1. Novak Djokovic wins Australian Open 2019 men's title
Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic (world No.1) defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men's Singles title at Melbourne.
He defeated Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one-sided match.
The 2019 Australian Open (107th edition) was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park (Australia) from 14th to 27th January 2019.
List of winners of Australian Open 2019:
S.No.
Category
Winners
Runner Up
1
Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Rafael Nadal (Spain)
2
Women's Singles
Naomi Osaka (Japan)
Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)
3
Men's Doubles
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France) & Nicolas Mahut (France)
Astra Sharma (Australia) & John-Patrick Smith (Australia)
2. Naomi Osaka wins Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title 2019
Japan's Naomi Osaka has won her maiden Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title 2019 at Melbourne, Australia.
In the Final, Osaka defeated Czech Petra Kvitova, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 to become the first Asian player to achieve the world number one ranking.
Now, Osaka has become the youngest number one since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.
3. Saina Nehwal wins first Indonesia Masters women’s title
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal (India) has won the Indonesia Masters women’s singles title after Carolina Marin (Spain) limped out of the final due to a leg injury.
Marin was leading 10-4 in the first game when she developed an injury in the knee.
Anders Antonsen (Denmark) has won his first ever Indonesia Masters after defeating world number one Kento Momota (Japan) to claim the 2019 Indonesia Masters title.
Note:
The DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019 is a badminton tournament that takes place at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Indonesia and has a total purse of USD 350,000.
4. Kartik Sharma wins New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship
India's Kartik Sharma has won the New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship in Australia.
Kartik (from Gurgaon) win over Australia's Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final to emerge as champion.
He had been selected to represent Indian Golf Union for three events in Australia.
Note:
Earlier, Kartik had won the Indian golf union western India amateur golf championship 2018.
Arts and Culture
5. Bharat Parv begins at Red Fort in Delhi
Director General of Ministry of Tourism Shri Satyajeet Rajan has inaugurated the six-day cultural extravaganza Bharat Parv (4th edition) at Red Fort in Delhi, As part of the Republic Day 2019 celebrations.
The objective of the event is to generate a patriotic mood, promote the rich cultural diversity of the country and to ensure wider participation of the general public.
The Bharat Parvis also hosting Theme State Pavilions where each State showcases its strength along with its tourism products.
Note:
Bharat Parv opened for public from 12 Noon to 10 PM every day from 26th to 31st January 2019.
It has been organized by Mthe inistry of Tourism in collaboration with other central Ministries and State Governments.
Obituaries
6. Oscar-winning French composer Michel Legrand passes
Oscar-winning French composer Michel Legrand (86-years) passed away.
Legrand wrote over 200 film and TV scores, as well as songs (Known for his often jazz-tinged music).
Michel Legrand won three Oscars and five Grammys during a career spanning more than half a century.
In 1969, he won the first Oscar for the song ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ from the film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’.
This was followed with Oscars for his music for ‘Summer of ’42’ (in 1972) and for ‘Yentl’ (in 1984).
National Affairs
7. Brazil Dam collapse: Death toll rises to 58 with 305 people missing
According to Brazil’s Minas Gerais state civil defence agency spokesman, the death toll from a burst tailing dam at an iron ore mine has risen to 58 people with 305 people still missing.
Hundreds of people are still missing, and the extent of damage is still being calculated, especially in the mining town of Brumadinho.
Rescue teams resumed their search for hundreds of people still missing.
Earlier, the dam collapsed in Minas Gerais' Brumadinho municipality, triggering heavy mud floods.
National Affairs
8. Ministry of Defence launched ‘RDP INDIA 2019′ app
Ministry of Defence has launched a mobile app ‘RDP India 2019’ with the intent of making available the highlights of the Republic Day event (Parade on Rajpath) New Delhi.
It is a new initiative in sync with the Digital India campaign of the Government.
It also includes details of the tableaux presented by different States and Ministries, children cultural performances, fly past and names of recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019.
9. 'Roshni’ to help visually impaired identify notes
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has developed an Android app ‘Roshni’ that would help the Visually Impaired to recognise currency notes in Chandigarh.
The Roshni app can recognise both old and new notes and gives audio information as to which note you are holding in your hands.
There are about 80 lakh visually impaired people in the country, who will benefit from the initiative.
Note:
The Roshni is the first Android App that works successfully with new INR currency notes.
The user must bring the currency note in front of the phone camera and the App would give an audio intimation about the currency note denomination to the user.
10. PM Modi lays foundation stone for AIIMS Madurai in Tamil Nadu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, (AIIMS) at Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
He also inaugurated the super speciality blocks of Madurai's Rajaji Medical College and Thanjavur and Tirunelveli Medical Colleges through video conferencing.
Mr Modi also dedicated a dozen Post Office Pass Port Seva Kendras to the nation.
In Kerala, Mr Modi unveiled a plaque to dedicate to the nation an integrated refinery expansion complex of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and laid the foundation stone for a petrochemical complex in Kochi.
Mr Modi also inaugurated a mounded storage vessel at an LPG bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited in Kochi.
11. Union Minister Gadkari inaugurates Atal Setu in Goa
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated four-lane ‘Atal Setu’ (5.1-kilometer long) the third Cable bridge across river Mandovi in Panaji, Goa.
This is the third bridge across Mandovi River.
This bridge would overcome the bottlenecks and curb traffic jams at Panaji Circle and Panaji entrance.
12. India's fastest indigenous train renamed as Vande Bharat Express
According to Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal, India's fastest indigenous train which will run from Delhi to Varanasi has been named as 'Vande Bharat Express' (earlier, Train 18).
It is a train built completely in India by Indian engineers in a span of 18 months and it is an example that it is possible to make world-class trains under Make in India.
The 16-coach train has been built by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai and cover the distance in 8 hours.
The train will be fully air-conditioned and will stop at Kanpur and Allahabad.
13. Nari Shakti is Oxford Dictionary’s Hindi Word of the year 2018
The Oxford Dictionaries has announced ‘Nari Shakti’ (women empowerment) as the Hindi Word of the Year 2018.
The word was selected by the Oxford Dictionaries (India) with help of a panel of language experts.
Nari Shakti (derived from Sanskrit), broken down, the word ‘nari’ means women and ‘shakti’ means power.
Note:
The Hindi Word of the Year chosen every year, reflects the conversations, ethos of a particular year.
In 2017, Oxford Dictionaries had chosen 'Aadhar' as the word of the year.
