Current Affairs January 30, 2019
In this post, GKToday presents Current Affairs of January 30, 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. In New Delhi, the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry 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 student assessment by PISA will ensure learning outcome through education. Students will be selected by PISA through random sampling. The format for the student assessment will be offline and the question to Indian students will be related to India's perspective only. The PISA test will help reveal where they stand globally as far as learning outcomes are concerned. PISA is a triennial international survey in which students are assessed in reading, mathematics, science and collaborative problem-solving. The purpose of the survey is 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.
2. Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed the South-East Asia regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for a second five-year term. Under her leadership, the Region has made remarkable progress. In her first term, she focused on building an increasingly responsive and accountable WHO in the Region, while prioritizing persisting and emerging epidemiological and demographic challenges; promoting universal health coverage and building robust health systems; strengthening emergency risk management and articulating a strong regional voice in global health agenda. In the last five years, four countries eliminated measles and six controlled rubella. Thailand became the first in Asia-Pacific and the first with a large HIV epidemic—to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Maldives and Sri Lanka were certified malaria free. Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand eliminated lymphatic filariasis, India was declared yaws-free and Nepal trachoma-free.
3. The Ministry of Defence launched a mobile app 'RDP India 2019' to let people watch highlights of the 70th Republic Day event all over the world. This app contains information about the Parade on Rajpath, New Delhi, including Order of the March, 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. It was extremely informative to the spectators witnessing the Parade and was widely appreciated. The app also had the provision for live streaming of the Parade. People who desire to know the theme and ideas depicted in the tableaux and also those who for some reason could not witness the Parade on Rajpath or watch it on TV, can still download the app and gather all information about the event. This new initiative is in sync with the Digital India campaign of the Government.
4. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated Atal Setu — the third Cable bridge across river Mandovi in Panaji, Goa. The new bride is four-lane and 5.1Km long, and is expected to overcome the bottlenecks and curb traffic jams at Panaji Circle and Panaji entrance. It is constructed by the GIDC (Goa Infrastructure Development Corporation) and engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro. This is the third bridge across Mandovi River. It is named as ATAL SETU in memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpeyee.
5. Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty, the veteran journalist and former editor, has been conferred the Assam Republic Day Journalism Award 2019 for his lifelong contribution to journalism in the state. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh, a citation, the Assamese ‘xoraai’ (the bell metal memento presented as an honour), ‘jaapi’ (headgear) and an angavastra. Chakraborty is the former editor of Dainik Asom, Dainik Janambhumi and Ajir Batori group of newspaper.
6. On the occasion of 70th Republic Day 2019, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath announced the launch of the 'Yuva Swabhiman Yojana' for youths from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) in urban areas. The purpose of the scheme is to empower the unemployed youth candidates. Under this scheme, 100 days of employment will be provided to youngsters from economically weaker sections of the society in urban areas. Apart from this, they will also be given skill training by the government.
7. Narthaki Nataraj, a renowned dancer from Tamil Nadu, has become the first Indian transgender to be honoured with Padma Shri, the third highest civilian award of India. She is a Bharatanatyam exponent and specialises in the Thanjavur-based Nayaki Bhava tradition. Born in the temple town of Madurai, Nataraj learned the art under Tanjore Shri K P Kittappa Pillai and gave her on advances to the Tanjore Quartet of Bharatanatyam (Nayaki Bhava tradition) through a dance school she established.
8. Insurance regulator IRDAI has constituted a committee that will not only facilitate in identifying the Systemically Important Insurers (SIIs), but also recommend enhanced supervision measures for them. The committee headed by IRDAI member (finance and investment) Pravin Kutumbe will submit its report within six months. The committee would study the methodology followed by International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) for identification of SIIs and those followed by other financial regulators, particularly by RBI for identification of SIFIs. As per the terms of reference, the panel has also to develop a paper on assessment methodology for SIIs in India and recommend enhanced supervision for them.
9. Suman Kumari has become the first Hindu woman in Pakistan to be appointed as a civil judge after passing an examination for induction of judicial officers. She hails from Qambar-Shahdadkot & will serve in her native district. Suman passed her LLB examination from Hyderabad and did her masters in law from Karachi's Szabist University. This is not the first time that a person from the Hindu community has been appointed as a judge. The first judge from the Hindu community was Justice Rana Bhagwandas, who served as the acting chief justice for brief periods between 2005 and 2007. Hindus make up nearly 2% of Pakistan's total population and Hinduism remains the second largest religion in Pakistan after Islam.
10. On 28th January 2019, Tamil Nadu was declared the ‘Best State Overall’ for its active participation in the national campaign ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’. The campaign was a 100-day consumer outreach programme of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which was launched on 16th October 2018 to amplify its Eat Right India initiative. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were adjudged the Best States with population above 3 crore. Punjab, Goa and Delhi were recognised as the Best States having population less than 3 crore. Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttrakhand were given special awards for their participation despite their hilly and difficult terrain. The Yatra saw the involvement of 10 lakh participants and reached to around 2.5 crore people across various States and UTs. It also led to the creation of 21,000 local ‘Eat Right Champions’ who would sustain this movement in the future.
