NATIONAL
1. Sasikala to take over as Tamil Nadu CM on Feb. 9
2. ‘President Pranab’ to bloom at Delhi’s Mughal Gardens by March first week
3. Arun Kumar succeeds Richard Rekhy as KPMG India chairman
INTERNATIONAL
4. Renowned Urdu author Bano Qudsia passes away
5. Alibaba-made app helps find 611 missing Chinese children
SPORTS
6. Alastair Cook awarded Order of the British Empires
NATIONAL
1. Sasikala to take over as Tamil Nadu CM on Feb. 9
• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam proposed her name at a meeting of party MLAs in Chennai.• Ms. Sasikala will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on February 9
• If she is sworn in as Chief Minister, Ms. Sasikala needs to get elected to the Assembly within six months.
2. ‘President Pranab’ to bloom at Delhi’s Mughal Gardens by March first week
• As the Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan reopen on Sunday 5th feb, 2017, visitors will for the first time see roses named after the Indian President and his wife, growing next to ' Abraham Lincoln', 'Christian Dior' and 'Queen Elizabeth' .• ‘President Pranab’ will have a yellow flower while ‘Suvra Mukherjee’ will produce a combination of purple and pink flower.
• These species are developed by two West Bengal-based agriculturists Ashok Maity and Pranay Veer Maity,”
• The naming of a newly bred variety of rose is done after the consent of the person, after whom a cultivator wants to dedicate his product.
• It also requires an approval of the ‘Indian Rose Federation’ (IRF) and ‘American Rose Society’ (ARS), which confers final recognition.
3. Arun Kumar succeeds Richard Rekhy as KPMG India chairman
• KPMG India board has elected Arun M Kumar as chairman and CEO to lead the India operations of the consulting and accounting major.• He succeeds Richard Rekhy, who stepped down in November last year following a large scale exodus of key people from the advisory team.
• Earlier in January 2016, Rekhy had been re-elected for a four year term.
• Kumar, who spent the majority of his career with KPMG in the US, will take charge from February 5 for a five-year term.
INTERNATIONAL
4. Renowned Urdu author Bano Qudsia passes away
• Renowned Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright Bano Qudsia has passed away in Lahore.• She was 88. Qudsia was having heart-related complications and was admitted to a local hospital when her condition deteriorated a few days ago.
• Born in November 1928 in Ferozepur, India, Qudsia migrated to Pakistan after partition. Qudsia did her masters in Urdu Literature from Government College Lahore in 1951.
• Among her prominent writings include Aadhi Baat, Aatish-i-zer-i-paa, Aik Din, Amer Bail, Asay Pasay, Chahar Chaman, Chhotaa Sheher Baray Log, Footpath ki Ghaas, Hasil Ghaat and Hawa Kay Naam.
• She was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2003 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2010.
5. Alibaba-made app helps find 611 missing Chinese children
• A mobile app developed by Alibaba helped Chinese authorities recover 611 missing children last year.
• The ‘Tuanyuan’ app, which means ‘reunion’ in Chinese, sends push notifications with photos and descriptions to users who are close to the location of a child’s disappearance.
• The notifications are sent to users farther from the location of the disappearance till the child is found.
SPORTS
6. Alastair Cook awarded Order of the British Empires
• Alastair Cook awarded Order of the British Empire.
• England Test captain Alastair Cook has been honoured with Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).
• He was awarded the CBE at the Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles
