DAILY CURRENT DEVELOPMENT – 26.01.2019 TO 28.01.2019 NATIONAL Bharat Parv begins at Red Fort in Delhi Director General of Ministry of Tourism Shri Satyajeet Rajan has inaugurated the six-day cultural extravaganza Bharat Parv (4th edition) at Red Fort in Delhi, as part of the Republic Day 2019 celebrations. The objective of the event is to generate a patriotic mood, promote the rich cultural diversity of the country and to ensure wider participation of the general public. The Bharat Paris also hosting Theme State Pavilions where each State showcases its strength along with its tourism products. Ministry of Defence launched ‘RDP INDIA 2019′ app Ministry of Defence has launched a mobile app „RDP India 2019‟ with the intent of making available the highlights of the Republic Day event (Parade on Rajpath) New Delhi. It is a new initiative in sync with the Digital India campaign of the Government. India celebrates 70th Republic Day India celebrates 70th Republic Day today honouring the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950 replacing the Government of India Act (1935). President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa is the chief guest for this year‟s Republic Day parade.. TRAI firm on new DTH tariffs from 1st February The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has expressed confidence that service providers will be able to get options from all their subscribers within a week, even though only 40% customers have registered their channel choices under the new tariff guidelines that kick start from February 1. TRAI Chairman R.S.Sharma said that the regulator is unlikely to extend the February 1, 2019, deadline for implementation, as there have been no requests from stakeholders for an extension. He stressed that the new regulation, which makes it mandatory for the service provider to offer every channel on a la carte basis, for the first time, will ensure, that customers pay only for the channels they watch and also know the price of the channel. INTERNATIONAL Sultan Abdullah named as King of Malaysia. Pak declares Sugarcane juice as national drink. BILATERAL India, South Africa to revise and update Strategic Partnership India and South Africa will update their Strategic Partnership by agreeing on a comprehensive “roadmap” on the way ahead, as well as relaxing visa restrictions during South African President Cyril Ramaphosa‟s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Republic Day. The partnership would be reviewed and updated with a three-year plan of action on security cooperation, trade, and investment, tourism, harnessing the „blue economy‟, maritime cooperation, agriculture, science, and technology projects. ECONOMY 'Roshni’ to help visually impaired identify notes The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has developed an Android app „Roshni‟ that would help the Visually Impaired to recognise currency notes. The Roshni app can recognise both old and new notes and gives audio information as to which note you are holding in your hands. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY CURRENT DEVELOPMENT – 26.01.2019 TO 28.01.2019 There are about 80 lakh visually impaired people in the country, who will benefit from the initiative. The Roshni is the first Android App that works successfully with new INR currency notes. The user must bring the currency note in front of the phone camera and the App would give an audio intimation about the currency note denomination to the user. IRDAI sets up a panel to identify systemically important insurers Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has set up a panel to identity Domestically Systemically Important Insurers (SII) and put in place an enhanced regulatory framework for them. SIIs are perceived as insurers that are „too big to fail‟. The committee headed by Pravin Kutumbe, Member-Finance & Investment, IRDAI, has been asked to submit report in six months. PERSON IN NEWS Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed Regional Director for World Health Organization South-East Asia, for a second five-year term. Obituaries Oscar-winning French composer Michel Legrand passed away Oscar-winning French composer Michel Legrand (86-years) passed away. Legrand wrote over 200 film and TV scores, as well as songs (Known for his often jazz-tinged music). In 1969, he won the first Oscar for the song „The Windmills of Your Mind‟ from the film „The Thomas Crown Affair‟. This was followed with Oscars for his music for „Summer of ‟42‟ (in 1972) and for „Yentl‟ (in 1984). AWARD 48 people conferred with Jeevan Raksha Padak awards The President of India approved the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards – 2018 on 48 people, eight of them posthumously. The Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are conferred for the meritorious act of human nature in saving the life of a person. They are given under three categories: Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak. People of all walks of life are eligible for these awards. This year, the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak was given to 8 people, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 15 and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 25 people. Among these, 8 awards were conferred posthumously. Bharat Ratna 2019: Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, Bhupen Hazarika conferred with highest civilian honour The President, Ram Nath Kovind conferred the 2019 Bharat Ratna Award, country's highest civilian honour, on former president Sj. Pranab Mukherjee. The award was also conferred on RSS ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh and singer Bhupen Hazarika, both posthumously. Sj. Pranab Mukherjee, who was the 13th President of India and served from 2012 until 2017. He was also the Finance Minister under the premiership of Manmohan Singh and held many important ministries during congress rule. Sj. Nanaji Deshmukh, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 94, was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1977 to 1979 representing the Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh. He also served as a 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 2 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY CURRENT DEVELOPMENT – 26.01.2019 TO 28.01.2019 nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1999 to 2005. His contribution towards rural development showed the way for a new paradigm of empowering those living in villages. Sj. Bhupen Hazarika, who died in 2011, was the legendary singer-composer from Assam. As put by PM Narendra Modi, “songs and music of Bhupen Hazarika are admired by people across generations. From them radiates the message of justice, harmony and brotherhood.” Padma Awards 2019 announced: Gautam Gambhir, Prabhu Deva, Late Kader Khan among awardees This year, President Ram Nath Kovind approved conferment of 112 Padma Awards . The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri Awards, of which, 21 of the awardees are women. The list includes 11 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI, 3 posthumous awardees and 1 transgender person. Padma Vibhushan S.No Name Field State 1. Teejan Bai Art-Vocals-Folk Chhattisgarh 2. Ismail Omar Public Affairs Djibouti Guelleh (Foreigner) 3. Anilkumar Manibhai Naik Trade & Industry- Maharashtra Infrastructure 4. Balwant Moreshwar Art-Acting-Theatre Maharashtra Purandare Three eminent social activists from Odisha D. Prakash Rao, Sj, Daitari Nayak and Smt. Kamala Pujari have been conferred Padmashree Award. Smt. Geeta Meheta eminent writer refused to receive Padmashree Award. SPORTS Novak Djokovic won Australian Open 2019 men's title Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic (world No.1) defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men's Singles title at Melbourne. The 2019 Australian Open (107th edition) was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park (Australia). List of winners of Australian Open 2019: S.No. Category Winners Runner Up 1 Men's Singles Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Rafael Nadal (Spain) 2 Women's Singles Naomi Osaka (Japan) Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 3 Men's Doubles Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France), Henri Kontinen (Finland) & Nicolas Mahut (France) John Peers (Australia) 4 Women's Doubles Samantha Stosur (Australia) Tímea Babos (Hungary) & Zhang Shuai (China) & Kristina Mladenovic (France) 5 Mixed Doubles Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) Astra Sharma (Australia) 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 3 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY CURRENT DEVELOPMENT – 26.01.2019 TO 28.01.2019 & Rajeev Ram (United States) & John-Patrick Smith (Australia) Saina Nehwal wins first Indonesia Masters women’s title Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal (India) has won the Indonesia Masters women‟s singles title after Carolina Marin (Spain) limped out of the final due to a leg injury. Anders Antonsen (Denmark) has won his first ever Indonesia Masters after defeating world number one Kento Momota (Japan) to claim the 2019 Indonesia Masters title. The DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019 is a badminton tournament that takes place at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Indonesia and has a total purse of USD 350,000. Kartik Sharma wins New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship India's Kartik Sharma has won the New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship in Australia. Kartik (from Gurgaon) win over Australia's Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final to emerge as champion. Earlier, Kartik had won the Indian golf union western India amateur golf championship 2018. MISCELLANEOUS India's fastest indigenous train renamed as Vande Bharat Express According to Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal, India's fastest indigenous train which will run from Delhi to Varanasi has been named as 'Vande Bharat Express' (earlier, Train 18). It is a train built completely in India by Indian engineers in a span of 18 months and it is an example that it is possible to make world-class trains under Make in India.