15 January 2012

• National Army Day : Jan 15
• Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgrades 9 out of 17 Eurozone countries
• Liv Signe Navarsete : Norwegian Minister of Local Government & Regional Development
• "India has a robust & independent election system"
• Central Supervisory Board under Pre-Conception & Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act
• Approved to ban the portable ultrasound sonography machines to prevent misuse fro sex determination, particularly in rural areas where sex ratio is dipped
• Election Commission bans political speeches/ campaigns on Republic Day in 5 poll-bound states
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) asked service providers to shift to hybrid power to run Telecom Towers in order to reduce carbon footprint of the telecom sector
• Telecom sector is the second-largest consumer of diesel in the country
• India-China to hold border talks
• PK Chaudhury : Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion
• Farmers' Representatives oppose FDI in multi-brand retail sector
• Maulana Khawaja Altaf Husain : Urdu poet & social reformer
• His 175th birth anniversary observed
• 251th anniversary of Third Battle of Panipat commemorated
• AK Jain : Finance member of Prasar Bharati
• The board asked to remove him alleging misconduct in financial accounts & tax obligations
• Ma Ying-jeou : President of Taiwan; Re-elected for the second term
• Jasmine Revolution of Tunisia marks one-year anniversary
• It ousted former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from his long term dictatorship
• Hamadi Jebali : PM of Tunisia
• Moncef Marzouki : President of Tunisia
• Wen Jiabao : Chinese Premier visit Nepal
• $135m aid to boost Nepal's Infrastructure & Security
• One-time special grant of $20m as well as assistance of 200m RMB(Renminbi) under a 750m RMB 3-year grant
• Also agreed to provide both economic & technical support to strengthen Nepal's police forces
• Costa Concordia : Italian Cruise Liner wrecked off coast of Italy
• 3 dead
• Rescue scenes was just like the Titanic disaster, says paasengers
• S&P downgrades France from AAA to AA+
• Nicolas Sarkozy : French President
• Blow to him as Presidential elections are coming
• GAIL Gas Ltd : wholly owned subsidiary of GAIL (India)
• Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Company Ltd (APGDC)
• GAIL Gas & APGDC joint-venture to develop Rs.5000Cr, 3.5-5 million tonnes per annum LNG (liquefied natural gas) Terminal/FSRU (floating storage & re-gasification unit) along the Andhra sea coast by 2013-14
• GAIL Gas & Andhra Pradesh Govt signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
• PM Manmohan Singh to meet major power sector leaders to discuss
• rising concerns about continued shortage of coal & gas that has hampered power production
• cut in customs duty on imported coal that has badly impacted the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs)
• Ratan Tata : Chairman of Tata Power
• Cyrus Mistry : Deputy-Chairman of Tata Power
• Anil Ambani : Chairman of Reliance Power
• Sajjan Jindal : Chairman of JSW Energy
• Andrew Brandler : Global CEO of CLP group Hong Kong
• L Madhusudan Rao : Chairman of Lanco Infratech
• Gautam Adani : Chairman of Adani Power
• GM Rao : Chairman of GMR Energy
• Naveen Jindal : Chairman of Jindal Power
• Anil Agarwal : Chairman of Sterlite Energy
• Prashant Ruia : Chairman of Essar Power
• Sudhir Mehta : Chairman of Torrent Power
• BK Chaturvedi Committee : To suggest measures to increase coal production and increase its availability to meet the growing needs of power sector
• Montek Singh Ahluwalia : Deputy-Chairman of Planning Commission
• GMR Energy commissioned its first 25MW solar power plant in Patan district, Gujarat
• ATP Heineken Open : @ Auckland (Auckland ATP Title)
• David Ferrer (Spain) bt Olivier Rochus (Belgium)
• WTA Moorilla International : @ Hobart
• Mona Barthel (Germany) bt Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium)
• Kooyong Classic : @ Melbourne
• Bernard Tomic (Australia) bt Mardy Fish (US)
• 17th National Youth Festival : held @ Mangalore
• Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) calling for re-examining existing Mini Ratna status of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)
• Under performing Public Sector Units (PSUs) such as BSNL, HMT, Hindustan Paper & Hindustan Newsprint may lose their Mini Ratna status
• Ashok Gehlot : CM of Rajasthan
• Offers medical aid to ailing Gazal Singer Mehdi Hassan
• Now voters can cast their votes online in municipal elections no matter where in the globe they are
• Pilot project in Gandhinagar, Gujarat proved successful
• Krishna Chandra Deo : Panchayati Raj Minister