16th January 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Pakistan decides to ban 12 terror outfits including  the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD), a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, as well as the Haqqani network.
• The move is seen as part of its renewed anti-terror efforts in the wake of last month's Peshawar school attack. 
• The decision also comes a day after the US State Department declared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah, sheltered in Afghanistan, a "specially designated global terrorist" on Islamabad's insistence.
• Last year the State Department had named JuD as a "foreign terrorist organization".
• India, along with the US, has been long demanding to ban Hafiz Muhammad Saeed-led JuD, which is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

National Affairs

• Addressing a consultative workshop on urban governance organized for the municipal commissioners of nine states and union territories in New Delhi today, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, his Ministry is currently working on a city challenge framework with the objective of selecting right city candidates for participation in schemes, such as, building 100 smart cities and development of 500 cities and towns.
• He said, all cities and towns seeking to participate in these schemes will be profiled based on specific parameters that have a bearing on their ability to address issues of governance reforms, resource mobilisation and execution.
• To avoid shortage of foodgrains once all states implement the food law, government today approved raising buffer stock and strategic reserve limits of Food Corporation of India for both wheat and rice.
• The censor board has given clearance to MSG: The Messenger of God featuring the controversial self-styled guru Ram Rahim Singh. 
• Earlier, the censor board had objected to the film's release fearing it would cause communal tension and had also raised objections on the content of the movie and the manner in which the Singh projected himself as a ‘Godman’.

People in News

• Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Leela Samson has resigned.
• She resigned after FCAT cleared the controversial film Messenger of God featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in lead role.
• The Censor Board headed by Ms. Samson had earlier denied the clearance certificate to the film saying that the movie depicts Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as a God.
• FCAT - Film Certification Appellate Tribunal 
• New Chief Election Commissioner of India H S Brahma assumes charge
• He is the 19th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India.
• He said his priority and "mission objective" is to ensure free and fair conduct of Delhi Assembly polls.

Visitors

• Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida reaches New Delhi on 3-day India visit.
• He will attend Indo-Japan Strategic Dialogue meeting

Deaths

• Veteran Gandhian and freedom fighter Ghelubhai Naik (90) passed away in Dangs district of Gujarat.

Awards & Honors

• Jammu and Kashmir has bagged the National Award 2014-15 for e-Governance for the best district-level initiative in the country.
• The BJP Government in Haryana has appointed Yoga Guru Ramdev as it's brand ambassador.
• The state has ambitious plans to promote yoga and ayurveda in a big way.

Business & Economy

• The new guidelines from RBI allow banks to act as brokers and permitting them to sell insurance policies from different insurance companies
• Seeking to increase insurance penetration in the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to act as brokers for insurers, set up their own subsidiaries and also undertake referral services for multiple companies.
• Banks have also been allowed to set up subsidiaries and joint venture companies for undertaking insurance business with risk participation, the central bank added.
• The Government today hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by 2 rupees per litre.
• A Finance Ministry notification said, the excise duty hike will be effective from midnight tonight.
• However, it will have no impact on the current prices of petrol and diesel and their prices will remain unchanged.
• This is the fourth increase in excise duty on the two fuels since November last year.
• The excise duty hike will result in about 20 thousand crore rupees in additional revenue this fiscal and will help the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of the GDP.

Science & Technology

• Britain's infamous "Beagle 2" spacecraft, once dubbed "a heroic failure" by the nation's Astronomer Royal, has been found on Mars - 11 years after it went missing searching for extraterrestrial life.
• Beagle 2, part of the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission, had been due to land on Mars on Christmas Day 2003, but went missing on December 19, 2003. Until now, nothing had been heard from it since then.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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