Current Affair Updates: 26th & 31st January 2014

International Affairs

• Barack Obama picks cyber expert Michael S Rogers to head National Security Agency (NSA) in the new art of designing cyberweapons.
• In a report UN said Improving women's access to quality education could save an enormous number of lives in India and Nigeria which together account for more than a third of child deaths.
• Former defence forces chief Peter Cosgrove was appointed Australia's new Governor-General to represent Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in the country.
• Ukraine's Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov resigned in view of deadly clashes and protests in the country.

Appointments

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• New Zealand's Kathy Cross became the first woman to be inducted in ICC umpires' panel (First Female Umpire to ICC).
• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sworn-in as a member of the New Delhi Municipal CounciL(NDMC).
• Conservative Juan Orlando Hernandez was sworn in as president of Honduras.
• Rajasthan's former police chief HC Meena has been appointed the secretary, security in the cabinet secretariat.
• T Nanda Kumar will be the new Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), replacing Amrita Patel who has been holding the post since 1998.

National Affairs

• The country's first Monorail service will commence operations next month on the 8.9 km Wadala-Chembur section in the central-eastern suburbs of the metropolis after a delay of over two years.
• The total number of Muggers, an endangered crocodile species in Ghodahada irrigation reservoir in Ganjam district, has decreased.
• 851 buses have been sanctioned by the Urban Development Ministry for Assam and Chhattisgarh under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme.
• Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced to provide 50 per cent discount to senior citizens on fares of buses run by the state transport corporation.
• Economic growth for 2012-13 revised downwards to 4.5% from 5% estimated earlier.

Awards and Honors

• Leading mathematician and founder of Super30 classes Anand Kumar was conferred this year's prestigious Ramanujan Mathematics Award at the Eighth National Mathemaics Convention.
• Rising singer Lorde won the song of the year trophy at the 56th Grammy Awards for her track Royals.
• UNWTO has awarded CNN’s Richard Quest the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement, in recognition of his work as a business journalist reporting on the tourism industry.
• Science and Technology
• Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a bustling port and barracks for sailors or military troops near the famed Giza Pyramids in Egypt.
• Deaths
• Olympian and former national champion cyclist Tarit Settt passes away at the age of 84 after a prolonged illness.
• Folk music legend Pete Seeger dies at 94.

Business and Economy

• In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 28th January 2014 hiked key policy interest rates by 0.25 per cent to tame inflation. The move would make home, automobile and other loans costlier and further dampen industrial growth. Check current RBI Rates from here.

Sports

• Top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal beat compatriot and second seed P.V. Sindhu in straight games to take the women's singles crown of the India Grand Prix Gold at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.