Notes:
The Jawai Bandh is a dam built across the Jawai river, a tributary of Luni river near Sumerpur town in Pali District of Rajasthan. The dam has capacity of 7887.5 million cubic feet and covers an area of 102,315 acres of cultivable command area. Its height is about 61.25 feet. Sei dam and Kalibor dam are the feeder dams of the Jawai dam.

Notes:
The Punjab Government has launched Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojna (MGSVY) on the occasion of 69th Republic Day 2018 for the distressed sections of the society across the state. The purpose of the programme is to give the distressed sections of the society the help they need socially, economically and psychologically. This scheme will be on the line of Antyodaya principles. The aim of the programme is “Wipe every tear from every eye” as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhiji. The main purpose of this scheme is to provide the benefit of welfare schemes for debt stressed farmers, poor families that have a woman as sole bread earner, families of AIDS patients, out-of-school children, martyred soldiers, differently-abled, abandoned old persons, drug addicts among others.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has launched the countrywide Pulse Polio programme for 2018 by administering polio drops to children below five years at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The programme will cover around 17 crore children to maintain the country’s polio-free status. The president administered the drops on the eve of 2018 National Immunisation Day (NID), which is observed on January 28.

Notes:
Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2018 men’s Singles title in the Australian Open 2018. He successfully defended his title by defeating 6th seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia by 6-2,6-7, 6-3 3-6, 6-1. With this, Federer won his sixth title at the Australian Open equalling the record held by Roy Emerson and Novak Djokovic. The win has brought the Swiss to the elite group of Margaret Court, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf, the only players to have won 20 or more Grand Slam singles titles.

Notes:
The Economic Survey 2017-18 has tabled by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on January 29, 2018. The survey has predicted 7 to 7.5% of India’s GDP growth in FY 2018-19. It says that a series of major reforms undertaken over the past year will allow real GDP growth to reach 6.75% this fiscal and will rise to 7.0 to 7.5% in 2018-19. It stated that the employment, education and agriculture will be the focus areas in the midterm. The survey underlines that due to the launch of transformational Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform, resolution of the long-festering Twin Balance Sheet problem, implementing a major recapitalization package to strengthen the public sector banks, further liberalization of FDI and the export uplift from the global recovery, the economy began to accelerate in the second half of the year and can clock 6.75% growth this year.

Notes:
Vikram Singh Sisodia, the joint secretary of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has been appointed the Chef-de-Mission for the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018, which is scheduled to be held in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to 15. Sisodia is also currently the president of Chhattisgarh State Tennis Association.

Notes:
Sandeep Lamichhane, the leg-spinner, has become the first cricketer from Nepal to sign for an IPL team. He was bought by Delhi Daredevils for his base price of Rs 20 lakh. He made his first impact at the 2016 U-19 World Cup, where he guided Nepal to a creditable 8th place. He came to limelight by becoming the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 14 scalps in six innings at an average of 17 and an economy of 4.67.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) has launched “Stree Swabhiman” initiative. The aim of the initiative is to create a sustainable model for providing adolescent girls and women an access to affordable sanitary products by leveraging Common Services Centres (CSCs). Under the ‘Stree Swabhiman’ project, sanitary napkin micro manufacturing units are being set up at CSCs across India, particularly those operated by women entrepreneurs. The initiative is driven by awareness and personalised outreach by women entrepreneurs who produce and market sanitary napkins themselves.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $250 million loan agreement for the construction of over 6,200 kilometres all-weather rural roads in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12 thousand kilometres Rural Roads across the 5 States.

Notes:
Dharmasena Pathiraja (74), the renowned Sri Lankan filmmaker, has passed away in Kandy, Sri Lanka on January 28, 2018. He was fondly referred to as “a rebel with a cause’ and acclaimed for his compelling portrayals of urban underclasses. He is credited with making a critical intervention in Sinhala cinema, with themes that served as social commentaries on the prevailing socio-economic and political realities. He also taught film studies in various Sri Lankan universities.