Current Affairs Daily Digest – January 26 & 27 2019
1. French Oscar-winning composer Michel Legrand passes away
Prolific French composer Michel Legrand, who won three Oscars during a career spanning more than half a century, has died aged 86, Legrand first won an Academy Award in 1969 for the song ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ from the film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’. He followed that with Oscars for his music for ‘Summer of ’42’ in 1972 and for ‘Yentl’ in 1984. He first began working as an accompanist and arranger in the 1960s. During his long career, he worked with Miles Davies, Ray Charles, Orson Welles, Jean Cocteau, Frank Sinatra and Edith Piaf.
2. Naomi Osaka clinches Australian Open 2019 title, takes No. 1 rank
Naomi Osaka has become the first Japanese tennis player to attain the world number one rank after clinching the Australian Open title. The 21-year-old defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4 in the most dramatic big-hitting final, claiming her second straight Grand Slam after the bittersweet experience of winning the US Open title last year amid controversial circumstances.
3. Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh Bhupen Hazarika awarded Bharat Ratna
President Ramnath Kovind conferred the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian honour, on former President Pranab Mukherjee, along with social activist Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumous), and Assamese musician Bhupen Hazarika (posthumous). Nanaji Deshmukh, a senior RSS leader who also worked for rural development and welfare of farmers and was considered a stalwart of the Sangh Parivar. Bhupen Hazarika popularised India’s musical traditions globally. “The songs and music of Shri Bhupen Hazarika are admired by people across generations.
4. Chinese scientists successfully clone five gene-edited monkeys
Chinese scientists cloned five monkeys from a gene-edited macaque with circadian-related disorders, another first for the country in the controversial field. The cloned monkeys were born in Shanghai at the Institute of Neuroscience of Chinese Academy of Sciences, according to two articles published in National Science Review. Researchers knocked out BMAL1 — a critical transcription factor for activating circadian rhythms — through gene editing at the embryo stage, then cloned a monkey with the mutation.
This was the first time multiple monkeys have been cloned from a gene-edited adult male, Xinhua News, employing the same method used to create the first cloned monkeys born in China in 2017. The result proves batch cloning of gene-edited male monkeys with diseases is feasible, one of the scientists told Xinhua.
5. IIT-Ropar launched an app to help the visually impaired
In a bid to assist visually impaired people to easily determine denomination of currency notes, the Indian Institute of Technology at Ropar in Punjab has developed an Android App “Roshni”, using image processing and analytics.
The App was launched at the IIT Ropar. Assistant professor Puneet Goyal, said that ‘Roshni’ is the first Android App that works successfully with new currency notes that were released after demonetisation and it works well in broad range of light conditions and holding angles.
6. Dubai start-up summit opens doors for Indian entrepreneurs
For the first time, Indian entrepreneurs will be able to pitch their ventures to the rich investors of the Gulf region, among others, with the Dubai AIM Startups opening its doors for Indian start-ups to participate. While UAE has been hosting the annual investment meeting for few years now, this will be the first time that Indian start-ups will get an opportunity to participate in the international summit, to be held in Dubai in April.
Incidentally, Dubai AIM Startups is one of the biggest start-up investment event in the region organised by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.
7. Bharat Parv showcasing spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat begins at Red Fort
Fourth edition of Bharat Parv, showcasing the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat began at Red Fort in Delhi. It will continue till 31st of this month. The five-day event is a part of Republic Day Celebrations and the objective of this festival is to generate a patriotic fervour and promote the rich cultural diversity of the country.
The major highlights of this year’s Bharat Parv are the replica of the Statue of Unity and a Gandhi Gram in which 10 painting artists will create paintings on the theme of ‘Ideology of Mahatma Gandhi’. Other highlights include display of Republic Day parade tableaux, performances by the Armed Forces bands and photo exhibition.
The event will also include IRCTC’ promotions on special tourist trains, ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ Consumer Awareness campaign, the exhibition-cum-sale of crafts items.
The Parv is also hosting Theme State Pavilions where each state showcases its strength along with its tourism products.
8. India, South Africa Seal 3-Year Strategic Programme To Boost Cooperation
India and South Africa sealed three year strategic programme to further boost cooperation in number of key areas after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mr Ramaphosa said his country was looking at a “result oriented” partnership with India through implementation of the three-year strategic exchange programme.
The strategic programme will cover cooperation in a range of areas including defence and security, trade and investment, the blue economy, tourism, IT and agriculture.
9. Indian Railways’ fastest Train 18 named Vande Bharat Express: Piyush Goyal
India’s first indigenously built engineless semi-high speed train, Train 18, has been named Vande Bharat Express, Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced. The train is set to run between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160 kmph and will soon be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The 16-coach train, built in 18 months at a cost of Rs 97 crore by the Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareli, is regarded as a successor to the 30-year-old Shatabdi Express. It’s also the first locomotive-less train in the country. The fully air-conditioned train will stop at Kanpur and Allahabad and will have two executive chair cars.
10. PM inaugurates BPCL’s Integrated refinery complex in Kochi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation an integrated refinery expansion complex of the public sector Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited at the Kochi Refinery here.
He also laid the foundation stone for a petrochemical complex at the refinery and a skill development institute at Ettumanoor besides inaugurating a mounded storage vessel at the LPG bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited here.
The integrated refinery is a modern expansion complex and would transform the Kochi Refinery as the largest PSU refinery in the country with world class standards.
11. PM Modi lays foundation stone for AIIMS Madurai in Tamil Nadu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, AIIMS at Madurai in Tamil Nadu. He also inaugurated the super speciality blocks of Madurai’s Rajaji Medical College and Thanjavur and Tirunelveli Medical Colleges through video conferencing. Mr Modi also dedicated a dozen Post Office Pass Port Seva Kendras to the nation.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that AIIMS hospitals have a brand name in providing quality health care for people from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Gujarat to Guwahati.
12. Poonam Khetrapal Singh reappointed WHO regional director for South-East Asia
Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed the South-East Asia regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for a second five-year term.
The WHO Executive Board unanimously endorsed Khetrapal Singh, who was earlier unanimously nominated by 11 member-countries of the region for another five years. Outlining her vision for the second term that begins on February 1, Khetrapal Singh said sustaining the gains, accelerating progress to finish the unfinished agenda and innovating would be the approach to ensure health and wellbeing of the 1.8 billion people across the Region.
13. Nari Shakti is Oxford Dictionary’s Hindi Word Of The Year 2018
On January 26, the Oxford Dictionaries announced ‘Nari Shakti’ as the Hindi Word of the Year. The Hindi Word of the Year chosen every year, in many ways, reflects the conversations, ethos of a particular year. The word this year, Nari Shakti, has been derived from Sanskrit and when broken down, the word ‘nari’ means women and ‘shakti’ means power.
In 2018, the word initiated a lot of conversations mainly because of the identification of this term by Hindi speakers across the nation due to several efforts and initiatives undertaken by the government, civil society, NGOs, and universities in order to empower women.
14. Chhattisgarh Government To Waive Rs. 207 Crore Irrigation Tax Of Farmers
In a move that will benefit 15 lakh farmers in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced to waive their outstanding irrigation taxes worth Rs. 207 crore.
The chief minister’s announcement comes just over a month after his government decided to waive farmers’ short-term agricultural loans worth Rs. 6,230 crore and hike the MSP for paddy to Rs. 2,500.
“Sinchai kar (irrigation tax) to the tune of Rs. 207 crore pending from around last 15 years as on October, 2018 will be written off. As many as 15 lakh farmers will be benefited from the decision.
15. Employment scheme launched for urban poor youth in Madhya Pradesh
On the occasion of Republic Day, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath announced the launch of the ‘Yuva Swabhiman Yojana’ for youth from the economically weaker sections in urban areas. In his Republic Day address at the Police Parade Maidan in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath said that the youth were the future of India and they had immense talent which needed to be honed.
The scheme has been launched by the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh .It aims to provide employment to the youth belonging to the weaker section of the society mainly in urban areas of the state. Under this scheme, 100 days of employment will be provided to youngesters from economically weaker sections of the society in urban areas.
16. India 6th in GDPR readiness index: Cisco
Nearly 65 per cent of Indian organisations are better prepared for the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), making the country the sixth leading nation globally in the GDPR readiness index, global networking leader Cisco said .
The GDPR, which focused on increasing protection for EU residents’ privacy and personal data, came into force in May last year and organisations globally have been working steadily towards getting ready for it.
India has greatly improved upon its GDPR readiness with its fast-evolving data privacy ecosystem, which is primarily because of a collaborative approach by the government and private organisations,” said Vishak Raman, Director, Security, Cisco.
17. International Customs Day : January 26
International Customs Day is observed on January 26 each year. It was introduced by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in 1983.
International Customs Day marks the anniversary of the formation of the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC), the forerunner of the WCO. The inaugural session of the CCC took place on January 26, 1953. The organization adopted its current name in 1994.
Originally the WCO had 17 members, as of 2015 it has a total of 179 members (sovereign states, customs territories and one customs union) representing about 98% of international trade. The organization’s main mission is the enhancement of the effectiveness and efficiency of customs administrations throughout the world.
The slogan for 2019 ICD is “SMART borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport.”
