Important Current Affairs Of January 13, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JANUARY 13, 2016

1. Nepal has been elected to the Unicef executive board,representing the group of Asia-Pacific countries for the term 2016-2018.
1. Note : Nepal's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN Durga Prasad Bhattarai,has also been unanimously elected as vice-president to the bureau of the executive board.
2. Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Walid Al Moualem, is on a four-day visit to India.
1. During this visit, he will hold talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other leaders to seek India’s support for President Bashar al-Assad ahead of peace talks in Geneva.
2. Note : The visit assumes importance in view of fresh initiatives taken by the UN to bring about peace in war-torn Syria, where more than 300,000 people have been killed in the past four years and seven million have fled to other countries.
3. Former Gujarat cadre IAS officer Devender Kumar Sikri has taken oath as the Chairman of Competition Commission of India (CCI).
1. He will become the third chairman of the fair trade regulator.
2. He will succeed Ashok Chawla, who superannuated on January 7. 
4. Additional Secretary of Home Affairs, Sailesh was appointed as the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
1. Sailesh, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is presently Additional Secretary in Home Ministry. 
2. He will replace C Chandramouli, who completed his tenure.
5. e-commerce firm Flipkart On january 11, 2016 appointed Binny Bansal as the Chief Executive Officer and Sachin Bansal as the Executive Chairman.
6. Homegrown smartphone vendor Micromax has appointed Vikas Thapar as its new senior Vice President for finance.
7. 73rd Golden Globe Awards
1. Famous Titanic actor Leonardo Di Caprio recieved the Best Actor award for his performance in 'The Revenant'.
2. The Revenant also took two more honours in the Best Movie and Best Director categories.
3. Brie Larson has won the Best Actress award for the, Room. 
8. Veteran poet Balkrishna Garg was honoured with the second edition ofHarikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award 2015 for his collection of poems for children titled ‘Baal Geet’.
1. Apart from Mr. Garg, Yogendra Kumar and Hem Bhatnagar were also felicitated for their contributions to childrens literature.
9. A 11-year-old Indian-origin girl Kashmea Wahi, has achieved the top possible score of 162 on a IQ test of Mensa, becoming one of the youngest brainiest students in the country.
1. She achieved the top score of 162 out of 162, putting her in the league of scientists Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking and in the top 1 per cent of the country's brightest.
10. Srinivas Murthy, senior vice president of marketing at e-commerce majorSnapdeal, resigned to start his own venture.
1. Note : This is the second major exit at Snapdeal after its Head of Strategy Ranjan Kant quit to join online apparel retailer Jabong as its chief marketplace officer.
11. The government plans to reach up to 50 crore internet subscribers in next 6-7 months, besides installing 2,500 Wi-Fi hotspots at 256 places by the next fiscal, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said On january 11, 2016.
12. The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully test fired the new Penetration-Cum Blast (PCB) andThermobaric (TB) Ammunition tank at Chandipur, Odisha.  
1. This was specially designed for Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT).
13. Noted Hindi writer and journalist Ravindra Kalia (78) passed away.
1. He was known for his works like Ghalib Chutti Sharab and Nau Saal Chotti Patni.
2. He had served as Director of Bharatiya Jnanpith. 
14. British Singer David Bowie (69), one of the most influential musicians of his era, has died of cancer.
1. The artist's hits include Let's Dance, Changes, Space Oddity, Starman, Modern Love, Heroes, Under Pressure, Rebel Rebel and Life on Mars.
2. He was also well known for creating his flamboyant alter ego Ziggy Stardust.
15. First female Formula One driver, Maria Teresa de Filippis passed away.
1. Note : She was the first woman to compete in a world championship Formula One grand prix.