anthem of Bharat Ke Veer, an initiative with a corpus to help the families of paramilitary troopers killed in the line of duty.

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2 Bharat Ke Veer anthem unveiled *D12.93 crore raised for kin of paramilitary personnel killed in the line of duty *Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched here on Saturday the official anthem of Bharat Ke Veer, an initiative with a corpus to help the families of paramilitary troopers killed in the line of duty. *The anthem, sung and composed by Kailash Kher *The event was attended by the heads of all Central Armed Police Forces. *Mr. Akshay Kumar, who is the brand ambassador of the initiative, said, With my folded hands, I ask everybody here plus all our countrymen to help this initiative.

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5 *. Nature smoulders Firefighters struggling to extinguish a fire that broke out in the polluted Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru on Saturday. For hours, troops from the Army battled the blaze that caused panic among people in the city.

6 17 dead in Bawana cracker factory fire *A major fire broke out in a cracker factory in Rohini s Bawana area on Saturday evening leaving 17 people dead and one injured. *Sources said that over 50 people were working in the factory at the time of the incident. *The police are probing whether the factory was running legally, if it had fire clearance and other documents.

7 Theatres in 2 States may not screen Padmaavat *The Supreme Court may have lifted the ban on the release of the Bollywood movie Padmaavat, but it is unlikely to be screened in the BJP-ruled States of Gujarat and Rajasthan. *While the owners of theatres and multiplexes in Gujarat have decided against exhibiting the movie following threats of disruption from outfits such as the Rajput Karni Sena, the Rajasthan government has decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its stay on the ban against its release. *Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria met leaders of the Rajput Karni Sena at the State Secretariat on Saturday. He said he had told Rajput activists that they could also move the Supreme Court for being impleaded as parties in the case to ensure that the litigation proceeds on the right track.

8 *CJI Bench to hear Loya PILs Earlier Bench had recused itself *A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, will, on January 22, hear two public interest litigation (PIL) petitions for an independent probe into the death of CBI judge B.H. Loya. *Justice Loya, at the time of his death in Nagpur in December 2014, was hearing the politically sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh police encounter case. *The allocation of the PILs to Justice Mishra s Bench had been the flashpoint for an unprecedented press conference held on January 12 by the apex court s four senior most judges Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

9 Sweet start to Union Budget processes *Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday performed the traditional Halwa ceremony to mark the launch of the formal printing of documents relating to the Union Budget *The Finance Minister is scheduled to present the last full Budget of the current NDA government on February 1. *Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla and other Ministers also participated in the ceremony at North Block. *After the Halwa is prepared in a large kadhai (wok) and served to the staff, officials and support staff directly associated with the Budget making and printing process, are required to stay in the Ministry and remain cut off from their families.

10 Poland wants sanctions against Russia to go on *Minister says New Delhi should be careful with Moscow *Russia s annexation of Crimea has violated international law and India should be cautious about Moscow s intentions in South Asia, says Marek Magierowski, Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland. *The Minister told The Hindu that Russia had jeopardised the security of Eastern Europe by stationing nuclear-tipped missiles, and hence, sanctions were necessary to counter this threat. * Since January 1, we have joined the UN Security Council as a nonpermanent member. So we are willing to cooperate with Russia for fruitful discussions. We are not phobic but are pragmatic,

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13 U.S. govt. shuts after impasse *The U.S government shut down on Saturday as disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on immigration and border security stalled the passage of a funding Bill in the Senate, even as President Donald Trump completed his first year in office. *Leaders are trying to resolve the crisis over the weekend, but accusations flew thick and fast. *The Bill needed 60 votes to pass but could get only 50 in the 100- member senate in which the Republicans enjoy a narrow majority. They have 51 members to the Democrats 49.

14 Microwaves may be as harmful for environment as cars: study *Microwave ovens across Europe alone emit as much carbon dioxide as nearly seven million cars, a study has found. Sales: 135 million by 2020 *Researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK have carried out the first-ever comprehensive study of the environmental impacts of microwaves, considering their whole life cycle, from 'cradle to grave'. *The study found that microwaves emit 7.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in the European Union (EU). *This is equivalent to the annual electricity generated by three large gas power plants.

15 Supermoon is here again! *For those who missed the full moon treat, this is your chance to witness the rare celestial treat - on January 31, marking the last in a trilogy of supermoons. *The first happened on December 3, A supermoon is a full moon at its closest point to the Earth on its orbit known as perigee. *The January 31 full moon is special for three reasons: 1) It s the third in a series of supermoons 2) About 14% brighter than usual While the moon is in the earth s shadow it will take on a reddish tint, known as a blood moon 3) It s the second full moon of the month, commonly known as a blue moon, which happens every two and a half years, on an average

16 World's fifth largest diamond discovered in Lesotho *The company unearthed the D-colour stone at the Lesotho mine in the landlocked southern African country and described the 910-carat find as of "exceptional quality". *Ben Davis, a mining analyst at Liberum Capital, speculated in a research note to investors that the diamond could be worth as much as USD 40 million (33 million euros).

17 Secure protocol *A Chinese-Austrian collaboration has demonstrated that quantum key distribution, which exploits quantum mechanics to provide a secure communication protocol, can be used to pass a signal from China to Austria via a satellite. *The protected video conference lasted 75 minutes.

18 Soil bacteria *A survey of soils from six continents showed that only 2% of all the bacterial taxa account for nearly one-half of the soil bacteria from around the world. These taxa could be co-occurring and share habitat preferences. The study, published in Science, will allow predictions to be made about their diversity and distribution.

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20 1. Which one among the following is the largest temperate dessert of the world? A. Patagonian B. Taklamakan C. Iranian D. Turkmen 2. Tsunami of 2004 was the result of A. Subduction of Indian plate below Eurasian plate B. Subduction of Indian plate below Burmese plate C. Subduction of Eurasian plate below Indian plate D. Subduction of Burmese plate below Indian plate

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