Current Affairs January 10, 2019

In this post, GKToday presents Current Affairs of January 10, 2019 in Short Notes form for preparation of IBPS, Banking, CLAT, SSC, Railway, UPSC, IAS/PCS, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPSC, RPSC, TNPSC, MPSC, KPSC and all other competitive examinations of India.

1. On 8th January 2019, the 4th edition of the Raisina Dialogue started in New Delhi with theme “A World Reorder: New Geometries; Fluid Partnerships; Uncertain Outcomes”. The 3-day Raisina Dialogue is India’s flagship annual geopolitical and geostrategic conference. The Dialogue brought together over 600 delegates from 93 countries, including influential political leaders, strategic thinkers, policy practitioners, technology innovators, business representatives and academics on a common platform where they will offer their vision and propose solutions that will serve all in the decades ahead. The discussions will seek to address issues arising from ongoing global transitions and changes to the world order, triggered by unique leaders, innovative partnerships and new technologies.

2. The first-ever Global Aviation Summit (GAS-2019) with the theme “Flying for all” is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from January 15-16, 2019. Organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation along with FICCI, the GAS-2019 will discuss how to ride this strong tailwind of growth and pave the way forward for the aviation sector. It will provide a platform to the aviation fraternity to showcase the challenges in newly developing growth spots and understand how technology-driver innovations will change air travel in future.The summit is supported by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Federal Aviation Administration of US (FAA), International Air Transport Association (IATA), CiviI Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), Airports Council International (ACl) and Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

3. Kumar Rajesh Chandra, A 1985 batch IPS officer, has been appointed the new Director-General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and will hold the post till 31st December 2021 i.e. date of his retirement on superannuation or until further orders. He succeeded S.S. Deswal. Prior to this post, Chandra was DG at Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The SSB is one of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India and is currently under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Its headquarters is located at New Delhi and its motto is’Service, Security and Brotherhood’.

4. The Malaysian King, Sultan Muhammad V has become the Malaysia’s first monarch to step down from the throne before completing his five-year tenure on 6th January 2019. No reason was given and palace officials did not respond to requests for comment. Malaysia is the only country in the world to have a rotational monarchy, in place since the country became independent from Britain in 1957. Here, the king assumes a largely ceremonial role, his assent is needed for the appointment of a prime minister and various other senior officials. The country has nine royal households, who typically take turns to sit on the throne. The selection of the next king can be decided by a vote in the Council of Rulers, made up of all nine royal households.

5. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has introduced a 70-point grading index to assess the quality of school education offered by states. Here, the states will be marked out of 1,000 scores on 70 parameters to assess quality of education. The move will reportedly provide a correct picture of each state’s performance. The minister has also ensured that there will be fair competition to improve upon each other's performances. The school curriculum will also be reviewed to ensure holistic education in which there will be time for physical education, value education, life skill education and experiential learning

6. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), also known as Non-Resident Indian Day, is observed every year on 9th of January to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.

7. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed a 5-member committee headed by Nandan Nilekani to suggest ways to improve digital payments. The committee will review the existing status of digitisation of payments in the country, identify the current gaps in the ecosystem and suggest ways to bridge them and assess the current levels of digital payments in financial inclusion. It will also suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of digital payments and provide a road map for increasing customer confidence and trust while accessing financial services through digital modes. Further, it will suggest a medium-term strategy for deepening of digital payments and other related items. The committee will submit its report in 90 days from its first meeting.

8. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) pavilion received ‘Exhibitor of the Year Award’ at 106th Indian Science Congress (ISC-2019) held at Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, Punjab. The pavilion narrated the saga of self-reliance & national pride with the ‘Make in India’ spirit, which gained a lot of attention from visitors who also got an opportunity to interact with DRDO’s scientists. The DRDO also showcased various Life Sciences Products like Portable Chemical Agent Detector, Full body protector for women, underwater breathing apparatus for T-90 tank crew and Ready-to-Eat Packaged Foods. Further, the DRDO pavilion also provided information on the pan India online competition, ‘Kalam’s Vision; Dare to Dream’.

9. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has recently released the First advance estimates of National Income for the current fiscal FY 19, under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. In it, Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.2% in FY19, against 6.7% in FY18, due to improvement in the performance of agriculture and manufacturing sectors. However, the CSO estimate is a bit lower than 7.4% growth projected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the current fiscal. According to the estimates, farm sector is set to grow at 3.8% against 3.4% last year, at constant or inflation-adjusted prices. At current prices, the sector expected to grow at an identical 3.8%, which could be emblematic of an agri-commodity price crash across wholesale mandis.

10. The 6th ‘Women of India Organic Festival 2019 will be hosted by Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) at Leisure Valley in Chandigarh from 12th to 14th January to celebrate and promote women farmers and entrepreneurs in the organic sector from the remotest parts of India. The purpose of the festival is to encourage Indian women entrepreneurs and farmers to connect with more buyers and thus, empower them through financial inclusion, while promoting organic culture in India. Over 100 women are coming together at Leisure Valley, which will become the epicentre of an organic extravaganza. The Festival will showcase over 1,000 varied organic products, including fabric, wellness, grains, seeds, jewellery, bakery items and a lot more.

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