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Andry Rajoelina has been sworn-in as the new President of Madagascar after taking the oath of office in Antananarivo before 9 judges of the High Constitutional Court. He won the 2018 Malagasy presidential election with 56% of the vote.

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Team India skipper Virat Kohli has become the first player-ever in history to win all three of top ICC awards after being named captain of the ICC’s Test and ODI teams of 2018 for a fabulous run in international cricket. These are: the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards. Kohli scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five hundreds during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 with six centuries. He also scored 211 runs in 10 T20Is. He also ended the year at No. 1 in both the rankings for Tests and ODIs. His performance was put into sharper context by the fact that India played most of their cricket in 2018 away from the subcontinent. Among the other major winners were Rishabh Pant, who was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena was named the Umpire of the Year, while New Zealand cricketer Kane Williamson won the Spirit of Cricket award.

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The Indian Navy, in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and other stakeholders, conducted the massive coastal defence exercise codenamed ‘SEA VIGIL-2019’off the Indian coast on January 22-23, 2019. The exercise, a first of its kind, covered the entire 7516.6 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India and involves all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with all maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities. The main goal of the large-scale exercise is to comprehensively and holistically validate the efficacy of the measures taken since ’26/11′. The exercise also aims to test India’s preparedness to thwart any attempt by anti-national elements to carry out an attack on its territory or against its citizens by infiltrating through the sea route.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently released its biannual World Economic Outlook (WEO) update at the World Economic Forum (WEF-2019) in Davos. In it, IMF estimates India’s economic growth at 7.3% in 2018-19, 7.5% in 2019-20 and 7.7% in 2020-21. With the latest outlook, India will remain the fastest-growing economy in the world, at least for the next two years. The IMF report stated that India’s economy is poised to pick up in 2019, benefiting from low oil prices and a slower pace of monetary tightening than previously expected as inflation pressures ease. The latest growth projection by the IMF is a tad higher than the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) estimate of 7.2%, but lower than the RBI’s estimate of 7.4%. But it is in line with the World Bank’s estimate of 7.3%.

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India has been ranked 80th at the Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI) 2019, according to a report released by INSEAD business school in partnership with Tata Communications and Adecco Group. It was released during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos on 22nd January 2019. The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by Singapore, the US, Norway and Denmark. According to the report, India’s biggest challenge is to improve its ability to attract and retain talent. Above all, there is a need to address its poor level of Internal Openness (116th) — in particular with respect to weak gender equality and low tolerance towards minorities and immigrants and its disappointing showing in lifestyle (112th) indicators. The survey measures how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent, ranking 125 countries and 114 cities across all groups of income and levels of development.

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The Government of India (GoI) has recently instituted an annual award titled Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar. The award is to be announced every year on 23rd January on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. For the year 2019, 8th Battalion of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) located at Ghaziabad has been selected for the award for its commendable work in Disaster Management. The Award recipient will receive a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh. The 8th Battalion of NDRF was raised in 2006 and is a highly specialised Rescue and Response Force with large area of responsibility covering National Capital Region (NCR), Uttarakhand, Western UP & Haryana. The battalion has participated in 314 major operations and rescued over 50,000 people. In the devastating Kerala floods in 2018, the battalion had rescued 5,338 victims and evacuated 24,000 people to safety. Other major disasters in which this NDRF battalion participated are Leh cloud burst (2011), Kedarnath floods (2013), cyclone Hudhud (2014), Chennai floods (2015) and Tripura floods (2018).

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ISRO has successfully launched a military satellite ‘Microsat-R’ and a student satellite ‘Kalamsat-V2’ into their designated orbits from PSLV-C44 launch vehicle. The launch was the 46th flight of the PSLV which lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. PSLV-C44 is the first flight of PSLV-DL, a new variant of PSLV with two strap-on motors. With this launch, India also becomes the first country to use the fourth stage of a space rocket as an orbital platform for microgravity experiments. The PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages.

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In China, the world’s longest 3D-printed concrete bridge has recently opened across a canal on the Wenzaobang River in Shanghai. The bridge is The newly-opened bridge is 26.3 metre-long and 3.6-meter-wide, and is designed by Professor Xy Weiguo from Tsinghua University in China. Its design was inspired by an ancient Chinese bridge named “Anji Bridge” in Hebei Province. The system is cost-efficient uses smart technology and digital design to print 3D concrete blocks. A total of 44 hollowed-out 3D printed concrete blocks were used to lay the bridge while 68 concrete units made the handrails. The bridge has sensors that collect displacement data which will be used to improve the design of future bridges constructed using 3D printing.

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The Telangana government has decided to set up an armed “State Tiger Protection Force” (STPF) to save the Big Cat population in the State. The 112-member-armed STPF will be headed by anAssistant Conservator of Forests to protect tiger populationin Amarabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves. The State and Central government will share the cost of the force on 40:60 basis. The cases under the Preventive Detention Act would be registered against violators.

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Sultan Abdullah of Pahang has been elected as the new King of Malaysia, after Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V step down from the throne before completing his five-year tenure on 6th January 2019. Sultan Abdullah will be sworn-in as the Nation’s 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (or head of state) in a traditional ceremony on 31st January 2019. Malaysia is the only country in the world to have a rotational monarchy since the country became independent from Britain in 1957. The country has nine royal households, who typically take turns to sit on the throne. King’s constitutional powers include the ability to veto the appointment of key political office holders, including the prime minister. The king also has powers to grant full pardons to citizens convicted in the courts.