1.Today is National Girl Child Day
i. Today is National Girl Child Day. This day is observed every year to raise awareness and consciousness towards the girl child.
ii. The aim is to ensure that every girl is respected, valued and treated equally in society.
iii. On this day, the Women and Child Development Ministry takes up a multi-pronged approach for addressing as well as working towards diminishing the child sex ratio in India.
iv. Earlier on 22 January 2014, the India Post launched a special savings scheme for the girl child between 10 and 20 in age of India.
v. The scheme has asked the parents of girls to open a Savings Bank account. It says that the parents can open
• Recurring Deposit (RD)
• Monthly Income Scheme (MIS)
• Fixed Deposits
• And can also buy National Savings Certificate (NSC)
2.PM gives away National Bravery Awards to children
i. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave away National Bravery awards for the year 2013 to children from various parts of the country in New Delhi today.
ii. The award is given for showing exceptional grit and bravery in adverse situation. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh told the award winners that they are an inspiration to both their own generation and the nation. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath were also present on the occasion.
iii. 25 children from various States, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chattisgarh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir won the National Bravery awards.
iv. The awardees include nine girls. Five children were awarded posthumously. The award winning children will be part of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath on Sunday.
3.Economic growth in India projected at 5.35% in 2014, says UN report
i. India's economy is projected to grow at a slower-than-expected rate of 5.3 per cent this year, according to a United Nations report which said the country's slowdown may have bottomed out.
ii. The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 (WESP) report said a mild recovery in investment as well as stronger export growth will help in the gradual GDP pick-up.
iii. Full-year growth decelerated to 4.8 per cent in 2013 from 5.1 per cent in the calendar year 2012.
iv. The report further said that global economic growth is expected to increase over the next two years with continuing signs of improvement.
v. The global economy is projected to grow at a pace of 3 per cent in 2014 and 3.3 per cent in 2015, compared to an estimated growth of 2.1 per cent in 2013.
4.New RBI guidelines for loan restructuring norms by NBFCs
i. In order to minimise the risk of defaults, RBI has issued revised guidelines for loan restructuring norms by non-banking financial companies, NBFCs.
ii. In a notification issued from Mumbai yesterday, RBI said that rules for restructuring loans by NBFCs will be the same as those of banks.
iii. The key provisions include that the relaxation or extension of commencement of projects will not amount to restructuring for infrastructure, non-infrastructure and corporate real estate projects.
iv. RBI, further, said that a special classification benefit will be provided to corporate debt restructuring cases, including small and medium enterprises. The benefit will, however, be withdrawn with effect from April 1 next year.
5.SBI launches Youtube channel; Twitter handle next
i. Nation's largest lender State Bank of India on Friday strengthened its social media presence with the launch of its channel on popular video sharing website Youtube and said it will also be launching its handle on the micro-blogging site Twitter soon.
ii. The YouTube channel is another platform that will enable us to connect with our customers. SBI will continue to spread its footprint on social media through the launch of platforms like Twitter, shortly," Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a statement.
iii. SBI, which controls around a fourth of the deposits in the system, is one of the oldest financial institutions in the country with an over 200 years of history.
iv. It has over 15,000 branches and over 43,000 ATMs. The bank statement said the Youtube channel will help it connect with the young and technologically savvy customers.
6.Favour free ATM services: Finance Services Secretary Takru
i. Financial services secretary Rajiv Takru has said that he favours free ATM services as they exist now.
ii. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Thursday, Mr. Takru said that if these services are made expensive then customers may end up at bank counters and warned that a teller service is far more expensive than ATM service.
iii. He however clarified that no bank has approached the government seeking approval to raise ATM fees and said that a final decision in this regard will be taken by RBI.
iii. Admitting that ATM services should be sustainable, Mr. Takru said banks should look at ways to encourage customers to increase their ATM usage so as to make them profitable. Mr. Takru also called for a re-look at orders of some state governments asking banks to have round-the-clock security at ATMs.
7.Kerala wins UN award for sustainable tourism
i. Kerala Tourism has been conferred the United Nations Award for creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition.
ii. The state lifted the coveted honour for its sustainable development initiative in the world renowned backwater resort of Kumarakom, a Kerala tourism release said on Thursday.
iii. Kerala Tourism bagged the honour at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented at Madrid in Spain.
iv. Kerala won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour given to the government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives.
v. Instituted in 2003 by UNWTO, the United Nations agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the UNWTO Awards showcase innovation and application of knowledge in tourism with the aim of effecting governance and society.
8.Railways earmark berth for security escort in trains with sleepers
i. The Railways has decided to earmark berth no. 71 in coach S-1 in all the trains having security escort.
ii. A Railway official said that the idea of having a dedicated berth for the security personnel is to help passengers to locate them easily in case of emergency. He said, trains which are devoid of sleepers will not have this facility.
iii. There are 3,475 trains which are provided with the escort of Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police ensure security for passengers.
9.Viscera test must in death due to poisoning: SC
i. A bench of Justices Ranjana P Desai and J Chelameswar ruled that in all the cases where poisoning is suspected, immediately after the post-mortem, the viscera should be sent to the forensic science laboratories (FSL).
ii. The prosecuting agencies should ensure that the viscera is, in fact, sent to the FSL for examination and the FSL should ensure that the viscera is examined immediately and report is sent to the investigating agencies/courts post haste.
iii. The court took serious note of a number of cases relating to death by poisoning which resulted in acquittal mainly because police failed to seek a viscera examination from forensic science laboratories (FSL).
About Viscera test
i. In the Viscera test the internal organs of the body, specifically those within the chest (as the heart or lungs) or abdomen (as the liver, pancreas or intestines) are tested thoroughly.
ii. The Forensic Science Laboratories provide scientific assistance in crime investigation by way of examination of blood, semen, stains thereof and other.
10.Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in Bitcoin
i. Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in digital currency, Bitcoin. A system for processing the payments is already operational.
ii. The payment of fees through Bitcoin will be only applicable to two new courses on the roles of complimentary currencies in economic systems, which will be taught from summer this year at the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS).
iii. Cumbria is thought to be the first public university in the world to accept the currency, although a private University in Cyprus announced last year that it would do so.
11.DMK suspends MK Alagiri !
i. Amid strains in Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) first family over leadership squabbles, DMK has finally expells party chief Karunanidhi's elder son MK Alagiri.
ii. In a statement issued here, DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan said Alagiri was creating confusion in the party by urging party cadres not to work and criticising the disciplinary action taken by the party against some members for their anti-party activities.
iii. He said the continuation of Alagiri in the party is not proper and would destroy the party discipline. Hence Alagiri is temporarily suspended from the party.
12.India and France jointly building 3rd satellite
i. India and France are working on building the third Indo-French satellite designed for climate change studies, a senior French official said on Thursday.
ii. The new satellite being built jointly by Indian Space Research Organisation and National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) of France would be a state-of-the-art satellite for earth observation for climate change, Weiss said.
iii. The final shape to the proposed project is scheduled to be given by next March when Indian and French scientists will hold a "big" meeting in France, Weiss said.
iv. India is the one of the most important countries of cooperation for France. Both countries have plenty of things to do together," he added.
13.Australian Open: Errani-Vinci retain women's doubles title
i. Top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy produced a great escape on Friday as they beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4 3-6 7-5 to retain the Australian Open women's doubles title.
ii. The Russian third seeds led 5-2 in the decider before Errani and Vinci roared back to clinch their fourth grand slam title and retain their world number one ranking.
14.Oz Open: Sania in mixed doubles final
i. Sania Mirza and her Romanian team-mate Horia Tecau advanced into the mixed-doubles finals in the Australian Open tournament today.
ii. The sixth seeded Indo-Romanian duo defeated Aussie pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden 2-6, 6-3 (10-2).
iii. The pair will now meet French Kristina Mladenovic and her Canadian partner Daniel Nestor in the finals tomorrow.
15.Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer to set up final with Stanislas Wawrinka
i. World No 1 Rafael Nadal proves too strong for his great rival Roger Federer, finishing a comfortable 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-3 winner
ii. This was Nadal’s 23rd victory in the series, and also his heaviest over Federer in any grand slam other than Roland Garros.
iii. Nadal will now play final with with Stanislas Wawrinka
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