The World Bank has decelerated India's growth for 2016-17 fiscal to 7% from its previous estimate of 7.6%.

According to the report, India maintains the distinction of being the fastest growing emerging market economies of the world, bypassing China.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim stated that global economic growth is forecast to accelerate moderately to 2.7% in 2017 after a post-crisis low of 2.3% in 2016.

The Government of India has increased the minimum monthly pension to 9,000 per person, besides a two-fold hike in exgratia amount for central government employees.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in the country has declared Rs. 54.90 crore worth of prize money to over 3.42 lakh winners of NITI Aayog‟s Lucky Draw Schemes for consumers and merchants.

The two schemes are - Lucky Grahak Yojna (LGY) and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojna (DVY). They were launched on December 25, 2016 and will remain open till April 14, 2017.

Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, has decided to lower broker fees by 25 per cent to 15 rupees per transaction of one crore rupees as part of calibration of various other fees collected by the regulator from different market intermediaries.

The Central Industrial Security Force has announced Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia payment to the family of each of the four personnel gunned down by its jawan Balbir Singh in Aurangabad district of Bihar after a tiff.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning to ease entry barriers for domestic institutional investors like insurers and pension funds to encourage robust inflows into the REITs and InvITs markets.

InvIT: An infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) is like a mutual fund that enables direct investment of small amounts from individual/institutional investors into infrastructure to earn a small portion of the income as return. InvITs notified by Sebi in September 2014 work like mutual funds or real estate investment trusts and can be treated as the modified version of Reits designed to suit the specific circumstances of the infrastructure sector.

REIT: A REIT or real estate investment trust is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate assets. Modelled after mutual funds REITs provide investors regular income streams diversification and long-term capital appreciation. Sebi notified REIT in November 2014.

Income-tax Rules have been amended to provide that bank shall obtain and link PAN or Form No. 60 in all existing bank accounts (other than BSBDA) by 28.02.2017, if not

already done.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), the biggest component of the overall reserves, increased by $241.8 million to $336.824 billion in the reporting week.

The overall forex reserves had touched a life-time high of $371.99 billion in the week to September 30, 2016.

Foreign Exchange Reserves: Reserve assets held by a central bank in foreign currencies used to back liabilities on their own issued currency as well as to influence monetary policy.

Foreign Currency Assets: Foreign Currency Assets (FCA) are maintained in major currencies like US dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling, Japanese Yen etc. The foreign exchange reserves are denominated and expressed in US dollar only.

SDRs: The SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. As of March 2016 204.1 billion SDRs (equivalent to about $285 billion) had been created and allocated to members. SDRs can be exchanged for freely usable currencies. The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five major currencies—the U.S. dollar, euro, the Chinese renminbi (RMB), the Japanese yen, pound sterling—as of October 1 2016.

Sebi has amended FPI regulations to allow category I and category II FPIs to have an option to directly access the corporate bond market without brokers, as has been allowed to domestic institutions such as banks, insurance companies and pension funds with an aim to deepen the capital market.

FPI: Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets passively held by foreign investors. It does not provide the investor with direct ownership of financial assets and is relatively liquid depending on the volatility of the market.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to provide rupees one billion in Rs 100 denomination notes to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to ease the acute shortage of Rs. 100 notes faced by the Himalayan nation Nepal.

SBI

SBI Pension Funds Pvt Ltd (SBIPFPL), a subsidiary of SBI, has appointed Kumar Sharadindu as the MD & CEO of the company.

The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on has announced its decision to completely waive the Merchant Discount Rates (MDR) charges on debit card transactions for all the small merchants having annual turnover of up to Rs. 20 lakh, for a period of one year i.e. up to December 31, 2017.

MDR: The rate charged to a merchant by a bank for providing debit and credit card services.

The rate is determined based on factors such as volume average ticket price risk and industry. The merchant must set up this service with a bank and agree to the rate prior to accepting debit and credit cards as payment.

Airtel Payments Bank

Airtel Payments Bank the first payments bank started its nationwide operations on January 12, 2017 with an initial investment of Rs 3,000 crore and offering an interest rate of 7.25 per cent for savings accounts.

This is the first payments bank which will be opened across 29 states in India to provide financial services to the millions who are outside the banking system.

Mahindra Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd (MAMCPL) launched an open-ended scheme Mahindra Mutual Fund Dhan Sanchay Yojna scheme to generate long-term returns through investment in equity and debt.

Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made Aadhaar mandatory for its about 50 lakh pensioners and around four crore subscribers.

The central government contributes 1.16 per cent of the basic wages as subsidy to every members Employees‟ Pension Scheme Account in addition to 8.33% deposited by their employers every month

Power Minister Piyush Goyal unveiled world's largest street light replacement programme in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) area.

He also launched a mobile app called Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) Complaint App for SDMC, wherein users can now lodge complaints about faulty street lights.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 'The Nobel Prize' exhibition at Science City in Gandhinagar.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu released the new passenger mobile application named „IRCTC Rail Connect app‟.

Health Minister J P Nadda to launch Measles-rubella vaccine to roll out in Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu between February 3 and 4, 2017 and the pneumonia vaccine will be introduced in Himachal Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from March 17.

The government will add by next month 40 more cities to the list of towns it wants to develop as Smart Cities by providing funds for initiating urban reforms.

The addition of 40 new cities will take the total Smart Cities to 100.

Vedanta Foundation and Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore, in collaboration with the Karnataka Directorate of Education, have launched a pilot project to promote digital education in schools across the State.

NITI Aayog has projected the India GDP growth rate of 8 Percent for 2016-17 based on the appraisal document for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.

The CBEC has asked assessees to migrate to the new tax payment portal by January 31.

The tax department has also made it mandatory for central excise duty and service taxpayers to obtain a valid PAN number before they can be migrated to the GST set-up.

Budget carrier IndiGo in association with Delhi Police has launched 'Akhiri Ahuti', a social service under which the Gurgaon-based airline would ferry (to transport people or goods in a vehicle, especially regularly and often) free of cost the bodies of northeast residents who die in Delhi to their homes.

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India in collaboration with National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), ICA and MediaTek, Taiwan conducted a 45-day Practical Hands-on for Mobile Handset Design Engineers at International Trade Institute, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

The Air India (AI) has launched a "Fly For Sure" scheme.

Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated a month-long awareness drive on fuel conservation "Saksham 2017" in New Delhi.

Saksham is aimed to educate on various steps for fuel conservation through activities like Quiz Show, Saksham Asian Cycling Championship, Walkathons, concerts and other activities across the country.

Norway has become the first country to cease FM radio broadcasting.

United States has announced the end of a 20-year economic embargo on Sudan, lifting trade and financial sanctions in an effort to foster ties with the Sudanese government.

Ecuador has taken over from Thailand as chair of the Group of 77 which promotes the interests of the 134 developing countries it represents at the United Nations, including China.

Fitness tech company Boltt has unveiled smart wearables powered by artificial intelligence (AI) at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES 2017) in Los Angeles. The products launched were connected shoes, stride sensor, fitness trackers and a virtual health assistant named "B".

China is setting up the world's highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in

Tibet, close to Line of Actual Control with India, with a budget of USD 18.8 million to detect faintest echoes (A reflected sound, radio or any other wave) resonating (the production of a sound/waves as a result of vibration of another object) from universe which may reveal more about the Big Bang theory.

Mauritius provided the maximum inward foreign direct investment, accounting for 20.8 per cent of FDI in India, followed by the US, Britain, Singapore and Japan till the end of the last fiscal, the RBI has said.

Andhra Pradesh

In AP, first Digi Dhan Mela will be hosted at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium, Vijayawada across the country to promote cashless transactions.

Three-day National Conference for e-Governance 2016-17 (20th Edition) has begun in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

The conference has been organized by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India in partnership with Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITE&C) Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

The theme of this year‟s conference is „Internet of Things and e-Governance‟.

Gujarat

Gujarat government has come up with India's first student startup and innovation policy, which aims to provide Rs 200 crore in the form of grants to ideas developed by them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 8th edition of four-day 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2017' at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

In line with Government of India's policy of implementing the vision for coastal shipping, tourism and regional development, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has introduced Car carrier service between Gujarat and Mangaluru.

India's first international exchange -India INX has been inaugurated as part of a series of events kicked off on eve of the 8th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017 at International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar.

India International Exchange (INX): India International Exchange (INX) the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will start trading initially in equity derivatives currency derivatives commodities derivatives.

Derivatives: A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from the value of one or more underlying which can be commodities precious metals currency, bonds, indices etc. Four most common examples of derivative instruments are Forwards, Futures Options and Swaps

Patna

The world‟s first „Gender Literature Festival‟ is scheduled to be held in Patna, Bihar in the second week of April 2017.

This festival will be organized by Gender Resource Centre of Bihar‟s Women Development Corporation.

The festival will also act as a platform to increase visibility for gender equity and advocacy in the State of Bihar.

Bhopal

The 11th annual Blind Challenge Car Rally was organised in Bhopal, to raise awareness about the issues concerning the visually-impaired.

Maharashtra

The state of Maharashtra now has 12 new coastal tourist locations, identified through a project funded by United Nations and the Centre.

These new tourists sites have been identified along the 121 km coast of Sindhudurg, as part of the efforts to reduce excessive tourist traffic in the region.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched India‟s largest public WiFi service called 'MumbaiWifi'.

BJP Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar has been appointed as Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) president.

Tanzanian athlete Alphonce Felix Simbu (24) and Kenyan runner Bornes Kitur Chepkirui (31), flew past all competition to bag the top spots in the men's and women's category respectively in the full marathon at the 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) in Mumbai on 15th January 2017.

The Maharashtra government has come up with an amendment in Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, following which non-agriculture certification will no longer be required for a land for which development plan is finalized.

Haryana

In Haryana, the State level Prarambh School for Teachers Education would be set up at village Silani in district Jhajjar over an area of 10 acres.

Rajasthan

The two-day annual camel festival has began with much fanfare in the presence of foreigners and domestic tourists at Karni Singh Stadium in Bikaner, Rajasthan.

Uttar Pradesh

The month-long Magh Mela festival began on 12 January 2017 at Sangam in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Telangana

The second international kite festival coinciding with the 'Makar Sankranti' fest would be held for six days from January 12, 2017 in Hyderabad and two other districts in Telangana.

Anjani Portland Cement has commissioned a 16-mega watt (MW) coal-based captive power plant at its cement unit in Telangana.

Arunachal Pradesh

With a view to promoting the dairy sector and rural livelihoods in Arunachal Pradesh, the border state has signed a MoU with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017.

Tamil Nadu

Helped by HDFC Bank, five temples in Kanyakumari district in southern Tamil Nadu have introduced digital wallets and PoS to enable their devotees to pay donations.

In Tamil Nadu, Pongal the harvest festival is being celebrated with traditional gaiety and grandeur on 14 or 15 January of each year.

Madhya Pradesh

Digital Dakiya, which aims at encouraging cashless transactions inaugurated at Indore district of Madhya Pradesh.

A week-long happiness Festival “Anand Utsav” has begun across the Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to set up Happiness Department.

The state government is also setting up “Anandam Kendra” at district headquarters of the state.

New Delhi

India is all set to get its first wax museum in June 2017 unveils Wax Figures of Amitabh Bachchan, Lady Gaga.

Fourth International Kite Festival begins in New Delhi.

Kerala

The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the first solar-powered boat of the state water transport department, Aditya on January 12, 2017 at a function held in Vaikom boat Jetty in Kerala.

India and Kenya have signed agreements in the area of agriculture which was inked after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in New Delhi.

India is collaborating with Kenya to raise agricultural productivity and the Loan of Credit Agreement of 100 million dollars signed for farm mechanization will open a new dimension of engagement between the two countries.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French Space agency (CNES) has signed a partnership agreement in satellite launch technology.

Ayrault, accompanied by the French delegation, was given a guided tour of ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network) by the ISRO chairman,.

ISTRAC: ISTRAC monitors Indian space missions, including the two Indo-French satellites currently in orbit for collecting data to track climate change.

The United States has called for a partnership between India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on counter-terrorism operations.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has signed a 1-trillion yen, about 8.7 billion dollars, aid package over the next five years to the Philippines, meant to improve economic and political relations between the two island nations.

XCMG, a China-headquartered global construction machinery company, will invest Rs. 150 million in a new manufacturing unit in India for construction and material-handling machines.

The total India-China bilateral trade in 2016 amounted to USD 70.8 billion, a decline of 2.1 per cent as per the trade figures released by General Administration of Customs (GAC).

India and Sri Lanka has signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) to construct 3000 rain water harvesting systems at a cost of 30 crore Sri Lankan Rupees in northern Jaffna District.

Flipkart has elevated former Tiger Global Management executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy as its new chief executive, replacing co-founder Binny Bansal, who

has been named as the group chief executive of India‟s largest online marketplace.

Vikram Pawah has been appointed as the president of BMW Group India, effective from March 1, 2017.

Tata Consultancy Services has appointed Rajesh Gopinathan, the current chief financial officer, as CEO of the company.

TCS has also named N Ganapathy Subramaniam, currently President of TCS Financial Solutions, as chief operating officer.

Rajeev Singh, Member (Finance) in Prasar Bharati Board, will take charge as interim CEO of the public broadcaster.

Tata Consultancy Services CEO Nataraja Chandrasekaran has been named the new Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $103 billion Tata Group.

Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tewari was appointed as the senior fellow of US-based think tank Atlantic Council.

Daniel Ortega (71-year) has sworn in for a third consecutive term as President and his wife Rosario Murillo as the new Vice President in Nicaragua.

Capital: Managua Currency: Nicaraguan córdoba

David Rudisha, Olympic and world 800m champion and world record holder is the International Event Ambassador for the 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon held on January 15, 2017.

Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut won the men‟s singles title of the Chennai Open 2017.

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has been named as the Coach of the Year at the FIFA Football Awards in Zurich.

An eight-year old boy from Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri Abbu Ammaz has won gold medal in Thai Boxing Championship at the national level.

Russian rhythmic gymnast Yana Kudryavtseva has retired from competition aged just 19, Kudryavtseva won 13 world championships from 2013 to 2015, making her the early favorite for the all-around gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

West Indies turned to former batsman Jimmy Adams into their new director of cricket Association.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has decided that the

World Cup will be expanded to host 48 teams, up from 32.

The Indian hockey team captain PR Sreejesh has became a member of International Hockey Federation Athletes' Committee.

The Committee comprises a total of eight current and former hockey players who have the responsibility to act as a liaison between the FIH and the athletes to make sure the players have voice in the FIH decision-making process.

Consulate General of India in Dubai has announced launch of the 'Diplomats Cricket Championship Cup' in association with the Skyline University College, Sharjah, to promote sportsmanship, camaraderie, and harmonious relationship among the diplomatic missions of UAE.

Gujarat won their first ever Ranji Trophy title beating Mumbai by five wickets in the final at the Holkar stadium in Indore.

Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were crowned the champions in the doubles category in Chennai Open tennis 2017.

The Chennai Open is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts annually in January at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) India.

It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour.

South Eastern Railway (SER) has defeated Western Railway 2-1 in the final of the 38th All India Railways Women's Hockey Championship held at SAI Centre, Bhopal.

First Grand Slam of the season 105th edition "Australian Open-2017" kicked off in Melbourne, Australia.

The "2017 Australian Open" is a tennis tournament that will take place at Melbourne Park between 16 – 29th January 2017.

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel has inaugurated national level competitions under the "Khelo India" scheme at the S.P. Mukherjee Swimming Pool complex in the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.

Mobile handset brand Gionee has roped in Indian test captain Virat Kohli as the brand ambassador.

Pakistan has fired its first submarine-launched cruise Babur-3 missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to 450 km (280 miles) from an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean, giving the country a "credible" second-strike capability.

China has successfully sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission using an updated version of the low-cost Kuaizhou-1A rocket, amidst the Communist giant's determined bid to expand its ambitious space program.

The rocket, carrying the satellite JL-1 and two CubeSats XY-S1 and Caton-1,

blasted off from northwestern China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu.

Khanderi, the second Scorpene class submarine that has superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling attack with torpedoes as well as tube-launched anti-ship missiles whilst underwater or on the surface, launched at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai.

Khanderi is named after the Island fort of Maratha forces, which played a vital role in ensuring their supremacy at sea in the late 17th century.

Khanderi is also the name for Tiger Shark.

State-run NTPC has signed a non-binding agreement with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd and Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd to take over Chhabra Thermal Power Plant.

The American SpaceX rocket company has resumed flights, launching a Falcon 9 vehicle from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast. It is the first mission by the company since one of its vehicles exploded on the launch pad in September 2016.

The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has participated in “Pride of India-Science Expo-2017” being held from 3-7 January at the Sri Venkateswara University Campus, Tirupati. The five-day event has been organized as part of 104th Indian Science Congress (ISC-2017).

A special plenary session titled “Frontiers of Defense Research” was organized at the venue.

40 DRDO laboratories are participating at the expo to showcase state-of-the-art military systems and technologies at the DRDO Pavilion which narrate the saga of Self-reliance & National Pride with the “Make in India” spirit.

China's overseas investment in renewable energy projects jumped in 2016 by 60% to a record $32 billion, marking its leadership in the global market for clean energy.

Humanoid (having an appearance or character resembling that of a human) robot Jia Jia, created by a team of engineers from the University of Science and Technology of China, is pictured following a presentation at a conference in Shanghai on January 9, 2017.

Jia Jia can hold a simple conversation and make specific facial expressions when asked, and her creator believes the eerily life-like robot heralds a future of cyborg (a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body) labour in China.

Khanderi, the second of Indian Navy‟s Scorpene‟ class stealth submarine, was „launched‟ by the Hon‟ble Raksha Rajya Mantri, Dr Subhash Bhamre paving the way for her sea trials.

The construction of six Scorpene submarines is presently being progressed at Mazagon Dock Shipyard Limited (MDL), under Project 75 with Transfer of Technology from M/s DCNS, France as the Collaborator.

Project 75, Scorpene Submarines are 67 meters long 6.2 meters wide and

have 1,550 tones displacement.

The Pinaka Rocket converted to a Guided Pinaka was successfully test-fired from Launch Complex-III, ITR, Chandipur.

Pinaka is a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) produced in India and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army.

Snapdeal-owned wallet services firm FreeCharge has said that it was partnering with Indus OS -- a forked Android operating system -- to directly reach nearly 8 million smartphones.

The 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony was organized at Beverly Hills, California, United States (US).

La La Land, a romantic musical comedy-drama film won in all the seven categories including the top award of best musical or comedy.

Veteran actress Meryl Streep was bestowed with the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Damien Chazelle-directed film won the top honours and created Golden Globe history with seven wins as follows:

The Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical).

The film's leading actor Ryan Gosling won the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) for his act as a jazz pianist.

Damien Chazelle too bagged the Best Director and Best Screenplay Award for the love story.

The film also won in the Original Score Department with the award going to Justin Hurwitz.

The film's song 'City Of Stars' won the award for Original Song.

'Moonlight' won in the category of Best Motion Picture (Drama). Casey Affleck won the Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama) for

'Manchester By The Sea'. Isabelle Huppert won the award for the Best Actress in a Motion Picture

(Drama) for her performance in 'Elle'. 'Zootopia' was announced as the Best Animated Film The French film 'Elle' won the Best Foreign Language Film Award.

Amitabh Bachchan was given an award by the US Embassy in appreciation for his invaluable contributions to the US-India partnership on tuberculosis.

Actress Tisca Chopra named as Best Actress for Chutney at the Jio Filmfare Short Film Awards.

Shatrughan Sinha was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 62nd Jio

Filmfare Awards 2017.

At the glittering iconic 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards, "Dangal" swept away three of four major awards Best Film, Aamir Khan won Best Actor and Nitesh Tiwari won Best Director award while Alia Bhatt won the Filmfare Best Actor Award (Female) for her performance in "Udta Punjab".

The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF)‟s Infosys Prize 2016 was given away in six fields at an awards ceremony in Bengaluru.

The Prize was given across the fields of Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

President Xi Jinping presented the Preeminent Science and Technology Award to Tu Youyou, co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and Zhao Zhongxian, a physicist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who has spent four 2.

Tu, is the first woman to ever receive the national award and China's first Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine. She is best known for discovering artemisinin as a treatment for malaria.

Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as the world's best player at the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards in Zurich.

Carli Lloyd of the United States was named the world's best female player.

India U-13 squash player Shreyas Mehta has won the Scottish Junior Open title.

Outgoing US President Barack Obama has awarded Vice President Joe Biden "Presidential Medal of Freedom" at a ceremony in his honor at the White House.

Former wrestler and Coach Mahavir Singh Phogat made his way to the launch of his authorized biography 'Akhada' in Chandigarh.

The Hindi Day is celebrated on 10 January by people internationally every year.

Department of Youth Affairs of Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, organizes every year the National Youth Festival on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the greatest Youth Icon from 12th to 16th January in Rohtak, Haryana.

This year the theme of the Festival is „Youth for Digital India‟. The Mascot of the festival is „Lado‟.

12th January of every year is observed as National Youth Day, the birthday of Swami

Vivekananda a grateful nation is celebrating Swamiji's hundred fifty-fourth birth anniversary with much fanfare

69th Army Day is being observed on 15th January 2017.

The day marks the taking over of the Indian Army by the first Indian Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal KM Cariappa, on January 15, 1948.

He became the first Commander-in-Chief of the independent India.

This day inspires the troops to continue to enrich the glorious traditions of the Indian Army with their dedication and sacrifice.

India is currently celebrating the 28th Road Safety Week from January 9-15, with the objective of highlighting the issues facing road safety in India and mobilise people to raise awareness about these issues, to make India‟s roads safer.

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (82) died, who served two terms as Iran's president from 1989 to 1997, continued to be an influential figure in Iranian politics.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala, who took over reins of the state in the difficult period when militancy was at its peak in the mid-80s, died in Chandigarh on 14th January 2017 at the age of 91.

The founder of Portugal‟s Socialist Party and the father of Portugal‟s modern-day democracy Mario Soares, who served as president from 1986-96, died in hospital on 7th of January.

Former German President Roman Herzog (82-year) has passed away.

A whole-time Director of MRF Ltd K.M. Philip (104-year) has passed away.