IMPORTANT NEWS -- LAST WEEK OF JANUARY 2016 -- THANKS KUNDAN SIR.

in a bank branch in west bengal

last week of January important news

• Anti-Leprosy day was celebrated on 30 January 2016 in the memory of his selfless efforts and care for the people affected by leprosy – Mahatma Gandhi

• The country that unveiled its first stealth fighter plane and named it Mitsubishi Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X or X-2 – Japan

• The Central Statistics Office revised GDP growth rate for FY 2014-15 from 7.3 percent to – 7.2 percent

• The Central Statistics Office revised GDP growth rate for FY 2013-14 from 6.9 percent to – 6.6 percent

• They were conferred upon 2015 Prince Mahidol Award by the Royal family of Thailand for achievements in medicine and public health worldwide - Professor Morton Mower and Sir Michael Marmot

• The Supreme Court directed the Union Government to investigate conditions of three lakh nurses who are working in – Private establishments across the country

• The 61st National School Athletic championships kick started on 29 January 2016 at - Olympian Rahman Stadium, at Kozhikode in Kerala

• The Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law & Justice on 28 January 2016 constituted an expert committee to review the - Specific Relief Act, 1963

• The book titled Nathuram Godse - The Story of an Assassin is authored by - Anup Ashok Sardesai

• 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

• World Health Organization (WHO) predicted, three to four million people could be infected with Zika virus in the Americas in – 2016

• President Pranab Mukherjee on 28 January 2016 sought additional information on certain provisions of - Gujarat anti-terror Bill

• AK Singh launched the mobile application MITRA to secure safety of women in emergencies. He is the Lt Governor of - Puducherry

• He was appointed as the head of one-man judicial commission by the Union Government to probe Rohith Vemula suicide incident in the University of Hyderabad - Ashok K Roopanwal

• Lady appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Twitter Inc on 26 January 2016- Leslie Berland

• The rowing champion who won gold medal the men single scull in the 34th Senior National Rowing Championship at Hussainsagar Lake, Hyderabad is - Santosh Kadale

• The managing director of Gujarat State Electricity Company Limited who was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC Limited is - Gurdeep Singh

• The founder of psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane who died on 28 January 2016 is - Paul Kantner

• Donald Kaberuka on 28 January 2016 was appointed as - African Union’s High Representative for the peace fund

• Nisid Hajari won the 2016 William E. Colby Award for his book titled - Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition

• The city that topped the 1st batch of 20 Smart Cities announced by the Union Government on 28 January 2016 – Bhubaneswar

• Union Government on 28 January 2016 signed an 80 million US dollar loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue improving infrastructure in - Agartala and Aizwal

• The Australian Olympic diving gold medalist who announced his retirement from the sport on 28 January 2016 - Matthew Mitcham

• Person appointed as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh on 28 January 2016 - Justice Sanjay Mishra

• WWF-India on 27 January 2016 claimed that they spotted the endangered snow leopards for the first time in - North Sikkim Plateau

• Intelsat, the commercial satellite giant, on 27 January 2016 announced successful launch of - Inteslat 29e

• She won the 12th Sub-Junior National billiards championship title - Doyel Dey

• Persons of Indian-origin who were on 26 January 2016 honoured with the Order of Australia, highest civilian honour of Australia - Sajeev Koshy, Chennupati Jagadish and Jay Chandra

• The former captain of Indian basketball team in the first Asian Games in 1951, who died on 25 January 2016 is – Ranbir Chopra

• The Australian batsman who won the prestigious Allan Border Medal for 2016 is – David Warner

• The Indian activist who is selected for the 8th Human Rights Award by Amnesty International Germany is - Henri Tiphagne

• The US-based global consulting and technology services company acquired by Cognizant is - KBACE Technologies Inc

• Person selected for the 2016 Technical Achievement Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on 22 January 2016 - Cottalango Leon

• First civil servant of India to scale Mount Vinson Massif, the highest peak in the Antarctica on 17 January 2016 - Aparna Kumar

• Department of Religious Affairs of a country in January 2016 issued a law that makes it mandatory for men of the nation to marry at least two wives – Eritrea

• The fourth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) was held in - Nusa Dua, Indonesia

• The state which got Union Government approval to install solar energy panels on 10000 EWS houses for the first time at a cost of 253 crore rupees PMAY under Urban Housing Mission -Tamil Nadu

• The Pakistan Cricketer who retired from International Cricket on 27 January 2016 - Imran Farhat

• Union Cabinet on 27 January 2016 approved a proposal for raising 17 more India reserve battalions in the states - Jammu and Kashmir and Left-wing extremism affected states

• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 27 January 2016 gave its approval for the Hybrid Annuity Model as one of the modes of delivery for implementing the - Highway projects

• Delhi Government on 27 January 2016 constituted a commission of inquiry to probe into the complaints of crime against women in the national capital since February 2013 headed by - Retired District Judge Dinesh Dayal

• Sajeev Koshy settled in Melbourne was honoured with the highest civilian honour, the Order of Australia for - His service to dentistry

• The hockey player who was awarded with the men’s International Hockey Federation Player of the Year award for 2015 is - Robert Van der Horst

• The Bollywood actor who was honoured with the third Yash Chopra Memorial Award in Mumbai is – Rekha

• The West Indies batsman who on 22 January 2016 retired from international cricket is - Shivnarine Chanderpaul

• India signed a protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention with - Armenia

• He joined Don Bradman and Herb Elliott to become the third sportsman to be named a Companion of the Order of Australia - Rod Laver

• She won the National sub-junior snooker title by defeating Anushi Seth – Ishika Shah

• He took charge as the Permanent Representative of India to the UN by presenting his credentials to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – Syed Akbaruddin

• India’s rank in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 – 76

• It was adjudged as the most corrupt-free country in the world by the Transparency International in its Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 – Denmark

• The parliament of this country on 26 January 2016 voted on a proposal to confiscate asylum seekers’ personal possessions in order to pay their upkeep - Denmark

• The pioneer of artificial intelligence, who died on 24 January 2016 at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital due to cerebral hemorrhage is - Marvin Minsky

• India returned to the summit of the Test rankings for the first time since - August 2011

• The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 came into effect from - 26 January 2016

• The theme of the International Customs Day, organised in commemoration of formation of World Customs Organisation, observed every year on 26 January – Digital Customs: Progressive Engagement

• He was awarded with the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award Ashok Chakra on 26 January 2016 – Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami

• Arunachal Pradesh was recommended by the Union Cabinet to be brought under Presidential Rule under the Article – Article 356 of Indian Constitution

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on 25 January 2016 jointly inaugurated the interim secretariat of International Solar Alliance (ISA) at – Gurgaon

• The famous malayali comedy actress who died on 25 January 2016 in Hyderabad - Kalpana Ranjani

• The 11-day Bargarh’s Dhanu Yatra that concluded on 25 January 2016 commemorates the death of - King Kansa

• Union Government on 25 January 2016 launched Sahaj Scheme for - online booking of LPG cylinders

• The theme of the 6th National Voters’ Day (NVD) observed across the country on 25 January 2016 - Inclusive and Qualitative Participation

• India observed 9th National Girl Child Day on - 24 January

• India on 24 January 2016 won the first T20 Asia cup cricket for Blind at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium of Kochi by defeating - Pakistan by 44 runs

• India's Ace Shuttler, who on 24 January 2016 won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton title is - PV Sindhu

• The Presidential election of Portugal was won by - Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

• The number of agreements signed between India and France on 24 January 2016 at the India-France Business Summit held at Chandigarh - 16

• The title of the 19th National e-governance Conference held at Nagpur in Maharashtra - Transforming India

• The Organisation that won gold award for innovative use of technology in e-Governance category in National e-Governance Awards 2015-16 on 22 January 2016 - EPFO, (Employment Provident Fund Organization)

• The Organisation that won gold award for the use of ICT for Development by Non-Government Institutions category in National e-Governance Awards 2015-16 on 22 January 2016 - Western Union, Mumbai

• The 46th statehood day of Himachal Pradesh was celebrated on – 25 January 2016

• India Railways inaugurated India’s first high speed public Wi-Fi service on 22 January 2016 at - Mumbai Central station

• For the Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards, the certificates are signed by the - Union Home Minister

• The company that has launched India’s first social mobile wallet Udio is - TranServ

• Maharashtra’s first Solar Power operated Mini-Water Supply Plant was commissioned in - Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in Nagpur district

• A team of Indo-German geologists and palaeontologists may have found fossils of a 135-million-year old herbivorous dinosaur, possibly the oldest such fossil found in this century, in the region of– Kutch, Gujarat

• ONGC received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for drilling 45 developed wells in - Krishna Godavari basin

• The player from Hong Kong who won 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals in the girls’ category is - Zhu Chengzhu

• The Brisbane Heat batsman who was named as the Big Bash League’s player of the tournament is - Chris Lynn

• An Indian-origin Muslim cleric who has been conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Leicester in recognition of his work for his local community is - Muhammad Shahid Raza

• The 5-day annual summit of World Economic Forum (WEF) came to a close on 23 January 2016 in - Davos

• The 42-crore rupees project sanctioned under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Programme and funded by World Bank is being implemented in exceedingly vulnerable seaside pockets of - Kendrapara district of Odisha

• Facebook will construct its first data centre facility at - Ireland's Clonee village

• Taking forward the strategic relationship between the two countries to the next level, India will build a satellite tracking and imaging centre in - Southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City