Important Current Affairs Updates: 23 January 2015

1) Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died on 23 January 2015 and his brother Salman became king, the royal court in the world's top oil exporter and birthplace of Islam said in a statement carried by state television. King Salman has named his half-brother Muqrin as his crown prince and heir. Abdullah, thought to have been born in 1923, had ruled Saudi Arabia as king since 2006. 

2) Nation remembered Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary: 23 January is the birth anniversary of veteran freedom fighter and the great son of India. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who lived for the country and ultimately laid his life in the struggle to free India from the Colonial rule. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, on his birth anniversary.  He founded Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) to overthrow British Empire from India and came to acquire legendary status among Indian masses. Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 at Oriya bazaar of Cuttack district Orissa. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is remembered for his Salutation and slogan of 'Jai Hind'. The famous words of Subash Chandra Bose "Give me blood, I will give you freedom" encouraged the freedom fighters.

3) Telugu comedian M.S. Narayana passed away: Actor and comedian M.S. Narayana, a veteran with over 750 films to his credit, passed away at on 23 January 2015. He was 63. He is survived by daughter Sasikiran and son Vikram. Born in Nidamarru village near Bhimavaram in West Godavari District on April 16, 1951, Mylavarapu Surya Narayana dabbled in theatre initially while working as a lecturer and entered the film industry as a writer before being introduced as an actor.

4) RBI directed banks to display loan rates on their websites: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 January 2015 has asked commercial banks to display loan interest rates on their websites, a move aimed at enhancing transparency for borrowers. The RBI has also insisted that banks should also mention on websites the total fees and charges applicable on various types of loans to individual borrowers. This should facilitate borrowers taking informed decision to buy bank loans.

5) IIT Bombay developed ‘world’s cheapest’ netbook: IIT Bombay has developed a 10-inch netbook, which it claims could be the world's cheapest, at around Rs 6,000. The netbook, conceived during the institute's work with the low-cost Akash tablet, will be unveiled in the second week of February.

6) Lee Wan Koo named new South Korean Prime Minister: South Korean President Park Geun-hye has nominated ruling party lawmaker Lee Wan Koo to replace Prime Minister Chung Hong-won nearly 10 months after Chung offered to resign over a ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people in April last year.

7) Thailand impeached former PM Yingluck Shinawatra: Thailand’s military-appointed legislature has voted to impeach former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. She was impeached for her role in overseeing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars. More than three-fifths i.e. 190 legislatures voted against Yingluck in the legislature of 220 members. It should be noted that, for this impeachment more than three-fifths votes of the legislatures was required.

8) Indian named on panel to review UN Peace-Building architecture: An eminent Indian academician is among seven experts nominated by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to be part of an advisory group that will conduct a policy and institutional review of the world body's peace- building architecture and make recommendations. Saraswathi Menon, former Director of the Policy Division in UN Women, will be among the members of the Advisory Group to review peace building architecture.

9) Roger Federer beaten at Australian Open by Andreas Seppi: Four-time champion Roger Federer is out of the Australian Open after being beaten in the third round by unheralded Italian Andreas Seppi. The 33-year-old Swiss second seed went down 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) to Seppi, who is ranked 46 in the world. Seppi, 30, had never beaten the 17-time Grand Slam champion in 10 previous meetings and his win ends a 23-match losing streak against top 10 opponents.