Current Affairs Update – 29th January, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 29th January, 2016. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2016 Exam.

• Government has marginally revised
  downward the economic growth for 2014-15 to 7.2 per cent from the earlier
  estimate of 7.3 per cent after factoring in latest data on agriculture and
  industrial production.
• GDP growth rate for 2013-14 has
  also revised downwards to 6.6 per cent from earlier estimate of 6.9 per cent.
• According to the statement,
  estimates of GDP and other aggregates for the years 2011-12 to 2013-14 have
  also undergone revision due to use of latest available data on agricultural
  production and industrial production.
• Last year, the CSO had estimated
  the GDP growth rate for 2014-15 and 2013-14 at 7.3 per cent and 6.9 per cent,
  respectively.
• The office said in terms of real
  GVA (Gross Value Added) at constant (2011-12) basic prices, there has been a
  growth of 7.1 per cent in 2014-15 as against growth of 6.3 per cent in 2013-14.
• The GVA for 2014-15 was earlier
  estimated at 7.2 per cent.
• GVA as a concept was introduced
  by the CSO last year to measure value addition in the economy.

• India and the Asian Development
  Bank (ADB) on Thursday signed an $80 million loan agreement for improving the
  infrastructure in the two North-Eastern cities of Agartala and Aizawl, according
  to a government statement.
• The loan is the third tranche of
  a $200 million financing facility under the North-Eastern Region Capital cities
  Development Investment Program and will be used for investments in water
  supply, solid waste management and sanitation in Agartala and Aizwal. It will
  also support urban reforms, benefiting nearly a million people in the two
  cities.
• The previous two tranches were
  aimed at improving the infrastructure in Shillong, Aizawl, Kohima, Gangtok and
  Agartala.

• The Centre’s balance sheet
  continued to be under control in the first three quarters of the financial
  year, with its fiscal deficit at 88 per cent of the full-year target.
• The fiscal deficit at the end of
  December 2015 was ₹4,88,185
  crore or 87.9 per cent of the Budget estimate, according to data released by
  the Controller-General of Accounts on Friday. It had exceeded the full-year
  target at 100.2 per cent in the same period a year ago and was at the same
  level of 87 per cent in November 2015.
• Similarly, the revenue deficit
  too remained in check at ₹3,22,234
  crore or 81.7 per cent of the Budget estimate between April and December 2015.
  It was 106.2 per cent of the full-year target in the corresponding period a
  year ago.

• Lt Governor of Puducherry AK
  Singh on 28 January 2016 launched the MITRA mobile application to ensure safety
  and security of women in the Union Territory. The app was launched in the
  presence of the Chief Minister N Rangasamy in Puducherry.

• The Android based application can
  send emergency SOS messages when in danger or emergency.
• To launch the application, the person
  in danger need only press the power button of his/her mobile three times.
• At present, it is available only
  in smart phones.

• India and Pakistan have extended
  their agreement relating to rail communication by mutual consent through
  diplomatic channels for next three years.
• The agreement has been extended
  from January 19, 2016 to January 18, 2019, a statement issued by the Ministry
  of External Affairs said here today.
• The Agreement, signed on 28 June,
  1976, enables India-Pakistan rail communication both in respect of goods and
  passenger traffic.
• Currently, passenger and goods
  traffic operates on Delhi – Lahore route via Attari – Wagah, and passenger
  traffic between Jodhpur and Karachi via Munabao – Khokhrapar.

• A three-day National Conference
  on Social Entrepreneurship, organized as part of XLRI’s mission to promote
  management education with a social conscience and to propagate dialogue on
  social development, was inaugurated on Friday.
• Organized under the aegis of Fr
  Arrupe Centre for Ecology and Sustainability and SIGMA, a society of a group of
  budding future corporate managers, the theme of the conference is Social
  Innovations: Changing Lives and Society.

• India on 28 January 2016 test
  fired its indigenously-built surface-to-air Akash missile from complex-3 of the
  Integrated Test Range (ITR).at Chandipuri in Odisha. It was as part of a user
  trial mission.
• Three rounds of test were carried
  out by Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel aiming at para-barrel targets.

• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
  Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 27 January 2016 directed officials to impose ban on
  polythene in entire state from January 2017.
• The Chief Minister’s decision
  came after his review of the activities of Urban Development and Environment
  and Housing Department in capital Bhopal.
• As per the decision, the ban on
  polythene will be strictly enforced at tourist destinations and holy cities
  Ujjain, Amarkantak, Khajuraho, Pachmarhi, Maheshwar, Omkareshwar and Orchha
  from September 2016.

• Ministry of Culture on 28 January
  2016 released a commemorative coin of 150 rupees and a circulation coin of 10
  rupees on Lala Lajpat Rai.
• The Commemorative Coin of 150
  rupees is made of Quaternary alloy with diameter of 44 mm and weight of 35
  grams.
• The Circulation coin of 10 rupees
  is made of bi-metallic material with diameter of 27 mm and weight of 7.71
  grams.

• 31 countries on 27 January 2016
  signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) to boost
  transparency in the functioning of multinational enterprises (MNEs) by allowing
  automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports by tax administrators.
• The signing of the agreement
  marks an important milestone towards implementation of the OECD/G20 Base
  Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.

• Under this multilateral
  agreement, information will be exchanged between tax administrations, giving
  them a single, global picture on the key indicators of multinational
  businesses.
• With Country-by-Country
  reporting, tax administrations will get aggregate information annually,
  starting with 2016 accounts, relating to the global allocation of income and
  taxes paid, together with other indicators of the location of economic activity
  within the MNE group.

• The United Nations Children’s
  Fund (UNICEF) launched a 2.8 billion US dollar appeal to reach 43 million
  children in humanitarian emergencies worldwide on 26 January 2016. It included
  the 54.3 million US dollar appeal to help conflict-affected children in eastern
  Ukraine in 2016.
• It is for the first time ever
  that the largest portion of the appeal, that is, 25 per cent is dedicated
  towards educating children in emergencies.
• It planned to increase the number
  of children in crises who are given access to education from 4.9 million at the
  beginning of 2015 to 8.2 million in 2016. 
  More than half of 5 million will be Syrian children inside the country
  or in neighbouring countries.

• Its appeal targets a total of 76
  million people in 63 countries.
• The largest section of the appeal
  1.16 billion US dollars are allocated to life-saving aid needed for Syria and
  the Syrian refugee crisis in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Key needs
  include safe water, immunizations, education and child protection.
• 30.8 million US dollars are being
  requested by UNICEF to respond to the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.

• The International Monetary Fund
  (IMF) on 27 January 2016 implemented the long-pending 2010 Quota and Governance
  Reforms.
• The reforms represent a major
  step towards the increasing role of dynamic emerging market and developing
  countries. The entry into force of these reforms will reinforce the
  credibility, effectiveness, and legitimacy of the IMF.

• For the first time, four emerging
  market countries- Brazil, China, India, and Russia will be among the 10 largest
  members of the IMF.
• Other top 10 members include the
  United States, Japan, and the four largest European countries France, Germany,
  Italy, and the United Kingdom.
• India’s voting rights increased
  to 2.6 percent from the current 2.3 percent and China’s voting rights increased
  to six percent from 3.8.
• The reforms also increased the
  financial strength of the IMF by doubling its permanent capital resources to
  659 billion US dollars.

• China and Iran on 23 January 2016
  signed 17 documents & letters of intents to broaden bilateral cooperation.
  The agreements were signed in Tehran during the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s
  visit to Iran.
• The agreements cover various
  fields such as energy, industrial capacity, finance, investment,
  communications, culture, judiciary, science and technology, news media,
  customs, climate change and human resources.

• Iran and Airbus on 28 January
  2016 signed two agreements covering new aircraft orders and a comprehensive
  civil aviation co-operation package. The agreement includes purchase of 118 new
  Airbus aircrafts. 
• The agreement for 118 new
  aircraft includes 21 A320ceo family, 24 A320neo family, 27 A330ceo family, 18
  A330neo (-900), 16 A350-1000 and 12 A380.

• Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner
  Martina Hingis on 29 January 2016 won the 2016 Australian Open title of tennis
  in the women’s doubles category.
• To win the title, the top seeded
  Indo-Swiss pair defeated seventh seeded Czech duo Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie
  Hradecka 7-6 (1), 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. With the
  win over the Czech duo, they extended their unbeaten run to 36.
• For Sania-Hingis pair, it was
  their maiden Australian Open title and the third successive Grand Slam doubles
  title after their victories in the 2015 Wimbledon and US Open.

• South African Graham Ford will
  take over as the chief coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team for his second
  stint replacing Marvan Atapattu, who had stepped down five months back.
• Ford is expected to join the side
  in February before the three-match T20 International series against India.
• The news was announced in Surrey
  county’s website as they confirmed their current coach Ford’s decision to leave
  for international assignment.
• Ford had earlier coach Sri Lanka
  for two years starting from 2012.

• Punjab’s Navneet Kaur on 28
  January 2016 won two gold medals in the 34th Senior National Rowing
  Championship at Hussainsagar Lake, Hyderabad. It was her maiden gold at the
  country’s highest level in the senior category.
• Kaur took 8:26.83 seconds to take
  the first place in the 2000mts Open Single Scull. Later, Navneet and Harpreet
  Kaur won the women’s doubles sculls timing 7:42.94 seconds.
• In the men single scull, Nasik’s
  Santosh Kadale won his maiden national gold.

• Amid the high-decibel debate
  around Net neutrality, call drops and the upcoming mega spectrum auction,
  Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg on Friday was moved to the low-profile Minority
  Affairs Ministry, as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle.
• JS Deepak, a UP cadre officer
  from the 1982 batch, who is currently Secretary, Department of IT (DeitY), will
  replace Garg.
• This will be Deepak’s second
  innings in the Department of Communications (DoT).
• As Joint Secretary, DoT, he was
  among those who had played a lead role in ensuring the smooth auction of 3G and
  broadband wireless access spectrum in 2010, which fetched the government
  revenue of ₹1.06 lakh
  crore.

• Gurdeep Singh on 28 January 2016
  was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of NTPC Ltd.
• Singh will be the first person to
  be appointed to the top job at a Maharatna company through a search committee
  route.
• The Appointments Committee of the
  Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the
  appointment of Singh for a period of five years from the date of assumption of
  charge of the post.
• The post of chairman and managing
  director at NTPC fell vacant after Arup Roy Choudhury completed his five year
  term on 31 August 2015.

• The second volume of memoirs of
  President Pranab Mukherjee titled The Turbulent Years – 1980-1996 was released
  on 28 January 2016 by Vice President Hamid Ansari in function held at Rashtrapati
  Bhavan in New Delhi.
• In this book, he reminisced about
  crucial events of his political life including Indira Gandhi’s assassination,
  Babri Masjid demolition, operation Blue Star and his ouster from Rajiv Gandhi’s
  Cabinet.
• The first volume of President’s
  memoir titled The Dramatic Decade- The Indira Gandhi Years was released on 11
  December 2014.

• Former minister and freedom
  fighter Maheswar Baug died on 28 January 2016 at the district headquarter
  hospital in Balasore, Odisha. He was 85.
• He was minister for works and
  health during chief ministership of Nilamani Routray in 1977.

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