Current Affairs Update - 14 Jan, 2015

• In a move to help the Indian start-up ecosystem, India’s second largets IT company Infosys, on Wednesday announced the creation of a $250 million (Rs. 1,550 crore) ‘Innovate in India Fund’ from its recently expanded innovation fund. Earlier, Infosys had said that it will expand its innovation fund to $500 million to accelerate the creation of its worldwide ecosystem of innovation.
• The Innovate in India Fund, announced by Dr. Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be dedicated for investments in promising new Indian companies that will be inducted into the global ecosystem of strategic partners that Infosys is building.
• The Fund will be used to invest in young companies innovating in next-generation solutions and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, pervasive connectedness as well as collaboration and design technologies, the company said in a statement.
• Other than announcing the new India fund, the company also said it will develop its Mysuru campus as a ‘Smart City’. The company will also provide its expertise in the areas of smart infrastructure planning and sustainable building technology to the Ministry of Urban Development.

• Buoyed by the economic reform measures taken by the Indian government after coming to power in May last year, the World Bank has said that India would catch up with China’s growth in the year 2016-17.
• The World Bank estimated a growth rate of 5.6 per cent in 2014 and has forecast a growth rate of 6.4 percent in 2015, while that of China as 7.4 (estimated) in 2014 and 7.1 per cent (forecast) in 2015.
• In its report the Bank said growth in South Asia rose to an estimated 5.5 per cent in 2014 from a 10-year low of 4.9 percent in 2013. “The upturn was driven by India, the region’s largest economy, which emerged from two years of modest growth,” it said.
• Regional growth is projected to rise to 6.8 per cent by 2017, as reforms ease supply constraints in India, political tensions subside in Pakistan, remittances remain robust in Bangladesh and Nepal, and demand for the region’s exports firms, it said.

• Bharatiya Mahila Bank today inked an agreement with HULBSE 4.21 % arm Lakme Salons to bring easy financing options to fuel women entrepreneurship.
• Bharatiya Mahila Bank Chairman and Managing Director Usha Ananthasubramanian said this is the third such tie-up with companies after similar agreements with Chennai-based Kavin Care and Naturals, under which it has already funded 30 salons.
• She further said that typically the bank funds up to 70 per cent of the project, which is covered under the CGTMSE (Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises).
• She said Mahila Bank has opened the 40th branch today and will close the fiscal with 40 more.

• Union Government on 13 January 2015 removed Avinash Chander, the Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). He was removed 16 months before his contract was to end.
• The appointments committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the termination of the contract of Chander with effect from 31 January 2015.
• Chander who was the secretary, Defence Research and Development cum Director General, DRDO and scientific advisor to the defence minister had retired from the post on 30 November 2014 after attaining the age of 64 but he was given a contract for 18 months till 31 May 2016.

• Former bureaucrat Harishankar Brahma will be taking over as the Chief Election Commissioner after present CEC Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath retires on Thursday.
• A 1975 IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Brahma (60), who hails from Assam, is a former Union power secretary.
• Brahma assumed charge as one of the three election commissioners of India on August 25, 2010.
• After J M Lyndogh, Brahma will become the second officer from the northeast to be appointed to this post.
• Brahma held various positions in the central government before joining the Election Commission.

• Veteran Odia actor and director Hara Patnaik passed away on 13 January 2015 following a brief illness in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. He was 56.
• Patnaik started his acting career with the movie Sahari Bagha in 1985.
• He made his directorial debut in Daiba Daudi in the year 1990.
• As a director, he gave several upcoming actors their first break including Anubhav Mohanty, Sabyasachi Mishra and Babushaan.
• During his 20 years tenure, Patnaik did over 50 films and directed around 20 films.

• Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology on 12 January 2015 linked Idukki district in Kerala to the National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN). The district was linked to the NOFN as part of the Digital India project of the Union government.
• The district was commissioned with the first high speed rural broadband of India. With this, Idukki district became first district of India to have complete rural broadband coverage.
• As part of it, 8 Block Offices & 52 Gram Panchayats of the Idukki district were connected on Optical Fiber and one Gram Panchayat, namely Edamalakudy, was connected through VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal).
• The rural broadband connectivity to the Gram Panchayat of Idukki is being provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). For the first time the villages under this Panchayat would be connected through Mobile phones and internet.

• National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 13 January 2015 gave directions to clean River Yamuna under Maily se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalization Plan 2017.
• The directions were given by the principal bench of NGT presided over by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. The tribunal's judgment came on a petition by Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan against pollution in the Yamuna and covering of drains in Delhi.

• Impose a fine of 5000 rupees on individuals for throwing waste or religious items into the river
• Banned the dumping of construction material into the Yamuna while imposing a fine of 50000 rupees on the violators
• Restrained real estate developers from carrying out any construction work on the floodplains

• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 13 January 2015 proposed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Amendment) Bill 2015 (COTPA).
• The bill seeks to amend some provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.
• The Draft Bill has been put out in the public domain by the Ministry for inviting suggestions from stakeholders by 15 February 2015.
• The bill proposes to ban on-site advertising of tobacco products and shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco products will no longer be able to display the brand names.
• It proposed scrapping of designated smoking areas from hotels, restaurants and airports making an exception only for international airports to prevent exposure of non-smokers to harmful emissions.
• The penalty for smoking in restricted areas has been raised from 200 to 1000 rupees.
• Anyone found producing tobacco products without the specified warning will be liable for imprisonment for up to two years for the first offence or fine up to 50000 rupees or both.

• Tamil Novel titled Madhorubhagan authored by Perumal Murugan was in news in the second week of January 2015. It was in news as some organisations have demanded to ban the book and jail the author.
• The threat from organisations has led the author Murgan to give up writing.
• The book, though written four years back, came into limelight after its English translated version One Part Woman was published by Penguin India on 1 December 2015. It has been translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan.
• The book lays bare with unsparing clarity a relationship caught between the dictates of social convention and the tug of personal anxieties, vividly conjuring an intimate and unsettling portrait of marriage, love and sex.

• The United States (US) Department of State on 13 January 2015 designated Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) chief Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Fazlullah, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
• He was designated as a global terrorist under Executive Order (EO) 13224 that targets terrorists and people who provide support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.
• He was designated as a global terrorist after Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) under Fazlullah’s leadership claimed the responsibility of 16 December 2014 attack on the army school of Peshawar, Pakistan. The attack claimed lives of about 148 individuals including 134 students.

• Italian President Giorgio Napolitano handed in his resignation as head of state on Wednesday, leaving Prime Minister Matteo Renzi with the politically delicate task of finding a successor.
• The 89-year-old Napolitano, widely respected outside Italy as a guarantor of stability during the euro zone crisis, had always been expected to step down before the end of his second term in office because of his advanced age.
• With elections in Greece due later this month and the European Central Bank under growing pressure to take unprecedented steps to fight the risk of deflation, the change adds to an increasingly uncertain climate in the euro zone.
• Italy is struggling to emerge from years of recession and the government faces a series of hurdles to its economic and constitutional reform agenda.
• Stalemate over selecting a new head of state could absorb precious political energy and, at worst, undermine Mr. Renzi to the point where he might try to re-establish his authority with an early general election.

• Madagascar Prime Minister Kolo Roger and his government on 12 January 2015 resigned from their position. The resignation was accepted by Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina on 13 January 2015.
• However, the reason for the resignation was not disclosed by the government. This is the first change of government in Rajaonarimampianina's Presidency.
• The resigning government members will continue to work as Caretaker Government until the creation of the new government. The government led by Kolo Roger consists of 30 ministers and one Secretary of State.
• Kolo Roger was elected as Prime Minister of Madagascar in April 2014.

• Pope Francis on 14 January 2015 cannonised Joseph Vaz, the first saint of Sri Lanka. Joseph Vaz was beatified by Pope John Paul in 1995. Pope Francis cannonised Saint Joseph Vaz in presence of hundreds of thousands of people packed on a Colombo oceanfront during his visit to Sri Lanka.
• The Pope told the hushed crowd that Vaz was an example of religious tolerance relevant to Sri Lanka.
• King Vimaladharmasuriya II protected him from the Dutch and Vaz's reputation was further bolstered when he was said to have made rain during a drought.
• Vaz remained in Kandy until his death aged 60 in 1711, by which time the Church says he had converted 30000 people and created a network of priests, almost single-handedly re-establishing Catholicism in Ceylon.

• The Sport Education Development Australia (SEDA) and India's Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL-FS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 13 January 2015. The agreement was signed by the Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb.
• The MoU is aimed at developing the skills of Indian students in various sports and infrastructure as well.

• The partnership is expected to encourage the development of sports and fitness vocational courses in India.
• SEDA's experience in vocational education programs will help provide Indian students with the specialist skills and experience that they need to gain for employment in the sports.
• The partnership aims to impart training to youngsters in 350 centres across India in 25-26 states.

• Bengaluru FC on 11 January 2015 lifted their maiden football Federation Cup. In the final clash for the title Bengaluru defeated Goa's Dempo Sports Club 2-1.
• The final match was played at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda of Margao, Goa.