28 JANUARY 2014

Ø  Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution on Monday calling for an international probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the country’s ethnic conflict. The resolution was proposed by NPC member M.K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial elections.

Ø  The Odisha illegal mining scam amounts to Rs. 59,203 crore and illegal iron and manganese ore, amounting to 22.80 crore tonnes, was extracted illegally from the State for almost a decade, the M.B. Shah Commission report has said.

Ø  The United Nations’ highest court was ruling on Monday on a dispute between Peru and Chile that centres on thousands of square km of ocean and lucrative fishing grounds but has turned into an issue of national pride for the Latin American neighbours. The International Court of Justice decision was expected to establish which country owns some 38,000 sq. km of ocean in a zone extending to the limit of each country’s territorial waters. Peru is seeking recognition of a maritime border perpendicular to the coast. Chile insists the border is on a line horizontal to the earth’s axis. The disputed zone includes one of the world’s richest fishing grounds, with an annual catch of US$200 million estimated by Peru’s fishing industry. But, for many, the case launched in 2008 by Peru is a matter of national pride. Chile seized its three northernmost provinces during the 1879-93 War of the Pacific from Peru and Bolivia, which lost its only coast in the conflict.

Ø  The National Innovation Council (NInC) and the Ministry of MSME, on Monday, announced the creation of India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF), a fund that seeks to help small entrepreneurs and innovators turn their ideas into reality. the fund will be registered under SEBI’s Alternative Investment Fund Category I guidelines. It will have an initial corpus of Rs. 500 crore, with the Ministry of MSME committing to Rs. 100 crore. The balance will come from banks, insurance companies, and overseas financial and development institutions. The fund’s eventual aim is to expand the corpus to Rs. 5,000 crore over the next 24 months.

Ø  GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS 2014:

o   Best Motion Picture (DRAMA) : 12 YEARS A SLAVE

o   Best Motion Picture (MUSIC & COMEDY) : AMERICAN HUSTLE

o   Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey

o   Best Actress: Cate Blanchett

Ø  The 56th Annual Grammy Awards were held on January 26, 2014, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

o   Record of the Year: "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams

o   Album of the Year Random Access Memories – Daft Punk

o   Song of the Year "Royals"