In this article we have given monthly topic wise Current Affairs Quick Revision. This will be very useful for WBPSC (West Bengal Civil Service, Miscellaneous Service, Clerkship etc.) and other State PSC (BPSC, JPSC, MPSC, OPSC, RPSC, PPSC, UPPSC etc.) exams, UPSC (CDS and NDA), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams, Staff Selection Commission exams (CGL, CHSL and MTS) and other competitive exams.
CURRENT AFFAITS JANUARY 2019
National Current Affairs
- Cabinet approves restructuring of National Health Agency as “National Health Authority” for better implementation of Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana.
- Cabinet approves first-ever three way merger in Indian Banking with amalgamation of Vijaya, Dena and Bank of Baroda. The merger which will come into force on April 1, 2019 will form the third largest bank in the country, after government-owned State Bank of India and private sector lender ICICI.
- Cabinet approves creation of the post of Vice Chancellor for National Rail & Transport Institute (Deemed to be University) set up in Vadodara, Gujarat. The NRTI is the country’s first railway university and only third such university in the world after Russia and China.
- On 10th January 2019, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for establishment of three more All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) to boost healthcare infrastructure in the country. Among them, while two will be set up in Jammu & Kashmir’s Samba and Pulwama districts, the third AIIMS will be set up in Rajkot, Gujarat.
- The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Constitution (One Hundred and third Amendment) Act, 2019 which grants 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions to the economically weaker sections in the general category.
- On January 7, 2019, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved 10% quota in jobs and educational institutions for economically weaker sections in general category. For the implementation of the quota, Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution will have to be amended.
- Union Government issued its nod for setting up the Centre for Classical Language at the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University in Tirur, Kerala.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved a capacity expansion plan for Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) in Assam from the existing 3 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) to 9 MMTPA. Besides the Cabinet has also approved setting up of a crude oil pipeline from Paradip to Numaligarh and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri.
- UP government approved construction of world’s longest expressway between Prayagraj and Meerut with the aim of connecting Prayagraj with Western UP.It will have a length of 600 km.
- On January 10, 2019, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced exit of West Bengal from the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna due to the use of PM’s picture in the official poster of the centre-state joint scheme. West Bengal joined the league of states of Telangana, Kerala, Odisha, and Delhi which have opted out of the scheme for varied reasons.
- Sikkim CM launched ‘One Family, One Job’ scheme in Rojgar Mela 2019 to give one state government job to one family.
- Information, Public Relations and Tourism Division of Andaman and Nicobar Administration announced that the Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair will be an authorized Immigration Check post.
- On 5th January 2019, the 27th edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which has the UAE‘s third largest emirate Sharjah as its 2019 guest of honour,inaugurated in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, has launched an online campaign, ‘#www: Web- WonderWomen’ to recognize the exceptional women who have been driving positive agenda of social change via social media. The partners of the campaign are: Breakthrough and Twitter India.
- Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated India’s longest 300-meter single- lane steel cable suspension bridge over Siang River in Upper Siang district of state bordering China.
- Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched country’s largest startup ecosyst, emmeasuring 1.8 lakh sq ft, integrated startup complex under the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), at the Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ), in Kochi, Kerala.
- Minister of Women and Child Development,Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurated Regional Centre of National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) at Mohali, Punjab.This organisation have already four such Regional Centres one each at Bangalore, Guwahati, Indore and Lucknow besides the Headquarters at New Delhi.
- Minister of State in Department of Space Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 1st batch of UNNATI(Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training) programme of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It has been launched by ISRO as part of initiative by United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE-50).
- Prime Minister of India,Shri Narendra Modi launched the Country’s First National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai,Maharashtra, that seeks to portray over a centuryold journey of movies in India. The National Museum of Indian Cinema was build under the guidance by the Museum Advisory Committee headed by noted film maker Shyam Benegal.
- Ministry of Textiles and Government of India launched Artisan Speak at Elephanta Caves(UNESCO heritage site) near mumbai,to strengthen the handlooms and textiles sector of India.
- Civil Aviation minister Suresh Pabhu launched the country’s first Geographical Indication (GI) store at Dabolim International Airport in Goa.
- Three-day 6th ‘Women of India Organic Festival’ by Women and Child Development Ministry held in Chandigarh for the first time to Promote Women Farmers
- Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Pema Khandu declared Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival (PPHF) as the “State Festival” during a valedictory ceremony of the fourth edition of the festival at Seijosa in East Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh.
- Madhya Pradesh Government announced that it is going to create an Adhyatmik Vibhag (spiritual department) by merging several existing department.
- Andhra Pradesh got a separate high court which will temporarily function from the Chief Minister’s camp office in Amravati, the new capital of the state till a permanent building for the High Court is being set up at the ‘Justice City’in Amaravati.
- Kerala women form 620-km long Women’s Wall,that stretched from Kasargod in northern Kerala to the southernmost district of Thiruvananthapuram to uphold gender equality against Sabarimala protests.
- The Ministry of Culture announced that Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) declared 6 monuments as ‘protected and of national importance’ under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, in 2018.
- 125-year-old Old High Court Building in Nagpur, Maharashtra
- 2 Mughal era monuments in Agra- Haveli of Agha Khan and Hathi Khana
- The Neemrana Baori in Alwar district of Rajasthan
- The Group of Temples in Ranipur Jharail in Bolangir district of Odisha
- The Vishnu Temple in Kotali, Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.
- The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) proposed renaming of the Indian Forest Service as Indian Forest and Tribal Service.
- Sikkim will become first state to roll out Universal Basic Income.
- Gujarat becomes 1st state to implement 10% quota to EWS(Economically Weaker sections).
- Nirmala Sitharaman launched Tamil Nadu defence industrial Corridor in Tiruchirappalli. This is considered to be the second corridor succeeding the one launched in Aligarh,Uttar Pradesh.
- The Oxford Dictionaries announced that the word ‘Nari Shakti’ which is derived from Sanskrit has been chosen as the Hindi Word of the year for 2018. In 2017, Oxford Dictionaries had chosen ‘Aadhar‘ as the word of the year.
- Union Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal announced that Train 18 which is India’s first indigenously developed engineless semi high speed train has been named as Vande Bharat Express. The Train will run between Delhi and Varanasi at the maximum speed of 160 kmph.
- On December 30, 2018, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, visited Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He announced renaming of three islands of Andaman and Nicobar and also announced setting up of a deemed university after Netaji Bose.
- The Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep
- The Neil Island would now be known as Shaheed Dweep and
- The Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep.
- Norwegian P.M. Erna Solberg inaugurated the Indo-Norwegian Business Summit 2019 in New Delhi.
- India and Norway signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the Joint Task Force on Blue Economy, in order to promote multi-sectoral cooperation in various aspects of Blue Economy.
- The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space programme at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
- External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj Co-Chair first ever India-Central Asia Dialogue held in samarkand,Uzbekistan.
- The Reserve Bank set up an expert committee under former SEBI chairman U K Sinha to suggest long-term solutions for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSME sector.
- The Reserve Bank of India constituted a 5-member high-level committee under Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani to suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of digital payments in the country.
- The three Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) – Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank has been amalgamated into a single RRB by the Government w.e.f January 1, 2019.
- Six states, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, in the presence of Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari, signed an agreement for Renukaji Multipurpose Dam Project in New Delhi.
- A government appointed panel headed by IIT- Hyderabad chairman B V R Mohan Reddy has suggested to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to stop setting up new engineering colleges from 2020 and review the creation of new capacity every two years after that.
- The Madras High Court formed an expert committee to suggest ways and means to remove the invasive species of the plants from the Western Ghats and rehabilitate the forests.
- Andhra Pradesh tops Singapore’s Asia Competitiveness Institute’s (ACI), Ease of Doing Business index.
- World Economic Forum: India is set to become world’s third largest consumer market after US and China in 2030.
- According to a study titled “The Potential Benefits of India’s ‘War Against Pollution’ — Longer Lives”,by Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) says the life expectancy of people in Delhi can go up by nearly three years if the air pollution is reduced by 25%.
- The World Economic Forum (WEF) released a survey ahead of its annual meeting which states that Indians are biggest supporters of international aid. 95 per cent of Indians supported the aid and expect India to help other nations.
- Government announced that Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Libcoin are in dialogue to form a world class consortium to initially build the first lithium Ion battery plant in India.
- India’s Arunima Sinha becomes first female amputee to climb the highest peak of Antarctica – Mt Vinson.
- India’s Satyarup Siddhanta became World’s Youngest Mountaineer to climb 7 Peaks, 7 Volcano Summits
- TheJawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s container port got listed in the top 30 container ports .
International Current Affairs
- The United states of America (USA) and Israel officially quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) amid concerns that the organization fosters anti-Israel bias.
- President of United States of America (USA), Donald J. Trump signed the “Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA)” into law. The act establishes a multifaceted U.S. strategy to increase U.S. security, economic interests, and values in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Pakistan’s Provincial Government declares Panj Tirath Hindu religious site as national heritage.
- Egypt opened West Asia’s largest cathedral in its New Administrative Capital, 45 kms away from its capital, Cairo.
- World’s longest 3D printed concrete bridge was opened in china.It is located on the Wenzaobang River in Shanghai.
- The Pakistan government declared sugarcane juice as the “national drink” of the country.
- Central banks of UAE and Saudi Arabia launched common digital currency called ‘Aber ‘. Aber will be used in financial settlement between the two countries through Block chains and distributed Ledger technologies.
- Mauritius Prime Minister, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth announced in his address as the Chief Guest at inauguration of the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh that Mauritius will organize the first Bhojpuri Festival in 2020.
- Dubai International (DXB) airport became the world’s busiest airport for international passengers for the fifth consecutive year in 2018.
- Research firm eMarket predicted that China will become world’s biggest retail market in 2019.
- India became second largest steel producing country according to world steel association report. India has replaced Japan to attain the 2nd largest country.
- The World Economic Forum announced that the Tata Steel plant at IJmuiden in the Netherlands has been recognized as ‘Manufacturing Lighthouses’ – a distinction awarded to manufacturing facilities which are seen as leaders in technologies of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named Rio de Janeiro, a city in Brazil as the World Capital of Architecture for 2020.
- The International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) launched world’s first television channel dedicated to human rights has been launched in London.
Summits and Conferences
- 106th Indian Science Congress (ISC)-2019:
- Venue – Lovely Professional University Jalandhar, Punjab
- Theme – Future India: Science and Technology
- One-day Global Skill Summit 2019:
- Venue – Ranchi, Jharkhand
- Theme – Skilling Youth, Enabling Youth
- Global Aviation Summit 2019:
- Venue – Mumbai
- Theme – Flying for all especially the next 6 Billion
- 9th International Micro irrigation conference
- Venue – Aurangabad, Maharashtra
- Theme – Micro Irrigation and Modern Agriculture
- 10th edition of the India Rubber Expo –2019
- Venue – Mumbai
- 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas
- Venue- Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Chief Guest – Mr. Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius
- Theme – Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India
- The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Shri Ashok Lavasa inaugurated an International Conference on ‘Making our Elections Inclusive and Accessible “on the occasion of 9th National Voters Day held ’in New Delhi. National Voters Day is observed on 25th January every year. Theme of 2019 voters day is ‘No Voter to be Left Behind’ and a magazine My Vote Matters,was launched on the occasion.
- Three day 4th International Exhibition & Conference on Steel Industry, India Steel 2019 Exhibition and Conference was organised by Ministry of Steel in association with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at NSE Complex Goregaon, Mumbai.
- Union Tourism Minister K. J. Alphons, co-chaired the 7th Meeting of Tourism Ministers of ASEAN-India with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien. The Meeting was held in Ha Long City in Viet Nam.
- Vice-President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 2-days Agri-Vision 2019 conference on ‘envisioning Agro-solutions for smart and Sustainable Agriculture” in Hyderabad, Telangana.
- Honorable President of India Shri. Ramnath Nath Kovind inaugurated the three-day Gandhian Resurgence Summit on the occasion of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi’s 150 birth anniversary at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
- 2+2 Inter-Sessional meeting, India and US held in New Delhi.
- The 4th Arab Economic and Social Development Summit took place in Lebanon’s capital Beirut.
- World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019 held in Davos, Switzerland.
Awards and Recognition
- 76th Golden Globe Awards held in California, United States:
- Best Motion Picture (Drama) – Bohemian Rhapsody
- Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) – Green Book
- Best Actor (Drama) – Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody”
- Best Actress (Drama) – Glenn Close for “The Wife”
- Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) – Christian Bale for “Vice”
- Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) – Olivia Colman for “The Favourite”
- Best Supporting Actor – Mahershala Ali for “Green Book”
- Best Supporting Actress – Regina King for “If Beale Street Could Talk”
- Best Director – Alfonso Cuaron for “Roma”
- Best Screenplay – Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga for “Green Book”
- Best Original Score – Justin Hurwitz for “First Man”
- Best Original Song – Shallow (A star is Born)
- Best Animated Feature Film – Spider-Man: Into the Spider –Verse
- Best Foreign Language Film – Roma (Mexico)
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, in New Delhi.
- WHO Goodwill ambassador Yohei Sasakawa received Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018.
- Centre for Advanced Materials of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) chose Eminent Scientist and Bharat Ratna recipient CNR Rao for the first Sheikh Saud International Prize for Materials Research.
- BJP MP Anurag Thakur honoured with Jury Committee Special award at the 10th Edition of Sansad Ratna Awards.
- Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandra awarded Saraswati Samman for the year 2017.
- Bharat Ratna Award 2019:
- Former president Pranab Mukherjee
- Social activist Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumously)
- Musician Dr Bhupen Hazarika (posthumously)
- Read full list Padma Awards-2019 click here
- Jayant Kaikini was named the winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for his translated work “No Presents Please.”
Sports Current Affairs
- India Women Cricket team Vice-captain and Left-handed opener, Smriti Mandhana was adjudged ‘Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the Women’s Cricketer of the Year‘ as well as the ‘Women’s ODI Player of the Year’by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was conferred with the 2018 Confederation of African Football Player of the Year award, for the second time, in Senegal.
- Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who hails from Haryana, became the first Indian athlete to receive a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
- Rishabh Pant, Indian Cricketer was named the “International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Emerging Player of the year” .
- Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah became the highest international wicket-taker of 2018 with 78 wickets after taking 9 wickets in the 3rd Test Match against Australia held in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia.
- Indian cricket team captain, Virat Kohli beats Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar’s to become the fastest batsman to score 19000 international runs on the 1st day of 4th Test Match in Sydney against Australia.
- Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic secured victory over Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev to win the Hopman Cup for the second year in a row.
- Maharashtra is going to host the second edition of the Khelo India Youth Games which includes completions in 18 different disciplines at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.
- Maharasthra finish top with 228 medals (85 Gold, 62 Silver and 81 bronze
- Haryana finish second with 178 medals and Delhi finish third with 136 madels.
- Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) Executive Committee announced that Egypt will host African Cup for the fifth time in 2019.
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced USA Cricket as its 105th member.
- Indian boxer, M C Mary Kom attained the first position in the latest women ranking released by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) in the Light Fly 45-48 kilograms category with 1700 points.
- Gurgaon’s 8-year-old Kartik Singh won the under-8 category Junior world title at the Kids’ Golf World Championship organised by US kids Golf in Malaysia to become the youngest Indian to win the title.
- Dhoni makes his place in the list 10000 runs club like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli had scored 10,000 ODI runs for India.
- The Bengaluru Raptors beat Mumbai Rockets by 4-3 in the final of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2019 at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru to win their maiden title.
- 12 year old Tamil Nadu boy D Gukesh became the youngest Grand master in India and second in the world.
- Wasim Jaffer became the 1st Asian to slam 2 first-class double tons after turning 40.
- India’s Saina Nehwal Won Indonesia Masters Title 2019 against Spain’s Carolina Marin.
- Danish player Anders Antonsen won his first ever Indonesia Masters after defeating world number one Kento Momota of Japan.
- Australian Open 2019: 107th edition of Australian Open 2019 tennis tournament took place at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia:
- Novak Djokovik Beats Rafael Nadal to win record seventh title.
- Naomi Osaka beats Petra Kvitova to win Australian Opens womens singles.
- Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Henri Kontinen and John Peers are in Men’s doubles.
- Samatha Stosur and Shuai Zhang defeated Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in women’s doubles.
- Barbora Krejcikova and Rajeev Ram defeated Astra Sharma and John – Patrick Smith in Mixed Doubles.
- Magnus Carlsen won the title and it is 7th Tata Steel Chess title after setting for a draw against Anish Giri in the final round.India’s Viswanathan Anand settled for joint third place in Tata Steel Masters Chess tournament held in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands.
Obituary
- Larry Roberts – ARPAnet head and early internet pioneer
- Ringo Lam – Hong Kong-born filmmaker
- Masazo Nonaka – World’s oldest man(Japan)
- Michel Legrand – French Oscar-winning composer
- Kader Khan – Veteran actor and writer
- C H Loknath – Veteran Kannada actor
- Dibyendu Palit – Bengali writer and Sahitya Akademi
- Ramakant Achrekar – Dronacharya awardee cricket coach
- Rajesh Ghodge – Ranji player(Goa)
- Mohammed Zulfiqaruddin – Former India and 1956 Olympian footballer
- Raghbir Bhola – Former India hockey player
- Atin Bandyopadhyay – Bengali writer
- Krishna Sobti – Writer, Jnanpith awardee
- George Fernandes – Former defence minister (1998)
- Amrik Singh Nagra – Former Ranji player and Cricket coach
Books and Authors
- A Crusade Against Corruption written by Manohar Manoj
- We Are Displaced written by Malala yousafzai
- New Brazilian Poems written by Abhay Kumar
Appointment
- Sunjay Sudhir – Ambassador of India to the Maldives
- Suman Kumari – Pakistan first Female Hindu Civil Judge
- Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar – Vice Chief of Naval Staff
- Sheikh Hasina – Third Term Prime Minister of Bangladesh (Political Patry Awami League)
- Sudhir Bhargava – Information Chief Commissioner
- Jair Bolsonaro – 42nd president of Brazil
- P K Singh – Secretary of the Competition Commission of India (CCI)
- Saurabh Kumar – Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board
- VK Yadav – Chairman of Railway Board
- Amitabh Chaudhry – MD and CEO of the Axis bank
- Justice Asif Khosa – Chief Justice of Pakistan
- Vikram Misri – India’s new ambassador to China
- Pranav R Mehta (Solar Man of India) – President of Global Solar Council (GSC)
- Gita Gopinath – IMF as 1st woman and it’s 11th Chief Economist
- Ajit Mohan – Vice President and MD of Facebook India
- Nicolas Maduro – Venezuela President
- Su Tseng-chang – Prime Minister of Taiwan
- Jaideep Govind – Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
- Sanjay Jain – Additional Solicitor General in Supreme court
- Stefan Lofven – Prime Minister of Sweden
- Sultan Abdullah – Malaysian King
- Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh – Regional Director WHO South East Asia
Science and Technology
- American space agency NASA‘s New Horizons spacecraft performed the farthest flyby in history as it approached the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule.
- Scientists at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati have developed a simple paper kit that can test freshness of milk and tell how well it has been pasteurized.
- Scientists from Washington University of United states of America (USA) successfully launched a telescope (X-Calibur instrument) from the McMurdo Station in Antarctica that will analyze Xrays arriving from distant neutron stars, black holes and other exotic celestial bodies.
- China lunar rover Yutu-2 or Jade Rabbit-2 of the Chang’e-4 spacecraft made the firstever soft landing on the far side of the moon.
- IIT-Madras team created ‘space fuel’ by trapping carbon dioxide in crystalline form with the help of water molecules. This would in future help to curb greenhouse gases
- Scientists have discovered new planet K2-288Bb,which is twice the size of Earth.Its discovery was announced at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society held in Seattle,Washington DC 233rd.
- Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman K Sivan announced that the 1st Gaganyaan manned mission to outer space would be launched by December 2021.
- The SpaceX Falcon 9 launched Iridium Communications satellite comprises of 10 voice and data satellites,which is an alternative for entire fleet with a new generation of orbiters from the Vandenberg Air Force station in California.
- Chennai Traffic Police introduced a road safety robot named ROADEO, to help in traffic management and assist citizens. With this, Chennai became the second city after Mumbai to induct robots in traffic management.
- 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,which is designed and developed by Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre (RWRDC),Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
- Japan launched the Epsilon – 4 rocket carrying 7 satellites including world’s first artificial meteor shower blasted into space from the Uchinoura space centre by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
- Indian Navy inducted two Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) at Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, to boost coastal security.
- Microsoft India has launched a new e-commerce platform re-weave.in for handloom weavers under its Project ReWeave.
- Maharashtrain collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) recommended triple-drug therapy for lymphatic filariasis to speed up elimination of the disease in Nagpur.
- Israel Successfully Tests Arrow 3 Anti-ballistic Missile System.
- Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched PSLV(Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) C44 carrying Kalamsat V2 and imaging satellite Microsat R from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
- Tropical Storm Usman hit Philippines’ Bicol region in Manila.
- American and Dutch scientists found that yearly ice mass loss in Antarctica increased six times more in the past 40 years.
- A Volcano was erupted on Mount Shindake on Kuchinoerabu island of Japan which spewed ash and smoke up to 6000 meters into the air.
- Butterfly researchers of Sikkim rediscovered the Small Woodbrown butterfly species from Bakhim in Khanchendzonga National Park after a span of 120 long years.
- India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise, IMBEX begun at Chandimandir , headquarters of the Western Command in Chandigarh.
- Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre announced that Nashik in Maharashtra will be the site of the country’s second defence innovation hub after Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
- Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft landed on the Sikkim’s first airport and one of the highest airfields of the country, Pakyong Airport.
Important Days
- 1st January – Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) celebrated its establishment day.
- 4th January – World Braille Day
- 9th January – Bharatiya Pravasi Day or Non Resident Day
- 10th January – World Hindi (Focus – to promote the language at the global stage)
- 10th January – 26th Army Air Defence Day
- 12th January – National Youth Day
- 13th January – 352nd Prakash Utsav of Guru Gobind Singh
- 15th January – 71st Army Day
- 23rd January – 122nd Birth Anniversary of the great Freedom Fighter Subhas Chandra Bose
- 24th Jauary – National Girl Child Day (Theme – Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow)
- 25th January – 9th National Voters Day (Theme – No voter to be left behind)
- 26th January – 70th Republic Day(Chief Guest – South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa)
- 28th January – Data Protection Day
- 30th January – World Leprosy Eradication Day
- 30th January – National Martyr’s Day or Sarvodaya Day