Highlights of January 2016 Current Affairs (One-Liners)

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Friends, here are the Major Current Affairs Highlights of January 2016. These one-liners cover all important International, National, Banking, Technology, Sports affairs and various Indexes released by important organizations of January month (from 1st to 31st January 2016). We will try to provide the pdf version soon, but we advise you to write these on your own so that you wont forget them again. All the Best :)

January 2016 Current Affairs Highlights

• 45 Indians and Indian-origin people made it to the Forbes 5th Annual List of 30 under 30.
• A 11-year-old Indian-origin girl Kashmea Wahi, has achieved the top possible score of 162 on a IQ test of Mensa, becoming one of the youngest brainiest students in the country.
• A 24-year-old referee from Dindigul (Tamil Nadu), Rupa Devi has qualified to officiate international football matches conducted by FIFA.  
• A cafeteria, which serves food prepared by the inmates of Poojappura Central Prison, has been opened in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• A friendship bus service between India and Nepal via Champawat in Uttarakhand resumed after a gap of 27 years.
• A Joint Exercise named SAHYOG-KAIJIN-XV was conducted in the Bay of Bengal Off Chennai between Indian and Japan Coast Guard. 
• A new Social Security Agreement signed between India and Australia has come into operation enabling people of both nations to avail retirement benefits in each other's country, a pact likely to boost bilateral business linkages.
  
• A survey conducted by American media company US News and World Report has named Denmark as the best country in the world for women to live in.
• A two-wheeler taxi service, 'Bikxie Pink', for women has been launched in Gurgaon that is completely run by women.
• A US-based startup has developed a smart wallet 'Walli' priced under $100, that notifies the user of its location and contents.
• According to a report published in The Lancet journal, India witnessed the highest number of stillbirths in the world in the year 2015.
• According to a survey conducted by American media company US News and World Report, Denmark is the best country in the world for women to live in.
• According to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the year 2015 was the Earth's warmest year in terms of average temperature in 136 years.
• According to SocialCops analysis, India has 10.1 million child workers as of Census 2011.
• According to the new rule imposed by Indian Railways, any individual will not be able to book more than six tickets online in a month from IRCTC website from his/her user ID.
• According to the Press Information Bureau's recent report, India moved 13 positions ahead from 65th to 52nd rank in Tourism & Travel competitive index. Spain topped the list.
• After 400 years of prohibition, the Parsuram temple in Uttrakhand’s Jaunsar Bawar area has allowed entry to Dalits and women.
• Ajit Chandila of Rajasthan Royals and Hiken Shah of Mumbai have been handed a lifetime ban and a five-year ban respectively for their roles in the IPL spot-fixing scam.  
• Ambagarh Chowki, a tribal dominated naxal-hit block has become Chhattisgarh's first open defecation-free development block.
• An annotated edition of Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” has gone on sale in Germany.
• An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Aparna Kumar, has successfully scaled the 17000-ft high Mount Vinson Massif, which is the highest peak in the Antarctic sub-continent.
• Angelique Kerber has won Australian Open‬ women's singles title and her first Grand Slam by beating Serena Williams.
• Arunima Sinha‬, the amputee mountaineer who set a record by climbing the Mount Everest, has added another feather in her cap by conquering Mount Aconcagua (highest mountain outside Asia, at 6,960.8 metres) in Argentina.
• As per the Global Human Development Report (HDR) 2015 by UN Development Programme (UNDP), Sri Lanka has stood at the top position in terms of human development.
• As per the new Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Selling cigarette or chewable tobacco to those under the age of 18 will result in a maximum jail term of up to seven years and also carry a  fine of a Rs 1 lakh.
• As per the World Bank report, Indian Government has succeeded in saving one billion US Dollars (Rs 650 crore approx) per annum with the help of its Aadhaar ID which curbs corruption to a great extent.
• Asia's oldest stock exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange had recently become the world's fastest stock exchange clocking a median trade speed of six micro seconds.
• Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has unveiled the bronze statue of great Ahom General Lachit Borphukan and his soldiers on the river Brahmaputra in Guwahati.
• Australia's opening batsman David Warner has won the All Border Medal and also the Test Player of the Year honours.
• Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has joined hands with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to develop a battery for passenger cars using technology which is in use to make batteries for space vehicles.
• Batsman Hamilton Masakadza has been appointed Zimbabwe's new cricket captain, replacing Elton Chigumbura who resigned on the recent tour of Bangladesh.
• Beverage giant Coca-Cola has announced that it will launch milk-based beverages under the brand name 'Vio' starting January 26.
• Bihar government has announced 35% reservation to women in government jobs in the state at all levels.
• Bihar govt has decided to impose 13.5% tax on luxury items to mop up additional revenue for carrying development work.
• BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha’s biography, “Anything But Khamosh” was released.
• Brazilian Football Legend, Ronaldinho has been named as the ambassador of the Nagjee International Club Football tournament to be played in Kozhikode, Kerala
• Canada's newly elected government, led by PM Justin Trudeau, has introduced a bill to change certain words from Canada's national anthem for recognising women's contribution in nation building.
• Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has announced plans to introduce mobile toilet vans that will be stationed in areas that do not have public toilets.
• Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R. K. Dhowan has commissioned INS Kadmatt, India's second Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC) at Visakhapatnam.
• China and Iran have signed 17 documents & letters of intents to broaden bilateral cooperation.
• China has allowed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and 5 other international financial institutions to participate in the country’s inter-bank foreign exchange market.
• China has created three new military bodies as part of reforms to modernize its military and improve its fighting capacity. They are, General command for the People's Liberation Army, Missile force and       Strategic support force.
• China is planning to develop an "exascale" supercomputer that will be capable of performing more than a billion billion calculations per second.
• China’s country code domain ‘.cn’ has become the world’s most commonly used in the internet, surpassing Germany’s ‘.de’ domain.
• China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India and 56 countries have joined as founding members was opened at Beijing on 16th January 2016 by President Xi Jinping.
• Chris Gayle equalled the record for fastest fifty in T20s as he scored his half-century off 12 balls, thus sharing the record with Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
• Danish kayaker Rene Holten Poulsen was named the Denmark’s sportsperson of the year 2015.
• Deborah Herold from Andamans created history by becoming the first Indian to qualify for the Track Cycling World Championships to be held in London in March.
• Delhi Acers were crowned the champions of the inaugural edition of the Premier Badminton League after they defeated the Mumbai Rockets.
• Delhi Government has constituted a commission of inquiry  headed by Dinesh Dayal (Retired District Judge), to probe into the complaints of crime against women in the national capital since February 2013.
• Deposits in accounts opened under the government's flagship financial inclusion programme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have crossed the Rs 30,000 crore mark.
• English professional snooker player, Ronnie O'Sullivan won his sixth Snooker Masters title by beating Barry Hawkins in the final at the Alexandra Palace.
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Israel and Palestine on 17th and 18th January 2016 to further build on the goodwill generated by the trip of President Pranab Mukherjee to the two West Asian nations three months back.
• Facebook has launched Audience Optimization, a tool that could help publishers in targeting appropriate audiences and better understand their interests.
• Following a ruling by the Supreme Court, helmets were made compulsory for pillion (a seat for a passenger behind a motorcyclist) riders in Bengaluru.
• Following the Pathankot attack, laser walls will soon be used to cover over 40 unfenced areas along the India-Pakistan border as the Home Ministry has made this a top priority to prevent entry of terrorists. 
• For the first time in Haryana, the sex ratio at birth has crossed the 900 mark with 903 girls per 1,000 boys as per records for December 2015.
• For the first time in the history of India, a strong contingent of French Army marched down the Rajpath on Republic Day along with Indian troops.
• For the first time, China has launched an online system to check the “authenticity” of top Tibetan Buddhist monks, amid growing incidents of fraud involving religious leaders.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Food Processing sector is likely to go up by at least 25% as FSSAI streamlines regulations to ease product approvals.
• Former Australian MP, Pat Farmer, who is also an ultra-marathon runner, has set out on marathon 'The Spirit of India Run' covering 4600 km in 60 days.
• Former Manchester United central defender Nemanja Vidic announced his retirement from professional football.
• Former World No.1 tennis player Marat Safin of Russia has joined the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
• Former world number one Victoria Azarenka won her first title since 2013 by beating Angelique Kerber in the Brisbane International final.
• French President France Francois Hollande is the Chief Guest of this year's Republic Day celebrations 2016.
• Google, in partnership with Indian Railways, launched its first free high-speed public WiFi service in the country at the Mumbai Central Railway Station.
• Government decides to jump from Bharat Stage-4 to Bharat Stage-6 from 1st April, 2020 to curb vehicular pollution.
• Government set up a high-powered panel headed by P K Sinha (Cabinet Secretary) to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners. 
• Hari Nef, the 23-year-old transgender actor and model has became the first transgender model to be signed by top modelling agency.
• In a major breakthrough for artificial intelligence, a computer program has for the first time defeated a professional player in the ancient Chinese board game of ‘Go’.
• In Australian Open Johanna Konta becomes first British woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in the last 32 years.
• In collaboration with the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, the Gujarat government is ready to set up a 750 MW solar park in the Banaskantha district.
• In order to boost entrepreneurship, the Cabinet has approved 'Stand Up India' scheme to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Women Entrepreneurs.
• In the list for the 25 worst internet passwords of 2015 by software security firm SplashData, '123456' retained its top position for the third consecutive year.
• India and Bahrain signed an agreement on the transfer of convicted persons and vowed to enhance bilateral relations in areas like counter-terrorism, and trade and commerce.
• India has been ranked at 76th position in public sector corruption out of 168 countries in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2015, improving its slot from 85 in 2014 and 94 in 2013.
• India has emerged as one of the five most promising markets for businesses globally.
• India has overtaken Thailand as the world’s largest rice exporter in the year 2015 by shipping (exporting) 10.23 million tonnes of rice.
• India has slipped from 78th to 89th Rank on an annual Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTC).
• India has won the T20 Blind Asia Cup 2016 by defeating Pakistan.
• India hs agreed to supply 300 MW of electricity to energy-starved Nepal in the next one-and- a-half year as the two sides decided to expedite construction of cross-border transmission lines and boost bilateral cooperation including in power trade.
• India is planning to set up a National Water Informatics Centre in Delhi as part of its flood forecasting systems, by collaborating with France.
• India ranks first in business optimism, according to Grant Thornton International Business Report, a quarterly global survey of 2,580 business leaders across 36 nations.
• India signed a $250 million loan agreement with the World Bank for Bihar Kosi Basin Development project, aimed at enhancing resilience to floods and increase agriculture productivity.
• India was ranked 22nd on an inaugural list of the world's best countries. This list was topped by Germany.
• India was ranked number one in the latest Test rankings released by the ICC following South Africa's seven-wicket defeat against England.
• India will be the fastest growing big economy in the world in 2016, a United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016 report announced.
• India will hold Exercise Force Eighteen, one of the largest multi-national military exercises from March 2 to 8 in Pune as a part of its Look East policy.
• India’s first blind-friendly train, from Mysuru to Varanasi, made its maiden journey.
• India’s first radio taxi service for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, Wings Rainbow started working.
• India’s indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile was successfully test fired by Indian Air Force personnel, from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur (Odisha).
• Indian batsman Virat Kohli, while playing against Australia in the third ODI, became the fastest cricketer to score 7,000 runs in the limited overs format.
• Indian Oil Corporation is the only Asian company that was offered a term contract by Nigeria for selling crude oil.
• Indian rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra was honoured with the International Shooting Sport Federation President's Button and Diploma of Honour, the highest honour of the sporting body.
• Indian Shooter Apurvi Chandela emerges as the 'Shooter of the Tournament' in Swedish Cup Grand Prix.
• Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis beat seventh seeded Czech combination of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka to win Australian Open women's doubles title.
• India's Ace Shuttler, PV Sindhu has won the Malaysia Masters‬ Grand Prix Gold Badminton title 2016.
• India's Apurvi Chandela sets a new world record by clinching Gold medal in women's 10 metre air rifle at Swedish Cup Grand Prix.
• India's diaspora population is the highest in the world with 16 million people from India living outside their country in 2015, according to a recent UN survey on international migrant trends.
• India's Siril Verma climbed up a whopping 11 places to occupy the Number One spot in junior men's singles category in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.
• India's Srikanth Kidambi won his first Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold after defeating China's Huang Yuxiang in the final match in Lucknow. 
• India's top pistol shooter Heena Sidhu claimed Gold medal in women's 10-meter air pistol event at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers.
• Indo-French military exercise 'Shakti-2016' held at the  Mahajan field firing range in Bikaner, Rajasan.
• Italy's Ostana town recently witnessed the first birth of a baby in the past 28 years.
• Japan unveiled country’s first stealth fighter aircraft X-2.
• Japan's Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong's Zhu Chengzhu became champions in the boys' and girls' categories, respectively, in the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.
• Jitendra Kumar Soni, collector of the Jalore district, Rajasthan, has started a scheme, 'Charan Paduka Yojna'.
• Karnataka’s Malpe beach became India's first beach to provide free 24/7 WiFi service to visitors (this facility was launched by BSNL).
• Kerala becomes the first state in the country to attain complete primary education.
• Kerala government has decided to launch 'Gender Taxi (G-Taxi)', a taxi service owned and operated by transgenders.
• Khesari Dal, widely known as the poor man's dal has received clearance for consumption from the Indian Council of Medical Research after a 55-year-long ban.
• Lionel Messi has won the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’ Or Award after beating of the challenge from Ronaldo and Neymar. It was Messi’s record breaking 5th Ballon d’Or Award
• London Based marathon Runner, Fauja Singh set a milestone as he took part in the 2016 Mumbai Marathon at the age of 104.
• Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan‬ ordered officials to impose ban on polythene in entire state from January 2017.
• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis unveiled “Laman Diva” as the logo of the first Make in India Week (will be held from 13th to 18th February 2016).
• Maharashtra will be the first state in the country where women employees in government jobs can avail up to 180 days’ maternity leave while having a baby through surrogacy.
• Maharashtra-based RBL Bank has launched a new platform called 'India Startup Club' (ISC) to provide all-around banking services to emerging entrepreneurs.
• Mesut Ozil has been named Germany national team player of the year for 2015.
• Microsoft Founder Bill Gates is the World's wealthiest man with a net worth of $87.4 billion, according to Wealth-X.
• Mumbai school cricketer Pranav Dhanawade became the first player to score 1000 runs in a single innings.
• Mumbai-based TranServ has launched India's first social mobile wallet called Udio.
• NASA launched SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Jason 3 ocean monitoring satellite from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in the USA.
• NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover has completed 12 years on the red planet.
• National Bravery Awards for the year 2015 were given to 25 Children (22 boys & 3 girls).
• Nearly 12 years after it was set up to improve engagement with the Indian diaspora, the government has decided to merge the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the External Affairs Ministry in sync with its broad principle of minimum government, maximum governance.
• Nepal has been elected to the Unicef executive board, representing the group of Asia-Pacific countries for the term 2016-2018.
• Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will in February embark on his first foreign visit post-assumption of office to India.
• New Zealand has won the three-match T20I series against Pakistan.
• North Korea claimed that it has successfully tested hydrogen bomb.
• NOTA (None of the Above) option is being introduced for the first time in rural local body polls.
• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has won the 26th Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament by beating Indian Railways.
• Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that the public sector oil firms IOC, BPCL, HPCL, and EIL will invest ₹1.5 lakh crore to set up India's largest refinery in Maharashtra.
• 'Operation Dhangu' was the codename given to the mission to eliminate the terrorists from the Pathankot airbase after heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists stormed the Air Force base, triggering a fiece gunbattle in which 7 security men were martyred and all the 6 infiltrators were gunned down.
• Pakistan has successfully test-fired the Ra'ad air-launched cruise missile with a range of 350 km
• Pakistan’s discarded Test opening batsman Imran Farhat announced his retirement from international cricket in a bid to appear in the Masters Champions League (MCL).
• Pakistani singer Adnan Sami officially granted Indian citizenship by the govt.
• Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry launches nationwide ‎LPG‬ emergency helpline number 1906 for leakage complaints.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a book titled "Maru Bharat Saru Bharat" (My India Noble India) written by Jain Acharya Ratnasundersuriswarji Maharaj through video conference.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released the autobiography of the promoter of Essel/ Zee Group Subhash Chandra, titled The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time in New Delhi.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Guest of the Airtel-ET Global Business Summit (GBS) which was held during 29th and 30th January 2016.
• Private sector lender ICICI Bank has recently announced that it has entered South Africa by opening a full service branch at Sandton in Johannesburg. 
• Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered ban on manufacture of food products containing tobacco or nicotine like ‘gutkha’ and ‘pan masala’ in the State with immediate effect.
• Punjab's Education Minister Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema has announced that the state government is planning to initiate the teaching of the Punjabi language online.
• Qatar's first homegrown supercar called Elibreia was unveiled at the Qatar Motor Show 2016 in Doha.
• RIKEN group, a Japanese team led by Kosuke Morita, has received official credit for the discovery of element 113, making the group the first in Asia to have its accomplishments enshrined in the periodic table.
• Russia’s Ivan Popov has won the 14th Delhi International Open chess title.
• Sahara Force India Academy racer Jehan Daruvala has won one of New Zealand’s most prestigious events, the Lady Wigram Trophy.
• Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis clinched their 2nd title of 2016 by defeating Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic  in the final of Sydney International.
• Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis pair won ‎Brisbane International‬ women's doubles title.
• Scientists at Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) in Hisar claimed to have successfully produced a cloned buffalo offspring 'Cirb Gaurav'.
• Sikkim has become India's first fully organic state by converting around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land into sustainable cultivation.
• South Africa captain Hashim Amla resigned as immediately after his side drew the second Test against England. AB de Villiers is the new captain.
• South Korea has introduced tougher norms for passengers who disturb pilots, wherein a possible five-year imprisonment and a fine of up to $42,000 will be levied.
• Sri Lanka embarked on the exercise of making a new Constitution for the country by resolving to convert the current Parliament into a Constitutional Assembly.
• Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland clinches third consecutive Chennai Open tennis title by beating Borna Coric of Croatia.
• State Bank of India (SBI) has announced the launch of ‘SBI e-Smart SME’ to provide easy working capital to e-commerce players.
• State-owned power equipment maker BHEL has commissioned two substations in Afghanistan, expanding its footprint in the strife-torn nation.
• State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has received a clearance from the Environment Ministry for a ₹53,000 crore project in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna-Godavari basin.
• Swiss legend Roger Federer has became the first male tennis player to win 300 Grand Slam matches.
• Switzerland is set to vote on a proposal in which every citizen would be paid 2,500 Swiss Francs (almost ₹1,66,000) per month regardless of whether the citizen is working or not.
• Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Walid Al Moualem, was on a four-day visit to India.
• Taking yet another step to put India in the company of select nations which have their own navigation systems, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed in orbit IRNSS-1E, the fifth of the seven satellites that would form a constellation of navigation satellite network.
• Telangana became the first State in the country where electronic motor insurance policies were legally accepted by police and transport departments with the launch of e-Vahan Bima.
• Telangana has become the first State to introduce compulsory gender education at the graduate level; without repeating gender stereotypes in its bilingual textbook titled, ‘Towards a World of Equals.’
• Temba Bavuma became the first black South African to make a test century against England.
• The 4th Edition of India Africa Hydrocarbons Conference (IAHC) was held in New Delhi.
• The Andhra Pradesh endowments department has decided to introduce a novel scheme, "Bhaktuni Chentaku Bhagvantudu" (God visiting the devotee), from the Telugu new year Ugadi.
• The Andhra Pradesh Government has launched Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam Scheme to support the tribal women in their quest for livelihood.
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed an $80million loan agreement to continue improving infrastructure in two North Eastern State Capital cities Agartala and Aizwal.
• The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced that it would introduce negative interest rates from next month.
• The blanket ban on polythene bags in Uttar Pradesh began from January 21st and there will be complete ban on the manufacture, import, purchase and storage of all kinds of plastic bags.
• The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will soon deploy about 300 women commandos for undertaking operations in some of the states affected by Naxal extremism.
• The Centre constituted a one-man judicial commission headed by Ashok Kumar Roopanwal (Retired HC judge), to probe the death of a Dalit scholar of HCU, Hyderabad,  Rohith Vemula.
• The Customs Department has launched a mobile app named 'Indian Customs-Guide to Travellers' to inform people about the Custom rules.
• The decision to abolish interviews for Class-III and IV government jobs came into effect from 1st January 2016.
• The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully test fired the new Penetration-Cum Blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition tank at Chandipur, Odisha. 
• The Department of Posts (DoP) is planning to open 1,000 ATMs and bring all 25,000 departmental post offices under Core Banking System (CBS) by March this year.
• The first satellite of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Data Highway project has blasted off to space aboard a Proton rocket from Kazakhstan.
• The governing body of the Oscars has announced to make changes in its voting requirements, recruiting process and governing structure, to increase the racial diversity in Academy Awards.
• The government decided to extend the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme to 61 more districts this year to improve the skewed child sex ratio.
• The government has reduced export duty on iron ore pellets to zero from 5 percent, a move that will make the commodity more competitive amid subdued demand and weakening prices.
• The Government of India signed a loan agreement with World Bank for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project.
• The government will present the Budget for 2016-17 on February 29, which will set a roadmap for the coming three years.
• The HRD Ministry has formed a 12-member committee headed by Professor HR Nagendra, in order to set up Yogic Art and Science departments in all universities across the country.
• The Indian Army asked civilians to avoid wearing "Army-pattern" dresses and shopkeepers to refrain from selling combat clothes, as it issued fresh guidelines to the public to prevent terror attacks.
• The Indian team has won the 2015 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship for the seventh time.
• The Indian women's cricket team defeated Australia in the 2nd T20I by 10 wickets and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. 
• The Justice RV Easwar led Committee on simplification of Income Tax laws has recommended a 5% reduction of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) rates for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF).
• The Juvenile Justice Act, which allows children aged 16 to 18 years and in conflict with law to be tried as adults in cases of heinous offences, came into effect.
• The Kerala Cabinet has decided to implement the ‘Sampoorna Arogya Keralam’ project announced in the 2015-16 State budget.
• The LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) has launched a new Limited Premium, non-linked, with profit Endowment Plan called LIC Jeevan Labh.
• The Madhya Pradesh government has inked a pact with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to set up the world's largest single-site solar energy plant.
• The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, in association with Pawan Hans, will soon begin helicopter tours to tourist attractions in and around Mumbai.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) declared that its spacecraft Juno has broken the Solar Power Distance Record.
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) for web-based monitoring of watershed projects.
• The Nepal government has approved the construction plan for the country’s second international airport at Nijgadh in Bara district.
• The Parliament canteen started working on No -profit, No-loss basis from 1st January 2016.
• The Pin Code Week was celebrated in India from 15th to 21st January  2016 to distribute the message about pin code importance.
• The Pune IPL franchise, owned by Sanjiv Goenka, have chosen the name 'Rising Pune Supergiants' for the team. This team will be lead by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
• The Punjab government has launched the state's biggest employment drive with an offer of 1,13,766 government jobs to its youth within a year.
• The RBI has amended the Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS) to permit proprietorship and partnership firms to make gold deposits under a joint deposit account in the name of the depositors.
• The RBI has increased the Ways and Means Advances (WMAs) for all states to ₹32,225 crore per year compared to the earlier ₹15,360 allotted for the current and the next financial year.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will soon introduce new currency notes of denominations 500 and 100 of the Mahatma Gandhi Series 2005 with additional security features.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought an additional ₹26,000 crore from the government by 2018 for capital infusion into Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks for implementing Basel-III norms in the banks.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposes a penalty of 1 crore rupees on an SBI associate bank, State Bank of Travancore (SBT), for violation of some of its instructions.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed norms for the units of banks operating from International Financial Services Centres (IFSC) and permitted them to open foreign currency current accounts.
• The second volume of memoirs of President Pranabh Mukherjee‬ titled “The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996” was released.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) panel on Alternative Investment Funds(AIFs) has proposed creating a favourable tax environment for investors, tweaking of safe harbour rules, unlocking domestic pools of capital, enabling onshore fund management in India and reforming the AIF regulatory regime.
• The Supreme Court has issued an order stating that the husband will not have any right on the property of his wife if she dies under suspicious circumstances within seven years of marriage.
• The union cabinet approved the crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to boost the farming sector and ensure farmers' welfare.
• The Union Cabinet has approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and United Kingdom for Cooperation in the field Public Administration and Governance Reforms.
• The Union Cabinet has been approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Department of Space / Indian Space Research Organization (DOS/ISRO) and Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
• The Union Cabinet thas given its approval for India becoming a member country of the International Energy Agency - Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES) by signing the Implementing Agreement (IA).
• The union government has granted infrastructure status to the shipyard industry in a bid to ease its financial stress.
• The Union Government has launched Ganga Gram Yojana to develop 1600 villages in Uttar Pradesh (UP) situated along the banks of Ganga River.
• The Union Government sanctioned 33000 crore for the development  of infrastructure projects in Tamilnadu
• The United States has approved the sale of almost two billion US dollar worth of bombs and missiles to equip Iraq's squadron of F-16 attack jets in their battle against ISIS.
• The United States has notified massive increase in fees in certain categories of the popular H-1B and L-1 visas which would mainly hit Indian IT companies.
• The Uttar Pradesh government signed an agreement with the Union Ministry to take over 75% of loan liabilities of five state owned power distribution companies(DISCOMs) in the state, amounting to around 39,990 crore.
• The Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department has announced that it will celebrate February 14 as State Tourism Day.
• The World Bank has agreeded to give a loan of USD 50 million for Nai Manzil Education and Skills Training for minorities.
• The World Bank has extended an assistance of $20 million for the reconstruction and eco-development of the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Vishakhapatnam.
• The World Bank has projected a robust 7.8% growth for the Indian economy in the current year.
• The World Health Organization has formally announced the end of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, joining Sierra Leone and Guinea — the epicenters of the latest outbreak — as Ebola-free.
• The world powers lifted economic sanctions against Iran after it had agreed to impose curbs on its nuclear programme in July.
• To meet the Basel III norms, the State Bank of India (SBI) proposed to raise up to ₹15,000 crore from various means, including public offer and overseas issuance of shares, in the next 14 months.
• To put an end to recent controversies surrounding the Censor Board, the Centre has set up a Committee headed by Shyam Benegal (noted film-maker), to work out a revamp plan and submit its report within two months.
• Two Australians, Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski have designed a device called 'Seabin' with an aim to clean up the ocean trash.
• Union Government has constituted a committee headed by Arvind Panagariya (vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog) to fast track the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, meant for connecting two cities with bullet trains.
• Union Government has launched a skill development scheme named "Nai Manzil"  for girls belonging to the minority communities in the country.
• United States and Jordan have signed a Joint Action Plan (JAP) to improve efforts against nuclear and radiological smuggling.
• Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav launched a dedicated helpline for journalists with number 1880.
• Uttar Pradesh won its maiden Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a 38 run win over two time champions Baroda in the final played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
• Vice President Hamid Ansari with Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy released a book titled "Jawaharlal Nehru and Indian Polity in Perspective" edited by former DGP P J Alexander, in Thiruvananthapuram.
• Vice President of India Mohd Hamid Ansari has embarked on a two-nation tour to Brunei Darussalam and Thailand from 1st February 2016.
• VVS Laxman's knock of 281 against Australia in Eden Gardens in 2001 has been rated as the greatest Test performance of the last 50 years.
• Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji has named as the 'Most Generous Indian' in the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2015.
• With a total number of 2,33,635 passengers traveling through its station everyday, the Dombivli station has became the most crowded cum fare generating station in the Mumbai suburban Railway network.
• With all the trustees agreeing to the proposal of depositing the idle gold of the temple, the Somnath Temple Trust of Gujarat will become the first temple in the State to deposit in the Gold Monetisation Scheme.
• With the help of computer, Scientists of Central Missouri (headed by Curtis Cooper) have discovered the largest prime number 2^74,207,281 – 1.
• With the Rio Olympics round the corner, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has signed a two-year commercial and marketing deal with Infinity Optimal Solutions (IOS) to the tune of about Rs. 12 crore.
• World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan has announced that the Zika virus has been spreading explosively.
• World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray to clinch his sixth Australian Open (Men's sgles) title.
• World Number one pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis equaled the world record of winning 28 consecutive matches, which was set by Puerto Rican-Belarusian duo  of Gigi-Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva in 1994.

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