[CA] Jan 2017 CA Bytes

·        350th Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti was celebrated 350th Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti was celebrated across the world on January 5, 2017 in Patna. The festival also known as Prakash Utsav also known as Prakash Parv

·        Election Commission announced Assembly Elections for 5 states Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh; results will be declared on March 11

·        106th Edition of Australian Open held in Melbourne; Men's Singles won by Roger Federer and Women's Singles by Serena Williams

·        Actor Amitabh Bachchan was honoured by the US Embassy for his immense contribution to the India-US partnership on tuberculosis (TB).

·        Kiran Doshi won "The Hindu Prize 2016" for his book "Jinnah Often Came to Our House"

·        Japan decided to be associated with the development of Chennai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi as smart cities

·        UK seeks Indian help in resolving Chagos Archipelago dispute

·        Exercise BRIDGE-IV: joint airforce between India and Oman in Jamnagar, Gujarat

·        ‘Child Vulnerability Map’ prepared by NGO Childline India Foundation covers 409 of total 678 districts in the country.Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra have been highlighted on the map as child trafficking-prone states

·        RBI appointed Ms. Surekha Marandi as its Executive Director (ED). She replaced U S Paliwal

·        Toll free number 14444 (for Digital Transactions) and 18001039271 (for GST) has been started

·        Commerce Ministry has launched a mobile app named "SEZ India" for Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

·        Apple Inc. has been named as the World’s Most Innovative Company in 2016.

·        G-20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting at Berlin, Germany

·        India and UAE signed 14 MoUs

·        American foreign policy magazine has selected eight countries for the list of eight great powers for the year 2017. (1) USA (2) China & Japan (4) Russia (5) Germany (6) India (7) Iran (8) Israel

·        Union Cabinet has approved the Indian Institute of Management(IIM) Bill, 2017, under which the IIMs would be declared as Institutions of National Importance which will enable them to grant degrees to their students.

·        INS Khanderi, India’s second French-designed Scorpene-class diesel-electric attack submarine was launched in Mumbai on January 12, 2017 at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL).

·        The 14th edition of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) Convention 2017 kick started at Jacaranda Hall, BIEC, in Bengaluru, Karnataka  with the theme "Redefining Engagement with the Indian Diaspora"

·        "Bharat Parv", a national festival showcasing the country’s diverse culture, cuisines, handicrafts and catch glimpses of a progressive India was inaugurated in New Delhi (on Jan 26)

·        India celebrated its Republic Day on Jan 26, with the theme of "Skill India" and "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao"; Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the Chief Guest at the ceremony