Notes:
Saksham Yadav (28), an international-level powerlifter, has passed away in the trauma centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on January 7, 2018. He was admitted in an extremely critical condition. Yadav along with his 5 friends were injured in car accident due to fog conditions near the Singhu Border in outer Delhi’s Alipur area. Four other power-lifters – Tikamchand, Saurabh, Yogesh and Harish Roy – died on the spot. Rohit, the lone survivor of the accident, is admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital. Yadav had recently won a gold medal in the 2017 World Championship for Power Lifters in Moscow.

Notes:
According to Union Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, the Defence Innovation Centre (DIC) will be set up in Coimbatore to assist small industries in manufacturing components for the defence sector. The Defence Ministry will release Rs 20 crore as an initial funding to the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) to set up the innovation centre. The small and micro units as well as startups that can manufacture components required for the defence production would be identified by the CODISSIA. The Association can design or test their products at the centre.

Notes:
Actor Sterling K Brown has created history by becoming the first African-American to win Golden Globe for best actor in a drama television series for his role as Randall Pearson on NBC’s breakout hit “This Is Us”. He won the award at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards (AGGA-2018) at Beverly Hills in California on January 8, 2018. Elizabeth Moss has won the Golden Globe trophy in Best Drama Actress TV category for her performance in “The Handmaids Tale”. Actor Nicole Kidman won the award for the Best Actress in a Limited Series at the event for her work on “Big Little Lies” and took the opportunity to speak out against abuse.

Notes:
Peter Denis Sutherland (71), the former Director General (DG) of World Trade Organization (WTO), has passed away in Dublin, Ireland. Sutherland became the WTO’s first chief in 1995, having previously been head of its precursor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). He also served as Ireland’s youngest Attorney General and then youngest European Union (EU) commissioner during the 1980s.

Notes:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been bestowed with the 1st Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Probity in Politics and Public Life Award for his works and contributions in bringing probity in public life as well as his crusade against corruption in Bihar. The award was presented to the Bihar Chief Minister by the Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra at Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Commemoration day function held in Jammu on January 8, 2018. 

Notes:
Prof Baldev Raj (71), the director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on January 6, 2018, while attending a conference. A recipient of the Padma Shri award, he took over as director of NIAS Bengaluru in 2014 and presided over the expansion of the institute in terms of faculty strength and research grants. He had also served as director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam. He was a major contributor to the advancement of technologies like the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). He contributed to the fields of nuclear materials and mechanics, non-destructive evaluation, nanoscience and technology as well as robotics and automation during the course of his career. He was also an author of around 1,000 academic papers in peer reviewed journals and more than 70 books. Prof Raj won more than 100 awards and assignments in more than 30 countries.

Notes:
The Indian Navy has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) for utilizing the Port’s berthing facility at Mattancherry wharf for Naval ships. As per the MoU, Cochin Port’s Q2 and Q3 berths at Mattacherry wharf, totaling 228 metre quay length, would be handed over to the Indian Navy for five years for berthing their ships. The lease, at an approximate cost of Rs10 crore a year, would not only enhance the growing partnership between the Navy and CPT, but will also provide the Navy with larger berthing space, thereby enabling the presence of naval ships in Kochi, both at naval as well as commercial jetties.

Notes:
Switzerland has won the 30th edition of the Hopman Cup tournament 2018 at the Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. It is their 3rd third Hopman Cup title as Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-3 (3), 4-2 in the deciding mixed doubles, to secure a 2-1 victory in Perth. It was Federer’s second Hopman Cup triumph after victory in 2001 alongside Martina Hingis.

Notes:
Elina Svitolina, a Ukrainian professional tennis player, has won the 2018 women’s singles Brisbane International tournament in Brisbane, Australia on January 6, 2018. She beat Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1 in the final to win her 10th title on the women’s elite tour.

Notes:
The Indravati Dam is a gravity dam on the Indravati River, about 90 km from Bhawanipatna in the state of Odisha. It is connected to the main Indravati reservoir via 4.32 km long and 7 m dia head race tunnel designed for a discharge capacity of 210 cumecs and terminating in a surge shaft. It is one of the largest Dam in India as well as Asia. Currently, it is the largest power producing dam in eastern India with a capacity of 600 MW.