Current Affairs Daily Digest – January 25 2020
1. 25 January – National Voters Day
National Voters Day is celebrated on 25 January every year to mark the foundation day of Election Commission of India (ECI). ECI was established on 25 January 1950. It’s a constitutional body deriving its authority from Article 324 of the Constitution and Representation of the People Acts. The day was started in 2011. Year 2020 marks 10th National Voters Day.
The theme of National Voters Day – 2020 is ‘Electoral Literacy for a Stronger Democracy.’
2. India, Bangladesh signs to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road
India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road into a 4-lane highway on 24 January. The agreement aim is to upgrade the 50.58 kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway.
The project is aimed to boost connectivity between the North-eastern part of India and Bangladesh. It will facilitate sub-regional connectivity among South and South-east Asian countries.
3. The 13th annual edition of the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival began in Rajasthan
The 13th annual edition of the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival is being held in at Diggi Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The festival was inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. During the occasion, he released a book titled Bijji: Timeless Tales from Marwa written by Vishes Kothari.
4. Veteran film producer Vinay Sinha passed away
Veteran film producer Vinay Sinha passed away on 24 January 2020. He directed famous films like Andaz Apna Apna and Rafoo Chakkar. The cause of death was unknown. Vinay Kumar Sinha: Vinay Kumar Sinha was the vice president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association. His movie Andaz Apna Apna received a classic status among the Hindi audiences. Vinay Sinha also produced films like Rafoo Chakkar and Chor Police and a few TV shows.
5. Brazilian President Bolsonaro arrived at New Delhi as chief guest on Republic Day
Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro arrived at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi. He was received by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 January 2020. Bolsonaro was invited as chief guest on Republic Day. He is on a four-day visit to India to explore ways to boost trade ties at a time both the large economies are hit by slowdowns.
6. EU leaders signed UK withdrawal deal
The heads of the European Commission and Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, signed the Withdrawal Agreement of the UK. The move comes ahead of the UK’s exit from the EU on 31 January 2020. Brexit ended 46 years of run in the European Union club. Queen Elizabeth II gave her assent to the Brexit on 23 January. It was also signed by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 25 January.
7. DRDO to display indigenously-developed military systems in 2020 DefExpo
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is to display various indigenously-developed military systems and technologies in the forthcoming DefExpo 2020. It aims to bring alive the spirit of self-reliance and national pride.
DefExpo2020: The 11th edition of the biennial Defexpo has been scheduled to be held at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from 5-9 February 2020. The theme of the DefExpo2020 is “Digital Transformation of Defence”.
8. India, World Bank sign USD 210 mn loan agreement for Maharashtras Agribusiness
Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank signed a $210 million loan agreement for the State of Maharashtra. The loan was aimed to support Agribusiness and Rural Transformation projects in the state. The loan amount from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a grace period of six years and a maturity period of 13.5 years.
9. International Summit on Women in STEM was held in New Delhi
An International Summit on Women in STEM – Visualizing the Future: New Skylines on 23-24 January 2020 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Organized by: The 2-day international summit was organized by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology.
The Summit was organized with an aim to boost the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields for the development of scientific careers.
10. National Tourism Day is celebrated on 25 January
National Tourism Day is celebrated on 25 January. The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of tourism for the country’s economy. India offers tourism in the fields of natural, cultural, heritage, sports, rural, medical, educational, business, cruise, and eco-tourism form.
National Tourism Day is observed to cultivate awareness among the global community on the importance of tourism and its political, cultural, social, and financial worth.
11.Himachal Pradesh celebrates its 50th Statehood Day
Himachal Pradesh is celebrating its 50th Statehood Day with fanfare and enthusiasm throughout the state today. It was on this day in 1971 when Himachal Pradesh was carved out as the 18th State of the country.
12. Greece elects Katerina Sakellaropoulou as first female President
Greece’s parliament elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as the first woman president on January 22, 2020. The 63-year-old was elected to the top post in a historic vote, which saw 261 of the total 294 MPs vote in favour of her.
The final result of the vote was declared by Greece’s Parliament Chief Costas Tassoulas. Katerina is a senior judge with expertise in environmental and constitutional law. She is scheduled to take the oath of office on March 13, 2020.
13. RBI ups investment limit for FPIs in govt, corporate bonds
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday raised the investment limit for FPIs in government and corporate bonds to bring in more foreign funds into the market.
Currently, short-term investments by a foreign portfolio investors (FPI) should not exceed 20 per cent of the total investment of that FPI in either central government securities (including treasury bills) or state development loans or corporate bonds.
14. India faces a talent shortage of 63 percent, says ManpowerGroup report
India faces a talent shortage of 63 percent, higher than the global average, according to a new research report. The ManpowerGroup’s research report on Talent Shortage 2020 shows that globally 54 percent reported talent shortages almost doubled as compared to a decade ago.
15. Tata Steel Kalinganagar honoured at World Economic Forum 2020
Tata Steel Kalinganagar has been honoured at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020 for its recent admittance into the Global Lighthouse Network.
The network is a small but growing group of global corporations that are showing leadership in applying fourth industrial revolution technologies to drive financial and operational impact.
16. TNAU V-C gets Harit Ratna Award
N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, has been conferred ‘Harit Ratna Award 2019’ by the All India Agricultural Students Association for dissemination of ₹30-crore entrepreneurship project in agri-business and for motivating students to the agriculture sector in the State.
The award was conferred at the 5th National Youth Convention at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya in Raipur recently.
17. Study on Parkinson’s disease gets $2.3 m
A genome-wide association study (GWAS) on Parkinson’s Disease, said to be one of the largest in the country, has received an award of $2.3 million from the US-based Michel J Fox Foundation.
The study is an Indo-German collaborative research proposal, titled Genetic Architecture of Parkinson’s Disease, led by the Comprehensive Care Centre for Movement Disorders at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram, and the Centre for Genetic Epidemiology, University of Tuebingen, Germany.
18. Pakistan conducts training launch of Ghaznavi missile
Pakistan conducted successful training launch of surface-to-surface Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM) Ghaznavi, capable of delivering multiple types of warheads upto a range of 290 kilometers, the ISPR said.
The training launch carried at an undisclosed location was part of field training exercise of the Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) aimed at rehearsing operational readiness procedures during day and night.
