1. 1971 War Hero
Lieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob passes away

1. 1971 War Hero, Retired
   Lieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob passed away at the age of 92 after
   prolonged illness.
2. Lieutenant General
   Jacob served as the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command
   during the 1971 war and played a significant role in negotiating the
   surrender of Pakistani troops in Dhaka that lead to India’s victory.
3. He was born in the Bengal Presidency under
   British India and joined the army at the age of 19 and served in World War II and
   the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 . He retired from the Army in 1978.
4. Post retirement he also served as the Governor of Goa and Punjab.

2.
FIFA dismisses Secretary General Jerome Valcke

1. The FIFA Emergency Committee has decided to dismiss Jerome Valcke
   from the position of FIFA Secretary General.
2. In the wake of this dismissal, Markus Kattner will continue to
   serve as acting Secretary General of FIFA.
3. Valcke is accused of a series of FIFA ethics code violations that
   includes alleged involvement in a scheme to profit from the sale of World
   Cup tickets.
4. Valcke was appointed Secretary General of FIFA in 2007 and the
   FIFA’S ethics committee has recommended that Valcke should be banned from
   all activities of football for a period of nine years.

3.
Subhashini Vasanth honoured with Neerja Bhanot Award

1. Bengaluru-based activist Subhashini Vasanth was honoured with
   Neerja Bhanot Award in a ceremony held in Chandigarh. The award was
   presented by actress Sonam Kapoor who plays the role of ‘Neerja’ in a
   biopic of the same name.
2. The Neerja Bhanot Award which is in its 24th year comprises
   of Rs 1,50,000, a citation and a trophy.
3. Vasanth is the founder trustee of the Vasantharatna Foundation in
   the memory of her late husband Col. Vasanth V, who was martyred while
   fighting terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir. Col. Vasanth V was
   posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra in 2008.
4. The Vasantharatna Foundation works towards helping people in
   distress and for empowering widows of martyrs and their families across
   the country.
5. Subhashini Vasanth is also the co-author of the biography of her
   husband Col. Vasanth V titled ‘ Forever Forty’.

4.
Sugar cess ceiling hiked to Rs 200 per quintal after
President’s nod to the Bill

1. After President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Sugar
   Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015, the ceiling of the impost has been increased
   from Rs 25 to Rs 200 per quintal. This measure will help sugarcane growers
   and cash-starved mills.
2. The cess was proposed to be increased in order to meet the
   government’s expenditure on interventions to ensure payment of dues to
   sugarcane farmers.
3. The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Act, 2015, which
   was introduced Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, provides for the imposition
   of a cess as an excise duty on the production of sugar.
4. The bill, which was declared a money bill, became a law after the
   President’s approval as it was not returned by the Upper House to the Lok
   Sabha within 14 days of its consideration there, as required under the
   rules.

5.
Kerala becomes the first state to achieve 100% primary
education

1. Kerala has become the first state in India to have achieved 100%
   primary education.
2. This declaration was made by the Vice-President of India, Mr. Hamid
   Ansari at a special ceremony organised at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
3. The primary education equivalency drive of the state literacy
   mission, Athulyam is the reason behind this achievement.
4. The second stage of the scheme called Mission 676, targeted
   people between the age of 15 and 50 who had dropped out of the formal
   education process. Those people were inducted back into the formal
   education system as a part of the scheme.
5. Kannur in Kerala is the first district in the country to
   achieve total primary education in the year 2001.

6.
Jagruti Pandya elected as chairperson for Gujarat State
Commission for Protection of Child Rights

1. Jagruti Pandya has been elected as the chairperson of the Gujarat
   State Commission for Protection of Child Rights by the Gujarat
   Government.
2. Jagruti Pandya, the widow of former Minister of State Haren Pandya
   has been elected for the post for a three year term.
3. Jagruti Pandyahas previously contested
   the 2012 assembly elections from Ellis Bridge on a ticket of the Gujarat
   Parivartan Party.
4. The Gujarat State Commission was constituted in September 2012 and
   Bharatiben Virsangbhai Tadvi, a member of the Commission held temporary
   charge as chief.

7.
Veteran stage actor Brian Bedford passes away

1. Veteran stage actor Brian Bedford passed away in Santa Barbara,
   California at the age of 80 due to Cancer.
2. Bedford, the recipient of the Tony Award on his first of seven
   nominations was well known for his talent for acting and his art of
   directing Shakespeare.
3. Bedford is an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in
   London and is best known for his voice over of Robin Hood in the 1973
   Disney film ‘Robin Hood’.
4. He starred in plays like Tartuffe, The Molière Comedies and The
   School for Wives and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame
   in 1997.

8.
David Beckham receives Danny Kaye Humanitarian
Leadership Award

1. David Beckham received the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award
   at the sixth biennial UNICEF Ball in Los Angeles.
2. Beckham was honoured with the award for his tireless work to save
   and improve the lives of children around the world.
3. Beckham who has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2005
   received the honour from Sir Elton John and David Furnish.
4. Beckham in 2015 started ‘7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund’,
   making a personal commitment to use his voice, influence and connections
   to raise vital funds and rally for lasting change for children.
5. The Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award is named after Danny
   Kaye who is the first ever celebrity representative for UNICEF. Kaye was
   UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador from 1954 until his death in 1987.

9.
Jharkhand to set up fast track courts for trial of witchcraft-related
attacks

1. Jharkhand Government is going to set up fast track courts in 5
   districts of the state for speedy trial of witchcraft-related attacks.
   This decision was made by a cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister
   Raghubar Das.
2. According to official reports, the courts will be set up in the
   districts of Ranchi, Chaibasa, Khunti, Palamau and Simdega.
3. Since Jharkhand’s formation in November 2000, the state has
   witnessed more than 700 killing of women for being engaged in witchcraft.
4. The Jharkhand government enacted an anti-witchcraft law in 2001 and
   set up a special investigation team to look into these killings. However,
   according to social workers in the state, the law is weak and inadequate.

10. Mumbai
Port Trust commissions its 2nd Liquid Chemical Berth

1. Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated Mumbai Port
   Trust’s second liquid chemical berth at Pir Pau in Mumbai.
2. With the commissioning of this berth, the cargo handling capacity
   of the Mumbai Port will increase by 2.5 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) per
   annum.
3. The state of art facility has been built with an investment of Rs.
   127 crore and is designed to handle 55000 DWT (deadweight tonnes) vessels
   carrying liquid bulk chemicals and POL products, which can be upgraded to
   65000 DWT in future.
4. The safety standards at this facility are conforming to the Oil
   Industry Safety Directorate and full commissioning of the berth will
   result in substantial reduction of cost for importers with faster
   turnaround of ships carrying big parcel size.

11.
SIDBI Venture Capital sets up Rs. 400 crore specific fund for Maharashtra and West
Bengal

1. In a recent move, a subsidiary of Small Industries Development Bank
   of India (SIDBI) and a wholly owned asset management company, SIDBI
   Venture Capital has set up a specific fund for the states of
   Maharashtra and West Bengal.
2. The fund worth Rs. 400 crore has been set aside to fund start-ups,
   small, micro and medium enterprises.
3. Each state is to have a corpus of Rs. 200 crore, a part of which is
   to be raised by the respective state governments and the rest will be
   raised by SIDBI and other investors.
4. The fund break up for West Bengal is such that Rs. 130 crore has
   been raised from the state government and the rest Rs. 30 crore will be
   raised by SIDBI. Additional to this Rs. 20 crore will be extended by an
   insurance company.
5. In Maharashtra, Rs. 75 crore will be raised by the state government
   while SIDBI will raise Rs. 30 crore. Another Rs. 40 crore will be raised
   by an insurance company.

12.
Indians make up the largest diaspora in the world

1. As per the recently released survey by the United Nations (UN) on
   International Migrant trends, Indian diaspora is the largest in the World.
   According to the numbers, 16 million people from India live outside the
   country until 2015.
2. The survey was conducted by the UN Department of Economic and
   Social Affairs (DESA) and it defines international migrant as a person who
   has been living in a country other than where they were born.
3. In 2015, the percentage of international migrants increased by 41%
   as compared to 2000 and reached 244 million in 2015. India has the largest
   number of people living outside its own country followed by Mexico.
4. Other countries with the largest number of international migrant
   population are Russia, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ukraine.
5. As per the survey two third of the international migrants were
   concentrated in only 20 countries, starting with the US which hosted the
   largest migrants, that is 46.6 million followed by Germany, Russia, Saudi
   Arabia, UK and UAE.

13. Baidu
looks to Invest in Zomato, BookMyShow and other Indian Startups

1. China’s Baidu Inc is in talks to invest in Indian E-commerce start
   ups which comprises of Zomato, BookMyShow and Big Basket.
2. The growth potential of Indian E-commerce market has previously
   attracted investment from global technology giants such as China’s Alibaba
   Group Holding Ltd and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.
3. In India, technology start up market has observed an increase with
   more and more people switching to online shopping. And given the potential
   for growth in this sector it presents enormous opportunities for
   investment.
4. As per the estimates of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, “The
   e-commerce market could grow in terms of the value of goods sold to $220
   billion by 2025 from $11 billion in 2015.”

14.
Kerala’s first metro rail with ‘Made in India’ coaches to be launched
from Kochi

1. India’s eighth metro rail project and Kerala’s first metro rail is
   expected to be launched soon in Kerala’s financial capital, Kochi.
2. In mid January the first set of rail coaches arrived in Kerala and
   a test trial was conducted in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
   and the top officials of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).
3. The Metro rail, which is built at a cost of Rs. 5,181 crore will be
   operational from August/ September 2016 and will cover a distance of 25 km
   between Aluva and Pettah across 22 stations. The initial ridership will be
   around 1.5 lakh.

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