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

January 1, 2020

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.

Indore tops national cleanliness rankings for first two quarters

January 1, 2020

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.

Australia pacer Peter Siddle announces retirement from international cricket

January 1, 2020

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.

Guwahati to host Third Khelo India youth games in Jan 2020

January 1, 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.

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

January 1, 2020

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.

Sanjay Gupta of ‘Jagran’ to be honoured with Lokmanya Tilak journalism award

January 1, 2020

Sanjay Gupta, the editor-in-chief of ”Jagran”, will be honoured with the ”Lokmanya Tilak National Journalism Award” for his contribution to the field of journalism. The award, instituted by the Kesari Maratha Trust, will be conferred on in Pune, coinciding with the 139th Foundation Day of ”Kesari” — the newspaper started by Lokmanya Tilak.

The award consists of Rs 1 lakh and a memento. Earlier, this award has been conferred upon well-known journalists and editors such as Vir Sanghvi, N. Ram, H. K. Dua, Vinod Metha and Siddharth Varadarajan.

K Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra to receive BCCI’s CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award

January 1, 2020

Former India captain and member of the 1983 World Cup – winning team Krishnamachari Srikkanth and former India women’s captain Anjum Chopra, one of India’s finest batswomen, will be the recipient of this year’s prestigious CK Nayudu Lifetime Award given by the BCCI.

The BCCI Annual Award function will be held in Mumbai on January 12 ahead of the first ODI against Australia on January 14.

Centre appoints Rohan Shah as Governor on ERIA Board

January 1, 2020

Ministry of Commerce and Industry has appointed Rohan Shah, a practicing counsel at the Supreme Court, as India’s Representative and Governor on the board of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (“ERIA”), for a period of three years. The Board of ERIA meets once in every six months in Jakarta and then in Japan.

Shah had previously been associated with India’s WTO trade negotiations as an Industry Representative, including, with Arun Jaitley (the then Minister of Commerce) at Cancún in 2003. India’s previous nominees as Governor have included Ratan Tata, Rajiv Kumar (currently Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog) and economist Ajit Ranade.

Railway Board re-appoints Vinod Kumar Yadav as Chairman for one year

January 1, 2020

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved re-employment of Vinod Kumar Yadav as Chairman, Railway Board for a period of one year w.e.f January 1, 2020.

He has been reappointed as Chairman Railway Board, in the rank of Ex-Officio Principal Secretary to Government of India.

Guinea-Bissau: Umaro Cissoko Embalo wins presidential election

January 1, 2020

Guinea-Bissau opposition leader Umaro Cissoko Embalo, a former prime minister, won the presidential election beating rival Domingos Simoes Pereira, head of the country’s ruling PAIGC party, by about 54% to 46%.

He was also a prime minister, he served under Vaz – between 2016 and 2018, before representing Madem, a party formed by PAIGC rebels.