4th January 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Myanmar celebrates its 67th Independence Day today.
  
• 206 Birth anniversary of French Innovator Louis Braille (4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852) is being observed today.
• He was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the visually impaired.
• His system remains known worldwide simply as braille.
• The use of Mahatma Gandhi’s image on beer cans and bottle by a U.S. company with the name “Gandhi-Bot”, has raised hackles with a petition being filed in a Hyderabad court alleging it had insulted the father of the nation following which the liquor company has apologized.
• The Company claimed that its intention was to pay homage and celebrate the apostle of peace and that Gandhi’s granddaughter and grandson have expressed their admiration for the label.
• The petition submitted that it amounts to offenses under Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, and 124-A of IPC (related to us inflammatory words, signs or visible representation).

National Affairs

• ‎EidMilad‬-Un-Nabi, the birthday of ‎Prophet Mohammad‬ is being celebrated with religious fervour in various parts of the country today.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign adds a new member every three seconds on its Facebook page, a feat that has not been achieved by any other department of the government and a very few in the private sector."
  
• The initiative has already touched over 2.1 billion global impressions on social media and reached an overall fan base of over 3 million on its Facebook page.
• The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the urban development ministry to make public all records related to allotment of land and bungalows to political parties and upload these details on its website.
• It also ordered the ministry to transfer queries related to naming of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) headquarters as “Rabri Bhavan” to the Lalu Prasad-led political party.
• Security around the country's airports has been stepped up and all anti-hijacking measures put in place after intelligence agencies warned of a possible hijack attempt.
• An anonymous telephone call was received by the Kolkata office of Air India threatening that its flight would be hijacked.
• In a bid to provide a one-stop centre to voters for new registrations, modifications and deletions in the electoral roll, the Election Commission has decided to create a national-level roll which can be stored as a National Data Centre.
• The services offered to voters will include providing facilities for searching name, knowing the concerned BLO (Block Level Officer), constituency name and number, and other voter information.
• Delhi will be developed into a "Global City" and the India's first 'Smart City' will be set up here to decongest the national capital and facilitate it with all modern amenities, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said. 

Science & Technology

• Former chief of Indian Space Research Organisation, K Radhakrishnan has said that the ‪ISRO‬ is now working on developing technology to send a manned mission to space.
• During an interaction with space scientists at the Indian Science ‎Congress‬ in ‎Mumbai‬, he said that the ISRO is working on technology to provide the environment and life support system for the crew, minimizing the failure rate and developing an escape system for sending human beings to space.

Deaths

• Well-known character artiste in the Telugu film industry, ‘Ahuthi’ Prasad (57), died of cancer while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad.

Business & Economy

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised State-run Banks that the government wouldn't interfere in their functioning, setting the stage for big-ticket reforms in the sector while responding to calls for greater autonomy. 
• Rising at an alarming rate, the number of cyber crimes in India may double to 3 lakh in 2015 and could pose serious economic and national security challenges, an Assocham-Mahindra SSG study has warned.
• The increasing use of smartphones and tablets for online banking and other financial transactions have increased risks. 
• The Labour Ministry is preparing a mega housing scheme to offer affordable houses to over 5 crore subscribers of retirement fund body EPFO in the backdrop of the government’s mission ‘Housing for all by 2022′.
• The Ministry intends to collaborate with PSU banks, housing finance companies, state-owned construction firms like NBCC and authorities like DDA, PUDA, HUDA to build houses at a price to be fixed by the government.
• EPFO - Employees’ Provident Fund Organization

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