04 January 2020 - Daily Current Affairs
1. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal inaugurates World Book Fair in New Delhi
- Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has inaugurated the 28th edition of annual New Delhi World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi (from 04 to 12 January 2020).
- As part of Mahatma Gandhi's 150 birth anniversary celebrations, the theme of this year is Gandhi:The Writers' Writer.
- Eminent Gandhian scholar Girishwar Mishra is the chief guest on the occasion.
- The book fair organised by National Book Trust (NBT).
- Other features at the fair will include -- Theme pavilion, authors' corner, seminar hall, braille books, children's pavilion and foreign countries' pavilion.
Source: AIR News
2. Indian Railways launches integrated helpline number 139 for passengers
- The Indian Railways has integrated its helpline numbers into a single number 139 for quick grievance redressal and enquiries by passengers during their train journeys.
- The new helpline number 139 will take over all the existing helpline numbers.
- It will be easy for passengers to remember this number and connect with Railways for all their needs during train travel.
- The Helpline 139 will be available in twelve languages.
- A call can be made on this number from any mobile phone and not just smartphones, thus, providing easy access to all mobile users.
Source: AIR News
3. 22 tableau proposals out of 56 shortlisted for Republic Day
- Twenty-two tableau proposals (16-states and 6- Central Ministries) have been short-listed for participation in this year's Republic Day parade.
- Ministry of Defence had received a total of 56 tableaux proposals comprising 32 from States and 24 from Ministries in this regard.
- The tableaux proposals received are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising of eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music and architecture.
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to be the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in 2020.
4. Assam state zoo first to breed endangered Hargila
- The Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden and Aaranyak have jointly attained a landmark achievement by successfully hatching a pair of Greater Adjutant or Hargila chicks in an artificial platform within the zoo enclosure, in the first-ever experiment of its kind.
- This rarest of storks, the Hargila is currently on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss stemming from indiscriminate felling of big trees and dwindling wetlands.
- The Endangered Greater Adjutant stork is one of the rarest species of Storks out of twenty species of Storks in the world.
- In India, eight species of residential storks are found, out of which Greater Adjutant is one of them.
- Once abundantly distributed in Southeast Asia, this stork is now restricted to a few isolated pockets in Assam and Bihar in India and PrekToal in Cambodia.
Source: AIR News
5. ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative launched by the Maharashtra Government
- Maharashtra Government has launched a ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative to ensure that women and children do not fall prey to these cyber-criminal activities.
- Under the initiative, various awareness camps will be held across all the districts of the state regarding cyber safety to help in educating women about how the web is used by anti-social elements and child predators to commit various types of crimes.
- The initiative has been launched to mark the 189th birthday of Savitribai Phule (19th-century social reformer).
Important Days
6. 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.
Appointment
7. Andhra Pradesh govt appoints Special Officers for Disha
- Andhra Pradesh govt has appointed Dr Kritika Shukla (Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official) and M Deepika (Indian Police Service (IPS) official) as Special Officers for implementing the ‘Disha Act 2019’ in the state.
- The Act is intended for speedy trial and faster execution in cases of sexual offences against women in the state.
- The AP Disha Bill prescribes life imprisonment for other sexual offences against children and includes Section 354 F and 354 G in IPC.
- To ensure a speedy trial, the state will set up exclusive special courts in all the 13 districts to deal with cases of offences against women and children including rape, acid attacks, stalking, voyeurism, social media harassment of women, sexual harassment and all cases under POCSO Act.
- The state will also employ special Public Prosecutors and Special Police force dedicated to such crimes only.
8. Hillary Clinton appointed as the new chancellor of Queen's University Belfast in Ireland
- Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been appointed the new chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland for a five-year term.
- She became the university's first female chancellor.
- The position of chancellor has been vacant since the death in 2018 of Thomas J Moran, chairman, president, and chief executive of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.
9. Iran names Esmail Qaani as new Commander
- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace Qasem Soleimani as its commander.
- Earlier, Soleimani was killed in a pre-dawn US strike in Baghdad.
- Qaani was one of the most decorated commanders of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
Honour & Awards
10. 14 scientists awarded Swarna Jayanti Fellowships
- The Union Ministry of Science and Technology have awarded Swarna Jayanti Fellowships to 14 scientists to pursue basic research in frontier areas of science and technology.
- The fellowship covers all the requirements for performing the research and includes a fellowship of 25 thousand rupees per month.
- A research grant of five lakh rupees for five years is also being provided in addition to their salary.
- Instituted to commemorate India's 50th year of independence, Swaran Jayanti Fellowships are awarded to young and brilliant scientists to pursue unfettered research with financial freedom and flexibility.
Source: AIR News
11. General Bipin Rawat proposes the creation of Air Defence Command by June 30
- Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has directed various branch heads to come up with recommendations for inter-service synergy and jointness in a time-bound manner.
- He also directed that a proposal to create Air Defence Command be prepared by 30th of June this year.
- Earlier, General Rawat held a meeting with important functionaries of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff on Wednesday.
- Some of the areas identified for jointness and synergy include the creation of common logistics support pools in stations where two or more services have their presence.
- Emphasizing collegiate system of functioning, General Rawat directed that all three services and Coast
- The Chief of the Defence Staff stressed that all must work towards accomplishing desired results and coming up with healthy views and ideas.
12. Gold imports dip 7% in April-November to 20.6 billion
- India's gold imports fell about 7%, to 20.6 billion dollars during April to November period of the ongoing financial year, according to the commerce ministry data.
- Imports of the yellow metal stood at 22.2 billion dollars in the same period of the previous fiscal.
- The decline in gold imports has helped in narrowing the country's trade deficit to 106.8 billion dollars during the eight-month period under review, against 133.7 billion dollars in the year-ago months.
Sports
13. Cristiano Ronaldo Wins Best Men’s Player of the Year at Dubai Globe Soccer Awards 2019
- Cristiano Ronaldo won the Best Men’s Player of the Year award at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai.
- Ronaldo has won the award six times out of its nine years of its existence.
- England international Lucy Bronze was crowned Best Women’s Player of the Year.
- The 2019 Awards were presented in 16 different categories.
Note:
- The Globe Soccer Awards are the annual awards given for excellence in football, organised by the EFAA (European Association of Player’s Agents) and the ECA (European Club Association).
Source: Goal.com
