28-29 January 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

28-29 January 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

Roger Federer wins Australian Open 2018 men's title

• Defending champion Swiss star Roger Federer (36-year) has won the 2018 Australian Open Men's Singles title in Melbourne (Australia).
• He defeated Marin Cilic (Croatia) in five sets 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
• In women's' single, Danish player Caroline Wozniacki (27-year) has won the 2018 Australian Open Women's Singles title.
• she defeated Simona Halep (Romania)7-6, 3-6, 6-4 and become the first player from Denmark to win a Grand Slam.

List of winners of Australian Open:

Category	Winner	Runner Up
Men's Singles	Roger Federer (Switzerland)	Marin Cilic (Croatia)
Women's Singles	Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)	Simona Halep (Romania)
Men's Doubles	Oliver Marach (Austria) & Mate Pavic (Croatia)	Robert Farah (Colombia) & J. Cabal (Colombia)
Women's Doubles	Kristina Mladenovic (France) & Tímea Babos (Hungary)	Elena Vesnina (Russia) & Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)
Mixed Doubles	Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) & Mate Pavic (Croatia)	Rohan Bopanna (India) & Timea Babos (Hungary)

Note:

• The 2018 Australian Open (106th edition) was the tennis tournament played at Melbourne Park between 15th–28th January 2018.

National Appointments

Vijay Keshav Gokhale takes charge as Foreign Secretary

• Seasoned diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale (1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer) took charge as the foreign secretary.
• He succeeded S Jaishankar.
• Currently, Mr. Gokhale is serving as the Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
• He had played a key role in negotiations to resolve the Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese armies last year.
• He has also served as India's top envoy to Germany and worked in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi and in New York.

Usha Ananthasubramanian becomes 1st Woman IBA Chief

• MD & CEO of Allahabad Bank ‘Usha Ananthasubramanian’ has been elected as the chairman (first woman) of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) for the year 2017-18 by its Managing Committee.
• Chairman of State Bank of India Rajnish Kumar has been elected Deputy Chairman of IBA.
• IBA Chairman’s position fell vacant following the superannuation of Jatinder Bir Singh.

National Affairs

Beating Retreat ceremony held at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi

• Today, Beating Retreat ceremony held at the historic Vijay Chowk (the victory square) in New Delhi.
• This year, 18 Military Bands, 15 Pipes and Drums Bands from Regimental Centres and Battalions are participating in the ceremony.
• The only western tune will be 'Abide by Me'.
• The 'Beating Retreat' ceremony is held here every year on 29^th January, marking the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations.

Note:

• The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands.

Himachal CM launches 'Shakti' app for Women's Safety

• The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister ‘Jai Ram Thakur’ has launched the ‘Shakti’ app for women’s safety in the state.
• The app was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) of the HP government, available in both Hindi & English languages with a panic button.
• The objective of the app to the helpline is to fight crimes against women in the state without internet connectivity.
• Mr. Thakur also launched the ‘GUDDIYA’ helpline number 1515 and the ‘Hoshiyar Singh’ helpline number 1090.
• The ‘Hoshiyar Singh’ helpline would be monitored by the CM’s office and the government would use information gathered on this helpline to come down heavily on the drug, forest and mining mafias.

AAI will invest Rs. 1,232 crore to construct new integrated international terminal in Guwahati

• According to the Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathy Raju, the Airports Authority of India will invest 1,232 crore rupees to construct a new integrated international terminal in Guwahati.
• The new terminal building is expected to be complete by 2021.
• The proposed new integrated terminal building will be spread across 90,000 square meters with world-class facilities and have the capacity to handle 3,100 passengers during peak hour.

Republic Day: Maharashtra tableau wins 1st prize

• According to the Ministry of Defence, the tableau on the coronation ceremony of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (presented by Maharashtra) has been awarded the first prize at the Republic Day parade this year in New Delhi.
• The tableau was created by well-known art director Nitin Desai and his team.
• The coronation ceremony was enacted on the tableau by 10 artists.
• The state also emerged the winner in the cultural category and the inter-state dance competition held as part of the parade.

Note:

• This year, 100-odd government agencies took part in the Republic Day parade preparations that will see the presence of 10 heads of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders.

International Affairs

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto declares his re-election for new six-year term

• Finland's moderate President Sauli Niinisto has declared his re-election for a new six-year term after securing a comfortable lead in the early results from the recent election.
• With about 86% of votes counted, Niinisto had won 62.1%, compared with 13.1% for closest rival Pekka Haavisto.

Sports

Tai Tzu Ying Of Taiwan wins Indonesian Masters

• Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying (world no.1) has defeated Saina Nehwal (India) in the finals of the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta.
• Tai Tzu Ying defeated Saina Nehwal 9-21, 13-21.
• Now, Tai Tzu has defeated Saina Nehwal nine times in their last 10 meetings.

Leander Paes wins his 25th ATP Challenger level doubles title

• Indo-American pair tennis star Leander Paes (India) and James Cerretani have won his 25th ATP Challenger level doubles title.
• They defeated the duo of Denis Kudla and Treat Huey in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 in the 150,000 US Dollar hardcourt tournament.

India win the third test against South Africa by 63 runs

• India has won the third and final cricket Test against South Africa by 63 runs after bundling out the hosts for 177 in their second innings at Johannesburg.
• Chasing 241, South Africa were placed comfortably at 124 for two at one stage but their innings folded for 177 following a dramatic collapse.
• South Africa won the 3-match series 2-1

Brief Scores:

• India: 187 and 247
• South Africa:  194 and 177.
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar was declared player of the Match and Vernon Philander player of the Series.