30 January 2013 Current Affairs
Indian-origin woman selected for Order of Australia Medal
Indian-Origin woman,Krishna Arora selected for the “Order of Australia Medal” on 30 January 2013.85-year old Krishna Arora, who has been running a community service was selected for this year’s awards for her contribution to the Indian community.Arora, also popularly known as ‘Auntieji’, runs a hotline tele service offering cooking tips.In November 2012 this award was received by Sachin Tendulkar.
Milos Zeman is the first directly elected President in Czech history
Milos Zeman became Czech Republic’s first directly elected President as per the Czech Republic Presidential election results declared on 25 January 2013. He won 55 percent as compared with 45 percent of Karel Schwarzenberg. Milos Zeman is the former Prime Minister of Czech Republic and head of the Party of Civic Rights-Zemanovci (SPOZ) while Karel Schwarzenberg is foreign minister in the present centre-right coalition government. Zeman succeeds Vaclav Klaus as the President of Czech Republic.
Nagaland Assembly election notified
Notification for election to 60-seat Nagaland assembly was issued on 30 January 2013.Polling is scheduled for February 23 and counting of votes will take place on February 28.The tenure of the present assembly is till March 17.
Pinaka weapon system successfully test fired
Pinaka, the country’s indigenously developed multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) weapon system, was successfully test fired from a defence base at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from in Balasore on 30 January 2013.The unguided rocket system is meant to neutralise bigger geographical area with rapid salvo of rockets. With a range of 40 km, Pinaka can fire salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds. One salvo each (12 rockets) from the battery of six launchers can neutralise at a time a target area of 3.9 sq km.
India Dropped to 140th Rank in the World Press Freedom Index
According to the World Press Freedom Index 2013 India dropped nine places to 140th rank in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index 2013, which is the lowest since 2002. India got this lowly rank because of increasing impunity for violence against journalists and internet censorship. Netherlands, Norway and Finland topped the list. The Press Freedom Index was released by world Press Freedom index for the year 2013. China got 173rd rank. Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were placed at the bottom of the list as has been in the last three years.
NASA Launched TDRS-K Communications Satellite
On 30 January NASA launched a new communication satellite TDRS-K ( Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K ),streaks past the Vehicle Assembly Building and Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida .The United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket carried NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K.The TDRS-K offers up tracking, telemetry and more, in order to improve communications for space exploration. The satellite is entering a three-month test period, before NASA actually puts it into action. Next year, it will be joined by the TDRS-L, followed by the TDRS-M, which is set to be fully built by 2015.