All in One Current Affairs

MS Dhoni dropped from BCCI central contracts list 2019-20

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is most prominent omission from BCCI’s central contracts list for 2019-2020. The contracts for the October-September cycle are awarded by a three-member committee consisting of the BCCI president, secretary and chief selector based on the performance during the last cycle. Skipper Virat Kohli, his white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma and top pacer Jasprit Bumrah were retained in the highest A bracket of seven crore rupees.

Among others, batsman L. Rahul has been promoted from ‘B’ grade to ‘A’ category. Test opener Mayank Agarwal has been included in the Grade ‘B’ category, which also features Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal along with two others. Pacer Navdeep Saini and T20 specialist Washington Sundar are new entrants in Grade ‘C’ alongside Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur.

Veteran Cricketer Mithali Raj was demoted to Grade ‘B’ from ‘A’ while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket. T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained her ‘A’ category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav. Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol.

‘Indian Heritage in Digital Space’ exhibition inaugurated by Prahlad Singh Patel

‘Indian Heritage in digital Space’ exhibition was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel in New Delhi on Wednesday, 15th January 2020, which will remain open for public till the 15th February 2020.

The month-long exhibition is a first of its kind in India in which the latest interventions from the cultural heritage domain are showcased with the technologies that are developed under the Department of Science and Technology’s initiative of India Digital Heritage (IDH). The exhibition aims to reach people in a way that they get a chance to know andunderstand the unseen aspects of heritage sites.

It introduces the history and features of heritage through the use of technology. The visitors will be able to see the recreations of the socio-cultural life and traditions of Hampi, architectural and conjectural reconstructions of several important structures and experience demystification of many murals in the exhibition.

Lucknow: 7th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference 2020 inaugurated

Lucknow hosted the 7th Conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region inaugurated by Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. The conference was held with the theme of “Role Of Legislators“. CPA India Region conferences are held once in two years and the 6th conference was held in 2018.

During the two-day Plenary Sessions, delegates will discuss the Capacity Building of Legislators for Scrutinizing Budgetary Proposals and Enhancing Focus of Legislators on Legislative Business.

Mega campaign ‘Saksham’ launched by Petroleum Ministry

Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas Dr. M M Kutty inaugurated fuel conservation mega campaign ‘Saksham‘ in New Delhi on 16 January 2020. The campaign was organized by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA). The campaign will be held for a month.

The annual event of Saksham aims at creating mass awareness among the public about conventional fuel conservation. On the occasion, the Secretary also flagged-off the publicity vans of PCRA which will visit states spreading the message of fuel conservation.

Highlighting the major advantages of fuel conservation, Mr Kutty stated, it will help in progressively reduction of carbon footprint and lead to fulfilling government’s commitment for greener environment. He said, foreign exchange can also be saved with this move.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigns

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the entire Russian government is stepping down after President Vladimir Putin proposed constitutional reforms that would weaken his successor.

The move could signal a power shift as the president will not be able to reject parliament’s choice of prime minister, deputy prime ministers and federal ministers in future administrations.

Putin’s critics have suggested that he is considering various scenarios to remain in power after 2024, including the option of becoming prime minister with extended powers. Russian President asked Medvedev’s Cabinet to keep working until the new Cabinet is formed.

Bipul Behari Saha elected as bureau member of IUPAC

Bipul Behari Saha, a noted chemist has been elected as a bureau member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) for the period 2020-23. Saha is only the second Indian after CNR Rao, former Director of the Indian Institute of Science and Bharat Ratna, to be elected (in 1979) for this prestigious position in over a century. At present, Saha is Director – R&D, L.R. Research Laboratories Pvt Ltd (wholly owned subsidiary of NACL Industries Limited), Hyderabad.

Founded 100 years ago, IUPAC is the largest global organization of Chemistry professionals. IUPAC has the responsibility of naming all new elements and compounds, declare atomic weights and physical constants, update Periodic table and carry out research projects. It is comprised of 12 Committees and 8 Divisions. At the apex of IUPAC organization is “IUPAC Bureau”.

World Economic Forum releases ‘The Global Risks Report 2020’

The 15th edition of the World Economic Forum’s “Global Risks Report” is published. The report has been prepared by WEF in partnership with Marsh & McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group. The report defines the major risks, the world is going to face in the coming years. The data used to make the report was collected by Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) through survey conducted from 5 September to 22 October 2019.

A ‘global risk‘ is defined as an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, can cause significant negative impact for several countries or industries within the next 10 years. ‘Failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change‘ has been declared as the number one risk by impact and number two by likelihood over the next 10 years in the report.

1st-ever Food Processing Summit in Ladakh

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the UT Administration of Ladakh has organised the 1st-ever Food Processing Summit in the Union Territory Ladakh.

The event is aimed at encouraging the entrepreneurs to begin a StartUp to tap the potential in the Food Processing Industries in Ladakh. Invest India will explain the procedures of investment processes along with Government support.

Ladakh region has vast scope for investment in food Processing Industries in horticulture products like Apricot, Seabuck Thorn, Apple and agricultural produce like buckwheat and barley.

Postal Ballot facility for Senior Citizens and PwD

Postal Ballot facility has been made available for Absentee voters in the category of Super Senior Citizens (over 80 years of age) and Person with Disability in the Delhi Assembly Election. Earlier it was only available to armed forces and those assigned in poll duties.

Arunachal Pradesh becomes first state to initiate red-listing of orchids

Arunachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to initiate the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) ‘red listing’ at the state level. It has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IUCN.

The MoU was signed by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Manmohan Singh Negi and the IUCN’s country representative Dr. Vivek Saxena. The environment & forests department is the nodal department for executing the project.

The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. The project will be spread across 12 months, during which workshops on red list assessment will be conducted by experts from the IUCN.

34,000 Bru refugees to get a permanent home in Tripura

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the agreement to permanently settle Bru-Reang refugees in Tripura, saying it will “greatly help” them. Union Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the signing of a quadripartite pact of MHA with the State governments of Tripura, Mizoram and leaders of Bru community to facilitate permanent settlement of Bru refugees in Tripura with a Rs 600 crore rehabilitation package.

The agreement will benefit around 34,000 Bru refugees living in six camps in Tripura. They were forced to flee Mizoram following ethnic tension in 1997. Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.

London: Harish Salve appointed as Queen’s Counsel

India’s former solicitor general Harish Salve — who charged Re 1 for representing India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case — has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel (QC) for the courts of  England and Wales. This was announced by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice Department.

Salve, the 63-year-old, who was born in Nagpur and studied law at  Nagpur University was featured in the list of silk appointments released by the UK Ministry of Justice on January 13. He will formally take silk on March 16 at a ceremony in Westminster Hall after which he will take an oath in the UK High Court.

The title of Queen’s Counsel is usually awarded to lawyers possessing demonstrated skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy. The appointment is done by the Queen, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. He is advised by an independent Selection Panel which makes recommendations.

ISRO successfully launched GSAT-30 satellite aboard Ariane rocket

ISRO successfully launched India’s “high power” communication satellite GSAT-30, onboard Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. GSAT-30 is an operational communication satellite aimed at providing high-quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services.

The 3,357-kg satellite, was deployed from the lower passenger position of Ariane-5 launch vehicle (VA 251) into to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). EUTELSAT KONNECT – which was produced by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat – was riding in the upper position of Ariane 5’s payload arrangement, and was released first in the flight sequence at 27 minutes following liftoff.

GSAT-30 is to serve as replacement to the “aging” INSAT-4A spacecraft services with enhanced coverage. Since the launch of India’s APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 24 satellites, including GSAT-30, for the Indian space agency.

‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ Indo-Japanese joint exercise begins off Chennai Coast

Indian and Japanese coast guards participated in a joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ on January 16. The aim is to strengthen the bond between the two countries. One ship of the Japanese Coast Guard and four ships and an aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard took part in the exercise. The exercise marked demonstrations of search and rescue, external fire-fighting and sharing of best practices.

Led by Commanding Officer Captain Kiyoshi Harada, the ‘Ehigo PLH08’ and the four ships and a Dornier aircraft of Indian Coast Guard participated in the 5-day drill in the Bay of Bengal around 50 nautical miles off Chennai.

Gujarat: Chief Minister launched the 7th Economic Census process

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched the 7th Economic Census process in the state. The Economic Census process organized by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with the help of Common Service Centres. Around 40 thousand enumerators will use mobile applications for the first time to gather information under the guidance of 6,500 supervisors.

The enumerators will personally visit door to door for necessary information like members of the family, their economic activity, whether it is shop, office, or factory. It will continue till 30th June 2020. The entire data will be compiled on 30th September 2020. The data of this Economic Census will be classified into the village, taluka, and district-wise to be developed into a National Business Register. This will be a very useful document for application into socio-economic issues of the country.

National Book Trust appoints Lt Col Yuvraj Malik as the Director

Lt Col Yuvraj Malik appointed as the Director of the National Book Trust on deputation from the Indian Army. He will replace Sahitya Akademi-awardee writer Rita Chowdhury. He has 15 years of administrative experience in various capacities in government organizations.

He served with the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, Raj Bhawan in Jammu & Kashmir, United Nations Missions in Africa, and several operational areas in administrative and operational assignments, including Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Punjab, and Rajasthan.