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

24X7 call centre launched by Government for coronavirus management

January 26, 2020

The government has set up a 24X7 helpline number to attend to queries about the novel coronavirus (nCov) as number of cases rose across the world. A 24X7 call centre is active for responding to queries on nCov2020. Anyone seeking information can call on the number 011-23978046.

Seven central teams will visit states and designated airports of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi to review the end-to-end preparedness for management and control of Novel Coronavirus in India. The team will consist of a public health expert, a clinician and a microbiologist.

The team will also visit the tertiary hospitals attached to the airports for reviewing the isolation wards and availability of Personal Protective Equipment and masks. The decision was taken by the Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at a review meeting held in New Delhi.

Agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road signed by India and Bangladesh

January 26, 2020

India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to upgrade the 58-kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway. The deal was signed between the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of Bangladesh and an Indian Company Afcons Infrastructure Limited, to upgrade the 39 km long road between Ashuganj river port to Dharhar area.

The RHD and an India-Bangladesh joint venture firm will take up the work of upgrading the remaining part of the road from Dharhar to Akhaura. The project is part of the dollar 2 billion second line of credit extended by India to Bangladesh in 2016. Both governments have identified 46 projects in Bangladesh that would improve connectivity within the country and out of the country.

Nepal wants India to take back demonetised notes worth Rs 7 crore

January 26, 2020

Nepal’s Central Bank is saddled with Rs 7 crore of demonetised Indian currency but India is not making “adjustments” to take back the notes, hoping the scrapped notes would be accepted by its neighbour. The land-locked country depends on India for trade and supplies. Indian currency is widely used in Nepal for day-to-day transactions, especially in the border areas.

The Indian government on November 8, 2016 announced the ban on old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to curb black money in the system. Of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 99.3 per cent or notes worth Rs 15.31 lakh crore have returned to the banking system.

Rs 1,624 crore infused in Indian markets by FPIs

January 26, 2020

Foreign portfolio investors have infused a net sum of Rs 1,624 crore into the domestic capital markets in January so far. As per latest depositories data, Foreign portfolio investors put-in a net of 13,304 crore rupees, in equities and withdrew a net 11,680 crore rupees from the debt segment between January 1 and 24. This translates into a total net inflow of 1,624 crore.

The latest investments came despite challenges such as enhanced geopolitical tension between the US and Iran and dwindling domestic economic growth. On the domestic front there are some signs of India shaking away the slowdown with business activity picking up and this is reflecting in the investments coming into equities. Besides, after the limit to which FPIs can invest in debt instruments has been increased, more inflows into the debt category can be expected.

India celebrated its 71st Republic Day

January 26, 2020

India on 26th January celebrated its 71st Republic Day, honouring the historic date when the country completed its transition towards becoming an independent republic after its Constitution came into effect. Many states joined the nation to celebrate the Republic Day on Sunday morning.

The day was celebrated with great fervour all across the country. In Delhi, the parade for the Republic Day began at Rajpath with President Ram Nath Kovind unfurling the national flag and receiving a 21-gun salute. The chief guest for this year’s republic day parade was Brazilian president, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.

‘Bharat Parv 2020’ begins in New Delhi to celebrate spirit of India

January 26, 2020

Bharat Parv 2020, a festival to celebrate the spirit of India has begun at Red Fort ground in New Delhi. It will continue till 31st of this month. The theme of this year’s Bharat Parv is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat‘ and Celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi.

The objective of Bharat Parv is to encourage people to visit different tourism places of the country and to inculcate the spirit of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. Bharat Parv has many attractions for public including display of Tableaux of the Republic Day parade, performance by armed forces bands and cultural Performances from different regions of the country.

More than 50 food stalls, 79 handicrafts stalls and 27 theme pavilions have been setup. The festival will remain open for public from 12 Noon to 10 PM till 31st of this month. The entry to the event for the public is free, however, they have to carry identity card for the entry.

Padma Awards 2020 Announced

January 26, 2020

Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards are given in three categories: “Padma Vibhushan” exceptional and distinguished service; “Padma Bhushan” distinguished service of outstanding quality; and “Padma Shri” distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year and conferred by the President of India.

This year the President has approved conferment of 141 Padma Awards including 4 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awards. 33 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 18 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 12 Posthumous awardees.

List of Padma Vibhushan 2020 winners – George Fernandes (Posthumous), Arun Jaitley (Posthumous), former Prime Minister of Mauritius Anerood Jugnauth, Mary Kom, Chhannulal Mishra, Sushma Swaraj (posthumous) and Pejavara Adhokhaja Matha Udupi (Posthumous).

List of Padma Bhushan 2020 Winners – M. Mumtaz Ali, Muazzam Ali (posthumously), Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Ajay Chakraborty, Manoj Das, Balakrishna Doshi, Krishnammal Jagannathan, Former Nagaland Chief Minister SC Jamir, Uttarakhand’s well-known environmentalist and social worker Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi, Dr. Tsering Landol, eminent industrialist Anand Mahindra, Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon (Posthumous), former Union Minister Manohar Parrikar (Posthumous), Prof. Jagdish Seth, Olympian badminton player PV Sindhu and industrialist Venu Srinivasan.

List of Padma Shri 2020 Winners – Guru Shashadhar Acharya, Dr. Yogi Aeron, Jai Prakash Agarwal, Jagdish Lal Ahuja Social Work Punjab, Kazi Masum Akhtar, Gloria Arieira, Khan Zaheerkhan Bakhtiyarkhan, Padmavathy Bandopadhyay, Dr. Sushovan Banerjee, Dr. Digambar Behera, Dr. Damayanti Beshra, Pawar Popatrao Bhaguji, Himmata Ram Bhambhu, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Gafurbhai M. Bilakhia, Bob Blackman,Indira P. P. Bora, Madan Singh Chauhan among others.

PhonePe extends to insurance, mutual funds, ATM

January 26, 2020

PhonePe, one of the leading digital payments firms in India backed by global retail giant Walmart, has announced to extend into the insurance, mutual fund and instant-cash segments to tap the fast growing digital payments industry, which is expected to touch $10 trillion by 2027.

The Bengaluru-based fintech firm has announced two major tie-ups with Aditya Birla SunLife Mutual Fund and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. PhonePe’s tie-up with Aditya Birla Sun Life Capital will allow its users invest in liquid fund. Under its tie-up with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, PhonePe offers its users cover on up to 1 million kilometres internal travel for a starting price of just Rs 216.

It also offers users instant refunds with no cancellation charges before the travel start date, and 24×7 international travel assistance to them throughout the journey, across 220 countries. Both leisure and business travellers can purchase travel insurance on the PhonePe app.

The 2-day ‘Innovation Festival’ begins at Science Centre in Itanagar

January 26, 2020

In Arunachal Pradesh, the two-day ‘Innovation Festival’ began at the Science Centre in Itanagar on Saturday. The festival is being organized by the Arunachal Pradesh State Council for Science & Technology in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation. More than 50 innovations are put on display by students from various educational institutions, grassroots innovators, artisans and entrepreneurs from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and other states.

The Innovation Festival, a first of its kind in the state, aimed to foster the culture of innovation among all people of the state, especially in all the educational institutions. The two-day programme will witness interaction sessions, technical session and discussion among the innovators and motivation by several eminent personalities, scholars and persons from educational institutions.

‘Malaria-free Bastar’ campaign launched by Chhattisgarh government

January 27, 2020

Bastar, the Red zone in south Chhattisgarh which has so far not received the deserving attention to fight the malaria menace, has the Annual Parasite Incidence (API) of over 10—rated among the highest in the country. API-10 is equivalent to 10 confirmed cases per thousand population and Bastar is among the very few geographical locations endemic to malaria parasites—Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum.

The prevalence of malaria cases recorded were highest during the months of January, July and November, as per the previous 3 years data. Hence, a three-phase ‘Malaria Free Bastar’ campaign would be carried out during these months to eliminate malarial parasites entirely. The state has come up with a plan to eliminate Malaria from Bastar through door-to-door ‘Mass Active Screening and Treatment’ process, which will continue till February 14 under the campaign.

January 2020 Current Affairs

24X7 call centre launched by Government for coronavirus management

Agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road signed by India and Bangladesh

Nepal wants India to take back demonetised notes worth Rs 7 crore

Rs 1,624 crore infused in Indian markets by FPIs

India celebrated its 71st Republic Day

‘Bharat Parv 2020’ begins in New Delhi to celebrate spirit of India

Padma Awards 2020 Announced

PhonePe extends to insurance, mutual funds, ATM

The 2-day ‘Innovation Festival’ begins at Science Centre in Itanagar

‘Malaria-free Bastar’ campaign launched by Chhattisgarh government

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