Current Affairs 19th January 2016

Important Points : 

• Who has won the 2016 WTA Apia International Sydney title - Viktor Troicki
• Who has been appointed as CEO and MD of Tata Motors - Guenter Butschek
• Who has won the Snooker Masters title - Ronnie O'Sullivan 
• Who has been banned by BCCI for involvement in 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal - Ajit Chandila & Hiken Shah
• Who has acquired Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partner Magnet 360 - Mindtree 
• Which state has been declared as the first organic farming state of India - Sikkim 
• Name the newly introduced category of award by Union Government - Most Film Friendly State/UT award
• Where did the ReNew Power commissioned 40 MW wind project - Karnataka
• Who has declared economic emergency - French President Francois Hollande
• Name the Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has passed away - Daulatrao Aher

Details : 

Who has won the 2016 WTA Apia International Sydney title - Viktor Troicki

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 16th January 2016, the 2016 WTA Apia International title of Tennis in the men’s single category was won by Viktor Troicki after defeating Grigor Dimitrov.

About Viktor Troicki

• He is a tennis player of Russian and Serbian heritage.
• At the 2010 PTT Thailand Open, he won an ATP doubles title with Christopher Kas.
• He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup.
• 2015 Apia International Sydney was his second ATP singles title.

About 2016 Apia International Sydney

• It is a joint 2016 WTA Tour tennis tournament and 2016 ATP World Tour.
• This was the 123rd edition of the tournament.

Who has been appointed as CEO and MD of Tata Motors - Guenter Butschek

On 18th January 2016, Guenter Butschek was appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Motors' Group.

Butschek will be responsible for all operations of Tata Motors in India and in international markets including Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand and South Korea. 

Earlier, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Airbus and Member of the Group Executive Committee. 

Who has won the Snooker Masters title - Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 17th January 2016, Ronnie O'Sullivan after defeating Barry Hawkins won his sixth Snooker Masters title.

Earlier, he had won the event in 2014, 2009, 2007, 2005 and 1995.

About Ronnie O'Sullivan

• He is considered as the most naturally gifted player in snooker history by many commentators.
• At the age of 10, he made his first century break.
• He is known as the Rocket because of his rapid playing style.
• He became the youngest player ever to win a ranking title after winning the 1993 UK Championship at the age of 17 years and 358 days.
• Apart from this, he is also the youngest player to won the Masters.

Who has been banned by BCCI for involvement in 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal - Ajit Chandila & Hiken Shah

On 18th January 2016, Ajit Chandila and Hiken Shah were banned by the Disciplinary Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for their involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.

BCCI has put a ban for 5 years on Hiken Shah and a lifetime ban on Ajit Chandila.

Who has acquired Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partner Magnet 360 - Mindtree 

Among the important Business Current Affairs, On 18th January 2016, a ultimate agreement to acquire Magnet 360, a Salesforce Platinum consulting partner was signed by Mindtree. It was a deal to increase leadership in cloud computing and digital transformation.

With the acquisition of Magnet 360, Mindtree added more than 100 certified Salesforce experts. 

About Magnet 360

• Since 2004, it has been a Salesforce partner.
• It has offices in in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York and is headquartered in Minneapolis.

Which state has been declared as the first organic farming state of India - Sikkim 

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 18th January 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while inaugurating the Sikkim Organic Festival 2016 in Gangtok, Sikkim declared Sikkim as the first organic farming state of India.

Apart from this, the Prime Minister also presented the Organic Certificate to Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.

Three new orchid species are also launched on this occasion which are as follows : 

• Cymbidium Namo (after Narendra Modi)
• Cymbidium Deen Dayal (after Deen Dayal Upaddhyay)
• Cymbidium Sardar (after Sardar Patel)

Name the newly introduced category of award by Union Government - Most Film Friendly State/UT award

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 18th January 2016, a new award category was introduced under the National Film Awards by the Union Government titled "The Most Film Friendly State/UT".

On 3rd May 2016, the new award will be conferred for the first time at the 63rd National Film Awards.  

This new category is created to promote the Indian film industry and India’s Soft Power.

Where did the ReNew Power commissioned 40 MW wind project - Karnataka

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 18th January 2016, the commissioning of 40 megawatt wind power project in Karnataka was announced by the Clean energy firm ReNew Power Ventures.

With the commisioning of this project, the total wind capacity commissioned by ReNew Power has reached 693 megawatts.

This is for the first time that it has installed tallest Hybrid Towers with 30 meters higher than conventional towers in India.

It has 20 operational wind projects located in 5 States. They are:

• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Rajasthan
• Karnataka
• Gujarat

Who has declared economic emergency - French President Francois Hollande

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 18th January 2016, a state of economic and social emergency was declared by the French President Francois Hollande declared to redefine country’s economic and social model.

To block the emergency, Hollande revealed a 2 billion euro plan to revitalize hiring and catch up with a fast-moving world economy.

Measures to be taken by French Government are:

• Companies employing less than 250 people will get a 2000 euro bonus for each new employee with a contract of more than six months, under a two-year scheme.
• About 500000 vocational training schemes will be created.
• For training of unemployed people, one billion euros will be spent. 
• Unbinding of France's rigid working time rules.
• Renovating country’s labour-friendly business model in an increasingly online and border-free economy.

Name the Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has passed away - Daulatrao Aher

On 19th January 2016, Former Maharashtra health minister and Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr Daulatrao Aher passed away at the age of 74.

About Dr Daulatrao Aher

• From 1989 to 1991, he was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha of India from Nashik constituency and was elected thrice as the MLA from Nashik.
• From 1995 to 1999, he served as the state health minister in the then Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government.