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SUMMIT/EVENTS/CONFRENCES ETC DELHI

- National Traders Convention organised by Confederation of All India Traders - South Asian Trade and Travel Exchange Expo (SATTE) 2020 - 6th meeting of the Island Development Agency (IDA) - India-Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020 - Conference of the Chief Secretaries and Administrator State and Union Territories on Census 2021 - International Summit on Women in STEM “Visualizing the Future: New Skylines” - NIC Tech Conclave-2020, theme - “Technologies for Next-Gen Governance”

- World Sustainable Summit 2020, theme - ‘Towards 2030: Making the Decade Count’ - Border Coordination Conference between border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh - India will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting 2020.

NORTH

 Jammu - 3rd edition of North Zone Conference’ of Media Units of Information and Broadcasting Ministry  Lucknow - 23rd National Youth Festival 2020  Lucknow - 7th Conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)

WEST

 Pune - Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference (APDRC5) was organised by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)  Lonavala, Maharashtra - India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA)  Gandhinagar, Gujarat - 3rd Global Potato Conclave-2020

SOUTH

 Bengaluru - Women Science - Dr Tessy Thomas who is known as Missile Woman of India graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.  Kochi, Kerala - Global Investors Meet: ASCEND 2020  Kochi - 3rd international symposium on marine ecosystems challenges and opportunities (MECOS-3)

STATE/NATIONAL NEWS Kerala

The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan launched K-RERA (Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority) - to bring confidence and transparency in real estate sectors among the customers

Kerala announces sports awards, Muhammad Anas wins GV Raja award

Andhra Pradesh

CM Jagan mohan reddy inaugurates YSR Aarogyasri scheme at Eluru, Andhra pradesh - free medical treatment to the poor having an annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh & - will also be given Aarogyasri cards. - Free treatment will be provided to the person whose treatment cost is more than Rs 1,000 - will cover 2,059 medical ailments

Andhra Pradesh cabinet approves proposal to abolish legislative council

AP CM launches Rs 6,318 cr ‘Jagananna Amma Vodi’ scheme for indigent mothers - To support lakhs of poor and needy mothers to educate their children - Rs.6318 crore has been released - An annual financial assistance to the tune of Rs.15,000 credited into the accounts of indigent mothers

Telangana

2020 declared as AI year in Telangana, 8 MoU inked - with various companies and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) to make way for technological advancements in the Telangana. The MoU with IIT-KGP is for setting up centre of excellence in AI and research and Development Park

Karnataka

India to set its New World-Class Facility center in Karnataka’s Challakere to train astronauts - ISRO has proposed Rs 2700 crore, to set its young House Space Flight Centre (HSFC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka

- Four pilots of India will train at the “Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre” in Russia for Gaganyaan mission 2022

Tamilnadu

TN’s Fishery and Music universities named after the late CM J Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister (CM) Shri Edappadi K Palaniswami, announced a new scheme for 63 types of green category industries, “Direct Consent to operate (CTO) scheme for green industries” to get faster clearances from government, during the 125th year celebrations of the Confederation of the Indian Industry (CII) held in Chennai, TN

15 new investment proposals worth Rs 6608 cr approved in Tamil Nadu

Maharashtra

‘Cyber Safe Women’ campaign launched in Maharashtra by state cyber police - To mark the birth anniversary of a social reformer, Savitribai Phule - Joint initiative of the Maharashtra state government, Maharashtra Cyber and Maharashtra police.

Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra govt launched 'Shiv Bhojan' scheme - Aim of providing a meal to the poor for Rs.10, on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day.

Maharashtra celebrates January 6, 2020, as State’s Journalists’ Day

Gujarat

Flipkart - MoU – Gujarat State Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd (GSHHDC) - to promote artisans and craftsmen - agreement is a part of Flipkart's “Samarth” initiative & was signed in the presence of Gujarat chief minister (CM) Vijay Ramniklal Rupani at an event held in Rajkot, Gujarat.

10k cameras to be used for 2020 Asiatic lion census in Gujarat

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) opened its first Silk Processing Plant in Surendranagar district of Gujarat to increase the production of Gujarat Patola Sarees. Cost of Rs 75 lakh by Khadi institution where Rs 60 lakh was contributed by KVIC. Patola Sarees are the trademark of Gujarat.

Gujarat to set up Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Center soon

Gujarat CM unveiled world’s 2nd tallest statue of Vallabhbhai Patel in Ahmedabad

- At Sardardham campus near Vaishnodevi circle in Ahmedabad, Gujarat - 50 feet tall weighing 70,000 kilograms was built at a cost of Rs 3.25

Madhya pradesh

Reading preamble of constitution made mandatory in schools of Madhya Pradesh

Chief Minister (CM), Kamal Nath has approved the Mukhya Mantri Karmchari Swasthya Bima Yojana (Chief Minister Employees Health Insurance Scheme) implementation from April 1, 2020, for the welfare of all 12.55 lakh employees of the state. Under this, Rs 5 lakh for general illness and 10 lakh for critical illness & Cashless treatment facility up to Rs 10,000 per annum in OPD (Outpatient Department) will be provided / free medicines will be distributed.

A loan waiver scheme called “Jai Kisan Fasal Rin Maafi Yojana” was also launched.

Haryana

Chandigarh railway station is fifth in the country and first in North India to inaugurate Navigation facilities for 10 Copyright © 2020 BANKERSHALA (spread the knowledge) - All Rights Reserved– DEEPAK BHARDWAJ = CLEARED 6 GOVERNMENT JOBS

visually impaired

Delhi

Delhi CM Arvind kejriwal launches a 10-point shorter election manifesto “Kejriwal Ka Guarantee Card”

Delhi airport gets a new women-only cab service namely "Women with Wheels" - By ‘Sakha cabs’ - All the women drivers have been trained by Azad foundation, partner of Sakha Consulting Wings Pvt Ltd.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh became 1st state to shortlist migrants for citizenship

The Government eMarketplace (GeM) - MoU - Uttar Pradesh (UP) govt to set up GeM Organizational Transformation Team (GOTT) Project Management Unit (PMU)

Uttar Pradesh government announced to build a 121-acre zoo named after Ashfaqullah Khan - Rs.234 crore

Uttar Pradesh government implements 'Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana' for the state's farmers - To provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the farmers’ family in case of a farmer’s death and Rs 2 lakh if a farmer becomes 60% handicapped or more, while working in fields. - The age limit of this full funded UP govt scheme is between 18 to 70 years.

UP govt will implement Mukhyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana to boost tourism in the state. One tourist point will be developed with a fund of 50 lakh rupees in each and every assembly segment of the state.

UPSRTC launched ‘Damini’ helpline service for women in Uttar Pradesh As the extension of ‘Nirbhaya Yojana’ the unique number “81142-77777” has been subscribed for this helpline.

Bihar

1st of-its kind turtle rehab centre comes up in Bihar

- in the Bhagalpur forest division of Bihar, which can shelter 500 turtles at a time.

Orissa

Odisha govt launches India's 1st e-Gazette portal for all gazette notifications CM Naveen Patnaik launches Odisha Police's transformational projects including state's 1st virtual police station

Kolkata Police started 3rd edition of 'Sukanya' project - Provides self- defence training to girls studying in school and colleges of Kolkata city. - In the 3rd batch of the project, 100 city based schools and colleges lying in the Kolkata police jurisdiction were given training. - initiative by the Kolkata Police's Community Policing Wing and is funded by Women and Child Development (WCD) and Social Welfare Department(SWD) of the West Bengal government.

Mizoram

Mizoram set to organize 1st edition of Zo Kutpui festival 2020 in 10 states & US, Myanmar, Bangladesh

Arunachal pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh adopts new logo for the state - Consists of the National Emblem to signify the federal system of the Indian Constitution and the flower foxtail orchid (Rhynchostylis retusa) which represents the state, its people and culture, while the blue colour denotes the autonomy of the assembly secretariat

Jammu and Kashmir

J&K registers highest Inpatient Department (IPD) care in the country

Srinagar declared Open Defecation Free

CM Jai ram launches Himachal MyGov portal & CM app for HP

GOVT SCHEMES

- Eight Crore farmer families benefited under PM Kisan Scheme

- Forest Committee approves Green Credit Scheme to ‘trade’ in forests

- National draft policy on Rare Disease: Govt to provide Rs 15 lakh under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi scheme

- Centre sets up 7-member GoM led by Rajnath singh to review crop insurance scheme-PMFBY

- 70,000 crore rupees has disbursed till January 13, 2020 under MSME loan scheme: Ministry of Finance

Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani launched Yashaswini scheme for 15 Copyright © 2020 BANKERSHALA (spread the knowledge) - All Rights Reserved– DEEPAK BHARDWAJ = CLEARED 6 GOVERNMENT JOBS

Women entrepreneurship at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium in Taleigao town near Panaji district of Goa along with Swasthya Sakhi Project and breast cancer screening initiative. - Yashaswini Scheme: Interest free loans up to Rs. 5 lakhs with tenure of 5 years will be given to women self-help groups by the state government of Goa. - Breast Cancer screening initiative: Women will be screened for breast cancer by the healthcare workers of the state with focus on state’s rural areas. - Swasthya Sakhi Project: A diagnostic kit is given to the healthcare workers which helps them to conduct basic diagnostic tests for people at their doorsteps. - The scheme benefit is limited to people below Poverty Line (BPL) and also 40% of the population eligible as per Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana(AB-PMJAY) norms for treatment in government tertiary hospitals only. Govt also plans to set up National Registry for Rare Diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to create a database of various rare diseases.

‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme will be implemented by June 1, 2020: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan - As of January 1, 2020 the scheme is operational in 12 states across the country which includes Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Tripura, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra,

Telangana. Under this scheme, the beneficiaries will be able to avail their entitled food grain under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from any Fair Price Shop located across India.

Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation(BMGF) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). The MoU is to further strengthen grassroots of institutions for rural poor. - MGNREGA scheme faces fund crunch as 96% funds been spent - Less than Rs. 2500 crore is left to sustain the scheme for the next two months.

Under PMAY-G, centre aims to achieve objective of housing for all by 2022 - Under the 2nd phase of the scheme the eligible people will get one crore 95 lakh houses. Government has set a target of 60 lakh houses for the current financial year-FY 20.

OTHERS NATIONAL NEWS INCLUDING

- 1st Solar section in South Central Railways comes up in Nandyal-Yerraguntla section in Guntakal division of Andhra

- Paytm launches all-in-one QR for merchants to make unlimited payment for free

- Centre accepts SIT recommendations in 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases headed by Justice SN Dhingra

- Arunachal Pradesh becomes the 1st state in India to initiate IUCN’s red-listing of orchids

- Bahadurpur and Kheri Viran(UP) to become India's first model sports villages

- Commemorative stamp of former footballer Padma Shri Chuni Goswami released by Indian Postal Department

- Centre to cut wasteful expenditure on travel and food by 20 % to control fiscal deficit

- For the 1st time, Govt to collect data including families headed by transgenders for census 2021

- Law minister inaugurated NIC’s Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology in Bengaluru, Karnataka

- Supreme Court sets up a panel for draft mediation law headed by mediator Niranjan Bhat

- Panel headed by Amit Shah to create tougher law against sexual harassment at work

- 12th National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme inaugurated in Puducherry

- Andhra Pradesh Cabinet clears the Proposal for three capitals: Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Kurnool

- UAE has been declared ‘reciprocating territory’ by India under section 44A of CPC, 1908

- India’s 1st War Memorial for Service Animals to be set up in Meerut, UP

- IR sets up govt's 1st Waste to energy plant at Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

- NIRDPR ties up with UNICEF, Hyderabad (Telangana) field office to establish 'communication resource unit'

- India supplies 30k doses of Measles and Rubella vaccine to Maldives within 72 hours

- Government sets up 10 chairs to encourage women in research activities on National Girl Child Day, January 24, 2020

- India's first e-waste clinic opens in Bhopal

- Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated India’s 1st Super Fab Lab

- India's first underwater metro, ‘Kolkata metro’ to be opened by March 2022

- ICG commissioned high-speed interceptor boat C-448 in Mangaluru, Karnataka

- SC allows govt to bring African cheetah to suitable wildlife habitat in India

- World’s largest meditation centre opened in Hyderabad, Telangana

- India completely phased out one of the most potent ozone depleting HCFC-141 b chemical

- France to be the guest of honour at 2022 New Delhi World Book Fair

- Assam Rifles builds war memorial “Veer Samriti” in Nagaland for 357 martyrs

- Government creates new Department of military affairs headed by Bipin Rawat

- Pragati Maidan metro station renamed as Supreme Court metro station in New Delhi

- Kerala became 1st State to pass resolution against citizenship Amendment Act

- BEE: New Energy Performance Standards for ACs set; default AC temp at 24°C from Jan 1, 2020

- 1st tri-dimensional expedition ‘Maha-Navy Connect 2020’ launched by Indian Navy in Maharashtra

30% of Poshan Abhiyaan funds used in 3 years as per data shared in parliament - data shared by Minister for Women and Child Development (MoWCD) Smriti Irani in the Parliament, merely 30% of the Poshan Abhiyan funds have been used in 3 years. Apart from Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, none of the state govt has used the fund granted to them in the past 3 years

Overview of PM Modi’s 2-day visit to Karnataka - 3rd installment of Rs 2000 to 6 crore beneficiaries under PM KISAN released - 5 high-tech DRDO labs with under 35year aged scientists inaugurated - TN farmers handed over with deep sea fishing vessels - 107th Indian Science Congress (ISC) inaugurated at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Bengaluru with ISC 2020 theme “Science and Technology: Rural Development”.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has set up a New, Emerging and Strategic Technologies (NEST) division which help to deal with new and emerging technologies by partnering with 5G and artificial intelligence areas of other countries.

Department of Heavy Industries headed by Prakash Javadekar had sanctioned 2636 EV (Electric Vehicles) charging stations in 62 cities across 24 State/UTs under FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) phase II scheme to clean the mobility in Road Transport Sector. It aims to increase the electric vehicle users and also encourage Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) to launch new electric models. FAME India II was started in April 1, 2019 with the total outlay of Rs 10000 crore for a period of three years.

Minister of Home Affairs (MoHA) Shri Amit Shah will head the Group of Ministers (GOM) to discuss and examine the proposed National Tariff Policy 2016. The policy if implemented will bring a major reform in the stressed power sector but is opposing by the state govts and discoms (Distribution Companies) due to clauses like penalties for load shedding.The inter ministerial group will have 10 ministers comprising of 8 ministers in the cabinet rank and 2 ministers with independent charge

Eight States finalized Agriculture Export Policy by the Government of India As per Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), eight states namely Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Punjab, and Karnataka finalized an action plan for Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) to enhance exports. Agriculture Export Policy was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018. It aims to increase the potential of Indian agriculture to make India a global power in agriculture.

National Health Authority (NHA) which is the apex body regulating and implementing ‘Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY);’ has de-empanelled a total of 171 hospitals and also imposed penalty of Rs 4.5 crore on hospitals for committing fraud and indulging in malpractices under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme.

HLC chaired by Amit shah sanctioned Rs 5908 crore to 7 states from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) - A High Level Committee (HLC) led by the Union Minister for Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah, has released Rs. 5908.56 crore to 7 states including Assam, Himachal Pradesh (HP), Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (MP),

Maharashtra, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh (UP) to help in the losses suffered by various disasters in 2019.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel (MoPNG&S) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched PURVODAYA with the aim of driving accelerated development of eastern India through integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West Bengal. The proposed steel hub encompasses of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Northern Andhra Pradesh. The objective of this hub is to enable swift capacity addition and improve overall competitiveness of steel producers in terms of cost as well as quality.

11-member panel headed by K. Rajeswara Rao to chair royalty rate issues on minerals

2nd phase of Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 2.0 begins in Uttar Pradesh - at block level in 35 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) to achieve 90 % vaccination coverage among children under 2 years of age & pregnant women against 8 vaccine preventable diseases(diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles, meningitis and Hepatitis B). It is a nationwide immunization drive to mark the 25 years of Pulse polio program.

Indian Railways installs IP based Video Surveillance System in railway stations to enhance the security

- Indian Railways is in the process of installing Internet Protocol (IP) based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at railway stations. In the last budget Rs 250 crore was allocated to Indian Railways from Nirbhaya funds for installation of VSS in 983 railway stations. In the first phase of installation VSS is being installed at 200 stations

1023 Fast Track Courts under safety of women mission to be set up in 24 states 24 states and union territories (UTs) have joined together to set up a total of 1,023 ‘fast-track special courts’ (FTSCs) to dispose of over 1.60 lakh cases of rape of children below the age of 12 years and women pending in various courts across the country. The FTSC will be set up as part of National Mission for Safety of Women (NMSW). Total financial implication of the project is over Rs 767.25 crore.

Chenab bridge: World’s highest rail bridge by Indian Railways to connect Kashmir to rest of India by 2021 - Government of India set a new deadline for the completion of the world’s highest railway bridge- Chenab bridge. Konkan railway is the implementing agency of this project. The Chenab bridge will be 35m taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched ‘Saksham’ Campaign in New Delhi - a

month long People-centric fuel conservation mega campaign of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA)

Govt allocates Rs 2379 crore for completing Z Morh tunnel in J&K - The 6.5 kilometers long tunnel will provide connectivity to Sonmarg tourist spots in Jammu and Kashmir.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has set up an additional 135 Agri products testing laboratories under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI). Now APEDA recognized Agri products testing laboratories has reached 186 across the Country.

Bengaluru airport first in India to get disabled aircraft recovery equipment An agreement was signed by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) to acquire Disabled Aircraft Recovery Equipment (DARE) to enhance operational capabilities and to reduce downtime during runway emergencies

The Central Government announced the structure of the National Startup Advisory Council, chaired by the Union

Minister of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) Shri Piyush Vedprakash Goyal. The council will provide measures to build a strong ecosystem for new innovations and start-ups in the country.

Uttarakhand has become the first state in India which has made a policy to lease agricultural land. Under this leasing policy, instead of giving land on a 30-year lease, the concerned farmer will get the rent for the land. By this policy any institutions, company, firm or NGO can take farmlands of maximum 30 acres in villages for lease for a period of 30 years and the government land around farm land can be taken for lease by paying the fee with the permission of the District Magistrate.

‘Youth Co:Lab- National innovation Challenge’ was hosted by Atal Innovation Mission and UNDP in New Delhi - Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) NITI Aayog and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosted a three day long Youth Co:Lab -National Innovation Challenge in New Delhi. The programme aims at fostering technology, promoting youth leadership and social entrepreneurship in India. This programme supports young people by catalysing youth-led innovation and empowers them through Youth Co:Lab. Read full details here: ‘Youth Co:Lab- National innovation Challenge’ was hosted by Atal Innovation Mission and UNDP in New Delhi

Govt think-tank NITI Aayog releases its vision for National Data and Analytics Platform NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, a policy think tank of the Government of India (GoI), has released the vision document for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP), which contain the latest datasets from several government departments and will also provide tools for analytics and visualisation of data to stakeholders in a user-friendly manner. The NDAP will take over a period of 1 year for its development process & the 1st version of the platform is expected to be released in 2021. Ministry of Tourism to fund the travel expenses of the tourist who visit 15 destinations of our country in 1 year

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) will fund the travel expenses of the tourist who submits the photos in tourism websites after visiting 15 destinations of our country in a year. It was announced by the Union Tourism Minister, Prahald Singh Patel during the concluding ceremony of the two-day National Tourism Conference held at Konark, Odisha.

Bharat Parv 2020 to be celebrated from 26th to 31st January - Bharat Parv, 2020, the programme to celebrate the Spirit of India, started at Red Fort on January 26, 2020 in New Delhi and will be continued till 31st January, 2020.

Government to release the report of 100 Smarts Cities in June 2020 - The Government of India (GoI) is to release the report card of 100 selected smart cities in June, 2020 as the Smart Cities Mission completes its five year. This report will be released in three categories, namely ease of living index, municipal performance index and climatic index. According to the Ministry, the tender issued for Smart Cities Project is Rs 1,62,000 crore and the value of all completed projects is more than Rs 25,000 crores.

10 more wetlands from India declared as Ramsar sites - India now has a total of 37 Ramsar sites covering an area of 1,067,939 hectares.

As per the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India, Telangana has emergered as Number 1 state in the ‘Decent work and economic growth’ category with the score of 82 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India index in 2019. Telangana was followed by states of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Karnataka together with a score of 72. However, in overall Telangana ranked 3rd after Kerala & Himachal Pradesh.

Indian Railways (IR) undertook the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) project which aims for automatic identification & data collection of rolling stock with focus on improving the safety and reliability. Two works for the RFID project have been sanctioned by the Railway board worth Rs.112.96 Crores where coaches and wagons are to be RFID-tagged.

- Indian Railways launches integrated helpline number 139 for passengers

- DPIIT launches paperless licensing process for petroleum road tankers

- Country’s 1st and biggest ‘walk-through’ aviary inaugurated at Byculla Zoo in Maharashtra

- Indian Navy launched 'Operation Vanilla' to aid the cyclone-hit Madagascar

- 13th edition of International Children’s Film Festival inaugurated at Dhaka, Bangladesh

HM Amit shah 2-day visit to Gujarat; launches project VISHWAS & Cyber AASHVAST in Gandhinagar

- to digitally launch India’s 1st Cyber Crime Prevention Unit called ‘AASHVAST’ (Assured Assistance Service Helpline for Victims at Shortest Time) which is a helpline for cyber crime victims & project VISHWAS (Video Integration and State Wide Advanced Security) to improve the Law and Order

Govt launches Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD) developed by IIT-Madras - will help in proper monitoring and accurate analysis of road accidents - developed with ₹258 crore financial aid given by the World Bank, and implemented by the National Informatics Centre (NIC)

Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC) Shri Prahalad Singh Patel launched the first International Heritage Symposium and Exhibition (IHSE) - exhibition for two days in the National Museum in New Delhi - organized with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi

Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers (MoC&F) Shri Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda launched “APNA UREA – Sona Ugle” brand of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) - In New Delhi.

- HURL is a Joint venture (JV) company of Coal India Limited (CIL), NTPC Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) & Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL) as other two partners.

Seismic Hazard Microzonation project was launched by the Ministry of Earth Science - Aims to reduce the hazards of Seismic activities by taking proper measures in major Indian cities and areas falling under high-seismic Zones IV and V.

PM Modi & Nepal PM Sharma Oli inaugurated 2nd Integrated Check Post Jogbani-Biratnagar ICP built with Indian assistance is spread over 260 acres and the project worth is Rs. 140 crores. It is capable of carrying 500 trucks on a daily basis

INTERNATIONAL

- Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina launched e-passport in Dhaka; South Asia’s 1st and 119th e-passport in the world

- EU moves resolutions against India over CAA, Kashmir

- India and Pakistan exchanged list of Nuclear Installations in their countries

- UNICEF: 2019 concluded as deadly decade for children in conflict; >1.7lac grave violations verified

- Pacific Island Nation Palau becomes first nation in the world to ban ‘reef-toxic’ sun cream - Following Palau, Hawaii will ban sun cream from 2021.

- U.N's decarbonisation target of Shipping industry could cost over $1 trillion: UMAS study

- Guyana takes over the chairmanship of G77 for the year 2020

- India Opens 1st Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre in Niger

- Switzerland mints world's smallest gold coin values ¼ Swiss francs

- Switzerland state-owned Swissmint has minted World’s smallest gold coin of 2.96 millimeter (0.12 inches). The coin featured a face of scientist Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue.

- World Economic Forum (WEF) and its partners have launched 1t.org which is a multistakeholder effort to support efforts to grow, restore and conserve 1 trillion trees around the world in order to restore the biodiversity and help combat climate change

- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the global risk of Noval Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that cause serious illnesses ranging from the common cold to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) from moderate to high.

- Britain unveils new 50 pence coin to mark its departure from EU Britain has unveiled the new 50 pence coin to mark the country’s departure from the European Union (EU). The coin bears the inscription “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” and the Brexit date of 31 January 2020.

- India's crude steel production rose by 1.8 % to 111.2 MT in 2019: World Steel Association (WSA)

- UK Govt launches £4 Million pound Innovation challenge fund in pune, India - aimed to boost industry and academia to collaborate & develop tech solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges in India.

VISITS INDIA VISITS

Overview of Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s 4-day Visit to India - Brazil and India signed 15 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and also signed an action plan to deepen strategic partnership. - Brazilian gunmaker Taurus Armas SA has signed for a joint Venture (JV) with Indian steelmaker Jindal Group to manufacture and sell guns in India. - Bolsonaro was the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations and attended the Parade ceremony at Rajpath in New Delhi. - Piyush Goyal addressed India-Brazil Business Forum in New Delhi- The forum was organised by (Assocham).

- The bilateral trade and work target of $15 billion between India and Brazil was set to be achieved by 2022.

Luxembourg foreign minister Jean Asselborn meets EAM Jaishankar during his 2-day visit to India

FOREIGN VISITS

NSA Ajit Doval’s visit to Sri Lanka; $50mn assistance pledged to SL - Mr Doval met the President of SL Shri Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa

India signs MoU with Tunisia to set up ‘India- Tunisia centre for innovation in information and communication technologies (ICT)’ in Tunisia. Discussions were also held regarding the 4th edition of India-Africa Summit 2020 (IAFS-IV), which scheduled to be held in India in September 2020.

OTHER VISITS

President lays foundation stone of Lakshadweep’s 1st super specialty hospital at Kavaratti

BANKING, FINANCE AND ECONOMY RBI IN NEWS

- Current account deficit (CAD) slips to 0.9% of GDP in July-Sept 2019 from 2.9:RBI

- RBI allows banks to offer round-the-clock forex market operations - The decision has been taken on the lines of the key recommendations of the Task Force on Offshore Rupee Markets headed by Smt. Usha Thorat.

- In order to better manage the stressed UCBs, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its final Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) tightening norms for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs). The revised rules include threshold limits for asset quality, profitability and Capital to Risk-weighted Assets ratio (CRAR). All such actions are taken under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (as applicable to co-operative societies).

- Uttar Pradesh based Shivalik Mercantile became 1st urban cooperative bank to convert to SFB

- India's foreign exchange reserve touches a record level of $457.46 bn during the week ended 27 December 2019

- Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Chief General Manager Yogesh Dayal has issued the directive which curbed Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank, a private bank in Bengaluru, Karnataka from doing business,w.e.f. January 10, 2020, under Sections 35A and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The bank’s savings and current account customers and depositors can however withdraw cash up to Rs 35,000 only till further notice. The directive will remain in force for 6 months.

- Central govt raised India Overseas Bank's authorized capital to Rs 25,000 crore from the previous authorized capital of Rs. 15,000 crores

- In a view of the promotion of digital payments, RBI has permitted processing of e-mandate for recurring payments through UPI (Unified Payments Interface) under Section 10 (2) read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007

- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the aegis of Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee (FIAC) has set up a 5 year plan of formulation of National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) for the period 2019-2024.

- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the 1st time has introduced Aadhaar-based Video Customer Identification Process (V-CIP). This process will allow banks and other lenders to complete the KYC (Know Your Customer) process of customers on video itself.

- RBI tightens norms for debit, credit card issuance & usage to improve security - These directions are issued under Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007) & will come into effect from 16 March, 2020. Under this, now transactions at ATMs (Automated Teller Machine) and PoS (Point of Sale) will be done through domestic cards. RBI also directed banks and other card issuing companies to allow their customers to switch on and off their debit and credit cards.

- India’s central bank i.e., the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been ranked 6th largest buyer of sovereign gold abroad after it purchased 25.2 tonnes in the first 10 months of 2019 according to World Gold Council(WGC) report titled “Outlook 2020: Global economic trends and their impact on gold”. The central banks of China,

Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Poland have purchased more gold than India in 2019. RBI currently holds 625.2 tonnes of gold, that forms 6.6% of its forex reserves.

- Reserve Bank cancels certificate of authorisation of Vodafone m-pesa

- For the 1st time, India central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the minutes of the 579th meeting of Central Board of Directors (BoD) held in Chandigarh on October 11, 2019 as part of the central bank’s transparency initiative.

- RBI hikes short-term debt investments limit for FPI to 30% from 20% - These directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999). Now FPIs can also invest up to Rs 1,50,000 crore through voluntary retention route (VRR) as against the earlier limit of Rs 75,000 crore.

- UCBs hit by around 972 cases of fraud worth Rs 221 crore in past 5 fiscals: RBI

- RBI increased Investment Limits Under Voluntary Retention Route (VRR) to Rs 1.5lakh crore

- RBI appoints Janak Raj as member of the Monetary Policy Committee - Janak Raj has been appointed as the third internal member (ex officio member) of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during it's 581st meeting of the central board in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is the successor of Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra who was appointed as Deputy Governor of RBI. ED Janak is the executive director in-charge of the monetary policy department. MPC consists of 6 members which is headed by RBI governor.

OTHER BANK NEWS

APP NAME LAUNCHED BY

MANI (Mobile Aided Note Shri Shaktikanta Das, 25th Identifier) Governor of Reserve Bank (RBI)

myApps HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Bank

iMobile ICICI

Ask Lakshmi City Union Bank (CUB) Limited

LOANS ISSUED BY BANKS

LOANS ISSUED RECEIVED BY AMOUNT BY

Export-Import Cuba $75 million (over (Exim) Bank Rs 500 crore)

Kfw, Germany Andhra Pradesh Rs.711 crore Development bank

World Bank (WB) Govt. of Assam $88 million -

World Bank (WB) Govt of $210 million Maharashtra

AGREEMENTS & MoU’s SIGNED

BANKS SIGNED WITH KEY NOTES

Bank of Baroda JM Financial to provide retail loans to home buyers

(BoB) Home Loans

Limited (JMFHL)

Paytm CSC e- for selling FASTags

Payments Bank Governance ltd (PPBL) services India

ltd

Indian bank Women to provide training and credit linkage to its women

Entrepreneurs entrepreneurs to establish business.

Welfare Association (WEWA)

State Bank of South Central For ‘doorstep banking’ under which the bank will collect India (SBI) Railway (SCR) earnings generated from all 585 stations of the zone

Zone of Indian Railways

RevFin partners + PNB MetLife - to provide life insurance to its customers

PayPal India - launches - adoption assistance programme for employees

IRDAI: Health insurance cover in the name 'Arogya Sanjeevani' mandatory for insurance companies with effect from April 1, 2020. - Insurance limit: Minimum sum insured will be Rs. 1 lakh while the maximum sum insured limit will be Rs. 5 lakhs. - Eligibility: Any person aged between 18-65 (inclusive of 18 & 65 years of age)

NSE arm launches AI-powered ‘knowledge hub’ to serve financial sector

- inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways & Commerce and Industries.

SEBI extends April 2022 deadline for separation of chairman & MD posts for top 500 listed entities firms - aim is to separate the board and the management of the top companies. The rules to separate the post of Chairman-MD are part of the recommendations of the Uday Kotak (MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank) Committee appointed by SEBI on Corporate Governance.

SBI announces new 'RBBG' scheme; SBI & Sunteck Realty Limited signed MoU on RBBG scheme

Digital payments body NPCI launches blockchain-based 'Vajra platform' to make payments fast & secure - to make payments fast & secure - aims to offer automatic clearing and settlement of payments on NPCI products such as unified payments interface (UPI) and Rupay card - will significantly reduce the need for manual reconciliation.

Airtel joins hands with Bharti AXA to provide Rs 179 prepaid plan with life insurance of Rs 2 lakh

NICL board approves its merger proposal with OICL & UIIC

Bajaj Finserv + Apollo Hospitals - to launch health EMI cards to patients

ICICI Lombard gets IRDAI approval to pilot 5 projects under Regulatory Sandbox

Exim Bank extends $35.80 mn LoC to South American country Suriname for rural electrification

New India Co-operative Bank (NICB) to be converted as Small Finance Bank

IndusInd Bank launches asset management platform "PIONEER"

Western Union joins hands with Airtel payments bank & Airtel Africa for money transfer service - To enable millions of latter’s customers in India to receive international remittances in their bank accounts & and Mobile Wallets across 14 countries in Africa.

NABARD predicts Rs 90,395cr credit potential for Odisha in FY21 - With a hike of around 20% over credit projection of 2019-20. - No charge on UPI, RuPay transactions if MDR is zero: Banks to NPCI

ICICI Bank launches first-of-its-kind 24x7 self-service delivery facility , 'iBox’

Indian Bank launches credit products 'Corporate Loan' & 'Ind Surya Shakthi' for textile sector

ECONOMY ETC

Small savings schemes interest rates unchanged for Jan-Mar quarter of FY 2019-20: FinMin Following are the rates: - Public Provident Fund (PPF)-7.9% - National Savings Certificate (NSC)-7.9%

- Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)-7.6% (113 months maturity) - Sukanya Samriddhi Account-8.4% - 5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme-8.6% - Savings Deposit-4.0% - Term Deposits (1-5 year maturity)-6.9 %-7.7 % - 5-year Recurring Deposit-7.2%

India to place restrictions on non-essential imports from China by March 2020 - Standards for importing of 371 items. - aim of curbing imports of non-essential items such as toys, plastic goods, sports items, and furniture, especially from China

DPIIT: FDI inflows rose 15% to $26 Bn in 1st half of FY2020; Singapore largest FDI source of India

IEA’s India 2020 energy policy review: India to surpass China in terms of oil demand growth by mid-2020s

Retail inflation rose to 7.35% in December 2019, highest in last 5 years : NSO

Department of Telecommunication approves 100% FDI in Bharti Airtel - from 49 percent.

Government of India has decided to sell 100 percent stake of Air India

GoM chaired by Amit shah clears Expressions of Interest (EOI) & share purchase agreement for privatization of Air India

Reliance Jio becomes 1st telecom operator to launch UPI payments feature

Airtel + Google cloud - to bring G Suite to Indian SMBs

BSE signed licensing agreement with ICE Futures Europe

NTPC to develop 300 MW solar power projects in West African country Togo

Google commits $ 1 million grant to NGO Internews for news literacy promotion in India Tata AIG in collaboration with DFI to develop insurance products for drone industry

CONCOR incorporates CONCOR Last Mile Logistics - The authorized share capital of the company is Rs 100 crore.

WTO: Dispute panel set up over India's duty hike on 28 American goods The dispute settlement body of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) has set up a panel to examine complaints of

United States(US) against India for hiking customs duties of 28 American goods in July 2019

SOME SPECIFIC GROUPS/CHANNELS FOR SEBI, RBI, IBPS&RRB, FCI, RBI ASSISTANT AND QUIZ GROUP -

AWARDS, PERSONS IN NEWS Appointments

- Taranjit Singh Sandhu - Indian Ambassador to the United States - succeeds Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla. - Andhra Pradesh government-appointed Dr Kritika Shukla and M Deepika, as Special Officers for implementing the Andhra Pradesh Disha Act 2019. - Abhinav Kumar, Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF), up to June 27, 2021, in relaxation of IPS Tenure Policy. - Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed its Executive Director Janak Raj as member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) - replace MD Patra - AIIMS’ Prof Suresh Chandra Sharma - 1st Chairman of National Medical Commission. Rakesh Kumar Vats - secretary of National Medical Commission. - Former DG of CRPF Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar - Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. - M Nagaraj - Chairman and Managing Director of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco). - Michael Debaprata Patra -Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India. 54 Copyright © 2020 BANKERSHALA (spread the knowledge) - All Rights Reserved– DEEPAK BHARDWAJ = CLEARED 6 GOVERNMENT JOBS

- Anand Prakash Maheshwari - head of “Central Reserve Police Force“- replaces Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar. - Arjun Munda - President of the Archery Association of India (AAI). - Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Sunil Arora has replaced KM Nurul Huda, the present Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh, as the Chairman of Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) for the year 2020.

- Prime Minister of Slovenian Marjan Sarec announced his resignation

- Shipping Corporation of India Chairperson & Managing Director - Harjeet Kaur Joshi - Chemist Bipul Behari Saha - bureau member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) for the period 2020-23. - Lt Col Yuvraj Malik - Director of the National Book Trust - Nripendra Misra - chairperson of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND CEO, MD ETC

- Lingam Venkat Prabhakar - (MD) & (CEO) of Canara Bank. - Sanjiv Chadha - (MD) & (CEO) of Bank of Baroda. - Atanu Kumar Das - (MD) & (CEO) of Bank of India. - Challa Sreenivasulu Setty - Managing Director of the State Bank of India.

- V K Yadav - Chairman of Railway Board

- Sunil Mehta - CEO of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) - replace VG Kannan

AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS

- Sucheta Satish - won the 100 Global Child Prodigy Award - for singing in most languages during one concert and the longest live singing concert by a child. - Aayushi Dholakia - Miss Teen International 2019 - Jasbinder Bilan - UK based Costa Children’s Award 2019 - for her debut novel ‘Asha and the Spirit Bird’. - 10-year-old British Indian yoga boy Ishwar Sharma - wins Global Child Prodigy Award

- Dr M S Swaminathan - first recipients ‘Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award for Excellence’ - for his distinguished contribution to the field of agriculture. - Scientist Sakya Singha Sen from National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) - “Merck Young Scientist Award 2019” - for doing remarkable research in chemical science. - HealthSetGo CEO Priya Prakash - wins Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award 2019 - for her school health program that provides healthcare support to children. - The chairman of “The Hindu Group” N. Ram - outstanding media person in a national award instituted by Kerala Media Academy. - Dr N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University - ‘Harit Ratna Award 2019’. - Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee - honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by Calcutta University at its annual convocation in Kolkata. - Sanjana Kapoor - prestigious French honour of ‘Chevalier dans lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) - for her outstanding contribution to the field of theatre. - Piyush Jaiswal - Global Bihar Excellence Award 2019. - Malavath Poorna: 1st and youngest tribal women in the World to scale 6 mountain peaks in 6 continents

- Britain's Prince William Arthur Philip Louis (37) unveils prize for climate innovation - Pavan Sukhdev and Prof. Gretchen C. Daily - Tyler Prize 2020 for Environmental Achievement - Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: 4th Indian to receive highest Australian civilian honour

- Puri, Odisha has been awarded for its initiatives for plastic waste management with the Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019. - 18th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF): ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award in Asian Competition section

- President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2020 to recognize the exceptional achievements of children in various fields like innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts and culture, sports and bravery. - The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind presented the 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi - to honour journalists across the country from print, broadcast and digital media. - Uttarakhand, Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (in the institution category) and Kumar Munnan Singh (individual category) - Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2020.

- The Union Ministry of Science and Technology have awarded Swarna Jayanti Fellowships to 14 scientists - Singular 'they' voted - word of the decade by US linguists - 2020 Swachhata Darpan plastic management awards - conferred by actor Aamir Khan in New Delhi - Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) under Ministry of Jal Shakti, organised the ODF (Open Defecation Free) sustainability workshop in New Delhi. - Forbes India's "20 people to watch in 2020" list: 7 Indians featured; Indian origin Hassan Minhaj from US tops - 'Samvidhaan' - Oxford Hindi Word of the Year for 2019 - Assam, Jal Shakti Mission & NDRF wins the best tableaux awards for 71st Republic Day Parade 2020

ACQUISITIONS/MERGERS/MOUS

ORG. MOU WITH REMARKS

The Indian Russia over 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles

Army (IA)

India Bangladesh field of Information and Broadcasting along with content

exchange programme between All India Radio (AIR) and Bangladesh Radio Betar

India Bangladesh to upgrade the 50.58 kilometer long Ashuganj-Akhaura

road into a 4-lane highway

Union Territory (NITI) Aayog to promote the development of infrastructures in the

(UT) of Ladakh recently developed UT through ‘Development Support

Services to States for Infrastructure Projects (D3S-i or DSSS for Infrastructure Projects)’.

Assam Representatives to boost peace in the Northeastern state of Assam.

of the banned

National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)

Hindustan Wipro 3D to jointly design, develop and manufacture aerospace

Aeronautics components using metal additive technology

Limited (HAL)

Indian Institute (ISRO) To establish an Optical telescope under ‘Project NETRA’

of Astrophysics (NEtwork for space object TRacking and Analysis) for (IIA) tracking space objects

Indian Oil National For the implementation of Ghana’s National LPG (Liquified Corporation Petroleum Petroleum Gas) Promotion Policy.

(IOC) Authority

(NPA) of Ghana Oil Regulator

Ursula von der Charles Michel, Signed the Brexit deal agreed in the month of October Leyen, European 2019

Presidents of Council

European Commission

OTHER MoU’s & AGREEMENTS

Indian Navy Signs MoU for offshore Data with Geological Survey of India

- for Naval application in Meteorology and Oceanography.

Russia to deliver five S-400 air defence systems to India by 2025 - $5.43 billion deal - Union Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Shri Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, will visit Russia on March 22&23 to attend the Russia-Indian-China(RIC) trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Vladivostok, Russia

IAF chief formally inducted Dornier 228 aircraft into No. 41 Squadron in New Delhi

Visakhapatnam to host naval exercise 'MILAN' in March 2020 - theme - ‘Synergy Across the Seas’. - will be hosted by Eastern Naval Command (ENC) - aims to enhance professional interaction between foreign navies - 41 navies of different countries were invited so far, of which 30 navies have confirmed their participation in MILAN 2020.

Defence Ministry approves procurement of military hardware worth Rs. 5,100 crore

Rajnath Singh dedicated 51st K9 Vajra-T guns to nation; $26 billion turnover by 2025 in Defence Production

Indian Army to induct Artillery gun 'Sharang' by March 31, 2020

INS Kavaratti is set to be delivered to Indian Navy by the Defence PSU GRSE

DRDO to showcase indigenously-developed military systems at DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow UP Indian Railways - MoU – RailTel - for Phase 2 execution of e-office

Election Commission of India(ECI) and Mauritius renewed MoU on cooperation in electoral management

Amit Shah signs historic Bru-Reang refugee agreement in New Delhi; around 34,000 refugees to be settled in Tripura

ACQUISITION & MERGERS

- Mastercard acquires RiskRecon - to strengthen its cybersecurity front

- Flipkart former CEO Sachin Bansal acquires DHFL General Insurance for Rs 100 crore

- Digital payment firm PayU India acquires Paysense for $185 mn

- HDFC acquired Apollo Munich Health Insurance for Rs 1,495.81 crore; named as HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Ltd

- Equifax inks pact to acquire 100 % stake in its Indian JV- Equifax credit information services for Rs 370 crore

- Food delivery startup Zomato acquires Uber Eats in all-stocks deal for $350 mn

- Adani group’s NBFC Adani Capital acquired Essel Finance’s MSME loan business

SPORTS NEWS

- Indian Consulate defeated the Pakistan Consulate to won the Diplomat Cup Cricket Championship of 2020 held in Sharjah - Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were the only Indians in Wisden’s T20 International team of the decade. - Jasprit Bumrah will receive the BCCI’s prestigious Polly Umrigar Award for his super performance in international cricket in the 2018-19 season. - Irfan Pathan announced his retirement. - Krishnamachari Srikkanth will be the recipient and former India women’s captain Anjum Chopra is the co- recipient of the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by BCCI.

- Manav Thakkar became world no.1 in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings in the Under-21 men’s singles category.

- Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy wins the World Women’s Rapid Chess Championship held in Moscow, Russia.

- India’s P Magesh Chandran - 95th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress - Hastings in England.

- Assam Chief Minister has launched the torch relay of the Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati, Assam. - The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has withdrawn its boycott call for the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham - Chief Executive Officer of “Khelo India Games” has announced that “Lawn bowls” and “cycling” will be included in the 3rd edition of Khelo India Games. - 1st edition of Khelo India University Games will held at the KIIT University in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

- The 5th National Ice Hockey Championship -2020 - Leh, Ladakh. - Ladakh women team beats Delhi team to win the 7th National Ice Hockey Championship women trophy.

- 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.

- Indian cyclist Esow Alben - gold in the men’s Keirin individual event of the Six-Day Berlin Tournament.

- Saurabh Chaudhary - men’s 10 metres air pistol gold medal at the 63rd National Shooting Championship in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. - Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela - gold medal in 10m air rifle event in womens category of Meyton Cup held in Austria. - Divyansh Singh Panwar - gold medal in 10m air rifle event in mens category of Meyton Cup held in Austria

- Italian footballer Daniele De Rossi - retirement.

- Indian women weightlifter Sarbjeet Kaur has been banned for 4 years from the sport by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA).

- Vinesh Phogat - 53 kg event gold medal - Rome Ranking Series in Rome. - Anshu Malik - silver medal in the 57kg - Rome Ranking Series in Rome.

- World no. 1 ranked Japanese badminton player Kento Momota won the Malaysia Masters 2020 title. - Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon - Indonesia Badminton Masters 2020 women’s singles title - Jakarta, Indonesia.

- Paralympian Deepa Malik, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, shooter Anjali Bhagwat, footballer Renedy Singh, mountaineer Bachendri Pal and cricketer Harbhajan Singh have been inducted into the government’s All India Council of Sports (AICS). - The World Archery has conditionally lifted the suspension on India and hence enabled the Indian Archers to represent India in the upcoming International tournaments. - The Rowing Federation of India has lifted the ban over Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal - Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs and Government of Goa organised the ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ in Panaji, Goa - Rubigula’, Flame-Throated Bulbul, - official mascot for the Goa 2020 National Games in Panaji, Goa.

OBITUARIES ENTERTAINMENT

- Odia filmmaker - Manmohan Mohapatra - Veteran South actress - Jameela Malik

POLITICS/POSITIONS ETC

- Former Governor of Karnataka - T N Chaturvedi - NDPP leader and Nagaland Assembly Speaker - Vikho-o Yhoshu

- The longest serving ruler of Oman - Sultan Qaboos bin Said

POET/ARTIST/JOURNALIST ETC

- Odissi Danseuse & Padma Shri awardee - Minati Mishra - Noted artist and sculptor - Sher Singh Kukkal - Eminent Assamese linguist and academician - Golok Chandra Goswami - Famous social worker, environmentalist, educationist & writer - Tushar Kanjilal

- Social activist, feminist writer and journalist - Vidya Bal - The pontiff of Pejawar Mutt - Vishwesha Tirtha Swami - Eminent Assamese dramatist, litterateur and social activist - Ratna Ojha

SPORTS

- Former Indian women’s hockey team captain - Sunita Chandra - Former India legendary all-rounder - Bapu Nadkarni - Former Indian Test batsman and National selector - Man Mohan Sood - National Basketball Association (NBA) legend - Kobe Bryant with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

IMPORTANT DAYS

- World Braille Day - 4 January - to raise awareness of the importance of Braille

- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) - 9th January

- World Hindi Day - 10th January

- National Youth Day - 12 January.

- Armed Forces Veterans Day - 14th January.

- Indian Army Day - January 15 in India every year - The India Meteorological Department (IMD) - 145th Foundation Day on 15 January.

- I25th of January - National Voters’ Day, theme - ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy’.

- International Day of Education - 24th January, theme ‘Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace’. - National Girl Child Day - 24th January.

- World Leprosy Day - Jan 30, theme - “Leprosy isn’t what you think”.

COMMITTEES/ REPORTS/MEETINGS

MEETING NAME VENUE REMARKS

Raisina dialogue New Delhi During the meet, India has been selected to host the SCO’s

Meet 2020 annual meeting of council of heads of government for the

1st time

32nd PRAGATI Shri Narendra Modi chaired and discussed progress of (Pro-Active several projects in New Delhi. PM Modi reviews 9 delayed Governance and New Delhi projects of three central ministries, costs Rs 24,000 crores

Timely Implementation) meeting 2020

Global Investors Rs 1 lakh crore worth investment proposals were received Meet – ASCEND Kochi, Kerala consisting of wage subsidy scheme which will be provided

2020 for the first 5 years for new ventures getting registered on April 1, 2020

6th Meeting of New Delhi AMIT SHAH CHAIRED, To review the progress made

Island towards “Holistic development of islands

Development Agency (IDA)

50th World Davos-Klosters, World losing trust in climate science;Indians tops trust

Economic Forum Switzerland chart: The new public opinion poll was published in the

(WEF) annual WEF for climate education and meet 2020 urgent upskilling

INDEX

INDEX / SURVEY RELEASED BY / REMARKS NAME CONDUCTED BY

State-wise Ministry of Top Ranking States: Horticulture Agriculture & 1. West Bengal (WB) production data Farmers’ 2. Uttar Pradesh

Welfare

India’s energy International Top 3 Ranks policies 2020 Energy Agency 1. IOCL

(IEA), 2. ONGC partnership with 3. NTPC

NITI Aayog

Index of National Index Growth in manufacturing sector has resulted in industrial Statistical Office 128.4 in November 2019, which is 1.8 % higher as production (IIP) (NSO) compared to the level 126.1 in the month of November

2020 2018

National Crime National Crime 50 lakh crimes have been registered in 2018 which is Record Bureau’s Record Bureau’s 1.3% more than that of 2017 (NCRB) report (NCRB)

2018 Top 2 States 1. Uttar Pradesh (UP) 2. Rajasthan

5th Swachh Shri Hardeep event held in New Delhi Survekshan Singh Puri, Top 3 Ranks: 2020 Union minister 1. Indore, (MP)

of State (MoS- 2. Bhopal, (MP) Independent 3. Surat, (Gujarat)

Charge) Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)

NITI Aayog NITI Aayog based on the progress made in 5 development areas in

ranking of 112 aspirational districts across India in December 2019 aspirational

districts Top 3 District:

1. Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh 2. Balangir, Odisha 3. Y.S.R., Andhra Pradesh

3rd Transparency Top 3 State: Transparency In International’s 1. Assam Budgetary India (TII) 2. Odisha

Process Report 3. Andhra Pradesh (AP)

9th Tomtom Dutch Bengaluru (Karnataka) emerged as the worst traffic Traffic Index multinational congested cities in the world 2019 developer &

creator of Top 3 City: location 1. Bengaluru (Karnataka), India technology and 2. Manila, Philippines

consumer 3. Bogota, Colombia electronics Tomtom

Corruption Transparency India ranks 80 out of 180 countries with a score of 41 Perception International out of 100. Last year India’s rank was 78

Index 2019

Top 3 Country: 1. Denmark , Newzealand 3. Finland

World India ranked 78th with a score of 45.0 and got yellow Breastfeeding colour code and Libya ranked last (97th) with red colour Trends Initiative WBTi code.

(WBTi) survey Top 3 Country:

2020 1. Sri Lanka 2. Cuba 3. Bangladesh

SKOCH State of SKOCH Top 3 Star states:

Governance 1. Gujarat report 2019 2. Maharashtra

3. West Bengal

12th Democracy Economist India has slipped 10 ranks to 51st spot with the score of Index 2019 Intelligence Unit 6.90.North Korea is at the bottom with 167th place with

(EIU) 1.08 points.

Top 3 Country: 1. Norway with the score of 9.87 2. Iceland with the score of 9.58 3. Sweden with the score of 9.39

Global Talent Institut India has moved up eight places to the 72nd position Competitiveness Europeen from 80th position in GTCI 2019. Index (GTCI) d'Administration Top 3 Country: 2020 des Affaires 1. Switzerland

(INSEAD) 2. United States

3. Singapore

1st Global Swiss private India’s financial capital Mumbai was ranked last (28th) Wealth and bank Julius Baer in a list of the world’s 28 most expensive cities for

Lifestyle Report luxury living. 2020 Top 3 City:

1. Hong Kong 2. Shanghai (China) 3. Tokyo (Japan)

23rd PwC’s World Economic Top 3 country: Annual Global Forum (WEF) 1. United States

CEO Survey 2. China

3. Germany

Global Knight Frank Hyderabad has ranked 14th among 150 cities in the

Residential World with an appreciation of 9% in residential prices Cities Index Q3 on a YoY (Year-over-Year) basis. (Quarter) 2019 Top 3 City:

1. Budapest in Hungary with the highest annual growth rate of 24% 2. Xi’an in China at 15.9% 3. Wuhan in China 14.9%.

1st The Global World Economic The global social mobility index (GSMI) of 82 countries Social Mobility Forum (WEF) were launched in this report. As per the Index, India

Report 2020: ranked at the 76th position with a score of 42.7. Equality, Top 3 Country: Opportunity 1. Denmark and a New 2. Norway Economic 3. Finland

Imperative

Global World Health 13 health challenges in this decade were also identified. challenges for Organisation Top global challenges: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), 2020 (WHO) climate crisis, eventuality of an influenza epidemic and

spread of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) and tuberculosis (TB) were listed as the top global health challenges for 2020.

Henley passport Henley & Indian passport ranked at the 84th spot Index 2020 Partners

Top 3 Country for Most Powerfull Passports: 1. Japan 2. Singapore 3. Germany and South Korea

World Travel, World Economic India was ranked at 34th place in World Economic Tourism Forum (WEF) Forum (WEF)’s World Travel, Tourism Competitiveness

Competitiveness Index. Yemen was ranked last in the index at 140th Index (TTCI) position. 2019 Top 3 Ranks:

1. Spain 2. France 3. Germany.

APPS & WEB PORTALS

APPS / WEB NAME LAUNCHED BY REMARKS

HousingForAll.com Ministry of To facilitate home buyers in identifying

Housing genuine properties and to bring transparency

in the sector by offering only certified projects.

www.cybercrime.gov.in Amit Shah to report cyber crimes online while I4C, built

with an outlay of Rs. 415.86 crore

www.modnoc.ncog.gov.in Rajnath Singh, For undertaking aerial photography/remote

Defence Minister sensing survey with the final permission of

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

Telangana Red Cross President of India Developed by the Telangana Centre for Good

Governance. Access to blood bank and red

Cross membership will be made easy through this app

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & SAIL SERVICE Steel Shri Launched a scheme under Steel Authority of

Dharmendra India Limited (SAIL), “SAIL Employee Pradhan Rendering Voluntarism and Initiatives for

Community Engagement (SAIL SERVICE)” to promote and facilitate Voluntary Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by the employees.

Very Good Morning Mrityunjay Singh to reduce the crimes against women.By

and Priya Rai, pressing the mobile’s power button thrice the

students of app sends the location of the mobile number Indian Institute to the police emergency number

of Technology (IIT) Banaras Hindu University (BHU)

Rojgar Sangi Bhupesh Baghel, An employment-oriented mobile app

Chhattisgarh(CM)

Dr. Jitendra Launched the Bhuvan Panchayat Version V Singh, Union 3.0 web portal in Antariksh Bhavan V 3.0 Minister of State Bengaluru, Karnataka to support Gram

(Independent Panchayat Development planning in the

Charge) Ministry country of Development of North Eastern Region

GATI Nitin Gadkari, GATI will be used to monitor around 500

Minister for Road projects of Rs 3 Lakh Crore

Transport and Highways (MoRTH)

Festivals

- 4th Buxa bird festival 2020 commenced in West Bengal

- 23rd National Youth Festival 2020 held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

- Nagoba Jatra festival celebrated in Telangana

- Mizoram sets to celebrate ‘Chapchar Kut’ festival on March 6, 2020

- Ritualistic Festival ‘Lai Haroba’ - Tripura

- Magh Bihu festival celebrated in Assam

- 1st ever 2-day long “Innovation festival” was organised by Arunachal Pradesh govt at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh

- 31st International Kite Festival launched in Ahmedabad, Gujarat - Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has inaugurated the colourful kite festival in the presence of Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat on this occasion.

- Eight North-Eastern states to celebrate Madhavpur Mela in Gujarat on 2nd April 2020 - Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) chaired a high- level meeting for the preparation of the annual festival, Madhavpur Mela, which will be held at Madhavpur Ghed in Porbandar

- 5th edition of Science Film festival 2020 held in Panaji, Goa - Inaugurated by Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Pandurang Sawant

- 13th Jaipur Literature Festival began in Jaipur, Rajasthan - inaugurated by Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlot - Author Ashwin Sanghi launched his book 'The Vault of Vishnu' - Renowned poet and literary critic Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was awarded 5th edition of the Mahakavi Sethia Award for poetry during JLF 2020.

- The Indian Railways has decided to provide ‘Content on Demand Service (CoD)’ on trains and railway stations from 2022 – Will be implemented by RailTel Corporation of India and Zee Entertainment's subsidiary Margo Networks Private Limited will act as Digital Entertainment Service Provider (DESP).

DEFENCE/EXERCISES

The Central Industrial Security Force will observe 2020 as the ‘year of mobility’

• India and Oman - exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ - Mormugao Port, Goa.

• Indian Navy starts 1st Maha-Navy Connect 2020 Tri-Dimensional Expedition from Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant will be commissioned by early 2021 into Indian Navy and will be fully operated by 2022.

• India has deployed its aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in Arabian Sea amid the Pakistan-China naval exercise “Sea Guardians” taking place in North Arabian Sea.

• The Indian Air Force has inducted its 1st squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft carrying the BrahMos missiles, in the South at its Thanjavur based in Tamil Nadu.

• India has successfully test-fired nuclear-capable K-4 ballistic missile at Vizag coast in Andhra Pradesh. The missile was developed by the DRDO with a range of 3,500-kilometre.

• Indian Navy has launched “Operation Vanilla” to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief at Madagascar.

• The Assam Rifles has constructed a combined war memorial in Nagaland.

• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned a high-speed interceptor boat C-448 in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

• The 9th edition of joint military training exercise between India-Bangladesh SAMPRITI-IX will be conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya.

• Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone of Directorate General Building of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in New Delhi. The Home Minister also launched a new logo “Garud” for those engaged in providing security to the common man and VIPs.

BOOKS

- A book ‘Karmayoddha Granth’ on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was released.

- Former President Pranab Mukherjee released the autobiography of Yashwant Sinha titled ‘Relentless

SCIENCE/TECH

• ISRO launch GSAT-30 satellite onboard Ariane-5 launch vehicle (VA 251) - from French Guiana

• ISRO has unveiled ‘Vyommitra’ or “friend in the sky” a half-humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission.

• France will train Indian flight surgeons for the ambitious human space mission Gaganyaan.

• The ‘Innovation Festival’ kicked off at the Science Centre in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that it is preparing low-cost satellite launch vehicles costing around 30-35 crores each. ISRO to set its 2nd launch port in Thoothukodi district of Tamil Nadu

ISRO sets its fourth RAC-S in Karnataka - ISRO has set its first RAC-S in Jaipur, second at Guwahati and third at Kurukshetra.

Two Coast Guard ships Annie Besant and Amrit Kaur commissioned at Kolkata

Shopper malware affects 14.23% Indian users: Kaspersky report

India lands Light Combat Aircraft Tejas on INS Vikramaditya for the first time

H9N2 virus: Indian scientists detect India's 1st case of infection in Maharashtra

A 17-year-old intern at NASA, Wolf cukier discovers new planet ‘TOI 1338b’ 1300 light years away

IOC launches special NATO class diesel for Indian Navy

NASA Discovers Potentially Habitable Earth-Sized World “TOI 700 d” in Star's 'Goldilocks' Zone

Gaganyaan Mission: ISRO to launch “Indian Data Relay Satellite System” (IDRSS) satellites for space communication purpose

- IDRSS For Gangayaan Mission: It consists of 2 satellites, which will be deployed in phases. The 1st one planned to launch by the end of 2020 to track. Then the 2nd IDRSS satellite will be launched in 2021, which will set the platform for the main mission launch in 2022. • 4 astronauts have been selected from the India Air Force (IAF) for India's first manned space mission 'Gaganyaan', a Rs 10,000-crore project. The training will be provided to these astronauts in Russia in the third week of January 2020 after the medical test.

LIGO detects collision of neutron stars for the 2nd time

WHO: TB diagnostic test ‘TrueNat’ developed in India has high accuracy

Xenobots: World’s first living, self-healing robots

In a 1st, Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) to use face recognition app in 2020 Telangana Municipal polls on pilot basis

Revamped police communication services POLNET 2.0 was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai

World’s oldest ever mushroom fossil discovered in Congo, Africa

New mission launched by NASA & ESA to take first pics of Sun’s poles

Qualcomm launches 3 new chipsets – Snapdragon 720G, 662 &460 with Indian GPS system NavIC

NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) Launched ‘Searching the missing persons’ & ‘Generate Vehicle NOC’ services.

- Paddlefish of China’s Yangtze River, declared as extinct

- Red brittle star "Ophiocoma wendtii" becomes the 2nd creature to exhibit extraocular vision : UK scientists

- Three new frog species discovered in Arunachal Pradesh - named as ‘Liurana himalayana’, ’Liurana indica’ and ‘Liurana minuta’.

- Meteorite Contains the Oldest Material On Earth: 7-billion-year-old Stardust

- ZSI documents another new snake eel species “Ophichthus kailashchandrai” in Odisha

- New meat-eating Dinosaur species Allosaurus jimmadseni found in Utah, US

IITs in news Researchers at IIT-H develops essential-oil-based drug carrier to treat fungal diseases

OPPO signs MoU with IIT Hyderabad for research on 5G, AI

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