1.
Ela Gandhi, Ramakrishna Mission get Pravasi Bharatiya award
i. Mahatma Gandhi's grand-daughter Ela Gandhi, Australian senator of Indian origin Lisa Maria Singh and Ramkrishna Mission in Fiji were among the 13 recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award conferred in New Delhi on Thursday.
ii. Ela Gandhi has been awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for public service, enhancing India's image and promoting ties between India and South Africa.
iii. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the awards to the winners at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas programme in New Delhi.
iv. Lisa Maria Singh is the first member of Australian Parliament of South Asian descent and has held several ministerial portfolios in the past. She is a senator from Tasmania.
v. Singh was given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for public service and fostering friendly relations between India and Australia.
vi. Ramkrishna Mission, serving in Fiji since 1937, was honoured for community service and philanthropic activities and enhancing India's prestige abroad.
Vii. Other winners include Kurian Verghese for his contribution in the field of business in Bahrain, Vasdev Chanchlani for community service in Canada, Bikas Chandra Sanyal for contribution to education and culture in France, Satnarainsing Rabin Baldewsingh for public service in the Netherlands and Sasindran Muthuvel for public service in Papua New Guinea.
2.
Broom symbol belongs to us, not AAP: UP outfit
i. The Allahabad High Court Thursday issued notice to the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition filed over the broom election symbol.
ii. The Lucknow bench of Justice Rajeev Sharma and Justice Mahendra Dayal gave three weeks’ time to respond to the petition filed by the Naitik Party that claimed the election symbol was initially allotted to it and that it had contested the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on it.
iii. Pleading that the symbol be given to it for the April-May 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Naitik Party lawyer Chandra Bhushan Pandey told the court that the allotment of the broom symbol to the Aam Aadmi Party was against ECI norms and guidelines.
iv. Naitik Party had filed a petition before the high court last week against the allotment of the broom symbol to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the case will come up for hearing after four weeks.
3.
Something went wrong, Centre tells SC
i. The Centre on Thursday admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with the coal blocks allocation and that it could have been done in a more refined manner.
ii. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of Mr. Vahanvati’s admission in the Supreme Court. The party claimed that it was under his watch that the Ministry of Coal made the controversial coal blocks allocation.
iii. We took the decision in good faith but something turned out to be wrong,” Attorney-General Goolam E. Vahanvati told a three-judge Bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha.
iv. The A-G had in September 2013 submitted that the coal blocks allocation was merely a letter of intent and did not confer any right on the companies over the natural resource, which is decided by the State government.
v. The mining States of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, however, had earlier told the apex court that coal blocks allocation was “entirely controlled and regulated” by the Centre.
4.
Hockey World League Final kicks off in Delhi today
i. The inaugural Hockey World League Final tournament will begin at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi today.
ii. The world's top seven teams are participating in the tournament. India are placed in Pool A alongside reigning Olympic Champions and World Number One Germany, World No. 4 England and seventh-ranked New Zealand. Pool B consists of Australia, Netherlands, Belgium and Argentina.
iii. India will open their campaign against England today.
5.
3rd Lusofonia Games scheduled in Goa from Jan 18-29
i. The 3rd Lusofonia Games is scheduled in Goa from 18th to 29th January 2014 . Lusofonia Games 2014 begins Hosted by Goa this year. In the 12 days sports event 12 countries Brazil.
ii. Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Macau(China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Sri Lanka and the host nation Goa (India) are going to participating this Portuguese commonwealth games.
iii. These mega sport event will be conducted in nine sporting discipline , namely- Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Football, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Volleyball and Wushu.
6.
National Youth Festival from Jan 12 in Ludhiana
i. The 18th National Youth Festival will be held in Ludhiana from January 12 to 16.
ii. The festival is held on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on January 12, which is observed as the National Youth Day.
iii. The festival is being organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and the Government of Punjab.
iv. Over 5000 youth will participate at the Festival wherein each State/UT Government is expected to send a contingent of 100 participants for a multitude of competitive and non-competitive activities such as classical vocal solo, classical dance, folk dance, one act play and many others.
v. The opening ceremony will be organised at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and will be inaugurated by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Youth Affairs and Sports.
vi. The theme of the National Youth Festival this year is 'Youth For Drugs Free World'.
7.
Govt. to refund Rs 112.6bn to BSNL & MTNL
i. The government on Thursday allowed state-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to get refunds of a total Rs 112.6 billion by returning their 4G radio spectrum.
ii. By returning their 4G radio spectrum to the government, BSNL will receive Rs 67.24 billion, while MTNL will get Rs 45.34 billion, Information & Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters.
iii. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Tewari said, "The payout would be staggered and done over a period of time. The GoM was of the view that BSNL and MTNL did not participate in the auction of BWA spectrum, so it would be better to refund..."
iv. The two companies had received the radio spectrum in 2010 but haven't yet launched the services. The decision aims at providing indirect financial support to the two money-losing telecom services providers.
8.
Just SMS to join AAP: 07798220033
i. Eyeing the Lok Sabha polls later this year, the Arvind Kejriwal led-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday launched a country wide drive to enrol one crore members by January 26.
ii. Announcing the ‘Main Bhi Aam Aadmi’ campaign at a press conference here, Kejriwal said people aspiring to join the AAP across the country could SMS on a toll-free number – 07798220033 – or give a missed call.
iii. “The membership number will be sent via SMS,” he said, clarifying that one mobile number would record only one membership.
iv. Apart from this, people can also enrol into the party by filling a form on AAP’s Web site, said AAP leader Gopal Rai, who will be leading the campaign.
v. Asked how many people had joined AAP as of now, AAP leader Pankaj Singh said about three lakh people had joined online, barring slip membership, which is in the process of being uploaded.
9.
World Bank to give $250 m loan for Uttarakhand reconstruction
i. Multi-lateral funding agency World Bank will provide $250 million loan to construct disaster resilient houses and roads in disaster-hit Uttarakhand.
ii.“The Government of India, the Government of Uttarakhand and the World Bank today signed a $250 million credit agreement for the Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project to support the State in its post disaster recovery plans as well as strengthen its capacity for disaster risk management,” World Bank said in a release.
iii. The loan will help construct about 2,500 permanent disaster resilient houses and about 3,600 km of roads in Uttarakhand.
iv. A joint World Bank and Asian Development Bank team conducted a Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (JRDNA) at the request of the Union Government to rebuild the State’s infrastructure and assets lost in the June 2013 disaster.
10.
India to launch Chandrayaan-II by 2017: ISRO
i. "Chandrayaan-II is a mission where we essentially need to move on (lunar) surface to conduct experiments. We will launch Chandrayaan-II with an indigenous rover and lander using GSLV by 2016 or 2017," Space Secretary K Radhakrishnan said at a press conference today.
ii. Chandrayaan-I, India's first mission to Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from Sriharikota.
iii. The spacecraft was orbiting around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon.
iv. The mission aims at using and testing various new technologies and conducting new experiments as a part of Moon probe, ISRO said.
Note: Initially, the Moon mission was a joint venture of the Indian space agency, ISRO, and its Russian counterpart Roskosmos. However, Russia withdrew from the mission after it failed to provide a lander within the proposed time.
11.
South Korean President visiting India from 15th January
i. President Park Geun-hye will hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and discuss bilateral, regional and global issues during the visit, which is expected to expand and strengthen the India-Republic of Korea strategic partnership.
12.
Qualifier Pironkova wins Sydney title
i. Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova beat fifth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to claim her first WTA career title, at the Sydney International.
ii. The number 107, watched by her parents, dedicated the victory in her first final to her late grandfather and thanks the physiotherapists who saw her through eight matches in as many days.
Note: i. Pironkova became the first qualifier to win a title at WTA Premier level since 2010.
ii. She beat three top 10 players in her march to the trophy after losing her first seven career semi-finals prior to Thursday when she defeated former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.
13.
Former Odisha MLA and freedom fighter Narayan Sahu passes away
i. Former MLA and noted freedom fighter Narayan Sahu died at his residence in village Angaragaon, near Khallikote in Ganjam district Thursday night.
ii. He was 90 and is survived by three sons. He was not keeping well since the last few months, family sources said.
iii. Sahu, a noted socialist leader was elected to the state assembly twice in 1957 and 1967 as an Independent and Sanjukta Socialist Party (SSP) candidate from Khallikote assembly constituency respectively. He was also elected to the Ganjam zilla parishad.
iv. Sahu was jailed several times while participating in the freedom struggle. He was one of the prominent figures in the Goa liberation struggle. He was honoured by the Goa government for his contribution towards the Goa freedom movement.