Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently launched Samwad with Students as part of its outreach programme. The Indian Space agency will engage youngsters across the country in activities concerning space science under this programme. The new conversation mission will inspire students cutting across schools and colleges. During the inauguration in Bengaluru, 40 students and 10 teachers from select schools interacted with ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan about the Indian Space Programme and their benefits to the common man.

Notes:
Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan has taken charge as first Chief Justice of Telangana High Court. Governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oath to him at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan. The separate High Court for Telangana came into existence on 1st January 2, 2019 after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Later, Governor Narasimhan administered oath to Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar as the first Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court in Vijayawada on the same day. With this, the separate high courts for Telugu states became functional.

Notes:
In Kerala, around 50 lakhs of women assembled under the aegis of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to create an almost unbroken human wall that stretched 620 km from Kasaragod in north Kerala to Thiruvananthapuram in the south on 1st January 2019. Marshalled by the Kerala government and a section of Hindu organisations, the wall was organised against the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala. The programme ended with a joint pledge to harness the power of renaissance principles to insulate society against revanchist forces that sought to push Kerala back to the dark ages of casteism and discriminatory religious practices. The event was organised by the ruling CPI(M) along with over 176 other socio-political organisations, including the CPI, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and the Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha.

Notes:
On 1st January 2019, Jair Bolsonaro has been sworn-in as new president of Brazil for a four-year term. He is a member of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and succeeded Michel Temer. Bolsonaro won the presidential election by a wide margin against Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers Party on 28 October 2018.

Notes:
The United States and Israel officially quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the close of 2018. The countries had announced their decisions in 2017 of withdrawing from the agency, accusing it of bias against Israel. America has demanded fundamental reform in UNESCO, which was co-founded by it after World War II to foster peace UNESCO also works to improve education for girls, promote understanding of the Holocaust’s horrors, and to defend media freedom. The withdrawals will not greatly impact UNESCO financially since it has been dealing with a funding slash ever since 2011 when both Israel and the US stopped paying dues after Palestine was voted in as a member state. . Israel joined the agency in 1949. It is best known for its World Heritage program, which designates cultural sites and aims to preserve traditions.