04 January 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. Indian Panorama Film Festival begins in New Delhi
- The Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare has inaugurated the ten-days Indian Panorama Film Festival at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi.
- A total of 26 Feature Films and 21 Non-Feature Films will be screened during the festival.
- The film festival is being organized by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- Directors of the opening feature film - Olu, Shaji N Karun and non-feature film Kharvas, Aditya Suhas Jambhale will be present on the occasion.
- All the films selected under the Indian Panorama section in the 49th International Film Festival of India will be screened during the Festival.
Source: AIR news
2. HRD Ministry constitutes a task force to look into suicides of JNV students
- The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has constituted a task force to look into the issues of suicides of the students in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) residential schools.
- The task force has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Psychiatrist, Dr Jitendra Nagpal.
- It will also suggest ways and means arrest the trend of suicides by students.
- According to the report, around 49 students of the residential Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas committed suicide between 2013 and 2017.
Note:
- The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are fully residential schools managed and run by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Source: PIB
3. Cabinet clears setting up of a committee to implement Clause 6 of Assam Accord
- The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of a high-level committee for implementation of clause 6 of the Assam Accord and measures envisaged in the Memorandum of Settlement, 2003 and other issues related to Bodo community.
- The composition and terms of reference of the committee will be issued separately by his ministry.
- The Union Home Minister has also announced the establishment of a Bodo museum and modernization of All India Radio Station and Doordarshan Kendra in Kokrajhar.
Source: Indian Express
4. Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang District achieves 100% electrification
- East Siang District (in Arunachal Pradesh) has achieved 100% electrification under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana- Saubhagya Scheme.
- Pasighat Electrical division has electrified 2,662 households which were earlier left out till the end of December last year.
- The power department has electrified 1,483 villages under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Gram Jyoti Yojana in the state so far.
Source: AIR news
Important Dates
5. 4th January: World Braille Day
- The World Braille Day is observed across the world every year on 4th January to mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille.
- He was the inventor of Braille script or Braille code.
- Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired.
Note:
- Braille users can read computer screens and other electronic supports thanks to refreshable braille displays.
- People can write braille with the original slate and stylus or type it on a braille writer, such as a portable braille notetaker (or computer) that prints with a braille embosser.
Source: UN News
Banking & Finance
6. Allahabad Bank & SBI Life join hand for bancassurance partnership
- Allahabad Bank and SBI Life Insurance came together and signed a bancassurance pact to sell the policies of the insurer from over 3,200 branches of Allahabad Bank across the country.
- This will empower the consumer to address their complete financial needs under one roof.
- The agreement was signed in the presence of Allahabad Bank Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mallikarjuna Rao and Sanjeev Nautiyal (SBI Life MD & CEO).
Source: Economic Times
International Affairs
7. Turkmenistan launches first messaging app
- Turkmenistan has launched its first messaging app ‘BizBarde’.
- BizBarde app will allow the exchange of messages, files, photos and videos.
- Earlier, the ex-Soviet republic has blocked Western services including Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Viber, along with popular Russian networks Odnoklassniki and VKontakte.
Source: PTI
Appointments
8. V K Yadav takes charge as Chairman, Railway Board
- General Manager of South-Central Railway (SCR) Vinod K. Yadav (1980 batch of the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers) has been appointed as the Chairman of Railway Board.
- Yadav succeeds Ashwani Lohani (retired on 31st Jan 2018)
- The Railway Board is the apex body of the Indian Railways.
- It reports to the Parliament of India through the Ministry of Railways headed by the Railway Minister of India.
Source: Hindu BusinessLine
9. Saurabh Kumar appointed as Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board
- Saurabh Kumar (1982-batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service officer) has been appointed as the Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
- Kumar is an M-Tech in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
- Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories is an industrial organisation, functioning under the Department of Defence Production of Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
Note:
- The Apex Board is headed by Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF) as Chairman and has 9 Members in the rank of Additional DGOF.
- OFB is engaged in research, development, production, testing, marketing and logistics of a comprehensive product range in the areas of air, land and sea systems.
- OFB comprises 41-Ordnance Factories, 9- Training Institutes, 3-Regional Marketing Centres and 4- Regional Controllerates of Safety, which are spread across the country.
Source: The Tribune
10. Indian-American takes oath as Fort Bend County Judge in Texas
- Indian-American K P George (53-years) has been sworn in as the Fort Bend County Judge, becoming the first person from the community to hold the office of one of America's most diverse counties.
- In the US, county judges' duties vary from state to state.
- Depending upon the size of the county, they perform a wide range of judicial and administrative duties.
- The Fort Bend County in Texas has a sizeable population of Indian-Americans.
Source: AIR news
11. Brazil's Bolsonaro takes oath as President
- Jair Bolsonaro (63-years) was sworn in as Brazil's President (42nd) in a ceremony at Brazil's National Congress Building.
- By the end of October 2018, Bolsonaro was elected as the President after defeating ex-Sao Paulo mayor and Workers Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad.
- Bolsonaro was a former Army captain and admirer of the country's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, vowed to adhere to democratic norms.
Note:
- The President of Brazil is the head of government of Brazil.
- The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces.
Source: DD news
