Current Affairs 31st January 2017

Current Affairs 31st January 2017 - Important Points

• Who has been appointed as Chairman of African Union Commission - Moussa Faki Mahamat
• Who is head of Committee of Administrators to run BCCI - Vinod Rai
• Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign was launched by - Union Government
• Who has been appointed as President of Table Tennis Federation of India - Dushyant Chautala
• RBI gave Payments Bank licence to - India Post
• Economic Survey 2017 was presented in Parliament by - Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Current Affairs 31st January 2017 - Details

Who has been appointed as Chairman of African Union Commission - Moussa Faki Mahamat

On 30th January 2017, Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat was elected as the Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission.

She will be first woman to lead AU and will be succeeding Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa.

Do You Know :

Moussa Faki Mahamat served as Prime Minister of Chad from 24 June 2003 to 4 February 2005 and belongs to Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS).

Who is head of Committee of Administrators to run BCCI - Vinod Rai

On 30th January 2017, Supreme Court (SC) appointed Vinod Rai as the head of four-member Committee of Administrators to run Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Important to mention here that Vinod Rai was former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Other three members of this Committee are :

Ramachandra Guha ( Historian ),

Diana Edulji ( Former Indian women's cricket team captain ),

Vikram Limaye ( Managing Director of IDFC Limited ).

Do You Know :

• Earlier Supreme Court bench rejected suggestion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to appoint Secretary of Union Sports Ministry as one of the administrators.
• As per 18th July 2016 verdict of Supreme Court, Ministers and government servants are debarred from holding any office in BCCI.

Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign was launched by - Union Government

On 30th January 2017, Union Government launched nationwide Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign with an aim to communicate importance of early detection and treatment of leprosy.

This campaign will be an annual event from 30th January till 13 February.

Do You Know :

Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease (HD) and it is a chronic infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis.

This diseases may lead to lack of ability to feel pain alongwith poor eyesight and weakness.

Who has been appointed as President of Table Tennis Federation of India - Dushyant Chautala

On 30th January 2017, Dushyant Chautala was appointed the President of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). He became youngest president to serve in this body of sports. He will be serving at this post till 2021.

Do You Know :

Table Tennis Federation of India was established in 1926 and it is also a founder member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

RBI gave Payments Bank licence to - India Post

Among Important Financial Current Affairs, On 30th January 2017, India Post was granted Payments Bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Now India Post will be able to work as a Payments Bank. 

Paytm and Bharti Airtel already have Payments Bank licence so India Post is third one to get it. India Post started its operations in this field by rolling out pilot projects in Raipur and Ranchi. It will also be giving interst rates as :

Deposits of up to Rs 25000 - 4.5 percent interest

Deposits of 25000 - 50000  - 5 percent interest

Deposits of 50000 - 100000 - 5.5 percent interest

Economic Survey 2017 was presented in Parliament by - Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Among Important Financial Current Affairs, On 31st January 2017, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Economic Survey 2017 in the Parliament. It was focused on Macro economy, Fiscal, Prices, Trade, Agriculture, Industry, Services etc.

Highlights :

• Indian economy may recover back to 6.75 per cent to 7.5 per cent in 2017-18.
• During April - November 2016, Indirect taxes grew by 26.9 per cent.
• The average CPI inflation declined to 4.9 per cent in 2015-16 from 5.9 per cent in 2014-15 and stood at 4.8 per cent during April-December 2015.
• Rupee performed better in 2016-17 among other emerging market economies.
• There is estimate 4.1 percent growth in Agriculture sector in 2016-17 as compared to 1.2 percent in 2015-16.
• The Parliament has passed the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.