Daily Current Affairs – 13th January, 2015 -Tuesday

1. Kamal
Kishore Goyanka selected for Vyas Samman

i. Veteran Hindi scholar and writer Dr Kamal
Kishore Goyanka has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for the year
2014.

ii.He was chosen for his research work
‘

‘.

iii. Vyas Sammanis awarded annually by the K.K.
Birla Foundation in recognition of the Hindi literary work published in past 10
years.

iv. The award carries 2.5 lakh rupees and a
citation and a plaque.

2. Raghuram Rajan named
central banker of the year award

i. Reserve Bank of India chief Raghuram Rajan
conferred as the “governor of the year” award for 2015.

ii.The award was announced by the British
magazine Central Banking for “his deep understanding of the root causes of
economic problems of the country combined with an impressive leadership style.”

iii. The award will be presented in London on
March 12, 2015, this is the second award announced by the British magazine this
year.

3. A.S. Kiran is
a New ISRO Chief

i. Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar has been appointed as
the new Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

ii.He replaced K. Radhakrishnan.

iii. He is the senior-most scientist in ISRO. He
was also behind the success of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission which entered the
Martian orbit on September 24.

4. ISRO Mars
Orbiter Mission Team won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award

i. The
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Team of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) won
the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering category.

ii.
The Mars Orbiter Mission team is located in Bangalore and is headed by
Mylswamy Annadurai.

5. Zomato buys
US based food portal Urbanspoon

i. Zomato acquired the US based food portal Urbanspoon for
$60 million.
ii. Zomato’s significant investments in people and
technology will bring Urbanspoon customers, restaurant owners, and food
bloggers a number of new capabilities and features.

Note: Zomato is an online restaurant search and
discovery service providing information on home delivery, dining-out, cafés and
nightlife in cities of India
and 18 other countries

6. Cristiano
Ronaldo wins the world’s best football player award

i. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the FIFA Ballon
d’Or award for 2014, he is chosen world’s best football player for a third time
in a row.

ii. The Portugal captain beat Germany goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer and four-time winner Lionel Messi in a vote of national team
captains and coaches from FIFA’s 209 member countries, plus selected
journalists.
iii. He retained football’s highest
individual honour after scoring 61 goals for Real Madrid and Portugal last
year.

7. Rodríguez wins annual best goal of the year award

i.Real Madrid and Colombia
star James Rodriguez won the best goal award for the year 2014.

ii. The award, which was voted
for by members of the public, caps what has quite possibly been the most
sensational 12 months of his career to date and one highlight of which was the
stunning strike in the round of 16 win over Uruguay at the World Cup, reports Xinhua.

8. International
Kite Festival begins in Rajasthan

i. International Kite Festival begins in Jaipur,
Rajasthan today, which was organised by the State Tourism department.

ii. Eighteen international kite flyers from USA,
Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, are
participating in the festival.