• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Amar Khade, the sales executive of State Bank of India ( SBI), CAP Securities of Home Loan Division at Amravati in Maharashtra, and his accomplice identified as Nikhil, in a bribery case.

• CBI spokesperson, RC Joshi said a case was registered based on a complaint against the Home Loan sales executive, Amar Khade and an accomplice (a private person, allegedly working with ICICI Bank at Gadge Nagar Branch in Amravati) for demanding a bribe of  Rs 20,000 for processing and sanctioning of top-up loan on transfer of Home Loan Account from Equitas Small Finance Bank, Amravati to State Bank of India. 

• While lauding the contribution of startups across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has  said that about five years ago, India didn't have even 500 startups but today, that number has crossed 60,000.

• The Prime Minister said, "There's at least one startup in at least 625 districts across India. Nearly half of India's all startups are in Tier-II or Tier-III cities. It shows that people from all classes are converting their ideas into businesses."

• The Prime Minister emphasised on let us innovate for India, innovate from India.

• Highlighting the trademarks registered over the past one year in this field, the Prime Minister said, "In 2013-14, 4,000 patents were approved. Last year, over 28,000 patents were granted. In 2013-14, nearly 70,000 trademarks were registered. In 2021, over 2.5 lakh trademarks were registered. In 2013-14, only 4,000 copyrights were granted. Last year, it crossed 16,000."

• Prime Minister Modi said that India, today, believes in its youth and is making policies in line with the same.

• He said, "From new drone rules to the new space policy, the Government is trying to give the youth as many chances of innovation as possible. Our Government has also eased IPR regulations. Central and State Governments are also promoting a huge number of incubators. "

• Prime Minister interacted with Startups today via video conferencing. Startups from various sectors including Agriculture, Health, Enterprise Systems, Space, Industry 4.0, Security, Fintech, Environment etc were a part of this interaction.

• More than 150 startups have been divided into six working groups based on themes including Growing from Roots; Nudging the DNA; From Local to Global; Technology of Future; Building Champions in Manufacturing; and Sustainable Development.

• As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a week-long event, "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem", is being hosted by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from January 10-16, 2022. The event marks the 6th anniversary of the launch of the Startup India initiative.

• Novak Djokovic arrived  in Dubai on jan 17 after his deportation from Australia over its required COVID-19 vaccination ended the No. 1-ranked men's tennis player's hopes of defending his Australian Open title.

• The Emirates plane carrying Djokovic touched down after a 13 1/2-hour flight from Melbourne, where he had argued in court he should be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the tournament under a medical exemption due to a coronavirus infection last month.

• Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, doesn't require travellers to be vaccinated, though they must show a negative PCR test to board a flight.

• Djokovic had won nine Australian Open titles, including three in a row, and a total of 20 Grand Slam singles trophies, tied with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most in the history of men’s tennis. 

• Australia completed a dominant 4-0 Ashes series victory over England on Jan 16  by winning the fifth day-night test by 146 runs with two days to spare.

• Australia won the first three test matches before England escaped with a draw at Sydney, where the last pair of batters survived the final two overs under intense pressure in a result that eventually meant the tourists avoided a 5-0 sweep.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Jan 16  became the first team from the country to win the Yonex-Sunrise India Open after toppling three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in New Delhi 

• Men's singles: Lakshya Sen (IND)

• Women's singles: Busanan Ongbamrungphan  (THA)

• Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag  Shetty (IND)

• Women's doubles: Benyapa Aimsaard/Nuntakarn  Aimsaard (THA)

• Mixed doubles: Hee Yong Kai Terry/Tan Wei Han (SGP)

• Virat Kohli has announced that he is stepping down from Test captaincy of the Indian team after the recently-concluded South Africa series. The 33-year-old took to social media on January 15 and said that his 7-year-journey as the Test captain of India has come to a halt.

• The unforeseen decision comes a day after India lost a 3-Test series 1-2 to South Africa in South Africa. Virat Kohli led India in 68 Tests between 2014 and 2022 and won 40 out them. The skipper finishes as India's most successful Test captain with a win percentage of 58.82.

• Virat Kohli had been one of India's longest-serving skippers in the longest format of the game, having successfully led the team in whites for close to 8 years. Kohli took over from MS Dhoni as India's Test captain in the middle of a high-profile series in Australia in 2014 and never looked back from there.

• Kohli led India to a historic Test series victory in Australia in 2018-19 and dominated England in England last year. However, Kohli's last assignment as Test captain ended in disappointment as India failed to conquer what was being looked at as the final frontier -- win a Test series in South Africa.

• Kohli's decision comes months after he quit T20I captaincy. He was sacked as India's ODI captain before India departed to South Africa earlier this year.

• Amid clamour from Jammu-based parties for public holiday on the birth anniversary of the last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh, the Lt-Governor administration has constituted a four-member committee to decide on the issue.

• Maharaja Hari Singh was born on September 23, 1895 in Jammu and died on April 26, 1961 in Mumbai. His son Karan Singh is J&K’s former Sadr-e-Riyasat and Governor and is a senior Congress leader.

• The Jammu-based parties including Congress have been demanding that the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh be declared a public holiday in J&K.