29 January 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

29 January 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Beating Retreat ceremony held at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi

• Beating Retreat ceremony held at the historic Vijay Chowk (the victory square) in New Delhi.
• This year, 15 Military Bands, 15 Pipes and Drums Bands from Regimental Centres and Battalions are participating in Beating the Retreat ceremony.
• The event will end with the ever-popular tune of 'Sare Jahan Se Acha'.
• The 'Beating Retreat' ceremony is held here every year on 29^th January, marking the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations.

Note:

• The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands.

2. India’s second Tulip garden to come up in Uttarakhand

• Uttarakhand Government has obtained the permission to develop the Tulip garden in Pithoragarh district.
• It will be the second Tulip garden (first in Srinagar, J&K) in the country.
• The site was selected under the 13 districts, 13 new destinations’ scheme, to attract more tourists to Uttarakhand.
• It will be developed by ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), under its CSR program in over 50 hectares of forest land near Chandak hilltop in Pithoragarh district at a cost of Rs. 50 cr.

Note:

• Tulips (Tulipa) flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm colours).
• The tulip is a member of the Liliaceae (lily) family, adapted to steppes and mountainous areas with temperate climates.
• Tulip blooms from mid-March to May.

3. Nagaland CM inaugurates state’s first AstroTurf football pitch

• Nagaland Chief Minister Mr Neiphiu Rio has inaugurated the state’s first Astro Turf Football Pitch (playfield size- 105x66 meters) at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima.
• The Astroturf has been installed under norms of FIFA.
• It will begin the process of sports development regarding football in Nagaland.
• The State Government is working on a strategic sports infrastructure development plan whereby every district will have quality sports facilities.

4. India signs an agreement with OECD for participation in PISA 2021

• Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry has signed an agreement with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for India’s Participation in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2021. 
• The question to Indian students will be related to India's perspective only.
• The student assessment by PISA will ensure learning outcome through education.

Note:

• PISA is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate the education system worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students.
• The CBSE and NCERT will be part of the process and activities leading to the actual test.

5. National Conclave on Technical Textiles at Mumbai

• Ministry of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani has presided the National Conclave on Technical Textiles in Mumbai.
• Technical textiles are textile material and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties.
• The event will also be a curtain raiser for TechnoTex 2019.
• As per baseline survey of the technical textile industry in India, there are around 2100 units manufacturing technical textiles in the country.

Obituaries

6. Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away

• Former Defence Minister ‘George Fernandes’ (88-years) passed away in New Delhi.
• Mr Fernandes also served as Union Minister for Railways, Communications and Industry.
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times and once to the Rajya Sabha.
• As President of the All India Railwaymen's Federation, he led the Railway strike involving 1.5 million workers(in 1974), resulting in thousands being sent to jail.
• In 1976 he was arrested and tried in the infamous Baroda dynamite case.

Note:

• George Fernandes was born on 3rd June 1930 to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha Fernandes in Mangaluru (Karnataka)to a Mangalorean Catholic family.

Honour & Awards

7. Numaligarh Refineries receives 'Best Miniratna PSU' award

• The ‘Numaligarh Refinery Limited’ (NRL) has been awarded the best Miniratna PSU (public sector undertaking) in strategic performance (Financial Category).
• The award was presented to S K Barua (MD of NRL) by Member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari and Poonam Dhillon at an award function held in New Delhi.
• The company was awarded for its efforts in the country's growth and strategic performance.

Note:

• The Numaligarh Refinery is located at Morangi, Golaghat district, Assam.
• It is a joint venture between Bharat Petroleum, Oil India and Govt of Assam.

8. D N Chakraborty gets Assam Republic Day Journalism award

• Assam Government has given the Republic Day Journalism Award 2019 to Veteran journalist Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty.
• Chakraborty has been honoured for his lifelong contribution to journalism in the state.
• The award comprises Rupees one lakh in cash, a citation, the Assamese ‘xoraai’ (the bell metal memento presented as an honour), ‘jaapi’ (headgear) and an angavastra.

9. ICAR's 'Kisan Gandhi' tableau wins first prize at R-Day parade

• The ICAR tableau in the Republic Day Parade has won the first prize for its Kisan Gandhi theme.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research tableau with the theme "Mishrit Kheti, Khushiyon Ki Kheti" portrayed Gandhi with goats and a cow and Kasturba engaged with charkha and caring animals.
• The tableau showcased a view from Bapu Kuti at Wardha Ashram.
• Tripura bagged the first prize for the state tableau while tableau from Jammu and Kashmir was adjudged the second and Punjab won the third prize.
• The theme of Tripura's tableau was 'Empowering Rural Economy the Gandhian Way'.
• A total of 22 tableaux were displayed on the 70th Republic Day parade.

10. Southern Railway won number one for cleanliness

• The Southern Railway has bagged the number one position for cleanliness in all the 17 railway zones in the country.
• This achievement was under the category of other than Premium Category trains in the recent Trains Cleanliness Survey conducted by IRCTC on all India level.
• The survey is conducted once a year to periodically monitor the progress of ‘Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat’ mission.
• Two private companies (IRCLASS Systems and Solutions Pvt. Ltd and IPSOS Research Private Limited) were engaged to conduct the survey on behalf of IRCTC.

11. Sugarcane juice declared ‘national drink’ of Pakistan

• Pakistan government conducted a Twitter poll and declared sugarcane juice as the “national drink” of the country.
• According to the poll, 7,616 people or 81% cast their votes favouring sugarcane juice, 15% voted for orange juice while 4% chose carrot.
• People were asked to decide on the country’s national drink with two other options (orange and carrot).

Sports

12. ICC suspends Ambati Rayudu from bowling in International Cricket

• Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu has been suspended from bowling in International Cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC), after having found his bowling action to be illegal.
• According to ICC, the suspension will remain in place until he is tested and can demonstrate he is able to bowl with legal action.
• Earlier, Rayudu had been reported for suspect bowling action during the first ODI match between India and Australia in Sydney.