Current Affairs Capsule – January 2017 Business • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) announced a tie up with LIC for augmenting capital support to enterprises in the country • Natarajan Chandrasekaran was named the new chairman of Tata Sons, first non-Parsi to head the group • Vedanta Group firm Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) got environment clearance for its Rs 1,200 crore Zawar Mines expansion project in Rajasthan • Reliance Power Ltd appointed Suresh Nagarajan as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) • Wipro Limited announced retirement of executive vice chairman TK Kurien • Bharti AXA General Insurance appointed Sanjeev Srinivasan as CEO and Managing Director • The Delhi International Airport (Private) Limited (DIAL) won the ‘Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the transportation sector under the Aviation category for the year 2016 • National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched its international exchange in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) • Cisco agreed to buy AppDynamics for $3.7 billion, a day before its IPO • Former MRF director and rubber industry doyen KM Philip passed away • Kalyan Krishnamurthy was named the new chief executive officer of Flipkart • Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched a Contactless Credit Card which has been named PNB Wave N Pay • Air India launched ‘Fly for Sure’ scheme which allows passengers can pay ₹2,000 and board any other Air India flight on the same sector • Tata Consultancy Services announced Rajesh Gopinathan as the new CEO and NG Subramaniam as president and COO of the company For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in Entertainment • Dangal won the Best Film Award at the 62nd Filmfare Awards • Moonlight won the Best Picture award at the 74th Golden Globe Awards • Aamir Khan won the Best Actor (Male) Award for his role of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat in 'Dangal' at the 62nd Filmfare Awards 2017 • La La Land won record seven Golden Globes at the 74th Golden Globe Awards • Amitabh Bachchan was honored by the US Embassy to acknowledge his immense contribution to the India-US ties on tuberculosis • Sonam Kapoor won the Filmfare Critics' Award for Best Actor (Female) for Neerja • Veteran actor Om Puri died at his residence after a massive heart attack • Neerja was awarded the Best Movie Critics' awards at the 62nd Filmfare Awards • Sonam Kapoor was awarded Best Actress Critics' awards at the 62nd Filmfare Awards • Manoj Bajpayee (Aligarh) and Shahid Kapoor (Udta Punjab) were awarded Best Actor Critics' awards at the 62nd Filmfare Awards • Indian-American comedian Aziz Ansari became the host of TV show Saturday Night Live, making history as its first host of South Asian descent Government/Legal • Union power minister Piyush Goyal launched the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) Web Portal & Mobile App • The President of India approved the Promulgation of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, 2016 • The Government of India approved the strategic disinvestment of 26% equity shares in Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) • Government launched a toll-free helpline number “14444” to educate people and provide support related to digital payments • India signed 14 agreements with UAE to boost bilateral relations For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in • Gujarat government launched India's first student startup and innovation policy • Prof. David R. Syiemlieh took the Oath of Office and Secrecy as Chairman, Union Public Service Commission • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu launched ‘Arogya Raksha’, a health insurance scheme • Arunachal Pradesh launched 'Dulari Kanya', a special scheme to check infant mortality in the state • Government of India announced Pan-India expansion of Maternity Benefit Programme (MBP) to benefit pregnant and lactating mothers across the country • Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the “Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY)” during the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD 2017) celebration • The state government of Madhya Pradesh launched Digital Dakiya Scheme to promote cashless transactions • Cabinet approved signing of MoU between India and Portugal in the field of agriculture and allied sectors • Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, launched e-wallet ‘Tokapoisa.in’ and an e- payment portal for enabling cashless economy • The government appointed Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma as Director of CBI • The Government started a survey, Swachh Survekshan to rank 500 cities across the country on cleanliness India • Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh declared Dharamsala as the second capital of the state • Google Doodle honored social reformer Savitribai Phule on her 186th birthday anniversary For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in • Havildar Hangpan Dada, who laid down his life after single-handedly killing three terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, was posthumously awarded Ashok Chakra • Renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri passed away • Maharashtra Government launched MumbaiWifi: India's largest public Wi-Fi initiative • India's first transgender school 'Sahaj International' was opened in Kochi • India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV from a test range off Odisha coast • The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 28th Dantan Gramin Mela 2017 at Dantan, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal • Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Nobel Prize Series Exhibition in Gandhinagar, Gujarat • The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, attended the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj in Patna • In several locations across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, protest against the Supreme Court's order to ban jallikattu took place • The Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari inaugurated a two-day international conference titled “Yoga for body and beyond” in New Delhi • The 120th birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose was observed in India on the 23rd of January • Minister for Cooperation and Sugar, H S Mahadev Prasad (59) was passed away in Chikkamagaluru • Vijay Bhatkar was appointed as the chancellor of Nalanda University • General Bipin Rawat took over as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff • National Youth Day was observed on 12 January on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda • The 21st National Youth Festival (NYF) was organized at Rohtak on the theme 'Youth for Digital India' • National girl child day was celebrated on 24th of January as a national observance day for the girl child For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in • The Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) made it mandatory for its about 50 lakh pensioners to provide Aadhaar • 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was held during 7-9 January 2017 at Bengaluru • European Union lifted 3-year ban on import of vegetables from India • Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin was elected as the working president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party • Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the first solar-powered boat 'Aaditya' at Vaikom • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 104th Indian Science Congress in Andhra Pradesh • Tamil Nadu Tourism Department launched a mobile app ‘pinakin’ with information on tourism in Tamil Nadu with audio facilities • Lieutenant General Sarath Chand was appointed as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) of the Indian Army • Akhilesh Yadav became the new national president of Samajwadi Party • Army Day was celebrated on 15 January in India, in recognition of Lieutenant General K. M. Cariappa's taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army • The Reserve Bank of India appointed Surekha Marandi as its Executive Director (ED) in place of U S Paliwal • Shri Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was sworn in as the 44th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India • Meghalaya Governor V. Shanmuganathan resigned following allegations of sexual harassment charges • Three north-eastern States of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya organized numerous programmes and events to celebrate their Foundation Days International For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in • President Barack Obama ended “wet foot, dry foot” immigration policy that allowed Cubans to stay and become a legal resident in the US • India and Kazakhstan sign Protocol to amend the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) • Sir Tim Barrow was appointed as Britain's EU ambassador • The former President of Germany, Roman Herzog, who pioneered remembrance of the Holocaust, passed away • Daniel Ortega was re-elected as President of Nicaragua • US President Barack Obama awarded Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor • US President Barack Obama chose four Indian-American (Pankaj Lal, Kaushik Chowdhury, Manish Arora, Aradhna Tripati) scientists for the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) • Nana Akufo-Addo was sworn in as Ghana's new president after beating John Mahama • Eminent British economist Tony Atkinson passed away • Norway became the first country to cease FM radio broadcasting using analogue frequencies • Celebrated war reporter Clare Hollingworth who was the first to report the outbreak of the second world war passed away • The former president of Portugal, Mario Soares, died at the age of 92 • Sheikh Rafik Mohammed, a Saudi Arabia-based businessman of Indian origin, was appointed a major