Daily GK Updates - 26th January, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India Celebrates 71st Republic Day on 26 January 2020: Republic Day honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950. It replaced the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India. Nation celebrated the 71st Republic Day with a grand military parade and exhibition of its history, cultural diversity and strategic weaponry at the Rajpath in New Delhi on 26 January 2020. President Ram Nath Kovind unfurled the tricolour and took the salute of the parade. President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro was the Chief Guest at the Parade. Every year, on Republic Day, the President of India distributes Padma Awards to the civilians of India. Padma Awards are given in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, in decreasing order of importance. For 2020, 141 Padma Awards have been announced. The list comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhusan and 118 Padma Shri awards..

2. Bharat Parv 2020 begins at Red Fort in Delhi: Tourism Ministry has inaugurated the six-day cultural extravaganza 'Bharat Parv' at the Red Fort in Delhi. The objective of Bharat Parv is to encourage people to visit different tourist places of the country and to inculcate the spirit of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. Choreographed Folk, Tribal Dances and Music from the different States showcased during cultural programmes. Bharat Parv will remain open for public from 12 Noon to 10 PM until 31st January. The theme of this year’s Bharat Parv is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and ‘Celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi.

3. Corona Virus: Government launches 24X7 call centre: Seven central teams will visit states and designated airports to review the end-to-end preparedness for management and control of Novel Corona virus in India. These airports are New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. A 24x7 National Centre for Disease Control Call Centre - 011 -23978046 has been made operational. The decision was taken by the Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at a review meeting held in New Delhi.

4. Government announces sale of 100% stake in debt-laden Air India: The government of India announced sale of 100 per cent stake in debt-laden Air India as it issued the preliminary bid document for the strategic disinvestment with the deadline for submitting expression of interest set as March 17. As part of the strategic disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100 per cent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS. Management control of the airline would also be transferred to the successful bidder. This is the second time in less than two years that the government has come out with proposal for selling stake in Air India, which has been in the red for long. The government has set March 17 as the deadline for submitting the expression of interest (EoI).

AISATS is an equal joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines. It offers ground handling services. Air India also has interests in Air India Engineering Services, Air India Air Transport Services, Airline Allied Services and Hotel Corporation of India. These entities are in the process of being transferred to a separate company - Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL) - and would not be a part of the proposed transaction.

5. West Bengal emerges at the top in vegetable production: West Bengal has overtaken Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the top State in vegetable production in 2018-19. According to the State-wise horticulture production data released at a conference organised by the Agriculture Ministry last week, West Bengal produced 29.55 million tonnes (mt) of vegetables last year. Andhra Pradesh continued to hold on to the pole position in fruits with 17.61 mt, followed by Maharashtra (10.82 mt) and Uttar Pradesh (10.65 mt).

Note: West Bengal CM: Mamta Banerjee; Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar

6. ‘Innovation Festival’ begins at Science Centre in Arunachal Pradesh: The ‘Innovation Festival’ kicked off at the Science Centre in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. The festival is being organized by the Arunachal Pradesh State Council for Science & Technology in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation. The aim of the festival is to foster the culture of innovation among all people of the state, especially in all the educational institutions.

Note: Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh: Pema Khandu; Governor: B. D. Mishra.

7. Cabinet Minister Naqvi Pens Hindi Novel “Balwa”: Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has penned a Hindi novel titled “Balwa”, which loosely translates to turmoil. The book is scheduled to be released on 28 January 2020, and published by Diamond Pocket Books. Balwa is a story based on the happenings like communal conflicts that shook the country in the 90s, and about the kind of people who would be behind those.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Inaugural Ganga-Volga Dialogue of Civilizations between India and Russia held in New Delhi: The maiden Ganga Volga Dialogue of Civilization took place in New Delhi to provide a platform for enhancing the special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia. The idea of the Dialogue was conceptualized during the October 2018 India-Russia Summit between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi. The event was inaugurated by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan. The Dialogue was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation. The dominant theme of the Dialogue was Connectivity. As many as 15 eminent scholars from India and Russia participated in the event to deliberate upon the existing and emerging spheres of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in matter relating to education, culture and civilization, entrepreneurship, innovation and trade routes, among others.

2. India Inks Agreement with Bangladesh to Upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura Road into 4-lane Highway: India and Bangladesh have signed an agreement to upgrade the 50.58 kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway. This upgradation project is part of the USD 2 billion second line of credit (LoC) extended by India to Bangladesh in 2016. The cost of constructing one lane is estimated to be Tk. 3,460 crore. The project will boost connectivity between Bangladesh and North-eastern part of India as well as facilitate sub-regional connectivity among South and South-east Asian countries.

3. Sri Lanka Tops among 97 Countries in Breast Feeding support Policies and Program: Sri Lanka has emerged at top position among 97 countries globally on breastfeeding rate according to a new survey conducted by the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi). Sri Lanka has scored 91 out of 100 points and is the only country to earn a green color code, which implies best level of performance. India has been ranked at 78th position with a score of 45, with yellow code. Libya is the lowest ranking country with a score of 19 and red color code

Note: The World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi), launched in 2004, assists countries to assess the status of and benchmark the progress in implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. The WBTi report is based on ten parameters of policy and programmes to rank countries. Each parameter has a score of 10.Based on the score, each country gets the colour code as Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green in ascending order of performance based on the WBTi guideline. Green denotes the best level of performance.

4. International Customs Day: 26 January: The International Customs Day (ICD) is held on 26 January every year to recognise the role of customs officials and agencies and focuses on the working conditions and challenges that customs officers face in their jobs. The Theme of 2020 is “Customs fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet”.

Note: The day was instituted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) to commemorate the day in 1953 when the inaugural session of the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) was held in Brussels, Belgium. In 1994 the CCC was renamed World Customs Organization (WCO).

WCO headquarter- Brussels, Belgium; Membership- 182 countries

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Global Unemployment to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020: The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a report titled “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020” which predicts that unemployment is likely to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020. However, the report also revealed that after nine years in decline, the rate of global unemployment remained unchanged in 2019, at 5.4%, and is expected to stay the same for the next two years, due to fluctuations in the population seeking work.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Govt. announces 141 Padma Awards for this year: Padma Awards— one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. This year the President has approved conferment of 141 Padma Awards (7 Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhusan and 118 Padma Shri) for this year. 34 awardees are women, 18 foreigners and 12 persons are awarded posthumously.

Former Union Ministers George Fernandes, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley will be awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously. Late Vishveshateertha Swamiji will be awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously.

Former Prime Minister of Mauritius Anerood Jugnauth, Hindustani classical vocalist Chhannulal Mishra and Boxer MC Mary Kom will also get Padma Vibhushan.

Former Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar and Legal luminary and educator NR Madhava Menon to be conferred Padma Bhushan posthumously. Eminent Writer Manoj Das, Shuttler PV Sindhu, industrialist Anand Mahindra will get Padma Bhushan.

Footballer Oinem Bembem Devi, Film Director Karan Johar, Actress Kangna Ranaut will get Padma Shri.

OBITUARIES

1. Noted artist and sculptor Sher Singh Kukkal passes away: Noted artist and sculptor Sher Singh Kukkal (86-years) passed away after a brief illness. He was awarded Senior Fellowship in Visual Art Photography by Union Ministry of Culture during 2008-09. He received a gold medal in painting from Queens College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP) & Rajiv Gandhi Foundation award for his photography and painting.

2. Film Producer Vinay Sinha of ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ Passes Away: Noted Indian film producer Vinay Kumar Sinha passed away recently due to unknown causes. The veteran producer was known for producing films like ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ and ‘Rafoo Chakkar’, Chor Police, Ameer Aadmi Gharib Aadmi and Naseeb, among others. He was also the vice president of Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association.