Latest Current Affairs – January 28 2019
1. Former Minister Chaitanya Majhi passes away
Former Minister and noted tribal leader Chaitanya Prasad Majhi passed away in Odisha capital this morning. He was 90. Majhi was admitted to the Capital Hospital here due to illness. He breathed his last at 7.10 AM.
Born on November 19, 1929 in Mayurbhanj, Majhi was member of the O.P.S.C. from 1979 to 1985. He was also a member of Rajya Sabha from 1972 to 1978 and Deputy Minister for Petroleum and Chemicals in Union Cabinet. Majhi was also the State Education and Youth Affairs Minister from 1990 to 1995.
2. Viswanathan Anand finishes joint third at Tata Steel Masters
In Chess, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand had to be content with a joint third-place finish after settling for a draw with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi in the 13th and final round of the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands.
With three victories, a defeat against winner Magnus Carlsen of Norway and nine draws, Anand ended the event on 7.5 points and will add six points to his existing rating. He is sixth in world rankings.
Carlsen expectedly won the event after drawing rather easily with Anish Giri of Holland in the final round.
3. Reliance Jio launches JioRail App for JioPhone users
Telecom major Reliance Jio said that IRCTC reserved ticket booking service is available for its users on any JioPhone through the brand new JioRail App. According to the company, the App will allow customers to book and cancel tickets by using debit cards, credit cards and e-wallets, check PNR status, train information, timings, routes, seat availability and several other services on their JioPhones.
“Available on the Jio App Store, the JioRail app also allows Tatkal booking for any last minute travel plans,” the company said in a statement.
4. IRDAI sets up a panel to identify systemically important insurers
Insurance regulator IRDAI set up a panel to identity domestically systemically important insurers (SII) and put in place an enhanced regulatory framework for them.
Explaining the rationale for having enhanced regulatory watch for SIIs, Irdai said their failure has potential to cause significant disruption to the essential services they provide to policy holders and to the overall economic activity in the country. “The continued functioning of SIIs is critical for the uninterrupted availability of uninterrupted insurance services to the real economy,” said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).
The committee headed by Pravin Kutumbe, Member-Finance & Investment, Irdai, has been asked to submit report in six months.
5. India to participate in PISA in 2021
India will participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which tests the learning levels of 15-year-old students, in 2021.
The HRD ministry has signed an agreement with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which conducts PISA every three years. confirming India’s participation in the triennial global survey that assesses students in reading, mathematics, science and collaborative problem-solving. Participation in PISA allows benchmarking performance against a wide range of countries. PISA uses test items aligned with international benchmarks. Test items are adapted to the local context and language, pilot tested and validated.
The agreement was signed by Maneesh Garg, joint secretary in the HRD Ministry, and Andreas Schleicher, director (PISA) in the OECD.
6. Cable-stayed ‘Atal Setu’ inaugurated on Mandovi river in Goa
A 5.1-km long cable-stayed “Atal Setu” on the Mandovi river in Goa, a third such bridge to connect the state capital with North Goa, was opened to public by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik and other ministers from the state also attended the event to inaugurate the four-lane bridge which at 2.5 lakh tonnes is equivalent to the weight of 570 Boeing aircraft. The bridge is made of 1 lakh cubic metres of high strength, high performance concrete enough to fill 40 Olympic size swimming pools. .
Around 13,000 tonnes of corrosion resistant reinforcement steel, 32,000 square metres of structural steel plates and 1,800 kilometres of high tensile pre-stressing strands have gone into making the bridge. The bridge has 88 high tensile strength cables in the state-of-art single place harp type cable stay system, and a real-time force monitoring mechanism.
The bridge is constructed by the GIDC (GoaInfrastructure Development Corporation) and engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro.
7. Tripura, CISF, ICAR bag ‘Best Tableau Award’ for Republic Day parade
Tableaux of Tripura, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) won the first prize for the Republic Day Parade at the Rajpath, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the awards at a ceremony.
Under the states and union territories category, the first prize went to Tripura for its float based on the theme of ‘Empowering Rural Economy in Gandhian Way’. The second prize went to Jammu and Kashmir for its theme on ‘Gandhiji’s Ray of Hope – Our Composite Culture’ and the third prize to Punjab for its float on the theme of ‘Jallianwala Bagh’.
8. ICAR launches National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP)
The ICAR has recently launched Rs 1100 crore ambitious National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to attract talent and strengthen higher agricultural education in the country. This project will be funded by the World Bank and the Indian Government on a 50:50 basis.
The objective of the NAHEP for India is to support participating agricultural universities and ICAR in providing more relevant and higher quality education to Agricultural University students.
9. Artisan Speak: Ministry of Textiles signs pacts with leading textile cos to help weavers
The Government of India and industry players have entered into agreements whereby the Government will link textile companies and handloom clusters, enabling the textile firms to directly source their requirements for handlooms from handloom clusters.
The strategic partnership between big brands and handloom clusters is aimed at establishing long-term market linkages between key industry players on the one hand and handloom weavers on the other; this will ensure sustainable development of the sector, resulting also in sustainable and enhanced income opportunities for weavers.
The MoUs were signed at Aritsan Speak, a unique event organized by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, at the UNESCO World Heritage site Elephanta Caves near Mumbai. The event has been held to showcase the GI Textiles of India, through a confluence of fashion, music and dance.
10. D N Chakraborty gets Assam Republic Day journalism award
Assam government has conferred the Republic Day Journalism Award 2019 to veteran journalist and former editor Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty.
Chakraborty, former Editor of Dainik Asom, Dainik Janambhumi and Ajir Batori group of newspaper, 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.
11. Uttarakhand’s first tulip garden in Pithoragarh
Uttarakhand’s first tulip garden will come up over 50 hectares of forest land in Pithoragarh district at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The state government has obtained the Centre’s nod for development of the garden.
To be developed by the ONGC, under its corporate social responsibility programme in over 50 hectares of forest land near Chandak hill top, the proposed tulip garden will be the country’s second after the one located in Srinagar (J&K), state finance minister and Pithoragarh MLA Prakash Pant said.
