All in One Current Affairs

Mangaluru: Indian Coast Guard commissions high speed interceptor boat C-448

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned a high-speed interceptor boat C-448 in Mangaluru, Karnataka. The interceptor boat is built by L&T (Larsen & Toubro) shipyard. The C-448 is fitted with the latest navigation and communication equipment designed for high-speed interception, close coast patrol, low-intensity maritime operations, search and rescue, and maritime surveillance. The interceptor boat is also capable of operating in shallow waters and deep seas. On joining the Indian Coast Guard fleet at New Mangalore, the ship will be deployed for patrolling, rescue operations and other duties.

World Sustainable Development Summit 2020 being held at New Delhi

The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS), organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), will be held from 29-31 January, 2020 at New Delhi. The event under the theme ‘Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count‘, will lay focus on the global efforts being made to meet our 2030 targets. In its 2020 edition, the Summit will be addressing the broad themes of- circular economy, water, energy, industry transitions, and e-mobility. WSDS 2020 will aim to broaden the scope of its reach and involve many more stakeholders involved in the climate change fight.

16th Mumbai International Film Festival inaugurated

16th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2020, for Documentary, Short Fiction and Animation films, inaugurated on Tuesday at Nehru Centre Auditorium, Worli, Mumbai. The festival will conclude with an award ceremony on 3rd February at 5:00 pm. Screening and other special events of the festival will be held at Films Division complex. The oldest and largest film festival for non-feature films in South Asia, which began in 1990 is organized by the Films Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India.

Guinness World Record for highest altitude fashion show event set by Nepal

Nepal has set an all new Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fashion show event ever held. The Mount Everest Fashion Runway, organized by RB Diamonds and KASA Style in support of Nepal Tourism Board, was held at 5340 metres (17515 ft) elevation at Kala Patthar, near the Everest base camp on January 26. The event was part of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign of the Nepal Tourism Board. Models from various parts of the world, including Finland, Italy, Sri Lanka and Singapore, participated in the show.

Diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla takes over as new foreign secretary

Diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who last served as India’s envoy to the US, took charge as new foreign secretary for a two-year term. He will be succeeding Vijay Gokhale. Indian High Commissioner to the UK Ruchi Ghanshyam, a 1982-batch IFS officer, was also in contention for the post. Shringla had played an important role in successful hosting of the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston in September where US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi jointly addressed the Indian diaspora.

Ramesh Joshi appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Vakrangee

Vakrangee Limited has appointed Ramesh Joshi as the Non-Executive Chairman of the company. Dinesh Nandwana has been re-designated from Executive Chairman as the Managing Director and Group CEO replacing Anil Khanna. A veteran in his field, Joshi held several leadership positions in the Reserve Bank of India and has been nominee director on behalf of RBI on the boards of various banks. He retired as an executive director of SEBI.

M Balakrishnan appointed as as CFO of IDBI Federal Life Insurance

IDBI Federal Life Insurance appointed  Mathivanan Balakrishnan as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and S P Prabhu as its Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Balakrishnan will oversee the areas of planning and budgeting, financial accounting & reporting, corporate taxation, investment operations, insurance accounting, audit and statutory compliance. Prabhu, who was earlier head of fixed income, will now oversee the management of the company’s investment portfolio of Rs 10,000 crore, spread across various asset classes.

Economic Survey 2020 presented by Nirmala Sitharaman

Today, Economic Survey 2019-20 was presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. The survey is prepared by the Chief Economic Advisor, Krishnamurthy V Subramanian. The report will be followed by a press conference where the Chief Economic Advisor and his team will discuss the economic roadmap for the next fiscal. It presents a summary of the performance of the government’s major development programmes undertaken during previous year. It also details the main policy initiatives of the government.

USMCA North American trade deal inked by President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has signed the new United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) North American trade pact with Canada and Mexico into law. The new deal makes changes to trading rules among the three countries. Among them are higher thresholds for how much of an automobile must be made in North America in order to trade vehicles duty-free; greater access to Canada’s dairy market; and easier unionization for Mexican workers.

Rani Rampal wins ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ award

Indian women’s team captain Rani Rampal became the 1st-ever hockey player worldwide to win the prestigious ‘World Games Athlete of the Year‘ award 2019. The winner was announced by The World Games after 20 days of polling by sports fans worldwide. Recently, Rani was also awarded with Padma Shri. She dedicated the award to the entire hockey fraternity, her team and the country.

Padma Shri awardee Tushar Kanjilal, eminent social worker passes away

Famous social worker, environmentalist, educationist and writer Tushar Kanjilal passed away. The Government of India awarded Tushar Kanjilal the 4th highest civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1986. He also received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2008. Kanjilal is known for his contribution to education in remote Rangabelia in the Sundarbans in the 1970s and his work for the uplift of the people in the area.

World Leprosy Day 2020

World Leprosy Day is observed internationally on 30th January or the Sunday closest to that date. The main purpose of this festival is to increase public awareness of Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease. This particular day was actually chosen to commemorate the death of Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, who understood the importance of this disease. World Leprosy Day creates awareness that leprosy is in fact curable.

Eimear Noone becomes first female orchestra conductor in Oscars

Irish composer Eimear Noone will be the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Oscars guest-segment. She will lead the 42-piece orchestra at the Academy Awards as it plays excerpts from five nominated scores on Sunday 9 February. The Galway-born conductor was invited to take charge by Oscars’ Music Director Rickey Minor.

Sanjana Kapoor conferred French honour ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters’

Sanjana Kapoor received the prestigious French honor of ‘Chevalier dans Ordre des Arts et des Lettres‘ – Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters – for her outstanding contribution to the field of theatre. In 2012, she co-founded Junoon, an organisation dedicated to increasing the reach of theatre and the arts to wider audiences through innovative initiatives.

Franck Riester conferred the symbol of the distinction on Kapoor in a special investiture ceremony on January 28 at the French embassy in New Delhi. Some noted Indian recipients of this honor in the past include Bharti Kher, Shah Rukh Khan, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Aishwarya Rai, Raghu Rai, Ebrahim Alkazi, Habib Tanveer, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Wendell Rodricks, and Aruna Vasudev.

Pensioners’ life certificates will be collected from their doorstep

Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has taken a landmark step to make life easier for senior citizens to submit their Annual Life Certificate for continued pension. The centre has asked banks to collect annual life certificates of its Pensioners from their doorsteps, saving them from hassles of visiting pension disbursing banks. An amount not more than Rs 60 will be charged for the service. Pensioners are required to give proof of them being alive to banks every year in order to ensure continued pension.

9-Judge Constitution Bench to frame issues about discrimination against women

On February 3, a 9-judge Constitution bench will  frame issues for deliberation in the matter relating to discrimination against women in various religions and at religious places including Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple, as stated by the Supreme Court. The bench will consider issues related to the entry of Muslim women into mosques, female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and barring of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, from the holy fireplace at Agiary.

PMAY-G: The objective of ‘Housing for All’ to be achieved by 2022

Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Grameen, Union Government aims to achieve objective of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022. In last 5 years, a total of over 1.5 crore rural houses have been completed. Government has set a target of 60 lakh houses for the current financial year. The eligible beneficiaries will get 1.95 crore houses in the second phase of the scheme, as stated by the Ministry of Finance.