Daily Current Affairs Updates: 1 February 2015

1) Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray to win Australian Open 2015:

--> Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic won a fifth AustralianOpen title on 1 February 2015, beating Britain's Andy Murray in four sets in the final.

--> Djokovic won 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-0 in 3hr 39min for his eighth Grand Slam title to stretch his formidable record on the Melbourne hardcourts to winning five from five finals in eight years.

--> Only Australian Roy Emerson has won more Australian Opens with six in the 1960s.

--> The victory means Djokovic stays at world number one on the next ATP rankings when they are released.

2) Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won Australian Open mixed doubles:

--> Five times grand slam singles winner Martina Hingis from Switzerland won her second Australian Open mixed doubles title on 1 February 2015 as she teamed with India’s Leander Paes to beat  last year’s winners France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Canada’s Daniel Nestor 6-4 6-3.

--> While the 41-year-old Paes clinched his seventh mixed doubles crown, Hingis, who came out of retirement for the second time a couple of years back, collected her tenth doubles Slam apart from her five singles titles.

3) Carl Djerassi, father of birth control pill passed away:

--> Carl Djerassi, 91, the chemist widely considered the father of the birth control pill, died on 31 January 2015.

--> Djerassi, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Stanford, was most famous for leading a research team in Mexico City that in 1951 developed norethindrone, a synthetic molecule that became a key component of the first birth control pill.

--> “The pill,” as it came to be known, radically transformed sexual practices.

4) Sri Lankan President appointed K Sripavan as Chief Justice:

--> Sri Lanka on 1 February 2015 appointed Justice K Sripavan, an ethnic-Tamil, its new Chief Justice.

--> Justice Sripavan, 63, took oath as the 44th Chief Justice before President Maithripala Sirisena, the President’s office said in a statement.

--> Mr. Sripavan replaced Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, who resigned on 29 Jan 2015, only a day after she was reinstated to the position by Sirisena government.

--> He is second Tamil to hold be Chief Justice. The last Tamil chief justice was Herbert Thambiah, who left the position in 1991.

5) Bharat Rang Mahotsav, Asia’s biggest theatre festival, began:

--> War play 'Ghazab Teri Adaa', the latest creation by National School of Drama (NSD), opened the 17th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav at New Delhi.

--> The theatre festival was inaugurated by Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Civil Aviation and National Award-winning actor and an NSD alumnus Om Puri.

6) Country's first fenced elephant park to come up near Bengaluru:

--> The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) -an international animal rights and conservation group -and the Bannerghatta Biological Park, Karnataka, have joined hands to create India's first `fenced' elephant sanctuary in a forested space that will allow elephants to move around freely within the secure area.

--> This 49.5-hectare sanctuary within the biological park -which is an extension of the Bannerghatta National Park -near Bengaluru will allow the herd to roam and bathe in ponds freely without being restricted by chains or any human interference.

7) Australia won tri-series title:

--> An all-round show by Glenn Maxwell and a devastating pace-bowling spell by Mitchell Johnson helped Australia crush England by 112 runs in a lopsided summit clash to clinch the cricket tri-series title.

--> Australia will now go into the upcoming World Cup at home with more confidence as they wrapped up their preparations on a high by winning the three-team tournament which also featured India.

--> Mitchell Starc was named Man of the Series.

8) Marans transfer ownership of SpiceJet to Ajay Singh:

--> SpiceJet has finally changed hands with the airline’s promoters deciding to sell and transfer their entire holding of 58.46 per cent in the airline to co-founder Ajay Singh.

--> The share sale and purchase agreement between the promoters Kalanithi Maran, Chairman of the Sun group, his company Kal Airways and Mr. Singh was signed on 29 January 2015.

--> The Ministry of Civil Aviation had recently cleared the proposal of the Marans for change in ownership and management control.

9) Kangana Ranaut, Shahid Kapoor bagged the best actor awards at 60th Filmfare Awards:

--> The 60th Filmfare Awards ceremony was held on January 31, 2015, at the Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai.

--> Shahid Kapoor won the Filmfare award for Best Actor (Male) for his performance in the film “Haider”, while Kangna Ranaut received the Best Actor (Female) award for “Queen”.

--> Best Film (Queen), Best Director (Vikas Bahl - Queen)

--> The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry.

--> The awards were first introduced in 1954, the same year as the National Film Awards.