Brazilian security forces locked down the area around Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court on Jan 9 , a day after supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the seat of power in riots that triggered an international outcry.

In stunning scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 invasion of the US Capitol building by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, backers of Bolsonaro broke through police cordons and overran the seats of power in Brasilia, smashing windows and doors and ransacking offices.

Initially overwhelmed security forces used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to fight back the rioters until they finally subdued them.

Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the veteran leftist who narrowly won Brazil's bitter, divisive October elections, condemned the invasions as a "fascist" attack.

Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil on Jan. 8, 2023 

A woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20, joined the Islamic State group and had a child with one of its fighters says she still hopes to return to the United States, serve prison time if necessary, and advocate against the extremists.

In a rare interview from the Roj detention camp in Syria where she is being held by US-allied Kurdish forces, Hoda Muthana said she was brainwashed by online traffickers into joining the group in 2014 and regrets everything except her young son, now of pre-school age.

Muthana was born in New Jersey to Yemeni immigrants and once had a U.S. passport. She was raised in a conservative Muslim household in Hoover, Alabama, just outside Birmingham. In 2014, she told her family she was going on a school trip but flew to Turkey and crossed into Syria instead, funding the travel with tuition checks that she had secretly cashed.

The Obama administration cancelled her citizenship in 2016, saying her father was an accredited Yemeni diplomat at the time she was born — a rare revocation of birthright citizenship. Her lawyers have disputed that move, arguing that the father's diplomatic accreditation ended before she was born.

The Trump administration maintained that she was not a citizen and barred her from returning, even as it pressed European allies to repatriate their own detained nationals to reduce pressure on the detention camps.

The extremist group, which is also known as ISIS, no longer controls any territory in Syria or Iraq but continues to carry out sporadic attacks and has supporters in the camps themselves

Meta on  Jan 9 announced the appointment of Vikas Purohit as the Director of Global Business Group in India.

Purohit will spearhead the company’s strategic relationship with the country’s brands and agencies to drive Meta’s revenue growth across key channels in India, as well as partner with the media and creative ecosystems.

He will have the company’s key business vertical teams, agency teams, and business solutions teams reporting to him. Purohit will report to Arun Srinivas, Director and Head of Ads Business for Meta in India.

Previously, Purohit, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, in companies such as Tata CLiQ, Amazon, Reliance Brands Limited, Aditya Birla Group and Tommy Hilfiger.

He started his career at Aditya Birla Group before joining Tommy Hilfiger and then heading retail at Reliance Brands Limited.

McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski has announced that layoffs are coming by April, as the global fast food chain aims to reduce costs and "free up resources to invest in growth."

McDonald's plans to communicate its decision around layoffs by April 3.

McDonald's last reported nearly 200,000 corporate staff and workers at the company-owned restaurants.

McDonald's, in fact, made a lot of money during the pandemic as people ordered more takeout and sales surged.

McDonald's layoff announcement comes as some of the largest US companies like Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Salesforce have announced massive layoffs as the New Year began.

PV Sindhu will face a tough test on her return from a five-month injury lay-off as top Indian shuttlers, including HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, will aim to start the year on a positive note at the Malaysia Open from from Jan 16.

Following a highly-successful 2022, India's star shuttlers will hope to raise the bar further in 2023, during which the Paris Olympic qualification period will start in May.

With plenty of ranking points at stake, Indian shuttlers will join the other big stars such as World No.1 Viktor Axelsen, Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia, Akane Yamugachi, Tai Tzu ying as they aim for a good show in the USD 1,250,000 Super 1000 tournament  in Kuala Lumpur

Double Olympic medallist Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain.

Q1. Which of the following was the venue of 17th Prawasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) ?

1. Indore
2. Chennai
3. Raipur
4. Lucknow
5. None of these

Q2. Who was the chief guest at 17th Prawasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) ?

1. Chandrikapersad Santokhi
2. Pravind Jugnauth
3. Prithvirajsing Roopun
4. Mahendra Chaudhry
5. None of these

Q3. Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali is the President of 

1. Republic of Suriname
2. Republic of Guyana
3. Republic of Mauritius
4. Republic of Fiji
5. None of these

Q4. Name payment bank which has received banking regulator RBI’s approval to appoint Surinder Chawla as its Managing Director and CEO ?

1. India Post Payments Bank Ltd.
2. Airtel Payments Bank Ltd.
3. Paytm Payments Bank Limited
4. Jio Payments Bank Ltd.
5. None of these

Q5. Name the Chief Justice of India who has been selected for the "Award for Global Leadership" by the Harvard Law School Center in recognition of his lifetime service to the legal profession in the country and around the world. ?

1. Sharad Arvind Bobde
2. Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana
3. Uday Umesh Lalit
4. Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud
5. None of these

Answers

1---------1   Indore

2 ---------5     None of these

Ans Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali

3  ------------2  Republic of Guyana

4 ------------3  Paytm Payments Bank Limited

5------------4   Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud

The Bombay High Court on  Jan 9 granted bail to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in a loan fraud case, saying their arrest was not in accordance with the provisions of law.

The couple was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 23, 2022, in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.

Millets cafe in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh might look like any other good standard restaurant but will surprise visitors who gain an insight into the inherent benefits of the nutri-cereals used to prepare various relishing food items listed in the menu. The cafe’s role goes beyond any typical eating place as it enlightens the customers, too.

Launched in May last year by the Raigarh district administration, the goal remains to create awareness about the often neglected millets having tremendous health benefits besides to support the “Millet Mission” initiative of the state government. The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets under the ambition propagated by the Indian government. Chhattisgarh, often cited as ‘rice bowl’, aims to become the millet hub of the country.