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India’s second spaceport to be in TN’s Thoothukdi: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has earmarked 2,300 acres of land in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, to set up its second launch centre after the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The country’s premier space agency is in the process of acquiring the land for a yet-to-be-named new launch centre. ISRO chairman K Sivan stated that the new centre was part of ISRO’s capacity-building exercise.

The new launch centre will be initially for missions involving launching small satellites and small satellite launch vehicles (SSLVs). To carry forward the industry production of space systems, ISRO incorporated New Space India Limited (NSIL) under the Department of Space and efforts in realising PSLVs from industry have already been initiated.

Guwahati to host Third Khelo India youth games in Jan 2020

The third Khelo India youth games will be held in Guwahati between 10th and 22nd of January 2020. Cycling and lawn ball have been introduced as new disciplines in the games. It will be advocating for the elimination of single-use plastics this time. The emphasis will be given to the responsible use of plastic material and proper collection and disposal of plastic waste.

The opening ceremony of the third Khelo India Youth Games will take place at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on January 10 before the athletes take part in their respective events in full flow. Six thousand five hundred athletes from 37 teams will take part in the event.

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launched the torch relay of the competition in Guwahati, which will be carried to all district headquarters to elicit the cooperation of the people for the success of the Games.

Australia pacer Peter Siddle announces retirement from international cricket

Australia paceman Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35 after taking 221 wickets in a distinguished 67-Test career.

Siddle announced the retirement to his teammates at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after being released from the squad for the third and final test against New Zealand in Sydney.

He will continue to play domestic cricket for Victoria state and T-20 side Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League, along with English county cricket for Essex.

Indore tops national cleanliness rankings for first two quarters

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced the results of the 1st and 2nd quarters of the Swachh Survekshan 2020. The rankings were based on collection, transportation, processing and disposal of waste.

Indore has topped the cleanliness charts for two consecutive quarters among cities with over 10 lakh population while kolkata was the worst performer. Jamshedpur has topped the cleanliness charts for two consecutive quarters among cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population.

Bengaluru will host the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress

Bengaluru will host the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress. It will be the ninth time the city will host the annual convention. University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru will host the event.

The congress has chosen ‘science and technology: rural development’ as its theme for the 107th edition. A Farmer’s Science Congress will take part in it for the first time, hence providing a platform for innovative farmers.

There will also be a ‘Women’s Science Congress’, ‘Children’s Science Congress’, ‘Science Communicator’s Meet’, and ‘Science Exhibition: Pride of India’. The convention will see the participation of over 15,000 delegates, including 8,000 students from across the country and 74 scientists from abroad.

‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ campaign launched in Nepal

President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari, launched the “Visit Nepal Year 2020” campaign during the ceremony held at historic Dasaratha Rangashala in Kathmandu. Mythical creature Yeti has been selected as mascot of the campaign.

Nepal is one of the World’s fascinating tourist destination and the government has a goal of making tourism one of the key pillars of the Nepali economy. The ambitious campaign was launched in all the seven provinces of Nepal aiming to promote tourism in Nepal and to attract 2 million tourists in 2020. .

Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu dies of lung cancer

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader and Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passed away at the age of 67 on Monday, 31st Dec at a hospital in Mumbai after battling lung cancer for several months.

Yhoshu was elected to the state Assembly thrice from Southern Angami-1 constituency in Kohima district. He had won the seat as a candidate of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) in 2008 and 2013 and served as Advisor and Parliamentary Secretary of various departments. He was elected as Speaker of the state Assembly in 2018 assembly election.

Leh: National Ice Hockey Championship-2020 begins

The 5th Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) National Ice Hockey Championship -2020 has begun in Leh, Ladakh. The tournament will continue till 7th January in Karzoo Ice Hockey Rink in Leh. In the inaugural match in Under-20 Boys category between Chandigarh and Haryana, the contest ended in a draw with 4 goals each.

The Army, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and home team Ladakh are participating for the championship in U-20 boys category. In Girls category Ladakh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Chandigarh are playing for the championship.

Ritualistic festival ‘Lai Haraoba’ begins in Tripura

In Tripura, Lai Haraoba, a ritualistic festival observed by Manipuri meitei communities began in Agartala. The 5-day long festival is jointly organised by the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of Tripura, Puthiba Lai Haraoba Committee and Puthiba Welfare & Cultural Society, Agartala.

Lai Haraoba is celebrated through oral literature, music, dance and rituals. A cultural troupe from Manipur has also come to take part in the festival. They will be performing various cultural and traditional musical skits including Manipuri martial arts, folk music and folk dances during the festival.

The five-day long festival was inaugurated by Speaker of state legislative Assembly, Rebati Mohan Das. The festival aims to uphold tradition and cultural values of Meitei community.

RPF renamed as Indian Railway Protection Force Service

The Indian Railways has renamed its security force RPF (Railway Protection Force) as Indian Railway Protection Force Service. The ministry has accorded organised Group A status to RPF and renamed it.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is a security force, enacted by the Indian Parliament for “the better protection and security of railway property”. The force is under the authority of the Indian Ministry of Railways.

Piyush Jaiswal honored with Global Bihar Excellence Awards 2019

Piyush Jaiswal was awarded the Global Bihar Excellence Award 2019. This award was presented by Rajya Sabha MP and Padma Shri Awardee Dr. CP Thakur and Bihar Women Commission president Dilmani Devi in Patna to promote women empowerment.

The award was given to recognize and felicitated Piyush Jaiswal’s contribution towards social welfare, women empowerment and introducing new talent in the field of arts and culture.

Piyush Jaiswal was recently awarded the humanitarian award with the Global Peace Excellence Humanitarian Award 2019 on the occasion of International Human Day.

‘Damini’ helpline service for women launched by UPSRTC

UPSRTC (Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation) has launched ‘Damini’ helpline service considering the safety of the women passengers. As the extension of ‘Nirbhaya Yojana’ the unique number “81142-77777” has been subscribed for this helpline. Women passengers can lodge their complaints by calling the helpline number and by using WhatsApp service.

The service will be functional from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day and will be exclusively handled by women officers at the UPSRTC headquarters and regional offices. Women passengers can lodge their complaints on the general helpline number, 1800-180-2877, after 6 p.m.

Natyasurya Awardee dramatist Ratna Ojha passed away

Eminent Assamese dramatist, litterateur and social activist Ratna Ojha passed away due to old-age related ailments. For his contribution to the field of theatre, he received the prestigious Natyasurya Award in 2005.

He had introduced street plays in Assam in 1971 with his skit ‘Kokaideo’ to revive the theatre movement in the state that was fading with the death of his mentor Phani Sarma.

Iran’s Gen Qassem Soleimani killed in US airstrike on Baghdad airport

Iran’s top commander General Qassim Soleimani has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Soleimani, who led a special forces unit of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, has been a key figure of Iranian and the Middle East politics.

His death exacerbated already-high tensions between Iran and the United States and triggered concerns of retaliation from Iranian forces. After the news of Soleimani’s death, oil prices jumped more than 4% and fuelling fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.

Andhra Pradesh Govt. appoints two ‘Disha Special Officers’

The Andhra Pradesh government-appointed Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official Dr Kritika Shukla and Indian Police Service (IPS) official M Deepika, as Special Officers for implementing the Andhra Pradesh Disha Act 2019.

The Act is intended for speedy trial and faster execution in cases of sexual offences against women in the state. To ensure a speedy trial, the state will set up exclusive special courts in all the 13 districts to deal with cases of offences against women and children including rape, acid attacks, stalking, voyeurism, social media harassment of women, sexual harassment and all cases under POCSO Act.

28th World Book Fair to focus on Gandhi as writer

The annual New Delhi World Book Fair, in its 28th edition, will focus on how Mahatma Gandhi influenced generations of writers through his writings. The fair, organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) in association with ITPO, will be inaugurated by Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The theme for World Book Fair 2020 is ‘Gandhi: The Writers’ Writer.

Commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi, the theme pavilion, inspired by Sabarmati Ashram, uses hand-spun materials as wall-cladding. Besides an exclusive exhibition of 500 books on and by Gandhi in different languages, it will also host 30-panel discussions, book launches and performances related to the theme.

Integrated helpline number 139 launched by Indian Railways for passengers

The Indian Railways has integrated its helpline numbers into a single number — 139 taking over all the existing helpline numbers, for quick grievance redressal and enquiries by passengers during their train journeys.

The Helpline 139 will be available in twelve languages. It will be based on Interactive Voice Response System and will provide easy access to all mobile users.

A new campus of NFSC in Nagpur inaugurated by Home Minister

Union Home Minister Amit Shah dedicated the new campus of National Fire Service College (NFSC) under the Ministry of Home affairs. NFSC campus spread across 42 acres is fully equipped with the international standards. The four-year Bachelor level course in Fire Engineering approved by the All India Council for Technical Education along with the short and long-term courses in Emergency Management, Medical Life Support Management, and Disaster Management will be taught in this college.

In the same function, the Minister also laid the foundation stone for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Academy which will be established near Suradevi village of Nagpur. 15 President’s Fire Service medals for gallantry were also awarded by the Minister to the awardees including Fire Service Officers and Firemen from different parts of the country.

Govt approves release of Grant-in-Aid of Rs 2.6 cr to J&K Pollution Control Board

Environment and Forests Ministry has approved the release of Grant-in-Aid of 6 crore rupees to J&K Pollution Control Board. Under this scheme, the JK PCB shall provide financial assistance to 3742 number of Eco Clubs of registered schools in both the regions of J&K along with 96 Eco-Clubs for registered Colleges.

The environment education, awareness and Training scheme of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India for National Green Corps (Eco-Clubs) which was closed for over a decade has been revived for J&K.

Ireland: Hillary Clinton appointed as new chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been appointed the new chancellor of Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland for a five-year term.

The position of chancellor has been vacant since the death in 2018 of Thomas J Moran, chairman, president, and chief executive of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Clinton, who has been a regular visitor to Northern Ireland going back to the first visit of President Bill Clinton in 1995, becomes the university’s first female chancellor.