31st January 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Italian lawmakers elected Sergio Mattarella, a constitutional court judge and seasoned politician, as the country’s President
• He became the Italy’s 12th president since World War II.

National Affairs

• The Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad along with the Minister for Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu and  the Minister for Rural Development Chaudhary Birender Singh released Commemorative Postage stamps on the theme of  Swachh Bharat  to mark the Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by the Prime Minister on the 2nd October, 2014 on the occasion of Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. 
• Release of a set of three stamps and a miniature sheet on the theme Swachh Bharat is a part of this effort to achieve the vision of Clean and Healthy India.
• Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today approved a rehabilitation package for restoration of public infrastructure in the flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir.
• Rs 1,102.56 crore had been sanctioned from the National Disaster Response Fund to meet expenditures incurred by the state government for the immediate restoration of public infrastructure.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured that all slums in the Delhi will be replaced by cemented houses by the time nation celebrates its 75th year of independence.

Sports

• National Games of India 2015
• Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today (31st January 2015) inaugurated the 35th National Games in Kerala.
  
• It is the second time that Kerala is hosting the national games (earlier it hosted the 27th National Games in the year 1987).
• Former cricket player Sachin Tendulkar is the goodwill ambassador for the games.
• The mascot these Games is'''Ammu'' (Great Indian Hornbill, the State bird of Kerala)
• These games will be held from 31st January 2015 to 14th February 2015.
• Former World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra shot the gold with a spectacular finish in air rifle in the IWK Hockbrueck shooting championship in Munich today.
• He had won the individual gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the bronze medal in the Asian Games in Incheon last year
• Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova to win Women's singles at the Australian Open.
• This is her 19th Grand Slam Title.
• West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has announced his retirement from Test cricket, after four years in the wilderness and just weeks after being sacked from the One-Day International (ODI) squad.

New Committees

• The Reserve Bank today constituted a high-powered panel to re-examine and recommend appropriate set of businesses, size, conversion and licensing terms for the urban cooperative banking sector.
• This committee was set up based on the recommendation made by the Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) on UCBs last year.
• Chairman -  R Gandhi (RBI Deputy Governor)

New Appointments

• Former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief V.K. Saraswat has  took over as member of newly-created NITI Aayog.
• Earlier Bibek Debroy, an eminent economist, joined the NITI Aayog as member on 21st January 2015.
• Besides Debroy, the other full-time member is scientist Saraswat.
• Prime Minister Modi is the Chairman. 
• Noted economist Arvind Panagariya on 13th January 2015 took charge as its first vice chairman. 
• Sindhushree Khullar is the Chief Executive Officer.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh will be ex-officio members, while Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani are to be special invitees.
• Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary has been appointed as the new chief of border guarding force Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

People in News

• CBI today arrested former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Matang Sinh in connection with Saradha chit fund scam case
• He is the first former central minister to be arrested by the agency in connection with the case. 

Science & Technology

• India today successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile "Agni-5" from Wheeler's Island off Odisha coast.
• This missile has a strike range of over 5000 kms and can carry a nuclear warhead of over one tonne.

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