14th January 2017 Important Daily Current Affairs

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Dear Great Ambitionists, here are today's (14th January 2017) Important Current Affairs updates. Happy Reading :)

Daily Current Affairs of 14th January 2017

International Current Affairs

• Ecuador has taken over from Thailand as Chair of the Group of 77 (G77) countries of the United Nations for the year 2017. 
• The group promote collective economic interests of the 134 developing countries at the United Nations, including India. 
• About Group of 77
• Founded on - 15th June 1964
• Founding Members - 77
• Current Members - 134
• Current Chairman (2017) - Ecuador
• After the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in 2015, the country today received its first new aircraft in 40 years. 
• A commercial passenger jet for airline Iran Air, Airbus A321 arrived at Tehran on a flight from the Airbus headquarters in France. 
• The jet is the first of the 100 aircraft Iran ordered after sanctions were lifted.
• The US has announced the end of a 20-year economic embargo on Sudan by lifting trade and financial sanctions.
• The announcement made by outgoing President Barack Obama’s administration in an effort to foster ties with the Sudanese government to improve security in the region. 
  
• Note : This will be for the first time in two decades Sudan will be able to receive imported goods and services from US.

National Current Affairs

• The 1st edition of ABU (Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union) International Television Dance Festival was held in Hyderabad (Telangana). 
• 10 Asian-Pacific countries including  Maldives, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Fiji and Indonesia have participated in this festival.
• Host : Prasar Bharati
• The Mumbai Police has banned the use and sale of glass-coated manjas ahead of Makar Sankranti.
• The West Bengal government has replaced the traditional name for rainbow in Bengali 'Ramdhenu' (meaning Lord Ram’s bow) with 'Rongdhenu' (meaning bow of colours).
• After a jawan alleged in a video that poor quality food was being served at border posts, BSF has launched two helpline numbers for its personnel to register their complaints anonymously till January 31. 
• BSF Director General : KK Sharma

MOUs & Agreements

• India and the US have signed MoU to collaborate in the fields of developmental activities and aid in third world countries. 
• The MoU was signed between the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Union Ministry of External Affairs’ Development Partnership Administration (DPA).
• India and Sri Lanka signed MOU to construct 3000 rain water harvesting systems in Rin Jaffna District at a cost of 300 million Sri Lankan Rupees.
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into a Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement (BAPA) with Indian subsidiary of a Japanese trading company.

Deaths

• Freedom fighter Mohan Singh Josan (92) passed away.
• He had taken part in Quit India Movement.
• Senior Congress leader and former Tourism Minister of Maharashtra Chandrakant Chhajed (67) passed away.

Banking & Economic Affairs

• India's retail inflation eased to a three-year low of 3.41% in the month of December, as against 3.63% in November 2016.
• This was due to weak demand as consumers grappled with cash crunch following demonetisation.
• Further, food inflation also fell to 1.37% in December, from 2.11% in November.

New Appointments

• Mexico today appointed Geronimo Gutierrez, head of the North American Development Bank, as the new ambassador to the US.

Science & Technology

• India today successfully test-fired guided rocket Pinaka Mark-II from a defence test facility off Odisha coast. 
• The rocket was fired from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL). 

General Knowledge

• Nauru is the only country in the world without an official capital. 
• Once known as Pleasant Island, it is the third smallest country by area and second smallest by population. 
• The 21-square-kilometre island country, located in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean, houses a little over 10,000 residents. 
• Note : Nauru has no armed forces and Australia is responsible for its defence.

Recent Committees in News

• The Expert Committee set up to prepare Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) has submitted its report to the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). 
• The objective of this committee was to study criteria for allocation of resources to States and identification and prioritization of beneficiaries under various programmes using SECC data. 
• Head of this committee : Sumit Bose (Former Finance Secretary)

Sports Current Affairs

• China faces a one-year ban from international weightlifting competitions after three of its weightlifters failed doping retests and were stripped of their Olympic 2008 gold medals. 
• Note : The International Weightlifting Federation had announced in 2016 that countries with three or more athletes failing doping retests will be disqualified from all international competitions for a year.

Note : The Daily Current Affairs updates of 15th and 16th January 2017 will be available soon. 

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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