CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2016-IAS

Current Affairs January 25 to 31 2016 National Current News 20- the number of cities which were selected in the first batch of cities planned to be developed as smart cities. Smart city denotes an urban area that provides world class sustainable infrastructure including uninterrupted clean water and power supply, roads, high speed internet, automated waste disposal, sustainable public transport, affordable housing and digitized public services. These cities are Surat, Ahmedabad from Gujarat; Jaipur and Udaipur from Rajasthan; Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur from Madhya Pradesh; Sholapur and Pune from Maharashtra; Chennai and Coimbatore from Tamil Nadu; Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada from Andhra Pradesh; Ludhiana from Punjab; Bhubaneshwar from Odisha; New Delhi from Delhi; Guwahati from Assam; Kochi from Kerala; Belgaum and Davangere from Karnataka. Sports Updates Angelique Kerber- she defeated World No.1 Serena Williams to clinch the Australian Open title and become the first German to win a Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1999. Novak Djokovic- he hammered Andy Murray in straight sets to win a record equaling 6th Australian Open title. The world No.1 equaled the tally of Australian's Roy Emerson who won the tournament sis times between 1961 and 1967. Saina Nehwal-India's ace badminton player who was awarded Padma Bhushan award, India's third highest civilian award. She was bestowed with the Khel Ratna and Padma Shri in 2010. Virat Kohli- he struck his second unbeaten half century in the T20 series during the second match against Australia which India won. He is the first Indian player to score more than one 50+ score in a T20 series. He was also adjudged Man of the series in the T20 series against Australia which India won 3-0. Sania Mirza- she along with Martina Hingis defeated Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka to win the doubles title of 2015 Australian Open. India- they recorded its highest run chase ever on Australian soil as they pulled off a dramatic 7 wicket victory in the third and final T20 ODI to achieve a clean sweep of 3-0 against the hosts. K Srikanth- the Indian shuttler who defeated China's Huang Yuxian to win his maiden Syed Modi International Badminton championship. Current Affairs January 18 to 24 2016 Interational Current News 2015- this year was the warmest year since 1880 and it shattered the previous record set in 2014 by the widest margin of 0.16 degree C as per the report by the National Oceanic and atmospheric Administration Administration (NOAA). Houbara- the rare desert bird from which the ban on killing was recently lifted by Pakistan Supreme court. This is found in sandy and stony semi arid regions especially in Baluchistan. Zika- the virus which has brought havoc in Central America, South America, Caribbean and Oceania countries. It can be transmitted by the bite of mosquito or from the mother to the foetus via the placenta. It is believed it causes Microcephaly which is a neurological disorder in newborns. Snowzilla- the monster blizzard that deposited more than two feet of snow and brought Washington, New York and other northeastern US cities to standstill and killed many people. National Current News 24th January 2016- this day was recently celebrated as National Girl Child Day. Sports Updates Chris Gayle- the West Indies batsman who recently equaled Yuvraj Singh's Twenty20 record with a 12 ball 50 for Melbourne Renegades in a Big Bash League match against Adelaide Strikers. John Ward- he started a new trend by becoming the first umpire to officiate in an international match with a helmet during the Big Bash League at Sydney recently. Shivnarine Chanderpaul- the West Indies batsman and the seventh highest Test match run maker in history announced his retirement recently. Ajit Chandila- the former Rajasthan Royals player who banned for five years for misconduct and corruption by the disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI). Uttar Pradesh- they defeated Baroda to clinch their first ever domestic T20 championship when they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Manish Pandey- he scored a century in the last one day international cricket against Australia at Sydney. India- they became the first side to successfully chase a score of 300 or more versus Australia in Australia in One Day Internationals when India defeated Australia in the last one day match at Sydney. PV Sindhu- the Indian badminton player who defeated Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour to win the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix gold title. Current Affairs January 11 to 17 2016 Interational Current News The Martian- the space adventure which won the top movie prize in the best motion picture-musical or comedy category at the 73rd Golden Globes Awards recently. The Revenant- the revenge drama which won the top movie prize in the best motion picture-drama category at the 73rd Golden Globes Awards recently. Juno- the NASA's spacecraft to Jupiter which broke the record for the most distant solar powered mission when it travelled 793mn km from the Sun. Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016 and over the next year the space craft will orbit the Jovian world 33 times, skimming to within 5,000 km of the planet's cloud tops every 14 days. Launched in 2011, Juno is the first solar powered spacecraft designed to operate at such a great distance from the Sun. AIIB- stands for Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank which was recently inaugurated by China's President Xi Jinping to streamline infrastructure across the continent. AIIB with an authorized capital of $100 billion is believed to be China's effort to rival the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. National Current News e-NPS- it is an online portal (htpps://enps.nsdl.com) of NPS Trust wherein a subscriber can register and contribute under NPS online. Through eNPS, a subscriber can register, generate a Permanent Retirement Account Number(PRAN) and contribute to his/her account through use of net banking/debit card or credit card. 15th January 2016- this day was recently celebrated as 68th Army Day. 2%- the amount of premium which has been fixed for Kharif crops in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana which was announced by the government recently. The premium for Rabi crops have been fixed at 1.5%. The new scheme will be implemented from the forthcoming Kharif season. 10,000 crore- the corpus of the start-up fund which is going to set up by the government to boost Start-up's in India as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in a series of new entrepreneur friendly measures which include no tax on profits and no inspection for 3 years, self-certification-based compliance for labour and environment laws and 80% reduction in patent fees. Sports Updates Mohammad Shahzad- the Afghanistan batsman who smashed the fourth highest score in the T20 history when he made 118 against Zimbabwe at Sharjah recently. Lionel Messi- he won the FIFA world player of the year award for the record fifth time. He also ended Cristano Ronaldo's two year hold on FIFA Ballon d Or trophy to lift soccer's top individual honour when he won the FIFA Ballon d Or trophy 2015 at the FIFA event in Zurich, Switzerland recently. Rohit Sharma- he scored a back to back century in the first and second international cricket match against Australia, both of which were won by the host country. He also became the first Indian player to hit four hundreds in ODIs in Australia, eclipsing the three by VVS Laxman. India- this country climbed to the top of ICC's Test rankings recently with 110 ranking points, one point more than Australia who are second with 109 ranking points. South Africa has dropped to No.3. Virat Kohli- he scored his 24th ODI century when he made 117 against Australia in the third one day international match at Melbourne recently. Gideon Kipketer- the Kenyan athlete who won the Mumbai Marathon in the men's category. Shuko Genemo- the Ethiopian athlete who won the Mumbai Marathon in the women's category. Delhi Acers- the team which won the title of the Premier Badminton League. Current Affairs January 04 to 10 2016 National Current News Anything but Khamosh- the biography written by BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha which was released recently. The book focuses on Patna Sahib MPs troubled relations with the party post 2014 victory and its current leadership. 1st April, 2020- the date from which government is planning to enforce the more stringent Bharat Stage VI fuel emission norms for vehicles, advancing the deadline by a year as part of ongoing efforts to reduce pollution. BS norms were introduced in 2000 and were modeled around European regulations. Netflix- the popular American on-demand video streaming service which recently launched its services in India. Jallikattu- the famous and controversial bull taming sport of Tamil Nadu which was recently revived by central government. The government also allowed bullock cart races, a popular sport in states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Gujarat. Sports Updates Hashim Amla- he recently stepped down from the post of skipper of Test cricket of South Africa. Pranav Dhanawade- the Mumbai teenager who recently scored 1009 runs off 327 balls in the under-16 Bhandari trophy in Mumbai, thus becoming the first batsman ever to notch up a four-figure individual score. He broke the 117 year old record of AEJ Collins of 628 runs in 1899. Current Affairs December 28 2015 to January 03 2016 Interational Current News Hubble Telescope- for the first time ever this telescope captured merging of two galaxies nearly 230 million light-years away from the earth, in the Hercules constellation. NGC 6052 which was originally classified as a single abnormal galaxy collided with another drawn together by gravity. National Current News Barack 8 missile-the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR SAM) manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited and jointly developed by India and Israel which was successfully test fired on Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata in the Arabian Sea. 1, 00,000MW- the amount of electricity government plans to generate from solar panels by 2022, with a 40,000MW contribution from grid-connected rooftop systems. Raptor MOU- stands for the MOU on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia with the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS). India recently gave its approval for its readiness in signing this MOU which will help India gain knowledge in effectively managing the habitats of these raptors. Sports Updates R Ashwin- the Indian off spinner who has been ranked as ICC's top Test bowler for 2015, 42 years after Bishan Singh Bedi became the first Indian to achieve the feat. He was also named as the No.1 Test all-rounder. Virat Kohli- India's Test captain who was named as the winner of the Polly Umrigar award for BCCI's International cricketer of the year. India- the defeated Afghanistan 2-1 to win the seventh SAAF Cup played at Thiruvananthapuram. Ben Stokes- he English cricketer who smashed his way to the second fastest double century in Test history on the second day of the second Test against South Africa at cape Town. He scored double century in 163 balls while the record for the fastest double century is held by New Zealand's Nathan Astle who made it off 153 balls against England in 2002.