Current affairs notes on 18/01/2019-22/01/2019

1.The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has apporoved an MoU between India and Australia on the safety in Mines, Testing and Research Station.

2.Mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta conquered Antartica's highest point, Mount Sidley. With this feat, he became the first Indian and youngest man to climb the 7 highest peaks and volcanic summits across all continents.

3.ISRO will launch a student satellite called 'Kalamsat' and an imaging satellite known as 'Microsat-R' on 24 January 2019. Both the satellite will be carried by 'PSLV C-44' rocket.

4.Minister of State in Department of Space Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 1st batch of UNNATI programme of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. UNNATI: Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training programme. It has been launched by ISRO as part of initiative by United Nations Office to study Outer Space Affairs.

5.The world's first television channel dedicated to human rights was launched in London on 16 January 2019. The channel was launched by the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR).

6.Saksham 2019 is an annual campaign under f Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to sensitize the masses about conservation and efficient use of petroleum products.

7.Mohammed Ali Qamar, India’s first Commonwealth Games gold medal in boxing, has been named as the chief coach for the Indian women boxers.

8.The Union Ministry of Finance has started 'Know Your Budget' fortnight series on its Twitter handle to educate general public about the budgetary process. The series would explain the importance of Union Budget and its making, and would continue for about a fortnight.

9.Shehri Samridhi Utsav' organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, will focus on urban livelihoods and extending the outreach of National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) to the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable, and facilitate access of SHG members to the other government schemes.

10.In Maharashtra, the 2nd World Orange Festival (WOF-2019) has started in Nagpur from 19th January.

11.Light combat helicopter (LCH),has successfully carried out air-to-air missile firing on a moving aerial target at the integrated test range in Chandipur on Odisha coast.This LCH is first in the country by HAL.

12.The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro as the World Capital of Architecture for 2020. Rio will be the first city to receive the title under a programme launched together by UNESCO.

13.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) in Mumbai, Maharshtra.

14.In Sweden, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has been elected for a second term on 18th January 2019.

15.The annual meet of World Economic Forum (WEF) began on January 22, 2019 in Davos, Switzerland. The theme of the World Economic Forum 2019 would be 'Globalisation 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution'.

16.Microsoft India launched a new e-commerce platform re-weave.in for handloom weavers under its Project ReWeave. his e-commerce platform will help connect artisans to buyers directly.

17.The world’s largest religious and cultural human congregation, ‘Kumbh 2019’began at Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh on January 15, 2019.

18.6th City Momentum Index has been released by JLL, Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru has emerged as the world’s most dynamic city.

19.Agri-Vision 2019, a two-day conference on ‘Envisioning Agro Solutions for Smart and Sustainable Agriculture’ was held at Hyderabad.

20.Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY), the flagship scheme of the Union Government for employment generation, crossed the milestone of one crore beneficiaries on January 14, 2019.

21.Tripura has launched the Sustainable Catchment Forest Management (SCATFORM) project which is undertaken with the assistance of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) for addressing issues such as forest cover loss and forest degradation have been mainly caused by shifting cultivation.

22.Palestine has taken over the chairmanship of G77 from Egypt. (G77) at the United Nations is a coalition of 134 developing nations, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.

23.Diffo Bridge over Diffo river on Roing-Koron-Paya road has been inaugurated in Arunachal Pradesh. It would provide uninterrupted access between Dibang valley and Lohit valley region of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh.

24.The 15th annual Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) is being held in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Usually celebrated on or around 9th January,The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnath was the chief guest. Theme: “Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India”.

25.Flamingo Festival is held every year to promote tourism in Pulicat and Nellapattu. Flamingo Festival is being organised for the past 12 years in Andhra pradesh.

26.The government of Arunachal Pradesh has declared the Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival (PPHF)–the state’s only conservation festival, as a “state festival”.

Thank you.