Current Affairs - January 29, 2018 Current Affairs

World number six Justin Rose won the Indonesian Masters by eight shots in Jakarta. In 2017, the Indonesian Masters became the Asian Tour's flagship event, replacing the Thailand Golf Championship which had been the flagship event up to 2015. The winner is awarded a minimum of 20 OWGR points.

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has launched Pledge for Khelo India at Khelo India School Games Carnival in Delhi. The pledge resonates with vision of Khelo India programme and is aimed at inspiring youngsters to build mass participation and excellence in sports. It also is promise to participant and encourages sportsmanship spirit. Khelo India School Games was launched under Khelo India Programme. It was held at multiple venues across Delhi from January 31 to February 8, 2018. It encompassed 16 sports disciplines under which overall 199 gold medals, 199 silver medals, 275 bronze medals, to were awarded. It aimed at creating platform to showcase hidden talent, fostering young sports prodigies and creating awareness and cognizance about physical fitness as well as good health amongst youngsters.

As per a survey by GoBankingRates, a personal finance platform, India is the second cheapest country to live or retire among 112 countries. The survey assessed countries on four key affordability metrics viz. local purchasing power index, rent index, Groceries index, and Consumer price index. These metrics evaluates relative affordability as compared to New York city. In terms of local purchasing power, India is 20.9 per cent lower. Rent in India is 95.2 per cent cheaper, groceries are 74.4 per cent cheaper and local goods and services are 74.9 per cent cheaper as compared to New York. South Africa topped the survey as the cheapest country to live/retire. Its high local purchasing power as compared to New York, helped it to grab the first spot.

International bird festival is to be held for 3 days starting from 9th February 2018, at Dudhwa National Park, in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. The International bird festival is aimed to promote eco-tourism in Dudhwa and to gain a distinct international identity. During the festival a Florican village consisting of 100 cottages will be formed. It will accommodate around 200 bird experts taking part in the festival. During the festival, bird experts will explore Dudhwa and collect details about 450 bird species living there.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani attended a leadership conclave organized by the Art of Living in New Delhi. She shared her experience on a wide array of subjects with students and professionals. Speaking on the occasion the challenges come in everyone's lives but it depends on them how they turn challenges into opportunities.

Qatar and Oman have signed an agreement aimed at enhancing trade and economic ties. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed covers food production, marketing, joint investment and export of Omani products to Qatar.

India and Seychelles signed a revised agreement that will allow India to build military infrastructure on Seychelle's Assumption Island. The agreement was signed by India's Foreign Secretary, S Jaishankar in Victoria, the capital of Seychelles. This agreement was signed in 2015 during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, at that time it had not been ratified by the Seychelles Government headed by previous president, James Michel. The agreement that was signed on January 27, 2018 is the re-negotiated version of the 2015 agreement.

Oxford Dictionaries has declared 'Aadhaar' as the Hindi Word of the Year for 2017. This announcement was made by Oxford Dictionaries' at the Jaipur Literature Festival on January 27, 2018. Oxford University Press has stated that 'Hindi Word of the Year' is the one which attracted a great deal of attention and reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations during 2017.

Rating agency CRISIL has upgraded its outlook on 18 Indian public sector banks (PSBs) from "negative" to "stable". This upgrade by CRISIL was on account of PSB recapitalisation plan unveiled by Government on January 24, 2018. Accroding to CRISIL, capital infusion will improve the financial risk profile of these banks and will help them meet Basel-III regulatory capital norms. Along with capital infusion announcement, Government also unveiled 'Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE)', a six-fold roadmap for reforms in PSBs which will improve the overall functioning of these banks.

The first Khadi Haat of India was launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC, in Connaught Place, New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh.The Khadi Haat will act as a platform for artisans and help then earn better. Entrepreneurs under Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP)can display and sell their products in the Khadi Haat.

The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually in Melbourne Park, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year - the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. The 2018 Australian Open is the 106th edition of the tournament. The tournament is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Roger Federer was the defending champion and successfully defended his title, defeating Marin Cilic in the final. In women's' single, Caroline Wozniacki became the first Danish player to win a Grand Slam singles title, defeating Simona Halep in the final. 1.Men's Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland).

The Chairman of Railway Board, Ashwani Lohani launched 'Rail Yatri Guide' kiosk at New Delhi railway station. The Delhi Division has developed the touch screen kiosk as a single point enquiry station for answering all the queries of passengers including guidance and navigation for accessing various facilities available at the station, read an official note. The system comprises touch screen kiosks with a 40-inch screen display of 3D digitised railway station map and helps the passenger at the touch of the screen, it added.

Maharashtra State's tableau has been adjudged as the 'Best Tableau' at the 69th Republic Day parade held at Rajghat, Delhi. The award for best tableau was presented by Union Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on January 28, 2018. On the Maharashtra tableau, 10 artists enacted the coronation ceremony of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This tableau was created by well-known art director Nitin Desai. Assam and Chhattisgarh won the second and third prize respectively.

Sandeep Lamichhane became the first Nepal cricketer to get IPL contract after he was bought by Delhi Daredevils at the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction. Sandeep Lamichhane is 17 years old. He has been bought by Delhi Daredevils for his base price of Rs 20 lakhat the 2018 Indian Premier League Auction. His performance at the 2016 ICC U-19 World Cup had gained him a good reputation, where he took a hat-trick against Ireland and finished as the second highest wicket taker with 14 wickets.

Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle was announced as recipient for the 'Yash Chopra Memorial Award'. Yash Chopra Memorial Award will be awarded to Asha Bhosle on 16thFebruary 2018.This award is instituted by T. Subbarami Reddy's TSR Foundation in remembrance of producer and director Yash Chopra. Asha Bhosle will be the fifth recipient of this award. She has made a Guinness World Record for recording more than 11,000 songs in 20 languages.