Important Current Affairs of January 29, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JANUARY 29, 2016

• India's first ever all-woman peacekeeping unit, which has been in war-torn Liberia since 2007, is set to depart the country on February 14. 
• The list of 20 smart cities out of the 98 shortlisted for the 'Smart Cities Mission' was released on January 28, 2016.
• These 20 cities will be the first to receive funds, thus kickstarting the process of developing them into 'smart cities'.
• The next two years will see the inclusion of 40 and 38 cities, respectively.
• The 20 cities named in the first list are
• Bhubaneswar   
• Pune   
• Jaipur   
• Surat   
• Kochi
• Ahmedabad   
• Jabalpur   
• Visakhapatnam   
• Solapur   
• Davanagere
• Indore   
• New Delhi   
• Coimbatore   
• Kakinada   
• Belgaum
• Udaipur   
• Guwahati   
• Chennai   
• Ludhiana   
• Bhopal
• On January 28, 2016 Data Privacy Day (Data Protection Day) was observed. 
• The purpose of this Day is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. 
• Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has ordered the opening of the border that Sudan shares with South Sudan for the first time since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
• Pakistan was named on this day (28th January) in the year 1933.
• Muslim nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali, who is also known as the Founder of Pakistan National Movement, used 'Pakistan' in his pamphlet 'Now or Never' explaining reasons to establish a separate nation. 
• 'Pakistan' referred to the five northern units of India- 'P'unjab, North-West Frontier ('A'fghan) Province, 'K'ashmir, 'S'ind, and Baluchis'tan' (PAKSTAN).
• Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered officials to impose ban on polythene in entire state from January 2017.
• A Vigilance court orders FIR against Kerala Chief Minister ‎Oommen Chandy in Solar scam case.
• According to the new rule imposed by Indian Railways, any individual will not be able to book more than six tickets online in a month from IRCTC website from his/her user ID. 
• The restriction will come into force from 15th February.
• Note : Under the existing system a maximum of ten tickets can be booked online through IRCTC website. 
• Union Minister Sarbananda Sonwal will be BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming Assam assembly polls.
• The Centre on January 28, 2016 constituted a one-man judicial commission to probe the death of a Dalit scholar of HCU, Hyderabad,  Rohith Vemula. 
• This commission will be headed by : Ashok Kumar Roopanwal (Retired HC judge) 
• The 8th Edition of the four-day India Art Fair began in Delhi at the NSIC grounds in the Okhla Industrial Area, on January 28, 2016. 
• The fair is showcasing art from 70 galleries from around the world. 
• This year the fair focuses on art from South Asia, especially the Indian Subcontinent. 
• The festival will end on January 31.
• India’s indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile was successfully test fired by Indian Air Force personnel, from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur (Odisha). 
• The missile has a strike range of 25 km and a warhead capacity of 60 kg, while it can travel at speeds ranging from Mach 2.8 to Mach 3.5.
• In a major breakthrough for artificial intelligence, a computer program has for the first time defeated a professional player in the ancient Chinese board game of ‘Go’. 
• Developed by Google-owned company DeepMind, AlphaGo has defeated over three-time European Champion Fan Hui by 5-0. 
• Note : Earlier, the strongest computer programs were only able to play at the level of human amateurs.
• The Customs Department on January 28, 2016 launched a mobile app named 'Indian Customs-Guide to Travellers' to inform people about the Custom rules. 
• The app is a first-of-its-kind in the world and contains customs baggage rules and entitlements of passengers coming from various countries. 
• The app which also works in offline mode provides contact details of customs officers at major Indian airports.
• California-based do-it-yourself app-building application Appy Pie was launched in India on January 28, 2016. 
• Appy Pie lets users design professional-looking apps using themes and media elements from its gallery, without writing any code. 
• Users can integrate GPS, m-commerce and push notification features in their apps, and can then publish the apps on the iOS and Android app stores.
• An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Aparna Kumar, has successfully scaled the 17000-ft high Mount Vinson Massif,which is the highest peak in the Antarctic sub-continent. 
• Note : She had earlier scaled Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Aconcagua in South America, and Mount Elbrus in Russia.
• Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani has emerged as the richest person in India and the 27th richest in the world with a net worth of $24.8 billion, according to a Wealth-X global list of 50 wealthiest people. 
• Important Note : Wipro chairman Azim Premji (43) and Sun Pharmaceuticals head Dilip Shanghvi (44) were the other two Indians on the list.
• Vice Admiral Ashok Subhedar was chosen for Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for his extraordinary services to Indian Navy.
• The Ministry of Defence on January 28, 2016 adjudged the Assam Regiment as the best marching contingent in the services category for the Republic Day Parade 2016. 
• The Border Security Force was declared the best in the paramilitary and other auxiliary forces category. 
• In the tableau category, West Bengal bagged the first position, followed by Tripura and Assam.
• India has overtaken Thailand as the world’s largest rice exporter in the year 2015 by shipping (exporting) 10.23 million tonnes of rice.
• Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on January 28, 2016 announced that the government has received subscription for 2,790 kg gold amounting to ₹726 crore under the second tranche of the sovereign gold bond scheme. 
• Note : The second tranche fared around three times better compared to the first, which had received subscription for 915.95 kg of gold worth ₹246 crore.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the implementation of its long due quota reforms which were passed in 2010, but only got the US Congress' approval last year. 
• Note : As a result of the reforms, four emerging market countries(Brazil, China, India, and Russia) will gain more voting rights and be among the ten largest members of the IMF.
• Supreme Court on January 28, 2016 appointed Justice Sanjay Mishra as Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta.
• Important Point to Note : Earlier, the court has appointed Justice Virendra Singh as UP Lokayukta, but later it had recalled it's earlier order. 
• The captain of the champion Indian basketball team in the first Asian Games in 1951, Ranbir Chopra (86) passed away.
• Chopra had been part of the Punjab team that won the national title in 1951 in Ludhiana. 
• He was also the coach of the Indian team that toured Pakistan in 1962.
• The second volume of memoirs of President Pranabh Mukherjee titled “The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996” was released on January 28, 2016 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• This book was released by Vice President Hamid Ansari. 
• The book speaks of events in Mukherjee's political life during the time including Indira Gandhi's assassination and Operation Blue Star. 
• The book also dismisses rumours which claimed that he wanted to be the Interim PM post-Indira Gandhi's death.
• Australia's opening batsman David Warner has won the All Border Medal and also the Test Player of the Year honours.
• Glenn Maxwell was named One-Day International (ODI) Player of the Year, while all-rounder Ellyse Perry won her first Belinda Clark Award for the country's best-performed female player.
• Australian Olympic diving gold medallist Matthew Mitcham will not compete at this year's Rio Games after announcing his retirement from the sport.