All in One Current Affairs

Operation Vanilla launched by Indian Navy to provide aid to Madagascar

Indian Navy launched Operation Vanilla to support the people of island nation Madagascar, which has been hit by a Cyclone. Indian Navy Ship (INS) Airavat, which was en-route to Seychelles has been diverted to Madagascar for rendering assistance. The ship is scheduled to reach Madagascar by 30 January 2020, carrying victualing, clothing and stores along and medicines to provide clothing, emergency food, medical assistance, diving and communication assistance. The ship will also undertake transportation and evacuation of personnel using its four large and two medium-sized boats.

Bhuvan Panchayat V3 Web portal launched by Jitendra Singh

Bhuvan Panchayat V3 web Portal was launched by Union Minister of State for PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh. The web portal was launched in Anthariksh Bhavan, ISRO Head Quarters in Bengaluru. It will function with the help of satellite technology developed by ISRO. The web Portal will enhance network application of gram panchayats. The workshop on space-based information support for decentralized planning will be held to connect gram panchayats and help the flow of information.

Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani appointed as Prime Minister of Qatar

Qatar’s Emir has appointed Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani as the Gulf state’s new Prime Minister and Interior Minister. He will replace Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani. Sheikh Khalid took the oath of office before the Emir, in a ceremony. Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani was also present in the ceremony. Sheikh Khalid had also been the head of the Amiri Diwan.

Maharashtra: Nagpur Metro Aqua line inaugurated by Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray through video conferencing inaugurated 18.5 km long stretch of Nagpur Metro Aqua line of Maha Metro Rail Network in Nagpur. The proposed Broad-Gauge Metro network will pass over the Ambazari lake in city and will connect the east and west parts of the city. It will connect the satellite towns like Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur near Nagpur city. The Broad-Gauge Metro Rail will consist of metro coaches with speeding capacity of 120 kilometre per hour.

Bhubaneswar: Virtual Police Station launched by Naveen Patnaik

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday launched a virtual police station along with two other transformational projects of the Odisha Police with an aim to reduce human interface with government offices. The three projects include Virtual Police Station, Road Accident Case Documents Module and Medico Legal Opinion System.

These initiatives will effectively reduce the necessity of citizens to visit police stations. With Virtual Police Station, people can now directly lodge FIR online in a hassle free manner without visiting the police station. The e-police station will function from the State Crime Records Bureau in Bhubaneswar.

India’s Esow Alben wins gold in Six Day Berlin Tournament

India’s 18 year old, Esow Alben won a gold in the men’s Keirin individual event of the Six Day Berlin Tournament, finished on top of the podium, earning 20 classification points. The event is a six-day track cycling race. Alben was followed by Czech Republic’s Tomas Babek, who won a silver while Maximilian Lev of Germany settled for the bronze.

Mizoram defeats Sikkim in ‘Northeast Dr T Ao Trophy’

Two times champion Mizoram defeated Sikkim to become the champion of the Northeast Dr T Ao Football Trophy 2020. The event was held at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima. Nagaland defeated Arunachal Pradesh by 4-2 to claim the third position. The Closing ceremony was graced by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. The champion team received a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, the runners up got Rs 6 lakhs, while Nagaland received Rs 2 lakh and Arunachal Pradesh received Rs 1 Lakh with a certificate. Rhitsho Mero from Nagaland team received the golden boot for his 10 goals.

R Praggnanandhaa stuns former world champ Topalov

Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa recorded his fifth straight win, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar Chess Festival. The Indian players including B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali and SL Narayanan are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Film producer Vinay Sinha passes away

Veteran film producer Vinay Sinha who contributed to films like ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ and ‘Rafoo Chakkar’ passed away in Mumbai. Although the cause of his death is still unknown, as per speculations, his ailing health for a long time was the reason for his demise. Apart from movies, he has also produced some TV shows like Chor Police and a few others. 

Netherlands winger Rob Rensenbrink passes away at 72

Netherlands legend Rob Rensenbrink died on Friday. He was 72. The left winger earned 46 caps for his country. He was one of the players in the legendary Dutch squad who came so close to winning the World Cup in 1974 and 1978. He will be particularly remembered for the latter final, in which he played a leading role.

71st Republic Day parade: Assam tableau wins first prize

The Tableaux of Assam wins the 1st prize at the 71st Republic Day Parade among the States & Union Territories, followed by Odisha and Uttar Pradesh both on the second position. The theme of Assam tableau was “Land of unique craftsmanship and culture“, portraying the unique craftsmanship and culture of the state. The Tableaux award was given by the Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.

Yashwant Sinha’s autobiography ‘Relentless’ released by Pranab Mukherjee

Former President Pranab Mukherjee released ‘Relentless‘, the autobiography of Yashwant Sinha. The book describes Sinha’s journey from normal life to a high political powered life. Sinha had served as Finance minister in Prime Chandra Shekhar government (1990-1991). Speaking at a panel discussion on the occasion, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, and former Union minister Arun Shourie also highlighted various aspects of the book. The event was also attended by Shatrughan Sinha, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, former National Minorities Commission chairman Wajahat Habibullah among other politicians and former bureaucrats.

Former Women’s Hockey Captain Sunita Chandra Passes Away at 76

Former Indian women’s hockey team captain Sunita Chandra passed away. He was 76. She had played for the Indian women’s hockey team between 1956 to 1966 and served as skipper from 1963 to 1966. She was a prestigious Arjuna awardee.

Veteran South actress Jameela Malik passes away at 73

Veteran South actress Jameela Malik passed away. She was 73. She was the first Keralite woman to graduate from the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. She was also known for her critically acclaimed roles in a handful of movies in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu, and television serials. Jameela had shared screen space with doyens like Prem Nazir and Adoor Bhasi during the 1970-80 period.

Kolkata: Country’s first underwater metro to be complete by March 2022

India’s first underwater metro project is set to completed by March 2022. It is an East-West Project of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, which runs partly under the Hooghly river, West Bengal. The new line is expected to carry about 9,00,000 people daily, which comprises of nearly 20% of the city’s population. It will take less than a minute to cross a 520m underwater tunnel, which takes 20 minutes to use the ferry and more than an hour to cross the Howrah bridge.

‘Samvidhaan’ named as Oxford Hindi Word of the Year 2019

‘Samvidhaan‘ was named as the Oxford Hindi Word of 2019 by Oxford University Press. Is means ‘Constitution‘. 2019 saw the values of democracy, secularism, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity being tested on the touchstone of the Constitution or ‘Samvidhaan’, hence the word was chosen.

26 new Indian words included in Oxford dictionary

Aunties, uncles and tube lights among the 26 new Indian English words, have been included in the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary, the world’s best selling dictionary. Words like Aadhaar, chawl, dabba hartal and shaadi were also included in the dictionary. The words were added to a total of 384 existing ones. The 384 words in the 10th edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary come with an Indian English label, including 22 new additions in print and 26 in the online edition.

Martyrs’ day: Nation pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 72nd death anniversary

The nation on Thursday remembered Mahatma Gandhi on his 72nd death anniversary with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the country in paying homage to the Father of the Nation. The day is also observed as Martyrs Day. President Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and former prime minister Manmohan Singh offered floral tributes at Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat in New Delhi, where an interfaith prayer meeting was held. A gun salute was given at the memorial where school students and people from different walks of life gathered to pay respects to Bapu.

Government releases 7 billion dollars to tackle climate change

Government has released seven billion dollars to all the states for intensive afforestation activities to tackle Climate Change, as stated by Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar. Technology and innovation will be instrumental to tackle climate change. In the last four years India is the only country in the world which have grown its tree cover by 13 thousand square kilometre. With growing population, people need to focus on sustainable consumption and changing their lifestyle.

New Delhi: NHRC to organise meeting of Statutory Full Commission

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is organising a meeting of a Statutory Full Commission in New Delhi. The meeting to be chaired by NHRC Chairperson Justice H L Dattu, has been called for the discharge of functions towards promotion and protection of human rights as specified in the statutory clauses (b) to (j) of Section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights (PHR) Act.

The meeting is being called for the first time since the recent amendment in the PHR Act adding Chairpersons of National Commission for Backward Classes, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities as the new deemed Members of the NHRC.