1) PM Modi dedicates new Section of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated the 306-km New Rewari-New Madar section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) to the nation. Through video-conferencing, Modi also flagged off the world’s first double-stack long-haul 1.5-km-long container train hauled by electric traction from New Ateli-New Kishangarh.
•The New Rewari-New Madar section of the WDFC is situated in Haryana, approximately 79 km in Mahendragarh and Rewari districts and Rajasthan approximately 227 km in Jaipur, Ajmer, Sikar, Nagaur, and Alwar districts.
2) MoS Reddy to head committee for ‘protecting language, culture and land of Ladakh’
•A 10-member delegation from Ladakh met Union home minister Amit Shah has urged the government to protect Ladakh’s language, culture and land. The Central Government has decided to form a committee to protect the unique language, cultural identity and land of Ladakh. The Committee will be headed by the Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy.
3) Karnataka Government launches Krishi Sanjeevani Vans to test soil, water
•The Chief Minister of Karnataka, B.S. Yediyurappa flagged off 40 Krishi Sanjeevani vans in Bengaluru. These vans have been launched by the state Agriculture Department with Central assistance under National Krishi Vikas Yojana to take up this novel programme.
4) Indian-American Raj Iyer becomes U.S. Army’s first CIO
•Indian-American Dr Raj Iyer has taken over as the first Chief Information Officer of the US Army, after the Pentagon created the position in July 2020. Dr Raj Iyer is one of the highest-ranking Indian-American civilians in the US Department of Defence.
5) Hima Kohli appointed as 1st Woman Chief Justice of Telangana High Court
•The senior-most judge of Delhi High Court, Justice Hima Kohli has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of Telangana High Court. She is the first woman to be sworn in as CJ of Telangana HC.
•Justice Kohli was administered the oath of office by Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan. She replaces CJ Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, who has been appointed as the CJ of Uttarakhand HC.
6) JK Maheshwari sworn in as Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court
•Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court. Governor Ganga Prasad administered the oath of office to Justice Maheshwari during a function held in Raj Bhavan. Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami of the Sikkim High Court has now been transferred for appointment as the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Chief Justice.
7) Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia appointed as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court
•Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia appointed as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court informed the Ministry of Law and Justice. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind in the exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, appointed Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court.
8) NSO Projects India’s GDP to contract 7.7% in FY21
•The GDP of India is expected to contract by 7.7 per cent in the current fiscal year 2020-21, as per the first advanced estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) on January 07, 2021. The first advance estimates of GDP of a financial year are released before the Union Budget. This data helps in the budget-making process.
9) IDFC Mutual Fund unveils new investor awareness campaign #PaisonKoRokoMat
•IDFC Mutual Funds has launched its latest pan-India investor awareness campaign titled #PaisonKoRokoMat. With this new campaign, IDFC Mutual Fund aims to shift the conversation regarding wealth creation from the traditional to the contemporary.
10) RBI sets up College of Supervisors chaired by N S Viswanathan
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up an academic advisory council called ‘College of Supervisors (CoS)’ to further strengthen supervision over regulated entities. The Cos will be headed by former deputy governor N S Viswanathan and will have five other members.
•The objective of the council will be to identify areas where skill building/up-skilling are requir¬ed, plan and develop curricula of all programmes, benchmark the programmes with international standards/¬best practices, and develop appropriate teaching methods, etc.
11) RBI officer Giridharan pens novel ‘Right Under our Nose’
•A general manager at RBI, R Giridharan has authored his debut book ”Right Under our Nose”. In ”Right Under Your Nose”, a murderer eliminates scientists right under the nose of the police and leaves forensics baffled. In response, the chief minister calls upon Vijay, who is given an impossible deadline to solve the case before Parliament resumes in a week.
