Sania Mirza will end her career with six Grand Slam titles after failing to win the Australian Open mixed doubles trophy with compatriot Rohan Bopanna in Australian Open.

Unseeded Bopanna and Sania lost 6-7(2) 2-6 to Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos in the final at Rod Laver Arena.

Sania had three women's doubles and as many mixed doubles trophies in her cabinet.

The 42-year-old Bopanna has one French Open mixed doubles title to his credit.

Opener Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell struck half-centuries to guide New Zealand to a comfortable 21-run win in the first T20I of the three-match series  in Ranchi on Jan 27.

Conway made a 35-ball 52, while Mitchell smashed a 30-ball unbeaten 59.

Brief Score: New Zealand: 176 for 6 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 59 not out, Devon Conway 52; Washington Sundar 2/22). India: 155 for 9 in 20 overs (S Yadav 47, W Sundar 50; Mitchell Santner 2/11).

Q1. The iconic ‘Mughal Gardens’ in Rashtrapati Bhavan has been renamed as

1. Lal Krishna Advani Udyan
2. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Udyan
3. Shyama Prasad Mukherji Udyan
4. Shyama Prasad Mukherji Udyan
5. None of These

Q2. Name the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Nepal who has resigned on  Jan 27 after the Supreme Court found him guilty of not producing a valid citizenship certificate to contest the parliamentary election ?

1. Madhav Kumar Nepal
2. Rabi Lamichhane
3. KP Sharma Oli
4. Bijay Kumar
5. None of These

Q3. Name the  former Covid aide  who has been named  as new White House chief of staff by  the President Joe Biden on Jan 27 ?

1. Jeff  Zients
2. Bruce Reed
3. Jen O'Malley Dillon
4. Ron Klain
5. None of These

Q4.  According to the petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri India is planning to increase its exploration acreage to 0.5 million sq. km by 2025 and 1.0 million sq. km by

1. 2027
2. 2028
3. 2029
4. 2030
5. None of These

Q5. Name the country which has been pursuing India’s largest port developer and operator, the Adani Group, to build a dry canal in their country ?

1. Armenia
2. Iran
3. Costa Rica
4. Brazil
5. None of These

Answers

1------------------------5    None of These ‘Amrit Udyan’

2-------------------------2  Rabi Lamichhane

3-------------------------1   Jeff  Zients

4--------------------------4   2030

5--------------------------3  Costa Rica

All 396 ad hoc appointments to Uttarakhand Assembly Secretariat made from 2001 to 2021 are unconstitutional and incorrect, an expert committee has found. The Dilip Kotia-led committee has recommended cancellation of 228 such appointments. Another 168 appointments from 2001 to 2015 and their regularization have also been deemed wrong and “unconstitutional”.

The inquiry followed an uproar in the political corridors of the state amid allegations and counter-allegations by Congress and BJP over these appointments The revelation came after a report became public following an appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Asia's and India's richest billionaire- Gautam Adani's fortune fell sharply on  Jan 27 and his ranking in the global rich list came down to the seventh spot on Jan 27.

According to the Forbes Real Times Billionaire Index, Adani's wealth tumbled by over $22.5 billion to $96.8 billion during the day. Adani is now placed below Microsoft founder Bill Gates whose fortune was estimated at $104.1 billion on the rich list.

Adani had scaled to 2nd position in the rich list last year when Group Stock prices witnessed a big rally. He remained at 3rd position for a long time and was recently replaced by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($ 122 billion). Bernard Arnault (Louis Vitton) and family dominate the rich list with a fortune of $216.1 billion followed by Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter) whose net worth was last pegged at $170.1 billion.

Adani's business rival and RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani was at 11th spot in the rich list with a fortune of $83.6 billion.

Gautam Adani’s fall in the wealth list comes after the share prices of Adani Group companies fell up to 20% on Jan 27  as the spat between the Adani Group and US-based activist investor firm Hindenburg Research intensified on Jan 26 .

Hinderburg Research in a report on January 24 accused Adani of stock market manipulation, called the share prices of its seven listed companies 'overvalued', and questioned the role of close family members -- two among many serious allegations.

Adani has called these allegations 'malicious' and said that it is examining legal action against Hindenburg. 

India has signed an agreement with South Africa to translocate 12 cheetahs to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

The pact was signed last week and seven male and five female cheetahs are expected to reach Kuno by February 15.

The 12 South African cheetahs have been in quarantine for more than six months and were expected to reach Kuno this month but the transfer was delayed as "some processes in South Africa took some time".

Cheetah is the only large carnivore that got completely wiped out from India due to overhunting and habitat loss.

The last cheetah died in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952.

Hemant Soren on Jan 27  will become the first Chief Minister to visit the Maoist hotbed Budha Pahad, located along Latehar and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand, and adjacent to Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh. Notably, Budha Pahad, the last bastion of Maoists in Jharkhand, had been a safe haven for Maoists for over three decades due to its difficult topography and inaccessible terrains.

The security forces were not able to reach the core area – spread across about 10 sq km-- for the last three decades.Budha Pahad, spread over a 55 sq km area was freed from Maoists’ control after 32 years following three coordinated operations carried out by the security forces since April last year.  After freeing the area from rebels, for the first time, CRPF and Jharkhand police jointly hoisted the Tricolour on October 23 last year.

Launching the world’s first made-in-India intranasal Covid-19 vaccine iNCOVACC on India’s 74th Republic Day on Jan 27, Union Health Minister said that it is a glorious tribute to the call for “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Mandaviya launched the intranasal vaccine, which will be available in government hospitals for Rs 325 and Rs 800 in the private market, with Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh.

The vaccine was developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in collaboration with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance (BIRAC), a PSU under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.

iNNCOVACC is the world’s first intranasal Covid vaccine to get approval for the primary 2-dose schedule and as a heterologous booster dose. Its rollout may begin in private hospitals that have placed orders.