 For Daily Job Alert |
Join Our Whats App Channel |
| For Free Study Material |
Join Our Telegram Channel |
6th Island Development Agency meeting held in New Delhi
Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the sixth Island Development Agency meeting in New Delhi. The meeting focused on “Green Development in the Islands to reach new heights”.
The meeting reviewed the work progress of the programme, “Holistic Development of Islands”. The Island Development Agency (IDA) has taken up scientifically assessed sustainable development goals in order to improve growth of the Islands. This is the first time such an initiative is being implemented.
Annual Status of Education Report 2019
The Non-Profit Organization Pratham released its annual report, Annual Status of Education Report, 2019. The report is based on the survey conducted in 26 districts that covers 36,000 children in the age group of 4 to 8 years.
The report says that around 56.8% of girls and 50.4% of boys are enrolled in government schools. In the age group of 6-8 years, 61.1% of girls and 52.1% of boys were enrolled in government institutions.
According to RTE act, 2009 (Right to Education act), children should enter Class I at the age of 6. But according to the report, 4 out of every 10 children entering Class I are less than 5 years old.
Australia win 1st ODI against India by 10 wickets
In Cricket, Australia won the First One-Day International match against India by 10 wickets with 74 balls remaining in Mumbai.
Australia cruised in their 256-run chase with centuries from their openers David Warner and Skipper Aaron Finch. Warner scored 128 and Finch 110, helping Australia score 258 without loss in just 37.4 overs.
David Warner was declared Man of the Match.
Fuel Upgradation for Indian Navy
The Ministry of Defence announces new fuel upgradation for Indian Navy with revised technical specifications. The High Flash High Speed Diesel (HFHSD) was launched. The aim of the new fuel introduction is to reduce carbon footprint.
Indian Navy, one of the largest navies in the world in collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation carried out several trials before concluding on HFHSD. The upgrading of fuel is essential in order to keep pace with new technologies and emission standards. This will also help other IOC customers and merchant mariners in the following years. It will also benefit foreign Navy ships participating in exercises.
India to get USD 1 billion investment from Amazon
The global e-commerce firm, Amazon has announced the incremental investment of USD 1 billion in India.
The investment will have the prime objective of digitizing the small and medium businesses (SMB’s) in India. The firm has also announced its plans to boost its size and scale by exporting worth USD 10 billion of ‘Make in India’ goods by year 2025.
India-Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020
The India-Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020 was held in New Delhi. India’s Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar and Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad H Mahmud were representing their respective countries in the meet. The meeting was concluded with the signing of some MoU’s between the two countries.
India’s National Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh’s Film Development Corporation has also signed MoU to jointly produce a film as the biopic of Bangladesh’s first president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The biopic will be based on his life and his works and will be directed by the noted Indian Director ShyamBenegal.
Indian Railways to Provide Content On Demand Service On Trains, Stations
The Indian Railways has signed MoU with the RailTel, a Mini Ratna Public Sector Undertaking in order to implement Phase II of e-office programme. Also, the Indian Railways is to provide content on demand services in premium, suburban, express and mail trains.
The Phase I of the project aimed at registering 50,000 plus users in 58 stations by March 2020. However, the Indian Railways have completed the target well ahead of time.
Under the project, the content such as shows, movies, educational programmes are to be made available in paid and unpaid formats for a period of 10 years. The project will be implemented in several languages. The aim is to cover all the 17 zones of the Railways.
January 14: Armed Forces Veterans Day
Every year, Armed Forces Veterans Day is celebrated on January 14. The day is being celebrated since 2017. The day was initially called Armistice Day.
The Day began its journey as Armistice Day in order to reflect upon heroism of those who died in country’s service. Armistice Day is celebrated on November 11 all over the world. The first Armistice Day was celebrated on November 11, 1919 marking the anniversary of the end of World War I and celebrating the brave soldiers who were part of World War I.
Every year, January 14 is marked as Armed Forces Veteran Day as the Field Marshal KM Cariappa, the first Commander-in-chief of Indian Armed Forces retired on the day.
January 15: IMD Foundation Day
On January 15, 2020, the IMD celebrates its 145th Foundation Day. It was begun in 1875. The day will be celebrated by Ministry of Earth Science under which IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) functions.
IMD is the principle agency of GoI that makes weather forecasts, meteorological observations and seismological observations. The headquarters of IMD is in Delhi. It operates observatory station in India and in Antarctica. IMD is one of the six regional specialised Meteorological centres of World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
KentoMomoto wins Malaysia Masters 2020 title
World no. 1 ranked Japanese badminton player KentoMomota won the Malaysia Masters 2020 title. He defeated Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 24-22, 21-11. He won a record 11 titles last year. The victory in Malaysia lends credence to Momota’s drive to win the gold in July’s Tokyo Olympics.
Khelo India Games: Uttam Yadav makes a new meet record in 1500 metre race
Maharashtra is leading the medal tally in the ongoing third Khelo India youth games in Guwahati. The last year’s champion team has won 26 gold, 31 silver and 50 bronze so far. Haryana grabbed a total of 67 medals with 21 gold. Delhi is in third place with 17 gold.
Maharashtra girl Aditee AjitDankekar won gold in rhythmic gymnastics in under21 category. Mumbai girl Kirti Vijay Bhoite clinched gold in girls 200-meter race. In athletics, Haryana girl Sneha bagged gold in 1500-meter race in under 17. UP boy Gaur Kumar won the title in artistic gymnastics and J&K’s Bavleen Kaur clinched the title in the girls event. Rajasthan’s DivyanshuPuri won gold in 81-kilogram judo.
Uttam Yadav From UP won gold in 1500 meter race with meet record under-17 category.
MoU between Railways and SBI for door step banking
The South-Central Railways and SBI signed MoU to implement door step banking in 585 railway stations.
The MoU will enable direct pick up of cash from all the railway stations included in the MoU. Before the agreement, the earnings generated at the railway stations were manually sent to nearest banks that were authorised to collect the deposit on behalf of the Railways. This delayed the remittance of cash because of several factors such as availability of man power, holidays, etc.
The door step banking will provide uniform cash remittance mechanism in all the railway stations. This method will also avoid unwanted accumulation of cash at railway stations.
Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award to Prof M S Swaminathan
The Agricultural Scientist Prof M S Swaminathan was awarded the “MuppavarapuVenenkaiah Naidu” National award. The award was also presented to MrMuniratnam. MrMuniratnam was the first person to receive the award four days back.
Muppavarapu foundation is a non-profit organisation started by MrMuppavarapuHarshavardhan, son of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
National Draft Policy on Rare Diseases
The Government of India released its National Draft Policy on rare diseases. The policy has proposed one-time fund of Rs 15 lakhs to treat rare diseases under Ayushman Bharat. The policy was drafted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Under the policy, certain medical institutes will be certified as Centre of Excellence for rare diseases. It includes AIIMS. New Delhi, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow, King Edward Medical Hospital, Mumbai and four others.
There is no definition for rare diseases. However, looking at global scenario (in countries like US, UK, Japan), India defines rare diseases. In India, rare diseases are those diseases affecting 6% to 8% of the population.
Statue of Unity included in 8 Wonders of SCO
The Statue of Unity that was inaugurated by PM Modi in October 2018 has been included in 8 wonders of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization). The statue was a monumental tribute to Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
The Wonders of SCO include archaeological and historical monuments of SCO. It includes Statue of Unity in India, Daming Palace in China, Navruz Palace in Tajikistan, Mughals Heritage in Pakistan, Tamgaly Gorge in Kazakhstan, Po-i-Kalan Complex in Uzbekistan, The Golden Ring of Russia,and Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk Kul.
US removes China from currency manipulator list
The Treasury Department of United States has removed China from the designation as “currency manipulator”. The decision was taken just before the commencement of first phase of US-China trade agreement.
In August 2019, China was labeled officially as “currency manipulator” by the United States and also accused China of using yuan to gain “unfair competitive advantage” in trade. This was the first time since 1994 that China was labelled as “currency manipulator”.
WHO releases Global Health Challenges for 2020
Every year, the World Health Organization releases list of Global Health Challenges of the forth coming year. This year, the organization had released the top global health challenges for the year.
The list included 13 potential threats. The foremost threat was Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) and climate crisis. The other threats that have topped the list includes influenza epidemic and spread of infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.
A new entrant to the list of top 13 potential threats is Lack of Access.
The threats are not only diseases-related. It also includes other threats such as social media, infrastructure, human resources and new technologies.
