21 January 2015 Daily Current Affairs

1) PM to unveil Sukanya Samriddhi accounts to incentivise girl child: Special deposit scheme — Sukanya Samriddhi Account for girl children scheme will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015. The scheme will get 9.1 per cent interest in the current fiscal. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the scheme in his budget speech. Accounts in name of girl child can be opened in banks and post offices, and half of the fund can be withdrawn for her higher education and marriage after she attains 18 years of age. Under the scheme, an account can be opened in the name of a girl child of up to 10-year-old. The scheme would mature on completion of 21 years from the date of opening of the account. Deposits can be made till completion of 14 years of the girl. 

2) Parliament session to begin on Feb 23, Union budget on Feb 28: The first full-year budget of the Modi government, which is expected to reflect its reforms-oriented and business-friendly rhetoric, will be presented on February 28, five days after the budget session of Parliament begins on February 23. The dates were decided on 21 January 2015 by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs that met under the chairmanship of Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

3) Bibek Debroy joined as full time member of NITI Aayog: Noted economist Bibek Debroy on 21 January 2015 assumed charged as full time member of the NITI Ayog (National Institution for Transforming India). Government had announced the appointment of Debroy and DRDO chief V K Saraswat as full-time members earlier this month.

4) Union Government launched HRIDAY scheme: The Union Ministry of Urban Development on 21 January 2015 launched the National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) that seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country.

5) Posco, SAIL to set up R18K-cr integrated plant in Jharkhand: South Korean steel major Posco and state-run SAIL would jointly set up a 3-million-tonne integrated plant in Jharkhand with an estimated investment of about Rs 18,000 crore. Posco’s global CEO Kwon Oh-Joon, India CMD Gee Woong Sung and South Korea’s Ambassador to India Joon-gyu Lee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 20 January 2015 and is learnt to have briefed him about the company’s investment plans in Jharkhand.

6) Jaipur Literature Festival began: Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), believed to be Asia’ biggest literary event, was kicked-off from 21 January 2015 at Jaipur. The 5-day event is the 8th edition of the festival which draws authors, poets and celebrities from all over the world.

7) Toyota topped global vehicle sales: Toyota Motor stayed at the top in global vehicle sales in 2014, selling 10.23 million vehicles, beating Volkswagen and General Motors. Volkswagen AG of Germany sold 10.14 million vehicles in 2014 while the Detroit-based General Motors was third at 9.92 million vehicles, a company record .