Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Bangladesh recently launched its e- passports thus becoming the first country in South Asia to introduce e- passports. During an event held, the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) handed over the first e- passport to the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Department also announced that the process of delivering e-passports will start in regional offices by the end of this year. It was also announced that machine-readable passports, which Bangladesh uses instead of manual passports, will also continue to remain valid. e-passports are presently issued with the validity of five years and ten years.

Notes:
The ‘National Conclave on Emerging Opportunities in Natural Gas sector’ was recently held in New Delhi. Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan presided over the conclave.
The Minister said that that the current share of gas in India’s energy basket is 6.2% and the target is to increase it to 15% by the year 2030. He also stated that the state of Gujarat has 26% share of gas-based energy. The Minister announced that India will witness an investment of over Rs 4 lakh crore in development of gas supply and distribution infrastructure in the next five years.

Notes:
January 24 is observed as the International Day of Education every year by UNESCO. It celebrates the role of education for Development and Peace. The theme for this year’s International Day of Education is “LEARNING FOR PEOPLE, PLANET, PROSPERITY AND PEACE”. On December 2018, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution, which declared January 24 as ‘International Day of Education’.
This year’s celebration is the second-year of observing the day and it has considered Education and Learning as the greatest Renewable Resource and it reaffirms that the Education is a Fundamental Right.

Notes:
As per an order issued by the State Education Department of Madhya Pradesh, the state government has made the reading of the Preamble to the Constitution in schools mandatory. As per the order, the Preamble would be read out every Saturday, by the head master or the teacher in all the primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools after prayer, along with the students. It is said that such practice in school would inculcate the interest in our constitution among the students.
Maharashtra: Maharashtra has also has made reading of Preamble of the Constitution in all primary and secondary schools, starting from January 26, 2020. The resolution in this direction was adopted in 2013 but was not implemented so far.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently increased the investment limit for FPIs in government and corporate bonds from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
As of now, the Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) could not invest more than 20 per cent of their total investment in either central government securities or state development loans or corporate bonds. This relaxation is expected to attract more investments and increase the inflow of funds into the Indian market. FPIs are allowed to invest in exchange-traded funds that invest only in debt instruments.

Notes:
The ‘National Girl Child Day’ is celebrated every year in India, on January 24. It was started by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development from 2008 and the day is celebrated on January 24 every year, to create awareness among people about inequalities and exploitation faced by the girls in the society.
Several awareness programmes and campaigns are being organised across the country to spread awareness about the rights of the girl child. Programmes which promote the importance of education, health and nutrition for girls are also held.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has approved to confer the Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards, 2019 to 54 persons. This includes Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 7 persons, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 8 and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 39 persons. Five awards are to be given posthumously.
Jeevan Raksha Padak awards, a branch of the Ashoka Chakra series of Gallantry awards, were instituted in the year 1961. The award is given for meritorious act of human nature in saving the life of a person in incidents like accidents, electrocution, natural calamities or rescue operation in mines.

Notes:
Arunachal Pradesh recently hosted the ‘Innovation Festival’ in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation, India. The State Council for Science & Technology, Department of Science & Technology of the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh organised the two-day long festival.
The two-day programme comprised of interaction session and discussion among the innovators. Nearly 50 innovations are exhibited by students and entrepreneurs of the state and its neighbouring states. The festival was held with an objective of promoting innovation among the people of the state.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Slovenia, Marjan Sarec was seen in news as he recently submitted his resignation from the post to the country’s parliament. He also called for an early election as his minority government could not pass important legislations. The next regular election is due to be held in the middle of 2022.
The ruling coalition of five parties, which assumed power in Late 2018, had only 43 out of 90 seats in parliament. Before the announcement of the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj also submitted his resignation.

Notes:
Top Indian javelin-thrower Neeraj Chopra has recently qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was declared qualified, after his stellar throw of 87.86 m at the Athletics Central North East meeting, recently held in South Africa.
Neeraj could not participate in the last year’s international events as he suffered from a knee injury. This is his first competitive event after his injury. His throw at this event is also the second best throw ever of Neeraj, after his record 88.06 m throw at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.