Current Affairs, January 2018

30th January, Current Affairs:

• Martyrs' Day is observed on the occasion of death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

29th January, Current Affairs:

• The budget session of the Parliament starts from today.
• The 60th Grammy Awards held in New York. 24K Magic wins the Album of The Year and Record of The Year Award.

28th January, Current Affairs:

• Roger Federer became the only tennis player to win a record 20th Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open. He defeated Marin Cilic of Croatia by 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the final.
• Sandeep Lamichhane became the first cricketer from Nepal to get an IPL contract. He is picked by Delhi Daredevils in the ongoing players’ auction in Bengaluru.

27th January, Current Affairs:

• In a suicide bomb attack attacked at least 95 people killed and 163 injured at a police checkpoint in the Afghan capital Kabul.
• Caroline Wozniacki beat world No.1 Simona Halep by 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open women's singles final to win her maiden Grand Slam title.
• India lost the three matches test match series by 2-1 to South Africa.
• Delhi wins the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Kolkata after defeating Rajasthan by 41 runs in the final.

26th January, Current Affairs:

• India celebrated its 69th Republic Day today.
• This year 10 heads of state from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) arrived to attend the grand parade of Republic Day at Rajpath.
• On the eve of Republic Day, the government announced Padma awards for 85 people. Of these, three were Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan, and 73 Padma Shri. Senior RSS ideologue P Parameswaran, Music composer Illaiyaraja and Ghulam Mustafa Khan are recipients of the Padma Vibhushan. Cricketer and former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, billiards player Pankaj Advani, Philipose Mar Chrysostom, Alexander Kadakia, Ramachandram Nagaswamy, Laxman Pai,Ved Prakash Nanda, Arvind Parikh, and Sharda Sinha received the Padma Bhushan.
• President Ramnath Kovind honoured the Air Force's martyr Garuda Commando JP Nirala with Ashok Chakra, the greatest gallantry award of peace.
• Indian Test captain Virat Kohli becomes the leading run-scorer in Tests as captain of India.

25th January, Current Affairs:

• National Voters' Day is observed today.
• President Ram Nath Kovind address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day.
• Two CRPF CoBRA commandos, Assistant Commandant Vikash Jakhar and Sub-Inspector Riyaz Alam Ansari have been decorated with the Shaurya Chakra for an anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand’s. The Shaurya Chakra is the third highest peacetime military decoration after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra.
• For the first time in its 800-year history, the University of Oxford admitted more women than men in undergraduate courses.

24th January, Current Affairs:

• National Girl Child Day observed today.
• Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav sentenced to five years in jail in a third fodder scam case today.

22nd January, Current Affairs:

• India ranked at the 62nd place among emerging economies on World Economic Forum Index.
• PM Narendra Modi arrived in Zurich to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. Narendra Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister in 20 years to attend World Economic Forum in Davos.
• Om Prakash Rawat appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India.

21st January, Current Affairs:

• President Ram Nath Kovind today approved the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding office of profit.
• Irrfan Khan won the Best Actor and Vidya Balan received the Best Actress award in the Filmfare Awards 2018. The movie "Hindi Medium" received the Best Film award.
• Seventeen people including 10 women were killed in a massive fire in a firecracker warehouse in north Delhi's Bawana industrial area.
• India beat Pakistan by two wickets in the final of the Blind Cricket World Cup at Sharjah.

20th January, Current Affairs:

• Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel appointed as the next Madhya Pradesh Governor.

19th January, Current Affairs:

• Maharashtra becomes the first state to unveil public cloud policy which will allow all government departments to have access to public cloud.
• World's biggest flooded cave found in Mexico when a group of divers has connected two underwater caverns in eastern Mexico.

18th January, Current Affairs:

• India has successfully test-fired nuclear capable surface-to-surface Agni-5 ballistic missile from a test range off the Odisha coast.
• The Election Commission today announced the schedule for Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland Assembly elections. Tripura will vote in a single phase on February 18, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will go to polls on February 27.
• India captain Virat Kohli was today named by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricketer of the Year for 2017. The stylish right-hander was also named ODI Cricketer of the Year. Kohli also named as the captain of the ICC's ODI and Test teams and became the second Indian batsman after Sunil Gavaskar to reach 900 Test ranking points. Australian captain Steve Smith named as the Test Player of the Year.

16th January, Current Affairs:

• The Union Government has withdrawn subsidy to Haj pilgrims from this year.
• Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh took over as the new Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command.

15th January, Current Affairs:

• The Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI has announced face authentication technology integration, which will exist alongside the incumbent fingerprint authentication technology.
• TV actress Shilpa Shinde wins the Bigg Boss season 11.

14th January, Current Affairs:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in India.
• India renamed the Teen Murti Chowk, a war memorial as Teen Murti Haifa Chowk as a symbolic gesture of friendship with Israel.
• Makar Sankranti, Bihu, Pongal and Lohri is celebrated in different states of India.

13th January, Current Affairs:

• Senior advocate Indu Malhotra becomes the first woman lawyer from India to be directly elected to the post of judge in the Supreme Court.
• The Ministry of External Affairs announced that new passports will soon be printed without the usual last page which contains names of parents, and address of the applicant. Also the passports for the Emigration Check Required (ECR) category will be issued with orange jackets.

12th January, Current Affairs:

• Space agency ISRO successfully sent up a rocket carrying India's 100th satellite along with 30 others from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

10th January, Current Affairs:

• The Union Government appointed renowned scientist K. Sivan as the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to replace of A.S. Kiran Kumar.
• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduced a ‘Virtual ID’ to address privacy concerns. Aadhaar cardholders can generate from its website and use for various purposes, including SIM verification, instead of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID.

9th January, Current Affairs:

• The Supreme Court today overturns its own order from November 2016 and said that the playing of national anthem in cinema halls is not mandatory.

8th January, Current Affairs

• The 75th Golden Globe Awards were given at Beverly Hills, California. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wins the best Motion Picture in Drama Category.
• Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha becomes the first Indian wicket-keeper to effect 10 dismissals in a Test, going past the previous best of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had the distinction of a record nine dismissals against Australia in Melbourne in 2014. He achieves the record in the first Test match between India and South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town.
• Australia wins the Ashes Series against England by 4-0. Steven Smith received Player of the Series award.

7th January, Current Affairs

• Four powerlifting players from Delhi were killed when the car they were in hit a road divider. Two other players including world champion Saksham Yadav were injured.
• Barcelona sign Brazilian star footballer Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool for 160 million euros which is the third richest deal of all time in football history.

6th January, Current Affairs

• Bihar's Former CM Lalu Yadav, who was convicted in a second case of fodder scam, was given three-and-a-half-year's jail term and a fine of Rs. 5 lakh by a special court in Bihar today.
• Eleven people were killed after a vehicle hit by an avalanche in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

5th January, Current Affairs

• New Rs. 10 Currency Notes Introduced by RBI today. The new 10 rupee notes will be in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, and will bear the signature of RBI Governor, Dr. Urjit R. Patel.
• After a gap of 15 years, all listed questions in Rajya Sabha were answered and all the zero-hour and special-mentions by the members were completed.
• Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah named as the African Player of the Year.

2nd January, Current Affairs

• Parliament passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill.
• The Arunachal Pradesh becomes the second state after Sikkim to be declared as Open Defecation Free State in Northeast.
• Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as the new Foreign Secretary of India. He will replace S. Jaishankarn who will complete his tenure on 28th January, 2018.
• Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced the Value Added Tax (VAT) for the first time in Gulf region.

1st January, Current Affairs

• New Year is celebrated across the World.
• The first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) published with the names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore total applicants in Assam recognising them as legal citizens of India.
• India and Pakistan exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities under a three-decade old bilateral pact.
• Vidarbha beat Delhi by 9 wickets in the final to win their first ever Ranji Trophy title at the Holkar stadium in Indore.