- The Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal Committee, probing the betting and spot-fixing scandals in the Indian Premier League, submitted its final investigation report on the alleged role of former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N. Srinivasan and 12 others in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court.
- Thirteenth Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Laxman Kelkar has been appointed as Chairperson of the Finance Ministry’s think tank National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP). He replaces the former Reserve Bank Governor C. Rangarajan. Mr V L Kelkar was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in January 2011. Prior to this, he was Adviser to the Union Finance Minister from 2002 to 2004. He was also the Union Finance Secretary in 1998-1999. He was nominated as Executive Director of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka on the Board of the International Monetary Fund in 1999.
- Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government would institutionalise a regulatory authority with full powers to oversee enforcement of all-round quality standards and consumer protection under the National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).
- The Supreme Court asked the Centre and the States to decide on a plea to electronically provide information to applicants under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
- Lyricist Javed Akhtar and composer-singer Hariharan are working together to bring out the theme song of the 35th National Games, scheduled to begin on January 31. Akhtar has penned the lyrics for the three-minute signature song in Hindi, while Hariharan has composed the music.
- Veteran Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar, who essayed villainous and comic roles with equal ease and gave powerful performances in Ardh Satya and Sadak , died.
- Mauritius, often accused of being a route for round-tripping of funds by Indians, conveyed to Indian government that it was ready to support its Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unearth black money.
- The Bangladesh Supreme Court upheld the death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman for war crimes that include mass murder and rape in 1971. The verdict comes a day after Mir Quasem Ali, who was chief of the Chittagong unit of Al Badr — the pro-Pakistan militia during the country war of independence — was found guilty of murder, torture and abductions. Motiur Rahman Nizami, the supreme commander of Al Badr and now Jamaat-e-Islami chief, was handed the capital punishment last week for his role in execution of intellectuals, mass killing, rape and loot during the nine months of bloodshed 43 years ago.
- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has decided to drop his tribal name of Ahmadzai and has asked all government departments and media to use his family name only.
- China has developed a highly accurate homemade laser defence weapon system capable of shooting down small-scale drones flying at low attitude. Characterised by its speed, precision and low noise, the system is designed to destroy unmanned, small-scale drones flying within an altitude of 500 metres and at a speed below 50m/s.
- Thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the resurrected World Trade Center is again opening for business marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the United States as a whole. Publishing giant Conde Nast will start moving Monday into One World Trade Center, a 104-story, $3.9-billion skyscraper that dominates the Manhattan skyline. It is America’s tallest building. It’s the centrepiece of the 16-acre site where the decimated twin towers once stood and where more than 2,700 people died on Sept. 11, 2001.
- Bharti Softbank, a joint venture company of Bharti Enterprises and Japanese telecommunications major Softbank Corporation, said it had acquired 36.5 per cent equity stake in entertainment media startup ScoopWhoop.
- Infosys has pulled out of the proposed software development centre project to be set up near Bengaluru, citing lack of infrastructure in India’s ‘Silicon Valley’.
Credits: The Hindu, Google.
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