Current Affairs, January 2015 

31st January:
• India successfully test-launched its longest range ballistic missile Agni-5 for the third time off the Odisha coast.
• The 35th National Games starts in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• Serena Williams of USA beats Maria Sharapova by 6-3, 7-6 (5) to win sixth Australian Open Women title.

30th January:
• National Martyrs Day observed across the Nation in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
• India has raised about $3.6 billion by selling a 10 percent stake in state-run Coal India Ltd in the largest ever equity deal in the local market.
• Shekhar Sen appointed as the Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi.

29th January:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday became the world's first leader to send out an audio-video tweet, when he tweeted a conversation between him and US President Barack Obama during "Mann Ki Baat".
• Apple Inc recorded the highest-ever profit of 18 billion US dollars in corporate history worldwide.
• Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara breaks the world record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in One-day internationals with 474 dismissals.
• India will host Twenty20 World Cup in 2016.

28th January:
• IFS officer S Jaishankar appointed as the new foreign secretary of India.

27th January:
• US president Barack Obama leaves India after three day visit.

26th January:
• India celebrates its 66th Republic Day.
• Eminent Cartoonist RK Laxman dies at the age of 94 in Pune.
• President Pranab Mukherjee presented Ashok Chakra to family members of Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar, who laid down their lives combating militants in Kashmir.
• Paulina Vega of Colombia was crowned Miss Universe 2014.

25th January:
• US President Barack Obama arrives India on a three days official visit.
• US President and Indian Prime Minister announced major breakthrough in the Civil Nuclear Agreement.
• President Pranab Mukherjee addresses the nation on the eve of Republic Day.
• 9 Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees given this year on the eve of Republic Day for for exceptional and distinguished service. L K Advani, Amitabh Bachchan, Prakash Singh Badal, Dilip Kumar are amongst the list of Padma Vibhushan.
• Today is observed as National Voters' Day in India.

23rd January:
• Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died early on Friday and his brother Salman became the new king.
• 118th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has been observed accros the country.

22nd January:
• WhatsApp application is now also available as web based application for desktop and laptops.
• Pakistan today bans groups Haqqani network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
• The Supreme Court give a judgement which restrained N Srinivasan from contesting in BCCI elections.

21st January:
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) has made its way into the Guinness World Records for opening the highest number of bank accounts in the least time. Under the scheme, 11.5 crore new bank accounts have been under Jan Dhan Yojana in last five months.

20th January:
• According to latest census report, the tiger population in the country is rise of over 30 per cent since the last count in 2010 which is now estimated to be around 2,226.
• European Union lifts ban on import of mangoes from India.

19th January:
• The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating team started questioning Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunanda Pushkar murder case.
• Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani has been appointed as the new Censor Board chairperson.
• ICICI Bank introduces a new facility for their customer through which they can use their twitter account to transfer fund.

18th January:
• South African batsman AB de Villiers scores a 31-ball hundred to break the world record for the fastest century in One-Day Internationals in a match against West Indies at the Wanderers, in Johannesburg. He also broke the fastest half century with 16 balls.

17th January:
• Nine more members of the Central Board of Film Certification resigned protesting against realeased of the Punjabi Film MSG.
• First indigenously built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to the Indian Air Force.

16th January:
• The chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Leela Samson resigned from the post amid controversy surrounding the clearance of controversial film "Messenger of God".
• Hari Shankar Brahma took over oath as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner of India.

15th January:
• A P Singh resigned as member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
• IPS officer and social activist Kiran Bedi has joined the BJP.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a 25 basis point reduction in interest rates.
• Australian pace bowler and cricketer Brett Lee announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career.

14th January:
• 100 dead bodies were found in a channel of the Ganga in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh.
• The union government removed top missile scientist Avinash Chander as the chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO.

13th January:
• Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar appointed as the Chairman of ISRO.
• Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has been named as the "Governor of the Year" by a London-based financial journal Central Banking.
• Cristiano Ronaldo wins the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for 2014 for the third time.

12th January:
• Election Commission has announced assembly elections to be held in Delhi on February 7 and votes will be counted on February 10.
• Indonesian divers recover 'black box' flight recorder of the AirAsia flight QZ8501.
• 72nd Golden Globe Awards being held in Beverly Hills, California. Eddie Redmayne has won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama and Julianne Moore has won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama.
• India observed National Youth Day to mark 152nd birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

11th January:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 in Gandhinagar in the presence of US Secretary of State John Kerry, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank head Jim Yong Kim.
• World leaders and more than a million people attend in a march through Paris against extremism.

10th January:
• French security forces killed the two brothers involved in the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.
• India lost the 4 match test series to Australia by 2-0. Steve Smith chosen as Man of the Series.

9th January:
• Governor's rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after political parties failed to form Government in the 87-member Assembly.
• Maithripala Sirisena takes oath as the new President of Sri Lanka.
• TATA Group airline Vistara starts domestic services in India from today.
• M Karunanidhi re-elected as DMK President for the 11th time in a row by the newly constituted general council.

8th January:
• Two day annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas began from today in Gandhinagar, Gujrat.
• The 19th National Youth Festival started in Guwahati, Assam.
• Virat Kohli became the first player to scores three centuries in his first three innings as captain.

7th January:
• Two masked gunmen killed 12 people and injured 10 others in the offices of a French satirical newspaper in Paris.
• The chief executive officer and co-founder of Google Larry Page named as the Business person of the Year for 2014 by Fortune magazine.

6th January:
• The BSE Sensex crashed 905 points in intraday trade which was the eighth biggest single-day fall in Indian stock markets.
• 1975-batch IAS of the Andhra cadre Harishankar Brahma has been appointed as the Chief election commissioner. He will replaced V. S. Sampath who will retire on 15 January.
• Thailand police have arrested a Sikh militant convicted for his involvement in a 1995 bomb attack that killed Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and 15 other people.
• The Delhi Police has filed a murder case in the death of Congress lawmaker and Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar.

5th January:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated Columbia University economist Arvind Panagariya as vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog.
• Aamir Khan starrer PK has become the first film to touch the Rs.300-crore mark in its box office earning in domestic markets.

3rd January:
• PM Narendra Modi addresses 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015 at University of Mumbai.
• 2 Army Jawans and one Woman killed while 8 others injured in cross border firing by Pakistan.
• Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara became the fastest cricketer to reach 12000 Test runs. He achieved the milestone in 224th innings.

1st January:
• Union Government changes the name of 65-year-old Planning Commission as "NITI Aayog" or National Institution for Transforming India with some major changes in the structure.
• India's maiden Mars mission, Mangalyaan successfully completed 100 days in the orbit.
• The government has raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each but keep the retail rates same.