Current Affairs Today 15th to 17th January 2020| Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 15th to 17th January 2020

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

Indian Army Day

• Indiais celebrating 72nd Army Day on January 15, 2020.
• Thisday is celebrated every year on this day because Field Marshal KM Cariappa took command of the Indian Army from General Francis Butcher on the same day in 1949.
• Army DayParade is also organized at Parade Ground, Delhi on this day.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

CARA celebrates 5th Annual Day

• Central Adoption Resource Authority(CARA) has celebrated its 5th Annual Day in New Delhi.

About CARA

• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development,Government of India.
• It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
• It also deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies.
• It is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption,1993 ratified by the Government of India in 2003.

PM Modi welcomes agreement to permanently settle Bru-Reang refugees in Tripura

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the agreement to permanently settle the Bru-Reang refugees in Tripura saying it will greatly help them, the Bru-Reang refugees will benefit from numerous welfare schemes of the government.
• The agreement was signed in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and others in New Delhi. As per the agreement, over 30 thousand Bru refugees will be settled in
• The Centre has sanctioned 600-crore rupee package for the rehabilitation of the people from this community Bru refugees will get a 40 x 30 feet plot along with a fixed deposit of four lakh rupees, cash assistance of five thousand rupees per month for two years and free ration.
• It  was a long-pending issue which has been resolved. Brutribals from Mizoram have been living as refugees in Tripura since 1997. An agreement was signed in 2018 for repatriation of the Bru tribals to Mizoram which did not materialize as majority of the community members refused to go back.

Mega campaign on fuel conservation ‘Saksham’ inaugurated in New Delhi

• Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas MM Kutty has called for putting earnest efforts for petroleum conservation to bring down the huge import burden for energy requirements. Mr Kutty inaugurated fuel conservation mega campaign – Saksham of Petroleum Conservation Research Association, PCRA in New delhi.
• Speaking on the occasion, the Petroleum Secretary , India’s share of primary energy demand is set to double to 11 per cent by 2040 and to address this huge demand, not only petroleum conservation but creation of sustainable development model will be a pivotal step.
• Highlighting the major advantages of fuel conservation, Mr Kutty stated, it will help in progressively reduction of carbon footprint and lead to fulfilling government’s commitment for greener environment. He said, foreign exchange can also be saved with this move.
• The one-month long annual event Saksham aims at creating mass awareness among public about conventional fuel conservation. On the occasion, the Secretary also flagged-off the publicity vans of PCRA which will visit states spreading the message of fuel conservation.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL

Qatar scraps unpopular exit permits for domestic workers  

• Qatar scrapped mandatory exit permits for migrant domestic staff and other groups, as part of efforts to boost rights for guest workers amid scrutiny of its record.
• Previously all foreigners working permanently in the gas-rich country required authorisation from bosses to leave, but now only military personnel will routinely require such a dispensation.
• Qatar has made a series of reforms to its employment regulations since being selected to host the 2022 World Cup.
• It also dropped the exit visa requirements for other foreign workers — including civil servants, oil and gas workers, and employees of government bodies including Qatar Airways.
• “Now a domestic worker has the right to enter and exit the country without their employer’s permission

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

CCI orders probe against Amazon, Flipkart over discount practices

• Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India, CCI has ordered a probe against Flipkart and Amazon for alleged malpractices, including deep discounting and tie-ups with preferred sellers.
• The order follows a complaint filed by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, whose members comprise many traders dealing in smartphones and related accessories.
• The traders’ body accused the e-commerce firms of anti-competitive practices like preferential listing, exclusive tie-ups and private labels.
• In its order, the Commission stated, it needs to be investigated whether the alleged exclusive arrangements, deep discounting and preferential listing by the opposite parties are being used as an exclusionary tactic to foreclose competition.
• The Competition Commission has asked the Director General to complete the investigation and submit a report within 60 days.

WPI surges to 2.59 pct in December 2019

• Wholesale prices based inflation surged to 59 per cent in December 2019, as against 0.58 per cent in November due to increase in prices of food articles like onion and potato.
• The annual inflation, based on the monthly wholesale price index (WPI), was at 3.46 per cent during December a year ago.
• According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry , the rate of price rise for food articles rose to 13.12 per cent during December 2019 as against 11 per cent a month earlier, while for non-food articles it rose nearly four-fold to 7.72 per cent from 1.93 per cent in November.
• Among food articles, vegetable prices surged by 69.69 per cent mainly on account of onion, which witnessed around 456 per cent jump in prices, followed by potato at around 45 per cent.
• The consumer price index-based retail inflation, as per data, spiked to over a 5-year high of 7.35 per cent in December 2019 due to costlier food products.

RBI asks issuers to provide facility to switch on, off cards to prevent frauds

• Reserve Bank has asked banks and other card-issuing companies to provide facility to customers to switch on and off their debit or credit cards, a move aimed at enhancing security for digital transactions.
• The RBI stated that at the time of issue or re-issue, all cards (physical and virtual) should be enabled for use only at contact based points of usage [ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) devices within India.
• The central Bank said issuers should provide cardholders a facility for enabling card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transactions.
• The  channels should include mobile application, internet banking, automated teller machines, or interactive voice response.
• The RBI further stated that for existing cards, issuers may take a decision, based on their risk perception, whether to disable the card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transaction rights.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

‘Parshuram Kund Mela’ begins in Arunachal Pradesh

• In Arunachal Pradesh, the famous Parshuram Kund Mela Devotees from across the country visit the sacred place to take a holy dip in the Kund on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
• More than 12,000 footfalls of pilgrims are recorded so far who have come to the Mela this year.
• Parshuram Kund, nestled in the lower reaches of Lohit River is of great significance for the Hindus.
• The legendary beheading of his mother by Lord Parshuram and eventual penance followed by taking a bath in the so-called Brahma Kund, has added religious significance to this place.
• Every year thousands of Hindu devotees throng in and take a holy dip in the sacred Kund on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

Rojgaar Sangi- app to connect trained candidates with jobs

• Recently, the Chhattisgarh State Skill Development Authority (CSSDA) has launched a mobile phone app – ‘Rojgaar Sangi’.
• The mobile application aims to connect trained candidates with the jobs.It will also help start-up companies to hire an office staff.
• The app has been developed with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• It will increase accessibility for skilled and trained candidates which in turn will increase job opportunities.
• The app is expected to benefit 7 lakh students who were trained under the courses offered by CSSDA.
• The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is an institute set up by the Indian government in 1976 to drive its technology and e-governance initiatives in the country.
• The institute is part of the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Department.

Arunachal to start red-listing of orchids

• Arunachal has become the first state in the country to initiate the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) ‘red listing’ at the state level after it inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IUCN.
• The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity.
• A powerful tool to inform and catalyze action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, it is critical in protecting the natural resources.
• The project will be spread across 12 months, during which workshops on red list assessment will be conducted by experts from the IUCN.

34,000 Bru refugees to be settled in Tripura

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the signing of a quadripartite pact of MHA with the State governments of Tripura, Mizoram and leaders of Bru community to permanently settle around 34,000 internally displaced people in Tripura.
• Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.
• Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area, when they demanded creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.
• The Centre has sanctioned around ₹600 crore as a settlement package.

Maha CM launches first girder of India’s longest sea-bridge

• Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched the first girder for the country’s longest sea-bridge, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL).
• The girder weighing 1,000 tonnes was set off by a 1,400-tonnes ‘launching girder’ and mark the erection of the first span in the civilian works of the MTHL.
• The MTHL, the second road link cutting through the Arabian Sea in the island city’s eastern coast, will connect the mainland with Sewri and Chirle respectively.
• It is expected to be completed by 2022 and slash the travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai from existing 100-odd minutes to barely 30 minutes.
• Estimated to cost around Rs 14,260 crore, it is being financed by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
• The MTHL will be connected to the new international airport coming up in Navi Mumbai, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, the country’s first expressway, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Mumbai-Goa Highway and provide faster access to north Maharashtra and southern India.

MP govt to set up Gandhi chairs, pillars in universities & colleges

• In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has decided to set up Gandhi chairs and Gandhi pillars dedicated to father of the nation in universities and colleges across the state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath will inaugurate the Gandhi Chairs at a symbolic function on January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• The ‘Gandhi Chair’ will be set up under the political science department of the universities. Under the aegis of Gandhi Chair, scholars who are doing research focusing Mahatma Gandhi will be given incentive of Rs 60 thousand per annum.
• The Gandhi pillars will bear inions regarding Gandhi ji with an objective to help the young generation connect with the Mahatma, and inspire them to work in nation-building.
• All the Universities and colleges have been directed to complete the work of setting up the Gandhi chairs and the Gandhi pillars by January 26. Research souvenir focusing Mahatma Gandhi will also be published by the Gandhi chairs.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Harish Salve appointed Queen’s Counsel for courts of England & Wales

• Senior Advocate Harish Salve has been appointed the Queen’s Counsel for the courts of England and Wales. This was announced by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice Department.
• The title of Queen’s Counsel is usually awarded to lawyers possessing demonstrated skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy. The appointment is done by the Queen, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. He is advised by an independent Selection Panel which makes recommendations.
• Advocate Salve served as a Solicitor General for India until 2002. He is known for representing India before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav extradition case.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submits resignation

• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has resigned. Medvedev submitted his resignation to President Vladimir Putin .
• President Putin thanked Mr. Medvedev for his contribution. The agency also reports that Mr. Putin will name Mr. Medvedev as deputy of the presidential Security Council.
• Russian President asked Medvedev’s Cabinet to keep working until the new Cabinet is formed

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Odisha’s Puri District receives Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019

• Puri District receives Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, organised the ODF Sustainability workshop.
• As part of the workshop, the Swachhata Darpan Awards were presented by Shri Khan to the best performing districts on key swachhata parameters. The awardees include East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh), West Kameng (Arunachal Pradesh), Bemtara (Chhattisgarh), Diu (Daman and Diu), Panipat (Haryana), Vadodara (Gujarat), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Moga (Punjab), East Sikkim (Sikkim) and Pedappali (Telangana). Four districts – Dibrugarh (Assam), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Puri (Odisha) – were also awarded for innovations and initiatives for Plastic Waste Management.
• District Collector, Peddapalli, presented on the role of IEC towards promoting ODF Plus and Sustainability. The presentation highlighted important IEC initiatives in the district like Mana Swachhata, Mana Gouravam under which screening of popular SBM-G films along with cultural events is done across Gram Panchayats in Peddapalli.
• District Collector, Muzaffarpur, presented innovative initiatives taken by the district administration for the construction of Community Toilets to address any households which may be left behind in the access to household toilet, and to ensure universal sanitation access in the district.

Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi to be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman

• Eminent Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi will be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman. He has been selected for this prestigious literary award for his short stories collection- This short stories  collection talks about the agonies and sufferings of marginalized sections of the society.
• Saraswati Samman carries a cash award of 15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque. Mr Mohi has authored 25 books of poetry, stories and translations. He has also received Sahitya Akademi Award.

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet organized by Indian Railways

• Indian Railways and Railway Energy Management Company Ltd (REMCL), a joint venture of Ministry of Railways & RITES Ltd, organized a Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet in New Delhi
• The objective of the Investors’ Meet was to disseminate information about the opportunities available under renewable energy in Indian Railways.
• The Investors’ Meet was attended by leading financers and institutions including Department for International Development, Government of United Kingdom (DFID), Asian Development Bank (ADB), GIZ from Germany, AFD from France, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA), State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) as well as leading renewable energy organizations such as Softbank Energy, L&T, Renew Power, Sembcorp, Amplus Solar, SunEdison and Gensol. They shared their expectations of being partners in the journey of renewable energy of Indian Railways.
• The investors acknowledged the efforts of Indian Railways in leading the development of renewable energy in the country and expressed strong support to Indian Railways on the path of going green and achieving the net zero carbon emissions target by 2030.
• Indian Railways has recently invited bids for 47 MW rooftop solar projects and 249 MW of wind solar hybrid projects. This meet was supported under the Power Sector Reforms Programme, as a part of cooperation agreed in the MoU signed between UK’s DFID and Indian Railways on 2^ndDecember 2019.

 Exhibition on Indian Heritage in Digital Space

• Union MoS Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the exhibition on Indian Heritage in Digital Space and First International Heritage Symposium at National Museum, New Delhi.
• The exhibition was organized by Ministry of Culture and Tourism in collaboration with theIndian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.
• The visitors will be able to see the recreations of the socio-cultural life and traditions of Hampi, architectural and conjectural reconstructions of several important structures and experience demystification of many murals in the exhibition.
• The initiative of the use of technology in heritage is very important as it should not be limited to research only.
• The exhibition aims to reach people in a way that they get a chance to know andunderstand the unseen aspects of heritage sites
• It also introduces the history and features of heritage through the use of technology.
• A person who comes to the museum is guided by the use of technology so that it enriches their experience of the visit.
• This special exhibition showcase adaptation and infusion of technologies being developed under the Indian Digital  Heritage (IDH) initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India in the cultural heritage domain of the country.

Ladakh hosts first ever Food Processing Summit to attract investors

• Union Territory Ladakh is hosting the first ever Food Processing Summit to attract investors to the region.
• With the help of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the UT Administration of Ladakh is organizing the Summit.
• Ladakh region has vast scope for investment in food Processing Industries in horticulture products like Apricot, SeabuckThorn, Apple and agricultural produce like buckwheat and barley.
• The event is aimed at encouraging the entrepreneurs to begin a StartUp to tap the potential in the Food Processing Industries in Ladakh. Invest India will explain the procedures of investment processes along with Government support.

 Om Birla inaugurates 7th Conference of CPA India Region in Lucknow

• 7th Conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association India Region in the legislative assembly building in Lucknow.
• The main theme of the conference is ‘ROLE OF LEGISLATORS’ and during the Plenary Sessions spread over two days, delegates will discuss the Capacity Building of Legislators for Scrutinizing Budgetary Proposals and Enhancing Focus of Legislators on Legislative Business.
• CPA India Region conferences are held once in two years and the 6th conference was held in 2018 in

Fifth Science Film festival kick-starts in Goa

• The fifth edition of Science Film Festival of India, SCI-FFI 2020, was kick-started in Goa’s capital city Panaji.
• The festival that will take place at the Inox Complex and Maquinez Palace in Goa, aims at instilling the knowledge of science among the youth with the help of exhibitions, masterclasses, workshops, and other activities.
• Besides, Goa Government and Government of India, the event is being supported by Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAR).
• Films that have been selected to be screened at the event are ‘Mission Mangal’, ‘Antariksham 9000 KMPH’, ‘Everest’, ‘Aamorie’, ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’, ‘Geostorm’ and, ‘Virus‘ among others.
• A special workshop titled ‘Million SoUL’ will also be conducted by IIT Bombay on training about making solar lamps. The workshop is aimed at empowering people from backward communities. The workshop will also aim at teaching participants about the health, educational and environmental benefits of solar energy.
• During the SCI-FFI 2020, students of different schools will get hands-on experience in different physics and chemistry experiments.

The 6th National Standards Conclave

• The 6th National Standards Conclave is being held in Delhi.
• Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the new BIS Act will relook at all standards for goods and services to balance the interest of consumers.
• He also stated that India would not allow the imports without the specific HSN (internationally recognised identification code for specific products) codes.

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 Isro’s GSAT-30 satellite successfully launched aboard Ariane rocket

• India’s “high power” communication satellite GSAT-30, aimed at providing high-quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services, was successfully launched onboard Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.
• Blasting off from the Ariane Launch Complex in Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America.
• The 3,357-kg satellite, which was deployed from the lower passenger position of Ariane-5 launch vehicle (VA 251) into to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), is configured on Isro’s enhanced I-3K Bus structure to provide communication services from Geostationary orbit in C and Ku bands.
• The satellite derives its heritage from Isro’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series, and is equipped with 12 C and 12 Ku band transponders.
• GSAT-30 is to serve as replacement to the “aging” INSAT-4A spacecraft services with enhanced coverage, Isro has said, adding the satellite provides Indian mainland and islands coverage in Ku-band and extended coverage in C-band covering Gulf countries, a large number of Asian countries and Australia.
• GSAT-30 is an operational communication satellite for DTH, television uplink and VSAT services.
• EUTELSAT KONNECT – which was produced by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat – was riding in the upper position of Ariane 5’s payload arrangement, and was released first in the flight sequence at 27 minutes following liftoff.
• Since the launch of India’s APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 24 satellites, including GSAT-30, for the Indian space agency.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

Indo-Japanese joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ begins off Chennai Coast

• Coast Guards of India and Japan took part in a joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ off the Chennai coast as part of strengthening the bond of the two countries.
• One ship of the Japanese Coast Guard and four ships and an aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard took part in the exercise.
• Led by Commanding Officer Captain Kiyoshi Harada, the ‘Ehigo PLH08’ and the four ships and a Dornier aircraft of Indian Coast Guard participated in the drill in the Bay of Bengal around 50 nautical miles off Chennai.
• The exercise marked demonstrations of search and rescue, external fire-fighting and sharing of best practices.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flags off 51st K9 VAJRA-T gun from L&T complex in Gujarat

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off 51st K9 VAJRA-T Gun from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Armoured System Complex at Hazira in
• 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.
• 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.
• Various reforms introduced by the government under the ‘Make in India’ initiative to achieve $26 billion defence industry by 2025 and provide employment to 2-3 million people.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

ICC U-19 World Cup Cricket begins in South Africa

• The ICC Under-19 World Cup Cricket begins in South Africa . Indian team, under the captaincy of Priyam Garg, will look to defend the title when it begins its campaign against Sri Lanka at the Oval, Bloemfontein.
• India are placed in Group ‘A’ and will face New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Japan, who will be making their first-ever appearance in any World Cup.
• India is the most successful team in the tournament, having won four titles till date, including the last edition in 2018. After playing Sri Lanka in their first group game, India will facedebutant Japan in their next group match on the 21st of this month.
• In their final Group Game, India will face New Zealand on 24th January. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super League stage. The final of the tournament will be played at Oval on the 9^thof next month.

MS Dhoni dropped from BCCI’s central contracts list

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni was dropped from the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s list of centrally-contracted players.
• The BCCI announced the central contracts for the period of October 2019 to September 2020.
• The 38-year-old player was in the ‘A’ category, which fetches a player five crore rupees as annual retainership, until last year.
• Skipper Virat Kohli, his white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma and top pacer Jasprit Bumrah were retained in the highest A bracket of seven crore rupees.
• Among others, batsman L. Rahul has been promoted from ‘B’ grade to ‘A’ category.
• Test opener Mayank Agarwal has been included in the Grade ‘B’ category, which also features Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal along with two others.
• Pacer Navdeep Saini and T20 specialist Washington Sundar are new entrants in Grade ‘C’ alongside Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur.
• Veteran Cricketer Mithali Raj was demoted to Grade ‘B’ from ‘A’ while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket.
• T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained her ‘A’ category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.
• Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol.

DAILY CA- 14^th    JAN

• Raisina Dialogue to begin in new delhi.
• Smriti Irani launches Yashaswini Scheme for Women entrepreneurship in Goa
• Centre to set up panel to examine issues on royalty rates for major minerals
• India-Bangladesh I&B Ministers’ Meet 2020 to be held in New Delhi
• World Bank predicts Sri Lanka’s economic growth at 3 pct for 2020 

• Nepal to make yoga education compulsory for schoolchildren
• Ahead of Beijing 2022, China launches driverless bullet train
• SEBI defers deadline by 2 years for top 500 firms to separate roles of chairman and MD
• Govt appoints Michael Patra as RBI Deputy Governor
• Retail inflation jumps to about 5-yr high of 7.35 pct in Dec 2019
• INTACH Efforts to Protect Buddhist Site
• Festival of harvest, Lohri being celebrated in North India
• Population of ‘mugger’ crocodile species increases in Odisha
• Kaziranga records 96 species of wetland birds
• Andhra Pradesh likely to have four Regional Zones
• Fresh investment proposals worth Rs 6608 cr approved in Tamil Nadu
• Cultural exchange programme to be organised in Bihar under Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat
• Telangana’s Peddapalli district gets fourth consecutive national award for sanitation
• Indian Railways signs MoU with RailTel for Phase 2 of e­ Office execution
• Senior IPS officer P. Maheshwari appointed Director General of CRPF
• GSAT-30 Satellite To Be Launched On January 17 Using Ariane-5 Launch Vehicle
• Book of Arun Jaitley’s selected writings to hit stands in February
• PAX SINICA: Implications for the Indian Dawn
• Nepali translation of Swami Vivekananda’s ‘Karma Yoga’ among 4 books released in Nepal on Vishwa Hindi Diwas
• Two Coast Guard ships commissioned at Kolkata
• Captain Tania Shergill to become first woman parade adjutant for Republic Day parade
• Indian Navy with IOCL launches special fuel with reduced carbon footprints
• Japan Coast Guard Ship ‘Echigo’ arrives in Chennai
• Robert Abela wins election to be prime minister of Malta
• India finish 2019 as number one shooting nation in world
• Hyderabad FC appoints Albert Roca as the new head coach
• Caricaturist Thomas Antony passes away

DAILY CA- 15^th and 16^th JAN

• Indiais celebrating 72nd Army Day on January 15, 2020
• CARA celebrates 5th Annual Day
• PM Modi welcomes agreement to permanently settle Bru-Reang refugees in Tripura
• Mega campaign on fuel conservation ‘Saksham‘ inaugurated in New Delhi
• Qatar scraps unpopular exit permits for domestic workers
• CCI orders probe against Amazon, Flipkart over discount practices
• WPI surges to 59 pct in December 2019
• RBI asks issuers to provide facility to switch on, off cards to prevent frauds
• ‘Parshuram Kund Mela’ begins in Arunachal Pradesh
• Rojgaar Sangi- app to connect trained candidates with jobs
• Arunachal to start red-listing of orchids
• 34,000 Bru refugees to be settled in Tripura
• Maha CM launches first girder of India’s longest sea-bridge
• MP govt to set up Gandhi chairs, pillars in universities & colleges
• Harish Salve appointed Queen’s Counsel for courts of England & Wales
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submits resignation
• Odisha’s Puri District receives Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019 

• Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi to be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman
• A Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet organized by Indian Railways
• IR Exhibition on Indian Heritage in Digital Space
• News Ladakh hosts first ever Food Processing Summit to attract investors
• Om Birla inaugurates 7th Conference of CPA India Region in Lucknow 

• Fifth Science Film festival kick-starts in Goa 

• The 6th National Standards Conclave is being held in Delhi 

• Isro’s GSAT-30 satellite successfully launched aboard Ariane rocket
• Indo-Japanese joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ begins off Chennai Coast
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flags off 51st K9 VAJRA-T gun from L&T complex in Gujarat
• ICC U-19 World Cup Cricket begins in South Africa
• MS Dhoni dropped from BCCI’s central contracts list