22nd January 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• In a bold move to curb homegrown insurgency, the Pakistan government has banned terror outfits Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is led by Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, and the Afghan-based Haqqani network.
• The Nawaz Sharif government has asked authorities to freeze assets of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the Haqqani network.
• The newly formed Sri Lankan government sets up a high powered committee to investigate corruption by previous Rajapaksa government.
• It is also planning to seek assistance from the Reserve Bank of India, the World Bank and the IMF to trace billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth allegedly stashed abroad by persons close to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
• In Yemen, rebels reach a deal with President Mansour Haadi to end the standoff in the capital Sanaa.
• The agreement promised to give the rebel Houthi movement more say in the affairs of the Arab world's poorest country in exchange for the group removing its fighters from President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's home.
• In the deal, the Houthis also agreed to release a top aide to Hadi that they had kidnapped in recent days.

National Affairs

• The Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao scheme (Save girl child, educate her), which seeks to address gender imbalance and discrimination against the girl child, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Panipat in Haryana today.

• This is the fourth major scheme of Modi's government (Other three major schemes are Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and ‘Make in India’ campaign).
• Modi chose to launch this scheme from Haryana, because Haryana has one of the worst sex ratios in the country — the lowest being in Mahendragarh, where there are only 775 girls per 1000 boys.
• This scheme was initiated with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore.
• Objectives of this Scheme :
• Prevent gender biased sex selective elimination
• Ensure survival & protection of the Girl Child
• Ensure education of the Girl Child
• Improve the Nutrition Status of Girl Child
• Promote a protective environment for Girl Child
• Prime Minister Modi and US President Obama will jointly address the nation from All India Radio on “Mann Ki Baat” program next Tuesday (27th January 2015).
• Since taking power, Modi has hosted three such monthly radio shows that began in October, using the traditional medium of communication that still has a wide reach.
• Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has said that sex determination tests may be legalized for eradicating female foeticide.
• A high-level committee for restructuring of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), headed by former union food and consumer affairs minister Shanta Kumar submitted its report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
• The committee has recommended that the government should reduce coverage under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to 40% of the population from 67% and defer implementation of the scheme in states which have not complied with the rollout conditions

People in News

• Noted economist Bibek Debroy today assumed charge as full time member of the NITI Ayog (National Institution for Transforming India). 
• Check complete details about NITI Aayog from here
• Debroy, who has been a research professor at Centre for Policy Research, is also a heading the committee to suggest ways to restructure the railway board. 

New Appointments

• Haryana governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki today took over the additional charge as the 34th Governor of Punjab.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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