Current Affairs January 2020

Important Days of January

➡1st January-Global Family day
➡ 4th January - World Braille Day
➡ 6th January - World Day of War Orphans
➡10th January - World Laughter Day
➡ 10th January - World Hindi Day
➡ 12th January - National Youth Day
➡ 13th of January- Lohri Day
➡ 14th January - Indian Armed Forces Veterans Day
➡ 15th January - 72nd National Army Day
➡ 16th January - Religious Freedom Day
➡ 19th January - National Immunization Day

➡ 21st January - Squirrel Appreciation Day
➡ 24th January - National Girl Child Day
➡ 25th January - National Voters’ Day
➡ 25th January - National Tourism Day
➡ 26th January - 71st Republic day
➡ 26th January - International Customs Day
➡ 26th January (last Sunday of January) - World
Leprosy Day
➡ 27th January - International Holocaust Remembrance
Day
➡ 28th January - Data Privacy Day (Data Protection Day)
➡ 29th January - National Immunization Day
➡ 30th January - National Martyrs' Day

New Appointments :

➡ Jagat Prakash Nadda - National President, Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
➡ A.D.M. Chavali - Member in Advisory Board for Banking & Financial Frauds, Central Vigilance Commission
➡ Ajay Bisaria - Indian High Commissioner to Canada
➡ Amit Talgeri - Chief Risk Officer, Axis Bank
➡ Arjun Munda - President, Archery Association of
India (AAI)
➡Madan Lal & Gautam Gambhir - Members, CAC (Cricket Advisory Commitee).
➡ Suresh Chandra Sharma - 1st Chairman of NMC
(National Medical Commission)
➡ Tasneem Bano - 1st Muslim Woman Mayor, Mysuru
➡ Tsai Ing-wen - President, Taiwan
➡ V K Yadav - Chairman, Railway Board
➡ Zoran Milanovic - President, Croatia

Awards and Honours :

➡ The Order of Australia (Australia's highest civilian honour) - Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon founder)
➡Crystal Award 2020 - Deepika Padukone
➡Champion of Change Award 2019 - Hemant Soren (Jharkhand CM).
➡29th Saraswati Samman 2020 - Vasdev Mohi a Noted Sindhi Writer awarded with 29th Saraswati Samman  for his short stories collection - Chequebook.

ICC AWARDS 2019 WINNERS :

➡ Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Best Cricketer of the Year – Ben Stokes (England)
➡ Test Cricketer of the Year – Pat Cummins (Australia)
➡ ODI Cricketer of the Year – Rohit Sharma (India)
➡ T20I Performance of the Year – Deepak Chahar (India, 6-7 v Bangladesh)
➡ Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Marnus Labuschagne (Australia)
➡ Associate Cricketer of the Year – Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)
➡ Spirit of Cricket Award – Virat Kohli stopping the fans booing Steve Smith at the Oval
➡ David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year – Richard Illingworth
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January 2020 Current Affairs one liners :

➡ 1st Session of India-Norway Dialogue on Trade & Investment (DTI) held in New Delhi.
➡ 25th January 2020 is observed as National Voters’ Day in India with the theme ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger
Democracy’.
➡Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched a mobile app MANI to help visually-
impaired people to identify the denomination of currency notes.
➡ State Bank of India (SBI) introduced OTP-based ATM withdrawals with effect from 1st January 2020
➡The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated all the health and
General Insurance Companies(GICs) to offer 1st of its kind standardised health insurance products (SHIP) in
the name “Arogya Sanjeevani” policy with effect from April 1, 2020.
➡ Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 87th Sivagiri pilgrimage meeting in Sivagiri
Theerthadana Mutt in Kerala.
➡Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has launched the torch relay of the Third Khelo India Youth Games to be held in Guwahati from 10th to 22nd of February.
➡Government has launched a web portal for Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad residents to request tracing and blocking stolen and lost phones.
➡General Manoj Mukund Naravane took charge as the 28th Chief of Army Staff succeeding General Bipin Rawat.
➡The Railways has renamed its security force Railway Protection Force (RPF) as Indian Railway Protection Force Service.
➡-In a bid to reduce the vehicular pollution, Rajasthan Transport Department will observe a 'No Vehicle Day' on the first working day of every month.
➡Kerala and Uttar Pradesh assemblies have approved the extension of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 10 more years.
➡Former India fielding coach Trevor Penney has been appointed as the assistant coach of West Indies cricket team for limited-overs formats.
➡Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 107th National Science Congress in the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru.
➡Indian Space Research Organisation will establish a second launch port in Thoothukodi district of Tamilnadu for small satellite launch vehicles.
➡ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan has announced that four Air Force Personnel have been identified for India's first manned mission Gaganyan.
➡The Indian Railways has integrated its helpline numbers into a single number -- 139 for quick grievance redressal and enquiries by passengers during their train journeys.
➡-The chief of Delhi AIIMS' ENT head-neck surgery department, Professor Suresh Chandra Sharma, was appointed the first chairman of National Medical Commission.
➡Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has been appointed chancellor of Queen’s University in Belfast.
➡ The Reserve Bank of India has revised the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for banks and other lending institutions. New amendments in KYC norms by RBI allows banks and other lending institutions to use “Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP)”.
➡ The Union Government has appointed Michael Debaprata Patra as the Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy
Governor.
➡NITI Aayog has announced that it is to develop the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP)
➡Union Home Minister Amit Shah dedicate the new campus of National Fire Service College (NFSC) in Nagpur.
➡The Indian government decided to allocate spectrum to all telecom operators and equipment makers for the upcoming 5G trials in the country.
➡The State Government of Odisha has launched an online platform called “e-Gazette portal”( http://egazetteodisha.nic.in), a first-of-its-kind initiative in India designed and developed by the NIC(National Informatics Centre) for all departments.
➡63rd National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) 2019 held at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), organized by National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) & MP State Shooting Academy.
➡ Indian mountaineer Malavath Poorna, the youngest girl to have climbed the world’s highest mountain Mt. Everest 5 years ago, accomplished another feat by conquering Mt. Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest
mountain peak (4,987 mts).
➡Union Home Minister has laid the foundation stone of Delhi Cycle Walk project.
➡The government has set a fresh deadline for the completion of the world's highest railway bridge that connects Kashmir to the rest of India by December 2021.
➡ Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced that 4 airports in India have received international recognition for reducing carbon emission. These are Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Kolkata, Biju Patnaik International Airport Bhubaneswar, Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport Varanasi AND Trivandrum International Airport.
➡Union Minister of Steel launched mission PURVODAYA for the development of eastern India through
integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West Bengal. AIM: to transform logistics and utility infrastructure which
would change the socio-economic landscape in eastern India.
➡ Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel launched an exhibition titled “Indian Heritage in
Digital Space” at National Museum, New Delhi.
➡The government has notified that it is to mandate hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts with effect from 15 January 2021.
➡Actress Priyanka Chopra has attained the fourth spot in Yahoo India's Top 20 Most Searched
Personalities of 2019.
➡ Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Nepal Shri K.P. Oli has jointly
inaugurated the second Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Jogbani-Biratnagar
➡The One Nation, One Ration Card scheme will be implemented by 1 June 2020 in India.
➡National Girl Child Day will be celebrated on 24 January in Madhya Pradesh on the theme of “Aware girl
child-able Madhya Pradesh" (Jagruk Balika-Samarth Madhya Pradesh) under the "Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao"
scheme.
➡Andhra Pradesh Government will deliver sand at customers’ door steps, under a new initiative. Demand for sand in the state is 80,000 tonnes a day. It will help address issues of sand scarcity and sand mafia.
➡As per a Jal Shakti Ministry Report, Gujarat is named most water-efficient state, with Rajasthan third and Delhi
among worst states.
➡Australia will host 11th cricket World Cup in Oct 2020.
➡ Book The Story of Yoga: From India to the Contemporary World, written by Scottish cultural historian Alistair
Shearer has been released.
➡President Ram Nath Kovind laid foundation stone to Lakshadweep's first Super Specialty Hospital at Kavaratti.
➡-In Gujarat, the 31st International Kite Festival was launched at the Sabarmati Rriver front in Ahmedabad.
➡Senior IPS officer A P Maheshwari was appointed as Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF).
➡Country’s first e-waste clinic is being opened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.
➡Suresh Kishinchand Khatanhar has taken charge as Deputy Managing Director of LIC- controlled IDBI Bank .
➡Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka have been nominated for the prestigious Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year.
➡The world’s shortest man, Khagendra Thapa Magar, died in Nepal. He was 27.
➡Union minister Arjun Munda was elected as president of the suspended Archery Association of India (AAI) in its much-delayed elections, which were held here smoothly in the presence of three observers.
➡IIT Kharagpur has developed an artificial intelligence-powered method to automate the reading of legal case judgments.
➡Maharashtra Government has launched a ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative.
➡ Two villages namely Bahadurpur and Kheri Viran of Uttar Pradesh (UP) has set to become India’s first
‘Model Sports villages’ as a part of Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad, UP ‘Adarsh Khel
Gram’ program in association with NGO(Non Governmental Organization)‘ Sports: A Way of Life’ to evolve
sports culture and increase sports literacy in the country.
➡Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan launched K-RERA (Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority) to bring transparency in
real estate sector, and boost customer confidence. As per Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, State governments needs to establish RERA for the effective regulations in real estate sectors.
➡Kolkata Police began 3rd edition of its 'Sukanya' project, to provide girls with self-defence training. Girl students of VIII, IX, XI and girls studying in the first year at educational institutions in this area will be part of it.
➡Legendary Indian footballer Chuni Goswami has been honoured with a postal stamp, by Indian Postal
Department. He is 3rd Indian footballer after Gostho Paul (1998) and Talimeren Ao (2018), on whose name a commemorative stamp has been issued by postal department.
➡Reading Preamble made mandatory in Maharashtra schools from Jan 26. Students in schools across Maharashtra
will have to compulsorily read-out the Preamble to the Constitution during their morning assemblies from
January 26 onwards, School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said. The aim of this is to make students aware
of the core values of the Constitution, Gaikwad added. In February 2013, the then Congress-NCP government
issued the same order.
➡Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh launched an e-passport facility for its citizens, which will have an electronic chip with biometric data of passport holder. Bangladesh is first country in South-Asia (and 119th
globally), to provide an e-passport facility to its citizens.
➡India has ranked 34th in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of the World Economic Forum
for the year 2019.
➡Henley Passport Index 2020 has been released. The Indian passport ranked 84th in the world’s most powerful passport index 2020.
➡The coal-belching town of Jharia in Jharkhand to be the most polluted city in India according to a Greenpeace
India Report. Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, known for its rich coal reserves and industries, is the second-most
polluted city in India.
➡India ranked 51st in the Democracy Index 2019.
➡B Sai Deepak set a Guinness World Records for most side lunges in 60 seconds.
➡Kuldeep Yadav became the fastest Indian spinner to claim 100 wickets in ODI during the second match
against Australia in Rajkot.
➡Indian cyclist Esow Alben has bagged a gold in the men’s Keirin individual event of the Six-Day Berlin
Tournament.
➡Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86 meters at the Athletics Central North East meeting in South Africa.
➡Indian women’s team captain Rani Rampal became the 1st-ever hockey player worldwide to win the
prestigious ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ award 2019.
➡Former President Pranab Mukherjee released the autobiography of Yashwant Sinha titled ‘Relentless.
➡Switzerland minted smallest gold coin in world, measuring 2.96-millimeter (0.12-inches) and weighing 0.063 grams. Its nominal value is 1/4 Swiss francs ($0.26).
➡Sanjiv Chadha has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Bank of Baroda
➡Atanu Kumar Das has been appointed MD and CEO of the Bank of India for a period of three
years.
➡India was among the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment in 2019, attracting $49 billion in inflows, according to a UN report released on 20 Jan 2020.
➡The Hindu Group’s STEP, an online certification course, has been selected by the Ministry of HRD and AICTE to be a part of the government’s National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) programme.
➡The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 4.8% for this fiscal year owing to the crisis in the non-banking financial sector and weak rural demand.
➡Samsung is setting up India’s 1st smartphone display manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Delhi.
➡Former principal secretary to the PM, Nripendra Misra, has been appointed chairperson of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).
➡In wrestling, India bagged 7 medals in Rome Ranking Series
➡Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon lifted the Indonesia Badminton Masters 2020 women’s singles title after defeating Carolina Marin on 19 Jan 2020.
➡The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award in Asian Competition section of the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival.
➡Chhattisgarh CM, Bhupesh Baghel has launched an employment-oriented mobile app,‘Rojgar Sangi’.
➡Sakya Singha Sen from National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) Pune, has been awarded “Merck Young Scientist Award 2019”.
➡In Tennis, Sania Mirza and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok have won the women’s doubles title of the WTA International trophy at Hobart in Australia.
➡Scientists have discovered 3 new species of frogs in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
➡Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on 17 Jan 2020 launched the APNA UREA – Sona Ugle brand of Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Limited (HURL) in New Delhi.
➡Reliance Jio has become the largest telecom operator in terms of subscribers with 369.93 million customers.
➡Chennai-based journalist Rukmini S. has won the Likho Awards for Excellence in Media 2019 for an article on attitudes towards homosexuality in India.
➡Ahmedabad- Mumbai Tejas Express, the second premium train to be run by Railway subsidiary IRCTC, was flagged off by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on 17 Jan 2020.
➡IIM Indore on 16 Jan 2020 joined hands with Tik Tok to produce short video modules on management courses for students and trained professionals.
➡Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled a life size statue of Swami Vivekananda at IIM Kozhikode through video conference on 16 Jan 2020.
➡Brazilian officials inaugurated the country’s new Antarctica scientific base on King George Island on 15 Jan 2020, nearly eight years after a deadly fire destroyed most of the previous compound.
➡In Gujarat, the first edition of Krishi Manthan began on 16 Jan 2020.
➡Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani has launched the 7th Economic Census process in the state.
➡The 182-meter tall Statue of Unity in Gujarat has been included in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s ‘8 Wonders of SCO’ list.
➡Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly has adopted a new logo, reflecting the distinct identity and culture of the state.
➡Dr M S Swaminathan and Dr Gutta Muniratnam were chosen as the 1st recipients of Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award for Excellence and Muppavarapu National Award for Social Service, respectively.
➡New Zealand‘s batsman Leo Carter has become the 7th batsman in the history of cricket to smash six 6s in an over.
➡Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the three-day National Traders Convention at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on 6th January.
➡Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai inaugurated the 4th All India Police Judo Cluster Championship 2019, in New Delhi on 3 Jan 2020.The five-day sporting event will be held till 7 Jan 2020.