ISRO to launch 31 satellites in single mission on Jan 10

• Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO announced to launch 31 satellites, including India’s Cartosat-2 series earth observation spacecraft, in a single mission onboard its Polar rocket on January 10.
• The mission will be the first Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission after the unsuccessful launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H in August this year. The mission’s main payload would be India’s Cartosat-2 series earth observation satellite.
• PSLV-C40 will be used for the launch from the spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.The mission would be a combination of 28 nanosatellites from foreign countries, including Finland, US and one micro and nanosatellite from India along with one Cartosat satellite.

George Weah Elected Liberian President

• Former football star George Weah elected as Liberia’s president.
• The closest rival of Mr. Weah was his opponent Joseph Boakai.
• Mr. Weah won the elections with more than 60% of the vote.
• He succeeded Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, in Liberia’s first democratic handover in decades.

India Ranks 5th in List of Countries with Highest NPA Levels

• India has the highest level of non-performing assets (NPA) among BRICS countries and is ranked fifth on a list of countries with the highest levels of NPAs, as per the report by CARE Ratings.
• The only countries ranked higher than India on the list are Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland. All these countries, along with Spain, are commonly referred to as PIIGS, and have been victims of sovereign debt crises in recent years. At 9.85 percent, India’s NPA ratio is over 400 basis points higher. Spain is the only PIIGS country ranked lower than India on the list, with an NPA ratio of 5.28 percent.

Viswanathan Anand Wins World Rapid Chess Championship

• India’s ace chess player Viswanathan Anand won the World Rapid Chess tournament title in Saudi Arabia by beating Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev 2-0 in a two-game tie-break.
• Saudi Arabia hosted the world chess tournament for the first time. The women’s title was won by China’s Ju Wenjun. Dronavalli Harika was the best-placed Indian, finishing 19th.