Current Affairs 11th January 2016

Important Points : 

• Who has won Brisbane Tennis trophy - Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis
• Name the singer of Rhythm and blues who has passed away - Otis Clay
• Name the first female Formula One driver who has passed away - Maria Teresa de Filippis
• Who has won Chennai Open title - Stanislas Wawrinka
• DRDO successfully test fired - New Tank Ammunition for Arjun MBT
• 11th World Hindi Day observed on - 10th January
• Where did the International Kite festival started - Ahmedabad
• Which country is elected as UNICEF’s executive board member for 2016-2018 - Nepal
• Where did the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas held - New Delhi
• Name the book authoured by Jain Acharya Maharaj  - MARU BHARAT SARU BHARAT 
• Who has been named Denmark's sportsperson of 2015 - Rene Holten Poulsen
• 2016 Brisbane International Tennis men’s singles trophy won by - Milos Raonic 
• Who has been conferred with 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award - Balkrishna Garg

Details : 

Who has won Brisbane Tennis trophy - Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 9th January 2016, the WTA Brisbane Tennis trophy was won by Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis by defeating Andrea Petkovic and German Angelique Kerber.

With this win, they have achieved a 26-match winning streak and brought six titles at the Brisbane, Beijing, Guangzhou, WTA Finals, Wuhan and US Open.

They have beaten the record of 25 in a row in 2012 made by Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci which were 's-Hertogenbosch, Rome, the French Open, Madrid and Barcelona.

Name the singer of Rhythm and blues who has passed away - Otis Clay

On 8th January 2016, American R&B and soul singer and Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Otis Clay passed away in Chicago at the age of 73.

About Otis Clay

• Otis Clay started his singing career with local gospel group, the Voices of Hope.
• He was one of the 2013 inductees to the Blues Hall of Fame.
• "All Because Of Your Love" was his last national hit single.
• In late 1972, his "Trying To Live My Life Without You" was the biggest hit.
• He signed with One-derful! Records in Chicago to make secular recordings in 1965.

Name the first female Formula One driver who has passed away - Maria Teresa de Filippis

On 8th January 2016, the first woman to compete in a world championship Formula One grand prix, Maria Teresa de Filippis passed away at the age of 89.

About Maria Teresa de Filippis

• At the age of 22, she began her racing career.
• Before entering into Formula One, she took part in various motor racing events, including endurance racing and hill climbing.
• She participated in the Monaco Grand Prix, the second round of the 1958 Formula One season, in one of the 250Fs on 18th May 1958.

Who has won Chennai Open title - Stanislas Wawrinka

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 10th January 2016, Stanislas Wawrinka won his third consecutive Chennai Open title by defeating Croatian Borna Coric.

He was awarded with 75700 US dollars, a cup and 250 ATP ranking points.

DRDO successfully test fired - New Tank Ammunition for Arjun MBT

Among the important Defense Current Affairs, On 6th January 2016, the new Penetration-Cum Blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition tank, specially designed for Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT) was successfully test fired by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Odisha.

This is for the first time that such evaluation was carried out in India which has given a quantum jump in the fire-power of Arjun tanks.

About The New Ammunition Tank :

• Pune based DRDO laboratories Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) developed this ammunitions.
• After extensive research for the TB ammunition, an unconventional chemical admixture was developed by HEMRL. 

Underlisted native technologies were developed and established during the course of the system development :

• Special alloy steel obturating cups for cartridge cases
• High pressure packing rings for recoil system
• Semi-combustible cartridge case and primer.
• Electro slag refined (ESR) steel for gun barrels
• Fin stabilised kinetic energy shot
• Tungsten alloy penetrators
• Partial length autofrettaging of gun barrels

11th World Hindi Day observed on - 10th January

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 10th January 2016, The 11th World Hindi Day was observed. On this occasion, special events were conducted to communicate the eminence of the language by the Department of Official Language (Rajbhasha) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

On 10th January 2006, this day was observed for the first time. The day is observed in remembrance of the day when the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the Official Language of the Union on 14th September 1949.

Do You Know :

• Hindi is the fourth most spoken language of the world.
• Around 258 million people in India use Hindi as their mother tongue.
• Apart from this, in Fiji, Hindi is an official language. 

Where did the International Kite festival started - Ahmedabad

On 10th January 2016, the 28th edition of International Kite Festival was inaugrated by the Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel at Sabarmati River front in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The festival is celebrated to mark Uttarayan i.e. according to the Indian calendar, the day when winter begins to turn into summer.

28 kite flyers from Gujarat, 55 participants from 8 different states and about 98 foreign kite flyers from 28 different nations participated in the five day event.

Do You Know :

Uttarayan shows farmers that the harvest season is approaching as the sun is back which is called Makara Sankranti. 

Which country is elected as UNICEF’s executive board member for 2016-2018 - Nepal

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 9th January 2016, Nepal was elected to the UNICEF executive board, representing the group of Asia-Pacific countries.

Durga Prasad Bhattarai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) was also with one accord has been elected as the vice-president to the Bureau of the Executive Board of the UNICEF for the year 2016.

About United Nations Children's Fund

• On 11th December 1946, United Nations General Assembly formed UNICEF to provide emergency food and healthcare to children during World War II.
• In the year 1947, United Nations Children's Fund was co-founded by Maurice Pate, American humanitarian and businessman and Herbert Hoover.
• It is one of the members of the United Nations Development Group and its Executive Committee.
• It is a United Nations program that provides long-term humane and developmental cooperation to children and mothers in developing countries.

Where did the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas held - New Delhi

On 9th January 2016, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugrated the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) in New Delhi which was attended by Priti Patel, MoS for Employment, United Kingdom.

The MEA also celebrated the day across the globe, through its missions/posts abroad.

Sushma Swaraj also announced on the occasion that the government is considering Aadhaar cards to non-resident Indians (NRIs) and allowing women workers to Gulf countries only through the government agencies to ensure they were not duped by recruiting agents or firms.

About Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas

• Since the year 2003, Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas was observed to bring the Indian Diaspora on a single platform and authorize their resources in nation building activities.
• This day marks the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India.

Name the book authoured by Jain Acharya Maharaj  - MARU BHARAT SARU BHARAT 

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 10th January 2016, the 300th book of Jain Acharya Ratnasundersuriswarji Maharaj titled “MARU BHARAT SARU BHARAT “(My India Noble India) was released by PM Narendra Modi in a function organized by Sahitya Satkar Samiti of Ratnatrayee Trust.

The book will be made available in Marathi, Gujarati, English and Hindi.

Who has been named Denmark's sportsperson of 2015 - Rene Holten Poulsen

Among the important award distributions, On 9th January 2016, Danish kayaker Rene Holten Poulsen was named the Denmark’s sportsperson of the year 2015 voted by Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper and the Sports Confederation of Denmark.

The prize is among the country's top sports prizes and also known as Sports Name of the Year.

About Rene Holten Poulsen

• He is a professional kayaker and medallist at European Championships, the Olympics and World Championships.
• He is also nominated for the World Paddler Awards 2015 for his achievements in 2015.
• He had won one European Games bronze medal, two World Cup medals and three European Championship medals.
• In 2008 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the men's K-2 1000 metres.

2016 Brisbane International Tennis men’s singles trophy won by - Milos Raonic 

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 10th January 2016, the 2016 Brisbane International Tennis men’s singles trophy won by Milos Raonic of Canada by defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland.

Currently, Federer is at the 3rd place in the world singles ranking.

It is the first title for Raonic in the 2016 season and 8th World ATP tour title in his career.

Winners in other categories are as follows : 

• Women’s Doubles : Sania Mirza (India) & Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
• Men’s Doubles : Henri Kontinen (Finland) & John Peers (Australia)
• Women’s Singles : Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)

Who has been conferred with 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award - Balkrishna Garg

Among the important award distributions, On 8th January 2016, the 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award was conferred to Veteran hindi poet Balkrishna Garg for his Baa Geet, which is a collection of poems for children.

National Book Trust (NBT) Chairman Baldeo Bhai Sharma and Sahitya Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari presented him with the award.