of External Affairs directs Passport offices to accept Aadhar Card as proof of address/identity.

                                                     : Biology :

* As many as 33 spotted deers found dead in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, following malnutrition, infection and severe cold conditions.

: Days And Years :

*The nation on 30th January, observed the 65th death anniversary of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi

* The nation celebrated the 64th Republic Day on January 26th, 2013

* The Election Commission of India celebrates the 3rd National Voters’ Day on January 25th, 2013

* The country celebrates National Girl Child Day on January 24th, 1013

* India celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda as National Youth Day

: Literature :

* Pulitzer  prize winner and noted historian Stanley Karnow died at the age of 87

* Eminent Novelist-Poet Jeet Thayyil wins the DSC South Asian Literature Prize 2013 for his novel “Narcopolis”

* The novel named Er Ist Wieder Da (He’s Back) by Timur Vermes becomes the best seller in Germany, with over 2.5 lakhs copies sold since its release in September 2012

: Cinema :

* Indian cricker Harbhajan Singh to venture out to film field; announces setting up of a film production house named "Bhajji and Madan Production"

* Actress Jennifer Lawrence wins the best actress award at the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award

* High court defers the hearing on the case against screening of the Kamal Hassan starrer Vishwaroopam until Tuesday

* Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra wins the Male Star of the Year and Female Star of the Year Stardust 2013 Awards

* 58th Idea Filmfare Awards distributed-Barfi bags the Best Film Award, Ranbir Kapoor is the Best Actor and Vidya Balan is the Best Actress

* Renowned British Film Director Michael Winner died in London at the age of 77

* Bollywood actor Salman Khan signs a 500 crore pact with Star India, which gives the channel the sole right to air the actor’s films in the next five years

* A trust named after Carnatic musician Irayimman Thampi has accused Bombay Jayashri’s Oscar-nominated song ,Pi’s Lullaby’ of not being an original composition

* Noted playback singer Muralidhar popularly known as “Kushi Murali” passed away

* Paan Singh Tomar wins the best film -2012 award in the 19th Colors Screen Awards

* Golden Globe Awards-2013 announced, Argo wins the best picture and best director awards

* Veteran Bengali Cine-Actor Haradhan Bandopadhyay passed away at the age of 86 in Kolkata .

: Books And Authors :

* Zhao Jiang, a Chinese author creates history by releasing her first book in Tamil, the first by any Chinese author to do so.