Focus Merit

Date	Day	Theme 2020
04 January	World Braille Day
06 January	Journalist day (in Maharashtra)
09 January	Pravasi Bhartiya Divas
10 January	World Hindi Day
11-17 January	National Road Safety Week	Sadak Suraksha - Jeevan Suraksha.
12 January	National Youth Day
14 January	Armed Forces Veterans Day
15 January	Indian Army Day
18 January	15th Raising day of NDRF
19 January	National Immunization day
24 January	National Girl Child Day
24 January	International day of education	Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace.
25 January	National Voters' Day	Electoral Literacy for a Stronger Democracy
25 January	National Tourism Day
26 January	International Customs Day	Customs fostering Sustainability for people, prosperity and the planet.
26 January	World Leprosy Day	Leprosy isn't what you think
27 January	International day of the commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust	“75 years after Auschwitz – Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice”
30 January	World Neglected Tropical diseases day

The South Central Railway zone signs MoU with SBI for “doorstep banking”

January 17, 2020

The South Central Railway (SCR) zone of Indian Railways has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with State Bank of India for “doorstep banking” that will enable direct collection of earnings. The MoU will coverall the 585 railway stations of the zone. The MOU was signed on January 13, 2020 by the SCR zone and the SBI officials in Secunderabad.

According to the MOU, the direct pick up of cash from all the railway stations under the SCR zone dispenses with the complex as well as tedious step of movement of cash earnings through the ‘cash safes’ by trains. This doorstep banking system will allow an easier and hassle free collection of traffic earnings by the SBI and will also allow remittance into the government account, by avoiding delay in transmission of the cash earnings.

IIM-Indore partners with TikTok for management lessons

January 17, 2020

The Indian Institute of Management, Indore has signed an MoU with the video sharing platform “TikTok“. The MoU will facilitate the production of short video modules for students and trained professionals.

These videos will be catered to the existing student demographic of IIM Indore, facilitating management courses at the institute. These include professionals working in managerial positions, entrepreneurs as well as government officials.

Since Tik Tok is a social media platform that is quite popular among the youth, this novel approach to imparting management education by one of the top B-Schools in India can be seen as a smart move. It is a good step towards modernising education and making it more accessible.

World Bank and GoI Sign $88 million loan agreement for AIWTP

January 17, 2020

The Government of India, the Government of Assam and the World Bank signed a loan agreement of $88 million here today to help modernize Assam’s passenger ferry sector that runs on its rivers including the mighty Brahmaputra. The Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) will help Assam improve the passenger ferry infrastructure and its services and strengthen the capacity of the institutions running the inland water transport.

The government ferries are operated by the Assam Shipping Company (ASC) while the terminals and terminal services are provided by the Assam Ports Company (APC) in the state of Assam. A majority of Assam’s more than 361 ferry routes cross the Brahmaputra or serve its islands, providing a crucial means of transport to thousands of commuters in both the urban and rural areas of the Brahmaputra Valley.

The loan agreement was signed by Shri Khare, on behalf of Government of India and Mr Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director (India), World Bank on behalf of the World Bank. Whereas, the Project Agreement was signed by Shri Adil Rashid, Commissioner (Assam Transport) and State Project Director on behalf of Government of Assam and Mr Kamal Ahmad on behalf of the World Bank.

Henley Passport Index 2020: India ranks 84th, Japan told

January 17, 2020

Henley Passport Index 2020 recently released the rankings of the world’s most powerful passports. The rankings of these passports are based on data collected from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The list included passports of 199 countries and 227 tourist places. This list has been prepared based on new visa policies. The list included the most powerful and weakest passport of the world.

Japan has topped the Index for third consecutive year followed by Singapore, Germany, and South Korea. The Indian passport ranked 84th, along with Tajikistan and Mauritania. The top 10 most powerful passports for 2020 are Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Finland, Spain, USA and UK, Luxembourg, Denmark. Afghanistan is among the world’s worst passports.

Rajnath Singh flags off 51st K9 VAJRA-T at L&T Gujarat

January 17, 2020

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off 51st K9 VAJRA-T Gun from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Armoured System Complex at Hazira in Gujarat. The gun weighs 50 tonnes and can fire 47-kilogram bombs at targets up to a distance of 43 kilometres.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion, Rajnath Singh called for an active participation of the private sector in defence manufacturing, reaffirming the government’s commitment to make India an arms manufacturing hub and net defence exporter.

Rajnath Singh assured that the government will make all efforts to remove any roadblock and work together to achieve the goal of indigenisation and self-reliance in defence sector.

India to host 19th SCO Heads of Government meeting 2020

January 17, 2020

The 19th council of heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be hosted by India later this year. This would be the first high-level meeting of the SCO that would be organised here since India’s admission to the eight-member grouping. The SCO Heads of Government meeting will be held in India in the second half in autumn.

SCO General Secretary Vladimir Norov, who arrived on Sunday on a four-day trip, made the announcement on the sidelines of an event. India took over the presidency of the heads of government’ meeting last year and it was announced in the 18th meeting of the SCO’s Council of heads of government-held in Tashkent in 2019.

1st edition of Krishi Manthan begins in Gujarat

January 17, 2020

The first edition of Krishi Manthan– the largest Food, Agri-business and Rural Development Summit of Asia begins in Gujarat. The summit is organized by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

More than 1,500 delegates including students and academicians are participating in the two-day event organized by the Food and Agribusiness Committee of IIMA. It is an exclusive platform for industry, academia, and policymakers to share ideas, knowledge, and expertise to create solutions.

Eminent speakers like the founder of Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, NIF and GIAN Padma Prof. Anil Gupta, IIMA Professor in Production and Quantitative Methods Chetan Soman, Founder of 24 Mantra Organic Rajashekhar Reddy Seelam, former Executive Vice President of Mahindra Agri Solutions attended the summit.

Microsoft promises to be ‘carbon negative’ by 2030

January 17, 2020

Microsoft announced ambitious new plans to become ‘carbon negative’ by 2030 and then go one step further and remove by 2050 all the carbon it has emitted since the company was founded in 1975. Microsoft has also announced its investment of $1 billion in a “climate innovation fund” for technology for carbon capture and removal.

The focus on taking the enormous step of clearing all the carbon it has contributed in the last 45 years sets the tech giant apart from other companies that have focused on reducing their current and future emissions. Ikea pledged to go carbon negative as well, but it did not commit to removing all the carbon it is responsible for in its history, according to NPR.

Microsoft created a detailed plan to take gradual steps over the next decade to reach net-zero emissions by overhauling its entire supply chain to reduce emissions. The company already asks employees to consider greenhouse gas emissions in all its business decision. Microsoft’s plan includes using 100 percent renewable energy and relying on electric vehicles.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk submits resignation

January 18, 2020

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has submitted a letter of resignation and President Volodymur Zelenskiy will consider it, the presidential office said on Friday. Oleksiy Honcharuk has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 29 August 2019 becoming the youngest-ever head of government at the age of 35.

Piyush Goyal to lead Indian delegation to WEF 2020 in Davos

January 18, 2020

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation to the 50th World Economic Forum at Davos from January 20 to 24. Goyal will also participate in an informal WTO Ministerial gathering being held in Davos during this period. The theme of the World Economic Forum’s meeting this year is ‘Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World’.

The union minister will hold bilateral meetings with ministers of Australia, South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Korea and Singapore. He will also meet Director General of World Trade Organization and Secretary General of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Apart from this, Goyal will hold bilateral meetings with CEOs of companies, attend WEF sessions and round tables on ‘Accelerating Investments in Indian Railways‘ and attracting Global Institutional Investments in India.

The minister will participate in the WEF along with Union Minister of State for Shipping and Chemical and Fertilizers, Mansukh L Mandaviya; and Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh; Finance Minister of Punjab and the IT Minister of Telangana.

January 2020 Current Affairs

The South Central Railway zone signs MoU with SBI for “doorstep banking”

IIM-Indore partners with TikTok for management lessons

World Bank and GoI Sign $88 million loan agreement for AIWTP

Henley Passport Index 2020: India ranks 84th, Japan told

Rajnath Singh flags off 51st K9 VAJRA-T at L&T Gujarat

India to host 19th SCO Heads of Government meeting 2020

1st edition of Krishi Manthan begins in Gujarat

Microsoft promises to be ‘carbon negative’ by 2030

Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk submits resignation

Piyush Goyal to lead Indian delegation to WEF 2020 in Davos

All In One Current Affairs

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