Daily Current Affairs 18th January, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 18 January 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Gujarat CM flags off Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani  flagged off the inaugural run of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express from Ahmedabad Railway Station. The train will have a total carrying capacity of 736 passengers.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched ‘Saksham’ Campaign
‘Saksham’, an annual one-month long, people-centric fuel conservation mega campaign of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched by Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a function to be held in Delhi.

• • PCRA has prepared a comic book jointly with NCERT on the theme ‘Fuel Conservation’ aimed at younger generation especially the school children and is available on E-Pathshala on NCERT website.

Amit Shah signs historic Bru-Reang refugee agreement
Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah presided over the signing of an agreement between Government of India, Governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives in New Delhi , to end the 23-year old Bru-Reang refugee crisis.

• Each of the displaced families would be given 40×30 sq.ft. residential plots, in addition to the aid under earlier agreement of a fixed deposit of Rs. 4 lakhs, Rs. 5,000 cash aid per month for 2 years, free ration for 2 years and Rs. 1.5 lakhs aid to build their house

Mizoram sets to celebrate ‘Chapchar Kut’ festival on March 6, 2020
Mizoram will celebrate Chapchar Kut, the biggest and most important festival of the Mizos, on March 6 2010. “Promotion of Mizos’ culture and moral code” has been chosen as the theme for this year Chapchar Kut. Chapchar Kut is a spring festival celebrated usually in March after completion of the Jhum cultivation

3rd Edition of North Zone Conference of MIB’s of Media Units held in Jammu
The 3rd edition of North Zone Conference’ of Media Units of Information and Broadcasting Ministry, held in Jammu Kashmir. The aim of the conference is to strengthen the synergy between the Media Units in order to ensure last-mile delivery, while simultaneously brainstorm the use of new technology in communication.

Conference on Census 2021 held in New Delhi
A Conference of the Chief Secretaries and Administrator State and Union Territories on Census 2021 and updating of National Population Register, NPR was held in New Delhi.

Union Minister of Fertilizers launched the ‘Apna Urea – Sona Ugle‘ brand of HURL
Fertiliser Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Friday unveiled the logo and brand ‘Apna Urea Sona Ugle’ of Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd (HURL), which is in the process of reviving three sick urea units.The sick urea units are located at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Barauni (Bihar) and Sindri (Jharkhand).

Indian Army conducted airborne exercise ‘Winged Raider’ involving Special Forces troops
The Indian Army conducted its biggest airborne exercise called the ‘Winged Raider’ comprising of more than 500 special forces troops in the North-Eastern theatre.

• The exercise conducted on January 10 had over 500 soldiers of the Special Forces parachuting from C-130 Hercules and C-17 globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, besides Dhruv helicopters during the day and night.

Commemorative stamp of former footballer Padma Shri Chuni Goswami released by Indian Postal Department
Chuni Goswami, who led India to a gold medal in the 1962 Asian Games in Bangkok was honoured by the Indian Postal Department with a commemorative postal stamp on his 82nd birthday (January 15, 2020).

• Chuni, an Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee, is the third Indian footballer after the late Gostho Paul (1998), and late Dr Talimeren Ao (2018) on whose name a postal stamp has been issued by the largest postal network in the world.

Govt allocates Rs 2379 crore for completing Z Morh tunnel in J&K
The government awarded the crucial Z-Morh Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir to APCO Amarnathji Tunnel way Pvt Ltd to be built at a cost of Rs 2,379 crore. Z-Morh Tunnel would provide all-weather road connectivity to Sonamarg tourist spot in Jammu and Kashmir which mostly remains closed during the winters due to heavy snowfall in Gagenger area.

SC appoints former apex court judge Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre as head of road safety committee
The Supreme Court said it would appoint one of its retired judges, Justice A M Sapre, as the chairman of its committee on road safety after the panel’s current head former apex court judge Justice K S P Radhakrishnan expressed difficulty in continuing in that position.

CM Bhupesh Baghel launches employment-oriented mobile app ‘Rojgar Sangi’ in Raipur
The Chief Minister (CM) of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel has launched a employment-oriented mobile app,‘RojgarSangi’ developed by state-run Chhattisgarh State Skill Development Authority (CSSDA) at the ceremony of youth fest 2020 held at Science College premises in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

• The app was designed to provide employment to the trained youths under their skill development programme.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Russia to deliver all S-400 air defence systems to India by 2025
Russia said it has started production of S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile systems for India, and all five units will be delivered by 2025. The Indian Armed forces will receive the first batch of 5,000 Kalashnikov rifles this year as well. These will be produced in India under a joint venture.

10th World Future Energy Summit 2020 held in Abu dhabi, UAE
The 10th edition of World Future Energy Summit (WFES)2020 hosted by Masdar renewable energy company, was held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates(UAE) from January 13-16, 2020. The theme for the year 2020 was “Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment”.

• Alongside the World Future Energy Summit, 3rd edition of the Climate Innovations Exchange, ‘CLIX’ for short and the Future Sustainability Summit was also held in Abu Dhabi. The event showcased innovative ideas related to energy, food, agriculture and sustainability in space

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

India’s GDP growth to 5.7% from 7.6% for FY 2019-20: UN WESP
The United Nations has lowered India’s GDP growth rate to 5.7% for the Fiscal Year 2019-20 in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020 report. UN has lowered the growth rate to 5.7% from 7.6% which it projected in its WESP 2019 report.

• UN has also projected India’s growth rate at 6.6% for FY 2020-21 and 6.3% for FY 2021-22. According to the UN, India’s growth rate for FY 2018-19 was 6.8%.

Microsoft vows will be carbon negative by 2030
Microsoft recently announced an ambitious goal and a new plan to reduce its carbon footprint and become carbon negative by 2030.

• By 2030, the technology giant will be carbon negative, and by 2050 the brand plans to remove all the carbon from the environment, the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.

SPORTS

Magnus Carlsen sets world record of  longest unbeaten streak in chess history
Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has stretched his unbeaten run to a record-breaking 111 games after securing a draw in a tournament on.

• The reigning world champion surpassed the 110 classical games undefeated set by Sergei Tiviakov in 2005 after drawing against Jorden van Foreest in the fourth round of the Wijk aan Zee tournament.

Sania Mirza wins WTA doubles title in Hobart
Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after defeating Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final.It was Mirza’s first tournament since leaving the game in 2017 for a maternity break. It is Sania’s 42nd WTA doubles title.

Bahadurpur and Kheri Viran to become India’s first model sports villages
Bahadurpur and Kheri Viran are set to become India’s first ‘Model Sports Villages’ as part of Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad’s plan to evolve a sports culture in the country.

• Under the ‘Adarsh Khel Gram’ program, IMT in association with NGO ‘Sports: A Way of Life’, will evolve sports culture and increase sports literacy in the twin villages.

APPOINTMENTS

Harish Salve appointed Queen’s Counsel for courts of England & Wales
Senior Advocate Harish Salve has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel (QC) for the courts of England and Wales. Salve, along with other persons who have also been appointed to the post, will be formally appointed as QC on 16 March, 2020.

AWARDS

17th edition of Crossword Books Awards held in Mumbai, Maharashtra
In 17th edition of Crossword Book Awards, Twinkle Khanna won the Popular Best Fiction Award for her novel ‘Pyjamas Are Forgiving’ in Mumabi, Maharashtra.
List of Winners:
Fiction:Twinkle Khanna for ‘Pyjamas Are Forgiving’.
Non Fiction:Gaur Gopal Das for ‘Life’s Amazing Secrets’.
Health & Fitness:Dr Jaishree Sharad for ‘Skin Rules’.
Children’s books:Sudha Murty for ‘The Upside Down King’.
Biography:Krishna Trilok for ‘Notes of a Dream: The Authorized Biography of A.R. Rahman’.
Business & Management:Anju Sharma for ‘Corporate Monk’.

Singer Suman & music director Kuldeep Singh to get MP’s Lata Mangeshkar Award for 2017 & 2018 respectively
Noted singer Suman Kalyanpur and music director Kuldeep Singh have been selected for the Madhya Pradesh government’s prestigious National Lata Mangeshkar Award for 2017 and 2018, respectively, in recognition of their contribution in the field of music.Each award winner will get a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, shawl, ‘shreephal’ (coconut) and a citation.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

India’s 1st Sukhoi-30 squadron to be stationed in Thanjavur, TN
The Indian Air Force deployed the 222 squadron, comprising six Sukhoi-30 specially modified fighter jets, each carrying the 2.5 tonne air-launched supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles Thanjavur.

• The squadron, also known as Tigersharks, has been deployed amid China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean region. Thanjavur is the first base in south India for high-profile jets

OBITUARIES

Former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni passes away
Former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni, best known for bowling a record 21 successive maiden overs in a Test match against England, passed away. Nadkarni played 41 Tests in which he scored 1414 runs and grabbed 88 wickets with 6/43 as his best bowling figures.

World’s shortest man Khagendra Thapa Magar passes away
The world’s shortest man who could walk, as verified by Guinness World Records, Khagendra Thapa passed away at a hospital in Nepal. Magar was first declared the world’s shortest man in 2010 after his 18th birthday, and was photographed holding a certificate only a bit smaller than him.

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