Latest Current Affairs- January 2013 (Second Week)

Current Affairs- January 2013

Current Affairs January 2013 –Second Week (Useful for all competitive Examinations)

Lionel Messi wins record 4th FIFA Ballon d'Or

Lionel Messi, the Argentine footballer won FIFA Ballond’Or Award on 7 January 2013 as a reward to his 91-goal in a year for Barcelona and Argentina, in the year 2012. Messi voted to be the best player for the fourth year in a row managed to beat his close competitors, Cristiano Ronaldo of Spanish champion Real Madrid and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta. Messi received a vote share of 41.60 percent to 23.68 for Ronaldo and 10.91 for Iniesta. With this win for the fourth time, Messi has left behind the three time FIFA winners namely Zinedine Zidane of France and Ronaldo of Brazil.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or Award

FIFA Ballon d’Or Award was started in the year 2010 after merging the two, France Football's Ballon d'Or and the men's FIFA World Player of the Year Award. It is the association’s football award that is awarded to the year’s best performer. The player is selected via voting process and the votes are casted by the captains and coaches of the International Teams as well as the journalists from across the world.

Rail fares hiked after a decade, travel to cost more from 21 January 2013

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in a surprise move, just over a month ahead of the Budget, on 9 January 2013 announced that the rail fares would be hiked for all passengers from 21 January 2013 including the AC-1 and AC-2 tier passengers, who were hit by a fare hike in April 2012. Minister further added that there won’t be any fare hike in the coming Railway Budget. The hike announced will be of 2 paise per km to 10 paise per km across classes. The fare hikes are higher than what was proposed in the Rail Budget 2012.

Ø Fares of Ordinary Second Class (suburban) trains will go up by 2 paise per km while for non-suburban travel it will be 3 paise.

Ø Travel by Second Class Mail and Express trains will be costlier by 4 paise per km, while it will be 6 paise in Sleeper Class.

Ø Travellers by AC Chair Car and AC Three Tier will have to shell out 10 paise more per km, First Class by 3 paise, AC Two Tier by 6 paise and AC First Class by 10 paise.

Ø The fares for First Class, AC Two Tier and AC First/ Executive Class were already raised by 10 paise per km, 15 and 30 paise respectively in the current year's budget.

As per the railway minister the slowdown has further impacted railways' earnings, adding that the fare hike will help raise an additional 1200-1300 crore rupees in the remaining period of current fiscal. Railway Minister Pawan Bansal had stated his support for a fare hike immediately after taking over in October 2012. He stated that the decision to hike the fares was imperative as lack of revision in the last 10 years has had a telling effect on the railway finances.

India in focus at Oscars as Bombay Jayashree bags nomination for 'Life of Pi'

An Indian story has once again claimed spotlight at the Oscars with Ang Lee directed 'Life of Pi' bagging 11 nominations in major categories, including a nod for Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashree. The Oscar-winning director chose an entirely Indian cast for 'Pi' depicting Indian culture beautifully in the adventure-drama. He shot the 3D film in places like Munnar and Pondicherry in South India. 'Pi', adapted from Yann Martel's novel of the same name, is the survival story of an Indian boy lost in the ocean with a Bengal tiger for over 227 days. The film, produced by Fox Star Studios', did very well at the Indian box office, earning 90 crores. Jayashree is nominated in the Original song category for 'Pi's Lullaby' along with the composer Michael Danna.

'Pi' is also leading in Golden Globes with three nominations and BAFTA with 10. So is Reliance-Dreamworks' 'Lincoln', which is being counted as one of the major contenders at the Oscars this year. Oscars will take place in Los Angeles on February 24, 2013.

Sri Lanka's first woman Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake impeached

Sri Lanka's Parliament voted overwhelmingly on 11 January 2013 to impeach the chief justice in a case widely seen by jurists and rights activists as an attempt by the government to ensure a servile judiciary. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will now decide whether Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake should be dismissed.

Last month, a parliamentary committee ruled that Bandaranayake had unexplained wealth and had misused her power. She has denied the charges and said she was not given a fair hearing.

Aadhaar card to be accepted as proof to get passport: Ministry of external Affairs

The Ministry of External Affairs on 8 January 2013 decided and consequently advised all Passport Issuing Authorities to accept Aadhaar letter as Proof of Address and Photo identity in conjunction with any other prescribed documents for proof of address/identity for the purpose of passport application. At present, authorities accept passport applications based on about 14 documents such as voter ID card or electoral photo identity card (EPIC), ration card, PAN, driving licence, birth certificates among others.

About AAdhaar

Aadhaar is a 12 digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the government. This number will serve as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in India. Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the UIDAI, can enroll for Aadhaar.

“Life of Pi” bags 9 BAFTA nominations & only behind ‘Lincoln’ with 10 nominations

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi has been nominated under nine categories for the EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) 2013. The film will vie for awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects. Besides these, actor Suraj Sharma has also been nominated for the EE Rising Star Award. The political drama of Steven Spielberg, Lincoln is leading its way with ten nominations. Life of Pi and Les Miserables earned nine nominations respectively. These movies are competing with Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty and Argo in the category of Best Film. The British Academy Film Awards 2013 will be held at Royal Opera House on 10 February 2013.

Cochin Shipyard launched first fast patrol vessel for Coast Guard

Cochin Shipyard Ltd on 8 January 2013 launched the first fast patrol vessel (FPV), being built for the Indian Coast Guard. The vessel named Aadesh was launched by Jayasree Muralidharan, in the presence of M.P. Muralidharan, Director General, Indian Coast Guard (ICG). K. Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director, senior officials of the Coast Guard, Indian Navy and Cochin Shipyard Ltd were present. The ship has been designed by the Kochi-based SEDS and this is the first collaboration between CSL and a local design house.

National Data Centre for UIDAI to come up in Gurgaon

The Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda on 7 January 2013 laid the foundation stone of the state-of-the-art National Data Centre of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) at Maneshar, Gurgaon in Haryana.

The centre that will spread in an area of five-acres would serve as the respiratory system for the UIDAI and would store all the basic biometric and demographic information of the residents, before the 12-digit Aadhaar Number is issued. The development work of the UIDAI center would be completed by mid 2014 and is being developed as a green data centre and abides to all the global standards and guidelines.

Simon Taufel to be the First Umpire to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture 2013

Simon Taufel, the umpire who has been the five-time ICC Umpire of the Year from 2004 to 2008 will become the first umpire to give the prestigious MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on 11 January 2013. He will also become the third non-player to deliver the lecture.

The lecture began in 2001 in memory of former Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Colin Cowdrey, who played a key role in the 'Spirit of Cricket' being enshrined in the preamble of the Code of the Laws of Cricket in 2000.

Commemorative Postage Stamp on Silk Letter Movement released by President 

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee released the Commemorative Postage Stamp on ‘Silk Letter Movement’ at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi onJanuary 11, 2013. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the sacrifices of individuals and groups, such as those associated with the Silk Letter Movement, constitute a glorious chapter of India’s history of Freedom struggle and need to be acknowledged and appreciated. The President said that he is happy that the Department of Posts has done its bit over the years and has issued postage stamps to acknowledge the contribution of various groups and movements which in their own ways contributed to the overall effort to liberate India.

The Silk Letter Movement

The Silk Letter Movement refers to the golden history of India’s freedom struggle in which, the Deobandi leaders tried to generate a pan-Islamic revolt in British-India against the British Empire by gaining support of Afghanistan and Turkey Governments. Obaidullah Sindhui and Maulana Mahmood Hasan were the two main leaders of the movement. In 1916 few letters, which were written on Silk, were caught by the British.

Malala Yousafzai Honoured with France's Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom

Malala Yousafzai, 15, the schoolgirl from Pakistan shot by Taliban for campaigning girls’ education, on 9 January 2013 received France's Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom in Paris. Malala’s father Ziaudin Yousafzai received the honour on her behalf. The award is accompanied with 2.5 million Rupees honorarium. In the first week of January 2013, Malala Yousafzai got released from the British hospital. She is waiting for the reconstructive surgery to be performed on the skull. Malala was shot by the Taliban in her head after her school bus drove through Mingora town of Swat Valley of Pakistan.

Maiden National Title in National Weightlifting Championship 2013 for Manpreet Kaur

Manpreet Kaur, 23, of All India Police claimed the women’s +75kg gold medal in the final day of the National weightlifting championship at SRM University campus, Uttar Pradesh on 10 January 2013. Manpreet Kaur lifted 189 kg to secure maiden National title.

Renault Duster Awarded Car of the Year Award 2013

Renault Duster was awarded the Car of the Year Award 2013 by the automotive magazine Autocar India at the annual awards night on 9 January 2013 in Mumbai. Duster won three awards including the viewer's choice car of the year, SUV of the year and the overall Autocar car of the year 2013 awards. While, Mahindra and Mahindra won the manufacturer of the year award, Bajaj KTM 200 Duke won the viewers' choice Bike of the Year and the Autocar Bike of the Year 2013.

Usain Bolt and Fraser-Pryce Won Athlete of the Year Award At JAAA Golden Cleats Awards Ceremony

Usain Bolt, the fastest man of the world and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the women's 100m Olympic champion won the male and female Athlete of the Year awards respectively on 8 January 2013 at Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Golden Cleats Awards ceremony which took place at Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda Resigned and Recommended dissolution of State Assembly

The Arjun Munda Ministry in Jharkhand on 8 January 2013 resigned and recommended dissolution of the two-year-old Assembly to the governor in Ranchi. The decision of his resignation came after his coalition partner, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), decided to withdraw its support from the 28-month-long BJP-led coalition government.

Arjun Munda called an emergency meeting and notified Governor Syed Ahmed of the cabinet decision just an hour before JMM chief Shibu Soren met the governor with his 18 MLAs, and handed over a formal letter of withdrawal of support.

Now, it is Governor Syed Ahmed who has to decide whether to invite another possible coalition to form the government, after being convinced that it will have the strength to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly

LinkedIn appointed Nishant Rao as Country Manager for India Operations

Professional networking Web site LinkedIn on 8 January 2013 appointed Nishant K. Rao as the new Country Manager for its India operations.

With the appointment of Nishant Rao the former Country Manager Hari V. Krishnan promoted into a larger role as the Managing Director of Asia-Pacific and Japan. Krishnan is supposed to play a key role in growing LinkedIn’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region and reinforcing LinkedIn’s commitment to connect professionals in Asia-Pacific and Japan to make them more successful and productive.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with 187 million members globally. It has over 18 million members in India.

MS Dhoni climbs to 4th spot in ICC ODI players ranking

The ICC Player Rankings of ODI batsman released on 7 January 2013 placed Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Captain of Indian Cricket Team at fourth position in its list. Dhoni was ranked at the fourth position, due to the consistent performance he had displayed in the past three-match ODI series - against Pakistan. Virat Kohli slipped by one rank to third position in the list. Suresh Raina managed to move one point upward to twenty-sixth position and Yuvraj Singh reached to forty-first spot in the latest ranking released. South African batsman Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers are sharing first and second position respectively in the latest ranking released.

11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meet concluded at Kochi, Kerala

The three-day 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) which kicked off in Kochi on 7 January 2013 concluded.  The event saw delightful response from the people with more than 2000 registrations. The organizing partner of this year summit was Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the annual flagship event on 8 January 2013 and President Pranab Mukherjee delivered the valedictory address on 9 January 2013 and also conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards.

About Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.

PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003. These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities. These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.

Pakistan won the 3 match ODI series against India 2-1

India won the last match of the Pakistan in India ODI Series on 6 January 2013 against Pakistan by 10 Runs. With this win over Pakistan, India lost the three matches one day series by 1-2.

Series Report

1st Match Report: The first match was played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, at Chennai on 30 December 2012. India scored 228 runs at a loss of 6 wickets and Pakistan managed to achieve the target to win the match by 6 wickets (with 11 balls remaining). At the end of the match Dhoni was chosen as the player of the match.

2nd Match Report: In the second match played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 3 January 2013 – (day/night format) Pakistan gave a target of 251 runs for India to win but India was able to score 165 in 48 over with no wicket remaining in hand. Nasir Jamshed was elected as the Player of the match.

3rd Match Report: India playing first at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on 6 January 2013 – (day/night format) scored 167 runs in 43.4 over and Pakistan was all out at 157 runs in 48.5 over. Nasir Jamshed of Paksitan was declared as the Player of the tournament.

Justice D K Jain to head 12th Law Commission

Justice D K Jain, who is about to retire from Supreme Court, has been appointed as the chairman of the 12th Law Commission of India.

Microsoft to shut down Windows Live Messenger Service from 15 March 2013

Microsoft in the Month of January 2013 announced plans to shut down its Messenger service which is formerly known by Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger. The plan would involve enabling users to move down to Skype from 15 March 2013. It will be evident from 15 March 2013 that Messenger users will be unable to sign into Messenger and use the service. From the proposed date Microsoft encourage to download Skype from where one can exchange instant-messages and have chats with your Messenger friends. The only advantage is that one can use his or her Windows Live login ID for login to Skype.

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