31 JANUARY CONTIND.

1) Family of late Justice J.S. Verma recently refused to accept an award conferred on him posthumously by the Union Government. In a letter written to President Pranab Mukherjee his family mentioned that accepting it would be against his principles as he never hankered for any such honours. Padma Bhushan award was conferred on late Justice J.S. Verma recently.

Late Justice J.S. Verma was one of the 25 winners of Padma

Bhushan announced by the Union Government on 25 January 2014. Verma, who had headed the government committee to frame stricter laws and suggested legal reforms to deal with sexual assault cases in the wake of the 16 December Delhi gangrape case, died on 22 April 2013)
2) 4.5%  was the GDP growth rate figure for Indian economy for 2012-13 declared by the Union Government on 31 January 2014.
This GDP growth rate is 0.5% lower as compared with the earlier estimate of 5% on account of subdued performance in agriculture, mining and manufacturing. Growth in 2012-13 is the lowest in a decade, with the previous low of 4% recorded in 2002-03. The estimates for 2012-13 were released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.3)  Michael Rogers was nominated as the new Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) by U.S. President Barack Obama on 31 January 2014.He is the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy and would take over at a moment when the spy agency is under unprecedented pressure following leaks from ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. Rogers would take over from Gen Keith Alexander at the helm of the NSA

4) Kathy Cross of New Zealand on 30 January 2014 became the first woman to be appointed in an International Cricket Council (ICC) umpires panel.
Cross was named as an Associate and Affiliate panel of International umpires for 2014 following the annual review and selection process. The panel comprises 11 umpires that sits below the elite panel and these umpires officiate in ICC World Cricket League matches for teams ranked in divisions three to six and other associate and affiliate tournaments