National News
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin of Rs 350 to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh on 13 January 2019, who was the 10th Sikh Guru.
- The Coimbatore city police launched the 'Police-E-Eye' mobile application to enable the public to take photographs of traffic rule violators and upload them to the police. Based on this, the traffic department would issue photo challans to the violators' place to collect the fine amount.
- The government of India has decided to induct women for the first time in Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) role in Corps of Military Police. The women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military Police. Their role would range from probing rape and molestation cases to assisting the Army wherever required
- The government has notified a High-Level Committee for implementation of Clause six of the Assam Accord and the committee is headed by former IAS officer M.P. Bezbaruah. It will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people, besides providing employment opportunities.
- Rajasthan is the first state in India to launch a cow ministry. Otaram Devasi was India’s first Minister for cows. Madhya Pradesh is the second state in India to set up a ministry for cows
- Indian Army has carried out an operation codenamed ‘Operation Sunrise’ in Indo Myanmar border to wipe out who were planning to hit the Indian workers at the Kaladan Transit project. It was a joint operation carried out by both Indian and Myanmar armies. Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project involving India and Myanmar is critical to the connectivity between North East and Myanmar.
- Freedom Baby is India’s first penguin that was born in Mumbai's Byculla zoo on Independence day. However, the baby couldn’t survive due to anomalies associated with newborn penguins.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a special programme for School Children called “Young Scientist Programme” “YUva VIgyani KAryakram” (??????)from this year, in tune with the Government’s vision “Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan”. The Program is primarily aimed at imparting basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities. Those who have finished 8th standard and currently studying in 9th standard will be eligible for the programme.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared ‘April 2019-March 2020’ as Construction-Technology year and stressed on use of advanced technology to meet the increasing demand of housing in the country caused by rapid urbanisation.
- In Assam, Railway Protection Force of Lumding Division has taken a significant step towards enhancing the security of women in the North East region. A dedicated RPF Women Squad named as ‘JOYMATI BAHINI’, comprising women sub-inspector and constables of the Railway Protection Force was formally launched at Kamkhaya Railway Station in Guwahati.
The main aim of the Joymati Bahini is to strengthen women security around Guwahati region within railway premises and trains.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi released visually impaired friendly New Series Circulation Coins 2019 in New Delhi. The new series includes coins of Rs.1, Rs.2, Rs.5, Rs.10 and Rs.20 denominations. The coins are characterized by the increasing size and weight from lower to higher denominations. National Institute of Design has designed the new coins which have been produced by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited and the Finance Ministry.
- Kerala has become the first State to set up a price monitoring and research unit (PMRU) to track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO). The move comes more than five years after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) proposed such a system for the States and the Union Territories.
- The Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in New Delhi.
A tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
- The government of Maharashtra introduced the Atal Solar Krishi Pump Yojana to reduce losses due to non-payment of electricity bills and also promote solar energy. It has decided to give two LED bulbs, a DC fan and a mobile charging socket as freebies to farmers enrolling under the Atal Solar Krishi Pump Yojana.
- An agreement for Renukaji Dam Multipurpose Project was signed among six states- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. The Dam will Augment Water Availability for Delhi, Haryana, UP, HP, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. Three storage projects are proposed to be constructed on the river Yamuna and two of its tributaries - Tons and Giri in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh of Upper Yamuna Basin. These include Lakhwar project on river Yamuna in Uttarakhand , Kishau on river Tons in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and Renukaji on river Giri in Himachal Pradesh.
- Himachal Pradesh Assembly passed Official Language (Amendment) Bill 2019 to make Sanskrit as the second official language of the state. The first official language of Himachal is Hindi.
International News
- Malala Yousafzai is the author of the book ‘We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World.’ The author describes her own experience of being displaced in Pakistan and later forced to move to England, and tells stories from nine other displaced people around the world.
- The UK’s Royal Mint unveiled a new commemorative 50 pence coin inspired by the late legendary British physicist Stephen Hawking’s seminal work on black holes. Hawking, one of the world’s best-known theoretical physicists who died aged 76 last year, joins the ranks of other eminent scientists such Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin to have a commemorative coin in honour of one of his greatest discoveries that black holes should not be all black.
The coin, on sale in silver and gold forms for a price range between 55 and 795 pounds on the Royal Mint’s website, is a nod to Hawking’s research into black holes and his ability to make science accessible for all.
- Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of central Pahang state was crowned as Malaysia’s 16th king. The move came nearly a month after the sudden abdication of Sultan Muhammad V.
- Former Army captain, Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in as Brazil's President after defeating leftist opponent Fernando Haddad.
- Kepler space telescope is a retired space telescope launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. It was named after astronomer Johannes Kepler and was launched on March 7, 2009 and NASA announced its retirement on October 30, 2018.
- Zuzana ?aputová will be the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the youngest president in the history of Slovakia, at age 45. Sahle Work Zewde is the first female president of Ethiopia.
- Italy became the first G7 country to join China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Rome, endorsing the global infrastructure-building scheme.
- The Republic of Ireland Voted by a landslide to legalise abortion in its sixth referendum on the issue. Ireland’s eighth amendment, which its voters have rejected, hitherto gave equal rights to the foetus and the woman carrying it. An Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died after being refused abortion during a miscarriage. In 2013, a Law was introduced allowing abortion when woman’s life is at risk but it also introduces a penalty of 14 year imprisonment on illegal abortion.
- France, which assumed the March Presidency of the United Nations Security Council, has reiterated its support for India as the permanent member of the powerful UN organ, saying the UNSC's enlargement is the ‘first crucial part’ towards UNSC reforms. India has been calling for the reform of the UN Security Council along with Brazil, Germany and Japan for long, emphasising that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.
- In a major diplomatic win for India, the United Nations declared Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist. The decision from UN Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee came after China lifted its technical hold, imposed on March 13, on a proposal made by US, UK and France to this end. Even before that, China, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, had been blocking India's attempts to secure designation against Azhar almost for a decade.
- In a first, NASA will launch a spacecraft that will collide with an asteroid in 2022 to demonstrate a planetary defense technique. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will get one chance to hit its target, a small moonlet in the binary asteroid system Didymos.The asteroid poses no threat to Earth.
- Jeff Bezos, who heads both Amazon and space company Blue Origin, unveiled a lunar lander that would be used to transport equipment, and possibly human beings, to the south pole of the moon by 2024.
Economy News
- The 'Tata' brand has entered the list of top 100 most valuable brands according to the Brand Finance Global 500 2019 report released at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It has been ranked at 86th position this year and the Tata brand is the only Indian brand in the Top 100.
- As per its annual report, the RBI bought nearly 8.5 metric tonnes of gold between December 2017 and June 2018 taking the level of gold reserves to 566.23 metric tonnes. This was the first time that the central bank had bought gold since its purchased 200 million metric tonnes from the International Monetary Fund in 2009.
- Union Ministry of Civil Aviation approved operations on 13 water aerodromes under Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik-3 (UDAN-3). The very first seaplane could run within Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Four different islands from Andaman and one island from Nicobar have been selected to fly seaplanes. These are Havelock, Long Island, Neil Island and Hutbay Island in Andaman and Car Nicobar in Nicobar.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a high-level committee that will work towards deepening digital payments in India and will be headed by Nandan Nilekani.
- Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali launched a new swadeshi messaging application called Kimbho to compete with WhatsApp.
- India signed a USD 3 billion deal with Russia for leasing of a nuclear-powered attack submarine for the Indian Navy for a period of 10 years. The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement capping months of negotiations on price and various other aspects of the deal. Under the pact, Russia will have to deliver the Akula class submarine, to be known as Chakra III, to the Indian Navy by 2025.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch its second mission to the moon — Chandrayaan-2 — on July 15 in a mission that it said would be the most complex operation ever to be undertaken by the space agency. It will be the first such operation near the south pole of the moon, and will make India just the fourth country to complete a soft landing on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-2 consists of an orbiter, a lander (Vikram), and a rover (Pragyan).
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its Radar Imaging Satellite, the RISAT-2BR1 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The RISAT, a remote sensing satellite, provide all-weather surveillance using synthetic aperture radars (SAR). RISAT's are the first all-weather observation satellites from ISRO and are designed to provide a continuous view of earth either at day or night for the forces to detect border infiltration. Earlier, the observation satellites banked mainly on optical and spectral sensors which often were handicapped by cloud cover.
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Libcoin (20% is owned by Magnis) will build India’s first Lithium-ion Battery Gigafactory. The consortium plans to start with initial capacity of 1GWh plant with proposal to scale it up to 30GWh.
People in News
- The Commonwealth of Learning appointed 96-year-old Karthyayani Amma as their goodwill ambassador. She bagged the first rank in the ‘Aksharalaksham’ literacy exam conducted by the Kerala government in November 2018. Commonwealth of Learning is a Canada-based organisation which works for the promotion of education in Commonwealth countries
- Vice Admiral Karambir Singh was appointed as the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS). He is currently serving as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam. Vice Admiral Singh will be the first helicopter pilot of the Navy to become the Chief of Indian Navy.
- US Air Force General Tod Wolters has been nominated to become NATO's top officer. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's military leader is always American, and Wolters was nominated by acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan. General Wolters is currently serving as Commander, United States Air Forces Europe, United States Air Forces Africa and Allied Air Command.
- India has nominated NITI Aayog member and agricultural economics and policy expert Ramesh Chand to lead a specialised agency of the United Nations focussed on achieving food security for all. The next Director-General of FAO will be appointed for the period August 1, 2019 to July 31, 2023 and will be eligible for only one additional mandate of four years. The new Director-General will succeed José Graziano da Silva, who was first elected in 2011 and has served two consecutive terms.
- The former chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Vineet Joshi, was appointed the first director-general of the National Testing Agency (NTA), an independent body dedicated to conducting entrance tests for higher education in India. NTA, which was approved by the Union cabinet last October, will conduct entrance tests entrusted to it by any department or ministry. For starters, in 2019, it will take over all entrance examinations currently being organised by the CBSE, including UGC’s National Eligibility Test (NET), Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
- In a significant victory, India's Jagjit Pavadia was re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another term, posting the highest number of votes at 44.
Sports News
- International Cricket Council (ICC) announced women's ODI and T20I teams of the year 2018. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates was named as captain of the 50-over side and Harmanpreet Kaur of India appointed captain of the T20 team.
- Chess player D Gukesh became the second youngest Grand Master (GM) in the world and the youngest Indian to achieve the feat at age of 12 years and 7 months. He became India's 59th Grand Master.
- Anders Antosen of Denmark won Indonesian Badminton 2019 men’s singles by defeating Kento Momota of Japan. It was held at Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is officially known as the DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019.
- Saina Nehwal of India won Indonesian Badminton 2019 women’s singles after Carolina Marin of Spain withdrew with an injury midway during the first game.
It was held at Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is officially known as the DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019.
Awards
- The Indian Council of Agricultural Research tableau in the Republic Day Parade has won the first prize for its Kisan Gandhi theme. The ICAR tableau with the theme "Mishrit Kheti, Khushiyon Ki Kheti" portrayed Gandhi Ji with goats and a cow and Kasturba engaged with charkha and caring animals.
- The government of India instituted an annual award titled ‘Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar’. The award recognises all Indian Citizens and organisations who have excelled in areas of Disaster Management. The award will be announced every year on 23rd January on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and for 2019, 8th Battalion of NDRF was selected for the award.
- Anurag Thakur, MP, Hamirpur, has been bestowed with the 'Sansad Ratna Award' for distinguished performance as a parliamentarian under Jury Committee Special Award. The Sansad Ratna Award was started in 2010 on the suggestion of former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
- Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani will be conferred with the Ashoka Chakra.
He was a militant but later joined the Indian Army in 2004 and was killed during an anti-terror operation in November 2018. Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime military decoration for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.
- Behrouz Boochani, a Kurd who has been held on PNG's Manus Island since 2013, was awarded the Victorian Prize for Literature for a book he reportedly wrote using the online messaging service WhatsApp. The journalist and filmmaker was awarded the Aus$100,000 (US$72,600) prize for his book “No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison”. It is Australia's most valuable literary prize.
Events
- The Great Indian Bustard, also called as Gibi will mascot of the 13th UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS)(COP 13). The COP-13 will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from February 15-22, 2020.
Important days and themes
- The twelfth annual World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2019.
The theme of this year’s World Autism Awareness Day is ‘Assistive Technologies, Active Participation’. The day aims to encourage the Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) throughout the world.
- The Earth Hour 2019 was held on 30 March at 8.30PM and the theme for Earth Hour 2019 is “Change the Way We Live”.
