Daily Current Affairs: 20 January 2014

1) Nuclear capable Agni-IV missile test-fired from Odisha: India on Monday successfully tested its long-range, nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile from a military base in Odisha. The new generation missile, which has the capability to hit targets 4,000 km away, was tested for its full range from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast near Dhamra in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

2) National Police Academy gets first woman director: Government has appointed senior police officer Aruna Bahuguna as the new chief of the Hyderabad-based National Police Academy, alma mater for IPS officers in the country. With this appointment, Bahuguna, a 1979-batch IPS officer, will be the first woman Director of the 65-year-old institution also known as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) and is tasked with the training of police leaders after they are recruited by the UPSC through the all-India civil services exam. Bahuguna (56), who belongs to Andhra Pradesh cadre, is at present posted as the Special Director General, CRPF, at its headquarters in the national capital.

3) Autopsy report says drug overdose killed Sunanda: Hours after the autopsy report of Sunanda Pushkar was out and given to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Alok Sharma by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) stating drug overdose may have caused her death, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor got a clean chit into the matter based on a witness testimony, police sources said.

4) Jain community granted minority status: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Jain community was on Monday accorded minority status by the central government which will enable them to avail of benefits in government schemes and programmes. The decision to grant minority status to the community of about 50 lakh was taken at a meeting of Union Cabinet here.

5) Gravity, 12 Years a Slave tie for Producers Guild award: Oscar hopefuls Gravity and 12 Years a Slave tied for the top prize at the Producers Guild of America Awards indicating that they will present a tough challenge to American Hustle in the run-up to the Academy Awards on March 2.

6) World’s 85 richest people own nearly half of global wealth: Oxfam report -  A tiny elite comprising the richest 85 individuals hold wealth equivalent to that owned by the bottom half of the world’s population, a report says. The report by development organisation Oxfam, titled ‘Working For the Few’, published ahead of the World Economic Forum meet in Davos, details the impact that widening inequality is having in both developed and developing nations.

7) Delhi CM, Ministers begin 10-day dharna against Home Ministry:  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers defied prohibitory orders and sat on a 10-day dharna demanding suspension of five State police officers. Kejriwal refused to accept the police’s request to move his dharna to Jantar Mantar in view of the Republic Day parade rehearsal, and called upon the people of Delhi to join his demand for police reforms. He was also seen clearing official files from the dharna site.

8) Sachin Tendulkar set to mentor 11 emerging cricket stars:  Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will mentor 11 emerging players, including Parveez Rasool and Unmukt Chand, as part of an initiative by sports apparel giant Adidas. Adidas, which has already signed up Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, added some more names to its roster. Tendulkar welcomed the newest members of Team Adidas — Unmukt Chand, Parveez Rasool, Vijay Zol, Manan Vohra, Manpreet Juneja, Rush Kalaria, Chirag Khurana, Akshdeep Nath, Vikas Mishra, Sarfaraz Khan and Aparajith Baba.

9) Sudhir Gupta is new TRAI Secretary:  Telecom regulator TRAI on Monday got a new Secretary, Sudhir Gupta, ahead of it releasing the final guidelines of spectrum trading and auction of CDMA radiowaves. Gupta, a principal adviser with TRAI, has been elevated to the post of Secretary.

10) RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha retired:  With Anand Sinha relinquished his charge as Deputy Governor on Monday, the Reserve Bank of India has re-allocated his portfolios among the remaining three Deputy Governors — K.C. Chakrabarty, H.R. Khan and Urjit Patel. Sinha was in-charge of eight departments, including Departments of Banking Operations and Development, Risk Management, Information Technology and Expenditure and Budgetary Control.

11) National Urban Health Mission launched in Bangalore: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Gulam Nabi Azad launched the National Urban Health Mission in Bangalore. The programme aims at providing health security to urban poor. It envisages creation of necessary health check up infrastructure and the manpower requirement.

12) Abhishikta S Shetty of Karnataka won Miss South India Pageant Title: Abhishikta S Shetty of Karnataka on 19 July 2014 was crowned as the Miss South India 2014 at the Le Meridien in Coimbatore.

13) Mitchell Johnson won Allan Border Medal: Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson won the coveted Allan Border medal at an event in Sydney on Monday. The fast-bowler beat out competition from captain Michael Clarke, who was the favourite to win the award for a record fifth time. Johnson took 37 wickets and helped Australia complete the Ashes whitewash. Clarke was declared the Test player of the year, finishing above Steve Smith and Chris Rogers. George Bailey was the runaway winner of the ODI player of the year.

14) Maria Sharapova crashed out of Australian Open: In a sudden and second shock of Austraian Open, Dominika Cibulková beat Sharapova 3-6,6-4, 6-1 in 4th round.