Current Affairs 6th January 2015

Important Points : 

• Who has been conferred with 2015 Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award - Syed Kirmani 
• Export duty on Iron Ore Pellets abolished by - Union Government  
• Which force will deploy women commandos in anti-Naxal operations - CRPF
• Who has signed MoU under UDAY Scheme - Jharkhand Government & JBVNL 
• How much percent representation of women in CAPFs has been approved by the Union Government - 33 %
• Who is the new cheif of UNHCR - Filippo Grandi
• Name the power plant commissioned by BHEL in Telangana - 600 MW Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant
• Who has became the first ever to score 1000 runs in a cricket innings - Pranav Dhanawade
• BCCI Awards for the year 2014-15 announced
• Name the scheme launched by Union Government in Uttar Pradesh - Ganga Gram Yojana 
• Which book has topped 2015 US Bestseller List - Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman
• Forbes released 2016 30 Under 30 List
• Where did the World's largest blue star sapphire discovered - Sri Lanka

Details : 

Who has been conferred with 2015 Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award - Syed Kirmani 

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 5th January 2016, 2015 Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred to the Former Indian Wicket-Keeper Syed Kirmani.

Apart from this, Virat Kohli received the Polly Umrigar Trophy for Cricketer of the Year.

About Syed Kirmani

• On 29th December 1949, Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani was born in Chennai
• He played his first match against New Zealand.
• Between 1976 and 1986, he represented India at the international level.
• He has a record of 27 catches and 9 stumpings in ODIs and 160 catches and 38 stumpings in tests.

Do You Know : 

• In the year 1994, Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award was instituted by the BCCI to mark the birth century of Col. Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu.
• Col. Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu was the country's first test captain.

Export duty on Iron Ore Pellets abolished by - Union Government  

On 5th January 2016, Union Government decreased the export duty on iron ore pellets to 0 % from 5 % to enhance capacity usage of pellet plants.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) issued a notice in this regard. 

The government imposed a 5 % export duty on iron ore pellets in 2014.

Which force will deploy women commandos in anti-Naxal operations - CRPF

On 5th January 2016, A decision was made by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to exploit about 300 women commandos in select Left-wing Extremism-affected states for undertaking anti-Naxal operations. 

While hosting of the 7th National Conference of Women in Police, CRPF Director General Prakash Mishra announced this decision.

The reason behind the deployment of women commandos is that they can collaborate with the local women which will help in gathering good intelligence. 

Who has signed MoU under UDAY Scheme - Jharkhand Government & JBVNL 

On 5th January 2016, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) Scheme was signed between the the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) and Jharkhand Government.

Jharkhand has now became the first state to sign MoU with Centre for power scheme UDAY. 

Highlights of the MoU

• An overall net benefit of approximately 5300 Crore rupees through UDAY will be entertained by Jharkhand.
• Remaining 2200 villages in state will be electrified. 

About Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) 

On 20th November 2015, the Union Government in consultation with various Stakeholders including States, DISCOMs, Banks and Financial Institutions to ensure a sustainable solution launched the UDAY Scheme.

How much percent representation of women in CAPFs has been approved by the Union Government - 33 %

On 5th January 2016, the approval for the 33 % posts at constable level to be filled up by women was given by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The 33 % reservation would be given in CRPF and CISF whereas 14-15 % posts would be in ITBP, BSF & SSB.

Who is the new cheif of UNHCR - Filippo Grandi

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 1st January 2016, Filippo Grandi has been appointed as the new High Commissioner for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) by replacing Antonio Guterres.

About Filippo Grandi

• He is an Italian diplomat.
• In the year 1988, he started his career in UNHCR.
• In Ghana, Afghanistan, Liberia, the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa, Benin, Yemen and Kenya he headed a number of emergency operations.
• From 1997 to 2001, he served as Special Assistant and then Chief of Staff in the Executive Office of the UNHCR in Geneva.
• He also served as the UNHCR's Chief of Mission from 2001 to 2004.

Name the power plant commissioned by BHEL in Telangana - 600 MW Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 5th January 2016, the 600 MW Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant Stage-II was commisioned by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) at Bhoopalapally in Warangal district of Telangana. 

Now, the total installed capacity of TS Genco has increased to 5045.26 MW which includes 1 MW of solar power, 2161.76 MW of hydel power and 2882.50 MW of thermal power.

The State is planning to add about 13960 MW of power generation capacity till 2018-19 by including following projects : 

• 1800 MW of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.
• 4000 MW Yadadri thermal plant of TS Genco
• 4000 MW thermal plant of NTPC

Who has became the first ever to score 1000 runs in a cricket innings - Pranav Dhanawade

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 5th January 2016, Pranav Dhanawade (15) of Mumbai became the first ever world’s highest individual scorer in all forms of cricket to score 1000 runs in an innings. 

He made this score in the event organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) in the Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament batting for KC Gandhi Higher Secondary School against Arya Gurukul.

His team declared at 1465 with a loss of 3 wickets which is also a world record breaking the previousmade in 1926 by Victoria’s 1107 against New South Wales.

BCCI Awards for the year 2014-15 announced

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 5th January 2016, the ninth BCCI Awards 2014-15  were presented in Mumbai by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Shashank Manohar.

List of Awardees :

• MA Chidambaram Trophy for Best Woman Cricketer-Senior - Mithali Raj (Railways)
• MA Chidambaram Trophy for Best Woman Cricketer-Junior - Devika Vaidya (Maharashtra)
• Lala Amarnath Award for Best all-Rounder in Domestic Limited-Over Competitions - Deepak Hooda (Baroda)
• Best Umpire in Domestic Cricket - O. Nandan
• Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award - Syed Kirmani
• MA Chidambaram Trophy for Best under-23 Cricketer - Almas Shaukat (Uttar Pradesh)
• MA Chidambaram Trophy for Best under-19 Cricketer - Anmolpreet Singh (Punjab)
• Madhavrao Scindia Awards for Highest Scorer in Ranji Trophy - Robin Uthappa (Karnataka)
• Madhavrao Scindia Awards for Highest Wicket-Taker in Ranji Trophy - R. Vinay Kumar (Karnataka) &  Shardul Thakur (Mumbai)
• MA Chidambaram Trophy for Best under-16 Cricketer - Shubman Gill (Punjab)
• Polly Umrigar Trophy for International Cricketer-of-the-Year - Virat Kohli
• Lala Amarnath Award for Best All-Rounder in Ranji Trophy - Jalaj Saxena (Madhya Pradesh)

Name the scheme launched by Union Government in Uttar Pradesh - Ganga Gram Yojana 

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 5th January 2016, Ganga Gram Yojana at Village Puth in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) was launched by the Uma Bharti,Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

As per the scheme, 1600 villages of UP will be developed which are located along the banks of river Ganga. 

Highlights of the Ganga Gram Yojana

• Approx 1 crore will be invested on each village.
• 200 villages are selected in the Ist phase of the programme.
• Every house in the village will have a toilet.
• Alternative arrangements for sewage treatment will be made as the open drains directly fall into river Ganga.

Which book has topped 2015 US Bestseller List - Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman

Among the important International Current Affairs, In First week of January 2016, Harper Lee's "Go Set a Watchman" topped the list of 2015 US bestseller.

Since its was publition in July 2015, around 1.6 million copies of the book were sold in the USA. 

Earlier, his book "To Kill a Mockingbird" won the Pulitzer prize.

Forbes released 2016 30 Under 30 List

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 4th January 2016, 2016 30 Under 30 List was released by the Forbes which featured 600 men and women who achieved exceptional professional success before 30.

Spme of the Indian-origin people placed in the list are :

• Ashish Patel, NowThis Media
• Divya Nettimi, Viking Global Investors
• Saagar Govil, CEO of Cemtrex
• Ritesh Agarwal, OYO Rooms CEO
• Karishma Shah, Alphabet’s Google X
• Nisha Chittal, MSNBC

Where did the World's largest blue star sapphire discovered - Sri Lanka

Among the important International Current Affairs, In August 2015, 1404.49 carats blue star sapphire was discovered in a mine in Sri Lanka. It is considered as the world's largest sapphire.

It has an estimated cost of 100 million US dollars. Its current owner named it as The Star of Adam. The sapphire has been been certified by the Gemology Institute of Columbo, Sri Lanka.

Earlier to this, the biggest known blue star sapphire in the world was of 1395 carats.

Do You Know : 

The sapphire with a star in the middle due to a light reflection phenomenon known as asterism is known as a star sapphire.