January 21 -31 2013 Current Affairs

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch SARAL (Satellite with Argos and Altika) on February 14, 2013. Along with Indo-French SARAL, the Polar Satellite Launch
  Vehicle (PSLV) will put into orbit six small experimental satellites built by western universities for a fee.
• Iran gave only partial access to IAEA delegation which visited country’s military facility in Parchin. It is suspected by the IAEA that that Parchin facility may have been used for high explosives testing that can be used to trigger a nuclear explosion, based on satellite imagery of the base.
•  Union Government gave nod to Reliance Industries’ plans of de-notifying more than 40 % of its multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Jamnagar subject to refund of all tax benefits it got for developing the area.
•  S S Mundra has been appointed by the Government of India as the Chairman and Managing Director  (CMD) of India’s second largest lender- Bank of Baroda.
•   As per the latest ruling of the apex court, not only an MLA but any interested person has the right to inform the Speaker of the fact that a member has incurred disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) and the presiding officer is bound to take action on the complaint.  
•  The International Olympics association has requested the discredited cyclist Lance Armstrong to return the Olympic bronze medal he won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games.
•   Restructuring of RRBs by merging geographically contiguous RRBs sponsored by different banks within a state is in progress in order to consolidate RRBs segment. During the first 9 months of the current fiscal 25 such banks have been merged into 10. Now the number of RRBs stands at 67 till the first week of Jan 2013.
•   Virat Kohli became the fastest Indian to score 4000 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Virat Kohli played 96 ODI matches and 93 innings to reach this milestone.
• Indian scientists will render significant contribution in developing key components of the world’s largest optical telescope to be set up by a 5-nation consortium including India.The Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT), also known as the world’s most advanced ground-based observatory, will be built at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii at a cost of $1.2 billion.
  Who are the partner countries?
  There are five nations collaborating in the project:
  India, China, Japan, Canada, United States
•  Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was the chief guest at India’s 64th Republic Day parade on Jan 26, 2013.
• The apex court banned all tourist movements in the habitat of extremely endangered Jarawa tribe in Andaman and Nicobar. The court banned the movement of all tourist vehicles through the 46-km Andaman Trunk Road that links North Andaman to its southern part passing through the tribe’s habitat till February 26, 2013.
• As per Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO), India would test fire sub-sonic, medium range cruise missile Nirbhay in Feb 2013. The missile is being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab.Nirbhay: All-weather low-cost medium-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy.Range of 1,000 km.It will carry a ring laser gyroscope forhigh-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the height determination.Capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air and shall be inducted into Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force.
  Capable of carrying nuclear warheads.Capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4
  km above the ground.Good loitering capability, control and guidance with high degree of accuracy for maximum impact.Nirbhay will supplement the Brahmos cruise missile by carrying warheads beyond the 300-km range.
•  Belarus’ tennis star Victoria Azarenka vanquished Chinese opponent Li Na to clinch the 2013 title of Australian Open for the second successive time.
•   The Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic became the first man to win three successive Australian Open titles in the professional era when he beat Andy Murray in the finals of men’s singles at Australian Open 2013.
•  The Pakistani military conducted a combat exercise “Saffron Bandit” involving fighter jets and ground troops. The exercise is being conducted against the backdrop of a elevated tensions with India following a string of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
•  India’s capital New Delhi has got rid of Leprosy as a public health problem, as the incidence rate of leprosy has declined from 4.5 cases per 10,000 of population in 2001 to 0.8 cases at present.