Current Affairs Recap of the Week: 18 January – 23 January 2016
• It refers to tax planning strategies that would exploit the gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations - Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BESP)
• The country that become the latest country to lift nuclear sanctions on Iran on 22 January 2016 – Japan
• The purpose for which Union Government notified stricter green norms on Sugar industry – To reduce water pollution
• The number of districts in which the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme will be covered in the year 2016 – 61
• The County’s highest Islamic cleric banned chess claiming game spreads enmity and hatred -Saudi Arabia
• An ancient dragon found in Wales was named- Dracoraptor hanigani
• This Dubai-based radio channel was appointed as the official audio rights partner of the ICC for next eight years – Channel 2 Group
• The rank of India in Best Countries Report released at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos – 22
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 21 January 2016 permitted banks to sell India Gold Coins (IGC) with Ashok Chakra minted by - Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC)
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 21 January 2016 asked banks to provide loans of up to 3 lakh rupees at 7% interest rate during 2015-16 to Women Self-Help Group (SHG) under the scheme - Aajeevika scheme
• Senior revenue service officer Atulesh Jindal on 21 January 2016 was appointed the chairman of - Central Board of Direct Taxes
• The hotel that won the award of the world's best hotel at the Travellers' Choice award organised by TripAdvisor is - Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan
• A new bird species named Himalayan Forest Thrush was discovered in north-eastern India. The species has been given scientific name of - Zoothera salimalii
• The Chhattisgarh Government signed a share-holding agreement with a few central government-run corporations for the second phase of - Jagdalpur-Raoghat railway project
• As per the NTI 2016 Nuclear Security Index, India’s rank in terms of nuclear safety among the 24 states with one kilogram or more of weapons-usable nuclear materials in the world was – 21
• The country which was adjudged as the safest in terms of nuclear safety by the NTI in its Nuclear Security Index 2016 – Australia
• The agency with which the National Remote Sensing Centre signed a MoU for monitoring mining activity using satellites – Indian Bureau of Mines
• The stock exchange which launched an Algorithm Trading Test Environment in partnership with Symphony Fintech Solutions – Bombay Stock Exchange
• The marketing agency with which the Indian Olympic Association signed a 2-year marketing deal - Infinity Optimal Solutions
• The National Highway that will be converted into six-lane in Bihar and Jharkhand as per a decision of the CCEA on 20 January 2016 – NH-2
• He took over as the Executive Director of Greenpeace India - Ravi Chellam
• The Union Government on 20 January 2016 signed the Financing Agreement with which financial institution for - Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project
• The name of the train that was flagged off to run between Varanasi and New Delhi on 21 January 2016 – Mahamana Express
• The state in which complete ban on the use of polythene came into effect from 21 January 2016 – Uttar Pradesh
• These states celebrated their statehood on 21 January 2016 – Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura
• This city will host the 19th National Conference on e-Governance – Nagpur
• National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 will cover the whole of India by – 1 April 2016
• Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away on 21 January 2016 in Ahmedabad was related to the field of – Dancing
• The programme under which 5 crore LED bulbs were distributed till 21 January 2016 by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) – Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP)
• He wasappointed as the Prime Minister of Moldova on 20 January 2016 amid protests over pro-European government – Pavel Filip
• According to data released by UNCTAD, the Foreign Direct Investment in India doubled in 2015 to reach – 59 billion US dollars
• The rate of interest proposed by the Provident Fund panel that will be given on Provident Fund account – 8.95%
• This industry was granted the status of infrastructure by the Union Government - Shipyard
• The ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ that was in news and being discussed at World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos relates to the field – Cyber- Physical Systems
• Ratan Tata announced to invest in this start up company relating to baby kits – FirstCry.com
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 20 January 2016 gave its approval for setting up Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects of over – 5000 MW
• The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced a four-year deal with this company to become a Global Partner for ICC events from 2016-20 – MRF Tyres
• The team that won Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy by defeating two- time champions Baroda– Uttar Pradesh
• The book titled ‘The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time’ is the autobiography of – Subhash Chandra
• As per a joint study by the NOAA & NASA, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces, in 2015, above the 20th century average was - 0.90°C
• The 4th India Africa Hydrocarbon Conference was inaugurated in – New Delhi
• He headed the 21-member Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee that was formed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India - Narayan Murthy
• The 1400-year old Christian shrine regarded to be the oldest Christian shrine in Iraq that was raged by ISIS - St. Elijah’s Monastery
• This scheme in Bihar resulted in improved emotional & physical well-being of school children in the state – Girl First Initiative
• This graduate of Mumbai University joined the league of Bhanu Athaiya, Satyajit Ray, Resul Pookutty, A.R. Rahman and Gulzar to win an Oscar Award for technical achievement – Rahul Thakkar
• ISRO successfully launched the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) 1-E satellite on-board the - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C31
• Name of the tectonic plate on which the Russia volcano Zhupanovsky is situated and it erupted on 19 January 2016 – The Philippines Plate
• The senior journalist and former editor of daily Loksatta who passed away on 19 January 2016 in Mumbai is – Aroon Tikekar
• The state government that approved 35 percent reservation for women in all government jobs including reserved and unreserved category is – Bihar
• The state government which signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a skill training programme for the youth is – Maharashtra
• He was appointed as the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes on 18 January 2016 - Justice KL Manjunath, (Retd.)
• The two volcanoes which are separated by around 3000 miles erupted in Russia on 20 January 2016 - Mount Egon and Zhupanovsky
• The state that approved Uber India’s expansion plans on 19 January 2016 - Karnataka
• The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper who faced 4-year ban by the International Cricket Council for doping – Kusal Perera
• NASA on 7 January 2016 announced a new program to coordinate its own efforts for detecting and tracking near-Earth objects called - Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)
• The name of the programme sponsored by the European Union for developing methods of using nuclear weapons to deflect asteroids and comets from colliding with the Earth is – NEOShield
• The Indian cricketer who took 161 innings to become the fastest in the world to score 7000 ODI runs – Virat Kohli
• He was appointed as thehead of the Committee on Yoga Education in Universities by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development - Prof H R Nagendra
• The 8th India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue was held in - London
• The world's oldest man, as per the Guinness World Records, died at an age of 112 on 19 January 2016 - Yasutaro Koide
• The country which reported highest stillbirths’ rate among the 186 countries surveyed by medical journal The Lancet – Pakistan
• The President of this country declared a state of economic emergency and social emergency to redefine country’s economic and social model – France
• The World Bank, for the very first time, decided to extend an assistance of 20 million US dollar to help reconstruct a zoological park named - Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam
• The Union Government decided to institute which new category of award under the National Film Awards titled - The Most Film Friendly State/UT
• The tennis player who defeated Grigor Dimitrov to win the 2016 WTA Apia International title of Tennis in the men’s single category is - Viktor Troicki
• The State in which BHEL commissioned 660 MW supercritical thermal power unit on 18 January 2016 - Uttar Pradesh
• This state was declared as the first organic farming State of India – Sikkim
• As per the World Tourism Barometer released by UNWTO, international tourist arrivals grew by 4.4 percent in 2015 to reach a total of – 1.2 billion
• He headed the 10-member committee on simplifying the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961, the draft report of which was recently released by Union Ministry of Finance - Justice (retd) R V Easwar
• In 2015, as per an Oxfam report, this many individuals had the same wealth as 3.6 billion people, the bottom half of humanity – 62
• This organisation released a report titled ‘An Economy for the 1%’ on 18 January 2016 – Oxfam
• The agency that released the report titled Renewable Energy Benefits: Measuring the Economics - International Renewable Energy Agency
• The sixth assembly session of the International Renewable Energy Agency was held at – Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
• The two cricket players who were handed over life-time and 5-year ban, respectively, by the BCCI for their involvement in match-fixing - Ajit Chandila and Hiken Shah
• He is the former Airbus Chief Operating Officer and was appointed as the CEO & MD of Tata Motors - Guenter Butschek
• The bank with which the NITI Aayog collaborated to conduct an enterprise survey of manufacturing firms – IDFC Bank Ltd
• The satellite which was launched using the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to monitor the topography of the Ocean floor – Jason-3
• The action plan that was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give boost to the startup ecosystem in the country - Start-up India, Stand-up India Action Plan
• The State legislature that approved reclassification of coconut tree as palm – Goa Legislative Assembly
• He is a Kenyan athlete who on 17 January 2016 won the 2016 Mumbai Marathon in the men’s category - Gideon Kipketer
• These Indians qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics by finishing second and third respectively in the Mumbai Marathon - Gopi T and Kheta Ram
• The indigenously developed light combat aircraft that flew for the first time in the international air space and reached the Sakhir Airbase in Bahrain – Tejas
• The flower which became the first ever grown in the space – Zinnia
• General Electric Co. agreed to sell its home-appliances business to China’s Qingdao Haier Co. for - 5.4 billion US dollars
• The noted Punjabi folk singer who died on 17 January 2016 due to brain hemorrhage in Patiala - Manpreet Akhtar
• The movie on 17 January 2016 won the best picture award at Critics' Choice Awards 2016- Spotlight
• The Mosquito borne virus that was first time recorded in United States of America in the third week of January 2016 - Zinka Virus
• Indian author Anuradha Roy won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novel titled - Sleeping on Jupiter
• Tsai Ing-wen who was elected as the first female President of Taiwan belongs to - Democratic Progressive Party
• India’s Dinesh Sharma was elected to the 12-member board of directors of – Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
• The team that was declared victorious in the 2016 Premier Badminton League is – Delhi Acers
• Jalgaon’s Vijay Choudhary defeated Vikrant Jadhav of Mumbai to retain Maharashtra Kesri title in - 59th Maharashtra Kesri Wrestling Championship
• The player on 18 January 2016 named as the captain of Rising Pune Supergiants for IPL 2016 season - Mahendra Singh Dhoni