Arundhati Bhattacharya - 1st women MD and CFO of SBI. Usha Ananthasubramanian - 1st CEO of Bhartiya Mahila Bank.

Aruna Bahuguna - 1st Women Special DG of CRPF. 1st Woman MD of a Public Sector bank - Ms Ranjana Kumar. Chairman & MD ICICI Bank - Chanda Kochhar (MD & CEO). Chairman & MD of United Bank of India - Archana Bhargav. Chairman & MD of Axis Bank - Shikha Sharma. Chairman & MD of Allahabad Bank - Shubhalakshmi Panse. Chairperson of CBDT Sudha Sharma. MD and CEO of NSE - Chitra Ramakrishna. Principal secretary of President - Omita Paul. New Foreign Secretary - Sujata Singh. Tulsi Gabbard - New member of US House of Representatives Smita Singh - Member of U.S. Global Development Council 1. Ans:2. Ans:3. Ans:4. Ans:5. Ans:6. Ans:7. Ans:-17 ? Mission of India NAGAR . ? , (C-17 Globemaster III) ? ? 2016 ? , 7 , ? 2013 (28 ) 2013 , ? , " " |? , ?

(RAS Pre-13)

8. "MOM"

Ans:- (Mars Orbiter Mission)9. Ans:-

2.

1. The Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dr M. Veerappa Moily, has approved the launch of Portability of LPG connections from onwards across Oil Marketing Companies/distributors covering 480 districts in the country. 2. Doyen of Telugu cinema Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who mesmerised audiences with memorable performances in hits like 'Batasari', 'Devadas' and 'Tenali Ramakrishna' in a career spanning more than seven decades, died. 3. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India, is organizing a two day Conference of Central and States Statistical Organizations (COCSSOs) in Panaji, Goa from 23rd January, 2014. 4. The Income-Tax dept has 'surveyed' the office of nation's largest oil producer Cairn India in connection with transfer of assets by Cairn Energy plc to the Indian entry. 5. An eminent Indian-American physician has been appointed by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as the head of the city's health network, the country's largest public hospital system. 6. BJP MLA Kailash Meghwal was elected unopposed as Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. 7. Nearly half of the Indian CEOs surveyed are "very confident" about revenue gains for their companies in the next 12 months, even as they cited availability of skilled talent and corruption as major business threats, as per a PwC study. 8. In Kerala, the special additional sessions court in Kozhikode found guilty 12 persons in T. P. Chandrashekharan murder case. 24 other accused were acquitted by the court. 9. Indian-American Neel Keshkari, a former senior Treasury official and architect of the US bank bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, announced his candidacy for the Governor of California. 10. Last year was among a handful of the warmest on record since 1880, according to US government figures out that provide more evidence that the planet is heating up

3.

DAILY GK UPDATE - 24th January. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 1. Today is National Girl Child Day i. Today is National Girl Child Day. This day is observed every year to raise awareness and consciousness towards the girl child. ii. The aim is to ensure that every girl is respected, valued and treated equally in society. iii. On this day, the Women and Child Development Ministry takes up a multi-pronged approach for addressing as well as working towards diminishing the child sex ratio in India. iv. Earlier on 22 January 2014, the India Post launched a special savings scheme for the girl child between 10 and 20 in age of India. v. The scheme has asked the parents of girls to open a Savings Bank account. It says that the parents can open Recurring Deposit (RD) Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) Fixed Deposits And can also buy National Savings Certificate (NSC) 2. PM gives away National Bravery Awards to children i. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave away National Bravery awards for the year 2013 to children from various parts of the country in New Delhi today. ii. The award is given for showing exceptional grit and bravery in adverse situation. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh told the award winners that they are an inspiration to both their own generation and the nation. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath were also present on the occasion. iii. 25 children from various States, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chattisgarh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir won the National Bravery awards. iv. The awardees include nine girls. Five children were awarded posthumously. The award winning children will be part of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath on Sunday. 3. Economic growth in India projected at 5.35% in 2014, says UN report i. India's economy is projected to grow at a slower-than-expected rate of 5.3 per cent this year, according to a United Nations report which said the country's slowdown may have bottomed out. ii. The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 (WESP) report said a mild recovery in investment as well as stronger export growth will help in the gradual GDP pick-up. iii. Full-year growth decelerated to 4.8 per cent in 2013 from 5.1 per cent in the calendar year 2012. iv. The report further said that global economic growth is expected to increase over the next two years with continuing signs of improvement. v. The global economy is projected to grow at a pace of 3 per cent in 2014 and 3.3 per cent in 2015, compared to an estimated growth of 2.1 per cent in 2013. 4. New RBI guidelines for loan restructuring norms by NBFCs i. In order to minimise the risk of defaults, RBI has issued revised guidelines for loan restructuring norms by non-banking financial companies, NBFCs. ii. In a notification issued from Mumbai yesterday, RBI said that rules for restructuring loans by NBFCs will be the same as those of banks. iii. The key provisions include that the relaxation or extension of commencement of projects will not amount to restructuring for infrastructure, non-infrastructure and corporate real estate projects. iv. RBI, further, said that a special classification benefit will be provided to corporate debt restructuring cases, including small and medium enterprises. The benefit will, however, be withdrawn with effect from April 1 next year. 5. SBI launches Youtube channel; Twitter handle next i. Nation's largest lender State Bank of India on Friday strengthened its social media presence with the launch of its channel on popular video sharing website Youtube and said it will also be launching its handle on the micro-blogging site Twitter soon. ii. The YouTube channel is another platform that will enable us to connect with our customers. SBI will continue to spread its footprint on social media through the launch of platforms like Twitter, shortly," Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a statement. iii. SBI, which controls around a fourth of the deposits in the system, is one of the oldest financial institutions in the country with an over 200 years of history. iv. It has over 15,000 branches and over 43,000 ATMs. The bank statement said the Youtube channel will help it connect with the young and technologically savvy customers. 6. Favour free ATM services: Finance Services Secretary Takru i. Financial services secretary Rajiv Takru has said that he favours free ATM services as they exist now. ii. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Thursday, Mr. Takru said that if these services are made expensive then customers may end up at bank counters and warned that a teller service is far more expensive than ATM service. iii. He however clarified that no bank has approached the government seeking approval to raise ATM fees and said that a final decision in this regard will be taken by RBI. iii. Admitting that ATM services should be sustainable, Mr. Takru said banks should look at ways to encourage customers to increase their ATM usage so as to make them profitable. Mr. Takru also called for a re-look at orders of some state governments asking banks to have round-the-clock security at ATMs. 7. Kerala wins UN award for sustainable tourism i. Kerala Tourism has been conferred the United Nations Award for creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition. ii. The state lifted the coveted honour for its sustainable development initiative in the world renowned backwater resort of Kumarakom, a Kerala tourism release said on Thursday. iii. Kerala Tourism bagged the honour at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented at Madrid in Spain. iv. Kerala won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour given to the government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives. v. Instituted in 2003 by UNWTO, the United Nations agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the UNWTO Awards showcase innovation and application of knowledge in tourism with the aim of effecting governance and society. 8. Railways earmark berth for security escort in trains with sleepers i. The Railways has decided to earmark berth no. 71 in coach S-1 in all the trains having security escort. ii. A Railway official said that the idea of having a dedicated berth for the security personnel is to help passengers to locate them easily in case of emergency. He said, trains which are devoid of sleepers will not have this facility. iii. There are 3,475 trains which are provided with the escort of Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police ensure security for passengers.

9. Viscera test must in death due to poisoning: SC i. A bench of Justices Ranjana P Desai and J Chelameswar ruled that in all the cases where poisoning is suspected, immediately after the post-mortem, the viscera should be sent to the forensic science laboratories (FSL). ii. The prosecuting agencies should ensure that the viscera is, in fact, sent to the FSL for examination and the FSL should ensure that the viscera is examined immediately and report is sent to the investigating agencies/courts post haste. iii. The court took serious note of a number of cases relating to death by poisoning which resulted in acquittal mainly because police failed to seek a viscera examination from forensic science laboratories (FSL). About Viscera test i. In the Viscera test the internal organs of the body, specifically those within the chest (as the heart or lungs) or abdomen (as the liver, pancreas or intestines) are tested thoroughly. ii. The Forensic Science Laboratories provide scientific assistance in crime investigation by way of examination of blood, semen, stains thereof and other. 10. Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in Bitcoin i. Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in digital currency, Bitcoin. A system for processing the payments is already operational. ii. The payment of fees through Bitcoin will be only applicable to two new courses on the roles of complimentary currencies in economic systems, which will be taught from summer this year at the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS). iii. Cumbria is thought to be the first public university in the world to accept the currency, although a private University in Cyprus announced last year that it would do so. 11. DMK suspends MK Alagiri ! i. Amid strains in Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) first family over leadership squabbles, DMK has finally expells party chief Karunanidhi's elder son MK Alagiri. ii. In a statement issued here, DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan said Alagiri was creating confusion in the party by urging party cadres not to work and criticising the disciplinary action taken by the party against some members for their anti-party activities. iii. He said the continuation of Alagiri in the party is not proper and would destroy the party discipline. Hence Alagiri is temporarily suspended from the party. 12. India and France jointly building 3rd satellite i. India and France are working on building the third Indo-French satellite designed for climate change studies, a senior French official said on Thursday. ii. The new satellite being built jointly by Indian Space Research Organisation and National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) of France would be a state-of-the-art satellite for earth observation for climate change, Weiss said. iii. The final shape to the proposed project is scheduled to be given by next March when Indian and French scientists will hold a "big" meeting in France, Weiss said. iv. India is the one of the most important countries of cooperation for France. Both countries have plenty of things to do together," he added. 13. Australian Open: Errani-Vinci retain women's doubles title i. Top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy produced a great escape on Friday as they beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4 3-6 7-5 to retain the Australian Open women's doubles title. ii. The Russian third seeds led 5-2 in the decider before Errani and Vinci roared back to clinch their fourth grand slam title and retain their world number one ranking. 14. Oz Open: Sania in mixed doubles final i. Sania Mirza and her Romanian team-mate Horia Tecau advanced into the mixed-doubles finals in the Australian Open tournament today. ii. The sixth seeded Indo-Romanian duo defeated Aussie pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden 2-6, 6-3 (10-2). iii. The pair will now meet French Kristina Mladenovic and her Canadian partner Daniel Nestor in the finals tomorrow. 15. Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer to set up final with Stanislas Wawrinka. i. World No 1 Rafael Nadal proves too strong for his great rival Roger Federer, finishing a comfortable 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-3 winner ii. This was Nadals 23rd victory in the series, and also his heaviest over Federer in any grand slam other than Roland Garros. iii. Nadal will now play final with with Stanislas Wawrinka.

4.

1. NASA rover Opportunity found Mars had life friendly fresh water 2. Richard Quest won 2013 UNWTO Lifetime Achievement Award 3. LPG Connection Portability Scheme launched 4. Dr. Tej Vir Singh won the UNWTO Ulysses Prize 5. India Women Cricket team won one day series against Sri Lanka 3-0 6. USA allowed Sikh military men to wear turban 7. Shane Warne to mentor Australia's spinners for World T20 Tournament 8. RBI issued new guidelines for loan restructuring in NBFCs 9. National Girl Child Day observed on 24 January 10. Finance Ministry nod for 1000 rupees minimum monthly pension plan

5.

DAILY GK UPDATE - 23rd January. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 1. Nation celebrates 117th birth anniversary of Netaji i. Nation celebrates the 117th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose today.

ii. On the occasion the main programme was held in Darjeeling, West Bengal where Chief Minister Ms Mamta Banerjee and other distinguished persons paid rich tributes to Netaji. iii. Ms Banerjee recalled Netaji's contribution to the freedom movement of the country. She said that the deals of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are still relevant in the present day to keep the country united. iv. Various programmes are being organized in Odisha to mark the birth anniversary of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. On the occasion, his birth place at Cuttack has witnessed a beeline of visitors since the morning. 2. Rakesh Khurana, appointed dean of Harvard College i. Indian-origin academician Rakesh Khurana has been appointed dean of the prestigious Harvard College and will take over his new role in July. ii. Mr Khurana is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard Business School (HBS), professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and co-master of Cabot House at Harvard. iii. Mr Khurana succeeds Evelynn Hammonds, professor of African and African American Studies, who stepped down last June after completing her five-year term. He will assume the role on July 1. iv. Mr Khurana earned his bachelors from Cornell University and began graduate studies at Harvard in 1993, earning his Ph.D. in 1998. 3. ADBs $400-m credit for IIFCL i. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $400 million first tranche line of credit to India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) to help accelerate infrastructure growth through increased private sector investment. ii. State-owned IIFCL will have two years to utilise this limit and the line of credit would be used to advance direct loans as well as take-out bank loans. iii. The first loan is part of the ADB-approved $700-million accelerating infrastructure investment facility in India multi-tranche financing facility designed for IIFCL. iv. The loan agreement for the first tranche was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry, and Narahari Rao, Officer-in-charge of ADBs India Resident Mission. Sanjeev Ghai, Chief General Manager, IIFCL, signed the project agreement. First tranche This first tranche comes with a tenure of 19 and a half years at competitive cost, which is a small mark-up over Libor. 4. 10 crore jobs to be created in manufacturing sector: Sharma i. India is looking to create as many as 100 million skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector by raising its share of GDP to 25 per cent from 16 per cent, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said. ii . The Commerce and Industry Minister is in Davos for the World Economic Forum annual meet. iii. India aims to raise manufacturing (sectors) share of GDP from 16 per cent to 25 per cent and create 100 million skilled jobs. This is a must do, Mr. Sharma said while addressing an WEF session on manufacturing. iv. Mr. Sharma, who will meet around 80 business leaders from India and abroad at an investment round-table here, on Wednesday met top executives of global firms, including Diageo, Heineken and Shell, and pitched the India growth story. 5. Ansari launches book 'Resurgent India: Glimpses of Rajiv Gandhi Vision of India'(Re-issue) i. 'Resurgent India: Glimpses of Rajiv Gandhi's Vision of India' was launched by Vice President Hamid Ansari in Delhi. ii. Speaking about the book, 'Resurgent India's author and former Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T Acharya said on Wednesday: "Rajiv Gandhi is perhaps one of the most misunderstood prime ministers in Indian history. iii. It is important to understand the heart and mind of one of the nation's most influential leaders to understand his ambitious policies in their entirety." iv. The main theme of 'Resurgent India' is an objective evaluation of Rajiv Gandhi's contributions to the nation. 6. Saina slips to ninth in world badminton rankings i. A second round loss at the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier last week saw Indias Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal drop a place to No.9 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday. ii. The Olympic bronze medallist, however, has a good chance to climb up once again if she progresses to the semifinals or final of the ongoing India Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow. iii. World Championship bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu, however, maintained her No.11 ranking and is al so expected to rise up the ladder when next weeks rankings are released. 7. Australian Open: Federer to face Nadal after beating Murray i. Roger Federer has reached an 11th straight semi-final at the Australian Open through a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 defeat of Andy Murray which took more than three hours. ii. The Swiss will take on Rafael Nadal, who dealt with hand blisters in beating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7), 6-2. 8. Sudhir Mahato, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand died i. Sudhir Mahato (58), the former Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand died on 22 January 2014 following a heart attack at Ghatsila in Singhbhum district. ii. He is a leader of the JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha). Now he is survived by his wife and four daughters. iii. He won the assembly elections for the first time in 1990 from Ichchagarh and retained it in 2005, the year he became the Deputy Chief Minister. In 2009, he last the seat in the polls. Sudhir Mahato He has been a member of Legislative Assem bly of Bihar Assembly and Jharkhand Assembly from 1995 and 2005 In 2005 he served as the Deputy Chief Minister Jharkhand and also as Industry Minister Jharkhand He was the President cum Chairman of Jharkhand Cricket Academy 9. Garuda Vasudha Advanced Light Helicopter of Geological Survey of India launched i. Minister of Mines, Dinsha Patel launched the Advanced Light Helicopter named Garuda Vasudha of Geological Survey of India from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bangalore on 23 January 2014. ii. The Garuda Vasudha a Dhruv category built by HAL dedicated to the nation. iii. The Ministry also laid the foundation stone of a Centre of Excellence Laboratory building of GSI at Bangalore, worth of 42 crore. iv. Garuda Vasudha is used for extensive surveys by the GSI for locating hidden mineral health. v. Remote Sensing and Aerial Survey Wing of Geological Survey of India will be using both the aerial and heliborne survey together to locate mineral resources which will fulfill the rising demands. 10. Sania-Tecau sail into semis of Australian Open i. India's Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau stormed into the semifinals of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open with straight sets

victory over Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Julia Georges, in Melbourne on Thursday. ii. Sixth seed Sania and Tecau hardly broke a sweat to prevail over the unseeded Aisam-Julia combination 6-3 6-4 in their quarterfinal clash that lasted just 63 minutes. 11. Haridwar to host 12th National Inter-District Athletics meet i. The 12th edition of the three-day National Inter-District Athletics meet will be held from April 25 this year at Haridwar. ii. The year marked both the 11th and 12th editions of the meet because the 11th edition was to be held in October last year, but was postponed to this month. iii. Satisfied with the performance of the athletes in the recently concluded 11th edition at Ranchi, the AFI's Executive Director, AK Kesri, told reporters that the Haridwar edition would also attract participation of many districts. 12. Real Madrid retain title of world's richest soccer club i. Spain's Real Madrid retained the title of the world's richest soccer club in the past year thanks to sponsorship and TV deals robust enough to endure a season without a major trophy, a study showed on Thursday. ii. Real's revenue of 519 million euros ($704 million) put the club ahead of domestic rivals Barcelona in fiscal 2012/2013, with European champions Bayern Munich edging into third ahead of Manchester United, in the annual Football Money League compiled by accountants Deloitte. iii. Revenue for the top 20 teams rose by 8 percent to 5.4 billion euros, Deloitte said, underlining the appeal of soccer to broadcasters and sponsors targeting mass consumer markets. iv. Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most consistently successful teams in Europe, fielding top players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi respectively. 13. Li Na storms into Australian Open final i. China's Li Na advanced to her second successive Australian Open final with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard on Thursday. ii. Li has now reached three finals at Melbourne Park in the last four years, having lost to Victoria Azarenka last year and Kim Clijsters in 2011. She also lost to Clijsters in the fourth round in 2012. 14. Wawrinka reaches first Slam final at Australian Open i. Stanislas Wawrinka reaching his first Grand Slam final with a 63, 76 (1), 67 (3), 76 (4) win over Tomas Berdych in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday. ii. Wawrinka will meet the winner of Fridays semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the 33rd installment of their rivalry and the first at a Grand Slam since Nadal beat Federer in the Australian Open semifinals in 2012. iii. Whoever he plays, Wawrinka will be the underdog. He has never won against Nadal in 12 meetings and has beaten Federer once in 14 matches.

6.

1. Ans:2. Ans:3. Ans:4. Ans:5. Ans:6. Ans:- 7. Ans:8. Ans:- 9. Ans:10. Ans:11. " Ans:- ( " ) 2013 , . . 2013 ? "The Luminaries" ? ( ) 2007 , , , . . ? ( )

1000

? - (OPCW) 2013 , ?

7.

Who was sworn in as the new president of the Maldives? Answer: Abdulla Yameen. National Press Day was observed on: Answer: November 16.

Which country is to host the next Commonwealth summit in 2015? Answer: Malta Who were named the World Athletes of the Year for 2013 by the International Athletic Foundation? Answer: Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (Both from Jamaica) Who have recently been selected for Bharat Ratna, nations highest civilian honour? Answer: Prof. CNR Rao and Sachin Tendulkar Who won the FIDE World Chess Championship 2013? Answer: Magnus Carlsen (Norway) The naval variant of the surface to surface Prithvi missile, successfully test fired on November 23? Answer: Dhanush Which Indian became the joint fastest with Vivian Richards to reach 5000 One Day International runs? Answer: Virat Kohli Who is the new Chairman of the Law Commission of India? Answer: Justice (Rtd.) Ajit Prakash Shah Where was the first branch of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank inaugurated? Answer: Mumbai Universal Childrens Day was celebrated on: Answer: November 20 was named as the Word of the Year 2013 by the Oxford English Dictionary? Answer: Selfie Who is the new chief of the Pakistan Army? Answer: Gen. Raheel Sharif Who won the Mens Golf World Cup 2013? Answer: Jason Day (Australia) Where was Indias first synthetic rubber plant opened? Answer: Panipat (Haryana) Which city has been selected to host the World Trade Fair 2020 (Expo 2020)? Answer: Dubai What is the name given to the Worlds first noiseless and emission free helicopter, which had its first successful test fligh t in Germany? Answer: Volocopter Human Rights Day was observed on: Answer: December 10 DAILY GK UPDATE - 22nd January. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 1. Japanese PM to be chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations i. The Japanese Prime Minister will be paying a three-day official visit to India beginning on January 25 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. ii. During his visit, Abe will meet Manmohan Singh for the annual summit between India and Japan. The discussions between the two leaders will add substance and content to the India-Japan strategic and global partnership. iii. The visiting dignitary, who will be accompanied by his wife Akie Abe during the visit, will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee. iv. The country will celebrate its 65th Republic Day on January 26 when President Pranab Mukherjee will take salute from the contingents of the armed forces and paramilitary forces alongside a rich display of its culture and heritage. 2. Urjit panel suggests 4 % CPI inflation target i. An expert committee appointed to examine the current monetary policy framework of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has suggested that the apex bank should adopt the new CPI (consumer price index) as the measure of the nominal anchor for policy communication. ii. The expert committee was headed by Urjit R. Patel, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. iii. The nominal anchor or the target for inflation should be set at 4 per cent with a band of +/- 2 per cent around it. iv. The nominal anchor should be defined in terms of headline CPI inflation, which closely reflects the cost of living and influ ences inflation expectations relative to other available metrics, the committee felt. v. This target should be set in the frame of a two-year horizon that is consistent with the need to balance the output costs of disinflation against the speed of entrenchment of credibility in policy commitment, the report said. 3. Sharif approves MoU with India on electricity trade i. Energy-starved Pakistan is looking at buying electricity from India, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approving such a deal. ii. A senior Pakistani official said the Cabinet approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during its meeting on Monday. iii. The issue of electricity trade had come up for discussion during the meeting between Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to India last month iv. India has expressed its intent to export electricity to the tune of 500 MW to Pakistan immediately if infrastructure for transmission of power is made available.

4. Akkineni Nageswara Rao passed away i. Padma Vibhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Akkineni Nageswara Rao passed away in Hyderabad at the age of 91, around 2:10 a.m. on Wednesday. He was ailing with cancer. ii. ANR is fondly called the Tragedy King of Telugu cinema, through he gave milestone performances in romantic dramas such as Laila Majnu, Anarkali, Batasari, Prem Nagar, Premabhishekam, and Meghasandesham. iii. Born on September 20, 1923, he strode like a colossus in Telugu Cinema and acted in 256 Telugu films. 5. T. Nanda Kumar to be appointed NDDB Chairman i. T. Nanda Kumar will be the new Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), replacing Amrita Patel who has been holding the post since 1998. ii. Nanda Kumar, currently Member of the National Disaster Management Authority, is slated to take over from March 1. iii. His name has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. Patel is currently on extension and will remain as Chairman till February 28. 6. Kailash Meghwal elected as Speaker of Rajasthan Assembly i. Kailash Meghwal has been elected unanimously as the Speaker of Rajasthan Assembly. ii. Today, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje proposed his name and leader of Opposition, Rameshwar Dudi seconded this proposal. Kailash Meghwal was earlier Mines Minister and had resigned on Monday. 7. Chilika lagoon gets coveted UN status i. Odisha's Chilika lagoon, hotspot for biodiversity, has been named 'destination flyways' by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) following its inclusion in a list of eight such sites worldwide. ii. Official sources said the lagoon was so named for its sustainable and resilient destination for migratory birds. iii. The UN bodys arm on tourism and biodiversity would assist in development and implementation of strategies and projects linking sustainable tourism and livelihood resources. iv. This season, around 7.19 lakh migratory birds have been sighted in the 1100-sq km lagoon , which is less than the previous years. v. Last winter, around 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species had visited the lake and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the blue lagoon in 2012. Note: i. Chilika is the only site to be selected from Asia by the UNWTO and was recommended by six international agencies such as Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity, Convention of Migratory Species, Ramsar Convention Secretariat, World Heritage and Man and the Biosphere Programmes of UNESCO. 8. First Climate Change theatre opened in Punjab i. First Climate Change theatre was opened at Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala, Punjab.. The theatre will educate people on climate change. This is the second theatre in the world to be opened after Canada. ii. The theatre is 18 metre in diameter and it is set up in a dome-shaped building with a seating capacity of 125 persons. The 25-minute film shows what worst can happen if humans do not take action on current or impending problems which could threaten civilization. 9. India-born Stanford professor awarded Marconi Society Prize i. Coimbatore-born scientist and Stanford University Emeritus Professor Arogya Swami Joseph Paulraj has been awarded the prestigious 2014 Marconi Society Prize. ii. Paulraj is the only India-born scientist to receive both the Marconi Prize and the Bell Medal, two top global IT technology awards. iii. Further, he was awarded $100,000 prize, for his invention and advancement of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, which is at the heart of WiFi and 4G technologies that millions worldwide use. iv. The Marconi Prize comes three years after Paulraj was honoured with the other major telecom technology award the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal for his work on theoretical foundations of MIMO. 10. Mahesh Bhupathi launched IPTL in Melbourne i. Tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi launched the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in Melbourne, Australia on 21 January 2014. He also announced the name of the teams during the launch of IPTL. ii. The host cities or the teams which will participate in the IPTL are Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. The fifth host city will be from the Middle East. iii. Mahesh Bhupati linked arms with German tennis legend Boris Becker, and American Justin Gimelstob, a former pro and member of the ATP board to launch the IPL styles IPTL. iv. The IPTL is expected to start in Asia from 1 December 2014 to 20 December 2014 for which the auction of players will be held in UAE on 2 March 2014. Each team is expected to field 10 players. ii. The salary which each team will pay to its players is estimated to be between 4 million dollars and 10 million dollars. 11. New Zealand defeat India by 15 runs take 2-0 lead. India lose No. 1 spot i. New Zealand defeated India by 15 runs take 2-0 lead in 5-match series. ii. Chasing a victory target of 293 runs in 42 overs, India managed 277/9 in 41.3 overs before rain stopped play and the umpires declared the match over. iii. MS Dhoni won the toss and put the Kiwis in to bat. The hosts made 271 for 7 in the stipulated overs, and because of the Duckworth-Lewis method, the visitors were given an upscale target of 297. iv. Kane Williamson top scored for the Kiwis with 77, while Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson and Martin Guptill also made valuable contributions. v. Mohammed Shami bagged the maximum of 3 wickets for Team India. Virat Kohli made 78 runs while captain Dhoni contributed 56. 12. Victoria Azarenka crashes out of Australian Open i. In yet another shocker at the Australian Open Tennis tournament, World Number Two Victoria Azarenka of Belarus today crashed out of the first Grand Slam of the season at Melbourne. ii. In the Women's Singles quarterfinals, Azarenka lost to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, 1-6, 7-5, 0-6. Slovakia's Dominica Cibukova today made it to semifinal, beating Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-0 in the other quarterfinal. iii. For a place in the final, Radwanska will take on Cibulkova, while China's Li Na will meet Eugenie Bouchard of Canada. iv. Top players like World Number One Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer have already bowed out of the tournament. v. In the Men's Singles, World Number One Rafael Nadal today stormed into the semi-finals beating Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2. 13. Australian Open: Federer to face Nadal after beating Murray i. Roger Federer has reached an 11th straight semi-final at the Australian Open through a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 defeat of Andy Murray which took more than three hours. ii. The Swiss will take on Rafael Nadal, who dealt with hand blisters in beating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

14. Karnataka through to Ranji finals after day 5 washout i. Karnataka, who entered the final by the virtue of first innings lead, will take on Maharashtra at Hyderabad from January 29. ii. The semi-final match was called off by the umpires without a ball being bowled on the fifth day due to persistent rain. The first day of the encounter was also wiped out. iii. Karnataka, who were at 447 for five in reply to Punjab's first innings total of 270, went through to their first Ranji final in four seasons.

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1. Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in Bitcoin. 2. India and Japan signed the memorandum in tourism 3. NASA Mars Rover discovered doughnut rock 4. Professor Rakesh Khurana of Indian origin appointed as Dean of Harvard College 5. Currency notes issued before 2005 to be withdrawn: RBI 6. Garuda Vasudha Advanced Light Helicopter of Geological Survey of India launched 7. Indian economy to grow by 6 percent: CRISIL 8. Sudhir Mahato, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand died 9. India-born Prof A J Paulraj won 2014 Marconi Prize 10. OCA recognized Russian martial art Sambo and is now a part of Asian Games

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